Chapter 8: Sometimes you need to take a very long break to figure out the things you wanted to write, or just admit that writing about someone having a bad nightmare or a good dream is so hard to do.
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"I came after hearing a rumour of a corpse-eating oni, would that be you?"
"Aren't you a cute oni instead...?"
xxx
Gintoki let out a small sigh of relief as he sat down on his usual spot. As usual, no one ever dared to continue chasing after him once he reached this place. Then again, if they wouldn't step foot at this place... why even bother chasing after him from the start? Since they should already know that he always ended up running to this place each time.
Honestly, why do they even care about some stolen food offering that they've left behind themselves? Why do they even care if anyone wants to steal those food offerings? As if the dead people inside those graves would eat those offerings. They can't anyway... since they were dead.
He has only just taken a bite from the onigiri that he had found when a hand suddenly pushed his head down from behind. A man's voice suddenly spoke out from behind him, asking if he was the one who was called the corpse-eating oni by the people around here. And the man went as far as to call him a 'cute oni'.
What a ridiculous thing to say. He never imagined anyone would ever say anything like that about him before.
A monster child, that's what everyone has always called him.
Of course. Unless the child had been a monster, how else would he be able to keep on surviving alone by himself as everyone around him were massacred without mercy? If the child had not been a monster, how else was he able to defend himself against the many executioners that tried to finish him off with swords twice his height?
As if the child's silver hair and crimson eyes didn't already amplify the fact that he was indeed... a monster.
Somehow, as his existence started to become known to the people from nearby towns... the child began to become known as the 'corpse-eating oni'. No one ever dared to approach the child, fearing that the 'oni' would come to kill them and consume their flesh. Nobody ever thought that the 'oni' that they have grown to fear was actually just a small hungry child who only managed to survive by raiding the food offerings left at the graveyards.
It's been a long while since he encountered anyone up-close. At least, until this man arrived. Gintoki immediately jumped away from the man.
The man had appeared harmless at first glance, but his instincts told him otherwise. He could smell the same scent that he recognised from the monsters he encountered before. This man was a dangerous one.
He gripped the hilt of the long sword that he kept on his side before slowly unsheathing it in front of the man. The man asked if he took his sword from a corpse. As he thought, this man was not an ordinary person. Usually, he was able to scare off random strangers from approaching him whenever he did this. It was enough to scare off petty thugs or thieves who might think that they can bully a kid like him, just because of his small stature.
Pity, it didn't work on this guy, he thought as Gintoki gave a soft snarl.
"A single child stripping corpses to protect himself, is it?" the man spoke again. "That's impressive. However, you no longer need that sword."
The man started reaching towards his own sword as Gintoki eyed him warily. "A sword that's only swung in self-defence while fearing others, should be thrown away..."
Suddenly, he could sense a different aura from the man—Was that man planning to kill him?—as he prepared himself for battle. To his surprise, the man suddenly threw his sword towards him as Gintoki barely caught it with his hand. The weight of the sword alongside the one he had been holding almost made him topple onto the ground.
"I shall give you my sword. If you wish to learn how to properly use it... then come with me."
xxx
Kagura glanced up towards Shinpachi, as the three of them stood still in front of Gintoki and Otae... who were already sound asleep.
"Ne... Shinpachi. Should we... just let him off this time? It's not like he meant anything bad or whatever."
Katsura also turned his attention towards the kids as his thoughts started to hover around the two. Time really passed by so quick. He could barely remember the time when he first started seeing the kids hanging around Gintoki and his freelancer job. That said, wasn't Shinpachi quite attached to his older sister? Was that why Leader tried to sound him off from doing anything rash?
"Umm... Shinpachi-kun, how about we all just—"
Shinpachi's body shook slightly. "How could I even do anything to that bum over there now? Especially with him looking so pathetic like that, falling asleep with tears still streaking down his cheeks."
Katsura snorted to himself.
"Yeah. He's quite an unrefined fellow... isn't he?"
xxx
"Shouyou... what were you like actually, before we met?"
He was back at the old shrine he shared with Shouyou, which doubled as the Shoka Sonjuku School of Bushido. As usual, at the end of the day... after all of the other kids were finished with the lessons for the day and returned home, the two of them fell back into the usual ritual that they have whenever they were left alone by themselves. The usual sparring lesson between them, as Gintoki would again try to once again attempt to defeat Shouyou in a swordfight—To which, it always ended up with him falling in defeat.
"You were called the Corpse-eating Oni, so you should understand. There's no difference between a monster and the child of a monster."
"They are both inhuman beings that are only born within a bloody pool of sin."
Aah... it was this same old conversation again. Was he now inside a dream? A sweet dream... where he was back to being his younger self, and Shouyou—was still the same person that he used to know.
"... a monster's sword cannot cut another monster..."
