A/N: Thanks to Yusuke Kurosaki and Reyna108 for following/faving!
"Watch her, he says. I'll show them. I'll show all of them," Yamazaki vowed, glaring through the window, one hand holding the anpan to his mouth while the other hand scrawled all over the piece of paper.
He would have to throw the paper later, of course. A report filled with chicken scratches of 'anpan' and 'kill' did not exactly make a good impression on one's superiors. His eyes focused on the lights of a single store, and more specifically, the people milling around inside. It was a more difficult job than simply watching one person's movements. When watching the store, he had to keep an eye on the girl while taking note of the other employees and the customers that entered the bar.
So far he hadn't noticed anything wrong. It was a normal bar, with normal customers. A few shady people, but that was nothing new in Kabukicho. The customers also stayed inside for a little longer than usual, but that couldn't be considered abnormal. This bar was one of the few that had pretty girls, after all, without actually being a cabaret club. A lot of cute waitresses, Sakata Tomoe included.
Then Yamazaki froze, anpan halfway to his mouth. His eyes focused, narrowing at the customer walking through the doors. There was no mistaking the woman. Anybody in Kabukicho knew her. No, anyone to do with law enforcement and the government knew her.
Kujaku-hime Kada.
Yamazaki's jaw dropped, the half insane light fading from his eyes. What was one of Kabukicho's four devas doing in a bar like that?! He squinted, as if narrowing his eyes could allow him to see through walls and hear conversations on the other side of the street.
Minutes ticked by, ever so slowly, ever so tantalizingly. Yamazaki crouched motionlessly the entire time, contemplating entering Kazabana and checking out the business Kada had with the simple bar.
Or was it not so simple anymore?
But when mere moments later, Kada stormed out, Yamazaki relaxed. Perhaps it was just Kabukicho business, like a bar infringing on the deva's territory or something like that. Or maybe even one of Kada's servants had gone to Kazabana, and refused to re-enter the Amanto woman's services. Kada looked furious, after all.
Yamazaki knew he would report this to his superiors though. If it ended up something important, he would rather not take the fall. After so many years working as a spy and lookout, he knew that even the smallest bit of information that seemed absolutely harmless could end up meaning the difference between life and death.
Hopefully this wasn't one of those cases.
Sakata Tomoe stepped out of Kazabana's doors, taking a deep breath of the night air. She glanced down the street where Kada had vanished, the residents of Kabukicho no doubt immediately moving out of the shinra's path. She was a dangerous woman when crossed, and everyone knew it. Yamazaki followed Sakata Tomoe's gaze for a moment before his eyes shot back to the girl, and he froze for the second time. Pale purple eyes met his, holding his gaze. He quickly ducked behind the wall. It couldn't be that she saw him. She didn't even know him, for goodness sakes! Did she?
If she saw him, he would be in a crap load of trouble from Hijikata-san. Crap the size of the Yorozuya's white dog monster after it ate something bad and got diarrhea. After a tense, heart racing moment, Yamazaki dared to peek out the window again. The girl was still looking up, and Yamazaki relaxed. Ah. So she hadn't been looking at him, just at the night sky. Or what was visible from the ground, past all the pollution. Even people who didn't smoke needed breathers once in a while. Yamazaki knew that as well as anyone, especially when he looked at his superior officers, like Hijikata-san and Okita-taichou. It's just that Okita-taichou seemed to need more breathers than a nicotine addict who smoked a dozen packs of cigarettes a day.
When she turned and walked back in, Yamazaki sighed. Being a lookout was boring. So nobody could blame him when he perked up as she left the bar, heading for home, most likely. He watched her enter the Yorozuya, call out a greeting, and he himself headed back to the Shinsengumi Headquarters.
"You look like death rolled over," Tomoe said flatly.
"Thank you, little sis. You look very nice today too," Gintoki retorted, rubbing the back of his head.
Just because he could barely move from the pain and was covered in bandages like a mummy and was pale as a sheet of paper with black bags under his eyes did not mean he looked like death rolled over. Death probably just… stomped on him a few times and decided that he wasn't worth taking.
It had happened before. He just wondered why death kept bothering to come knock at his door when it already knew it wouldn't take him.
It was probably the strawberry milk, Gintoki decided. Death didn't like strawberry milk and thought that Gintoki would finally stop drinking it, since he was a grown man now, but since he never stopped, death just turned away every time, disappointed.
"Was it the girl? Pinoko?" Tomoe asked, cocking her head.
