Chapter 3

Gin, with Tsukuyo's arms wrapped around him, sped down the highway. The traffic was at a standstill, the road packed full of cars. It was nearing evening and the cloudy sky was rose colored from the setting sun in the west. This time of day it was impossible to get anywhere, however not on a moped. They weaved in and out of traffic like a snake through the reeds. Gin took pleasure in getting his passenger to grab on tighter on a few of the close calls.

"Gintoki, slow down! Where are we going?" Tsukuyo yelled in an attempt to be heard over the rush of air streaming past them.

The former samurai let off the accelerator and slowed to a more leisurely speed. "Eh? I thought maybe you'd want to go on a date in the city." Gin paused a moment before continuing. "I see no reason not to tell you. I will tell you of one of the darkest days when I fought in the Joi war."

.X.

The silence in the night was deafening. It was hard to believe that just minutes ago the chaotic cacophony of battle had just dominated the area. Gin and Katsura stood next to each other, their respective white and green haori billowing quietly in the wind, in the ruins of what was once a prosperous town. Most of the buildings were on fire and dead bodies of Amanto and the local villagers alike laid scattered everywhere. The ground was stained red with blood. This had been nothing more than a massacre. The rest of the Joi were looking for more survivors in all this mess.

Their Joi army had come upon the massacre when it had returned to the village for supplies. One of Sakamoto's merchant contacts lived here and helped them with their war efforts. The ensuing battle wasn't much of a fight. Gin, in a fit of righteous rage, flew into the Amanto with his katana drawn cutting down Amanto after Amanto before they even knew they were under attack. The Amanto had tried to hold off the furious attack of the Joi army but the battle barely lasted ten minutes before all of them were dead. Other than a few cuts and bruises the Joi army had achieved a complete victory.

Gin didn't feel victorious. How could he with all of the dead bodies of the villagers around him. He couldn't help but to feel the blood of each and every one of these people staining his hands so scarlet that it could never wash off. "Will this never end?" He whispered to himself.

Clustered together in front of him were the only survivors, five children in total. The oldest was the eldest son of Sakamoto's merchant contact. He stood tall with a look of rage. In his fist he still clutched a dagger drenched in Amanto blood, so tightly that his hand was turning white. After that was a pair of twins, a girl and a boy. The girl's face had a long gash running down her cheek. Her brother had his arms wrapped around her trying to stop her from crying. Right next to them was the young blacksmith apprentice. He couldn't have been more than twelve years old, but he was trying to comfort the eight year old girl next to him who had a vicious wound in her side that had been treated.

Walking up to Gin and Katsura was a man who, like his comrades, wore a haori, though his was blue. As he approached the pair the man was laughing, "Ahahahaha, Kintoki, this didn't seem to go well."

The man wore a helmet made of black leather that draped all the way down over his shoulders. Wrapping around his forehead, over the leather, a band of metal provided extra protection. His light grey kimono could be seen under the steel plated armor protecting his belly. His loose fitting grey pants were held up with a light grey obi. He wore black socks over his pants up to his knees and on his feet was a pair of wooden sandals. At his hip a katana was sheathed and though the man's face held an open, friendly expression, he moved with the grace of an experienced warrior.

"Eh? We have known each other long enough for you to know my name Tatsuma. Get it right dumbass," Gin growled at the man known as Tatsuma Sakamoto "Look around you and sense the mood. Wipe that stupid grin off your face."

Katsura placed his hand solemnly upon his comrade's shoulder. "Calm down Gintoki. Now is not the time to fight each other," he implored.

Gin shook the man's hand off him and shot him a dirty look. Katsura returned a look as steady as stone. For a moment they stared at each other before Gin looked away. "You're right, Zura."

"It is not Zura, It is Katsura. For someone worried about his own name you sure like to take liberties with other people's"

Ignoring his friend's complaints, Gin worked his way towards the children. He knelt down in front of the young crying girl and placed his hand on her head giving her a sympathetic pat. He looked over at the four other survivors until his gaze met that of the oldest boy's holding his dagger with a death grip. In the boy's eyes Gin saw the anger and despair that he had also felt not long ago when his master was put to death unjustly by the Bakufu. The boy had acquitted himself well during the fight. He had taken a few of them by surprise with that dagger of his. Gin personally saw him deal with a pig faced Amanto, who seemed to have been taking pleasure in cutting the twin girl's face and had caused the wound in the younger girl's side, with a deft stab to the kidneys.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't get here sooner," The white haired samurai gently apologized.

The merchant's son held Gin's gaze for a moment longer before dropping the blade in his hand to the ground with the tip stabbing the earth. The hilt was engraved in silver that depicted a stag and was streaked with Amanto blood from the fight. The boy's hand also had the engraving etched into his hand from the pressure of holding the dagger so tightly. He wearily sunk to the ground as the adrenalin left his body and exhaustion took over.

