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Kamui, the Captain of the Harusame’s 7th Division was feared across the universe as violent and power hungry, revered as one of, if not the strongest fighter in the organization. The mere mention of his name sent shivers down this enemies’ spines–yet there he was–pouting about being unable to land on Earth for the third time that week. Abuto, the responsible and level-headed Vice-Captain, was starting to get exasperated with his boss’ antics. How many times did they need to land on that planet for “supplies” or “fuel.” They had enough supplies to last them for a few months, as well as dozens of fuel tanks from the previous “supply stops.”
“Why can’t we stop by Earth again, do you want me to kill you Abuto?” Kamui complained, as he reclined backwards on his chair, spinning from side to side. With every spin, the chair gave out an annoying creak, which was already giving Abuto a bigger headache than having to deal with his enigmatic boss.
“We don’t have any good reason to. Besides, we need to travel to that other planet and pick up the sword. You know, the one you left a custom order for.” Abuto recalled, as he walked towards the chair and placed a firm grip on the handle.
Kamui perked up at the mention of the sword. He had completely forgotten that he would be able to pick it up today. The sword was not for himself, but was a gift for Okita Sougo, Kamui’s rival and special friend. Everyone knew the reason Kamui wanted to stop by Earth so much was to spend time with him. Abuto, having known Kamui for years and practically raising him after the young Yato left his family, knew better than anyone that Kamui held a special affection for the samurai. Kamui on the other hand, was oblivious to his own feelings; he knew he loved spending time with Sougo–that he would even challenge him to arm-wrestling matches, just to have an excuse to hold his hand, he would even feed him with his own chopsticks all under the guise of teasing him–yet he had not realized exactly why.
“That chair’s too loud, it's giving me a headache. If you stop spinning and whining, I’ll let you go to Earth after we get the sword.” Abuto could never say no to Kamui, sometimes he blamed himself for how the Yato had turned out. He did spoil him a bit while raising him. Despite everything, he was happy that Kamui had finally found someone that made him happy. Kamui of all people deserved a bit of happiness, considering all he had been through.
“Tell the pilot to hurry it up then, we have to get to Earth before it’s lunch time.” Kamui quickly stood up and stared out the window, as the nearby stars zipped past them in record speed.
“So, have you told him yet?” Abuto raised an eyebrow, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.
“About the sword? No, it’s a surprise. Old men really are dumb huh, do you have dementia or something?”
Kamui noticed the familiar starscape, he knew they were close to the planet with the legendary blacksmith that he had entrusted in forging the strongest sword for Sougo. Kamui had spent a small fortune on the sword, wanting it to be perfect. His reasoning being that Sougo needed a strong sword to be able to keep up with him.
“No, I mean about..” Abuto trailed off, wondering if he should even finish the sentence. If Kamui was in a bad mood, he might just destroy his other arm as well. He decided that it would be for the best to address the lingering question, knowing Kamui, he probably still hadn't understood his own feelings to begin with. “You like him.”
Kamui stared at Abuto as if he was stupid, “Of course I like him, he’s my battle partner.”
The Vice-Commander just sighed, being used to Kamui’s obliviousness towards his own emotions. “I mean like him as more than a battle partner.”
“As a best friend? I don’t really think we’re best friends though. It feels like there’s something more to me.” The hungry Yato rummaged through the boxes of snacks from Earth, looking for the watermelon flavored bubblegum that reminded him of Sougo.
“Exactly. You like him.” That was surprisingly easy, Abuto was almost impressed at the usually battle-obsessed fool having contemplated his own emotions.
“Yes Abuto, I told you already, he’s my rival. I like him being my battle partner.” Kamui unwrapped three sticks of bubblegum and placed them all in his mouth at once, one was never enough for him.
“Battle partners don’t just go get dinner and lunch together on a regular basis, nor do they give each other custom made swords.” The older man chose his words carefully, so as to not upset his temperamental captain.
“I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Are you sure you don’t have dementia?”
Abuto raised both of his hands in the air in defeat. Suddenly, he was struck with a great idea and revealed a book with pink hearts and flowers on the cover. He would never admit it, but he enjoyed reading romance novels, despite his age and rough exterior.
“One of the new recruits left his book behind, so I was reading it just to make fun of it. Take a look, it might help you with your problem, you know.”
“What problem, do you think I’m getting distracted from work because of him or something?” Kamui attempted to blow a bubble, as he had seen Sougo do in the past, but gave up after the second try. He would have to ask the samurai how to make bubbles with gum the next time he saw him.
