Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Hideaki Sorachi. I only own the plot, the ideas and the gag in this fanfiction.

Of Day Offs and Birthdays

In Japan, friends treat you out on your birthdays.

If there was one thing that Okita Sougo didn't like, it was surprises for his birthday.

At his age, it was troublesome, irritating, and he did not welcome the 'surprise' that the Shinsengumi planned for him, but he couldn't say anything if it was the commander himself who planned the surprises. If it was Hijikata, he was more than happy to use his trademark huge-ass bazooka to 'thank' him for the 'wonderful surprise'.

Unfortunately for him, that wish never came true for his birthdays.

This year, however, there had been slight changes in their plans.

Instead of the usual midnight surprises wherein they greet him, give out a huge banquet in his honor and bid him good night until the following day, Kondo Isao had invited him out for drinking. Hijikata, for some reason, wasn't available, claiming that he was going out for patrol duty by the time the drinking session would begin.

At the stroke of midnight, the commander of the Shinsengumi greeted the First Division captain a happy birthday, and treated him to a round of alcoholic drinks, since he was now of legal age. It was raining quite hard on his birthday, as all of the previous years, since his birthday always fell during the rainy season of early summer. With umbrellas resting on their shoulders, he and Kondo headed off to Kabuki-cho for a drink.

In one of the establishments in Kabuki-cho (for some reason, the gorilla had chosen Snacks Otose for their venue), Okita Sougo had nearly gotten very drunk at his first drinking party, and had decided to poison Hijikata the moment he gets invited to the next drinking party. It was only fair, after all, that Hijikata should also be more alert on the attempts and threats on his life; Sougo himself was growing up.

Around two in the morning, Kondo had gotten very drunk and was nearly unruly, like his nickname gorilla. The proprietor of the shop, an old woman called Otose, had nearly thrown them out in the rain, but it had been a good thing that both had managed to grab their umbrellas before stumbling out of the store, with the old lady yelling obscenities at them.

Despite the angry old lady and the unruliness of Kondo, Okita Sougo would admit it to himself that he actually had a good time.

It's been four years since he felt… happy.

Ever since the death of Mitsuba, he hadn't been able to cheer himself up, like he had been hung up on it. The only thing that had always been able to cheer him up was when he had those violent fights with a certain Chinese clothing-clad girl but lately, she herself had been hell-bent on ignoring him, and despite his provocations, she didn't fight back.

Vaguely, he wondered if she hated him all these years.

Sighing lowly to himself, Sougo shook his head to distract him from such thoughts. He hated to admit it, but that train of thought slightlydepressed him.

The commander and the captain headed back to the Shinsengumi Headquarters around three in the morning. To their surprise, Hijikata was still awake, and was currently smoking by the entrance. The downpour was still heavy, and by the time they got to the sheltered part of the headquarters, both their uwagiand hakama had been drenched.

"Hijikata-san." Sougo said, his eyes cold and emotionless.

Hijikata inhaled and blew out a puff of smoke. "Sougo." He intoned, staring at the younger male. "You might not want to be noisy right now." He said again, looking at younger male.

"And why shouldn't I?"

"We have a guest."

As he made his way into the compound, he hastily walked to his room, not caring if Hijikata had warned him about the unexpected visitor. If he was going to be noisy, he'll do just that. The visitor should know better than go against him. Opening the shouji leading to his room, he pulled it apart and the next scene had nearly shocked him.

On the futon laid a girl clad in her bra and her panties, sprawled on her back and whose legs were folded upward, her knees arched and pointed at his way.

Sougo blinked for a few times before wondering who the hell it was in his room until he saw the color of her hair and—

'What the hell is China doing in my room?'

Suddenly, he felt so uncomfortable and warm all over, despite the wetness of his clothes. Was this a joke? If it was, someone was going to die right now, and the first would be the mayo freak and then-

"Gin-chan, you idiot..." She mumbled the name so softly yet it reeked of so much hatred.

He vaguely wondered why the hell danna's name had appeared in her dreams all of a sudden. "Oi, China, get out of my room." He said, shaking her violently to wake her up. Knowing her, she'd probably thrash him when she woke up, and his sadistic side was telling him to provoke her more.

