I Spy a Hole...A Plot Hole...
Well, obviously a quickly hashed out story was going to have a few holes (sheepish smile). This is why you shouldn't impulsively start a story without planning the whole thing first.
The civil war drew to a close at daybreak.
The sun rose, showering the blood-stained battlefield and the weary soldiers with its warm rays. With only the measly number of the Aikake soldiers against the whole country, the victory was instantaneous.
The signal firework by Sa-chan was a signal to show that the Oniwabanshuu had taken complete control of the Matsudaira House, and ensured the safety of the Matsudaira family members. Apparently, the Oniwabanshuu sent by the Shogun to the Matsudaira House had finished their job early, but because of Sa-chan's modifications to the signal fireworks, they ended up dragging their announcement of success.
Shigeshige was still in a coma due to the severe injuries. He had always been treated and pampered like a fragile flower, and even the training he received was never harsh. Going onto the battlefield like this and coming back alive was already a miracle.
Rae was sent back to the hospital immediately. She was half-dead from her various vigorous activities (including the flesh feast she had), but Tsukuyo who went back to the hospital with her cleaned up the crime scene without a single word, throwing the bodies onto the battlefield, perfectly covering up Rae's murder and cannibalism crime. No one would question why dead people were on the battlefield.
The remaining soldiers cleaned up the battlefield while the main characters rested. On the other hand, Sadasada called for a meeting with the Generals and the officials to clean up the administrative mess the civil war made. They had to weed out the affiliated officials to the Aikake House, and suppress those linked to the Hitotsubashi family.
Sadasada sighed as he read through the report. Hitotsubashi Nodenode was one stubborn stain that he still couldn't wipe off completely from the court. The ruthless old man poisoned his own family by his own hands to ensure that the words he said that day on the battlefield was true, and had planted the antidote in the Aikake House. The poison was an extremely slow-burning type (you wouldn't die immediately) but the report given by the doctors stated that the poison had been in the Hitotsubashi family members' systems for a year or so.
Hitotsubashi Nodenode had been paving the escape route since long ago.
Sadasada couldn't exterminate the Hitotsubashi pests since they had been "coerced" to work with the traitor, and the last effort during the battle to save the Matsudaira Lord and suppress the Aikake army was still a contribution to the court. The most Sadasada could do now was to give the Hitotsubashi House a light sentence, and suppress his affiliated powers.
The Matsudaira House was only given a 300,000 Yen fine, and let off easily. Orders from the Shogun who woke up for a minute to declare that before falling back into a coma.
The three generations and relatives of the Aikake House was sent to the dungeons, awaiting execution when their crimes were investigated thoroughly and set.
The meeting lasted from early morning until the late afternoon, while soldiers went around Edo catching the fleeing members of the Aikake House.
Kondo-san happily returned into the embrace of his injured subordinates, and the Matsudaira family had their own happy reunion.
"Ya' know, the Shogun could have sent the Oniwabanshuu earlier to rescue us...like long ago when Matsudaira pops was first being coerced by Aikake..." Kondo mused to the smoking Hijikata and the stony-faced Okita.
Hijikata's cigarette slipped from his fingers, the tip burning a small hole in the expensive tatami mat.
Author: Well then, let's skip ahead shall we?
"Oi! Don't try to cover this u—"
"Its's the Edo 6 o'clock news! Ketsuno Ana, your favourite on-site reporter here! I'm sure everyone has been waiting for this expectantly since yesterday's sudden coup d'état!" Ketsuno Ana's chirpy voice came through the TV in the hospital room.
"Turn the volume up, Pachi." Gintoki mumbled through each crunch of the crackers.
The Yorozuya trio + 1 dog + 1 Tsukuyo were in a spacious VIP hospital suite, courtesy to the Bakufu. They were the major players in defending the castle, and thus the Bakufu was more than willing to pay their medical expenses, Rae included.
Rae was a rather special case. She was a great contributor in ending the war in a single day. Even though she practically slaughtered both sides, she still managed to stop the war, so...yup. Rae was given her own hospital suite, because the doctor strictly disallowed any sort of noise, stimulation and disturbance. In his exact words: She's gonna (doctor makes a hand slicing motion at his neck) at any moment. She needs a quiet environment to get her rest and recover.
"We are here at the Aikake's Mansion! The despicable bastard has an unusual taste, as you can see here behind me— his mansion is a blend of western and eastern styles with the top alien security technologies..."
A nurse bustled around in Rae's room, turning on the TV for Rae's entertainment even though she doesn't think that the blank-faced woman lying motionlessly in the bed would react to anything. Rae resumed her stony state after she woke up this morning.
The nurse couldn't stand being in the same room with a weird and creepy emotionless stone, and made adjustments to the hospital equipment with lightning speed before escaping.
Ketsuno Ana's voice filled the otherwise silent room.
Rae's green-gold eyes widened a little as the screen panned to the interior of Aikake's mansion.
Ketsuno Ana's voice turned somber. "Unconfirmed sources reported that the Aikake House was involved in human slavery, keeping trafficked women as "gifts" for bribing officials in the Bakufu. The authorities have been looking into the slavery matter, and till now there has been no concrete evidence..."
