AN: so this is an au where gintoki's parents are a gender-neutral amanto and a male samurai and they fall in love 33

also, gintoki's parent (the amanto) uses they/their/them pronouns

Agrona had heard things about the planet of Earth. Originally, they had thought that a war for such a small silly planet would be a futile and pointless, no doubt wasting resources just to make a point. Surely there ought to be much better ways to throw Amanto lives away? Maybe to hunt down the last of those Yatos or take control of some planet ten times the size of Earth. But alas, the war kept waging and Agrona had no choice but to check what all the huff was about. How couldn't they? The planet would be strewn with carnage and blood would bathe the soil. Creatures would scavenge for the living and the dead. It was a perfect place for them.

And Agrona didn't regret it one bit as they stood in the middle of a battlefield, blood and dirt seeping between their toes, with a dark skinned samurai kneeling in front of them. There was blood matting his black hair and dripping onto his face and he was positivity beautiful, with his smooth skin and strong hands and dark eyes.

"Hello," he said, his voice gravely, throwing a cheeky smirk up at Agrona.

They tucked a white curl around behind their ear, "Hello."

The samurai hoisted himself up and the top of his head barely reached Agrona's shoulder, but that didn't seem to deterre him. Agrona was mildly impressed; usually when there is an amanto towering over someone who just finished fighting a great deal of, they would be less conversational and more violent. But who understood these samurai anyways? And Agrona was too fixated on those dark eyes to really care.

He sheathed his bloodstained katana and slowly reached out for their hand. Agrona immediately lifted their hand instinctively so that the samurai could softly grip their hand in his.

"There is a town nearby," he said softly, "Let me buy you something to eat. You must be hungry."

Agrona wasn't really all that hungry, but they let them lead them into town anyways.

The man never once said anything about them being too beautiful to frown so much or too powerful to be attracted to pretty things. He didn't say anything when they made a mess when they ate or about how dirty they were getting their clothes. They only thing he seemed to care about was the words coming out of their mouth and their eyes. Even when he called Agrona a woman at first, he didn't make a huff when they corrected him.

It took Agrona three days to fall for the man named Minoru. He treated them like an emperor, brought them flowers with blood stained petals and snarled at men who gripped swords in their presence.

And by the eighth day, Agrona was ready to make love to him. It was always said that their species fell in and out of love quickly and they knew that once their panting breaths left the air, the passion would be gone. And like every time before, Agrona didn't want to believe it and felt like this time it would be different. But knowing the fate that strew beyond the night, Agrona laid with him anyways and relished in the touch of his warm hands on their body.

But on the ninth day, the passion was still there. Agrona didn't know what to think; this was the first time in their life that the love had continued to burn. So, they stayed by Minoru's side, wondering where this strange path with Minoru would take them.

Weeks passed by and soon three months had flown by and the two of them had traveled town to town, their love only growing stronger. Beautiful words and soft hands had kept Agrona close, despite the anxiety that maybe something was wrong with them. Why hadn't their feelings changed? Why did they still love this samurai as much as they did the third day? They still didn't have an answer.

But by the fifth month, Agrona knew something really wasn't right.

Their belly, which had always been smooth and tough like marble had begun to soften and grow. Agrona held their round belly in their hands, red slit eyes wide. Impossible. They knew how their species reproduced and knew it was very uncommon to be.. to be impregnated. They reproduce mostly asexually; no help was ever needed and usually, help was unwanted. A child was something that a parent had to choose for themselves, not be forced with. Agrona seriously considered ripping the baby right out of their stomach this instant, knowing the fate if they decided to keep it. They weren't ready. They didn't need a child to fulfil their life. Sharp fingers dug into their belly, ready to get rid the thing inside them when Minoru snuck up behind them, wrapping arms around their waist.

"What's the matter, love?" he whispered between their shoulder blades.

Agrona froze, hands stilling as their body calmed from Minoru's presence. Maybe this could work. Their love is unique and perfect and maybe, just maybe they could raise a child together. Surely it would be cruel not to tell Minoru? After all, it was his child too and Agrona cared enough about him for his opinion to matter.

"I'm pregnant," Agrona said, voice quite loud in the silent room only filled with Minoru's breathing.

And for a split second, Agrona was filled with dread and unease; something they hadn't felt since they were a child left alone in a universe with no parent to guide them. Minoru surely hadn't been planning on having a child with them, but here they were, with a small heart beating beneath their fingertips.

Agrona felt Minoru's fingers slide across their hands and belly, and with a smile in his voice said, "Fantastic."

And as the months went on and Agrona's belly grew bigger until they could barely even walk (why was their species cursed to carry around a child for nearly eleven months?) and Minoru had both bought and scavenged food for them, their love had only grown stronger. They had found a little shack in the off skirts of a tiny village, near a large forest which had helped quite a bit in Minoru's search of food. However, Agrona knew that they were reaching the final stages of their pregnancy and that they should tell Minoru the secret they were dying not to tell.