In contrast to before when she was hard to rouse, this time around, Kagura's azure eyes flapped open, and was staring at the blood red eyes hovering over her face. "... You're not Mayora." She stated weakly as she blinked over and over again to let her vision focus.

"Obviously." Sarcasm dripped heavily from his tone. "Now get out of my room."

"This is Mayora's room!" She argued back, staring at him in anger. "Where is he anyway?"

For once in his life, he wanted Hijikata to just drop down and die right now. He wordlessly stared at the female Yato and tried his best to calm down the rage that was building up inside him.

Why was she asking for Hijikata anyway?

"Sadist, didn't you hear me? Where's Mayora?" Suddenly, she stood up, half-naked form be damned and her long vermillion-colored hair, which reached the middle of her back, sticking to her skin. Sougo tried to focus his attention at her face, but his eyes kept wandering down south, to her chest and—"

On the floor was the trademark black coat of the Shinsengumi. He deduced that she had probably used it to keep herself warm and it had come from Hijikata.

'Hijikata-san, seriously.'

"China, get out of here." He said with a barely restrained anger evident in his tone.

"... Mayora has my clothes-"

At this, he finally snapped. "Hijikata-san's room is next to mine. Now get out." Despite feeling the rage and itching to finish off the vice-commander, Sougo had managed to say it so calmly.

She glared at him. "Why are you so angry, sadist?" she asked, bending down in front of him to retrieve Hijikata's jacket, unconsciously distracting the sandy brown-haired officer. "I was just asking."

"Just get the hell out of here, China." The poker-faced expression was back. "I'll arrest you for trespassing."

Kagura slipped on the jacket, and he noticed how the jacket had fitted her poorly, with it being too large for her small frame.

"Really, China? Wearing Hijikata-san's coat, even if it smells like mayonnaise?" He felt bitter all of a sudden.

'So you'd rather play with mayo freak.'

Ever since last year, whenever he tried to provoke her, she would ignore him, claiming that a lady never lost her temper violently. Her anego(Okita deduced it was that lady whom Kondo-san was stalking), she said, was her role model, and the epitome of womanliness who taught her how to be more lady-like.

And so, he provoked her all the time anyway, though she never got violent anymore. A glare, a finger gesture, or, her best response, ignore him. He tried, anyway, just to see how far she could go without exploding violently, a trait of hers.

So far, he hadn't been successful, but right now, during the wee hours of the morning on his birthday, the the lone female member of Odd Jobs Gin-chan looked like she wanted to kill him right now.

She finally gave in to his provocations, but he was still bothered by the thought that she hated him.

"Idiot sadist. You think I have a thing for Mayora?" She grimaced at the thought. "Gin-chan won't allow it, nor will he believe it, unlike you."

"Now, now, you'll hurt my feelings. I'll have you arrested for that." He said emotionlessly, slightly relieved at the fact that she herself denied it, but that still didn't mean that she was telling the truth. Over time, China had become more adept at lying.

"And I don't like him." She continued, as if he hadn't given out the threat.

"Good for you. Now leave."

"You're really asking me to leave?" she asked again, trying to hide the hurt in her tone. "In the rain?"

"You have an umbrella, don't you? That's a standard for a Yato like you. You can walk home." He said coldly. It was clear that he wanted her out.

"No, I forgot mine. I was… in a hurry." Or more like, I wandered aimlessly and I ended up getting drenched.

She had heard of this festival called Tanabata wherein the two lovers in the tale could only meet once a year. Because of the light rain that night, she knew that it would be another year again before the lovers would meet again. When she pointed it out to both Shinpachi and Gintoki, they only gave her a blank stare before going back to whatever it was that they were doing; in this case, the jimi in their group continued listening again to his Otsuu CD while Gin-chan continued with his Jump reading. In her anger at being ignored, she had ran out on them, wandering about for a few minutes in Kabuki-cho until it began to rain heavily.

Because of her Yato heritage, she welcomed the rain, and the feel of it on her skin. She actually didn't mind getting all wet since it was better than standing under the sun.

Her fun was over when Mayora came to the scene and asked what the hell she was doing wandering around at midnight.

