Title: Blank sheet
Fandom: Gintama
Characters: Sarutobi Ayame, Tsukuyo
Rating: T
Warnings: blood
Summary: AU – Sacchan is in charge of Hyakka, Tsukuyo is a girl who wants to get into the organization; this is a translation, original work by Sinfique can be found here /works/1070162?view_adult=true
if you like this translation, please give the original author some love!
Disclaimer: Gintama is not mine, although the writing certainly is.
A/N: first time translating a story, I know this is not perfect but give it a chance if you wish; comments are much appreciated!
what I liked about this story, first thing being, of course, that it's about Sacchan and Tsukuyo together not as enemies/love rivals, is that it's an AU, and I love AU stories even though I don't write them (but I might, one day...)
I like this AU; let there be more Gintama AUs!
Although not many people would call Yoshiwara charming, Sacchan thought the city had a certain charm. Sitting on a roof – as she always liked to do this when she had time – she observed the place of sinner and sins below. This city never slept, always bright and glossy, vicious and unapproachable, seductive and dangerous. Full of women without dignity or morals, and men losing all their fortunes in search of carnal pleasures. Or was it all about women finding shelter in a place where they weren't judged, where their souls could be truly free – the only price were their bodies, treated like yet another thing they could sell after they had lost everything else in their lives.
She loved this dark and mesmerizing, but also scary, atmosphere of Yoshiwara. Even though she felt like a stranger here, just like all other slave girls the place was full of. If some girl couldn't adjust to the rules governing Yoshiwara, and the first one was, kill or get yourself killed, Housen or his men would quickly make sure the useless element was removed. It was not her place, she wasn't a Hyakka girl at heart, but a member of the Oniwabanshu, however, she learnt to live here, and if she managed to survive for so long, it meant she could stay.
Letting out a sigh, Sarutobi stood up; she should get back to work soon, check how the Hyakka squad was doing, or else she would face the consequences. She left the spot on the roof, though little did she know there was someone watching her every move.
"I want to join Hyakka."
Sacchan tried not to laugh. The girl glared at her seriously, but it was hard not to take this situation as a joke. She was tall, muscular, and very young – she had probably just entered the age. On the other hand, she was brave enough to think that if she was stubborn, Ayame would accept her.
"Of course," she replied. "And I want many bags of money and a handsome man to help me carry my fortune. Let me tell you this, sweetheart. I have to deal with other bratty little girls who think they perfectly fit into my organization, but unfortunately they do not. So go back home, and let adults do their jobs."
Light inside the room was faint but it didn't matter to Sarutobi's reflex; she moved just a little bit to the right, so that the flying kunai hit the paper wall behind her. The girl frowned.
"I'll join without your permission, then," she said, anger rising in her voice. She took a fighting pose, transforming from a gullible child to... maybe not a warrior, but something close.
Sacchan snorted, and before the girl could take another breath, Ayame grabbed the kunai and was right in front of her, with the blade almost touching her throat. She heard the girl's gasp, and smiled.
"I should kill you for this," Sacchan whispered, the blade touched the skin; the girl swallowed but looked into the woman's eyes. There was no fear in her, and Sarutobi wondered if she was that brave – or that stupid.
"But," she continued, still smiling. "You impressed me. What is your name?"
She removed her hand, no longer threatening to slice her throat. The girl took a deep breath.
"Tsukuyo," her eyes narrowed. "I don't need your pity!"
"Oh, believe me, you do. Otherwise I'm afraid you'd be dead."
It was surprisingly easy to convince Housen that a pretty girl like this was needed in Hyakka, as if it was destined that Tsukuyo joined the group. Maybe it was.
Tsukuyo was fit and knew how to fight; someone had surely trained her, however, her technique was clumsy. She certainly had some skills, but she still needed more training. At least she wasn't complaining and worked hard, though she was usually silent, never talking much. Other girls didn't particularly liked her, but it was Tsukuyo's choice to separate herself from the rest of the group. Sarutobi only hoped that this 'lone wolf' act wouldn't get her killed one day.
She was like a blank sheet on which Sacchan could write whatever she wanted.
And she did.
Learning the differences between weapons; how to throw a kunai only to threaten, how to throw it to kill. Memorizing the names of every house and important person in Yoshiwara; walking on the streets with her eyes closed, and learning every place, alley and doorway by heart. Killing someone in Hyakka's name for the first time, Sacchan watching her from the shadows.
Sarutobi looked at her like a scientist looked at an interesting specimen, learning how Tsukuyo behaved in certain situations, keeping in mind that for some reasons she still blushed slightly at the mention of carnal acts taking place behind the walls of brothers.
