A/N: You should probably watch/have watched Be Forever Yorozuya before reading this. Major spoilers are present. Also, Gintama doesn't belong to me obviously. Enjoy!

He was on the run.

Just when he had found peace, he was on the run once more. Just when he found a home, he was on the road. Just when he found a family, he was alone once again.

It was for their best.

Hand against an old abandoned building, his heavy breath drove the crows to scatter in all directions, leaving him alone with only the light of the starry night sky.

He continued running. They were probably looking for him, and he wished they weren't. Gintoki couldn't bare the thought what would happen if they found him in the awful state he was in. He couldn't waste one second.

No matter what, he can't let it happen.

He hoped they thought he died from eating some poison mushroom or perhaps drowning in a toilet (or whatever else the Yorozuya could come up with). Hell, he was better off dead anyway. This was already his last resort, and the worst part was, that he didn't even know if it would work.

All he could do was wait.

Only five days ago it had all began, and even then, it was already too late.

Five Days Ago

Gintoki woke up to find himself surrounded by the odor of blood in the endless smoky grey sky. The former Shiroyasha noticed his clothing was different; he wore a white kimono stained in crimson and had an actual blade in his scabbard.

As he stood up, Gintoki found himself surrounded by the dead. His eyes and ears scanned the room, not even letting a single butterfly's wings escape his vision. He was oddly unfazed by all the bodies; back then, sorrow and mourning meant nothing more than a distraction for the Shiroyasha. There were only two things he kept in mind: Cut, Protect.

Although he was slightly uneasy, Gintoki continued to effortlessly step through the bodies, staining his sandals.

Then he saw it.

He froze. His mentor's head faced opposite to Gintoki with an uncanny smile almost impossible to see. Shouyou's hair was oddly white, and beside him were two other white haired heads.

Gintoki's stomach churned. He wanted to keep on moving, move on, continue. But his feet stood frozen.

A distant song, no, a haunting hum came from the direction of Shouyou.

That sinister hand of yours...

Gintoki covered his ears, but it only became louder.

Will one day take the ones you hold dear...

He opened his mouth, but for every word he intended to holler, a bandage covered it, leaving him unable to breathe.

And crush them to pieces.

The hum quickly disappeared and Gintoki's hands touched his own futon. His breathing filled the room. It was only a nightmare. Looking outside, Gintoki estimated it was around 1 am. He scratched his neck. His head was ringing.

He was awake, right? Still, something rubbed him suspicious.

Insomnia took Gintoki and hit him like a train. He felt an irritating sting in his chest, and his back ached. He could not sleep at all. Walking over to where Kagura slept, he softly opened the door and found the Yato sleeping loudly.

He smiled to himself as he recalled the time Kagura couldn't sleep. She was such a weirdo sometimes. And the time he found Pattsuan up at night making an accurate doll of Otsuu (it was still pretty awful looking to Gintoki)? Creepy but usual.

As he carefully slid the door back, Gintoki tiptoed into the bathroom. Might as well roam around Edo or talk with the old Granny if he was gonna be up.

Grabbing his toothbrush, Gintoki watched himself brush his teeth. In the corner of his eye, he noticed a creepy violet marking on his neck, partially hidden by his green pajamas. Squinting his eyes, he attempted to wipe it off, scrapping Shinpachi's favorite towel against his neck for a few minutes.

The marking was still there.

Gintoki took off his shirt and stared. The markings were spread out all across his back and chest. A faint stinging pain seemed to come from all of them. He looked almost eerie with all the foreign purple wordings on him. The longer he stared at them, the brighter they seemed to glow.

"What the ****...," Gintoki said out loud to his surprise.

Then it hit him. It was them.

They- the Blight came back. The very same b******* came back from hell to haunt him once more. His past had finally caught up to him again.

Only it wasn't a nightmare this time. It was a reality.

Gintoki didn't remember much about the Blight. Hell, he had locked all of the past away a long time ago. He had thought they would never come back. After all, the killer of the leader of the Blight was Gintoki himself.

He nervously felt the markings on his neck. His eyes were slowly clouding into a maroon. What was happening to him?

Slowly, he put his shirt back on and was ready to head out to Gengai. If someone knew what was happening to him, it would be that old geezer. As he stepped one foot out, a voice shattered the unusual peace.

"Gin-chan..? What are you doing?"

Kagura opened her door and faced him, eyes half closed. She yawned. "What time is it...?"

Gintoki stared at her, then his markings. They were almost impossible to see in the dark of the night. "Shh, Kagura-chan," he whispered softly, hoping for her to not to notice. "I have to go check up on something."

"Mmm...," Kagura mumbled, tossing and turning. Her snoring followed.

A bitter smile escaped Gintoki. And with that, he left the building to never return to it again.

A/N: Leave a review on your way out! I'm so so sorry you're one of my favorite characters Gintoki. This will be one wild ride.