The Shinsengumi officers sat in the official meeting room inside their compound, none of them saying a word. The troops were out patrolling or carrying out various duties around HQ, leaving the Commander, Kondo Isao, Vice Commander, Hijikata Toshirou, and the Ten Division Captains to attend the meeting which had been called by Matsudaira Katakuriko, the Police Commissioner of Edo. They were all currently awaiting Matsudaira's arrival, who had only said that it was a matter of utmost importance and all officers had to be there.

They had been all waiting for almost an hour when they heard Yamazaki Sagaru escort Matsudaira into the meeting. He entered the room and stood facing all of them, lighting his cigarette as he surveyed them through his sunglasses.

"Good work getting here on time," he said, missing the dark looks on the faces of officers who had been waiting for an hour.

"Totsan, what is this about?" asked Kondo. "Is everything alright?"

Matsudaira took a large drag of his cigarette and exhaled. "Takasugi Shinsuke has left Kyo and is rumoured to be coming to Edo," he said.

"Takasugi?" asked Hijikata, sitting up slightly. "The leader of the Kiheitai who murdered all those Bakufu officials in Kyo?"

"Yeah, him," said Matsudaira, looking very much like he wanted to spit just at the mention of the man's name.

"Why's he coming to Edo?" asked Okita Sougo, Captain of the First Division.

"Don't know, but one week from now, there will be a festival celebrating the 20th anniversary of the end of our isolationist policy," said Matsudaira. "The Shogun will be attending the celebration here in Edo, and leaving the palace."

"If Takasugi wants to make a move, that would be the ideal time," said Hijikata, realising what he was getting at.

"Totsan, do you think Takasugi will attack the Shogun?" asked Kondo.

"I do," said Matsudaira. "That's why I'm assigning the Shinsengumi to protect Shogun-sama. Devote all your troops to it."

"What about catching Takasugi?" asked Sougo. "Shouldn't we be placing some people on that?"

"That's what I'm here about," said Matsudaira. "With the festival and taking care of Edo, Shinsengumi resources will be spread thin. So, I reached out for some help." He turned around and looked at the open door behind him. "You can come in."

The Shinsengumi officers watched as a figure holding a violet umbrella entered the room. Due to the heavy grey cape covering their entire body from the shoulder down and a thick scarf around their neck, it was hard to tell who it was. Their face was wrapped in bandages, the hood of the cape covered their head, and a pair of pilot's goggles sat on their eyes, obscuring the rest of their face. All in all, it was difficult to tell if the person was a man or a woman, or even a human or Amanto.

"Looks like he needs a hospital more than anything," said Sougo.

"Rude," said the figure, and every single person in the room jumped at the voice of what was apparently a young girl. She, for it had to be a she, began unravelling the bandages, dropping them down on the floor, and lowered her hood, revealing long vermillion hair and extremely pale skin. She removed her glasses as big, blue eyes glared at them, and when she dropped her cape and scarf, there was an audible gasp at the sight of the rather attractive girl dressed in a white cheongsam with red fastenings and piping. There was a slit in her cheongsam going all the way up to her waist on her right side, and she wore long black socks that went to halfway up her thighs.

"Totsan," began Hijikata, but Matsudaira spoke before he could even ask.

"This is Kagura-san, a Yato and the daughter of the legendary alien hunter, Umibozu," said Matsudaira.

"Umibozu?" asked Kondo, his eyes going wide. "Really?"

"I reached out to him for his help, and he sent along Kagura-san to assist," said Matsudaira. "She is only 16 but is already known as a prodigy across the galaxy, and she has agreed to work with the Shinsengumi for the time being."

"She's still a kid, Totsan," said Hijikata, looking at the girl, who levelled a glare at him.

"Uh, who's Umibozu?" asked Harada, the baldheaded 10th division captain as several other officers also looked curious. "And Yato are Amanto, aren't they?"

"Umibozu is one of the best alien hunters in the business," said Kondo, admiration evident in his tone.

"As for the Yato, they are a warrior race," said Sougo, eyeing Kagura with a look of disinterest. "Supposed to be the strongest and mightiest race of warriors in the universe."

Kagura turned her glare on him, eyes narrowing. He smirked at her in challenge, and his hand moved to his sword.

In a blink, there was a gust of wind as the two flew towards each other. The officers, including Kondo, Hijikata and Matsudaira were knocked back by sheer force and when they were able to collect themselves to see what had happened, they saw Sougo and Kagura standing on the low table in the middle of the room, his sword blocked by the violet umbrella in her hand.

