A/N: Story cross posted in AO3. I honestly find it easier to navigate their system.

As the Yorozuya entered the Shinsengumi compound that night, Kagura wrinkled her nose at the sight of some of the men who were already drunk. Kondo had invited them to his birthday party. Gin-chan, of course, was delighted at the prospect of free alcohol. Kagura herself didn't mind free food. Shinpachi was there to guard his sister who had attended with a few other girls from Snack Smile.

When they arrived, Gin-chan made a beeline for the open bar while Shinpachi headed straight to his sister. Kagura scanned the room. Kondo had gone all out for his party. He had invited a lot of civilians who were milling around. It looked like everyone was having a good time. The birthday boy himself was glued to Otae's side. She could see Otae struggling to rein in her temper to be nice to Kondo on his birthday. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the sadist drinking with a group of his men and a couple of clearly fawning girls. As if he sensed her looking at him, he met her gaze with a smirk. He raised his cup of sake as a greeting. She scowled at him, irritated at seeing his cocky face. Though they had gotten older, they were still as competitive as ever - maybe even more so. Previously, their rivalry would often degrade into senseless violence and destruction, but now that they were older, they were able to control themselves and refrain from destroying their surroundings (most of the time). They competed over anything and everything under the sun - from rock, paper scissors, to darts, soccer and all kinds of sports, to the most number of people scared during Halloween and even to selling the most number of cookies for charity (the Shinsengumi were trying to cultivate a better image for the public). The current tally was 212-211. In favor of the sadist.

As she sharply turned away in annoyance, she bumped into a Shinsengumi officer that she hadn't met before.

The officer jumped back and apologized profusely. "I'm so sorry, Kagura-san. I didn't mean to bump into you. I-I was going to ask you if you would like a drink?" He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, his ears turning bright red.

Kagura blinked at him in slight confusion at the sudden invitation. The man shuffled awkwardly as he waited for Kagura to respond. Finally, she shrugged, gave him a sweet smile and said, "Do you have any food? I'm starving too. Stupid Gin-chan didn't buy groceries again."

"Uh, y-yeah, I-I can have a look in the kitchen for you."

"Great, finally, a tax-robber who helps the people!" She flashed him another smile and moved to follow him to the kitchen. She was so preoccupied with the thought of food that she hadn't noticed Sougo watching the exchange intently. He moved to stand, shaking off the arm of an overly flirtatious woman.

The beaming Shinsengumi officer with Kagura introduced himself as just having joined the police force and gushed about her fighting prowess which he had witnessed during one of her spars with Captain Okita. In fact, he was just about to ask her if she could perhaps teach him some of her techniques when another officer suddenly appeared and grabbed his arm.

"Ken, I need to talk to you about the case you're handling. It's urgent."

Ken looked at him perplexed and asked, "What case? I'm kind of busy at the moment."

The other officer tugged his arm insistently, giving discreet sideward glances at something or someone behind Kagura. "It's really important, Ken. You could say it's a matter of life or death." He hissed, giving meaningful glances at whatever was behind Kagura.

Ken, who finally seemed to get the message, paled and quickly excused himself. Both officers scurried off as Kagura looked on in confusion. "What weirdos. Tax robbers are really all weirdos just like their commander."

As Kagura stood there mulling over whether to look for the kitchen herself, somebody slammed against her shoulder hard. She stumbled forwards a little in surprise then whirled around in anger, already knowing who the culprit was.

"Asshole! I'm going to kill you!"

Sougo gave her a shit-eating grin and said, "Sorry, I wanted to check if the mountain gorilla wearing a dress was real. But, what a shame, a mountain gorilla wearing a dress is still a mountain gorilla."

Kagura quickly glanced down at her dress then narrowed her eyes in anger at Sougo. She had forgone her usual top and pants ensemble and wore a simple sleeveless Cheongsam dress that ended a little above the knee. Now that she was 18, she was starting to dress more ladylike and had put more effort in her appearance. Not that it matters since she had inherited Mami's model genes anyway. Though she didn't show it, she had noticed the lingering glances from men as she walked around the neighborhood. Hell, she even caught the sadist staring at her chest once when they were fighting.

