Disclaimer: All characters belong to Hideaki Sorachi
Warning: Mild hint of Shounen-ai
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THE BIRTH OF SHIROYASHA
Act 3, Scene 2
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I'm searching for my silver soul...
A slim, black-haired figure stumbled blindly through the thick, swirling mist that had descended in the aftermath of the battle. He was dressed in a mud-splattered jacket with square brocade lapels, black pants and white headband. All around him lay heaps of Alien Amanto and Joui Samurai corpses, drenched by rain and mud to resemble smashed earthenware in an abandoned junkyard. Crows spread their jet black feathers and soared through the billowing smoke, cawing.
He better not be dead…
A gust of wind brought silvery streaks of rain splattering into Takasugi's eyes. He blinked, shook his head and wiped his palm over his face.
What will I— no, I mean us, the Joui resistance – do without him?
"Shiroyasha, where are you?!" he hollered.
"SHIROYASHA!"
Suddenly, he coughed hard. His vision went black and he slipped to one knee, leaning exhaustedly on his sword. When he opened his eyes again, he could barely focus his consciousness. He saw the puddles of water at his feet reflect the steel-grey sky, but the shadows moving across it were dark crimson. The medics had arrived. They splashed through the mud with empty stretchers."Oi, Takasugi-san!" His comrade knelt and supported him by the shoulders. "Are you wounded?"
"No. I can walk. Go get the others, hurry!" He bent forward and staggered doggedly to his feet. "Wait!" he clutched the medic. "Where is...geh!" He coughed hard.
"Where is he?" he repeated in his deep velvety voice, surprisingly strong for his condition. "Where is who?" The medic looked anxiously at him, a little awed and intimidated. Even in this sorry state, the leader of the Kiheitai had a commanding presence well-suited to shouting at troops.
My Shiro—! "The Shiroyasha, dammit! Where is he?" He demanded, grasping the medic's collar.
"Ugh…." The man choked, lolling his head left and right. "I dunno! We just got here!"
"Che!" Takasugi released his grip and looked away, eyes raking through the swirling mist. On one level, he saw ragged groups of survivors band together to make it back to the castle. He heard medics singing, "heave-ho" as they loaded bodies onto wagons. He remembered speaking to several of his men, sending them rushing to report to Lord Mori Motomomo that the final attack on their castle was imminent. But on another level, all he saw was grey, grey, grey, and more grey. No fluttering white jacket, glistening silver breastplate or quirky moon-glow hair. Where the hell is that kami-damned white demon of his?
"Don't worry, Takasugi-san!" The medic positively beamed. "The Shiroyasha is still alive, I'm sure of it. He can't be killed."
"Hmph, that's true...."
The medic nodded vigorously in agreement. "He's my hero."
"Your hero, you say?" Takasugi's tone was mocking but his expression softened and became solemn.
The perm-haired bastard...
Shiroyasha was the best fighter among the Joui samurai. He shone with a silvery light on the muddy battlefield. He couldn't be killed. The bullets the Amanto fired at him always missed their mark. Around him, time slowed down. He could cut down the enemy in one stroke, without hate or fear. Instead of bringing carnage, he brought honor.
"Honor…" Yes, Shiroyasha showed them honor still existed on the battlefield.
But when he came out of his berserker mode, he was just plain old Gintoki again. The sweets-obsessed bastard who cried like an overgrown baby because, while he was plunging ahead, he had no time to stop and pick up those who have fallen.
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"Ah, there he is…" Takasugi sighed in relief as he spotted a white-clad figure shimmering in the shadowy mist. He was huddled in the mud, kneeling beside a departed friend, holding his blood caked hand. One after another, several survivors approached the fearsome warrior to ask him to join them, but they were all rebuffed. That was unusual for Gintoki, whom Takasugi viewed as disgustingly popular and sociable.
"What's wrong, Gintoki?" Takasugi finally asked in his deep, arrogant voice. He had been standing next to the Shiroyasha for a few minutes, silently observing snowy-white head bowed over the chest of a dead comrade."That's enough mourning already. Don't forget, he's the lucky one."
"…" Gintoki did not look up, nor respond wittily as he usually did.
"It's better to go first than to be left behind." Taka added.
Gintoki was silent; to his surprise, that made Takasugi feel awful.
"Oi, oi, snap out of it!" he shouted, then sneered and stretched out his right hand. "Or do you need someone to hold your hand….ya big baby?!"
Gintoki slowly raised his head. His eyes burned ruby red and freezingly cold. The powerful aura streaming from him was equal to that of a thousand men, as expected of the hero who could single-handedly turn the tide of the battle. Takasugi took a step backwards and gulped. This wasn't Gintoki, this was Shiroyasha! He felt his cheeks suddenly burning for some reason.
