1) Gintama ain't mine
2) This story ain't mine, it's 贺子's
3) The translation is mine! ^_^
Have fun reading~
Chapter 1- The meeting
She cannot remember how many times she had tried to run away.
.
Escaping from that terrible place, only to be caught and punished with even more cruel and painful torture every time. Still, the punishments had never diminished her determination.
"As long as I have a chance, I will take the risk. Unless I am dead, I will escape from this hell. Even if I die, I will die outside!" She spat out those words spitefully, as she bit firmly onto her lips and tried her best to increase the speed of running. A sudden pain shot through her- an old wound had re-opened again, causing blood to soak through her clothes.
"Please don't drip onto the ground," she prayed fervently, "or even without the use of those dogs and their sense of smell, those men can track me down easily!"
Kabuki-cho was a lively place at night, but there were still some dark and quiet alleys. "As long as I successfully hide in one of those alleys and make it through the night, the rest would be easy." Thinking so, she confirmed and made way on her route. Alas, she was stopped by the shouting of men and the wild barking of several dogs.
"Oi, it's happening again? You stubborn woman, won't you ever give up? Don't you understand that from the moment you were sold here you no longer have any freedom? You would suffer less pain if you choose to submit and listen to us!"
"Exactly! You never succeed anyway. Only severe beatings await you every time we capture you back. Injuries on such a pretty face and body is such a waste, if you aren't sorry for your own state, we are! Isn't that right everyone? Hahahahaha..."
"Alright, you've been surrounded, listen to us and come here, and we may be so kind as to not bring you back all tied up in ropes."
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Evil laughs and teases caused her to feel a sense of deep despair, had she failed again? What cruel method would that evil Mam use to punish her this time round? Would it be better if she just died like this, see that wall over there? If she used enough strength to knock against it, if she was a little lucky, she would die without feeling any pain.
Her conscience began to blur, die, die, die... How many times had she had that thought? Ever since she was at that planet so far away from home? Or was it after she had lost her memories? Being cheated, beaten, and shouted at for countless times, when she was sold- she really wanted to die then. Why did she still hold on? Why did she still have to carry on, like a dog panting its last breaths, under torment, and struggle to return to Earth? She thought there was hope at first, thinking that everything would be fine once she was back, if she searched, she would find her own memories, her friends and family.
Alas, she had only fallen into another living hell; unable to remember who she was, unable to remember, who on this planet she could rely on and ask for help. Alone in solitude, so what if she had returned! One month on the other planet was one year on Earth; she could only remember being there for 6 months. Maybe the friends and family here had been long since gone!
The gang of smirking men came closer and closer, this would be her only chance to die, if she didn't hurry, she would be in that hell once again. By that time, even death would be a dream too hard to realize!
She made up her mind, and using the most of her remaining strength, she dashed towards the wall at the end of the alley. Her eyes shut, hearing only the bellowing of wind and the frantic shouts of the men behind. Run, like she really obtained freedom at long last, anyway it would end anytime now, just like her own life.
.
"Smack!" It hurt, and she stopped. She had knocked into something, and it was definitely not a wall. A wall wouldn't be so soft, a wall would not make sounds like "Ouch", and a wall would definitely not offer his hand to help her off the ground and stabilize. She had knocked into a person, a man strong enough to withstand the impact of her collision and not fall. Despair once again fell over her, "so at last, I don't even have the right to determine my own death?"
As she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was those pair of eyes, hidden under the short jet black hair. The man had the appearance of a rounin, the soul of a samurai, ah, yes; she could see the spirit of a samurai in those sharp looking eyes.
"Hey, don't you look where you're going? That hurt." It was a gentle chiding tone. After that the tone immediately changed to one with shock, "Ah, you... what happened... why is there so much blood... where did those injuries come from?"
