Street War - Prologue

(An AU setting). Tokyo's largest street gangs, the Yorozuya and the Shinsengumi, were at constant odds. There wasn't a soul in Tokyo who didn't know that. The same was meant to be true for their youngest members – Sakata Kagura and Okita Sougo. However, the definition of 'hate' was not all that it seemed.

It was a rainy day when the Yato siblings were picked up by Sakata Gintoki.

With his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his coat, a scarf wrapped securely around his neck and no particular destination in mind, Gintoki walked through the back alleys of Tokyo. His white hair was drenched by the pouring rain as the skies continued storming, as if to mock his lack of an umbrella. He sighed and continued his trek, his boots tracking mud along the wet pavement.

As he slinked about in the shadows, Gintoki's thoughts turned to the group of ruffians who were likely waiting for him to get back to their hideout. The Yorozuya, huh? He allowed a bitter smile to cross his face. Those idiots sure picked a lousy good-for-nothing to follow. At the age of eighteen, Gintoki had chosen to drop out of high school rather than graduate and continue onto university. As such, finding a job was practically impossible for him as he had no qualifications or prior experience. Money was tight and Gintoki had stepped out from the Yorozuya hideout to collect his thoughts. That was when it had started to rain.

Rather than curse at the storm, Gintoki relished in the feeling of the cold, wet raindrops hitting his skin. It provided a momentary respite from his worries about the future. However, he knew that nothing lasted forever and the Sun would eventually return, bringing with it a reminder that a lowlife such as he was not fit to live in this world. He had nothing to live for – no life goal or special talent to service society. Even those idiots in the Yorozuya have family to return to. But Gintoki did not.

His thoughts steadily grew darker and darker, the grey monotone of his surroundings was expressive of his emotions. However, Gintoki's inner turmoil was interrupted when his eyes fell upon a red splatter on the ground. The colour was so vivid, Gintoki almost thought that it was a trick of the mind. Is that blood? He slowly crept towards the red that had pooled on the pavement of the dirty alleyway and knelt down next to it. Upon closer inspection, he found that the red colour that he had thought was blood had actually been the hair of a shivering, young boy. His dark clothing had blended into the rest of the dark alleyway and his vermillion hair had been the only discernible feature about the boy.

Gintoki gently grabbed the boy's shoulder and shook him, hoping to encourage a reaction from him. In response, the boy gave a light groan and flicked one eye open. His face was scrunched in a painful manner and Gintoki couldn't tell if the wetness on his cheeks was sweat, tears or rain. Upon realising that Gintoki was looming above him, the young boy folded his body protectively and turned his head to glare at Gintoki. As he moved, Gintoki noticed a small bundle in the boy's hands. Peeking out from within the oversized coat that had been wrapped around the bundle were strands of hair which were similar in colour to the boy's. Siblings, Gintoki noted. Or maybe they could be cousins. It was an unusual hair colour to have in Tokyo, though Gintoki's hair colour was arguably much more unusual.

"Listen up, old man," the boy growled. "You touch me one more time and I'll make sure you don't have any hands to touch anyone with again."
Gintoki gave the boy a look of amusement and held his hands up in surrender. If he was old enough, he'd make a great Yorozuya.
"Alright, kid," Gintoki responded, his voice low. "But you'd better get home. I'm sure mummy and daddy will have a warm meal waiting at home for some brats like you."
"Don't got none."
"Huh?" Gintoki made a surprised face while the boy gave him an indignant look.
"Parents are dead, we ain't got no home."

The boy's words were so blunt and normative, as if he was telling a shop clerk what was on his grocery list. So there are kids like this too, huh? Gintoki was silent for a while, before he stood up and began to slowly walk away. With his back turned towards the boy, he halted and spoke again.
"You coming?" he asked.
"Huh?" This time, it was the boy's turn to be surprised.
"I don't have any food, but I've at least got some strawberry milk. That should do it for some little brats, right?"
The boy scoffed. "My parents may be dead, but I know better than to follow strangers around."
"Suit yourself," Gintoki shrugged. "But if you stay out here much longer you'll both die of hypothermia. Your choice."

Gintoki began walking again, his steps purposefully slow. He could hear rustling from behind him, as well as a couple of grunts and a quick 'sorry' followed by a weaker 'it's okay'. Having stopped completely, Gintoki turned his head around to find the boy struggling to balance a little girl on his back whilst covering her with a jacket that did not seem to belong to either of them. The task appeared a little difficult as the girl was about three-quarters of the size of the boy. He needed two hands to secure her to his back, but that left the jacket to slide onto the ground. Grumbling in frustration, the boy moved to try again when Gintoki stepped towards them and gently lifted the girl and the jacket into his arms, cradling her as he deftly wrapped his own scarf around the boy using his free hand. Before the boy could protest, Gintoki had turned and crouched down onto the ground, his back facing the boy once more.

"Get on," Gintoki stated, gesturing towards his back.
With not much choice, the boy grasped onto Gintoki's collar and hoisted himself up. He quickly felt Gintoki's hand secure itself to his leg firmly, ensuring that he would not fall off. Even though Gintoki was thoroughly soaked by the rain, both children felt unbelievably warm as they huddled against him. It was not very long before the little girl in his arms fell asleep as Gintoki walked over to Snack Otose. A bar it might have been, but he knew for sure that the old lady that ran the place would help him out with the children.

"Are you gonna tell us your name, old guy?" the boy on his shoulders asked.
Gintoki chuckled at his rudeness. "I'm barely an adult, let alone an old guy. But you brats can call me Gintoki."
"That so? Well, I'm Kamui and my sister there is Kagura."
Gintoki hummed as he continued walking. As he left the alleyways, he felt a bit more of a spring in his step despite being weighed down by two children and twice as much water weight than before. The warmth against his chest and back filled him with an energy that he did not know existed within him and, as the rain grew lighter and the clouds parted to reveal the setting Sun, a happy smile graced Gintoki's face. I suppose I can hold onto this world for a little while longer.

That night, Gintoki went to bed in his small apartment with two children at his side. Both Kamui and Kagura had stolen the majority of his blanket and the cold, autumn night had him chilled to the bone. However, the expression on his face showed that he really did not mind. As he closed his eyes to join the two children in sleep, he felt Kagura's small, thin body latch onto his torso as she made herself comfortable.
"Mami… Papi…" she had sighed, a mist of sleepiness enveloping her voice.
Gintoki smiled, a tired look in his eyes, and hugged the two children closer.

He had only planned to take care of the children for a short while until they could find a better home to stay in. However, when a year had passed and Kagura and Kamui announced that they wanted to take the Sakata name, there was no denying the tears of happiness that fell from his eyes as he pulled them close once again.

Author's Note

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to read all the way to the end of this prologue chapter. This isn't my first fanfiction, but it is my first OkiKagu and my first fanfiction in many, many years. I do have a friend who reads over it before I upload a chapter, but I know that no-one's perfect and there may still be some mistakes in my writing. Please go ahead and tell me if you find any mistakes, or if you think that there are any oddities in my writing. I'll do my best to try to fix it.

Oh, and one more thing! I'm also not a very good writer of, uh, romance. So - who knows who this story will go, ahah. Let's all hope for the best. I've planned everything out though, so maybe it'll be okay. That's all for now - see you when I next update (whenever that is)!