When Dusk Hits

You Only Miss it When it's Gone

Part 1-
(AN: Hiiii, this was another chapter I planned and it was for April Fools, but as I said in my previous chapter I've been caught up with so much schoolwork! ;-; I'm sooo sorry! Anyway, finals were happening and I had TWO papers to write... That was fun. But school is nearly over, and now I can write so much more often! [Also, you should suggest if you want me to develop some romance in this, or keep it pretty much how the feelings are right now] :) thank you to whoever has been sticking with this)

These days, working has been... Pretty dull to say the least. Patrol, Hijibaka in my face, patrol, resolve trouble, patrol, Hijibaka, patrol, and patrol some more. Ever since I met Kagura, things have definitely changed. I had something to do, and someone to go to, just to forget things for awhile. But now that she's gone, it's back to how it's used to be. It's just that... I mean... It's not like I like her or anything, but she was fun to tease and compete with. Spending time with her was somehow refreshing. And when she left... I wasn't ready for it.
As I stare at the objects lying across the room floor, my eyes are drawn to a bunch of postcards stacked on top of each other. All of them are from Kagura, put in order from when she sent them. In the first, Kagura has a piece of sukonbu in her mouth and she's smiling and holding up a peace sign. I can feel my lips spread into a smile. The next, she's flexing.
"Hey Sadist,
Hope you're busy training because I am! Once I come back and we fight, I am going to beat you for sure!" Oh, I'd like to see you try.
I flip through the postcards for what seems to be the 24th time, and read through everything with a stupid grin on my face. As I flip to a more recent card she's sent, I can feel heat rush to my face. Her hair was let loose from her usual buns and her pale skin glistened in the light. She wore a top that exposed her stomach and she was even beginning to look a little more ladylike. Her face still had that rounded cuteness, but her eyes were looking even more vibrant than ever. Okay, I think she's cute. Big deal.

Flashback

I walked down the sidewalk, going through the park. It was just another old patrol day. I was faced with the usual bright, vermillion hair. I walk up to the bench towards her, I could already smell the sukonbu. With a smirk, I put my hand behind her head and flick. It took no time for her to look back and glare at me. "Sadist..."
"Wow, I never knew gorillas could talk." I could almost hear the veins pop out of her head. I look at her face and I could see she calmed down from her expression.
"Oh whatever. The Queen of the Kabuki district doesn't have to be wasting her time of someone like you."
"I bet you're only saying that because you have nothing smart to say back." Kagura sighs, trying not to get mad. She looks away and occupies herself with her sukonbu. I go around the bench and sit down with her. She scoots over on the bench and tries to avoid eye contact.
"China, you smell bad, like a dog."
No reaction?
"You have no curves. You look just like a little boy."
That's a lie but, still nothing.
"You look like that beetle I stepped on this morning."
"So when did you get released from the zoo?"
Kagura was stiff. She kept a straight face the whole time and didn't react to much of what I said, unusually. Come on, humor me a little.
"How does Danna live with a pig like you? Is he deaf, blind, and can't smell?" I scrunch up my face making a disgusted look at her, but she doesn't look at me.
"Did it hurt," I pause, "When you fell on your face? Because it looks like you did."
"Chinaaaa." I pinch her cheeks and grin. "You're getting fat."
"Why are you so childish?"
"Your voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard."
"Aru. Aru. Aru. Aru. Aru aru aru aru aru aru."
"Your face makes me want to puke."
"I bet whenever you look into a mirror, it breaks."
"Even goril- I mean Kondo-San looks like a human compared to you."
But through all of that, Kagura didn't reply to any of it and sat quietly. For some reason, I really wanted to provoke her.

I get closer to Kagura and put my arm around her. With a deeper voice I whisper in her ear, "Have you ever even had a boyfriend before, China?" I see her face quickly turn red. She looks down, but her expression doesn't change. I lightly hold her chin and tilt her face towards mine and I move closer to her face a little more. My cheeks heat up a little bit from being this close to her face. "You haven't even kissed anyone before, have you?" I look her in the eyes, our faces just inches apart. My lips were slightly parted, I didn't even think this through... What do I do after this? I begin to close the space between us a little more and Kagura got even more intensely red and her eyes widened. She gets up and looks at me angrily. I was a bit relieved she moved when she did.
"Y-yes I do have a b-boyfriend!" She shouts, still blushing. She stares at me for a few seconds, looking more... Sad... Than mad at the moment and she runs home. I return to the Shinsengumi Headquarters, cursing myself for having it turn out like that.