"You fucking chihuahua, why don't you look at yourself. You didn't even bother changing from your smelly rags." Kagura pointedly looked at Sougo's outfit. Sougo was still wearing his uniform albeit without the coat.

Sougo shrugged, "I just finished patrolling. SOMEBODY has to work hard to protect the city, we can't all be useless bottom feeders." He gave her a meaningful glance as he finished his sentence.

Kagura, having had enough, swiftly lifted her right leg to give him a powerful kick which Sougo instantly blocked. She made to launch herself at him when somebody grabbed the collar of her dress from behind. She looked behind her to see the dead fish eyes of her foster father. Sougo, who was about to counter her attack with a punch, was likewise held back by Hijikata.

"Oi, brats. This is not the place. Go outside if you have to." Hijikata warned as he gave Sougo a push on the back.

"Kagura-chan, can't you let poor ol' Gin-chan enjoy a night of free alcohol?"

Kagura pouted, "But Gin-chan, he called me a mountain gorilla wearing a dress."

"Kagura-chan, if the mountain gorilla thinks she is pretty wearing a dress, then she is pretty." Gintoki, who had obviously already drank a significant amount of alcohol, slurred while nodding sagely.

Kagura frowned. Somehow that sounded more like an insult. Before, she could respond, Gintoki started pushing her towards the opposite direction from Sougo. "Come now, just stay away from Souichiro-kun. Just for tonight, hmmm? Give ol' Gin-chan a break."

Kagura rolled her eyes as she knew in her heart that what Gin-chan was doing was useless. They were like two magnets always finding a way to meet again. That sounded romantic but it was definitely not in their case. They would meet again to continue their rivalry.

Sure enough, about half an hour later, Sougo was back at her side with a bottle of Tequila and was challenging her to a drinking contest. Kagura, who would never back down from a challenge, readily accepted.

Kagura woke up with a raging headache. Her body ached all over. She opened her eyes and immediately squeezed them shut again. The light was too fucking bright. Fuck. She was never going drinking again. She groaned and shifted on the futon, trying to get to a more comfortable position. As she moved her leg, she inadvertently hit what seemed to be another person's leg. Her eyes shot open in shock and she felt a chill run down her spine. 'No fucking way,' She thought. The person she had accidentally kicked let out a grunt.

Now that she was more awake, she realised that her surroundings were unfamiliar. 'Shit. Okay, Kagura, calm down. I'm sure that you just got drunk and fell asleep on someone's bed.' Kagura mustered her courage then looked down at her body under the blanket. 'Nope. She was definitely naked. And was that a hickey on her breast?' Kagura could feel panic welling up in her stomach which made her want to puke. She swallowed then took deep breaths. 'Okay. So maybe she had a little fun last night. As long as it's not someone disgusting, it should be ok. God, it better not be Gori or that boring badminton guy. Oh my God. She was going to kill herself if it was Gori.' She shut her eyes and contemplated on what to do. Right. She was going to sneak out and pretend this never happened. Hopefully, that guy (or person!) wouldn't wake up or remember a thing. Fuck, what if they weren't safe. She immediately quelled the thought. One problem at a time.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room. She could see her dress on top of a bookshelf. Her underwear was on the floor a few meters away. 'Now, where were her bra and shoes?' She made to carefully and quietly sit up, her back still facing the stranger but she felt a wave of dizziness and quickly laid back down. Her sudden movements seemed to have woken up her partner who gave a groan and stirred on the futon. She shut her eyes tightly and curled into a ball, praying that he would go back to sleep. Seconds ticked by as she waited to hear steady breathing that signified sleep.

"Fuck." She heard him mutter and her eyes shot open. She stiffened. She knew that voice. Hell, she loathed that voice. 'Oh fucking no.'