Valentine's Day at Gintama High School

Chapter 10: If You Can Identify Just One Constellation, That's Good Enough

When Hijikata was finally distracted by Kuriko, Sougo grabbed Kagura's hand and rushed her outside of the gym.

"Where the hell are you taking me?" Kagura asked when Sougo continued to run after they went into the hallway.

Sougo turned and smiled back at her. "I'll race you to the roof."

He then let go of her hand and started sprinting ahead.

"Hey! That's not fair!" she called out, quickly taking off her heels and darting forward.

The two ran side-by-side in a fierce race to the top, both jumping up multiple steps at a time. Neither let the other stay ahead for two long, and when they reached the roof door, they simply kicked it down and rushed through the open doorway. Once on the roof, the two collapsed onto the floor and finally caught their breaths.

"I went through the door first," Sougo stated, turning to look at Kagura.

Kagura turned her head to meet his eyes and said, "Nuh-uh, I went through it first. Besides, you got a false start. You barely gave me a warning, and I still had my heels on. Do you know how hard it is to even walk in those things?"

"Oh, come on. I let you catch up to me before seriously starting to run."

"Yeah, right," she retorted before looking up at the sky.

The only clouds in sight were the tiny ones formed by their warm breath in the cold winter air, and the stars shone in the night sky like pearls against an obsidian sea.

"You know, the stars are pretty and all, but I never understood constellations," Kagura commented. "I mean, how in the world are those random clusters of stars supposed to look like anything?"

"Oh, you just gotta be creative," Sougo answered, lifting up his hand to point. "Look. You connect that one, that one, those ones, and violà! You get a gorilla! I'll name that one Kondo."

Kagura snorted and lifted her hand too. "I got it! Well, if you connect that one, that one, and those ones you get a trash can. I'll name that one Sougo."

"Hey!" Sougo yelled, getting up onto his elbow to look down at Kagura.

Kagura burst out into laughter and pushed his head back with her finger before sitting up with crossed legs. She had finally cooled down from the intense running, and she was starting to feel cold in her short, strapless dress. She shivered before turning to Sougo.

"Oi, give me your jacket."

Sougo turned his head away and crossed his arms. "You just named a trash can after me. What makes you think you can ask for my jacket?"

"Seriously? You have no manners. The guy is always supposed to give the girl his jacket when she's cold."

"You're no girl. You're a food vacuum."

A vein popped out on Kagura's forehead before she jumped at Sougo, grabbing his jacket. "Just give me the jacket, jerk!"

Wrestling back, Sougo replied, "Excuse me! Don't you think you need to offer some compensation if you're gonna ask me for something?"

"What compensation? I'm broke!"

Grabbing both of her wrists, Sougo smirked and asked, "How about... you give me a proper kiss this time?"

Kagura turned beet red and reflexively threw her head forward, crashing into Sougo's nose. Sougo yelped in pain as he pulled his head back and held onto his nose. After a bit, Sougo pulled his hand back to see if his nose started bleeding, and sighed in relief when he saw that his hand was clean. He glared at Kagura and said, "Why do you girls automatically attack us guys? Like how Tsukuyo-sensei debilitated Ginpachi-sensei earlier today! Can't you just have a calm discussion or something?"

"Tch, I don't want to hear that from a sadist."

Sougo shook his head before slipping off his jacket and wrapping it around Kagura. Pulling her in closer, he looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Now you really need to compensate me."

Kagura opened up her mouth to refuse but then bit down on her lip to shut herself up. Sougo frowned when Kagura backed away to put her arms through the sleeves but was quickly surprised by the feeling of her hands cupping the sides of his face. Then, Kagura got on top of his lap with her knees on either side of his hips, and Sougo was the one to turn completely red.

"W-wait, Kagura, what is this gap in behavior? D-don't go playing out-of-character all of a—"

"Oh, shut up," she told him before bringing her lips down to his.

Sougo's heart was beating out his chest as their lips connected and her hands went around the back of his neck. At the rate his heart was beating, he really thought he might die, but feeling her soft lips against his, he thought it might be worth risking death.

Screw it, he thought before bringing his hands up into her hair and untying the ribbons holding up her buns.

As her hair fell around her face, Sougo ran his fingers through the strands from the top of her head down to her neck. Wrapping his hand behind her neck like she had to his, Sougo opened his mouth against hers. Kagura hesitated at first, but she slowly opened her mouth in response, allowing the kiss to deepen. Sougo then slipped in his tongue to dance with hers, and Kagura's eyes grew wide with shock. Without thinking she bit down on Sougo's tongue hard enough to taste blood. She immediately opened her mouth again to let go of his tongue, but it was clearly too late.

"OWWW, MY BUPPING PONGUE!!" he cried out with his tongue sticking out after pulling away from Kagura's face.

Kagura licked the remaining blood from her teeth and laughed. "Huh, tastes like iron again."

With steam blowing from his ears, Sougo grabbed Kagura's shoulders and shook her violently.

"YOU'RE BERIOUBLY BLAUPPING BRIGHT PLOW? MY PONGUE IB BLEEBING!"

Kagura continued to laugh and asked, "What in the world are you saying right now?"

Sougo sighed and sat back with his hands behind him. Shaking his head, he said, "Borget ip (Forget it)"

Kagura smirked and leaned into his shoulder, causing him to raise his eyebrows. Looking up him, Kagura said, "I'll make it up to you lat—"

GROWL

Kagura and Sougo looked down at her stomach, the source of the noise, before both bursting out into laughter.

Sougo cautiously pulled his tongue back and slowly enunciated, "You'll make it up to me you say? Well, how about we get some food first? You hungry?"

Nodding, Kagura answered, "Starving."