"Sougo!" shouted Kondo, but Hijikata caught his shoulder. "Wait. Let's just see what happens."

Seeing things were at an apparent stalemate, Kagura backed off a little and swiped Sougo's legs from under him and when he went down, she threw a punch at his head. He managed to dodge it, and her fist punched through the table, down through the floor, splintering the wooden floorboard underneath the tatami mat. Sensing a chance, Sougo thrust with his katana, barely grazing her front as she vaulted back nimbly and kicked Sougo in the chest, sending him flying into the far wall, which cracked. He raised his gaze to her and spit blood from his mouth, while she glanced down to see he had managed to cut her across the stomach, and it was a shallow wound that had barely broken skin, but had managed to stain her white cheongsam scarlet.

Sougo smirked at her once again and jumped away from the wall to land on his feet. Kagura readied her attack stance, but Kondo stood up. "Sougo, enough," he said, and he obeyed, slowly sheathing his katana as he kept his gaze sharp on Kagura. "You too, Kagura-san."

Kagura nodded and jumped down from the table, returning to stand next to Matsudaira. Glancing around, there was a look of shock on everyone's faces as they looked at the broken table, floor and wall, caused by the girl who couldn't be taller than 160 cm. Not to mention, she had taken on Okita taichou, the best fighter in Shinsengumi and he'd only been able to land a single scratch on her while she'd sent him flying into a wall.

"I apologise for the mess," said Kagura, looking at Kondo. "I tried to hold back as best I could."

That brought a further round of shock. This destruction had been her holding back?

"Yato are very powerful," said Matsudaira, smoking calmly without missing a beat. "I've seen one of them slaughter entire troops with nothing but their bare hands."

Hijikata cleared his throat. "I can see why you'd want us to work with them," he conceded. "But is it really necessary?"

"Takasugi is a beast that needs to be put down," said Matsudaira.

"So you brought in a China beast," said Sougo. His mood seemed to have soured further upon hearing that she'd held back during their fight.

Kagura glared at him, and he merely smirked at her, irking her further.

"She's working with you, and that's that," said Matsudaira. "Make her feel welcome and have the guest quarters set up for the lady to use."

"You want her to stay here?" asked Hijikata, shocked. "A young woman around all these men?"

"Hijikata-san, if anything it would be our men who'd need protecting from the beast," said Sougo, lazily.

"Shut up, Sougo," said Hijikata, while Kagura looked like she wanted to tear his throat out with her bare hands.

"It will be done, Totsan," said Kondo, standing up. He looked at Kagura and bowed. "Thank you for your assistance, and we look forward to working with you."

Kagura nodded and bowed briefly. "I do, as well," she said.

Rumours began circling in the hour after Kagura's initial arrival. The fact that a female Amanto, a Yato at that, was now living on the Shinsengumi compound was already a source of gossip, but that she'd apparently beaten Sougo in a fight was also being discussed thoroughly.

"There's just no way," discussed the people by the vending machines. "Okita taichou will not lose to anyone, least of all a girl."

"I'm telling you, all the officers, and the Chief and Vice Chief were there with Totsan," said another. "It definitely happened. The meeting room is being rebuilt now and the table has to be replaced."

"She punched a hole through the floor!"

"I heard she threw Okita taichou through several walls."

And on and on it went growing more elaborate with each retelling, though Kagura heard none of it. She was currently in the process of unpacking her meagre belongings. The nature of her job meant that she travelled light, and she was slightly mad that the fight earlier had ruined her favourite battle cheongsam. With a sigh, she set it aside, and changed into one identical to it. She always wore the white one in battle, and whenever she had some downtime, she had a few ones that were red with gold piping.

The room she had been assigned to was simple, but it was her own and she even had a private bathroom with her own bath since she couldn't very well share with the men. She wouldn't have minded, but Hijikata and Kondo had insisted on it. Kagura honestly didn't know what to think of the Shinsengumi men. It was her first time on Earth, and the people were stranger than she was expecting. Still, Papi had entrusted her with this job, and she was going to see it through, especially since if she was successful, it would mark the end of her training.

