II
SHINPACHI and Kagura looked at each other as they both thought of the same thing.
"What the hell is this story about again?"
It had already been a week and a half since their encounter with the Haruasame pirates. After Katsura and Gintoki saved Kagura and Shinpachi, the two older males went off to look for the other hostages that were present inside the ship aside from the two teens. Shinpachi and Kagura followed closely behind them. As soon as the two older males saw who was inside that small room, they both just stared at each other and kept quiet as they picked up the person inside and went to the room next to it. There, they saw the man that Shinpachi saw when he groggily woke up for the first time that they were inside the ship. Because of the severity of the wounds and bruises of the other kidnapped people, the two hostages were rushed to the hospital with Katsura and Gintoki keeping quiet the whole time.
Since the Shinsengumi was the one investigating the Harusame incident, one way or another, they would find out that there were hostages inside the ship that sank a week and a half ago. It would be troublesome if they found out that Gintoki and Katsura were involved in the incident, so they forced the hospital to discharge the two hostages and made them settle inside the Shimura household for treatment from Shinpachi's sister. Tae was skeptical, but she didn't have the heart to refuse to treat two heavily injured people.
After the incident, the Yorozuya trio spent their time at the Shimura household, waiting for the heat from the Shinsengumi to die down. Gintoki never left the compound ever since they brought the two rescued hostages inside the house. Shinpachi and Kagura have a guess as to why, but they couldn't exactly confirm it because the two older males were keeping their mouths shut about it.
"Otae-dono, how are they?" Katsura asked the young woman when he came to visit, three weeks after the incident.
"I'm sorry, Katsura-san, but I'm afraid neither of them are budging." Tae said with pity in her voice as she looked behind her, eyeing the spot where a small girl laid on her back, her body snug inside a futon on the floor.
"I see." Katsura replied in a low voice. "Might you know where I would find Gintoki?" he asked.
Tae nodded. "He might be at the back, under the lone tree there. He's been there since this morning." The young woman smiled when Katsura gave a slight bow and walked off towards the back of the house. At the same time, Kagura came inside the room with towels on top of her arms.
"I never saw Zura and Gin-chan act like how they're acting right now." The young girl said as she passed off the towels to Tae.
"Well, you're not the only one." The older replied as she and Kagura went inside the room that housed another girl. "You said that they've been like that ever since they saw her, right?" Tae asked as she gestured to the girl sleeping under the futon.
"Yeah." Kagura nodded. "They're not telling us anything at all, either." She pouted as she handed Tae a small bowl of water.
"Those two are both mysterious people, Kagura-chan. Gin-san even more so than Katsura-san." Tae smiled she soaked the towel with the water and began wiping it on the girl's skin. She brushed away the girl's very long teal hair away from her very pale, almost white skin. It was scarily similar to Kagura's own complexion, if not whiter – if that even is possible.
Kagura huffed. "They should really tell us who she is. It's hard to not refer to her by her name." She pouted, before she stood up with Tae after a while of wiping the girl's skin and redoing her bandages. "Besides, she's supposed to be the main character, but it looks as though we're still the main ones – I mean, not that I'm complaining, or anything."
Tae chuckled. "Don't say that, Kagura-chan." She said as she stood up. "Come on, let's check on the other person with Shin-chan." She continued, before the two girls went out of the room and walked towards the next door.
"Shin-chan?" Tae called for her brother and a few seconds later, a voice of confirmation came from the other side. Tae pulled open the shouji door open and walked inside with Kagura.
"How is he?" the oldest asked.
Shinpachi looked back at his sister. "Like three weeks ago, still nothing." He answered as he looked at the man sleeping under the futon. The man had messy teal hair and very pale skin, strikingly similar to the girl sleeping next door.
"Can we wake them up already?" Kagura asked, pulling back the sleeves of her clothing. "This is too serious for Gintama. I can't take the seriousness of this chapter at all. Can we speed this up?" she clapped her hands together for emphasis.
"Now, now, Kagura-chan." Shinpachi coaxed the girl to calm down. "We'll just have to wait for them to wake up on their own. Who knows how long they've been stuck inside that ship." He said as he looked at the man.
"We should go check up on Gin-san and Katsura-san." Tae suggested and her brother nodded as he stood up.
Movement from under the futon grabbed the three people's attentions.
A low groan made them look at the man sleeping on the floor.
Everyone halted on their movements and watched the man squirm slightly.
"I wasn't imagining that, right?" Shinpachi asked, looking at the two girls present.
"I don't think so." Tae shook her head as she kneeled on the ground, right next to the man. "Excuse me." she said in a small voice, trying not to startle the him. The man cracked open an eyelid and everyone saw an olive colored eye from underneath.
"It's alright, you're safe here." Tae smiled when the man opened both his eyes. He blinked a couple of times before he directed his half-open eyes at Tae and the other two people inside the room.