“No, I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. Nobody here does. Everyone has been talking about how they’re glad you have someone in your life now. I hope you know that you are still our Captain no matter what.” Abuto turned the book to a specific page that was suspiciously marked off.
Kamui grabbed the book from his hands and began reading the page–it detailed a confession scene from a ridiculously cheesy romance novel. “Is this the kind of thing you read in your spare time? Maybe you’re the one getting distracted from work.”
“No, what I mean is, don’t you want to be more than just battle partners with him? How I see it, you’re been happier since he came into your life. You even spent a small fortune to get him a gift. You like spending time with him don’t you? Hell, you’re even trying to get back to Earth quickly to have lunch with him. That’s the kind of thing that partners do” Abuto sighed, hoping that he didn’t misspeak and was not on track to losing his remaining arm.
Kamui didn’t say anything, as he was engrossed in reading the novel. He quickly turned the pages, scanning through the scenes. “Wait, people only feed each other and hold hands after confessing? I already did that with him a while ago. See, I told you, me and Sougo already are more than just friends.”
Abuto gaped at Kamui with an incredulous expression upon hearing his words. He knew the Captain was oblivious, but he didn’t know the true extent. “No, you have to tell him you like him too. Turn to page 346, the guy confesses with flowers and a gift. You should do the same too.”
Kamui quickly scanned the page, the thought of doing the things described in the book with Sougo sent a warm feeling through his chest. Maybe the old man was right about something, maybe he did want to be more than just battle partners with Sougo. “That might not be a bad idea actually, can we make a detour?”
-
Meanwhile on Earth, Sougo was busy planning how he would torment Hijikata–It was April Fools after all. Sougo particularly enjoyed the holiday because it meant he could pull any stunt he wanted to and blame it on a prank. Sougo had bought the entire supply of mayonnaise early that morning, and he planned on wasting all of it in front of the Vice-Chief. However, he was rudely interrupted before he could carry out the plan.
“Oi, Sougo I know you bought all of the Mayonnaise. Give it back.” Hijikata expertly hooked his blade through the handle of the plastic bags, claiming the mayonnaise that was rightfully his. “Go bother your space criminal, I’m sure he’d like that more.”
“Die Hijikata. I paid for that, aren’t you supposed to be a cop, why are you resorting to petty theft.” Sougo grabbed a bottle out of the second bag that was still in his grasp, and began wasting the mayonnaise in front of Hijikata. “Besides, he’s not my criminal.”
Hijikata smirked at the younger samurai, knowing that Sougo of all people definitely would not have admitted his own feelings yet. Everyone in the Shinsengumi could tell that the two had feelings deeper than friends for each other, except the two idiots. “You haven’t been as lethal recently, normally on April Fools, you’d have planted a bomb in my room. Instead you’re just wasting my mayonnaise.”
“What are you talking about, psychological torture is way better than physical.” Sougo glared at the mayonnaise fiend. He had thought that wasting his favorite condiment would have upset him more than an attempt at his life. He knew he was right, when he could see the older man was holding back tears.
Hijikata pulled out his familiar lighter and lit up a cigarette, while contemplating his next words carefully. “You know, you’ve been happier since you met him too. I hope you know that everyone here would support you no matter what.”
Sougo stopped his mayonnaise wasting and stared at Hijikata as if he had grown a second head. Was he that obvious? He thought that he was doing a good job of keeping his complicated feelings for Kamui hidden. “Is the mayo-withdrawal getting to you. Maybe the psychological torture was more effective than I thought it would be.”
“Sougo. You need to allow yourself to be happy and address your own feelings for once.” He blew out a puff of smoke absentmindedly.
“Is this your idea of a funny joke?” Sougo swiftly drew his blade in warning, not wanting Hijikata of all people to give him a lecture on love.
Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from above the Shinsengumi compounds. The pair looked up to see the familiar Harusame spaceship shooting flowers out of it’s cannon as Kamui leaped from the deck of the ship. Sougo recognized the red hair and purple umbrella anywhere–it belonged to the criminal in question. As the flowers fell closer to the ground, Sougo could tell they were Spider Lilies. The flowers looked beautiful in the afternoon sun, gently falling, in contrast to the Yato who was crashing down. Kamui flailed his arms as he opened his umbrella to control his momentum, creating a crack with his landing.