"I'm taking a midnight stroll." She said.

"Now's not the time to be wandering around, especially a girl like you, human or Yato. Come on, I'm taking you to headquarters."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, mayo freak!" she stated angrily.

"Even if we're having a banquet right now?" he asked, knowing that the girl would never ever turn down food.

"Hmph. Fine, I'm going." She said, following him, refusing to go under the umbrella he was holding over his head. "Are you tax robbers celebrating Tanabata or something?"

"Ah, no. It's Sougo's birthday, and Kondo-san had a banquet for the Shinsengumi while he brought him to some drinking place. Snacks—something." He rubbed his head.

"Snacks Otose?" she suddenly felt nervous.

"Yeah, that." He said.

Kagura felt a little relieved and just a bit disappointed with the fact that she didn't get to see him, something that confused her greatly.

It started last year, when she had turned fifteen. Whenever she saw the sadist, her heart would flutter, and the urge to hide and stare at him from the distance. At times, when he talked to her, she would suddenly go into this weird mode wherein she noticed every little thing about him, about how he was growing taller than her, how his deadpan expression was cute that she knew it was an Okita Sougo trademark and how (she blushed at this) she called him 'Sougo-kun' in her mind.

Why was fifteen such a difficult age…?

This was probably the side-effects of being on Earth for so long.

She was becoming sick and turning into something she was unfamiliar with.

Panicking, the female Yato literally ran to her anego for advice, and while Otae tried not to laugh as Kagura explained her 'symptoms', she gave several advices to the girl, and one of which was, "Ignore him."

"Really?" she asked. "But what if he provokes me?" it was well-known that the first captain loved to provoke her, ranging from the baseless comments ("monster girl") to those that really got on her nerves ("you're such a weakling").

"Ignore him still. Make him know that you don't care about him provoking you."

And so, she found herself inside the Shinsengumi compound eating all of the food that was laid in front of her. Before she knew it, she had consumed the whole banquet and declared that she was going back to the Yorozuya.

"Stay the night." Hijikata commented, lighting up a cigarette.

"Gin-chan won't be happy with me staying here." Just like her anego, she had to protect her virtue. She was in a compound filled with men, after all, since the Shinsengumi was an all-male group. "And I—" before she could even finish her sentence, she sneezed hard enough that snot shot out of her nose.

Hijikata Toushirou tried hard not to grimace at the sight. "You can stay at my room. I'll sleep somewhere else."

"Are you really sure about that, Mayora?" she asked him again, azure eyes filled with suspicion.

"I'll commit seppuku if I would even dare to go to my room during the time you're staying there."

Now that she thought about it…

She looked at her surroundings and realized that the room Mayora had put her in in the first place had really belonged to sadist, and not his.

'My clothes…!'The clothes that she had handed to him through the shoujiwhen he had told her to settle in had now been kept hostage, and the black Shinsengumi coat that he had told her to borrow for the meantime to keep her warm had been Sougo's and…

Suddenly, her knees gave in and down she went to the futon, her cheeks a bright red.

Kagura suddenly wanted the floor to swallow her whole. "GAAAAAAH!"

"What now, China? And stop screaming. It's four in the morning, and people are sleeping—"

"I AM GOING TO KILL THAT MAYO FREAK FOR SETTING ME UP, THAT BASTARD—"

Now that she realized it, that bastard had probably planned to make her stay at Okita Sougo's room all along and embarrass her. Or him.

Or both of them.

Either way…

"Fucking damn it." She cursed angrily. "That Mayora had dared to set me up—"

"What the hell are you talking about?" the owner of the room asked.

"Mayora invited me here for some Tanabata banquet or something, and he told me to stay the night." At his glare, she hastily added, "Then he led me to this room and said that I could use one of the coats inside the cabinet to keep me warm…"

Sougo bent down to pick it up. "So this is mine. And you've been using it."

She nodded hastily, totally embarrassed. "It was cold, okay? And my clothes are nowhere to be found and—"

"China, just for once, shut up."

"No! You shut up! I'm outta here!" she said, standing up from the futon, getting ready to leave, her half-naked state not bothering her. Who the hell would even dare look at her when she was all plains and no mountains?

