He was meant to go out earlier, but somehow he just HAD to reread the last chapter of One P*ece because it was something any proper samurai had to do sometimes. So he stayed in for a few minutes longer than he intended, and only then went out in search of the one chocolate parfait he was allowed, both in terms of medicine and budget. What he found instead was a police around the joint he heard had the cheapest parfaits in Edo, and a body-bag filled with a worryingly short content.

„Terrible, just terrible" he overheard one policeman talk to another, as he squeezed through the crowd to see what exactly was keeping him from that soft, sweet heaven of a parfait. „Apparently breaking a kid's neck is 'self-defense' and 'accident' now, so there won't be any charges pressed."

„Are you surprised? Those were some Amanto officers, after all." answered another, and Gintoki felt a wave of nauseating anger swallow him whole for a second or less. In its wake it left a strong need for a drink, or rather several strong drinks that would allow him to forget this ever happened. And yet he couldn't stop himself from listening further, as masochistic as it was. "Besides, the owner said the boy talked back, to three Amanto officers who were just joking around, so he wasn't an innocent in all this either. Future Joui member, probably. Stupid kid. "

Oh, that made something in Gintoki BURN.

On impulse Gintoki pushed his way through the police tape, barreling into the second policeman, sending him sprawling onto the ground. He might have 'accidentally' kicked him a little as well.

"Excuse me, officer" he drawled slowly, forcing himself not to hiss. He had to remind himself he didn't need any trouble. Well. Any more trouble. Curse his own fast reaction times. "Excuse me, but when will this shop open? You see I am allowed one parfait a week, because of high sugar, you see, and..."

"Will you get lost?! Don't you see we have a dead man here?" the first policeman pushed Gintoki behind the tape, and the fact that he didn't even mention the more-or-less blatant assault on his colleague was a sure sign of at least partial understanding of a situation. He had to go, quickly, but before he mad a hasty retreat he grabbed the thing that fell from second policeman's pocket. Huh. Glasses in a plastic bag. Who knows what it would be useful for. He took it and run.

Well. He didn't run very far, as he was stopped in his tracks by the sight he was hoping to never encounter again.

A ghost. In the street. During the day.

Nah. It couldn't be.

"Can someone well me what is going on?!" screamed the boy in glasses, who couldn't be older than seventeen, sixteen, maybe, and absolutely wasn't a ghost, even remotely, even though you couldn't see his legs. "It just… Am I dead? If I'm dead, why am I still here? What did I do wrong NOW?"

No one reacted to that shrill yelling, but still – not a ghost. Nuh-uh.

"And WHY!" shrieked the boy, hovering over the body-bag, trying and failing to grab and the policeman who was hunched over the body. "YOU! Why are touching my body, you… you molester! You can't do that! It's evidence! If I'm dead. Am I dead? I must be dead. OH GOD ANEUE WILL KILL ME!"

So. Yeah. Maybe. A ghost. It really wasn't Gintoki's problem, now was it.

He started to walk away, but somehow the busy buzz of the street wasn't even a fraction as loud as the quieter and quieter and more and more desperate cries of the … not ghost.

"I… can someone hear me? See me? Anyone? Please. Please… Just… I can't..."

For the love of… It really wasn't his problem, now was it? He could just go away and leave the ghost to do ghost-things, like, becoming ghost writer or ghost mangaka, maybe, who knew. Yeah.

And so Gintoki suddenly acquired a ghost teenager, who liked to shout, loved to criticize his every move and sometimes even his breathing, and apparently was named Shinpachi. It was a job for Yorozuya, after all, to help others, even if others were ghosts who couldn't pay, but if not Gintoki then who could find out what was keeping Shinpachi on this earth?

It wasn't all bad, really. Shinpachi was surprisingly fun, especially when he forgot about being 'polite' or 'proper', and it was endlessly entertaining to do stupid stuff just to rile him up. He would also disappear for long periods of time, just to reappear looking as if someone killed him (again) and his favorite dog too. Gintoki asked him about it one day.

"It's … it's my sister. We just have… had each other, our parents are dead, and she's so sad. I can't do anything to help. I wasn't much help when I was alive, but now I am totally useless. At least the Amanto that killed me gave my sister some money, so she could pay off majority of the debts. It was probably more than I could earn anyway, so she should be happy at least a little!"