"... Please! Save me! Save me!" Hot tears streamed down as she opened her mouth to shout. She did not know why she was saying this to a stranger, but, it was still her only chance of survival. "I beg you! I can repay you in anyway, please I beg you to save me!" What she said after that she did not know, as her desperate pleas all turned into bawling, as if releasing the pain of all the sufferings, fear and sorrow she had suppressed for so long. The world turned black, and she lost her consciousness.
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"Ahh, that gave me a fright! What a scary girl! Thank goodness she didn't die." After having witnessed the scene, one of the men in the crowd exclaimed.
"Yeah, or we'd be in trouble with boss, after he spent so much money buying her!"
"Hey! You over there, hand that girl over right now! Or else we'd beat you up along with her!"
The crowd began to shout out once again.
The man did not speak up, but bent down and laid the fainted girl gently on the ground.
.
"Sigh, this is troublesome, why does this have to happen when I have a rare break... Why do I never get to have a good rest on my holidays...? It so late, I was just about to return..." The man muttered the complaints to himself.
All of a sudden, there was a frightened shout in the crowd. "Ah! Is... Isn't that the demon vice captain of the Shinsengumi? Hijikata Toushiro!" The crowd started to panic. "Wha-, what now, we definitely cannot beat that guy!" "What bad luck, to meet him here!"
"What are you guys afraid of?" The leader bellowed. He then stepped forward and said to the man "Vice-captain Hijikata, this is girl is a prostitute belonging to the XXX store, which I'm sure you have heard of since it is the most famous in Kabuki-cho. This is a legalized business. Also, it is her fault for misbehaving and escaping, we're just bringing her back. This is our own problem, and it does not intrude Edo's laws, so I don't suppose the Shinsengumi has any reason to probe into this matter?" "Yeah yeah, we're not intruding the law! The Shinsengumi can't have a part in this!" "Hand over the girl!" The rest of the gang regained their courage, and shouted out after their leader.
"Oi, you guys! If you want her come and get her back then. I don't want to get myself involved in such a troublesome matter..."
Hijikata left the girl lying on the ground and walked straight towards the crowd. The men heaved a sigh of relief and made their way towards her.
"However, if you wish to bring her back... you have to first get past me." The footsteps did not stop, but the katana had already been drawn. Within a few moves the crowd collapsed onto the ground.
.
"Who ever said I was doing this in the name of Shinsengumi? I'm doing this as a samurai, purely just because I can't stand seeing a bunch of guys bullying a helpless girl."
Slotting his katana back in place, he said, "Oh, one more thing, please inform your boss that while it is legal to start a business, selling and buying of people is another thing. Although I came from that other lane only to be knocked into, I clearly heard all that you said about 'spending a lot of money to buy' the girl."
-Speechless crowd-
.
"Forget it; I'm on leave today anyway. Just don't ever come after this girl again, stop all illegal trafficking activities, and I'll leave it like this. But if I ever find any trouble coming from you guys again, it won't be like this time round! Heard me? Scram."
The men, scared to their wits end picked themselves up and made a run for it, and soon disappeared into the night. He yawned as he made his way back to the barracks, thinking that for his next holiday he should just stay in his room and not go anywhere. There was nothing good for him every time he went out; first that annoying natural perm, and now this girl. Speaking of that girl, she was quite a distance from him now.
.
"This is so troublesome..."
He lit up a cigarette, frowned, and went back down the path he had just come from.
This is my first submission on this website, so I hope I did things correctly XD
As I said at the top, Gintama is not mine (its our dear Gorilla's), neither is this story. It was originally written by a person named 架子on baidu, and translated by me. Because I like it and I wanna share it with more people! I have tried to find her to ask for permission, but I couldn't find her... I'll keep trying, but in the meantime, I'll put these translations up :D
Also, I wanna thank my two awesome friends/beta reviewers, Phoenixszar (for coming up with the title too ) and Kupo Stiltzkin 3
Even though it isn't my story, I'd still love to know what you guys think of it, so please review!