XIX
Manga: Chapter 54
Anime: Episode 33
SHIZUKU woke up early in the morning, ready for the day.
She got up and stretched her body, brightly looking at the backyard when she opened her windows to let the cool morning air in. She knew that there was no one else there except for her since, as usual, Kusahara was already at the station and Otae was out with her friends from the hostess club. It has already been a week since the incident at the justaway factory, and since Shinpachi was staying over at the Yorozuya to help rebuild the office, Shizuku knew that she was alone at the house.
It was a nice and sunny day, so Shizuku thought about walking around town once again – because that's the only thing that the author can come up with to start a chapter. Shizuku went out of her room to heat up the food at the refrigerator – she knew that it was Kusahara who made it. She ate alone in silence as she watched the birds flutter around on the outside of the house. After a few minutes of savoring her food, she went to the bathroom and refreshed herself, then she changed her clothes and went out of the house, ready for the day. She lifted her umbrella over her head and started walking around Edo.
Shizuku waved as she passed by a couple of people that she recognized, like Hasegawa and Katsura – of course, she met with him as discretely as possible. She went to the stores that she frequented in, like Ikumatsu's ramen shop and the sweetshop that Gintoki often takes her to. She was enjoying her moment alone with herself before a certain cigarette smoking, dark haired male passed by and caught her attention.
"HIjikata-san, hey." Shizuku greeted the tall male as she slightly waved at him.
"Oh, Shizuku." Hijikata called when he finally noticed that the young girl was there.
Lifting her umbrella, Shizuku smiled at the taller male. "It's nice to see you again, Hijikata-san. What brings you here?" she asked.
"Kondou-san just sent me on a job." The older male replied. "But I still have no luck with it." he said before he sighed.
Shizuku tilted her head to the side. "A job that you failed at?" she asked, almost in an unbelieving tone. "I was under the impression that you could do anything, Hijikata-san."
"Well, thanks for saying that." Hijikata slightly chuckled before he looked at the young girl in front of him. "Speaking, I could recruit you."
"Recruit me?" Shizuku asked curiously. "What?" she blinked.
"You see; I was looking for people who could take care of the station for a while." The older answered while scratching the back of his head. "I'm sure that you've heard from your cousin. Did he tell you that we're leaving tomorrow?"
"He might've mentioned it, yes." the young girl replied, remembering what Kusahara told her the day before about the mission outside the city that will take them at least a week to accomplish, so he wouldn't come home for a while. "Nori-san told me that you're going away for a while. Though, he didn't tell me where you're going."
"Yeah, that's right. It's classified, so I'm not surprised that he didn't tell you where we're going." Hijikata nodded. "And the whole of the Shinsengumi will come. Our cooks and the others don't live in the Station, so they won't be there when we leave. No one will take care of the station."
"What?" Shizuku blinked. "Aren't you supposed to, I don't know, leave some of your officers behind, Hijikata-san? Who'll protect Edo when you're gone?"
"We aren't the only officers here, so we're going to be fine, probably. And besides, we are leaving some of us behind." The older male sighed. "But they're all new recruits, so they don't have much training, yet, and they'll just be doing patrol around Edo. They'll be doing small jobs for a while."
"And, when do I come to the picture?" Shizuku politely asked.
"As I told you before, we need someone to look after the station while we're gone." Hijikata replied with a slightly softer voice. "I was thinking... since you already have a little bit of experience staying at the station and helping around, do you think that you could do it again for at least a week more? I think that the readers were expecting this, too."
Shizuku thought about it for a second, thinking of the possibilities of things happening while she's at the station with a bunch of newly recruited officers. She figures that it wouldn't be that bad, considering that she's fairly good at handling the other officers. After thinking that she would probably make good friends with the new recruits, and after thinking that she didn't have much to do, anyways, Shizuku smiled up at the tall male.
"Sure, Hijikata-san." She answered with a large grin on her face. "I don't mind watching the Shinsengumi Station while you're gone."
"That's good to hear." the older male nodded before he gestured to the direction of the station. "But first, let's tell your cousin, since – even though this is set at the point of time that you can get married at your age – you're still a minor and he's your legal guardian."
"I'm sure he'll be alright with it." Shizuku smiled.
Just as the young girl predicted, Kusahara was mostly alright with the plan. Just as long as Shizuku doesn't get into trouble – not that it was common for her to find herself in some sort of situation that she doesn't know how to handle – then he's alright about letting his cousin watch over the station while they're gone. Kondou also agreed almost immediately and he was happy that Hijikata had found someone to do the job in such short notice. He was actually happy that a familiar face is willing to spend at least a week at the Station to watch over the compound.