Sougo grabbed her wrist. "You're not going out there and run around an all-male compound in that—"

"What? You told me to get out. I'm tired, sleepy and cold. I'm going back to Yorozuya. Those idiots probably never even noticed I'm gone." She sighed, and Sougo knew it was more of a sigh of disappointment because her 'family' hadn't even cared. "See you—"

A soft thud, and she only realized she had fallen down the futon again was when her backside had hit the bedding, and that the sadist was kneeling in front of her, eye-to-eye. "W-wha—"

"Shut up, China."

"Don't tell me what to—"

"I'll only say this once." He said with all seriousness that Kagura had been stunned into silence. At this, he smirked inwardly. "Listen up, because I won't repeat this ever again, and if you ask me about this, I'll deny every damn thing you'll accuse me of.

"From here onwards, until the clock strikes twelve-o-one on July 9, my sadistic streak will take a day off." He said in his usual monotonous way. "China, for once, I suggest you take advantage of this and—" before he could continue, Kagura had tackled him, pressing her mouth against his.

She hadn't kissed someone on the lips until this very moment, so she had no idea what to do. The sandy-haired young man beneath her, however, ran a hand down her back and kept kissing her with so much fervor that she wondered if this was the same sadist that had been tormenting her when she was fourteen.

When they broke apart, he was smirking at her. "You never waste your time, do you, China?"

"It's Kagura." She said.

He blinked, clearly at a loss for words. "China." He repeated.

"You said you would 'turn off' that sadist mode of yours!" she screeched, clearly at her wits' end.

"It doesn't mean I can't tease you." He shot back, staring right at her. "You're just granted full immunity of the violence."

She huffed. "Fine, if you say so." Grabbing the black coat from him, she used it to wrap it around her body and stood up.

"Not bad. You look good in my clothes." He said it so arrogantly that she blushed a deep red, not knowing what to say. He gave out a mocking sigh. "Come on, China, that was actually a compliment."

"Whatever!" she stuck out her tongue at him, a childish trait she had yet to get out of her system. "I'm borrowing this. I'll give it back to you whenever—"

"Stay with me."

She wasn't sure if she heard it right. "W-what…?"

"Stay with me. I'm not going to repeat that." Curiously, his face was turning a bright red, and he refused to look her way.

"Fine. I'll stay, only because you asked me so nicely—"down she went to the futon, and immediately, Okita Sougo had wrapped his arms around her. "Sougo, your clothes are drenched. Take them off." Kagura stated before blushing yet again.

"… Did you just say…"

She looked away. "Yes, I did. Now get out of those wet clothes before you catch a cold."

A rustling of fabric was heard, and before she knew it, Sougo had wrapped his arms around her again, her back pressing against his bare chest. Kagura tried her best not to get bothered with the fact that she was sleeping on the same futon as the sadist who had been a total jerk to her since the first time they met, and how he had promised to turn off that sadistic mode of his only for her, on his birthday.

"Happy birthday, Sougo…" she whispered before she got lulled back to sleep.

He woke up at ten in the morning of his birthday being stared at by China, whose azure blue eyes were aimed at his face. He tried to put on his poker face look, but somehow, he couldn't contain what he was feeling right now. "China." He greeted with a small smile on his face.

"Kagura." She corrected him, though she was smiling back. "Get it right, Sougo."

"And that's the third time you called me by my name." he intoned, smirking at her. "Are you going to call me that from now on?"

"As if." She huffed at him. "It's only reserved for one special day every year, and once the clock strikes midnight tonight, I won't say it anymore."

"Copycat." He said before kissing her again.

They woke up again in the afternoon when the rapping of knuckles against Okita's shouji began.

"Sougo, wake up! You have visitors!" Kondo Isao yelled, and Kagura could detect that there was a slight panic in his tone.

"Souichiro-kun! Where's my daughter?" came the voice of the danna of the Yorozuya Gin-chan. "SOUICHIRO! Open this damn—" a kick against the lattice door, and down it went, nearly hitting the two of them, missing Kagura by a few inches. By then, Kagura had wrapped the futon around her to cover herself while Okita had stood up by then, staring at them with the usual poker-faced expression, clad in his boxers. The difference, however, was that there was rage in his blood red irises.