Gintoki didn't have the heart to tell him that his sister probably hated the money she got with passion and that it most probably didn't ease her pain at all, adding the guilt to the mix. He also knew that Shinpachi knew that too. Still, Shinpachi's forced optimism was sometimes refreshing. Another way Shinpachi was actually good to have around.

Nevermind. It turned out that when ghosts were sad, or at least when Shinpachi was sad, the walls and glass in their vicinity would bleed. After the third day in the row spent trying to make Yorozuya's office stop looking like a particularly gory slaughterhouse, Gintoki reluctantly proposed that he would go to Shinpachi's sister to act as a 'medium', thus allowing Shinpachi to talk with her at least for a while. He hadn't wanted to, gorilla author help him, because of himself not being great in teary situations and because of Shinpachi. How do you say goodbye? Isn't it better to just let others grieve, just let others go?

Apparently Shinpachi thought differently, as he practically jumped in joy at that proposition, and almost forced Gintoki to go there immediately, regardless of Gintoki's appearance more akin to butcher or a serial killer due to all the blood.

Gintoki was a little worried at first, about how to approach the topic once she opened the door (somehow 'Hi, your dead brother wanted me to tell you not to cry anymore, and could you be happy now please, because he's making my walls bleed' seemed too forward and too long), but luckily it turned out that Shinpachi made the walls at dojo bleed too, so he just had to spin a tale about feeling a lot of spiritual energy as he was walking by. Shimura Otae was surprisingly quick to let him inside, but then he too would have eagerly welcomed anyone who offered help with bleeding walls. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were puffy and red in a way that screamed that she had cried not even half an hour ago, and that she would have loved to cry a little now, if it wasn't for guests.

If only Shinpachi would actually SAY something. But the kid just stared at his sister, with such longing and pain that Gintoki didn't have it in him to be angry at his lack of response to questions.

"… Your brother wants you to be happy." he said finally, to eager-looking Otae, trying to sound wise and medium-like.

That got him a fist in the face, and a kick to stomach, both worthy of a super sayan. If it weren't for excruciating pain muddling his thoughts, Gintoki would have felt a wave of respect towards Shinpachi for not dying earlier.

"OF COURSE MY BROTHER WANTS ME TO BE HAPPY!" screamed Otae, preparing herself to launch another attack. "HE'S MY BROTHER! GET OUT YOU FRAUD!"

But before she could punch him again, Shinpachi leaped between the two of them with a cry of "Aneue, stop!" that actually stopped Otae in her tracks.

"Shin-chan?" she said quietly, unsure if she heard anything, with a broken note of hope in there somewhere, and dammit, Gintoki hated family drama, because it made his heart ache in a ways he promised himself he would never let it hurt. Shinpachi turned to Gintoki, standing tall, no trace of previous hesitation, determination almost bleeding from his every pore. This picture was somehow broken by the tears rolling down his cheeks, but Gintoki had to applaud the effort.

"Gin-san, if you could tell my sister that I am sorry for not being a better brother… a better samurai. I'm sorry for leaving her alone, like, like Obi – one did, that should convince her that it's me, I never wanted that – I love her, and … and I really do want her to be happy, she is the best sister one could have, really. I … Tell her that I am moving on now, and so should she. I… I am so happy I could say goodbye."

As Gintoki relayed that, Otae was slowly dropping down to her knees, and then started to cry.

"Oh Shin-chan."

There were more words exchanged, and somehow Shinpachi managed to hug Otae, and Gintoki hated himself a little more for not making this happen earlier. He also hated Shinpachi, but only just a little so it didn't really count, because he had made someone cry this much by being an idiot and dying.

It turned out that saying goodbye to his sister wasn't a reason Shinpachi didn't cross to the other side, and Gintoki was still stuck with annoying tsukkomi.

It was great.

And then Gintoki got himself another dead teenager.

It was all Shinpachi's fault, actually. Gintoki was one hundred percent happy to leave the situation alone, but it turned out that Shinpachi had a thing for helping crying girls. She was disoriented, much like Shinpachi was just after his death, crying for her Mummy, and ranting about rice with furikake and ochazuke and how she was going to make everybody pay. Shinpachi actually snapped her out of it, and had a pretty nice conversation.