Having left Rakuyo with her father after the death of her mother, Kagura had been training since she was 12, and four years later, she could hold her own in a fight easily, though her temper still got the better of her sometimes. It had taken every ounce of training to not strangle that sadistic Sougo bastard after his remarks. She finished getting dressed and combed her hair, tying a section of it into a bun on one side of her head while the rest of it flowed freely down to her waist. Still, she felt that it had been her first interesting fight in months. He had actually landed a hit on her, the slash which had now healed, and not even a scar had been left behind.

There was a knock on her door, and Kagura slid it open. "Yes?" she asked, noticing that it was the same man that had led her and Matsudaira inside when they'd first arrived.

"Y-yamazaki S-sagaru," he stuttered, his face red as he saluted stiffly. "Chief wanted me to invite you to introduce to everyone."

Kagura raised an eyebrow at the oddly constructed sentence but nodded. "Let's go," she said, taking her umbrella but leaving her cape and things behind since they were indoors and it was overcast outside anyway.

"Yes!" squeaked Yamazaki, and started leading the way.

Kagura glanced around at the empty courtyard as they walked around the exterior of the structure to walk to a separate building across the yard but still within the compound's boundaries. As she got closer, Kagura realised that it was a dojo, presumably used for training by the Shinsengumi members. The room went silent when she entered behind Yamazaki, and she took quick stock of people in the room, using her Yato blood the way her father had taught her.

It was about what she expected of a police force. They were skilled enough, some of them more than others, but nothing extraordinary. The ones to watch out for were definitely that Sadist and Hijikata, and perhaps, Kondo to some extent, along with the man with the absurdly orange afro who had been in the meeting earlier.

"Ah, Kagura-san, please come in," said Kondo, when he spotted her. He had changed out of his uniform and was in his training clothes, as were most people in the dojo, though Hijikata was still in his uniform.

Kagura went up to Kondo, glaring at the Sadist as she passed who glared right back at her.

"Everyone, this is Kagura-san, and she will be our guest for the time being, and assisting with our newest mission," said Kondo, looking at his men. "Please treat her with respect as a fellow warrior."

Kagura thought that was rather unlikely, noticing how their gazes seemed to rove over her. Her father would have killed every single one of them for looking at her like that. He had maimed quite a few people after Kagura had started 'developing' since last year. There was usually a way to set things straight in these matters, though.

"Chief," said Kagura, turning to Kondo. "I would like to train with your men, if that's okay."

"Er," Kondo visibly hesitated. "Aren't you still injured?"

"I have already healed," she said. "Not even a scar."

"Yato healing is that fast?" asked Hijikata, slightly interested.

Kagura nodded at him. "So, how about it?" she asked, her smile becoming the tiniest bit sharper.

"Let her do it, Kondo-san," said Hijikata, lighting a cigarette.

He had noticed the way she had been appraised when she'd walked in, and he wanted nothing more than for her to put his men in place. They were warriors first, above all, and had no business treating someone as skilled as her as a woman from Yoshiwara. Well, they had no business treating any woman like that, but especially not someone who could probably decimate the entire force by herself.

"Toshi," said Kondo, but then nodded. "Very well. Choose your opponent, Kagura-san."

She glanced around. "Let's start with three at a time, and see how we go," she said, easily.

"Three?" asked Kondo.

"You heard her," barked Hijikata. "Three at a time."

He stood against the wall that would give him a full view of the fights as three men from the seventh division eagerly rushed forward. Damned idiots, thought Hijikata. If she had been looking at him the way she was looking at the three idiots, he would have already drawn his sword and prayed that he had kept his will updated. He glanced at Sougo, who had joined him to watch the fight, but for once had his attention entirely focused on her as opposed to killing him. Hijikata almost smiled at that. Sougo's ego had taken a huge hit, but in a way Hijikata was glad because it would mean he had a rival who would push him further, since he'd already surpassed pretty much everyone in the Shinsengumi. Even he could only beat Sougo very, very occasionally in fights these days.

"Begin," ordered Kondo.

It was over in an instant. The three idiots charged at the same time, and she swung her umbrella once, hitting all three and sending them flying to the other end of the dojo to land against the wall and crumple to the floor, out cold.

"Next!" she called.

Good, thought Hijikata, as the men began to register fear. The next group of three came with their swords drawn, though still not as cautious as the situation warranted.

Instead of attacking in droves, one charged ahead on a head on attack, which she intercepted. While he had her busy, the other two tried to attack from behind. Big mistake, thought Hijikata, as she smiled angelically and flipped gracefully to jump on the guy's head to knock him into the ground. In the same motion, she swung her leg in a roundhouse kick, and hit both of the assailants from behind, sending them flying to the wall near Hijikata. He didn't even flinch as they landed in a heap next to him, and a moment later, she picked up the man she'd knocked down first and tossed him with his comrades.

