Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. I do own the Akami Clan.

OCs needed. I needed other characters to play as Yuki's rival. Since the Yorozuya trio have their share of rivals, Yuki needs some rivals too, like in the Shinsengumi. Shinpachi-Yamzaki, Gin-Hijikata, Kagura-Okita, and Otae-Kondo.


Chapter 1

It was a dark stormy night in Edo, especially in the Kabuki District where it was pouring pretty hard.

One boy was running through the rain trying to find a place to keep dry. He was about 12 years old with red hair that spiked back and a black headband. He wore a short sleeved jacket over a long sleeved shirt with a buttoned turtleneck along with pants that stopped over his angles along with boots. He is also carrying a sword bag on his back.

He finally stopped and looked up to see a two story building. He could not make out the sign on the second floor in the darkness, but he saw there was a flight of stairs he could shelter under from the rain.

He sat on the ground under the staircase and quietly listened to the sound of dripping rain. The boy pulled his knees up to his chest and he slowly drifted off to sleep.

In the morning, the boy was awakened by the sound of shouting from the second floor.

"Oi, Gintoki! Pay the rent right now!" that voice sounded like it came from an old lady.

"I told you! I'll have the damn rent by next month!" this time it sounded like a grown man.

"I ain't gonna wait until next month!" came that loud old lady voice.

The boy started to think that it was best to get out of there right now while it wasn't raining. He stood up and quietly started to leave until he heard even more shouting from the second floor. He looked up to see the stair railing brake and a man in his 20's falling towards him. The boy suddenly blacked out for a brief moment before snapping out of his shock to feel the weight of the man on top of him.

"Gin-san! Are you alright?" came the voice of someone younger. The boy could not see who it was due to his consciousness going again.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I landed on a cushion," the man commented.

"Umm, Gin-san …," the younger voice replied. "... you didn't land on a cushion.


Later

The boy had been taken into the bar that was the first floor of the building. He was sitting on a stool and having his ankle by another boy that looked 16 in a blue and white hakama, wearing glasses, and had brown hair. Apparently, when the man had landed on him, his ankle got sprained. The wooden sword he kept in his sword bag also got broken in half.

"There," the glasses boy said as he finished. As he started to put the first aid away he spoke again. "Umm, we're very sorry about your ankle."

The boy stayed silent.

"Umm, my name's Shinpachi Shimura," he said introducing himself. "This is Gintoki Sakata and Kagura," Shinpachi said introducing a silver haired man and a girl with a Chinese outfit. "And that's Otose-san over there," he said motioning his had towards an old lady behind the counter. "What's your name?"

The boy still didn't say anything.

"Oi, Shinpachi," Gin said getting Shinpachi's attention. "Just give it up, you're going to get a peep out of this kid."

"Yeah, he probably just too young to understand what we're saying-aru," Kagura said waving her hand in the air.

"Oi, what do you mean by that?" Shinpachi talked back at Kagura.

"Yuki."

Everyone was startled and looked at the boy with the sprained ankle.

"My name … its Yuki," he softly said to the group.

"Ah, well, it's very nice to meet you, Yuki-kun," Shinpachi said trying to be polite.

"Oi, boy," Otose said trying to get Yuki's attention. "What's a kid like you doing in the Kabuki District?"

Yuki turned away. "That's … really none of your business." Yuki stood up from the stool and took his sword bag leaving the broken wooden sword on the table. He limped towards the door.

"Oi, wait," Shinpachi said getting Yuki to stop before he opened the door. "You shouldn't be walking with a sprain."

Yuki glanced back at the group. "It's fine." And with that he left the snack bar leaving everyone there in silence.

Soon after the boy left, the Yorozuya trio returned to their home on the second floor.

"I'm really worried about him," Shinpachi said as he walked in carrying the pieces of the broken sword. "Is he really going to be okay?"

"Wounds people get don't heal very fast, do they-aru?" Kagura said with concern in her voice.

"No," Shinpachi shook his head. "Other than that, we should do something about this." Shinpachi said holding up the broken halves of Yuki's wooden sword.