"But why don't you have any legs?" asked finally Kagura, because that was the name of a vermilion haired girl.

"Well, I am a ghost, the better question is why do you HAVE legs." shot back Shinpachi.

"I never heard about ghosts without legs. Maybe you're too lazy to have legs."

"I AM NOT! THAT HAS NOTHING TO… anyway, maybe it's because you're from different planet?"

"Maybe it's because I'm yato, and not human, so I'm stronger and I get to keep my legs."

"That has nothing to do with strength! Tell her, Gin-san!"

Gintoki, who was used to wandering aimlessly without anyone around him, only now realized how lonely it must be to be able to talk and interact with just one other person. So he didn't made any fuss about looking for the girl's body and her killers instead of going around the town in search of a new Jump issue. Besides, the girl was fourteen. Fourteen. He really needed to punch somebody.

The men who killed Kagura were easy to find, especially because half of them were beaten to a pulp and had much trouble walking around. Well. Didn't walk at all. If anything, she didn't go down easily, and it seemed like they took her down by sheer luck that the train was in the exactly wrong place at the exactly right time. Gintoki might have beaten the remaining half to a pulp. And then beaten them all up again, after calling the police, because why not.

He might have gone a little crazy, yes. But then who wouldn't, with two ghost kids trailing behind him and commenting?

One of the thugs had Kagura's hair ornament in his pocket, and it fell out as the man tried to crawl away. Before Gintoki could really think about it, he pocketed the item, maybe as a memento that Kagura really existed and wasn't just his imagination. Maybe.

Kagura didn't disappear even after the gang was sentenced, and Shinpachi took her home with them, much to Gintoki's displeasure, as he was sure that having ONE teenage ghost was bad enough. He was right, of course, because Kagura wasn't a quiet if creepy ghost like Shinpachi, but rather a disaster in more or less human form. She could telepathically pick up things, small stuff on short distances, mostly, and used that ability whenever she could. Also in a rather hilarious turn of events that involved a cat, an old lady and a pack of tuna, they had learned that some of her louder scream were heard by others as ghostly and rather ghastly wails.

It also turned out that Shinpachi was constantly cooling the air around him, what Gintoki had no qualms about using during the hot summer days (but feared that he would have to buy some proper warm clothes for the winter), and that kind of evened out the fact that the lights in the house would sometimes flicker and the walls still bled from time to time.

"I know that boys your age have troubles with keeping body fluids where they belong, but that is an overkill, Shinpachi-kun. Try using tissue next time. Or a sock."

"WHAT BODY FLUIDS ARE YOU TAKING ABOUT GIN-SAN, HUH?! IT'S JUST BLOOD!"

Otose probably thought he was crazy, for all of the times she found him talking to air, but she didn't' say anything so Gintoki didn't either. He thought that she would like Shinpachi and Kagura. They were old baba's kind of crazy.

It also turned out that dogs, especially big white dogs, could see ghosts. And thus they got Sadaharu. As if Gintoki didn't have enough problems.

For all of bad ideas Gintoki had over the years, this one seemed easy and sane enough. Pretend to be an exorcist, get people interested, send his real ghosts to shake a few glasses and make a few walls bleed, 'exorcise' them, get money. Easy, even if Shinpachi had moral qualms about it (but then Shinpachi had moral qualms about anything, really) and Gintoki wasn't all that sure he could stop Kagura once she started destroying property.

But then it turned out that the Shinsengumi had a real problem with ghosts, and it was something Gintoki would want to avoid at all costs. People couldn't harm those two, but other ghosts? Not a chance he would want to take. But then getting arrested by Shinsengumi who might with a little luck remember something about Shiroyasha was also not appealing. Especially after that short simish about Shinpachi's sister. So he took a job.

It was easy enough, with Kagura and Shinpachi going around looking for ghosts, while he entertained the Demonic Vice-Commander, Sadist, and their pet Gorilla. But then the kids came back to relay what they found out, just in the middle of his great story how he single-handedly defeated Diablo, and Hijikata… flipped.

He jumped from his seat, his face ashen, and started shaking.

"Toushi, this story is exciting, but..." started Kondou, but Gintoki wasn't listening either; did the guy see the ghost they were looking for? Could it be that Gintoki didn't see it?

"The… the ghosts! THE GHOSTS!" screamed Hijikata just as Gintoki screamed "WHERE, WHERE IS IT?!"

