His head was pounding like hell as he made his way home. He could barely even think, much less speak actual words at the moment. His body swayed back and forth slightly as he continued to walk without falling over. A empty beer bottle was clenched tightly in his left hand.

The man's light-blue perm was the only thing that made him stand out in that dark, cold night.


"Damn! Where the hell is Gin?" Shinpachi shouted as he heated up some ramen for himself. It was almost midnight and Gin still hadn't returned. "Maybe he's busy satisfying a woman tonight..." Kagura suggested.

Shinpachi shook his head and replied, "I doubt it. What kind of girl would want a man with naturally curly hair? It's practically taboo!" Kagura just shrugged and started teaching Sadaharu how to write. Shinpachi looked out the window and thought, 'You better get home soon, Gin, or you'll find pee in your ice cream tomorrow...'


Gin suddenly lurched forward and puked, spilling the contents of his lunch onto the street. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and continued to stagger through the town. 'Where...where am I going...?' he thought groggily. His legs felt like rubber and his arms ached. All Gin wanted to do was get to bed and sleep for a day or two.

Suddenly, something strange occured to him. He looked up at the clear night sky and wondered, 'Why do we live? Why do we even bother with so hard to have good lives when we're just going to die anyway? Why bother suffering so much for a bad ending? What does it all mean?'

'I guess...it's because we're alive.' he told himself, 'We need to have something to keep us entertained, or we'd all decide to die the moment we're born. Even more, I guess people are too prideful to allow the pressures of the world get the better of them.'

Gin took in a deep breath and muttered, "I guess...it's time I finally head home..."


Shinpachi had just finished his ramen when he heard the door open. When Gin walked into the kitchen, Shinpachi said, "You're back, finally! Did you know you were really close to ending up with pee-covered ice cream? You had me worried sick, you ass!"

Gin pulled a milk carton out of the fridge and poured himself a glass. "Well, if you had considered the possible results, you would probably find only a 3.05 chance that I was in danger. After all, I did come up with several safety plans..."

Shinpachi couldn only stare in shock as Gin walked off to his bed, a glass of milk in hand. The younger boy sighed and thought, 'It seems that alcohol activates some sort of special intelligence boost in his brain...'