If this was really a dream, he wished that he would not have to wake up from it. Compared to the other dreams that he used to get, this was not quite as bad or terrifying. In which, this actually... suited him just fine. Even if this was only a dream, at least the Shouyou who was with him right now... was the Shouyou that he was familiar with.
"Haven't you been paying attention to what I was saying?"
Suddenly he felt as if a cold hand had caught hold of his heart. This wasn't part of the conversation that he used to have! What Shouyou used to say to him, after that last line—!
He turned his head as suddenly he found himself standing in front of Shouyou again. The man gave him the usual mysterious smile that he always wore every time their fights were concluded so abruptly...
"I said..."
"...that your sword..."
Even as Shouyou was speaking, the air around them started to grow colder and colder. And the warm surroundings around them also continued to fade away... as the light also turning into darkness. Eventually, what used to be the dojo that he used to live in... turned into the rocky terrains that were abundant all around Kokujou Island. And the all-familiar Yoshida Shouyou who had been standing in front of him changed into a stranger that he barely even know.
Even the voice...
"...can't reach me."
...has become as cold and hard as steel.
As Utsuro's blade touched the edge of his neck, all of the memories of the last battle started rushing into his mind before Gintoki was rudely being pulled out into reality...
xxx
Katsura turned his head towards Gintoki.
"But really... don't you want to talk about it? To tell the truth, I already kinda figured it out already... but it would've been better if I could hear it directly from you—"
Katsura bit his lips. "Gintoki, that guy you fought with—that leader of the Tendoshuu—was that man really...?"
Gintoki hastily swallowed the bun that he's been eating as he snapped at his friend.
"Cut that out already, Zura! What was it that you don't understand when I said that I didn't wanna talk about it?"
Katsura let out an exasperated sigh. "Alright, I get it. It was something unimaginable to think about. Yet, shouldn't we still talk about it aloud for us to make heads or tails about it?"
Gintoki just scoffed at it. "Why are you telling me that? Even now I couldn't quite believe it..."
"Still, you're such a lucky guy." Gintoki glanced back towards Katsura as the man had turned his glance elsewhere. "Because you've been looking so miserable, these people had insisted to stay by your side to comfort you."
Gintoki followed Katsura's gaze as he stared at the sleeping forms of Kagura, Otae and Shinpachi. He smiled weakly.
"Aren't they quite the clingy bunch?" he sighed. "But I guess, thanks to them... I got to see a nice dream for a short while. Though that didn't manage to last long."
Katsura gave him a sympathetic look. "Well, if you still need a shoulder to cry on... you can always look for me. I won't mind lending my shoulder to you." He got up to his feet as Gintoki hissed at him.
"Who on earth would want to cry on your shoulder, you idiot! And where are you heading off to now?"
Katsura let out a soft chuckle. "I heard that that Imai girl had woken up so I as well might try to get something out from her. Or maybe not, since she might still be in mourning."
"Ah well, whatever... might as well get some air while I'm at it."
Gintoki smiled weakly at his friend as he watched Katsura's retreating back disappearing into the dark hallway. He leaned back against the wall as he thought back about the dream he had earlier.
That old memory from his childhood...
He and Shouyou used to spar together so often back then. Shouyou really... kept his word to him about teaching him how to use a sword properly since the day they first met.
"A sword that's only swung in self-defence while fearing others, should be thrown away..."
"I shall give you my sword. If you wish to learn how to properly use it... then come with me."
He thought about the man he fought on Kokujou Island last night. The man Imai Nobume said was both Shouyou and Utsuro.
"You know this sword, don't you? That must be... from the many memories of defeat..."
It wasn't something that he could truly be proud of. But thanks to the many sparring lessons that he used to have with Shouyou—even if it always ended up in defeat—was what allowed him to be able to keep up when fighting that man who called himself Utsuro. Even then, if it wasn't for Kagura and Sougo helping him out... he would have already died by now.
So was this what Shouyou meant about cultivating his own swordsmanship and to stop imitating his? Because he knew that using the same sword against him would not benefit anyone?
He shook his head frantically.
What kind of a plot twist was this? Has Shouyou taught him to use a sword properly... while anticipating a day like this to come for him? How could that be possible?
If that man was really Shouyou, how could he really defeat him when that man kept coming back up no matter how many times he cut the man down? Was he fated to have to cut Shouyou down every time he had to meet that guy? How was that fair?
Certainly, you wouldn't be so cruel to me as to lay such a heavy burden on my shoulder like this, would you?
Answer me...
Shouyou!
Gintoki: Hehe... who'd believe that this chapter is finally done, huh? After putting the draft aside for years, and getting distracted with so many other things. But here ya go...
Hopefully, there are still people following this story. Because sure as hell it would be depressing to finally be able to share this chapter and no one reading or looking forward to it.
PS: This chapter appeared slightly differently on AO3 so feel free to check it out there. Aside from the fact that the writer was more active over that side.
PS 2: Someone apparently just recalled about the Kansei Purge and ended up revising the earlier portion of this fic. To be honest, that suited me just fine.