And That's a Wrap!
Summary: Spoilers for the Be Forever Yorozuya movie. Gintoki's death changes many things.
Do not read if you have not watched the movie. Those are your warnings, please do not blame me if I spoil anything for you.
"And that's a wrap."
Gintoki pulled his bokuto from his younger self and his younger self staggered forward, hands pressing on the wound to staunch the blood flow. Gintoki suppressed a sigh – of course he would survive a blow meant to kill and still try to live. He guessed it just meant the future would take a little longer to right itself. His younger self turned to him, eyes widening in surprise.
Gintoki gave a small smile and a wave. "Yo."
There was a moment of disbelief, before his younger self began to chuckle. Blood dribbled from his mouth as he struggled to breathe. "Is this… is this what I think it is?"
Gintoki let his hand fall back to his side. "It's whatever you want to believe."
They both knew there was no need for words. Gintoki didn't need to imagine what he was thinking – he already knew what he would think if a future version of himself came to kill him.
His younger self glanced over the battlefield one last time, and a small smile graced his lips. "At least I won't live to see any more of them die," he whispered, falling to the ground with a thud.
When Gintoki didn't reappear after the battle ended, Katsura began to worry. The Enmi had been one of their strongest opponents, it'd taken everything they had to fight off the Amanto and allow Gintoki to strike the final blow.
"Relax," Sakamoto said, clapping Katsura on the back. "Kintoki's probably just napping somewhere! Ahahahaha!"
Katsura gave a jerky nod, but a terrible feeling had settled into the pit of his stomach. And judging by the nervous lilt in Sakamoto's laugh, he felt it too.
The horrible feeling only increased when one of the younger samurai came running full-speed into their tent, eyes wide with panic and clothes stained in blood. He was shaking, chest heaving as he struggled to regain his breath. Katsura gripped his shoulders fiercely, forcing the boy to a stop.
"What's wrong?" Sakamoto asked.
"K-Katsura-dono!" the boy nearly cried. "I-It's Shiroyasha-dono! H-He's—"
Katsura didn't wait for the boy to finish. He pushed him to the side and ran full-speed out of the tent and toward the medic's. He could hear Sakamoto's shouts behind him, but he ignored it.
No, he thought. Not Gintoki.
A group of samurai were already gathered around the tent, muttering amongst themselves with dread on their faces. They parted when they saw Katsura running towards them, Sakamoto following behind. When Katsura entered the tent, his heart stopped.
"Gintoki…" His friend was lying on the bed, his white uniform and pale face only causing the red to stand out brighter. But this time, Katsura knew it wasn't the blood of their enemies.
Gintoki's voice came as a whisper, soft enough Katsura almost missed it. "Zura…"
"Gintoki!" Katsura rushed to his side.
Gintoki gave a small smile. "What's wrong? You didn't say…" Gintoki coughed, and the entire cot rattled with the force of it. His chest heaved as he struggled to breathe. "D-didn't say... your usual catchphrase."
"Don't talk!" Katsura yelled, his voice cracking with desperation. They had seen Gintoki injured before, seen him recover from even the most deathly wounds, but this was the first time Katsura ever truly feared for Gintoki's life. Distantly, he could hear the cries of the Kiheitai as they marched into camp and Sakamoto's shouts as he called for Takasugi, but all that paled in comparison to the almost content smile on Gintoki's face. Katsura felt tears gathering in his eyes as Gintoki turned to him, his face at the most peaceful he'd ever seen it since Shoyo-sensei's death.
"Gintoki, why?" Katsura's plea came out like a sob.
"Sometimes… things just happen for a reason," Gintoki murmured.
Katsura choked on his sobs as the tears fell freely down his face. There was something wrong, Katsura realized. Gintoki was all too content with his situation – there was no anger, no desire for revenge. There was no struggle, and Katsura realized with fear that Gintoki was willing to just give in.
There was more yelling, and then Takasugi burst into the tent. "GINTOKI!"
Gintoki winced at the sound. "Oi, oi," he said weakly, drawing Takasugi's attention. "Keep it down, Bakasugi."
Takasugi nearly faltered as he saw the state Gintoki was in, but all that faded away to anger and rage. He marched up to Gintoki's side. "Tell me," he growled, "you killed the bastard that did this to you."
When there was no response, Katsura could feel his heart stop in disbelief.
"You let him… you let him get away!? You let him do this to you?!" Takasugi roared.
There was no fight in Gintoki's eyes.
That night, Gintoki passed away to the cries of thousands of samurai who just had their dreams of recapturing the nation disappear.
He passed away among three comrades who wept for their friend and his life.
One week later, Sakamoto disappeared.
Just barely a week later, Takasugi and Katsura found themselves fighting a losing battle against the Amanto. They watched as friends and comrades fell one after another. It was in this battle that Takasugi lost his eye, and the Jouishishi were forced to call for yet another retreat against the Amanto army. Takasugi spent days in fever-induced delirium, cursing the gods above and wondering how much more they would lose. Dwindling medical supplies meant Takasugi spent more time awake in excruciating pain than he did actually sleeping.
Katsura would spend a week after Takasugi's recovery avoiding him after a particularly severe bout had Takasugi screaming for Gintoki - "You bastard, how could you fucking leave us" - and Katsura had tried, tried to ignore it, but he could only take so much - "Don't go," and then Takasugi was sobbing, tears dripping down his face, and Katsura couldn't do anything but cry with him because they'd lost another precious person again - Gintoki's absence made it all the more painful.
In the end, Katsura thought of it as a mercy. Takasugi could still fight - it hadn't been an arm or a leg or his life that he had lost.
The war was over all too soon, ending with the samurai's crushing defeat. More than half of the samurai were captured by the Amanto and the Bakufu government, who were then sent to their deaths. In the end, Takasugi and Katsura parted ways on bitter terms. While both Katsura and Takasugi desired the destruction of the Bakufu government, they wanted nothing to do with each other because it only reminded them of what they had lost. The Kiheitai followed their leader and the rest of the Jouishishi that weren't captured followed Katsura.
It would be many years before they would cross again, but when they did, the results were disastrous, their hearts spurred on by revenge – to avenge both their sensei and a precious friend.
I originally posted this on AO3 but decided to post it here too. Just something short for the Gintama fandom. I always wondered how Gintoki's death during the war would affect the future. After all, you don't see much of it in the movie, only that the Shinsengumi don't know Kagura or Shinpachi and someone else rented out the space above Otose's.
Originally, I had plans to write a story about this 'future' of theirs. It would be through the eyes of Tama, and what she saw during those fifteen years she had to wait before giving Kagura and Shinpachi their memories back. But that plan is still on hold so this is here for you instead.
Also, SPOILERS FOR GINTAMA MANGA - DO NOT READ THIS PART IF YOU HAVE NOT CAUGHT UP WITH THE MANGA - I realize that Takasugi lost his eye because of Oboro. And that it's very likely that the battle with the Enmi is before Shoyou-sensei's death. Sorry about this, I wrote this before those heartbreaking revelations came out. For the sake of this story, just pretend that it's based on the fake trailer for Shiroyasha.
END SPOILERS.
Also, shameless advertising: I wrote another Gintama story that's a crossover with Katekyo Hitman Reborn! It's titled: "Don't Mess with the Future or You'll Create Time Paradoxes!" - in which Sougo accidentally receives a new purple bazooka. If you enjoyed this story, I'd be very happy if you checked out that one too!
Thank you!