Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama, nor the Korean language and culture.
The Human Heart:
Prologue
"Shinsuke-sama! Are you alright?"
The Kiheitai leader staggered into the command room of his spaceship, sweating profusely and panting heavily. He slumped down the moment the doors behind were securely shut, and his three most trusted followers crowded around him, panic evident on their worried faces. Once he has managed to steady his breath, he looked down at his purple robes that were now stained red with blood. His blood.
"Shinsuke-sama, are you alright?" Kijima Matako repeated, kneeling down next to her captain. She watched with a mixture of fear and concern as he bravely stuck two fingers into the foot-long gash embedded dangerously above his left pectoral to test the level of damage inflicted. A restrained groan from him sent her already unsettled nerves into another panicked frenzy. "Shinsuke-sama!"
"We've severely underestimated the Shinra tribe, I daresay." Kawakami Bansai clutched his own injured arm while he surveyed the angry flashes of red and green beams outside from the wide windowscreen. "Who would've thought that they are more unwelcoming to humans than the Harusame Pirates?"
Takechi Henpeita stalked out to the engineers manning the controls and commanded them in a stern voice, "travel full speed ahead through that opening between those two ships!"
"What? We're escaping?" Matako was quick to voice out her displeasure. "Senpai, we can't! The Kiheitai will be deemed as cowa-"
"Do you not understand our situation?" The strategist turned towards her with a grave expression. "We're outnumbered by ten ships to one. If we continue to resist, this ship will no doubt be destroyed and we'll all die."
"But-" A violent tremor threw the Red Bullet off her line of balance.
"Takechi is right." Bansai gripped onto a bar to steady himself. "Retreating for now is the best option, I daresay. Not to mention, some of us are in no condition to fight at the moment." Takasugi felt three pairs of eyes land on him and clenched his fist to suppress his growing frustration. No condition to fight? Since when was he the one who held back his army in battle...?
"Everybody hold on tight!" The head pilot warned as he yanked a lever back and expertly jabbed at blinking buttons. Languid dronings from the turbine engine crescendoed into agitated whirs, and soon, the main Kiheitai battleship propelled itself out of the turbulent fray, but not without getting hit by several stray beams in the ensuing chaos.
It was an extremely fortunate thing that none of the Shinra spaceships gave chase, and the Kiheitai had managed to travel far enough for the enemy fleet to be seen as mere specks. However, it could not be said the same for the flashing red lights and omnious sirens that resounded throughout the vessel.
"S-sir! We have a problem! Our engine's been struck!" One of the engineers informed fearfully while consulting a hologram of the ship.
"Then send someone to fix it!" Takasugi barked. He had managed to stand back up on his two feet, but his body was still quivering uncontrollably.
"I'm afraid that is impossible, sir! The damage is too heavy!" The engineer replied, shrinking under the intensity of his captain's glare. "The only thing we must do now is to land somewhere! But..."
"But what? Speak now!"
"By the time we reach the next planet, the engine would have already failed, and thus we have no choice but to make a crash-landing! Furthermore, we're very unfamiliar with that planet!"
"Well, we don't any other choice, do we? And we Kiheitai are skilled enough to escape a crash-land more or less unscathed, anyway!" Matako snapped, hysterical under the stress of their situation. It didn't help that her beloved leader chose that moment to cough out half a pint of blood and keel over in pain again. "Shinsuke-sama!"
"We won't have a problem, but with his current injuries, Shinsuke will not be able to survive the harsh force of a crash-land, I daresay." Bansai informed, distress seeping into his usually calm voice.
"You seem to be forgetting that we have spacepods!" Takechi, living up to his name of Kiheitai's Strategist, instantly found the solution. "We can obviously use them and survive this with minimum damage."
"You're right for once, Takechi-hentai!"
"You're just too thick to think it through rationally. And don't call me hentai."
"But the thing is, we're only left with one pod after our cargo got hit just now! And its a pod that can only accommodate one person!" The engineer cried out in despair. As far as he was concerned, not all of the Kiheitai are as invincible as the blonde girl thought they were.
"Then we'll put Takasugi-dono in it!" Takechi said.
The gunswoman once again disagreed with his advice. "Are you stupid? How can we send Shinsuke-sama into unfamiliar territory all by himself when he's injured like that! What if he gets attacked? And he obviously needs medical help as quickly as possible!"
"We have no other choice!"
The vessel started jerking violently and the navy-blue atmosphere of a planet gradually enveloped the windowscreen as the ship drew closer to it. The temperature started to go up, and all of the pilots and engineers frantically pressed, pulled and pushed away at the controls.
"We're breaking into the atmosphere! Please send Takasugi-sama into the pod! There won't be much time before we land!" The head pilot hollered over the deafening groan of the engines. Matako reluctantly conceded and followed Bansai and Takechi in helping their captain to the small, circular craft.
"Takasugi-dono, we'll look for you as soon as possible, so please stay close to the pod until we come!" The strategist instructed as he rested the limp body of his leader onto the inclined seat, while Bansai pressed the buttons required to activate the launch. The three watched in a mixture of concern and morbid fascination as the purple-haired rebel nodded feebly and patted at the hilt of his katana to ensure that it was still with him; they've never seen their captain look so weak and vulnerable before, and the sight was beyond unsettling.
Takasugi himself cannot remember when the last time he got this wounded was. No, wait, he can; the Joi War. Or perhaps, his injuries right now aren't as bad as those he received in that war, but they still hurt as hell. He was losing a lot of blood, and he could feel himself slipping in and out of consciousness. The last things he remembered before he completely blacked out were blinding flashes of blue, white and orange, intense heat, and a starry night sky that reminded him of the times when he had spent star-gazing with Gintoki, Zura and Shouyou-sensei before.
Author's Note: Hey! This prologue isn't much, but the next chapter will be out in a day or so, so do stay tuned to it!
This is my second Gintama fanfic, so I would greatly appreciate it if you readers give me any pointers to improve on it! Unfortunately (or maybe more like fortunately), I've already deleted my first Gintama fanfic, Asinine, due to the lack of a good plot and a nonexpandable OC. :( But for those who have read it before, I'm sure you noticed that I've transferred the Asato concept over here, hehe!
As always, please leave a review and make a girl happy! :D