Gintama – Echoes Of Destruction.
(Echoes of Gintama Series)
PART 1 – What I knew wasn't the entire truth.
Prologue
"All that you love, all those parasites that have come close to you, and made you so weak, I will make them disappear." He said.
His azure blue gaze stared at her with unparalleled intensity, pure anger evident on his face.
"It's not for lack of trying to destroy this country in the process, but I had hoped that these people called 'samurai' would fight back a little longer. I'm very disappointed," he added in an icy tone. " Well, at least I was able to get rid of one of those fools already. He really thought he could change this country by destroying its corrupt political heart. But he was so very weak himself..."
Then, smiling with all his teeth, the young man said:
"So, useless little sister, who'll be the first one to get his head crushed? That kid with glasses? That guy with the V-shaped bangs? That scarred bitch or one of her friends? Unless I start with that permhead, who has disappointed me the most? Yes, I think I'll start with him; if you don't mind!"
Kamui grabbed Gintoki's neck with one hand, crushing it as he lifted the permhead into the air. He prevented him from breathing, and gradually the Yorozuya's hand loosened, the wooden sword he'd held until now slipping through his fingers.
"Stop it..." Said Kagura.
"Huh? Speak up, whiner. I can't hear a weakling like you over the cracking of that trash's bones."
"I told you to stop!" She shouted.
"Ah, you want me to keep crushing his neck until his head detaches from the rest of his body?" Said he, all smiles, with a cruelest look towards his sister.
Then, he momentarily changed his expression, as if he felt sad and resigned.
"But unfortunately, there's nothing you can do about it... Because it's already too late. Too late for anything, little sister."
"Stop it, Kamui!" Kagura shouted again. "Let Gin-chan go!"
These words seemed to bring her older brother back to the present situation, and he then returned to a terrified expression.
"Come and stop me if you can!" He said in a defiant tone.
With that, he tightened his grip on the samurai's throat even more. He was really going to tear his head off with his bare hands.
"STOP IT!" Kagura shouted.
Chapter 1 - Early morning commotion.
"Edo, located in the heart of the country of the Samurai. Nearly 20 years ago, the Amanto, an alien race, came and conquered the earth..." Introduced Shimura Shinpachi; also nicknamed Glasses Holder/Glasses Stand, or Pattsuan.
"But since you've already been following the series for X volume, or X episode, or X still shot - the specialty of Gintama anime, in addition to the monologues - you already know all that!" Said Sakata Gintoki; said the permhead, or Boss, while picking his nose.
"Gin-san! We have to explain it well to those who have just joined us! And don't start giving away our production secrets with the still shots and monologues!" Shinpachi snarled.
"No, but when you think about it, Pattsuan, the people who come to read this story already know us. Plus the anime ended in the meantime, and I heard that some people even tend to skip the first few episodes when they watch; because it's too cheesy and there's not enough action. But Gin-chan KNOWS! He KNOWS that real fans watch and read everything! He KNOWS that the real fans will buy 30 copies of the same figurine with my image! They love me TOO much not to support me financially!"
"Uh... Am I dreaming or are you doing product placement here?" Shinpachi sighed.
"You're just saying that because you don't have as much merchandise to your name as we do, Pattsuan," said Kagura, the Yato who had joined them since episode 4 of the anime.
"Yeah, that's probably why." Conceded Gintoki. "But if it really bothers you, we can summarize the whole manga for them, so we can-"
"You're really going to make us lose readers here!" Shinpachi exploded, cutting him off. "And stop trying to stall for time on the next scenes of this story!"
"Well, well, well, Pattsuan... No need to start promoting your Tsukkomi role right away, right?" Kagura interjected. "And frankly, what new fan would come to read a story like this without having followed the series from the beginning, huuuuh?"
She was chewing something, which this time was not sukonbu, but...
"AAH! What are you doing with my Ostuu-chan chips!?" Screamed the glasses stand in horror. "And why are we still recycling that gag about my identity as a character!? The author is really trying to stall for time here!"
"No, listen here, Pattsuan. Recycling is trendy and up to date." Gintoki explained without even glancing at him. "It's even sexy. So Gintama can boast about being sexy since the very beginning."
"Calm down, glasses-stand; you might knock Shinpachi over," Kagura added, pointing to the pair of glasses the young man was wearing.
"And anyway, those chips were really disgusting..." Said Gintoki as he went back to reading his Jump with the utmost indifference.