"I think he means us, Gin-san." muttered Shinpachi, and Kagura almost jumped in joy.

"Hey, can you see us? I though that only Gin-chan could!"

"Whaaaat?" squeaked Hijikata in a way that was more fitting for a little girl than Demonic Vice-Commander.

Thus Hijikata Toushirou learned that the ghost indeed existed, and that they sometimes were little teenage nightmares.

In the meantime Gintoki learned that Shinpachi was quite a detective, as in all the commotion he guessed who was the one behind all the Shinsengumi's problems, and that sometimes people won't ask anything and will just throw you out, if you say that the curse placed upon the children will make them stay with those who ask too many questions.

He tried to tell Zura about them, during one of his frequent visits during which he tried to convince Gintoki to rejoin the Jouishishi. Somehow Zura hadn't thought that excuse of "I can't because I have two ghost children to think about" was a good one. When Gintoki tried to convince him harder, because it would be nice to share some of the joys of taking care of two ghosts and he refused to go and talk to that stupid Mayora, he only got a spiel about great psychological help at Joui fraction.

Unsurprisingly, he threw Zura out. Then he resigned himself to turning Jump's pages for Shinpachi and Kagura, because it seemed a little hit-or-miss with them, as the book could get thrown into a wall or the pages might not move at all.

The one good thing that came from meeting Zura and his inability to leave Gintoki alone was the constant stream of more or less useless information. One of those was about the Amanto officer who hung himself, plagued by the guilt of killing a teenage human boy. It made that dark part of Gintoki soul sing, but Shinpachi just shrugged.

So it wasn't revenge that kept Shinpachi in Edo. Somehow Gintoki knew that, but it still made him so very, very glad.

Sometimes, when insomnia struck, Gintoki would go on a walk and imagined their lives if Kagura and Shinpachi were alive. Shinpachi would probably get a job, maybe in Shinsengumi, seeing how that old Gorilla would do anything to make Otae happy, and how much this job would suit the boy. Kagura… Would she even stay at Earth? Gintoki didn't think so. She would probably go out to space, in search of her brother, to kick his face in and drag him home.

Maybe she would have stayed in touch with Shinpachi - the two of them seemed to hit it off almost instantly. He couldn't imagine Shinpachi, the mother hen he was, letting her leave so easily, and besides Kagura loved the attention he was giving her. Next several minutes were usually spent on thinking of scenes like Shinpachi hijaking a spaceship to bring Kagura a hat she forgot ("Space is cold, Kagura-chan!") or Kagura sending Shinpachi illegal things and dangerous animals from the whole galaxy in lieu of postcards.

Then, without a fail, Gintoki would go and drink himself into oblivion.

Somehow he couldn't even imagine the two of them never meeting each other.

One day Kagura's father came to Earth, informed by the police that his daughter was murdered. Gintoki wanted to have nothing to do with this, because getting in a way of grieving Yato was a sure way to get killed, but then one look at Kagura's face told him that he had to do , maybe it would be closer to truth to say that one short talk with a Very Disappointed Shinpachi later Gintoki suddenly realized that he had to do something very quickly. But they eyes played a part in all of this, surely.

So on the second day of Umibozou's stay on Earth, Gintoki and Kagura went to see "Papi".

Umibozou was, to say it mildly, a wreck. Oh, he hid it well, Gintoki was sure, but he had seen grief on too damned many faces not to recognize it pouring from every pore. In some ways facing Umibozou was so much easier than talking to Otae. He never really knew what to do with tears, but the grief-fuelled anger was as easy to navigate as a story in a manga about big-breasted girls.

"Who are you?" barked Umibozou, when Gintoki finally managed to find him in some deserted place where they could talk and fight without any unnecessary interruptions. "I am not buying anything. Especially not hair products."

Gintoki thought out the whole strategy for this talk beforehand. How to ease Umibozou into the conversation, how to take on the topic of Kagura and how to comfort him later. It was a glorious speech, that would deserve at least two pages if it was manga; it was an absolute achievement in eloquence.

"I can see your daugther's ghost."

Well, he tried, at least. A little.

