Yes, I've been attacked by the inevitable writer's block and since the start of school is just around the corner here at my place, I'm not sure if I could ever update or type up a new chapter for Silver And Blue as soon as possible.
Anyway, this fanfic is somewhat a sequel to TheBlueWolf888's Some Authors Just Want The Main Characters To Die. He wanted to make another one-shot connected to it, so I decided to type this up from what I had heard from him before he passed away. Hope you'll like it! :)
I do not own Gintama. Sorachi-sensei does. I do not own the plot. TheBlueWolf888 does.
Apparitions And Ghosts Are Two Different Things
It had been a month since Sakata Gintoki's death.
The people who knew and loved him had grieved for him at his funeral and now they have been recovering slowly, yet surely. All except for one of the two people who was closest to him.
Shinpachi walked down the street, head bent down and arms swaying languidly by his sides. Everyone around him had recovered or at least had almost recovered. Even Kagura, who had been crying and bawling for two weeks straight after the silver-permed's death, seemed to have gotten better and is now back to her old self. Everyone seemed to have moved on, except for him, Shimura Shinpachi.
The boy stopped in his tracks when he saw where he was heading. Since she was still too young to live on her own, Kagura was now living with the Shimuras, along with Sadaharu, so now the apartment on top of Snack Otose was as good as abandoned. Why he was standing right now in front of the former Yoruzuya headquarters baffled him. Force of habit maybe? Well, whatever made him go there should be stopped at once. He was already depressed and the mere sight of the apartment made his heart feel even heavier.
Before he knew it, he was already inside the apartment. The ambience was dusty and hot. The furniture pieces were covered with layers of filth and there were cobwebs here and there. Seeing the place like this, Shinpachi went to look for a broom and a dust pan but he then stopped, knowing that cleaning would be senseless, especially since no one lived here anymore.
He sighed. Why was he really here? He wanted to leave and try to move on, but there was something pulling him back. Something made him remember the silver-permed who had been his boss, friend and somewhat like an elder brother at the same time. And this something made the boy feel more miserable.
He occupied the office chair behind the late samurai's desk. All at once, memories of the good times he had with that guy flooded his mind. And being with Sakata Gintoki for some time, he had a lot of them. Tears streamed down his face, the boy deep in reminiscence.
"Oi, Shinpachi! Didn't I tell you to man up when I'm gone? Why the hell are you crying like a kid who had his lollipop taken away from him, huh?"
Shinpachi jolted onto his feet when he heard the voice then looked around to see where or whom it came from. Leaning against the wall to the desk's right was Sakata Gintoki, his arms folded across his chest as his lips pursed into a smirk. He was in his usual attire, except that it was all white, and there was this glowing white aura cloaking him entirely.
"G-Gin-san," Shinpachi stuttered as he stumbled back, "y-you're a g-ghost – "
"I believe the correct term is 'apparition'," Gintoki corrected.
"Whatever! You're supposed to be dead! Are you here to haunt this place or something?"
"Oi, do these clothes and my aura make me look like an uneasy spirit doomed to roam the earth until he has completed his purpose while he was still living?"
"Then why are you really here?"
Gintoki sighed, approached his desk and took the office chair for his seat. Shinpachi shuddered when he felt the air around him grow cold.
"I'm here because I still have one thing left to do," the apparition replied.
"Oh? What's that?" Shinpachi asked.
The silver-permed specter gritted his teeth and furrowed his brows as a vein throbbed in his temple.
"It's you, jackass!" he exclaimed furiously, surprising his companion. "While everyone else has recovered from my death, you're still down in the dump and you ain't doing anything to move on! Hell, I even caught you crying here! You're lucky that I'm just an apparition now because if I were to whack your head, my hand would just pass through you!"
"Why the hell are you angry?" Shinpachi questioned irately, his hands clenched tightly into fists. "I'm the one who's supposed to be angry here! You died and left all of us behind, even though you knew it would be hard for us! Kagura cried for two weeks straight and Ane-ue didn't attend her work for some time! Otose-san almost closed down her snack shop and Sadaharu almost killed himself by not eating his food for three weeks! And it was all because you just had to die!"
The boy kicked the desk and slumped down on one of the two couches in front. His hands covered his face as he wept there. Gintoki was shocked at what he had said but then smiled and came to him.
"You're just like my father, you know," the bespectacled boy added, his voice muffled slightly by his sobs, "you left us behind with heavy hearts and scarred souls. I know all the people around me would have to die someday, but I've lost the people most important to me, you Gin-san and my father. And that's just too depressing for me."
