Chapter 1: Prologue
Dry winds blew through the Kabuki district, a place that was once crowded was now empty and lonely. There was no sound, other than the gentle whistling of the wind, and there was no movement other than the quiet rustles of rats and mice that continued to scavenge the dumps and alleyways for food. The beautiful red-orange color of sunset only served to give the area a sad and longing feel, bringing nostalgic memories back of when it used to be bustling and full of people.
"It was like yesterday," Shinpachi mused solemnly, as he leaned on the sun bathed yorozuya porch above the Otose snack bar, "Now our town's become like this.. isn't that right, Kagura?"
The now-grown-up teenager who brandished a wooden sword named 'Lake Toya' glanced behind him, to find the yato girl with blue wavy patterns on the edge of her cheongsam, standing a small distance behind him, near the sliding doors that led to the porch.
"Shut up, four eyes," Kagura muttered, and walked towards him, "You really are a nostalgic idiot huh? To think that you'd finally come back to this place after so long."
"Shut up," Shinpachi replied, absolutely expressionless as he nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "After all, you're here too aren't you, you nostalgic idiot."
"What was that?!" the yato girl exclaimed, and turned to face Shinpachi with a look of fury, "Don't call me a nostalgic idiot, you nostalgic idiot!"
"You're the one who started it, you nostalgic idiot!"
"HOW DARE YOU-"
The two stared at each other for a moment, and turned away, unable to handle their current emotions. Kagura walked away from the porch, and slid her fingers along a desk that used to be always occupied by JUMP magazines and strawberry milk cartons... but was now only covered in a thick layer of dust. Times had changed since then, and so had the two yorozuya's. It hurt to be how they used to be, it hurt to remember how it used to be, and it hurt to come back to the place they used to think of as a home, because of a certain leader that had disappeared one day and never returned.
They stood in silence, as Kagura looked at her finger which was how coated in a thin layer of dust, and Shinpachi looked into the sunset sky, realizing how long it had been since they had last been here.
Soon it became too much.
Shinpachi wordlessly turned towards the door, and made his way past Kagura without making eye contact. Kagura stood silently, with a expression that was hard to read. Before he left the building, he paused in front of the door and didn't turn around, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't get it out. Kagura looked at the red sky illuminating the small room, and she too seemed to want to say something. In the end, it proved futile because the words seemed to be jammed in their throats.
"...see you later," they both said at the same time, which surprised one and another. They paused before both going their own way, never looking back.
Things were different now, now that they didn't have their leader to guide them anymore.