Gintoki knew the punch was coming, but didn't even have time to steel himself before Umibozou's fist connected with his face and sent him sprawling into a nearby building. Ouch. The things he did for those brats. Another punch. And another. And

Umibozou was thrown back a few steps. And then a few steps even further back. It was nice of Kagura to save Gintoki's life, really, and he turned to her to ask her what she wanted to say to her 'Papi', but he didn't manage to get the question out. He was prepared for her tears, for awkwardness, sadness and grief.

But Kagura was furious, not sad. He didn't really account for that.

"We always do this!" she shouted, and bewildered Umibozou was thrown a few steps back again, with a force that toppled him over to the ground. "We fight and fight and fight! We never… we're never together! You always leave! YOU NEVER STAYED!"

Each shout was punctuated with a burst of Kagura's power, like a strong wind tossing Umibozou around, his toupee falling to the ground.

Poor guy. Not only his wife and daugther were dead and his son tried to kill him, he was also bald. Why was Umibozou even alive?

"Ka… Kagura?" whispered Umibozou, bewildered. Gintoki wondered if he should intervene, but then… It was Kagura's chance to say all those things she always wanted, even if her father didn't really hear it.

"Mummy was so weak, and you were always away, and when you came home you just fought and fought, AND I DON'T WANT THAT! I … wanted you to stay. I want Kamui to come home… Why can't we just together…?"

the waves of energy were getting weaker and weaker, as Kagura cried. Umibozou lied on the ground, his eyes wide, probably hearing his daughter screams, but not the words.

This was Gintoki's opening. He offered a hand to Umibozou, helping him up.
"Do you want to listen now?"

He did. Kagura was much more … well, Kagura than Shinpachi was during his talk, bringing up all the times Umibozou ate the last cookie every few sentences. But she said goodbye. And Umibozou only almost cried and actually apologized. But then, seemingly in the middle of the talk, Kagura just… left, and Umibozou nodded his head in thanks, and left without a word.

It was different, but Gintoki supposed that every family had its own weirdness.

For a few days afterwards Umibozou was seen around the Yorozuya's building, but he never came in, and then, accordig to information given by the Mayo Freak, he left for space again.

Kagura was moody and even more violent for a week, but then she mellowed out and started smiling again.

That was worth those few cracked ribs and loose tooth.

Sometimes – not often, once every few months really - Gintoki would have nightmares. Endless battlefields, bloodied remains of his comrades, skeletons grabbing him and dragging down, down, down, to the hell where he belonged, red, and laughter, and so much blood, smell of burning bodies he could almost taste, sounds of dead and dying and they were grabbing him there was so much blood and he could taste it he hated it he hated it he hated it he hated it

He woke up with a start, but there still were ghosts standing over him, bent down, talking, telling him something, but he had enough the dead should stay dead and why do they hate him so much he hates himself enough, goddammit. He scurried away from them and grabbed a justaway clock, instinctively, and threw it at the dead who still wouldn't leave him alone wouldn't let him live he paid a price didn't he, it wasn't enough he knew but he tried and that should count

"Gin-san" said one of the ghosts and Gintoki had enough. Why wouldn't they just LEAVE?!

"WHY WON'T YOU STAY DEAD?!" he screamed, he just wanted to live, was it such a crime? Was it?

There was silence. He could feel the cold, now, and the smell of milk gone bad (he forgot to take out the trash again, didn't he) and the rough carpet under his fingers was a little familiar. He was home. He was home and those were nightmares and goddammit he hated it.

"Gin-chan?"

Oh.

Oh shit.

Kagura.

Shinpachi.

Just sitting there, they eyes wide.

It was…

It was so much worse than that nightmare he just had had.

They forgave him instantly, of course. Insisted there was nothing to forgive. There were plenty of "Nothing really happened, Gin-san, don't worry"s, "Mummy said men cannot help that they dream about stupid stuff"s and the worst of all "It's okay, Gin-san/Gin-chan. Are… YOU okay?"s. But the walls were bleeding, mugs were breaking with no apparent reason, and the temperature dropped so low Gintoki had to wear winter clothes in the summer.

Shinpachi and Kagura were constantly apologizing for that.

"I'm sorry Gin-san, I don't know HOW I'm doing it. I really don't know how to stop it!"

"I'm sorry, I just look at those mugs and they break on their own, I swear, Gin-chan! Maybe it's Sadaharu?"