"Danna." He greeted in an even tone. "Good afternoon to you too."

"Kagura!" the silver-haired proprietor of Yorozuya kneeled in front of the futon-wrapped female Yato. "Did that asshole stole your virtue? Tell daddy so he can kill him for you!"

"I'm fine, Gin-chan! Really!" she said, frowning at him. "Anegotaught me to protect myself, you know. Let's just go home."

Sakata Gintoki nodded over and over again. "Let's do that. And no more going out of the house past your bedtime, young lady!" he said dramatically. "Did you know how worried we were about you?

She rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "Yes, dad. I won't do it ever again." She said, all the while looking at Okita, who flashed a smirk.

Hijikata had handed her back her trademark red clothes, and after being allowed some privacy by both Hijikata and Gin-chan, she began putting on her clothes.

"Is this some kind of peep show? If it is, you're not doing it right, China." Sougo commented, lying sideward on his futon while she was putting on her pants.

She could only roll her eyes at him, not wanting to ruin the moment. Kagura was putting on her top when he spoke again.

"Can I see you again tonight?"

Kagura's head snapped up to meet his. "Oh! Uh, sure. I'll sneak out then." She told him, crawling on the floor to steal a kiss from his lips. Another kiss, this time, initiated by him, and before they knew it, Sougo was top of her, kissing her deeply.

By the time they had pulled away, Gintoki was back, and was quite ready to leave. Kagura nodded her thanks to Hijikata, all the while looking at Okita Sougo, who was looking at her with his usual deadpan stare, hiding his true emotions.

Epilogue:

"Gin-chan and Shinpachi kept asking me where I was going…"

The two of them had found themselves at Sougo's room for a second night in a row (the broken lattice door had been fixed with post haste, with him demanding that it be fixed in an hour's time before she arrived), but this time, minus all of the misunderstandings that happened last night. Kagura had wanted nothing more than to cuddle in his arms while Sougo, as much as he hated to admit it, felt the same.

By far, this was the best birthday he had ever celebrated.

"And what did you tell them?" he asked.

"I said I was going at anego's place." She stated. "And that I won't be home until tomorrow afternoon. She already covered for me." It had been Shimura Otae who had suggested this night rendezvous after knowing some of the details from the Yato clan member. Kagura wouldn't dare mention all of the events that happened that night.

"Good. You have two hours left." He said, earning a playful punch on his arm. "What? It's true."

"What, your birthday is the new Tanabata?" she asked. "You'll turn off your sadistic side once a year?"

"Probably."

And so, it never ceased to amaze the people around them on how Okita Sougo, first division captain of the Shinsengumi and Kagura, member of the Yorozuya Gin-chan trio, could act like they were rivals during the rest of the remaining calendar days yet act like lovers on the day of Okita Sougo's birthday. Even on Valentine's Day and White Day, the showings of romantic gestures were laced with violence and strife that no one would ever believe that they had a thing going on for each other.

All of them still hadn't figured out what had happened during Sougo's 20th birthday, but one could only conclude that just like the Tanabata Festival, there was one day every year wherein Okita Sougo wasn't his usual self. No one said it out loud, but they knew.

And with that, on his 21st birthday, Sougo had taken a day-off and was spotted going to a love hotel with a certain female Yato, prompting rage from the 'family' of the female ("How dare you force yourself on our sweet and innocent Kagura-chan!") and tears of joy from the commander of the Shinsengumi ("Look, Toshi, our little boy is growing up!").

It was very un-Sougo-like, they remarked.

But then again, ever since his 20th birthday, he usually was un-Sougo-like during his birthdays.

This is my first ever OkiKagu fic for the fandom, and I hope I did it right! Apologies for OOC problems, since I'm still trying my best to learn their characters and how they call each other. It's weird that the Japanese manage to portray Sougo as having a kind side towards Kagura when I have this notion that he's just one huge sadist. XD;

I have another fanfiction waiting to be written, and it's another OkiKagu. I hope to get it done ASAP.

Also, happy birthday to Bakaiser, Prince of Sadist, King of the Planet of Sadists, Okita Sougo! 8DDDD