"Shinpachi, please never be like me," Gintoki said as he settled beside the boy.
"What do you mean, Gin-san?"
"I may not have looked like it before, but I was still recovering from an incident that occurred years ago. It was after the Joui war, when we samurai and Joui patriots lost against the Amanto. Shinsuke Takasugi was a comrade of mine, along with Zura and Sakamoto. He brought back the head of our teacher Yoshida Shouyou who was one of those captured in the Kansei purge. It devastated all of us, but I seemed to have taken it the hardest."
"Gin-san, why would you be like that?"
"It was because…I failed to protect him. My past, especially my early childhood, is so blurry that I can't remember it. And Shouyou-sensei was like a parent to me, my father. He brought back the light in my life when I first met him. And I wanted to protect this light of mine badly, fearing that if he were to be gone, I'd return to darkness and solidarity."
"I think I know how you felt, Gin-san, because I guess that's why I still haven't recovered. I wanted to protect you. You changed my life when we first met and I wanted to learn from you how to change lives, for I've been a total loser for the last sixteen years."
Shinpachi was stunned when Gintoki suddenly laughed out loud.
"What's wrong, Gin-san? What's so funny?" he inquired.
"You are, Pattsuan," the apparition answered, wiping a tear from his eye, "you should stop belittling yourself."
The boy cocked a brow in confusion.
"Shinpachi, you have changed a life," Gintoki continued, "and that's mine."
Wait. What?
"Not only you, actually, but also Kagura, Otae, Otose and everybody else. When Sensei died, I've lost my light, my only way to find direction in my life. But then, you guys came along and your radiance was all I needed to continue living fully. And so, I vowed to protect my newfound radiance at all times, whatever it takes me to, even if it meant sacrificing my own life for the safety of all of yours. I died knowing that the radiance I have successfully protected will keep on shining. I didn't die in vain."
Shinpachi smiled. He was glad to know that he had been Gintoki's guiding light. That he had changed and made Gintoki's life worthwhile.
"Shinpachi! Shinpachi are you there?" someone from outside called.
The boy came to the entrance and onto the balcony. Kagura, Otae and Sadaharu were on the ground below him. The two girls were in bathing suits and the inugami had something like a huge life vest on him.
"Oi, Megane! Let's go to the beach!" Kagura invited as she twirled her umbrella.
"It's summer now, Shin-chan. We need to have a relaxing dip in the beach since it's so hot," Otae stated, smiling her sweet smile as Sadaharu barked in agreement.
Shinpachi turned back to Gintoki. The apparition got up and nodded.
"Okay! I'll be down in just a sec!" the boy informed.
He then rushed back to his ghostly companion and gave him a hug.
"Thank you, Gin-san, for changing our lives," he murmured.
"And thank you, all of you, for changing mine," Gintoki mumbled back. "Now go, Shinpachi. Have fun with Kagura, Otae and Sadaharu for me."
Shinpachi nodded and exited the apartment. He came to the group waiting for him and the four of them headed into the direction of the beach. Gintoki climbed down the stairs and watched them go.
"Are you here to haunt us, Gintoki?" someone behind him asked.
The apparition turned around to see Katsura dressed in monk robes.
"Yo, Zura," he greeted, "where's your weird pet thingy?"
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura," the terrorist corrected with his infamous line. "And Elizabeth is not a weird pet thingy. I sent her on an errand. Anyway, why are you here?"
There was a pause as Gintoki smiled and scratched the back of his head.
"It's nothing," he replied, "I just dropped by for a visit. To see how things have been going while I'm gone. Zura, promise me that you'll keep them safe. I know you've got some Jouishishi things to do, but at least have the time to watch over them, since I'm no longer here to protect them."
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura," Katsura stated again then smiled. "And I've promised you that before, haven't I? I will protect Leader Kagura, Shinpachi and everyone else dear to you. You can count on that. We Jouishishi never forget our promises, especially if one has been made with a close friend and comrade."
He held out his hand and Gintoki took and shook it.
"Oh yeah. Tell Sensei that I said 'hi'," Katsura added.
Gintoki nodded then walked away. His comrade watched as a pair of silver wings sprouted from the apparition's back and he flew high into sky and disappeared among the clouds. Katsura smiled again.
"Gintoki, life without you will be hard, but we'll keep strolling on towards the path you have shown us. You changed our lives to the point that we will never be the same ever again. Farewell, old friend. May you and Shouyou-sensei be granted eternal peace. We will all meet again someday."