"Since you're already quite accustomed to being here, I'm sure you already know about the rules we have." Kondou said as he looked at the girl sitting across from him. It was a little over lunchtime and Shizuku was sitting inside the meeting room at the Shinsengumi headquarters with the Chief, Vice-Chief and Kusahara.
"Yes, Kondou-san" Shizuku nodded before she pulled up a finger. "Anything that I hear and see inside the station will stay in the station, and I'm not allowed to snoop around." She reported after pulling up a second finger.
Since she constantly went to the Station to give a change of clothes for Kusahara, and since she occasionally went there to help with treatment of injured officers, she already knew what to do when she stepped foot inside. Hijikata even showed her the Shinsengumi Kyuukuchou Hatto – as odd as it seemed – when he was lecturing her about the rules inside the Station. Of course, the seppuku part of the code doesn't apply to her, but her punishment is close to that.
After hearing Shizuku's response, Kondou beamed "Good." He said with a grin. "We'll be leaving first thing in the morning tomorrow, so don't be shocked if you come here and there's no one around."
"I can stay for the night, if you want, Kondou-san." Shizuku suggested. "If you're going to leave that early, you won't be able to eat anything. Hijikata-san said that your cooks aren't going to be here." She said, her female instincts suddenly kicking in.
"Are you sure?" Kondou asked with a faint worried tone in his voice. "We can do it."
"It's fine for me." Shizuku answered with a grin. "I'm sure that you already know but I'm actually a really good cook." She huffed with pride.
"Literally everyone who's read this knows." Kusahara answered from his spot outside of the room, on the patio. "She can literally cook for a battalion, and that's exactly what we are." He said with a chuckle.
"Wow, how old are you, really, Shizuku?" Hijikata blinked. "I've met a lot of people around your age, and most of them can't even do shit. The author can't even do that and she's older than you."
"When there's no one to do it, I try my best to learn how to do it." The teal haired girl answered with a slight shrug.
"Well, I'll look forward to what you make, then!" Kondou laughed loudly before he stood up and ordered someone on the outside to clear a room for Shizuku to stay in – which wouldn't be much of a problem because she already tried to sleep there only a chapter ago, when Hijikata carried her to the Station after finding her passed out by the river bank.
After the officer saluted and moved out from the room, Kondou turned around to look back at Shizuku, who was still sitting there while nursing a cup of tea.
"You can go around Edo for a bit, while we fix your room." The older said with a chuckle. "I'm sure you want to visit the Yorozuya and their office. I heard that they were rebuilding."
"Can I really go?" Shizuku asked while gently putting down her teacup. "I mean; I can stay here."
"We don't want to bind you down here, Shizuku-chan. Technically, you're not an officially hired helper of the Shinsengumi – but we're going to pay you for this job, of course – so you have the right to move in and out of the Station for this day." Kondou said with some sort of a fatherly smile. "Just as long as you return by sundown, then you're free to go."
"Thank you, Kondou-san!" Shizuku smiled brightly before finishing her tea and jumping up from her seat. She bowed lowly at the three officers inside the room with her before she ran out, going to the direction of the main building, where she grabbed her sandals and her umbrella and took off with a smile on her face.
Kabuki-chou was a bit of a distance away, but Shizuku happily walked towards the Yorozuya office. She skipped along the sidewalk as she held on her blue umbrella. About half an hour later, she arrived at the Yorozuya, shocked to see them already done with their repairs, despite the whole building being destroyed only a chapter or two ago.
"Eh?!" the young girl exclaimed.
"Oh, Shizu-nee!" Kagura yelled from the balcony and ran down to hug the older girl. Following close behind the younger girl, Gintoki and Shinpachi waved at the teal haired girl.
"When did you guys finish?" Shizuku asked as she patted Kagura's hair after returning the hug.
"Yesterday!" Kagura beamed. "We had people to do it for us!"
"Eh?" The teal haired girl let out a confused sound. "But, I thought that you wanted to do it yourself because you didn't have any money?"
"Remember the merchant guy that we said that was friends with Gin-san?" Shinpachi said with a finger raised in the air. "He's the same person that crashed his spaceship here."
"You mean, Sakamoto-san?" Shizuku asked with slightly wide eyes.
"Yes, him." Shinpachi nodded.
"That guy's stinking rich." Gintoki piped up from behind the young boy. "He paid someone to come fix the Yorozuya for us."
"Oh." Shizuku blinked before she looked down.
"Sakamoto-san...." She muttered to herself. "Tat.... su...."
"Do you remember him?" Gintoki suddenly asked the young girl when Shinpachi and Kagura went inside Otose's bar.
"What was that?" Shizuku asked as she innocently looked up at the older male.
There was a while of silence between the two of them as Gintoki just stared at Shizuku's eyes.