He bought new Otsuu album and had it play on repeat one whole day. He went to find that little Shinsengumi Sadist, so that Kagura could throw stones at him. He cleaned the house and went by the Shimura dojo to fix a leaking roof. He bought a shoujou mangas and read it aloud to Kagura. He shooed Kagura out of the house and put on one of his 'special' movies about 'nurses' (regardless of what Shinpachi shouted at him, Gintoki was sure the teenager really, really appreciated that).

He knew he was overreacting just a little bit. But he didn't want them to think he didn't want them, or that they were a burden (even if they kind of were, but in good way, of course), because there was something upsetting them and it must be it.

So maybe he didn't really know what was he doing and why. But he couldn't make them leave too.

Gintoki wanted to cry, but he was a grown man, and moreover a samurai, so he did the next best thing—he went out to get really, really drunk.

Then he quickly came back, because he remembered that he spent all the money on Otsuu album and shoujou mangas.

Just as he was walking up the stairs, defeated, he heard a voice that was the absolutely last he wanted to hear when he was absolutely broke.

"You look like you need a drink" said Otose seemingly indifferent, but that in itself told Gintoki that she was not going to let him leave without answering some of her question the least of which was where went the rent he 'forgot' to pay. Very well, crazy people don't have to pay rents, right? This actually might work in Gintoki's favour…

"You offering, old hag?"

Besides, booze.

Otose listened to his story without interrupting. Then she lit another cigarette. Gintoki eagerly awaited for a moment when she would say he doesn't need to pay his rent due to his mental illness. Instead, Otose sighed heavily.

"You idiot. The fact that I found you on cemetery, doesn't mean you have to look for company there."

There was a thousand comebacks he should have said, really, there was this great one about old babas who were too close to cementary already and...

"Now go and talk to those two, they have been so worried MY walls were starting to bleed. I'll add it to you rent. Speaking of which..."

But Gintoki felt the sudden need to comply with her wise request to go and talk to Shinpachi and Kagura, so he fled with grace and speed of cheetah hurrying to watch Thundercats returns.

…

Without Shinpachi's tsukkomi freakouts such comparisons were not as much fun.

So it turned out that the communication was a key when talking to ghosts and teenagers, and especially ghost teenagers or teenage ghosts. Who would have thought. Not Gintoki, that's for sure.

Okay so maybe it wasn't really a communication but a rather roundabout allusion to the fact that he liked having them around. Disguised as an indirect insult. But they smiled before Kagura threw a cup against his head and Shinpachi started ranting, so Gintoki counted that one as a win.

Things came back to what they were. More or less.

Elizabeth, whatever he… it, whatever, was, could see Shinpachi and Kagura, and that allowed Gintoki to sneak out for a job. Or, rather, it allowed him to be respectable business owner who took care of his customers, of course. There was something hanging in the air, some tension he couldn't explain – and if he could keep himself and kids out of whatever idiocy Katsura was doing it would be great. Trouble always found him, so it was certain that he would get caught, but those two were not yet a lost cause.

It wasn't that he didn't believe that Kagura and Shinpachi would get out of Elizabeth what was going on… it was just that their track record with such a things wasn't very good.

Besides, Gintoki could take care of himself just fine, much better without the peanut gallery that criticized his every move. He was a grown man, for strawberry-milk's sake, he had hair in all the proper places and everything, he didn't need two kids tagging along all the time telling him he did things wrong.

Going after the murderer might have not been his smartest idea, though, he had time to think as Nizou and/or Benizakura impaled him, before the blinding pain stopped him from thinking fr a few seconds.

There was a shout, and splash, a gleam of sword, a familiar figure suddenly appearing and then Nizou didn't have a hand. Blood sprayed all over Gintoki's face.

Was it…

"GIN-SAN!"

Was he dead?

When he woke up, there was Shimura Otae at his side, sitting on her legs and sleeping fitfully. For a moment he couldn't recognize where he was, but then the familiar spots on the ceiling and some of leftover blood on the walls made him realize he was home. For the love of all parfaits, he couldn't remember how he got there, after Benizakura – wielding maniac cut into him. There was someone there, Gintoki suddenly remembered, but somehow he couldn't concentrate enough to know who.

He tried to sit up, and painful hiss that was the only result of all that effort startled Otae out of her nap.