"Gintoki, what are we going to do with them?" Katsura asked as he joined his friend. "I would not feel right sending them to an orphanage."

"We shouldn't have to, Zura," Sakamoto butted in. "Young Kazuma here is old enough to take care over his family's business. Old man Kurosaki was asking me about anyone I could recommend as an apprentice in his smithy and I know Sanada here is very skilled for his age. The Saotome twins here are not much younger than Kazuma. However we should try to find a good home for this young lady right here." He pointed to the young girl Gin was consoling.

"I will take care of them, all of them," the boy named Kazuma unsteadily got to his feet and declared. "I will take over my father's business and I will make sure they can grow up and live happily. It is the least I can do since it is my family's fault this village was attacked. We helped to keep the Joi supplied. It's our fault that everyone is dead and that Saotome-chan and Koizumi-chan are hurt."

"Stop blaming yourself, Kazuma. It is not your fault or your family's," Katsura told the young man.

Kazuma was about to open his mouth when the boy, Saotome, blurted out at the Joi members, "You're right! It's your fault. If you were not fighting this war then this wouldn't have happened!"

"Stop it, Takaki! If they hadn't come then we'd all be dead," Kazuma admonished his friend.

"No, he's right. Kazuma is it?" Gin stood up and looked the young would-be merchant in the eyes. "But because I see what these Amanto are capable of I can't just stop. I want to protect this country but I can't even protect one village. So protect these four here. They are all the family you have left now."

"Ahahaha Kintoki, I am going to stay behind to help Kazuma-san here," Sakamoto told the man dressed in white as he rubbed the back of his neck. "It's a good thing you followed your hunch and brought us back here. What tipped you off?"

Gin turned away from everyone and softly said, "The birds. They were acting weird. I just wish we could have saved more of them." He looked up at the cloudy night sky and with a guilty sigh continued. "Let's properly take care of the dead."

.X.

Tsukuyo had listened in silence while Gin told the story. He didn't talk about his past very often. "So do you know what happened to them after?" she asked him.

"After we took care of the bodies, Tatsuma stayed behind and helped those five get moved to Edo and used his contacts to get Ryuu Kazuma set up to take over his father's business. Kazuma still supported the Joi for the rest of the war and, according to Zura, he still does." Gin paused a moment before continuing, his voice sounded strained. "Riri Koizumi didn't survive her wounds. I don't know about the others."

They rode for a while with neither of them saying anything. Gin took a turn off of the highway and pulled over to recheck the address that was given to him by Katsura. They were in a nice part of town. Unlike the Kabuki District the streets here were paved and were kept free of litter. The homes, on this street, were all gated compounds and most of them had guards that were keeping a close watch on the obvious intruders sitting on the old moped.

Tsukuyo looked over Gin's shoulder to see what he was reading. "I..is that purple lipstick?" she asked him with and edge to her voice. "You said you were talking to your contact, but weren't you really just out playing with women? Is that the address to a stripper bar? Gintoki, we don't have time for this."

The accused womanizer turned to look at his accuser ready to give a snide comeback. However when he got a look of her face he could only give a look of astonishment. She was totally serious here. Her arms were crossed over her chest, her brow was creased and her lips were downturned. The normal composed and cool headed Tsukuyo was nowhere to be found. Just what did that woman think of him?

"Oi, stupid, I got this from Zura. I got this address from that idiot cross dressing freak. Like I said, Zura told me Kazuma still helped him out," Gin shouted at his upset passenger. "Do you think I would take you with me to a stripper bar? Dumbass!"

Tsukuyo started to flush pink. "Well how was I supposed to know that? I can't read minds. Why do you have such weird friends?"

A minute later they were standing on the sidewalk with Tsukuyo's helmet thrown on the ground, and her hair in disarray. They were waving their arms at each other and shouting at the tops of their lungs. The people passing by just kept their heads down and pretended to not see them. Finally the security guard from the house they had stopped in front of had had enough. He had watched them closely since they have arrived and it was time for them to be on their way.

"Hey, you two, have your lovers spat somewhere else. Move along," he admonished them.

"Stupid, pick up your helmet and let's get this day over with," Gin told her as he climbed back up on the scooter.

Tsukuyo bent over to pick up the helmet, strapped it back on her head, and muttered to herself. Why did this man get under my skin so easily? When was the last time I got into an argument like that? Still embarrassed with herself she got back on Gin's moped and wrapped her arms around him once again to hold on. The white haired man turned the key in the ignition and, after double-checking the address, they sped down the street.