Sharp Wings; 鋭い翼 [Gintama]

11 | You'll never know what you'll get when you pay attention to small details

"I wonder if that's them." Shizuku muttered to herself as she held on her umbrella tightly. She walked faster towards the scene. When she got to a place that looked like a junkyard, she saw a lot of people crowding around the entrance of the building there, and from that distance, Shizuku could see an unmistakable lump of white hair that belonged to only one person that has those curls.

"Gin-san!" Shizuku yelled over Shinpachi's amplified singing voice. Gintoki looked behind him and saw Shizuku waving at him. Instinctively, he raised his hand and waved back at her.

"Oi, Shizuku!" the white haired male called back, trying to make his voice louder than Shinpachi's singing. By the time that Gintoki called her name, Shizuku was already walking up to them with her hands over her ears while struggling to keep her umbrella up.

"Oh, Otose-san, good morning!" Shizuku greeted the old woman when she realized that she was also there with the Yorozuya.

"It's nice to see you again, Shizuku!" Otose greeted back over the noise.

All of a sudden, the entrance of the building opened and revealed a giant robot standing on the other side. Shinpachi suddenly stopped singing.

"Huh, what?!" Gintoki looked up at the robot. "This is Hiraga-san?" he asked out loud.

The robot suddenly reached for Gintoki's head and began lifting him up from the ground and swung him around.

"Gin-san!" Shizuku gasped as she tried to reach up to the white haired male. "Bad robot!"

"You're taking my head off!" Gintoki yelled at the robot. "I said, you're taking my head off, Hiraga-san!" the bystanders suddenly started to run away upon seeing the sight.

"Stop it, Hiraga-san!" the white haired male cried.

"Idiots! I'm Hiraga!" someone suddenly yelled from inside the building. "You brats are making a terrible racket in front of my house." An old man scolded.

"Think about all the trouble you're causing the neighborhood!"

"That's you, you old geezer!" Otose threw back at the old man. Behind them, Kagura, Shinpachi and Shizuku tried their best to pull Gintoki out from the grip of the robot, who continued to swing the white haired male around.

"That racket you're making is driving everyone in the neighborhood gashankon crazy!" Otose continued to yell.

"I don't recall ever making a racket that went 'gashankon'!" the old man from inside the building yelled back. "It's gashuiin-gasshan!"

Otose gave a low sigh.

"Gengai, you're not young anymore." She said as her features suddenly softened. "Try to live in peace and quiet. You intend to have those wind-up toys look after you in retirement?"

Shizuku suddenly looked behind her and lifted up her umbrella for a bit to look at the face that Otose was making. Really, she didn't mean to eavesdrop, but she just overheard. Despite the old man yelling at her from the front, the older woman was having a pitiful expression cover her face. Shizuku tilted her head to the side, momentarily forgetting about the swinging body over her head.

"Hey, Saburo! Don't hold back. Force them out!" the old man suddenly commanded at the robot holding Gintoki.

Shizuku blinked

"Saburo?"

"Affirmative." The robot replied with its automated voice. He suddenly pulled Gintoki back and threw him directly at the old man.

"Gin-san!" snapping from her daze, Shizuku – along with Kagura and Shinpachi – yelled at the same time before they went to help Gintoki stand up before they looked after the old man.