"Next!"

And on and on it went. The longer it went on, the more fearful and serious the men got, realising quickly that when Kondo-san had said warrior, he'd meant it. At some point, one of the groups had managed to disarm her by knocking her umbrella out of reach.

"That won't work," murmured Sougo, and Hijikata had to agree, as she proved that she was even stronger when fighting barehanded.

It took until the seventh group of threes to land a hit on her and even that had been when she'd grabbed the blade in her hand and used the sword to draw the attacker close before headbutting him to knock him out. The wound had been deep, but she hadn't even seemed to notice. The next hit had come in the group after that with a slash to her arm, but once again, she paid it no mind and continued fighting. After about fifty people had their ass handed to them, Hijikata finished his third cigarette.

"That's enough for today," he said.

Kagura paused and glanced at him. He noticed that her breathing was a little laboured, but certainly not as much as it should have been after fighting over fifty trained Shinsengumi members.

"Do you need your injuries treated?" asked Kondo, ever the concerned one.

She glanced down at her palm, which seemed to be her most serious injury and shook her head. "It's already started healing," she said, holding up her palm to see.

And indeed it was. The wound had already closed, and had rough scar tissue on it as if she'd incurred it four days ago, instead of forty minutes ago. This seemingly innocuous tiny slip of a girl was indeed a powerful Amanto of the mightiest warrior race.

"She held back even more," said Sougo, and Hijikata wasn't sure if he was meant to hear that.

"Good thing too," he said, anyway, and Sougo looked at him curiously. "If she'd even fought at the level she fought with you, we'd be dealing with a whole lot of them out of commission. We need every man we can get for the festival, so I'm sure she was mindful enough not to injure them too seriously."

"Tch," said Sougo, glaring at Kagura as she used a clean towel offered to her by Kondo to wipe her face of sweat. "I want to fight her unrestrained."

"After the mission," stressed Hijikata. "You can put yourself in the hospital for a month if you want."

Sougo grinned at him darkly. "Do you think I'll lose so badly to that beast?" he asked.

"No, it would be longer than a month."

Hijikata looked to see that she had joined them, her glare fixed on Sougo, who glared back at her, and Hijikata swore there were literal sparks flying between their hostile gazes.

"Good fighting out there," said Hijikata, wanting to diffuse the tension before the two monsters actually started fighting. "Thank you for putting the idiots in their place. Hopefully they will be more focused in training from tomorrow."

"Uh, Vice Chief," called Yamazaki.

"What?" asked Hijikata, looking over Kagura's shoulder and noticing that all of the men were standing in formation behind her.

"K-kagura-san," stuttered Yamazaki, and Kagura turned around, her eyes going wide.

"Alright, men," said Kondo. "Go ahead."

In unison, the entirety of the Shinsengumi men, bar Kondo, Hijikata and Sougo bowed to her. "We are sorry for our disrespectful actions," they intoned as one. "Please continue training with us as a fellow warrior."

"Right," said Kagura, looking very surprised. "Sure." They all stood back up again, and Kondo dismissed them. "Huh," she said. "I have never been apologised to before, especially after beating someone up."

Hijikata had to wonder what the hell kind of life a kid like her had led for such a common gesture of kindness and courtesy to be uncommon for her.

Sougo grinned evilly at her. "Personally, I like it when people grovel after they lose to me," he said, keeping his gaze fixed on her.

"That's because you're a sadist, Sadist," she shot right back.

"Takes one to know one, China," he said.

"I have a name," she said.

"So do I," he snapped.

The two of them glared at each other again, almost baring their teeth, and Hijikata sighed as he grabbed the back of Sougo's collar. "Go do your paperwork," he ordered.

Sougo glared viciously at Hijikata. "Please go and die, Hijikata-san," he said.

"After the festival," said Hijikata, dismissively. Fortunately, Kondo decided to approach them at that moment.

"Kagura-san, you must be hungry. It's almost time for dinner. Please come and join us," he said.

"Sure," she said. "I'll be there soon."

With that, she nodded at all of them and left, picking up her umbrella on her way out. Most of the others had left already, and Hijikata almost smiled as the ones left behind flinched ever so slightly as she passed them.

This had been an evening well-spent.