"Shiroyasha! Why are you…?"
"Takasugi. I'm not fighting this war any longer."
The blunt words exploded in Takasugi's mind like a devastating bomb. "N-NANI?!"
"I think we should stop." Shiroyasha's crimson orbs bore into his brain. "Five years ago, it took 10 of our men to bring down 1 Amanto. Today, each man fought like 10, and we only managed to break equal. No matter how I look at it, the tide is not going in our favour."
"War of attrition." Takasugi thought bitterly.
"Let's sue for peace."
"And submit to the Bakufu?! Never!" Takasugi sputtered.
Gintoki nodded. "I want to stop fighting. Tomorrow's battle will be my last. Although I know we will surely lose…"
"So what if we lose?" Takasugi snarled heatedly. "We've done nothing wrong. We're fighting to protect our country. This is justice!"
Shiroyasha shook his head calmly. "I used to think the same as you. Every day I become Shiroyasha, forgetting about tomorrow, yet when I return to my senses, I see less and less reason to continue."
"This is war! We don't need a reason. We just need to win."
"What's the point of winning if you're going to end up all alone?"
Takasugi glared back at Shiroyasha, his usual bull-headedness brought in line by his friend's ethics. Unknown to his comrade, ever since his beloved teacher, mentor and saviour, Shouyou-sensei had been executed, Takasugi was hell-bent on carrying out a sadistic scheme that would spawn a series of demonic, blood-soaked events and make him the most wanted terrorist in Edo. On the other hand, he was still human enough to feel conflict. What if his instinct for aggression led to the death of all his friends, was he willing to make that trade-off?
A black cloud concentrated over his heart. Takasugi walked a few steps away and stifled his coughs, so Gintoki wouldn't glimpse the globs of red he hacked up. His body had reached the terminal stage of tuberculosis.
"Takasugi! I thought your cold was healed." Gintoki exclaimed, standing up.
"My virus needs to get a girlfriend and leave me alone." he wheezed, vision blurring. "But my health is perfect, see?" He dramatically flapped open the lapel of his black jacket to reveal a mostly spotless grey vest. "I wasn't even scratched today, no bloodst…Geh! Geh! Geh!" He coughed.
"Yare, yare." Before he knew it, Gintoki had slipped past his defenses and supported his left arm over his shoulder, holding his waist with his right. "Lean on me..."
Takasugi silently obeyed. They started staggering back to the castle, taking their direction from the other men in the shadows splashing ahead. The mist and deepening twilight made it impossible to see very far ahead.
"Hey, Gintoki!" Someone, or perhaps a group of men in the shadows, waved at them.
"Yo~" Gintoki replied.
"Yo, Gintoki!" Another vague figure saluted him. "Shiroyasha!"
"Yo~"
"Yo~"
"Yo, my ass!" Takasugi grumbled. How could they see it was Gintoki though the murky haze? Because he was so kami-be-damned snowy-white he positively twinkled like a star in the night…meanwhile he was just the random shadow leaning upon the stronger man as a crutch. How embarrassing, my image is going to be destroyed. To make matters worse, he had become uncomfortably self-conscious of their footsteps for the past ten minutes... they were in perfect synchrony, as if merged …Ugh! He suddenly flushed and broke away.
"What's wrong, Takasugi?" Gintoki sneered. After a thought, he held out his hand. "Or do you need me to hold your hand, ya big baby?"
"N-NANI!!" Takasugi over-reacted, scowling furiously. "Stop fooling around, Gintoki! I'm really pissed-off! About the whole situation we're in. It's pointless!"
Gintoki was amazed by Takasugi's sudden outburst. The Kiheitai leader was usually so taciturn.
"Why doesn't the Bakufu send reinforcements? We're dying here! They'd rather let the Amanto wipe out all the Joui forces, saving them the trouble, isn't it? Damn! Damn! Damn!" He ranted, shaking his fists. "Tomorrow. Tomorrow the aliens will surely blow the castle to bits with their aerial bombardment. And we have no anti-airship artillery. That would make us sitting ducks if we employ the defense tactics of a traditional siege. But neither can we just evacuate, because if we retreat, we'd be forced to commit seppuku. We're caught between a rock and a hard place. Dammit, Gintoki!" He suddenly whirled about, grabbed his comrade's lapels and shook him. "What should we do, what should we do???"
"We stay alive."
"...Huh?"