“Did you miss me~” Kamui flashed his signature smile at Sougo. He caught a lone spider lily that was falling and offered it to the samurai. Sougo felt his heart rate increase at the gesture. What the hell had just happened. He stared at Kamui’s familiar strong hand, the same hand that he had clashed against numerous times, which was now offering him a flower.
“What are you doing, most people would not be firing cannons at the Shinsengumi headquarters.” Sougo observed the flower with suspicion, yet he still accepted it and quickly shoved it in his pocket. He noticed the Yato held a peculiar sword in his other hand, which was odd considering he fought with his fists.
“I’m a criminal afterall, besides I had to tell you something important.” Kamui had an unreadable expression, as he extended the sword out to Sougo, “I like you.”
Sougo could do nothing but stare. The nonchalant manner of Kamui’s proclamation and the absurdity of launching flowers out of a cannon left him confused. Realization hit Sougo before he could address the warmth spreading in his chest; he quickly suppressed the feeling after recognizing this all must be an elaborate prank for April Fools. He really must have been that obvious for the Yato to have picked up on his feelings. Sougo felt humiliated; Kamui knew he had feelings for him and was playing the age old prank of confessing on April Fools, wasn’t he?
“Is this your idea of a funny joke.” Sougo spat out, shaking from anger. “Haha, very funny. Now go return that stupid sword, the joke’s over idiot.”
Normally, Kamui would never let anyone talk to him in that manner and make it out alive, Sougo was the exception. He tilted his head in confusion, “Huh?”
Sougo had already turned his back to his rival, balling his fists in rage as he stomped off. Kamui stood dejectedly, gripping the gift with force that would break a normal sword. His knuckles turned white as he felt a plethora of unpleasant emotions overtaking him.
Was this heartbreak? Kamui loosened his grip, careful not to break the expensive gift. He plastered his signature smile, albeit with more force than he ever had. He gave Hijikata a quick nod, before making his leave with haste.
-
“Ouch. That’s rough.” Abuto attempted to cheer up Kamui, who had returned disheartened. He awkwardly pat Kamui on his shoulder, unsure of what to do, or what had even happened. “Maybe he's just a private person and was embarrassed?
“Abuto. He thought it was a joke. He told me he didn’t want the sword and to return it.” Kamui groaned, his appearance befitting that of a sad puppy.
“Come on, don’t just sit there and mope, let’s get food or something.” The older man had never dealt with romantic troubles before, especially not in regards to Kamui. He was used to remedying political situations. This was not a fight that could be fixed with diplomacy–It was a fight that could only be fixed by Kamui.
“I don’t want to get food with you, old man. I want to get food with Sougo.” Kamui whined.
Abuto noted that his complaints were more annoying to deal with than his violent tendencies. At least with problems originating from Kamui’s violence, He could throw money at it and hope it would go away. Upset foreign diplomats were easy to deal with; heartbroken kids were not so easy.
“I know you probably want to avoid him right now, but at least give him the sword. Maybe if you talk in a more… private manner, you could get your feelings across better.”
“No, you’re right. I’m getting distracted from work because of this. I should just leave that sword behind with him and leave him alone for good.”
“I never said that, you definitely shouldn’t just avoid him forever.” Abuto attempted to reason with the younger man, who chose to ignore the comment. “He’s still your battle partner, afterall.”
-
Okita Sougo was not one to dwell on his emotions while moping around, that much was certain. Whenever he felt strong negative emotions, he chose to channel the negativity into killing. Today however, there was no mission, therefore no excuse to kill–which was probably a blessing for his enemies.
It’s not that he wished he had never met Kamui–he was fine as an adversary–Sougo just wished he hadn’t fallen for him. He would be lying to himself if he denied the strong feelings of affection he held for his rival. However, Sougo was still upset at the disgusting way in which his chest was filled with warmth for just a second in response to the fake confession. He wished Kamui didn’t make him feel these unnecessary emotions. He wished he could have just laughed and played along. He felt like an idiot for allowing a joke to upset him to that degree. The fact that it had clearly struck a nerve must have been an even greater indication of his feelings for the annoying redhead.
Sougo slashed away at the wooden mannequins, littering the empty dojo with splintered wood. They were rivals, naturally Kamui would poke fun at the unnecessary feelings of affection that Sougo harbored towards him. He probably thought Sougo was weak, and chose to embarrass him for it. Had he known about the feelings before Sougo himself had even processed it?
