This is my new Gintama fanfic. Imagine that this is an episode arc in Gintama and you'll do just find. Honestly, I don't know where I'm getting this from and I don't know how it'll end. Whatever you read is as far as I know, as well. My creative writing teacher once said, "There are two types of writers; the architects and the gardeners." Now, I'm a gardener. If you can tell me what my teacher meant by the architects and the gardener writers, I'll let you pick your own short scene in my next chapter! Yay! Well, I hope you enjoy! Please give reviews! Getting good reviews always keeps me going! Enjoy!

Chapter 1

You're Not A Bird, So Don't Go Jumping From Buildings

"Have you ever stopped to smell the rain...?"

"Smell... The rain?"

"Yes, the rain. The smell of fresh rain. The smell of fresh rain, just hitting the earth's surface in the morning's sunlight..."

This moment brought me to life. Rain. The word slips off your tongue in a way that no other word can feel. The rain shows mercy, unlike the cruel world that I live in. It falls gently and calmly, unlike anyone I ever knew. It can wash your tears away. It can wash your fears away. The rain washes the blood that stains my hands. It erases my memory of anything bad happening. That is why I can always smile. I could dance around in the rain for hours, tripping over the rotting corpses that I created, laughing happily.

Most people tell me that the rain is sad. It reminds them of the tears that fall from the eyes of unhappy people. If you ask me, that opinion is biased. What about the tears of a happy person? A husband who comes back from war and greets his wife with a smiling face. The wife would surely cry with immense joy. So, all in all, the rain is both bad and good. A dark side and a light side. Although I have always wanted to see the light side, I haven't. Cries of sorrow and grief are all I ever see or feel.

"I want to be the rain! I want to be the happy side of the rain!"

This thought was childish of me. Be the rain? How could I ever be the rain? I've only caused pain and misery. I cannot wash anyone's fears away. I cannot help someone in need. I'm truly a pitiful being.

I… want to be the rain…

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"And you want… what again?" Sakata Gintoki, the leader of the Yorozuya, asked me with a bored expression on his face. He laced his fingers together and leaned forward, balancing on his toes to gaze into my eyes suspiciously.

"I want you to take me to the highest place in Edo," I said without any hesitation, mimicking Sakata-san's position and expression almost perfectly. However, his dead-fish eyes were a tricky feature to the handsome man. He also owned pure white, curly hair. Was it a natural perm? That's what it looked like.

"What's in it for us?" Sakata-san gestured towards the boy with glasses who set tea down for the both of us. I let out a sigh and tossed a small brown sack with the end tied together onto the coffee table.

"This is all I have. I hope it's enough," I tried, crossing my arms and leaning back in the comfortable blue couch. For a few people to get together in order to complete odd jobs, they were doing pretty well for themselves, if you asked me. Sakata-san dumped out only four coins, and they were obviously paper because they didn't make any sound as they hit the table. Actually, they floated down. "So… will this be enough?"

"Yup," the man answered, though his face was hidden underneath the shadow of his bangs. I was certainly surprised he was this stupid.

"Really?" I asked, overloaded with happiness that I didn't have to pay for the trip.

"Hell no!" Sakata-san answered immediately, kicking over the table and knocking my money off of it. I watched in agony as they floated to the ground.

"O-Oi! Do you know how long it took me to make those?" I screamed, raising my fist in pure anger, a red vein pulsing on my head.

"Ah! He said it! He just said that she made them!" the boy with glasses pointed out.

"Shut up, four-eyes! Can't you see I'm trying to make a business transaction!" I turned towards the glasses, screaming at them instead of the actual boy.

"OI! I'm Shinpachi! Not the glasses! Are my glasses really only what makes me special?" Shinpachi screamed, grabbing his black hair and almost ripping it out of his head.

"Shut up!" Sakata-san and I both yelled at the glasses in unison. Shinpachi struggled to remain sane as he scooted himself to the corner of the room, twiddling his thumbs and telling himself that he was special. Oddly enough, the white-haired swordsman and I were very much alike. I didn't think there was anyone as smart as me out there.

There was a sudden banging on the door and cursing, Sakata-san stomped to it and slid it open. An elderly woman with a brown kimono was up in his face before he had the chance to ask who it was.

"Why are you so loud so early in the morning!" the woman yelled angrily, being the loudest among us all. She turned and then noticed me, looking suspiciously.

The next thing I knew, I was sitting at a barstool underneath the Yorozuya's room, in a bar. I had never actually been to a bar, always afraid of drunken fat boys that would come at me with broken bottles. After spending only a few seconds in this place, Otose's Snack Bar, it was sort of nice to be here. However, it being early in the morning, Otose, the elderly lady, just served me a glass of water.

Sakata-san and Shinpachi-kun were sitting beside me, each on both sides. I squirmed, a little uncomfortable to be around people I didn't know. Although, I trusted in them a very important task.

"So, why do you need to go to the highest place in Edo… unoo…?" Shinpachi-kun searched through his memory to see if he had heard my name, but to no avail. Apparently, I had forgotten to tell them.

"… Smarter Than You." I lied, sipping into the milk like I hadn't said anything out of the ordinary.

"Like hell it is! You just made that up!" Shinpachi-kun yelled at me, not falling for my cheap trick at all. Looks like the glasses weren't just for show.

"Wow, your smarter then you look, Shinpachi-kun," I replied with a smile. This smile, however, was coated over with somberness. I still needed to brush up on my fake smiles, because Shinpachi-kun noticed immediately and frowned, but said nothing.

I forced a grin and scratched my cheek with my pointer finger. "I'm sorry. I can't tell you my name, but I was planning on jumping off the high building."

"Oi, oi… so you want us to help you with your suicide?" Sakata-san asked, looking serious at the moment. His lazy eyes couldn't seem to cope with the rest of his muscles, though, so he still looked just as carefree. I gasped, almost feeling insulted.

"Suicide?" I let out in disbelief. "I would never do such a terrible thing!"

"Then… why do you plan to jump off of the building? You would die for sure if you hit the ground," Otose chimed in, taking in a breath of her cigarette and puffing out some smoke. I became silent, feeling as if… if I told them, I would start crying. Now, for a teenaged boy to cry, that's just disgraceful and it would only cause me sadness to explain to them.

My eyes narrowed at the water, watching it swish around in the beautifully cleaned glass cup.

"I'm going to create rain," I explained briefly.