"That's right, I haven't even gotten myself a girlfriend yet. And neither have you, right? That's why we've gotta stay alive! "
A black shadow covered Takasugi's face.
"Have you taken advantage of your puberty, my son? Setsuko Ana, man! Gorgeous face, beautiful body…. Imagine caressing—"
"What about the siege?" Takasugi interrupted rudely.
"What about the siege? You already said it."
"Said what?"
"We gotta evacuate."
"But we can't."
"Who says we can't?"
"…"
"Think about it, what are the aliens really after anyway? The ones fighting us are mercenaries, no better than pirates. They wouldn't hesitate to bomb the castle because they don't care about capturing a base to launch a future attack on the hinterland. They can land anywhere in their ships, especially if in places with gold to be found."
"Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!" Takasugi's laughter verged on insanity. "Yes, why not do that? Toss our gold coins and silk products – and Setsuko Ana too, she's got to mean something even to a furry green elf – on the roof of the keep in order to prevent them from bombarding the castle? I've been thinking of all the ways to ambush them, isn't this the best? Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha—Geh!" Takasugi laughed so hard he coughed again.
"If they are willing to send individual warriors into the castle instead of blanket bombing us, then the advantage is ours. This is the perfect lure, Takasugi."
"Only if it doesn't rain, or I might slip off the roof tiles and fly like a bird."
"Then fight barefoot."
"But I haven't painted my toenails." Takasugi replied absent-mindedly causing Gintoki to raise a quizzical eyebrow in the background. But Takasugi paid him no mind, mulling over the value of their scheme. Hmm...actually, their plan had real potential. What's more, spies have reported that the Amanto-Land was undergoing recession making the aliens desperate to obtain more funds. If provoked by a ruse, they might really make an impulsive landing in the castle keep, if so..."Yosh! Victory is within our reach!"
"Yare, yare…to think our last fight will end so colorfully…" Gintoki stretched his back and yawned.
Takasugi suddenly stared seriously at Gintoki. "This won't be your last, Gintoki. I won't let you."
Gintoki's eyes narrowed. "Why?"
"I have a plan."
"What is it?"
"I'll tell you if we survive this battle."
"Okay, but remember: no money, no talk."
"Money? Kukuku…" he chortled sneakily.
Gintoki didn't like the sound of it but he wasn't about to get into an argument with one of the stubbornest samurai to walk the earth on what was possibly the last day of his life. "Okay. But just so you know, I'm not available for kamikaze."
"Trust me, Gintoki, I plan to make our lives as colorful as possible...and I fight a lot better after I'm hurt."
He jabbed his thumb at his heart and then pounded his fist on Gintoki's breastplate, resting his fist longer than strictly necessary. They'd shared seven years of ups and downs together; he even remembered the birth of Shiroyasha. It was almost as important as his own birth. No, even more, one Shiroyasha was worth a thousand Takasugis, he admitted. If he had to sacrifice himself to save the other, he would do it unhesitatingly. He couldn't imagine fighting a battle without the Shiroyasha charging ahead in front of him, his white-haired figure shining brightly, like a silver light.
Shiroyasha...you are my silver soul.
If this was to be their last gesture of affection, then so be it; he wanted to treasure the moment. Suddenly, exhaustion caught up with him and his vision went black. He leaned forward heavily, and Gintoki gripped his wrist. When he opened his eyes again, all he could see were a pair of ruby-red eyes swimming in and out of focus.
Those clear, bright pools seemed to see beyond him, into his depths. He couldn't move, Gintoki was always physically so much stronger than him. His spirit was hard, much harder than his…and he was melting inside. He blushed furiously and looked aside, tugging his wrist without much strength. His lips trembled."Let me go…"
The crimson irises peered closer at him, making him squirm back and tilt his chin upwards, exposing a swathe of neck. The pale skin turned a faint pink.
"You're blushing?"
"Che!"
Gintoki swung an arm casually around his momentarily un-feisty friend. "War seems to bring out the better side of you, you know. Can't you stay like this, too, after we make it through to peacetime?"
There was a warm smile on his face and closing his eyes, he brought his other arm around for a hug. But to his surprise, his arms wrapped around thin air until he hugged himself. He blinked blankly and looked around, but there was no sign of Takasugi.
"Where did he go?"
Takasugi had slipped down like an eel and passed out in the mud, a faint smile on his lips.
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FIN
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P.S. We finally see how Takasugi lost his eye in the "Shiroyasha Goutan" trailer :P
Originally I wanted to write a drabble about that but I ended with this. Sorry for the lame ending... I dunno, maybe they should have kissed, huh? XD
Anyways, pls review and let me know how it went~