"Who do I look like, Hazama Kuroo?" Gintoki snapped. "It's Pirako."
Tomoe shrugged. "Are you alright?"
Gintoki sighed, flopping down on the couch, then wincing as he regretted the action. It sent waves of pain tearing through his body, and he found himself wishing, for the billionth time in his life, that he had painkillers. He couldn't even sleep without them right then. That's how much his body ached.
"You should go to sleep," Tomoe said softly, running a hand through his hair in an uncharacteristically gentle motion.
"Does it look like I can sleep?" Gintoki retorted, but his heart wasn't in it. He knew he just sounded exhausted.
Tomoe smiled and sat down, maneuvering his head into her lap without hurting him. He stared suspiciously up at her, even as she stroked her fingers through his hair. He sighed and turned into her, eyes closing, relaxing for a brief moment before shit would undoubtedly hit the fan again. He had hoped she wouldn't come home tonight, because he knew trouble would continue, and he didn't want her anywhere near when that happened. Like he had told Takasugi, he didn't want her dragged back into the darkness, didn't want her holding a weapon again. And if he wouldn't let Takasugi taint her again, he wouldn't let himself do it either.
"It's nearly dawn," Gintoki stated.
"Yes."
"Can you…" Gintoki hesitated.
"Do you want me to leave?" Tomoe asked.
Gintoki's eyes flew open to stare up at her, astounded. When did she learn to read minds? But his eyes quickly returned to their dead fish state. "Help me down to the bar."
"You should not drink with an injury like that," Tomoe scolded lightly, but she helped him to his feet, supporting more than half of his weight as they slowly made their way down the stairs.
Without Gintoki asking, she flipped the sign for Otose's Snack Shop, switching it from 'closed' to an undoubted 'open'. And despite her words, she poured him a cup of sake, standing by to pour him another cup if he needed it. If he was going to fight with injuries like that, it was best to go in half drunk and full of adrenaline, so he could ignore the pain.
The door slammed open.
"Go away. I'm in the mood to drink alone," Gintoki drawled.
Nobody moved. With a single, powerful swing, the idiots who dared to defile the store with their presence flew out the door.
"Gintoki. You're up against the entire Kabukicho. Just give up. I'm sorry, but there's nothing you can do," Saigou sighed.
"Really?" Gintoki smirked, a light glinting in his eyes. "To me, it's just the opposite. The entire Kabukicho is with us."
"Let's go to war," Tomoe said, eyes determined.
Gintoki snapped. "Are you insane? You're six! We're twelve! What the hell can a bunch of children do?"
"Not now. Not immediately. We're still too weak. We'll get killed before we can do anything. But the war isn't going to end anytime soon. In a year? Two years? We'll be strong enough then. So let's get stronger and join the war," Tomoe said, voice strong.
The group hesitated, but nobody shot down her idea this time. The emotions that broiled under the surface were impossible to ignore, to avoid. And they had no doubt that the emotions would not fade over time. No, they would only grow stronger, until the emotions overtook them and they did something stupid.
It was better to go with the idea and calmly increase their ability, before calmly entering the war and go according to a well thought out strategy. That would decrease their chances of dying on the battlefield, even though they should not expect to return home alive. The battlefield was not such a kind place, after all.
"You're not coming," Gintoki said flatly.
"I am," Tomoe retorted, as stubborn as ever.
She had been learning how to use a sword from Shouyou sensei, and if she said so herself, she was improving rather quickly. In two years, with determined training, who knew how far she could get? She might even beat Gintoki, like Takasugi did once.
"You're a girl. Girls aren't supposed to go to war!" Gintoki half shouted.
"Yes I am!" Tomoe shouted back. "Shouyou sensei was as much my teacher, as much my family as he was yours! I'm not going to tell you not to fight because you're too young, so don't say I can't fight because I'm a girl! I didn't ask to be born a girl, you idiot perm!"
"I'm telling you not to fight because you're my little sister!"
"And since when have you ever considered me your little sister?" Tomoe snapped back, scowling.
She had a point. Katsura and Takasugi were more like her brothers than Gintoki was, the way he ignored her all the time.
"I've always considered you a little sister, you little purple haired brat!"
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah!"
"Then don't expect me to wait at home for someone to carry your dead body back!" Tomoe shouted, shutting everyone who wanted to argue up. Her eyes were once again overly bright, the tears threatening to fall any moment. But her voice didn't waver. "How do you think it would feel, huh? Idiots!"