"Wh – where am-," he was abruptly cut by his own coughs and Shinpachi hurried out to get water. "Wh – where am I?" the man tried again, his voice hoarse like he was eating sandpaper.
"You're in Kabuki-chou, in Edo." Tae answered with a smile. "You were rescued from space pirates and was brought here. This is the Shimura household."
"E – Edo?" the man asked, his half-lidded eyes closing. "Kabuki-chou?"
"Yes." As soon as the word came out from Tae's mouth, Shinpachi hurriedly came with a glass of water. The younger helped the man sit up to drink and later helped him lie back down again.
"Do you remember what happened before you woke up here?" Tae cautiously asked.
"I'm not sure." The man answered as he closed his eyes. A few seconds passed without him talking and suddenly, his eyes opened and his whole body shot up, startling the three other occupants of the room.
"Was there a girl with me?" he asked the closest person next to him, which was Shinpachi.
"A g – girl?" the young boy asked as he blinked, slightly scared at the sudden actions of the man.
"Yes, a girl with teal hair just like me." the man said as he kneeled on the futon. Shinpachi and the other wondered where he suddenly got the strength to move.
"Ye – yes, there was-,"
"Nori-san!"
A girl's sharp yell cut off Shinpachi's answer and it made the man in front of them abruptly stand up and run towards the voice. Tae and Kagura tried to block him, asking where he was going, but he was too fast for the two of them and he managed to get out of the room with some newfound strength.
"Shizuku!" the man yelled when he opened the door next door. Tae, Kagura and Shinpachi followed closely behind him as they yelled at him to go back to bed. They all stopped behind him as they tried to talk to him. Shinpachi peeked over the man's shoulder from behind and saw that the girl that was unconscious for three weeks was finally awake. Gintoki and Katsura also seemed to be with her inside the room.
"Calm down." Katsura said in a small voice, but the girl sitting on the futon seemed to be too scared to even look at the two males inside the room with her. She just kept pushing herself back with the heels of her feet and her hands, while keeping her eyes firmly shut.
"Shizuku!" The man in front of Shinpachi and the others lunged towards the girl and pulled her away from Gintoki and Katsura. In one swift movement, he pulled out a katana from the side of the room, where Shinpachi and Tae displays one of the few swords that they owned, and pointed it at the two males, glaring at them while holding the girl close to his chest.
"Who are you?!" the man yelled as he backed up, away from Gintoki and Katsura.
"Who are you?" Gintoki asked back, raising his hands in front of him. The man gave no answer as he kept his olive eyes narrowed and kept his grip on the sword firm.
"Nori-san?" Shinpachi heard the small girl call.
"It's okay, Shizuku, I'm here." The man, Nori-san, answered as he continued to glare at the two in front of him.
"We mean no harm." Katsura raised his hands in front of him. "As you can see, we are unarmed." He said, gesturing to his waist to show that he doesn't have his sword with him.
"But you sure are." Gintoki commented, earning a small slap from Katsura beside him. Brushing him off, Gintoki continued. "You pulled out a sword from a sacred dojo. Don't you have any respect?"
The man didn't answer, instead, he looked down at the girl on his chest. "Where are we?" the girl asked as she looked around, her olive green eyes – strikingly similar to Nori-san's – a little glassy, but not looking like she was going to cry.
"Alright, alright." Tae stepped forwards with a smile on her face as she tried to calm everyone down. "Why don't we start from the beginning, yes?" she said as she stepped in between the two parties and acted as the middleman.
"I'm Shimura Tae." She introduced herself. "Those two over there are Shimura Shinpachi, my brother, and Kagura-chan." Kagura and Shinpachi bowed slightly, not really knowing what to do.
"Gin-san, Katsura-san, your turn." Tae said towards the two.
"My name is Sakata Gintoki." Gintoki introduced himself. Shinpachi never missed the way he frowned slightly.
"I'm Katsura Koutarou." Katsura followed after. Kagura noticed the clenched fist by the taller male's side.
The teal haired man looked like he wasn't going to speak any time soon, but after the teal haired girl whispered something to him that no one else but the teal haired man caught, he sighed and gave in. The man let go of the girl and laid the sword he was holding on the floor. Shinpachi and Kagura stared for a few seconds before they listened to the two teal haired people's introductions.
"My name is Kusahara Noriyasu." The man introduced himself after kneeling as he bowed, looking like he was already calmed down, but he was still evidently keeping his guard up. "This is my cousin."
"My name is Kusahara Shizuku." The girl beside him bowed, too, before raising her head to look at Gintoki and Katsura, who were looking at each other.
"Kusahara Shizuku, right, Shizuku-dono?" Katsura asked, stepping forwards, only to step back again when Kusahara stood up on one knee, looking like he was ready to prance at him.
