Hey, I'm back.

I'm sorry for letting this in hiatus so long so I decided to finish it: I've outlined the story and the fic will last 15 chapters, with (if I manage my schedule well) one update per week. Because the fic is quite old there might be some errors, for example, Rakuyou/Kouan, as we discovered Kouan much later in the manga. I've lost the files of my old chapters so I can't even edit that out.
So, Okita - Edo
Kagura - Kouan

I will try to answer the reviews next chapter!

Chapter 8 - A bad news is a just a news but bad

Okita could barely contain himself, pacing around his study with unleashed annoyance. Of all days to be late, Hijikata had to pick today and it wasn't acceptable, not when he was at fault for trying to separate him and China. Even though she was gone in fury and far from his castle he wasn't a prince for nothing, he trusted himself to have the power to bring her back. It would have been a world different had she coldly walked away but he saw the way her eyes warmed up to him. She loved the days she spent here.

And he could understand. After all, as Gurako-chan she wasn't restrained by anything. She was as free as the wind, so free that he couldn't get a hold of her but things were different now. If before he could have felt guilty for bringing a reckless though innocent girl into politics and the royal family he wasn't anymore; for they were the same. She was a damned princess. A princess! He had been under such pressure to marry a suitable woman but she had been there all along, at his side.

The door clicked as a rather pale Hijikata entered with a letter in his hands. "I have a good news and a bad one, Sougo."

"I don't think anything can go worse, Hijikata-san," Sougo rebuked, arms crossed and eyes narrowing at the poor man.

"It's not the time for reproach now," Kondo entered in the room after Hijikata, having been trying to soothe the anger of the prince for the past days. "Something big is happening, Sougo."

"The attack of the Yato royal family was confirmed to be from a rebel but the king and the prince are going to destroy the movement as soon as they can, they're going to come here to ask help." The flaxen-haired prince still didn't seem interested, though he frowned at the mention of rebels. Kouan hadn't been known to be the most stable country but still, they were allies and recently grew closer and it would be a shame for all the efforts to become nought if the current power was thrown off.

"And China?"

"She's coming too. It seems like Umibozu and his son are letting her appear on the political scene," Hijikata handed the letter to Sougo.

"What's the bad news then?"

"She's coming here with that Hongo heir," Hijikata prepared himself. He felt like the prince's thin patience could break anytime soon as Sougo bit his lips in annoyance. Hijikata swore the red eyes were glowing in sheer wrath. And something darker. Something he didn't wish to know, but something that should be stopped before the Hongo family was suddenly stripped of their heir. "We have no concrete evidence but— it's not impossible that she marries him to gain stability. The Hongo family is rich, they can provide Kouan food and soldiers, after all, she was hidden all these years and now she's put at the front as the only princess of the country."

"It's decided then," Okita abruptly smash his hands on the mahogany of the table. "I can overrun his offers, if I propose to her, as a husband, of course, I would help her. Even as the future king I would have weaved stronger bonds with our allies, there's nothing wrong with that."

"It's not that simple, Sougo," Kondo shook his head. "The Hongo family is important for our country, we can't afford to anger them either. There's also something else."

"If she marries you then that China gi—no, Kagura-sama will become your wife and the queen of Edo. Then, it's only expected of her to stay here and shoulder the weight of your duty as a king, but you know her better than us, Sougo, does she want to become a foreigner's wife, another country's queen?"

"Isn't it the same if she marries that Hongo brat?" He cocked an eyebrow, wondering if both of his advisers became muddled.

"Earlier, they announced that if the princess is willing to marry their heir then he would be removed of his role and become Kouan's prince, Izanami-sama is to become the heiress, that or her husband."

Me.

"They are a greedy family." The Hongo family wasn't so simple. They never had never been simple. "They want to both have the favour of Kouan's king and mine. Do they still expect me to marry her?" He frowned.

Hijikata nodded, the room became suddenly silent as Sougo turned his back, looking through the windows. At another time he would be able to see her running around, dashing towards his study to bring the food he liked so much and they would spend their time here, only the two of them. Despite the irritation, he knew she feigned and her harsh words she would still listen to him, chatting idly. And now that she was gone he understood how much he cared for the short, fragments of a moment they would spend.

"I won't marry her," he ended declaring. "Unless China says 'no' then I won't abandon the idea, I will find a way."

Kondo seemed to be relieved by his determination and surprisingly, Hijikata too. That man had been tried to reason earnestly with him as if he were mad yet the moment he shifted to them again Hijikata sighed out of relief and looked at him with emotions he couldn't understand. They were pained yet there was almost pride in them.

"Understood."

"When are they arriving?"

"In four or five days. The king is coming with the princess and Hongo-sama while the young prince is staying in Kouan to hunt rebels and wards them off for the meeting."

Five days were short. In just five days he will be able to see her again, to talk to her but he knew. Those fives days were going to create more distance than he would have wanted, because they wouldn't be Sadist and China but the prince of Edo and the princess of Kouan. Nevertheless, he was going to try because all the time they spent couldn't be forgotten already.

Kagura felt prouder than she had been for years. As soon as she had returned to the country Umibozu announced her to their people for the first time, that there had been a princess who worked for the country. Someone to support them, one more pillar to their fledging reign and one more promise that they will help Kouan grow— grow into a beautiful country that could provide everything the families needed.

"Kagura," her father looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay? You can stay with Kamui here if you want to."