"Don't you start too! I exist without my glasses! Oiii!" Shinpachi shouted more loudly.
He was desperate and exasperated by the attitude of his two colleagues and didn't even flinch when Sadaharu appeared to chew on his head.
Sadaharu barked, and Shinpachi found himself in complete darkness.
The big white dog had just snatched the head of the bespectacled otaku, probably pushed to the limit by the untimely screams of early morning.
"Oh? Where is Shinpachi?" Kagura wondered.
"Y-you... I'm right here..." Shinpachi was heard to say, in a muffled voice.
"Oh, I see, you're playing with Sadaharu!" Replied the young Yato happily.
"SURELY NOT!" Shinpachi shouted.
A howl that resounded early in the morning in the whole Kabuki district, waking up the few people who had decided not to get up early this morning...
And even though some people were still drinking from the previous night's party, and the owners of the establishments were cleaning up the mess caused by the last customers, some people were already wide awake.
In particular a smoker with an annoyed and upset look going up the street towards the Yorozuya agency.
With a cigarette at the corner of his lips, his rebellious V-shaped bangs still the same as ever, a mayonnaise addict was about to go and ask for help to the Yorozuya that he had always hated. But although he always said that they were a bunch of good-for-nothing blunderers, he had to admit that when a problem was brought to them, they did everything to grant their client's wish, even if it meant ending up seriously injured in hospital.
Moreover, since the incident with the Mimawarigumi, he had had the confirmation from the mouth of the permanent employee with the eyes of a dead fish that the latter had been part of the Joui, under the name of Shiroyasha. He had delegated Yamazaki to do some research about this name, but a food poisoning with Anpan had forced him to take a leave until two weeks ago. He'd come back since then... With a bunch of Anpans under his arm... Some people would never learn, wouldn't they?
But the demonic Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshiro, had much bigger problems than researching the past of this stupid permhead. For a few weeks, something strange had been happening at the Shinsengumi. Well, for almost a month now.
The memories of almost 4 weeks ago were still vivid in his mind. He kept remembering, again and again, that moment; when that strange guy had arrived.
Lost in his thoughts, he thought back to that day, not realizing that he had already arrived in front of Otose's snack bar; Tama hurriedly cleaning the entrance of the small establishment.
"Oh, hello Mayora-San." She said in a monotone voice, stopping whatever she was doing. "Gintoki-Sama hasn't come out yet this morning."
"Oh?" Hijikata wondered in response to the strange greeting. "I'll finish this one before I go upstairs, shall I?" He said, pointing to the cigarette he had just taken in his hand.
"Smoking is dangerous to your health, Mayora-San. You could die from it." Added Tama; in a tone devoid of the slightest emotion.
Or at least her voice sounded emotionless. It was still very difficult to decipher the attitude of this particular robot. And for all answer, Hijikata sat down on a wooden box nearby, and while taking a puff on his cigarette, said:
"We all die one day anywa-"
BOOM!
He didn't have time to finish his sentence, as he was pulverized in an explosion.
"Die, Hijikata." Said Okita Sougo, Sadistic Prince and Bakaiser of Planet S, his bazooka still smoking on his shoulder.
"SOUGO! ASSHOLE!" Hijikata shouted as he broke free from the newly created cloud of smoke; his forehead bloodied.
"Tch!" Okita said as he clicked his tongue; seeing that he had missed his target.
"Don't 'tch' at me! Oi!" Hijikata shouted even louder.
At the same time, another morning screamer entered the scene. Well, entrance... It was more like an exit. A well-known white/silver-haired figure was indeed thrown from the balcony of the Yorozuya's agency, crashing down on Hijikata with all his weight. The Vice-Commander didn't have time to throw himself to the side to avoid the human cannonball that was coming in his direction, and was left breathless.
As for the permanent employee, seeing that he had landed on something soft, he quickly regained his senses, and shouted back:
"Oh, you on-duty bastards! What are you doing here so early in the morning?!"
Immediately, Kagura, and Shinpachi - with his head still caught by Sadaharu - appeared leaning against the wooden railing of the floor.
"Gin-chan! Are you okay?" Kagura worried.
"Gin-san!" Shinpachi added, before breaking free from Sadaharu's grip. He squinted and added, "Uh... I think you landed on something..."
"Ah, sorry Mayora-mayo..." said Gin as he stood up, discovering an angry and dusty Hijikata.