Gintoki sighed after a while as he pulled on Shizuku's wrist and directed her towards the inside of Otose's bar. Once they were sitting down in front of the old woman, Gintoki's eyes never left Shizuku. The young girl was too busy chatting with Kagura to even notice anything.
Otose, however, being the wise woman that she was, noticed, but she didn't comment on anything.
The four stayed there for hours. When Shizuku noticed the time, she suddenly stood up from her seat.
"Sorry, guys, but I have to go." She said as she went to grab her umbrella from the stand by the door.
"Eh, but it's too early, Shizuku-chan." Shinpachi called as he looked at the clock by the wall.
"I forgot to mention that I'm going to stay over at the Shinsengumi station for a while." Shizuku sheepishly answered. "I was tasked to watch over the place while the officers are out. It's kind of like a job." She chuckled.
"So, you're going to be alone there?" Gintoki asked as he took a sip of his strawberry milk, his eyes not leaving the countertop.
"There will be a few new recruits around, but yeah, I'll be alone for most of the time." Shizuku answered before she looked at her watch around her left wrist. "I better get going, see you!" she excused herself after she bowed. She went out of the bar and walked towards the Shinsengumi station, silently humming to herself as she smiled.
There was silence at the bar for a while. No one was talking and no one knew why. It was Otose who broke it.
"Gintoki, talk, right now." The old woman said with a low voice. There were no other customers present and the surrounding was slowly getting darker and darker due to the setting of the sun. Everyone was quiet, even Catherine was waiting for Gintoki to answer Otose's statement. Kagura and Shinapchi slowly got the message in the air to shut up and they both stayed quiet.
"I'm not talking." Gintoki replied sternly after a while as he stood from his seat and placed his cup on the table. "There's no use trying to squeeze something out from me." he said before he attempted to walk out of the bar.
Otose grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back.
"Oi, Catherine." The old woman called without looking at the Amanto behind her. "Take the brats up to the office."
"O – Otose-san!" Shinpachi protested, but he stopped with the old woman shot him a sharp look of "Don't test me, boy."
The young boy then took Kagura by the hand and walked out of the bar with Catherine behind them. It was clear that neither of the three wanted to leave, but they also knew that Gintoki won't talk if they were there.
They'll just have to figure things out on their own.
They closed the door behind them.
After a minute of pure silence, Otose spoke again. "The kids are gone." She said as she gestured to the chair in front of the bar table. "Now, start talking."
"I told you that nothing will get me talking, Granny." Gintoki said with sharper eyes than usual as he looked over his shoulder. "It's better that way." He muttered as he looked back on the floor.
"Spare me the act, Gintoki. Tell me everything while Shizuku isn't here." Otose replied with a scoff. "Seriously, you're all making the readers become so confused because you're still not saying anything about her and her cousin at all. If you keep this up for any longer, everyone's going to stop reading this shit."
"You think that I don't know that?" Gintoki snapped while keeping his eyes on the floor. "This isn't good for the story, I know." He muttered.
"So, it's true? The rumors and the theories?" Otose asked. "You knew her even before the story started?"
Gintoki didn't say anything, he just sat back on his usual chair and bowed his head low.
The old woman with him sighed heavily.
"I'm going to have to make a guess that you knew her at the war." She said, but Gintoki didn't answer.
"Wait..." the old woman paused.
"You've known her even before the war."
Gintoki sighed lowly as he rested his head on the back of his hands. "There's no point in digging about her and me." he said, his voice almost inaudible for Otose. "She doesn't remember anything, so why should I care anymore?"
"Wow, this is a rare sight." Otose laughed, her voice a little hoarser than usual. "The famous Sakata Gintoki giving up."
"I'm not giving up." The white haired male replied lowly. "I'm just saying that there's no use. Shizuku's not the person that I've known. At lease, not anymore."
"Just because she forgot who she was, doesn't mean she's not the same person that you knew." Otose tried to reason, a little unnerved at the display of defeat that the younger was showing her. "I'm sure that she's just different."
"No, Granny." Gintoki growled lowly before he slowly raised his head to look at Otose's eyes. "She's not supposed to be here."
"I mean; yeah, she and her cousin shouldn't be here because the Gorilla made the original story." Otose raised a brow.
"You don't understand." Gintoki suddenly clenched his fists.
"She's not supposed to be here!"
Shizuku happily skipped along the sidewalk before breaking into a slow jog when she saw gate of the station down the corner of the road. She greeted the officers that were stationed outside the gates and went in, going directly towards the main building and entering the meeting room that she was in only a few hours ago. She was greeted by Kusahara and Yamazaki, who were both nursing a cup of tea in their hands, seemingly in the middle of a conversation when she came in.
"Where's Kondou-san and the others?" Shizuku asked after she greeted the two Shinsengumi officers.
