Kids Will Be Kids by kingfishers_game

Chapter 8: Going into Business with Your Friends Is Generally a Bad Idea,

Chapter 8: Going into Business with Your Friends Is Generally a Bad Idea, Even If You Have a Lot in Common

Kamui liked Takasugi.

Mostly.

The samurai was an impressive fighter, but he was calm—in ways that Kamui couldn't quite relate to. They got along well enough, but in the end Kamui wanted a challenge and Takasugi wanted destruction. Not mutually exclusive goals, but Kamui had asked himself more than once in the year since the Harusame was disarticulated if those goals still had a point of intersection.

On a massive screen in one of the communications centers of Kamui's ship, Takasugi took a slow drag from his pipe, the smoke barely visible on the monitor. Kamui waited for the leader of the Kiheitai to speak. Abuto sat next to his commander, bored but paying enough attention to be able to mediate disagreements as they (inevitably) came up.

When Takasugi finally spoke, his voice was slow, almost lazy. "Right now my ship is approaching your division. I'd like to confirm a few rumors I've been hearing from the men I have stationed with you."

Ah, yes. Currently the crew of Kamui's division ship consisted of both Yato and other Amanto, but the Amanto were technically mercenary subordinates (formed from the stragglers of the Harusame who had defected after Utsuro's takeover on Rakuyou last year) of the Kiheitai under Takasugi's command whom he had ordered to serve in Kamui's division. Only the Yato—the true '7thdivision'—answered to Kamui alone. Those men, the Yato soldiers, were more than strong enough to match the Kiheitai in terms of power, but their numbers were lacking. Takasugi's mercenaries rounded out the ranks a little. Kamui still wasn't sure they were actually necessary—all of them were far weaker than the Yato soldiers—but Abuto had assured him many times that they needed numbers.

"What rumors?" Kamui asked, knowing full well what rumors Takasugi had heard.

"That instead of capturing the Vice Chief of the Shinsengumi, you've picked up an underling and a young child."

"No need to confirm, Shinsuke. Whatever information you gave me about the Vice Chief was wrong. Okita Sougo was the only Shinsengumi on that flight. I thought a unit captain would be better than nothing."

"And have you gotten any useful information out of him on the Shinsengumi's movements?"

"What movements? The Shinsengumi hasn't had any real power since the mess with Tokugawa Shige Shige. All they do is chase around that Joui rebel comrade of yours. Katsura, right? The Shinsengumi aren't a problem for that country."

"Katsura isn't my comrade."

Kamui's smile didn't twitch. "Wasn't he? I seem to recall that you fought side by side with him on Rakuyou. My mistake."

Takasugi glared but didn't press the issue. "What about the girl? My men can't seem to agree on whether she's your secret love child or your clone."

Kamui laughed. "Aren't I a little young to have a love child that age? Your men are being overdramatic. She's my sister."

"Your sister?" Takasugi frowned. A female version of Kamui... A memory jumped to his mind. During the mess with Benizakura a while ago, hadn't he met someone who fit that description? Salmon-pink hair, blue eyes, the pale skin of the Yato and the brute strength to match. She'd surprised him at the time with her ability. And when she'd been shot by Kijima multiple times, the wounds were as good as healed by the next day. She'd shown up again to fight Kamui during the Shogun Assassination Arc... So that girl was indeed his sister. "That tomboy princess...the one from the Yorozuya."