"Yes." Shizuku nodded with a small smile on her face, her eyes turning half-lidded but looking as if she was trying her best to not look like she was already getting tired.
"I see." Gintoki and Katsura said at the same time, both of their voices low, almost non-audible for anyone.
"N – now that we know each other, why don't you both get out the room and let these two rest?" Tae suggested to Gintoki and Katsura, noticing their shift in moods. The two took no time to answer and immediately nodded, stepping out of the room after they did so. Shinpachi and Kagura followed behind them, leaving Tae with the other two.
"Excuse me." Kusahara said from behind Tae, earning her attention. She was slightly shocked to see both people behind her in a formal bow.
"We're sorry for causing trouble." The older Kusahara said, keeping his forehead close to the ground. "Please excuse my rudeness. I'm a little jumpy towards new people."
"That's alright." Tae chuckled, before asking the two to lift their heads. "I'm sure you don't want to get separated from each other, don't you?" she asked sweetly.
"If possible, would you let us be in the same room, Tae-dono?" Kusahara asked, keeping his stance formal.
"You're so stiff, Noriyasu-san." Tae smiled.
"Please call me by my last name, Tae-dono." Kusahara replied with a small curve on his lips. "It sounds nicer than my first name. Besides, me and Shizuku are used to being called as just 'Kusahara' and 'Shizuku'."
"Are you sure?" Tae asked while pulling out a futon from the cabinet in the corner.
"No need to worry." Shizuku smiled, her voice weak and barely audible, her eyes looking sleepy. Kusahara took her in his arms and carried her, placing her back inside her futon in the middle of the room.
"Alright, then." The older girl said as she laid the futon on the floor, positioning it next to Shizuku's own.
"I have a question, Tae-dono." Kusahara asked as he fixed Shizuku's hair under her head. Tae gave a hum before the older male replied. "You don't happen to see a necklace around my cousin's neck when we were brought here?"
Tae looked slightly shocked at the odd question, but she answered anyways. "Yes, it's over here." She said as she walked towards the table at the corner of the room. She picked up the choker-like necklace with a long silver chain attached to it, and looked at the pendant hanging from the silver chain.
The pendant looked like a shining silver snowflake with small, white diamonds glimmering on some parts of it. Giving it not much of a thought, the Tae went over to Kusahara and gave the necklace to Kusahara.
"Thank you." The older male tipped his head before pocketing the silver chain and he continued on what he was doing.
"Would it be alright if I leave the two of you alone for a bit?" Tae asked as she went towards the door. "I'm sorry for the two men here earlier, but I think I need to go check up to the two of them." She said, a worried tone on her voice.
"It's quite alright, Tae-dono." Kusahara answered as he tucked Shizuku in. The young girl seemed to fall asleep at the moment, her olive eyes disappearing from Tae's view in an instant. "We'll be alright here." The older said.
Tae looked behind her for the last time before she opened the shouji door, stepped outside and closed it behind her. She immediately went towards the backyard without a thought, knowing that the two older males would be there. However, she was surprised to see both Kagura and Shinpachi sitting under the tree behind their house. Both of them looked really defeated.
"Shin-chan? Kagura-chan?" Tae called, earning the two teens' attention. "Where are Katsura-san and Gin-san?"
"They left." Shinpachi answered with a sigh. "Without telling us, they just left." He said, sagging down on his spot.
"Ane-go, those two, who exactly are they?" Kagura asked, her eyes looking curious. "Gin-chan immediately left with Zura, and they both looked like they were going to murder someone. Is someone going to die?"
"I'm not sure, myself, Kagura-chan." Tae answered with her head down. "And no, no one's going to die." She said reassuringly.
"Kagura-chan's right." Shinpachi suddenly said. "She said it earlier. This is too serious for Gintama. Where are the jokes? Where are the humor? Why did the author start off the story with such a serious chapter? No one's going to read this!"
"It's an introduction chapter, Shin-chan." Tae smiled as she patted her brother's head. "Besides, the author is used to writing serious stories. This is the first time she's writing something like this. This is also the first time she's publishing what she wrote."
"But this is so boring, Ane-go." Kagura pouted as she whined. "If I knew any better, I'd say that she just doesn't know how to write properly. Her comic reliefs aren't even considered as comic reliefs!"
"Well, let's just wait for the next chapter to come, alright?" Tae smiled again before she looked back at their house.
"Though, I really wonder who those two are." She said, making the other two look back at the house, too.
"But, you're right, Shin-chan. No one's going to read this."
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Eyyy, back at it with another chap!
Just a little note.
I'm planning to put "Shizakura-sensei" extras at the end of chapters (It's similar to Ginpachi-sensei) so if you want to ask things, click on the link in the comments section. (BTW It's the same link as the popularity poll voting, just read the foreword on the form)
I commented the link here.
As always, thank you!