Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama
Don't Be a Mochi Vampire
Once, there was a man who loved anko.
What was the use? On the battlefield, everyone ate whatever they could find. Dogs, beetles, even the fresher bodies of extraterrestrial invaders, though somehow the last option seemed too close to cannibalism.
But New Year's Day came down like a blessing. By now everyone knew their cause was lost, so they rejoiced in the temporary peace that the aliens had no doubt granted them out of contempt. The man got his mochi.
On the previous year, when he'd still been a raw recruit, the man hadn't bothered to eat the outside, just bit the mochi open and ate all the sweet anko within. His gluttonous silver-haired friend had laughed and eaten it for him, chewing for ages on the sticky white dough. The anko sat delicious and cool on the man's tongue, a false initiation for the brutal battles he would soon face.
Now the man was a survivor. He ate the impossibly chewy dough of the mochi because he could, because after dogs and beetles and aliens, a bit of rice flour was nothing. And when he got to the middle, the anko was still as sweet as he remembered.
There was a man who loved anko. Once.
Men can't live on it, after all. One day, the man succumbed like thousands before him to the extraterrestrial oppressors. His sweet ideals faded, and the blood that seeped from his wounds held only bitter regret. Why must I fight this futile battle? Will I be remembered as a failure? Will I be remembered?
The friend with silver hair buried his corpse. Then, alone, the friend walked away from the battlefield into the cold, hungry winter. Another New Year's Day had passed and gone.
Somehow, years can be remembered by the taste of mochi.
"Hey, Gin-chan. Hey, I said, hey! I'm a mochi vampire!"
"Shut up, Kagura! Leave some of the anko for us."
"Ara, it's okay Shinpachi. Real men can eat mochi without anko. It takes a real man to chew on it forever even when there's nothing sweet inside."
"…Gin-san, don't you see what Kagura did to our precious 2500 yen splurge?! Now is not the time to be philosophical."
A/N: Aah.... the price of procrastination. Well, was this interesting, or was the writing too repetitive? Please R/R!
Haha, now I want mochi! Despite what I wrote, the chewy part is actually quite good... oh, but since I'm not familiar with Japanese currency, I may have made the mochi too expensive/cheap.