"Hey... Stupid permhead... Get your fat ass out of here..." Hijikata managed to say, barely controlling his annoyance.
"WHAT WAS THAT? Sorry, I can't hear ya, Mayo addict!" Said Gintoki as he sat down abruptly on the back of the vice commander still lying on the ground, with a fake yakuza accent. "Can ya say that again? I think ya've so much Mayo in your mouth it's hard to hear what ya're saying!"
"Get the fuck out of my back! You unemployed bastard!" Hijikata shouted, while standing up abruptly, causing the Boss of the Yorozuyas to fly a few feet away.
"Oh, look out, Boss. Vice Commander Dog Food isn't in a very good mood this morning." Sougo added innocently.
"Oh? The Sadist is here too!" Kagura exclaimed.
"Hey, China! Still hanging out with those lowlifes?" Sougo said, smiling evilly.
For all answer, he got a "humpft! "from the Yato, and a "calm down, Souichiro-kun! " from the permanent Boss, who was getting up from the fall he had just taken.
"It's Sougo, Boss..."
"Yes, yes, understood, Shogi-kun. What brings tax thieves to our peaceful neighborhood?" Gintoki asked.
"It's Sougo. And you have to ask that to Hijikata-dog-food-eater."
The three Yorozuyas were surprised to learn that it was clearly the Mayo addict who had come to them on his own; and that he hadn't stopped here by chance while being on patrol in the neighborhood. And after many complaints from the demonic Vice-Commander, and many scathing repartees from the three associates, all these people agreed to go upstairs.
"Hey, let me through," Sougo said in front of the partly open sliding door.
"Ladies first, motherfucker! You don't know how to act like a gentleman, do you?" Replied Kagura, who was trying to get through said door at the same time.
"Sorry ugly ass, but the only women here are a food-vomiting robot, a whale who got the wrong anime (1), and a hairy old woman with cat ears!" Sougo retorted.
"Who are you calling old, you brat!?" Shouted Catherine from the bar.
"SHUT UP!" Kagura and Sougo shouted at the same time; before they started heckling each other again. They huffed and puffed to see who would get in first, until Shinpachi came to open the sliding door a little more; which barely earned him a glance from the two bullies.
"Stupid eyeglass holder, you really know how to spoil the fun for others!" Kagura pestered. "It's bad enough he's ruining his own life by being a dirty otaku..."
"Die, little-brother-of-Shimura-Tae-and-future-son-of-Kondo-the-Gorilla!" Sougo recited. "The family really has a lot to worry about..."
Shinpachi remained speechless for a moment, then after a few seconds, finally opened his mouth.
"I don't need any lessons from two idiots who don't even think about opening a door wider! And there's no way the other stalker is marrying my big sister!"
But the two bullies were already not paying attention to him anymore. And after sneaking inside, Sougo and Kagura had each taken a seat behind their respective leaders; behind the two blue couches facing each other.
"I was... Ignored there... Huh?" Said Shinpachi, once again alone in front of the door.
Again, only Sadaharu's gaze answered him. And Shinpachi suspected that it wasn't out of compassion, but more likely because the big dog wanted to bite his head off again, but was holding back because "guests" were there.
Let's skip the desperation of our glasses holder, and get back to the main plot of this story.
"Big sister, I wanna go home..." Shinpachi sniffed.
"I guess Shinpachi is broken, huh?" Kagura remarked.
"Leave him be, Kagura. He must have thought of something lewd again. Hey! Pattsuan! Go make some tea!" Gintoki ordered.
With that, the glasses... Er, Shinpachi, went to the kitchen to boil some water. The boss of the Yorozuyas then took a serious look, and turned to the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi, who was sitting in front of him.
"So, what's the problem? It must be pretty hard or dangerous or whatever for you to come and offer us a job," said Gintoki.
"Tch! You guessed we'd come to you for a favor, huh?" Hijikata grumbled while taking out a new cigarette, and lighting it with his mayonnaise bottle-shaped lighter.
"It was inevitable, with incompetents like you being paid with our taxes. Someone has to pick up after the Bakufu dogs," Gintoki scoffed. "So what's the problem?"
After taking a few puffs on his cigarette, Hijikata stared at the dusty ceiling of the small room, and finally began to speak.
"Indeed, we do have a problem. And it's been going on for a month."
