Author's Note: A short One-shot that I wrote, Enjoy!
Sacchan sat on a bench, outside of a dumpling shop, waiting for the assigned appointment. She was waiting anxiously for her next assignment, her next target. It was the afternoon, the heat of the summer dying down to a cool, relaxing breeze. The hustle and bustle of the busy plaza where she waited became quiet as the townspeople all headed home.
"Afternoon, Sacchan," a voice came from behind her. The voice was purposely made to sound deep, to mask the identity of the person speaking. The person and Sacchan sat back to back, never facing each other while they conversed on the business situation at hand.
"We have an assignment for you," the voice continued.
"Go on," Sacchan answered.
"We need you to eliminate a certain man, a high paying customer wants him dead by whatever means necessary," the voice went on.
"You can count on me," Sacchan declared with confidence.
"Your down payment, ma'am," the man slid a box the size of a dictionary. Sacchan took the box, opened the lid and stared in awe of the down payment. It was filled with shiny gold coins, nearly blinding her as the sunlight refracted off the surfaces of the coins.
"This is just a down payment?" Sacchan asked with total shock.
"Yes, your share, rather, more is on the way if you complete your assignment," the voice went on.
"So who am I eliminating? The Freaking Shogun?" Sacchan joked.
"No, just a simple man, a rogue samurai by the name of Sakata Gintoki."
Sacchan recoiled in shock, this was a surprise, a cold water, slap to the face kind of moment, and the money was tempting to any person, but killing her hubby, Gin-san? A definite no-no. She immediately closed the lid on the box of gold coins and slid it back to the voice.
"I'm sorry but I cannot accept this case," Sacchan proclaimed.
"Wait, what?" the voice of the man got up. He stood up and turned around. Sacchan, too, got up and turned around, prepared to defend herself. Her face was flustered at the thought of Gintoki.
"I said I won't do the job!" she answered again.
The man wore a dark kimono, had a straw hat on, concealing most of his face, but Sacchan could tell that he wore a frown on his lips. The man drew a dagger from under his sleeves, prompting Sacchan to also pull out her kunai.
"I see, so you have set your eyes on this man," the man now had a smile as he withdrew his dagger.
"Very well, it does not matter, once we have received the money, the target will not stand a chance. You not partaking in this task will just leave more shares on our part," the man picked up the box and walked away.
Sacchan was worried now, scared, for the sake of Gintoki. She stumbled backwards and immediately decided to turn and find him, warning him of the upcoming dilemma ahead.
For the rest of the day, she tried to find him, to warn him, questioning on her stupidity about her inept ability to track him down at the most crucial of situations. She searched at his home, the Pachinko Parlors where he hung, the Park, the Cabaret where Tae worked, Yoshiwara, where on earth could he be? She kept thinking to herself. Searching all of Kabukichou, she ended up where she started, out of breath and panting hard, she knocked at the front door of the Yorozuya, a highly unusual method of approaching Gintoki. No answer, but she heard a commotion nearby. Fearing it was Gintoki, she hurried to the scene.
A large crowd of people had already gathered. Sacchan heard whispers of the words, Fight, Silver head, blood everywhere as she pushed her way to the front. Her eyes widened as she saw the result of the events.
A mountain of bodies had gathered around Gintoki, surrounding him bruised, beaten and defeated. Gintoki just stood there, scratching the back of his head as he sheathed his wooden sword back onto the strap of his kimono, unsure of what to make of what happened.
"Gin-san!" Sacchan called out to him.
Gintoki perked up, saw Sacchan in the crowd and watched as she clobbered him with a bear hug.
"You're alright!" She exclaimed in jubilation.
"Of course, what did you expect?" Gintoki answered, still letting Sacchan soaking in the hug.
"Some people wanted to assassinate you and I was so worried so I frantically searched for you but I couldn't," Sacchan whispered into his ear.
"Yeah, yeah, I got that after beating up the leader, don't worry, they won't be bothering me anymore. I made sure of that," Gintoki responded.
"I'm so glad," Sacchan held him a little tighter.
"Hey, hey, get off of me yo, my hugs aren't free," Gintoki grabbed Sacchan by the shoulder and threw her onto the ground, several feet away from him.
Sacchan landed hard on the ground, got up and watched as Gintoki walked away. She gazed at his broad shoulders and his shiny silver hair and smiled. This was the man that she fell in love with.
She watched as he walked further and further away from her but she knows that she will never stop chasing him, always trying to bridge the gap that separated them.