"He's on a meeting with Matsudaira-totsan." Kusahara answered while putting down his cup. "Hijikata-san and Okita-kun are with him. They'll be back in time for dinner."
"Speaking of dinner, I'll go make some, right now. They might be hungry when they come back." Shizuku said as she pulled out her tasuki from under her sleeve and began tying up her sleeves, before proceeding to tie up her hair with a thin ribbon.
"I'll help." Kusahara offered as he stood up.
"I'll wait for the others." Yamazaki waved at the two before they left the building to go to the kitchens at the back.
About an hour and a half later, dinner was already ready – as crazy as it sounds – and the three top officers of the Shinsengumi were already back from their meeting. They were greeted by a big serving of food in the mess hall.
"Wow!" Kondou exclaimed when he entered the room with Hijikata and Okita.
"Enjoy!" Shizuku beamed brightly as she gestured to the food.
Without another second to even blink, Shizuku watched in slight shock as all the Shinsengumi officers dove into their plates and literally devoured everything that was on the table – minus the actual plates and bowls, of course. The mess hall became a loud warzone in seconds. Shizuku had to slightly step back in order not to get caught in the Shinsengumi's war for food.
"Is it always like this?" she asked as she looked up at Kusahara standing beside her.
"No." the older amusingly shook his head. "They just go this crazy when the food is actually good."
"Shizuku-chan, please stay here forever!"
"Kondou-san, hire her immediately!"
"Please don't leave us, Shizuku-chan!"
Shizuku and Kusahara shared a look with each other before the younger laughed softly at the various comments that were directed towards her way. The two of them quietly when off to eat their own share of the food as the rest of the officers fought in the background.
When the warzone already calmed down, a couple of hours later, and everyone was already either lying on their backs either on the table or on the floor, Shizuku roamed around and collected everyone's plates, slowly making everyone stand up to get to bed for tomorrow's journey.
"Come on, Okita-san, Kondou-san." Shizuku slightly pouted as she tried to pull both Kondou and Okita to their feet, but the two seemed to be too out of it to even look at Shizuku.
"No, I'm too full." Kondou groaned, lying on his side.
"Younger Kusahara, stop feeding me." Okita muttered.
"Okita-san, this is literally the first time that I fed you." Shizuku replied as she tapped on the older male's head. "Now, stand up so you can sleep. You're the only ones here in the dining hall." The young girl looked around and saw that the mess hall was already empty, save for the four top officers of the Shinsengumi and, of course, Shizuku.
"Just leave them." Hijikata commented as he pulled out a cigarette. "It's their first time eating this much again. It's almost a miracle to get the two of them to eat in the first place."
Understanding that officers rarely have the time, Shizuku sighed before she pulled Okita up to his feet while Kusahara supported the brunet on the other side. Behind them, Hijikata did the same thing to Kondou.
"We'll take them back." Kusahara said as he pulled Okita up to keep him from falling. "Will you be alright cleaning on your own?" he asked the young girl behind him.
"I'll be fine." Shizuku nodded before she waved at the four and watched them leave the building. After a while of silence, she turned around to look at the mess that the officers had made and sighed heavily.
"This is alright, Shizuku. You've dealt with much worse. The amount of blood that you've cleaned doesn't even compare to this."
It took Shizuku about an hour and a half to clean everything up. She also took another thirty minutes inside the guest's bath to relax and when she was freshened up, she changed into her pajamas – which was brought by Kusahara from the house earlier that day – and went toward the room that was prepared for her.
She slept easy that night.
The next day, Shizuku woke up when the sun was still sleeping and the moon was still up. Her hair was still a bit wet from not drying up properly because of her sleeping when she was fresh out from the bath, so she had a bit of trouble tying it up properly. She changed into her usual blue, purple and teal short kimono and slowly crept out of her room.
Shizuku slowly walked down the hallways with silent footsteps as she tied her sleeves up – she was already considering asking Kusahara to buy her a sleeveless kimono for convenience. A few minutes later, she got to the kitchen and immediately started to make breakfast for everyone. She slowly hummed a song to herself as she cooked, happily moving around the kitchen on her own, just as she did so a lot of times before.
An hour and a half later, she was already about to finish cooking. Only a few minutes after she plated the food, officers started to file inside the mess hall, ready to eat again. Shizuku happily served them breakfast before the officers refreshed themselves inside the bathrooms.
Roughly two hours later, when the sun was just about to rise, the Shinsengumi officers all stood at attention, all of them in their uniforms, ready to head out. After a final briefing from Kondou, they all bid goodbye to Shizuku, who was standing by the platform that led towards the main building, waving at them and telling them good luck with their mission. A few minutes later, Shizuku was left in the station with a bunch of new recruits, who were already getting ready for their patrols around Edo.
The girl sighed as she entered the empty station.
"Well, I guess I'm left here for a whole week."
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