"Minoru, love," Agrona called, softly as they were feeling quite tired. He was there almost instantly, dark hair framing his soft eyes.

"What is it? Do you need anything?" he asked.

"No, no. I need to tell you something; something about our child."

He stayed silent, patient, waiting for Agrona to catch their breath.

"My species…" they started, breaking off to think their words through carefully, "We don't have children like you humans do. When our child is born, I must die for it to live, as it has been for my parent before me and so on."

They waited cautiously for Minoru to say something, but he didn't, so they continued. "When I was born, I was born alone, my parent giving up their life so I could live mine. That is why I have to carry the child for so much longer than you humans have to. When we are born, we need to be able to walk quickly and we must learn fast. The minute we are born, we are born alone and have to fend for ourselves. But our child will not have to. It will have you."

Minoru was silent before saying softly, "You will die."

Agrona nodded slowly, "Yes and no. I will die, but I will also live on in our child. Such is the way of our species."

Minoru cried, which was expected. He put his dark-skinned hand in their pale one and rested his head on Agrona's belly.

Agrona went into labour two weeks later. Minoru was out hunting for food in the morning when minor contractions started, but they put it out of their mind. Their water broke when they were coming back from the kitchen. They never made it back to the bed before the stronger contractions kicked in. They could have made it to the bed if they had really wanted, by the floors were much more cooler. Harder, yes, but their sweating body needed something cool to rest against.

Pain ripped through their body, and occasionally the fear and shock was so overwhelming, they almost cried a few times. Where was Minoru? They supposed, that like their parent before them, they would also have to go through childbirth alone. The panic was gripping, the pain's hold was strong and the loneliness was smothering.

And that was how their baby boy was born, with curly white hair and red eyes like theirs and dark skin (albeit a little lighter) like Minoru's, on the floor of a little shack in the middle of nowhere.

The most shocking thing to Agrona wasn't that here was their child, barely even able to stand, sniffling and trying to hold back tears (and failing) as they tried to get up. It was that Agrona was still alive, still able to breathe. And they could feel that ability leaving them.

The love left and panic gripped them.

They weren't ready to die. They didn't need a child. And they didn't need to die to feel fulfilled.

Agrona stared at the Boy, still trying to get up on their feet and failing. Agrona snarled and the Boy's head whipped towards them, red eyes very like their own staring fearfully. Agrona ground up the last power they had in their body to lunge at the Boy, trying to rip it apart as they had tried to do eleven months earlier, vowing to succeed this time.

But just like last time, Minoru was there to stop them.

They hadn't meant to, but in the midst of the Boy screeching and Agrona's growling and the panic and the fear, they hadn't even noticed Minoru come in the room and dive in front of the Boy to protect him.

In one swift motion that had been meant for the Boy, Agrona had ripped Minoru's throat out, blood splattering their face and the floor. His body made a dull thud as it hit the ground, the slain rabbits and katana clattering to the floor. The shack was quiet to Agrona's ears, the only thing making noise was the blood rushing in their ears. Even the Boy's quiet whimpers were muffled and muted as Agrona scooped up Minoru's body in their arms and held him close.

"This is all your fault," Agrona spoke to the Boy softly, not looking at him. "This is your fault," they said again louder, this time raising their head to look at the thing they hated most in the world.

The Boy had finally managed to pull himself to his feet and stared back at them with wide, red eyes, near identical to their own. He had the same white curls they did and the same dark skin as Minoru's, albeit a little lighter. He gripped Minoru's unsheathed katana in his shaking hands, barely able to hold it up, and said nothing as he lunged towards her and swung, just as Angora had done.

However, he didn't miss.

Agrona's life left them all at once, filling the Boy with all the power Agrona had been desperately holding on to. The Boy sheathed his father's sword with stumbling fingers and gripped it close. The Boy looked around the room until a small yukata caught his eye.

It had obviously been chosen for him, the size would perfectly fit him and the color was a dark, gender-neutral blue. He dragged the sword with him over to it and tried to put it on; backwards at first, before fixing it and crossing the right side over top the left and tied it as best as he could. He stumbled over to where his father had entered, not quite used to using his legs yet and the weight of fabric. He opened the door and the wind was cold on his fresh skin. The Boy looked towards the small village nearby and then stared at the forrest, weighing his two options. Civilization, noise and company. Solitude, silence, soundless. He began walking towards the forest, steps getting stronger as he walked on.

By the time he reached the roots of the trees, the Boy could walk confidently, without stumbling.

AN: there will be more with gintoki actually featuring more in them, this is more of a prologue. please FAVE if you like or COMMENT if you really like bc trust me, chapters will probs come out faster if u do.