Shinpachi turned to Gin. "Gin-san, do you have something to replace this?" Gin just sat there and picked his nose. "Oi! Aren't you going to say something? You were the one who broke it in the first place!"

"Just leave it," Gin just muttered causing the two to stare at him. "You should just leave the kid alone. It was obvious that he doesn't like us."

"That won't do-aru!" Kagura exclaimed.

It was Shinpachi's turn to be angry. "Yeah! He has an injury; we can't just leave him, especially when he's in Kabuki! Take some responsibility!"

And with that the two left.

Gin blackly looked out into space. And all he said after the two left was a mutter. "Those two…"


Later, with Yuki

After leaving the strange people to themselves, Yuki wandered around the Kabuki district a bit, limping. He held up the hand that was holding his now empty sword bag.

"What am I going to do now? It's not easy to find a replacement for this in this time." Yuki looked at his empty sword bag. Suddenly, he had the feeling that someone was watching him and turned around only to find an empty alley way.

"Oi! Yuki-kun!"

Yuki turned around to see that the one who had called. It was Shinpachi and with him was Kagura holding a purple umbrella. "What do you want?" Yuki's tone was bit harsh.

"What with that attitude? You shouldn't show that sort of tone towards us," Kagura said sounding mad. "Besides we brought something for you-aru."

"Eh? You brought me something?" Yuki was a bit surprised.

Shinpachi held out his hand presenting a wooden sword. "Here."

Yuki stared at the new wooden sword. "What is this?" Yuki was being very cautious of them.

Shinpachi smiled trying to make Yuki see that they meant no harm. "This is a wooden sword to replace the other one that Gin-san broke."

"Really?"

Shinpachi and Kagura nodded.

"Are you sure that it's a good idea to give a sword to a child especially when swords are banned," Yuki took the wooden sword looking it over.

"It's alright," Shinpachi said. "This isn't a real sword, so it should be fine."

"I see," Yuki blankly replied.

After that Yuki started to walk away, but the duo ran back up to him. It was Shinpachi that broke the silence.

"So, umm," he started. "Do you live around here or something?"

"Hmm? No, not really," Yuki said not looking back at them. "My house is really very far away from here. This is the first time I came here. Actually, I've never really left the house or my family's property for that matter."

"So, you've never been outside before," Shinpachi said with sorrow in his voice.

"That's terrible," Kagura said. "I wouldn't be able to get sukonbu-aru."

"Is that all you can think of?" Shinpachi exclaimed.

Yuki stopped and looked back at the two and watched a bit as they argued. "You people are very … strange."

Shinpachi and Kagura stopped fighting and looked at him.

Yuki continued. "When I got injured, you people helped me even though you didn't know me. Back home, when someone got injured then they're on their own. No one would stop to help them or anything,"

The two were a bit shocked as they listened to him. Is that how he grew, what kind of people did he live with?

"And if our weapon were broken, then we would have to fight with our bare hands. We would do that or die trying."

"Yuki-chan…" Kagura muttered with worry and sadness.

"Umm, Yuki-kun," Shinpachi spoke up. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what kind of family are you from?"

"What kind?" Yuki paused thinking a bit. "A family of assassins I think."

Then everything was completely quiet after that until Shinpachi spoke up again. "I'm sorry. Did you say you were from a family of assassins?"

"Yeah," Yuki replied. "Our family name is 'Akami.' Why?"

"EH?" Shinpachi shouted. "You're from that clan?"

Kagura looked at Shinpachi with a confused look. "What's the Akami clan, Shinpachi-aru?"

"The Akami clan is a famous clan of assassins. The location of their household is secret and their services are limited to a selected few. Their nicknamed the Crimson Demons because every blood member of the clan has red hair. They don't get as much work as the Iga or Koga clan, but they are known for killing off many powerful people. It's rumored that a company was secretly transporting drugs and they were all kill off by one person from the Akami clan."

"Actually, I don't think that was a rumor," Yuki said interrupting their conversation. "I do recall that my father got a job about drug dealers but that was a long time ago."