She started to participate in meetings now and her opinion was taken to be of the same weight as Kamui or Umibozu, she wasn't much of a military strategist but she was good at structuring the country into a more stable one and understood well enough economy and foreign relations which caused the palace advisers to take her to be a secret genius. They were wrong. She learnt the fundamentals along Kamui when she spied on his classes but Kouan's education could only do that much; Sougo showed her new viewpoints and things she had no idea existed. He didn't do it to teach her but they spent hours just chatting, eventually, it would lead him to talk about what was happening, what did he plan and what bothered him. Edo was far more advanced than Kouan and what happened to Edo was bound to happen to Kouan as well, as kingdoms tend to resemble each other in its finality.

"I'm good," she shook her head, "it's probably going to be easier if I go there."

After all, I know that stupid Sadist.

"I heard from Kamui-san that you were quite close to our prince, Kagura-san, is it true?" Kagura had yet to get accustomed to Hisashi's gentle and kind voice nor his loving eyes. In the end, they did get introduced to each other, though in a rather unexpected situation but there had been no talk about their marriage so far. Hisashi wasn't impatient either: he tried to befriend her and she didn't dislike that. She could see how much the Hongo family could bring to the country yet she stayed still reticent at the idea of marrying him— that reticence, she felt, grew even stronger than before she escaped. And the man wasn't even bad.

No. Hisashi was the personification of a gentle prince. He was attentive to her needs and feelings, respected her incredibly and was wiser than he let others see.

And yet. And yet there was no future with him and if there was she could neither see or imagine it.

"I guess I am," Kagura carefully laid down her words. She didn't want to hurt Hisashi, he became a nice friend to discuss with. He was fun, both frail and confident, strong despite his timid nature which surprised her— she thought him to be another noble who never fought, brought to the world with a silver spoon but he wasn't, or didn't act like so. He had studied Kouan ever since he met her and, at the same time, fell helplessly for her and she grew surprised by his accurate deductions and analysis of her country. "I was his sparring partner and... friend? Something like that."

"I'm jealous," Hisashi laughed, his green eyes sparkled with mirth rather than jealousy. "But at the same time, I'm happy I can learn more about you Kagura-san. You must really be amazing if our prince treated you as a friend, he's flippant to everyone else."

She blushed, using the long sleeve of her dress to hide the flush. She wasn't used to this. She didn't know if she wanted to become used to it, the way he stared at her as if she were everything to him— like a goddess who'd have fallen from the moon. With the days she spent at the castle— Edo's— she had forgotten how much of a woman she became. Slowly her body had become like her mami's, curved yet delicate and the silk would fall and fold nicely around her. She had kept her outfits humble; now wasn't the time to show off but with gold brooches pinned into her hair she fell different. She fell more like the imperial Kagura, princess of Kouan, daughter of Umibozu and Kouka and who would never bow down.

"Thank you, Hisashi-kun."

"Well, enough of the chit-chat," her brother's half-amused tone echoed. Kamui coughed, catching further their attention and slammed down the scroll he had to the table.

"We need Edo to send us weapons, we have the soldiers— soon enough we'll gather all of them— but we don't have the weapons. We have swords and lances but who knows what the rebels could have gotten into their hands, we need to be prepared." Kamui's rough hand brushed the scroll, his finger led to the second point. "But you're also going to explain our plan. They need to think of us as equal allies, not a weak country politicking them for cheap help. If all things go well we shall teach their soldiers how to fight, if they teach us weaponry."

Kouan was a rain-pounded country, they barely produced greens but they stood out by their military. The Yato, since a long time ago, survive by warring others and their military, their strategies necessarily became top class but the knowledge was so spread it was followed by waves of rebels, of unification and division. However, Yato had no more than their military and the room became silent as the mention of leaking their secrets, the art their ancestors perfected to foreigners, of all things.

"Are you sure about it, son?"

"Well, I had the idea but I wasn't sure but Kagura thinks it's necessary. She also trusts Edo to not betray us."

"They won't."

"Why are you so sure of it," Kamui's gaze shifted to hers, "sister of mine?"

"If they provide help to us then we can provide them help with borders. Borders are always a threat, yes? People will always fight even for one more rock into their territory, and once we are stable we will be able to trade."

"Trade what? Our soil is poor, the rain beat it too much."

"Silk," Kagura counted on her fingers, "that's one. They don't have a lot in Edo and the nobles love it. Second, we still have plants that do not exist in their sunny country. Our food and medicine could interest them a lot."

"That's nice to touch, Kagura-chan." Otae admired the handkerchief— Kagura told her it was an important souvenir of her mother, a silk handkerchief.

"This tastes good," Okita said like a kid discovering sweets.

"I feel better now," Gintoki scratched his head. "What was inside this soup? Wasn't it just a broth?"

"There's a lot of things that could be exchanged."

Hisashi agreed, "Kagura-san's right. My house is one of the biggest merchants in Edo and many times people expressed curiosity to Kouan's items. The solid perfumes were popular with the women and the paper with scholars. Kamui-san, I think both Edo and Kouan would profit from a strong union, as there is no reason to be in war. Kouan is friendlier to us than our northern borders."

"Well," Kamui rolled up the scroll again and offered it to Kagura. "In the end, it's the prince's decision to help us or not— in other words, it's gonna be on you this time Kagura."

"I know," Kagura felt pride swell up from her chest and surge through her whole body. Kamui and Umibozu smiled at her. "I can do it, trust me."