"Gin-san!" she exclaimed happily. "you're finally awake! I was starting to get worried!"

"Otae-san" he greeted; he escaped death to die painfully by gorilla's hand. "What… How did I get here?"

Otae unsuccessfully tried not to cry, what made all alarm sirens in Gintoki's head blare in unison.

"It was… It was… Oh Gin-san, anyone else probably wouldn't believe me. But it really was my brother, Shin-chan. He… He showed up in the dojo. I was going to sleep, he just appeared before me and said that you were in trouble. I came here immediately, with… with Shin-chan. We talked. You were here already, bleeding, and he told me to take care of you, and that he was going to check some things…"

"Did he appear again since then?" he asked, his heart beating painfully against his ribcage. It was Shinpachi who saved him, who cut down Nizou's arm. And appearing to his sister…

"You told me he moved on, after saying goodbye." She continued, as if she didn't hear him. Aaaand this was exactly why Shinpachi was the worst samurai ever. He saved you just to throw you into pen of a crazed gorilla.

"I have absolutely no idea what happened, and I have never communicated with him again, why do you ask? Hahahaha You think I'm lying? I'm not." he wasn't lying this too thick, was he? So okay, now more important things. Shinpachi and Kagura might be dead, but that didn't mean that they were safe. "But I will have to go now, so thank you very much but I'll be…."

A blade of naginata missed him by millimeters.

"Where do you think you're going? My dead brother told me to take care of you. So I WILL."

If Shinpachi wasn't dead already he would kill him.

While fighting Benizakura, there was no time for worrying where Shinpachi and Kagura were. It was strange, not having them around, after all they were always at his heels any time he fought for the last few months, but it was also liberating, not having to worry what those two will do at any given time, just him, his sword, and his opponent.

Nevermind that this fight would probably kill him.

Gintoki involuntarily wondered if he would have a choice to stay with those two.

But there was no time to be wondering, just swings, attacks, dodging, strikes, clang of swords, tentacles around him

Wait, what?

He was suddenly hefted into the air and squeezed, the monster that was Benizakura tightening its grip to the point when Gintoki could feel his ribs almost, almost crack. He would die here. Even if Zura was around (he must be, right? There is no other option) he wouldn't come in time. The tentacles tightened. There was just blinding pain, the kind that took even your strength to scream, and Gintoki didn't even had the right mind to think that he was dying…

"GIN-SAAAAAN"

The tentacles loosened, then dropped him completely, and Gintoki was fell to the floor, disoriented and unable to move. White spikes of pain traveling through his body in a more electric way screaming at him that yes indeed, he was not dead, but not for the lack of trying. He raised his head, the effort making him shake like a leaf, but he had to see who saved him, because there were several options and only two were good. If any, because if it was Zura, he would never let it go and Gintoki would be forced to join Joui again.

Kagura was standing near the wall, screaming, her hands thrown in front of her at the Benizakura, and… Benizakura was fighting an invisible hits, every now and then getting thrown a little to left or right. There was also Shinpachi, throwing himself at the Benizakura in time with bursts of energy, a ghostly, blurry sword in his hand, his form and strikes so unmistakably dojo that Gintoki could see he never got any practical experience before his death. They were winning - that shouldn't really surprise Gintoki but somehow it seemed impossible, like watching shoujo-manga hero scratch his balls. There was intensity to the two of them that he never thought them capable of… it reminded him of too many of his own demons.

He got up, slowly, willing the pain to go away. He knew (hoped, wished) that once he was back in the fight those two would fall back behind him. They did. And everything was alright again.

Zura came two days after the whole thing, when Gintoki was still lying flat under Otae's care.

"When I went to talk to Takasugi, I heard their footsteps behind me." he said after exchange of their usual pleasantries of 'ZURA JA NAI" kind. "They helped me with two of Tagasugi's lieutenants. I could see them for a minute."

"I know. They told me."

"And then they helped you with Benizakura, didn't they? I could also feel them when we were escaping."

"Zura, you have a point in there somewhere? I heard that if you use it irresponsibly it shrinks and falls off, but I thought that being a Joui Patriot was shielding you from…"

"That was weak even for you, Ginkoki." Said Zura with a long-suffering sigh. "I came to thank them. Are they around?"

Gintoki knew he should feel angry, but really could only bring himself to feel resigned.