Shinpachi had a very fearful and disgusted look while Kagura was calm.

Shinpachi then snapped out of it when he thought of something. "Hold on. You said that you never really left your house before. Doesn't that also mean that you've never had to kill someone before?"

"I think so," Yuki replied.

"That good, isn't it, Shinpachi-aru?" Kagura asked to be sure.

Shinpachi just let out a small smile and nodded.

"Well, since you know who I am now. You should stay away from me," Yuki started to leave. "My mom says that outsiders that get involved with us don't meet a good end. Thank you for the sword." And with that he walked away.

Despite the fact that Yuki wanted them to stay away from him, Shinpachi and Kagura followed him around from where he could not spot them. They watched as Yuki wandered around the Kabuki District, then they saw him stopped in front of a merchant selling some stuffed animals. He bent down to get a closer look and after a few moments he picked up a stuffed cat.

"It looks like he's interested in those little things.-aru," Kagura whispered as she watched.

"Yeah, he's just like any other kid," Shinpachi nodded. But when he lifted his head, he saw that Yuki was not there anymore. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

"Is there something that you people want from me?" Yuki said suddenly appearing behind them.

"AHHHHHH!" the scream those two produce was loud enough for the whole Kabuki to hear.

Later, after everything finally calmed down

"Now answer my question. What do you want?" Yuki demanded.

Shinpachi held up his hands. "Hold on, we didn't mean anything by following you."

Everything was silent.

"Hey, Yuki-kun. We saw you looking at those toys back there," Shinpachi asked. "You just want to be a normal kid, right?"

"Just stay away from me," Yuki said with a harsh voice.

"Oi, wait a minute, why are you always telling us to go away!" Kagura exclaimed. "Is it so wrong for us to want to know you-aru!"

Yuki lowered his head a bit. "No, you're both good people. But … because that you are good people, is why you should stay away from me."


Back at Otose's snack bar, Gin was talking with Otose.

Otose blew out a puff of smoke from her mouth. "Oh, so that kid's a member of the Akami clan. How could you tell? I thought he was just a red head."

"What are you talking about, old lady? You mean you didn't notice?" Gin muttered as he drank a cup of strawberry milk. "Have your brain grown rusty from age?"

"Shut up! I don't want to hear it from you!" Otose yelled in anger.

After a moment, Otose blew out another puff of smoke. "So what are you going to do?" Otose asked. "If you could tell where that kid came from … than surely others can too. They could try to force the kid to join a gang or kill him and those two are probably with him."


Back with Yuki, Shinpachi and Kagura

"… than surely others can too. They could try to force the kid to join a gang or kill him and those two are probably with him."

Shinpachi and Kagura heard the sounds of feet stopping on the ground and look to their left to see a group of thugs looking at them. Yuki just glanced at them through the corner of his eyes.


Back at the snack bar again

Gin just stayed silent. Then after a moment, he quietly got up from his stood and left the bar.


Back with Shinpachi, Kagura and Yuki again

The three of them had been surrounded by thugs and gangsters. The man that stood apart from the rest of the thugs, and probably the boss, stepped forward. "Oi, what do you two think you're doing, huh? We saw that redhead brat first, he's ours."

"Eh? What's going on?" Shinpachi panicky exclaimed.

"Don't you see?" Yuki started. "These people can tell who I am and their probably trying to recruit me. See, this is why I told you to stay away."

Kagura and Shinpachi looked at Yuki in concern.

"Yuki-kun …" Shinpachi mumbled in pity and concern.

The big boss pointed his katana at them. "If you two just leave right now, we won't do anything to you."

Yuki glanced back at the two. "You two, just get away, it's me they want."

"Forget it-aru," was all Kagura muttered before she took a hold of Yuki's hand and dragged him along as she and Shinpachi ran. Using her super strength and umbrella, Kagura busted through the crowd of thugs. The three of them ran for it was the thugs gave pursuit.

"Oi! What do you think you're doing?" Yuki yelled at the two. "I told you to get away."