When Yoshiwara burned (for the second time, as Sacchan remembered), she saw Tsukuyo crying for the first time. Hyakka girls helped pulling people – or their remains – from burning buildings, and Sarutobi caught her kneeling by a burned corpse, now completely unrecognizable, crying like a little girl (perhaps deep down inside, she still was a little girl).
At first Sarutobi wanted to take Tsukuyo into her arms until she stopped crying, maybe that was what she wanted in that one single moment, to feel someone else by her side; but she couldn't move, observing her from a safe distance.
Some time later, Ayame asked her what was her wish.
"I want to protect everyone," Tsukuyo replied after a longer while. She was busy cleaning her kunais, not looking Sacchan in the eyes, clearly avoiding her gaze.
"Really?" Sarutobi said, surprised at how cheesy that sounded.
Then Tsukuyo raised her head, and the second Sacchan saw the look in her eyes, she knew the girl was telling the truth. For some unknown reason, she wanted to protect others – even though she separated herself from everyone as much as she possibly could.
"How boring," Sacchan sighed, but Tsukuyo merely shrugged and continued to clean another kunai.
"There are things worth fighting for, even though some people might find them boring."
"Well, do you really mean everyone?" Sacchan asked in a softer voice, and sat by Tsukuyo's side.
She didn't flinch. Good sign.
Tsukuyo put the weapons down, turned her head to the purple–haired woman, and nodded. Ayame smiled; in a blink of an eye, she had a blade in her hand, hovering millimetres above Tsukuyo's cheek, but again there was no fear in her lavender eyes.
"Sily thing... You want to protect everyone, but who will protect you? You can't even protect yourself."
Tsukuyo slowly raised her hand and put it on the blade, pressing it to her skin.
"There is nothing I wouldn't give up to achieve my goals."
She pressed harder, and Sacchan observed fascinated as blood flowed down her face.
"Even your pretty face?"
"Especially my pretty face."
"Do it, then," Sarutobi said, and it sounded more like a dare, though she couldn't help it, seeing Tsukuyo's beautiful form covered in blood.
The blonde grabbed the knife firmly (now Ayame clearly saw the long cut on her face), and without any sign of hesitation pressed it to her forehead above her left eye, making another scar. Sarutobi bit her lower lip, and the red drops flowed down Tsukuyo's face, making her look like some kind of a two– faced monster.
"Is it enough?" she asked.
Sarutobi nodded; she wanted to get up and grab some bandages, but before she moved, Tsukuyo grasped her wrist with one hand, with the other smearing the blood on the woman's face, so that it looked nearly as a mirror image of her own wounds.
Something changed in Tsukuyo, and Sarutobi usually thought the blonde finally grew up (sometimes Ayame thought she awakened a monster, but only sometimes). Yoshiwara became Tsukuyo's true and only home, she was no longer blushing at the mention of brothels, she did perfectly when it came to training, and even Housen noticed her, parsing her skills.
Much later, during one of the patrols, that were a rather boring but necessary task, Tsukuyo asked Sarutobi the same question.
She was silent for so long Tsukuyo started to think Ayame wouldn't reply.
"I want to be free. Truly free," she said suddenly, and Tsukuyo nodded because she understood well what the kunoichi meant.
It all ended when she least expected – or perhaps because she least expected.
Sarutobi was sitting on a roof, as always, when she heard footsteps. Someone clearly wanted to be heard, so she stood up and turned around to face the intruder.
"It's over," Tsukuyo said, holding a kunai in her hand; only a warning. Yet.
"Leave."
Although she wouldn't said it out loud, Sarutobi admired her in this exact moment. So strong, determined, so lonely – and she wanted only one thing, to protect what was dear to her.
"You do not belong here," Tsukuyo continued.
Smart girl. Figured it all by herself, Ayame thought, fighting with a smile because she had to keep a serious face. This is a goodbye, after all. A very sad goodbye.
"You have one chance, you may leave now and never come back. Or we will fight you, and you will die tonight."
"We?" Sacchan questioned, even though she already knew everything.
"Hyakka. We will hunt you down if you ever come back to this place again."
Her voice almost – almost – broke; it only shivered slightly.
"You've grown so much," Sarutobi said quietly, turning her back to Tsukuyo. "And all lessons learnt well. Goodbye."
When the woman disappeared among other buildings, after waiting for so long Tsukuyo started to feel how cold the night was, she raised her hand and touched the scars on her face.
She could almost feel another blade cutting the exact same shapes on her soul.