"Are you going to believe me this time?"

"I… yes. And Gintoki. I am really sorry… "

"No, they are not here." Gintoki interrupted, because it was one of many conversations he never wanted to have. "They went for a walk with Sadharu, Shinpachi tries not to spend a lot of time with his sister, as I am in no condition to clean the walls."

There was a short pause.

"Gintoki… Are you sure they are ghosts? Yuurei?" finally asked Zura, something wistful in his demeanor. "I have never heard of ghosts behaving like that."

"From what you told me before, you never heard about any ghosts." He said with venom before he could stop himself. He sighed. It really wasn't Zura's fault. He wouldn't believe it either, if his friend came to him and told him that he had two ghost kids following him around. "Shinpachi is dressed in white, has black hair, and has no legs. Kagura has legs, but then she is almost completely translucent, so I'd say that they most certainly ghosts. Unless they are Stands. Or Personas. But I don't have to shoot myself in a head to summon them."

"I have talked to some people – the Joui movement has a variety of specialists in almost every field from engineering to ghost busting. Join the Joui, Gintoki! – ah, yes, and they said that ghosts have no means of interfering with others. They are here to set right what was wronged, the one thing they can't let go of, and they usually can exist only in that one aspect, whether it be a person or place..."

"So what do you think they are, Ghostbuster Zura? Kasa-obake? Well, Kagura does have a thing for umbrellas…"

"It's not Ghostbuster Zura, it's Ghostbuster Katsura!"

"Or maybe Mononoke? But we're very close to copyright infringement there, so we really shouldn't…"

"I think that you're looking, but not seeing, Gintoki. The amount of sugar you consume has clouded your brain. It's… Kagura and Shinpachi… They both have the part meaning 'spirit', 'kami'"

"Only Kagura. Shinpachi has 'shin' meaning 'new', not 'spirit."

"Hm. But wasn't tat a good theory?"

Gintoki was too tired to argue that this was the stupidest idea on earth. If only Zura knew those two little shits… Nevermind.

Gintoki wished that the end of this adventure could be summed up by 'and everything went back to the way it was', but this must have been the 'wham episode' that changed the status quo. Otae, Zura and, as it turned out after a talk with Kagura, Takasugi knew that he had two ghosts on his tail. Shinsengumi were aware that he was involved in the stuff poor Yorozuya shouldn't be. He had a few new scars. Kagura and Shinpachi were the same bickering duo of contradictions, only not any more.

They were proud of themselves, of course, and Gintoki was proud of them too, even if he would rather punch himself in the face than admit it aloud. Shinpachi was still rather optimistic, weirdly conservative otaku with backbone of steel, while Kagura still was a whirlwind of emotions, childish in a way only those who grew up too quickly got to be. Only now when Gintoki saw Kagura throwing his JUMP magazine, or Shinpachi conjure up a ghostly broom to sweep the floors, he couldn't shake the unease. What they did with Benizakura…

Gintoki should have seen this before. Shinpachi did knock out the kidnapper on the spaceflight and Kagura fought Umibozou. Even though he saw glimpses of what they were capable of, he never really stopped to consider the consequences. He never really thought them dangerous. They were kids, with a slight disability of being dead.

After a while cleaning up the bloody walls or playing stupid when Mayo Prince came to complain about Kagura throwing rocks at him became as normal as walking that big dumb white dog. The lack of normalcy became so normal that Gintoki didn't really question it. But Shinpachi and Kagura were supernatural beings with abilities even they couldn't really grasp. Shinpachi was still unsure of his sword and it tended to disappear, also he had no experience in fighting. Kagura in turn had huge problems controlling the strength of her telekinesis, and was prone to making a lot of noise. But they were invulnerable, invisible and already dead.

And there were people who knew about them. People who might find ways to force them to their bidding.

Gintoki had to take care of Kagura and Shinpachi, no matter what. He couldn't allow nothing more to happen to them.

But for now this was enough. Him, sitting and drinking strawberry milk. Kagura making a total mess of JUMP magazines while spouting a speech about female rights and male chauvinists. Shinpachi yelling about maids or something. It was…

It just hurt Gintoki's heart that other than him, no one saw those two. But at least he could be for them. He saw and heard them. It was not enough, but it was good enough, surely.

And maybe one day… Maybe they will be together, for real this time.