No concrete evidence? Rae's brows furrowed. But—her friends, the women...there were so many...Aikake couldn't hide them so quickly...
"Looking at the inside of the mansion, at the blood covered floor and the smell of steel, one can only imagine what happened here. The blood was reported to be only 2 days old." Ketsuno Ana on the screen grimaced at the horrific sight in the mansion, covering her nose with dainty fingers. "There were many belongings of women found, but those were unclear whether they belonged to the women who were kept as slaves, or were just the mistresses of the traitorous bastard."
Beep...beep...beep...
Rae's heart rate monitor beeped incessantly as the number on the monitor climbed up.
Blood. A lot of blood.
2 days old, a day before the battle started.
Rae gasped for air.
BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...BEEP...
Ketsuno Ana on the TV screen walked further into the mansion, showing each room bathed in brown, crusted blood.
Rae tore off the tubes stringing her to the equipment beside her bed, falling to the floor in her haste to take a closer look at the TV. Her weakened legs couldn't carry her, so she crawled to the TV, pale hands shaking as she grabbed the edges of the TV.
No...no...
It couldn't be...no...
Her vision flickered black as she hyperventilated, one hand clawing at the screen that permeated the colour of dried blood.
The door slammed open as a crew of doctors and nurses dashed into the room, carrying Rae back to her hospital bed and connecting her once again to the machines. They had discovered the anomaly in her heart rate as it sped up and rushed to the suite at once.
"Switch off the TV! The TV is making her agitated! And bring me the sedatives! We need to calm her down quickly— use a bigger dose, her constitution is unique!"
At the hospital suite where the Yorozuya and Tsukuyo gathered, their faces were dark with worry. The TV screen suddenly seemed so glaring.
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gintoki's rough voice broke through the tense atmosphere.
"I don't want to think about whatever you're thinking." Tsukuyo replied. "I don't believe it."
"Is Rae-san watching this?" Shinpachi adjusted his glasses.
"Hopefully not-aru. She wouldn't turn on the TV for herself, right?" Kagura petted Sadaharu absentmindedly, her blue eyes fixed onto the screen. (Author: Kagura's accent magically comes back after disappearing for so long haha sorry forgive me I keep forgetting about it)
"I don't believe it." Tsukuyo repeated. "I don't believe it."
No one said another word more.
"Her condition is stable, the sedatives have taken effect." The doctor sighed, scribbling on the clipboard that hung at the foot of Rae's bed. "We need to pay closer attention to this patient. Watch her monitors closely. No one is to leave her unattended. One of you will stay back to watch her."
"Yes, Doctor." The nurses chorused.
Ensuring that Rae's life was in no imminent danger, everyone left, leaving a nurse behind to attend to Rae.
The nurse settled into a chair by the window, staring off into space. The beeps of the monitors soon lulled her to sleep.
"Here, have an apple." Hinowa peeled an apple skillfully, passing it to Gintoki.
Otae fussed over her little brother, checking his glasses more carefully than the human body. "Thank goodness you weren't harmed." Otae sighed with relief.
"Sis, look at me when you're saying that, don't look at my glasses."
Otae had brought Tama and Hinowa to visit the troublemakers in the hospital.
"This suite is..." Otae smiled at the spacious room and the various expensive looking furniture, "You guys should go and fight in more wars."
"Sis, I almost died you know."
"If you die a hero, our dojo will be covered to the roof in compensation money." Otae's eyes flashed at the thought of money.
Shinpachi recounted the events when the TV suddenly switched on by itself, a striking red line of words flashing on the screen.
"National emergency! Warning! Aikake Kagai, the traitor of the Bakufu has escaped prison! The estimated time was an hour ago. Citizens of Edo, please keep a watch out for this heinous criminal, and report to the authorities immediately if you see anyone that looks like this!" A picture of Aikake flashed on the screen. "The criminal could be in disguise, please watch out..."
"What is this." Hinowa drew in a sharp breath.
"An hour ago...it's 10 pm now." Tsukuyo looked out to the window, where the bright sliver moon hung innocently in the night sky.
"How did he escape? He was kept under the highest security detail..."Shinpachi looked to Gintoki for an answer.
"How would I know, you idiot? They were preparing to ship him off to the island prison tomorrow, he was temporarily kept in the castle's dungeons today." Gintoki put down the apple he was eating. "Call the stupid V-shaped bastard and the gorilla. It's their job isn't it?"
The warning blaring from the TV woke the nurse up.
"W-what? Wh..what happened?" The nurse rubbed her eyes, squinting at the TV. "Oh dear, I slept for so lon—"
A squelch cut off her next words.
"Eh...eh?" The nurse looked down to see the blade of a katana sticking out of her neck.
Her head separated from her neck, the sound of her head thudding to the floor absorbed by the thick carpet.
He flicked the blood off the blade, calm madness in his steel grey eyes.
The woman on the bed stirred, smelling the scent of blood and someone whose flesh she had lusted for since long ago.
"Hello, my sweet little cupcake. I've come to take back what's mine."