Was he antagonizing him when he started begging for arm wrestling matches? Was it because it was obvious that the contact caused Sougo’s heart to always beat ever so slightly faster? Did he know how flustered Sougo felt internally when Kamui fed him with his own chopsticks? He must have known. He must have been thinking about how weak Sougo was the entire time. Was that why he held back during their arm wrestling matches–because he thought he was weak and wanted to rile him up? Psychological torture really was worse than physical.
Hijikata knew Sougo would be practicing alone, having known the samurai since he was very young. He knew if left alone, Sougo would not deal with his emotions, nor would he attempt to reconcile with Kamui. Hijikata knew someone had to push Sougo into addressing his own feelings, otherwise he would sabotage his own happiness and spin a narrative that was far from the truth just as he had once before. He made his way towards the empty dojo where they had their last serious conversation. His suspicions being confirmed as he witnessed the destroyed mannequins.
“I don’t want to see your ugly face right now, Hijikata.” Sougo almost had a dark aura around him as he hacked at the wood.
“Sougo. Stop it.” Hijikata intercepted Sougo’s blade with his own, stopping the younger samurai from destroying the place further. “Quit wasting taxpayer dollars.”
He did not want Hijikata of all people to witness him in his moment of weakness and vulnerability. At least he had the decency to not say anything in the moment, but he knew that he had observed the whole ordeal. Sougo began swinging at Hijikata; a target that was alive was better to project his anger onto anyway.
“You always do this. You always push people who care about you away, and twist the situation to how you see fit.” Hijikata struck back, blocking the hit with his expert swordsmanship. “Allow yourself to be happy for once, damnit.”
“Happy? You think I’d be happy at being made a fool out of? Did you just enjoy seeing me being at the receiving end of a prank?” Sougo could feel the anger returning and overtaking his body yet again. He was mostly angry at himself for feeling the emotions to begin with, but he was also angry at Hijikata for insinuating that he should be happy with a fake confession.
“You still are a dumb kid, aren’t you.” The older man struck his junior with a wooden blade, not wanting to hurt him, but just get his words through. “Did you even stop to consider if they even have April Fools at whatever weird planet he’s from?”
Hijikata’s words interrupted Sougo’s trance of anger; he hadn’t even thought of that. Sougo was so caught up in his emotions; the feelings of affection and hurt clouding his judgement. Kamui probably had no clue what “April Fools” even was. The alien tended to be clueless to earthly customs. This led to yet another realization; Kamui had pulled that over the top scheme with sincerity. The more that he thought about it, the more it just seemed like something Kamui would do.
Sougo felt an unfamiliar feeling of guilt rising in his chest, he had blown Kamui off and just left him in a fit of rage. He wondered where he was now, if he even wanted to see him, and how he must be feeling.
“Sougo. You’re fired until you fix this. Go find him and make things right. Don’t make the same mistakes I did when it comes to love.” Hijikata lowered his sword, glad that he had gotten through to the lunatic.
“You’re the last person I want to be taking love advice from, Hijikata.” Sougo retorted, smiling. “You’re a heartless bastard afterall.”
“You’re a heartless bastard yourself, having rejected someone you love. Now go find him and fix things, their spaceship hasn’t taken off yet.”
-
Kamui contemplated just throwing the sword away, not wanting to further upset his rival. He wanted him to know that even though he didn’t return the feelings, he would always be his battle partner. He opted to write a note and chose to leave it, along with the sword at his door. When Kamui turned to leave, he heard a familiar movement behind him, leaving him face to face with none other than Sougo.
“Sorry, I was just about to leave.” Kamui attempted to flash a weak smile at the samurai, however, the hurt and sadness was evident in his eyes. Sougo felt a deep guilt at having caused the hurt. He had never felt guilty when striking down thousands of opponents and dragging out their deaths; however, he felt immense guilt at causing Kamui sadness. His expression resembled a lost puppy. He knew he had to fix things, and he knew only he could bring his smile back.
“Who said I wanted you to leave?” Sougo stepped closer to Kamui and grabbed his scarf in an attempt to stop him.
Kamui was baffled. Just earlier, he was rejected with more anger than he had ever seen, yet now he was telling him to stay?
“It’s alright, you don’t have to pity me. I have to get back to work soon anyway, you should too.” Kamui could feel his heartbeat increasing at the close proximity. He tried looking anywhere but at Sougo, knowing if he were to make eye contact, his weakness would be revealed.
