Gintama: Yato Queen

20 | Simply Sweet

<Kagura>
I don't know how this happened but it did. It was the weekend and I took a day off to go shopping with the extra cash that Kamui gave me. But little did I know that I would bump into Okita and his older sister on the way!

"Uhh." I automatically drew back and distanced myself from those two but felt the need to introduce myself. Okita's expression said everything and wanted me to leave right away.

"Oh, is this a friend Sou-Chan?" She happily smiled at me as she lightly coughed into her sleeve. He slightly flinched and mouthed the word, fuck.

"She's a random girl at school. I don't know her." He answered quickly and shamelessly.

To make him happy or maybe I just wanted to tease him, thought I would play along.
At first I was hesitant but it all came out at once,

"heh? How could I be friends with this sad loner? This guy doesn't have any friends at school-."

COUGH COUGH

Okita's sister started to have a coughing fit and lost her balance. Okita managed to catch her and I froze in place, not knowing what to do.

"Sister!" He called out with concern.

"So you've been lying to me this whole time Sou-Chan? How could you?"

COUGH COUGH

"W-we were both joking! She was playing along, right?" His head turned immediately at me and I nodded frantically.

"W-we're best friends! Really close!" I agreed and Okita nodded his head too.

After a while, she was able to stand on her own. She fixed herself up and stuck out her hand to greet me.

"Hello, my name is Mitsuba Okita, Sou-Chan's older sister." Her delicate voice put me in a trance and I snapped out of it once I realized that I was taking too long to reply.

"Kagura. My name is Kagura." I swallowed nervously. "Nice to meet you."

"Are you in the same years as my Sou-Chan?" She wondered.

"No, I'm a first year. I recently transferred a few months ago." I replied, "Okita was nice enough to open up to me when I arrived." I menacingly glared at him through my smile and he looked away.

"Oh? Sou-Chan, you're so kind!" She praised him. "I'm glad that I finally got to meet one of your friends after all this time." Mitsuba giggled and held both my hands.

They were oddly cold.

"I'm going to be late for work." Okita said, "I need to be going now, will you be okay?" He asked his sister.

"Yes, you should go now before Kondo-San scolds you again. I'll be fine." She slightly pushed him off.

Phew, that's over.

With a quick glance at me, he didn't say anything and left. With just me and his sister, I tried to make my escape.

"If you don't mind, I would like to have a chat with you." She softly giggled. It was difficult to refuse when I was worried that she would collapse again.
••••••
Sitting on the park bench, the both of us stared out into the pond before us frolicking with ducks and kids playing around.

"I'm sorry, you must of been uncomfortable lying to me." She said. "I could tell."

I turned my head and she bowed apologetically,
"I didn't mean to put you on the spot."

"N-no. I wasn't lying per say." The words came out badly that I think she got the wrong idea again. "Actually, we hang out often at school. I guess we just haven't addressed whether we're friends or not." I explained. "We had a rough start in the beginning, but we've been tolerating each other."

"I see." Her mollified giggles sounded hearty with relief.

"There's actually another one too. His name is Shinpachi and the three of us are often together." I added to hopefully give her faith.

"Sou-Chan has always kept to himself ever since he was young. Even when I know he has good friends around, he doesn't want to admit it." Mitsuba pointed out. "He's selfish, bull-headed, and hates to lose. That's why he's always been alone and it worries me even now."

"I'll agree with you on that. He's selfish and egotistical." I sighed and leaned a bit forward on the bench.

"I wonder if it's because I've been spoiling him ever since our father died so maybe the blame falls on me." Mitsuba words caught me off guard and I look over at her with a broken expression. "But I'm glad that he has people he cares about, he has changed."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that he cares about us." I shook my head, "we're just objects to stimulate his sadistic humor."

"You're quite funny." Mitsuba giggled from my commented and it calmed me a bit. "I just hope that once I'm gone, he can happy on his own and rely on others."

I suddenly became restless and wanted to ask her about her illness. But apart of me thought it was rude to even bring it up especially when I shouldn't get involved with Okita's personal business.

"You make it sound like you're not going to be there for him in the future."

She reached out and caressed my hair. A motherly touch that I couldn't help but feel nostalgic.

"It's true. I don't think that I will be with him for much longer." She replied, "when both our parents died when we were young, I was left to take care of young Sou-Chan. Essentially, I neglected my own health to care for him that I contracted tuberculosis. Even when I take medication now, the symptoms are getting worse. I don't have that much time left."

Speechless, I didn't know how to respond to any of that. My heart ached for her. In that moment, I really felt bad for Okita and the situation he's in but if I ever told him that directly, I would surely get a beating.

"He'll be sad, really sad. He only lets his guard down around you." I touched her right hand and held it.

"I don't think that's true." She disagreed, "my Sou-Chan has found people to depend on, I can tell. The fact that his demeanor and attitude about school has changed and made me wonder if something good happened."

"Good is very subjective." I sighed.

"Even so, I'm sure I can rest at ease now. Knowing that he has friends like you, he won't be alone."

Mitsuba inched closer or me and the sparkle in her eyes attracted me. I can see why Okita would be so endearing to his sister.

"This may sound like a burden, but please take care of my Sou-Chan. I'm entrusting him to you."