"There's no way we're gonna let you go with them," Shinpachi exclaimed.

"A kid like you is suppose to be outside playing with his dolls," Kagura started. "After years of staying inside a smelly house, you're finally free to do what you want-aru."

As the three turned into an alleyway, their path ended at a dead end and there were their pursuers behind them.

"Oh-no! It's a dead end," Shinpachi said with worry.

"We got you now!" The three turned around to face the terrifying gang of thugs with their boss in front. "You're trapped now, so just hand over that kid and we'll go easy on you kids."

As in response, Shinpachi and Kagura stepped in front of Yuki with their weapons ready.

"You'll have to go through us first-aru," Kagura said in a courageous tone.

Yuki stared at the backs of the two. "I don't understand you two at all. Tell me, who are you people?"

"We're the kind of people who follows their own codes," Shinpachi started. "We're samurai."

"Samurai? You're samurai?" Yuki asked in question.

The thugs just chuckled as they got ready to attack. "Whether you're samurai or not, we'll take you down. We outnumber you."

The thugs charged at the three with no hesitation. But when all hope seemed lost, a shadowy figure jumped into the alley from the rooftop. There was a lot of dust as if there was a bomb on the ground. The dust cleared to reveal a familiar silver haired man with his wooden sword at the ready.

"Gin-san!" Shinpachi exclaimed with joy

"Gin-chan!" Kagura exclaimed in a joyous tone.

Gin let out a big breath. "I knew that you two would be with this kid, it's just like you two," Gin said ignoring the thugs in front of him.

"Oi! You bastard! Who do you think you are!" shouted the boss in anger.

"What game were you kids playing here?" Gin was acting like a parent scolding a kid and he wasn't even looking at the thugs now.

"Oi! Don't ignore me!" the boss yelled in anger.

"You bastard!" The thugs once again charged in ready to skewer the four.

"Gin-san! Look out!" Shinpachi yelled trying to warn Gin.

Just as the gang was about to reach them, Gin swung his sword and knocked down most of the thugs in front.

"Oi, kid," Gin said talking to Yuki. "Everyone lives by a code, whether it's their own or someone else's. So tell me, what's your code?"

Yuki hesitated a bit, after a moment he took his wooden sword out of his sword bag and walked up and stood next to Gin with his weapon at the ready. "I'm not sure what code to follow. But for now, I'll follow yours."

20 minutes later …

All the gang members, including the leader, were lying on the ground, all passed out and covered in bruises. The yorozuya trio and Yuki had already left the gangsters to the police.

Right now, Yuki was sitting on a bench in the park and Gin was walking up to him with a juice box and a soda can. He sat down on the bench and held the juice box towards Yuki. "Here." Yuki took the juice box without hesitation.

"So what are you going to do now?" Gin asked as Yuki took a sip from his juice through the straw.

Yuki glanced at Gin for a moment. "I've been thinking about that and well … I was wondering if I could join you."

"Eh!" Gin was rather dismayed by what the boy said.

"The truth is that ever since I left my house, I felt like there is something I want to do, but I not sure what. I think I might find out if I hang out with you guys," Yuki said as he took another sip from his juice. "And don't worry; I won't be staying at your place. I've been sleeping out on the streets for awhile now."

"I see," Gin said who wasn't in dismay anymore.

"Anyway, where did your two sidekicks run off to," Yuki asked looking around.

"Oh, well…," Gin started, but was interrupted when Shinpachi and Kagura came running up to them.

"Oi!" Shinpachi yelled out waving his hand above his head.

"Where did you two run off to?" Yuki asked them.

"We had to go get something for you-aru," Kagura said.

"Eh? For me?" Yuki said softly.

With that Shinpachi pulled his other hand from his back to reveal the same stuffed cat doll he was looking at before.

"You wanted this, right?" Shinpachi said smiling. "Consider it a gift from us, your friends."

Yuki stared at the two with surprised eyes, but he eventually took hold of the plush animal with a smile.

"Thank you very much."