“I can’t get back to work, I was fired.” Sougo deadpanned, “I was told I can’t go back until I fix things with you.”
“Fix things?” Kamui looked visibly confused. He thought the last thing Sougo wanted was to see him, yet there he was, talking about fixing things?
“Kamui, tell me something. Did you know today was April Fools?”
“What… exactly is April ?” Kamui titled his head in confusion.
Sougo let out a laugh in relief, which further puzzled Kamui. He liked seeing Sougo laugh however–it was a sincere laugh, not a sinister laugh, or a sneer, he was laughing with his heart.
“There’s a tradition on Earth, where on the first day of the month of April, we play tricks on others. I thought you knew. I thought you were making fun of me , for having these feelings for you .”
Sougo let go of Kamui’s scarf to grab his hands instead. Kamui’s hands always felt warm compared to his own. Usually, the other would be the one initiating contact, however he wanted to make sure his feelings were clear. “Besides, you have to stay with me until I can beat you in an arm wrestling match.”
Kamui intertwined his fingers with Sougo’s. They always felt right, as though their hands were two puzzle pieces meant to stick together. “You’re never going to beat me in that, I’m a Yato, remember?”
“I’ve been getting better. Besides, you just have to stay forever in that case, no?” Sougo stepped closer, his emotions going into overdrive. He wanted to be closer to Kamui, he didn’t know why, but he knew he needed more contact. He had a lot of things he wanted to say, but his thoughts were a jumbled mess.
“This is just like that romance novel.” Kamui trailed off, deep in thought. He knew what was next. In the novel, the protagonist had kissed his love interest. Who was the protagonist here though, was it Sougo or him?
“You read crap like that? Is that why you decided to launch flowers at me? That’s surprising for a brute like you.” Sougo locked eyes with Kamui, “So, what happened next in your shitty novel?”
Kamui smiled, as he declared bluntly, “They kissed, of course.”
Sougo leaned closer to the criminal who stole his heart, before planting a quick kiss on his cheek. “That’s all you’re getting for now.” He pulled away, in an attempt to hide the slight warmth he could feel radiating from his cheek.
Kamui stood dumbfounded, unable to gather his thoughts and think of a reply. Sougo broke the silence with another question that was bothering him, “Why did you choose spider lilies of all flowers?”
“I thought the flowers that symbolize death would fit murderers like us,” Kamui perked up, he had put a lot of thought on picking the flowers, “They’re pretty too.”
“Thoughtful. I like the red, it’s a nice color.” Sougo smiled to himself. The red reminded him of Kamui’s hair, which was a similar orange-red shade. He had always wanted to run his hands though the other’s hair, but that would be for another day. The almost sweet moment was interrupted by a loud growl that came from Kamui’s stomach.
“Oh, you owe me dinner by the way. I was too sad to eat before so I haven’t eaten all day. You better make it up to me.” Kamui pouted, now that his dilemma of the heart was solved–he had another dilemma–this time of his stomach to remedy.
“Fine, just for tonight, you can order anything you want.” Sougo felt his pocket to ensure his wallet was still there, causing the lone spider lily he had hastily shoved to fall out. He bent over to pick it up, but was stopped by Kamui’s strong hands.
“That one’s probably sweaty and gross now, you probably sat on it too. I have a lot more I can give you after dinner.” Kamui laced their hands together, not ready to let go.
“Dinner and flowers? You really have been reading that crap too much.” Sougo rolled his eyes in endearment. “By the way, what's the deal with that sword?”
Kamui was so caught up in the moment, that he forgot about the original purpose of this trip. “Since I’m the strongest, obviously you need the strongest sword money can buy to keep with me.”
“You think I’m weak without that sword?” Sougo questioned, playfully.
“No, I think you’re strong, and it’ll make you even stronger.”
-
“Yamazaki.” Hijikata barked for his subordinate.
“Yes, sir?” He saluted at the Vice-Chief, before hiding his badminton racket behind his back.
“Clean up the mess in the courtyard. There’s flowers everywhere.” He lit up another cigarette, attempting to relax.
“Why don’t you make Okita do it, I always clean up those two’s messes.” Yamazaki whined, recalling the snowball incident.
“Are you talking back? Besides, Sougo’s been fired for now.” Hijikata blew a puff of smoke into Yamazaki’s face. As he observed the troublesome pair walking hand in hand, he couldn’t help but let out a small, fond smile.