"A month?! And why didn't you come before? Your damned pride, isn't it?" Gintoki mocked.
"No." The Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi simply replied. "I had to be sure before I came. So as not to waste any more tax money."
"Sure about what, huh?" Kagura asked.
"Do you remember the incident in which the Shinsengumi was almost destroyed from the inside?" Hijikata asked painfully. "You know, when one of our own almost overthrew the current leadership..."
"Of course... If we hadn't been there, it would have ended in a bloodbath..." Gintoki replied, looking absent-minded. "Not to mention the fact that I met a big fish there."
Big fish?
Hijikata didn't notice the strange expression, but it must have had something to do with that helicopter crash during the battle on the train. He didn't really know what happened then, but he had heard that day the leader of the Yorozuya had shined like never before. He picked up his explanation where he had left off:
"I'm worried that the same thing will happen again. So I will need you to investigate one of our officers. Discreetly, of course. For more than obvious reasons, I can't ask this of someone from the Shinsengumi..."
"You're both afraid that someone will try to cause panic in your organization again. And the problem is the same as it was back then: you don't know who you can trust anymore." Deduced Gintoki.
Hijikata nodded his head in agreement. When he wanted, the permhead with dead fish eyes could be very perceptive.
Meanwhile, Shinpachi had returned and placed several cups of tea on the table, which were quickly emptied; while Kagura had settled on a box of Sukonbu that she had taken from a shelf behind her. She ate piece after piece, like an automaton swallowing banknotes. Sougo felt sorry for the boss of the Yorozuya, who had to feed such a monster on a daily basis, and shifted his gaze to the discussion going on in the center of the room.
"And so, we should investigate this guy, in order to confirm or not that he has this kind of hostile intentions?" Asked Shinpachi, who was finally participating in the discussion.
"Yes." Answered Hijikata honestly; while crushing his cigarette which was still far from being finished though. "Maybe I'm imagining things, but you never know."
"Um... I need to get an overview before I start a job that could get boring very quickly. Can I have some details?" Gintoki said. "Oh, and if we take the case, we only accept cash payments!"
At this last dig, Hijikata frowned, then, glaring at the half-smoked cigarette he had just put out, sighed.
"Oi, Sougo, help me out on this one. You're the one who first saw that something was wrong; right?"
The sadistic Captain Okita Sougo sighed in turn. He was still reluctant to tell what had happened, for his own pride, but also for that of the Shinsengumi. Nevertheless, if he wanted the Boss and his two henchmen to investigate, he had to give them an explanation. Resigned to the inevitable, he began to recount the events that had been taking place for nearly a month.
"It all started about a month ago; when Hijikata-shit-eater was freezing to death-"
"Oi! Sougo! That's not how it started!" Hijikata interrupted him; with an annoyed face. "Stop making up crap!"
Sougo glared at his superior, before finally really resigning himself to telling everything.
"Okay, okay... Still, Hijikata could've really died that day..." Said with a disappointed look the sadist of the Shinsengumi. "Tch!"
To Be Continued…
Comprehension Notes:
(1): a whale who got the wrong anime: reference to Wakako Matsumoto, a voice actress with an androgynous voice known by the nickname "Kujira" (=whale), who dubs the character of Otose. She also dubbed the characters of Orochimaru in Naruto, Rokume in Beastars, or Kim Si Won in The Great Pretender.
Author's note: The long-awaited translation of EOD is finally here! I hope you'll come to enjoy this story, which is still in progress on its original version! I've been writing this story for seven years already (since 2013/2014), and it should end this year, if I'm not being too late on my updating schedule. It can be considered as my opus Magnus. Well, maybe. I'm not sure. We also reached 13K views for the original version, thank you!
I'll try to post a translated chapter every Thursday, just like the original version, since there are already 60+ chapters at the moment. Can be read alone or after "TRAPPED - inner demons burn more than the summer sunlight".
Disclaimer: The story belongs to me, but the characters, places and canonical organizations of Gintama are the exclusive property of Hideaki Sorachi-sensei.
For the sake of continuity with Gintama's own universe, this story takes place BEFORE chapter 502 of the manga and episode 300 of the anime, but uses elements that come from before and after that particular point in the plot. So it is recommended to have read/seen the series at least up to that point before reading this story.
An event of this story was inspired by NorthernRyu's "A weak beast made of China". Except that I took that way further, and added so much stuff in the process, I don't think it's even the same.