Old Edo Days
AN: .xx gave me this idea. I thought it was really awesome, but I think what I actually wrote was... not as great. And I'm sorry for pressuring for ideas! I promise to try harder for you guys! I will be an independent writer!
... unless you guys want some ideas written out, then by all means... lol...
For the longest time, Gintoki and his friends had been curious about one thing. They had always been very interested in many things- new devices, new places, new lessons, and new people. But now that they were approaching twelve, they had a new curiosity.
Girls.
"How do you think they grow up to be grown ups?" Katsura wondered, staring absent mindedly at the sky during one break. "The same as boys?"
"Obviously differently, Zura," Takasugi grumbled, taking a bite out of a rice ball. "Sensei said that girls are more mature than guys. I think he only said that because Yamamoto ruined the nature lesson yesterday with an ink ball."
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. Are girls and boys the same?"
"Do we look the same? Do we act the same? Does Sensei look like that old bag down the road?"
"But we're all people."
"Yeah, but we're different people. Do you see any girls in Sensei's dojo? There're only guys."
Gintoki thought. "There's Ichi."
There were no females ever at the dojo except for the one child, Ichi- her true name unknown, as she did not tell anyone- and she was a strange one. No one but Takasugi had talked to her, and Gintoki and Katsura had pressured him into talking more in their burning desire for knowledge about girls.
"Ichi's different," Katsura decided. "She doesn't wear pretty kimonos."
"So she's not a girl?" Takasugi snorted. "There's a reason why she doesn't share a room with a boy, Zura. And it's not because she's a girl."
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And I just meant she's a different kind of girl."
Gintoki appeared horrified. "There're kinds? So I have to find out the different kinds?"
"That girl, Hanako," Katsura pointed out. "She's really pretty and wears nice kimonos. She's a girl girl."
Takasugi rolled his eyes. "So what does that make Ichi? A boy girl?"
Katsura rubbed his chin in deep thought. "Not a boy girl, but... hey, Takasugi. You talk to Ichi sometimes, right?"
The boy straightened his shoulders and tightened his jaw. "Maybe. What's it to you?"
Gintoki said, "Well, what does she talk about? I heard Hanako talk about boys. And then there was Rin- she talked about her hair, like how Katsura does sometimes. And then-."
"Ichi doesn't talk much," Takasugi said thoughtfully, looking around. "She's really quiet."
"Who would talk to you and enjoy it?" Gintoki said brusquely. "Maybe she doesn't like you."
Suddenly, that term had new impact on the Gintoki and Katsura. In the past, if a girl didn't like you, it was an accomplishment. Somehow, you succeeded at annoying a girl, and that was a success well recieved by other boys. But now, older, they realized that it might no longer be enjoyable- maybe even disappointing!
Takasugi snorted and cracked his neck to the side. "Who cares? She's one girl out of how many more in Japan. Besides, she's the only girl in the dojo. Maybe you guys should try talking to her." He turned to meet them with a sly look in his eyes. "Unless you guys are scared of girls."
Katsura tried to make an excuse. "I'm not afraid! I just don't like girls... yet..."
"I'm only afraid of girls who know how to use spears better than you, Takasugi," Gintoki said casually, but his eye was twitching; what Takasugi said had severely pissed him off.
The devilish boy merely shrugged and lay down against the grass. "I guess so. I mean, if you can't take one girl, I doubt any girl would actually like you-."
In less than a minute, Takasugi had to run away yelling profanities at Gintoki and Katsura, who had started chasing him around the training grounds for his horrible insult. Sensei found them hours later at evening, late for their dinner, on the ground panting as Takasugi managed to evade them.
"What happened to you three?" he asked in concern. "I thought maybe you needed some time to relax, but..."
"Nothing, Sensei," Takasugi said casually, nimbly walking around the two struggling to rise from the ground. "They just didn't want to admit they're afraid of-."
He was then tackled by Gintoki, flying like silver wind, and they rolled around fighting with their Sensei watching over them in light amusement. "Boys are interesting at this age, aren't they?"
Ichi nodded mutely, dark eyes content as they wrestled against a fire sky. Sensei patted her head and moved to break them apart, hoping to settle the fight in time so they could eat in time with the other students.
Ichi was a character I had made... way before I started writing. I don't believe Gintama should have real romance (though I'm fond of characters with Takasugi so long as they're plausible... and I love Okikagu...). Ichi was created for the purpose of another view of life after the war. Basically, she made her own mercenary group, doesn't stay close to Gintoki or the others, got involved in an incident with the Kiheitai, and died.
No one, not even my OC, can escape death.
Her story isn't written yet, but if anyone wants to hear it, I mean... nothing hurts to hear about, right?
Mehehe, I'm grateful for you readers. You're all amazing. I'll keep writing for you guys!
