A/N: Hi all! Just want to say thank you all for reading, and a big thanks to Noniebee (4352183) For helping brainstorm some things in this chapter! Marcessitia- Tbh I'm surprised, too, but I'm gonna try so hard to actually finish this story, even if it takes short bursts like this to do it. The approach here is deff a little different, mostly because it kinda seemed right in the moment, and being forceful seemed like it would be super unhealthy. I hope to end all my stories on "Happily ever after, or for now, at least" so I try to throw in a decent amount of changes and growth to make that more plausible. Thank you so much for your review!
I hope you all enjoy!
The day had come. Takasugi's master plan had come crashing down around him in ashes, and he could do little but sip his sake with a bitter scowl. At this point, he had seen it coming. The location changed. Where, Takasugi didn't know, but he had reason to believe it wasn't anywhere near Edo, and possibly not even the surface of the earth. There was too much planet and too many ships to chase down an elite formation that just so happened to be carrying government officials.
It was a loss he had to take.
Police contacts weren't enough to infiltrate their meeting this time, but he would rebuild. Takasugi always had. Over the years he had come to learn that he had little to protect in the way of a name or a reputation; his usually preceded him and grew worse by the day. One loss wouldn't be the end of him. Eventually, he'd know enough names of the participants that he would have a decent chance at wringing information out of at least one of them.
One that liked either money or living, he'd decide when he saw them.
The boiler room was all polished steel and copper after Kinu had finished with it. Takechi and Kawakami were still messing with the scanner, and he could hear them murmuring between themselves as they shifted and poked at the holographic display. It had been three days since they started, and while they had figured out how to sign into the program and bring up a map, neither could figure out how to bring up the regional surveillance camera feeds, or police checkpoints.
Matako sat at the bottom of the stairs, flipping through a novel while hitting the metal grate under her with a repetitive tap, tap, tap of her wooden sandal, and it was driving Takasugi mad. It wasn't her, he knew. While Matako spent the week swearing she didn't care about the Kinu issue, she had broken out complaining about the girl one too many times for him to maintain his sanity.
How could Takasugi complain if Matako was doing it for him?
It wasn't as if he wanted to take her place. He didn't have it in him right now, nor did he have the urge or energy to speak a word on the subject. If she wanted to go she could. It was fine. That had been the original plan when Kawakami had asked him what he would do.
His back was warm against the metal wall, but too hot for actual comfort. An early autumn stroll across the deck on an airborne ship was enough to chill a man to the bone, and he was just starting to feel his nose again when Sasaki called him with the scraps of intel he was willing to dish out.
"There's nothing stopping them from going ahead with it. I'd like to see you try to weasel your way into the actual ceremony." He always had to take a stab at Takasugi when he had a chance. "Amagi-san took Nobu Nobu aside after dinner."
"Are we sure it was him?" Takasugi asked, smothering the rage quivering in his throat.
"Saw it with my own two eyes." Sasaki's voice was disinterested as usual, but Takasugi could still hear that touch of smugness in the man's words.
You weren't good enough, is what he was saying.
To his left, Takasugi could still hear it; that steady little tapping that made the nerves in his ears prickle.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
His head mimicked the pattern, pushing at the wraps fixed over his temple.
"Any chance you got his plate number?" Forcing himself to smile, Takasugi watched Kawakami and Takechi circle the cylindrical scanner, half bent over it.
"That depends." The cop said, and a metal scrap made Takasugi glare at the men at the scanner. They were pulling the panel off the side; undoing their professionally laid boiler one piece at a time. "Do you know anything about the Amagi townhouse receiving an exploding fruit basket?"
"Can't say I do." Takasugi tipped himself onto his feet, and tucked his free hand into his belt. He'd hoped it would draw attention, and if he was lucky, take Amagi's other hand off. Give him one less thing to cut.
"You can't be foolish enough to think he would be living there when there's a maniac after him, can you?"
"Sounds like he has it rough." Stepping around Matako, Takasugi found a moment of relief when she scooted towards the wall and finally gave her shoe a rest.
When Takasugi got his hands on a bottle of headache medicine, the city was a distant blur outside of his window.
Edo was a tricky place to dock for extended periods of time.
If they didn't switch up their location often enough, the feds were likely to come snooping around, and that was the last thing Takasugi needed. The deck was empty save for the lookouts and patrols, and just as he settled in to lean out over the ocean and think, his eye fixed on a shape.
He couldn't say what it was. The outline was shrouded in darkness, save for two bright blue flames at what he thought to be the bottom. It wasn't until a man's voice called from the upper deck that Takasugi understood what he was seeing.
"Starboard, cart carrier!"
A cart carrier?
Those weren't large enough to hold more than two people, maybe three if they wanted to gamble. His palm found the hilt of his sword, but then his name broke through the night in an unexpectedly familiar voice.
Multiple pops and flashes of light broke out from the upper deck, and Takasugi watched in stunned, rapt fascination as a silver haired samurai unsteadily emerged from the black night and shot straight up, space bound. Orange embers and flames choked through the smog pouring from the back of the carrier, and Gintoki managed to loop back around, under the port wall.
Decidedly earthbound.
"Hold your fire!" Calling to his men, Takasugi moved to the other side of the ship to see if he could catch a glimpse of his unwanted guest. He could hear Gintoki, shrieking like a courtesan, but all that was left was the smoke when he scanned the horizon.
There was a shout from upstairs, and Takasugi turned just in time to see one of his men dive over the rail to the deck as the cart carrier whizzed by, and a white blur shot off it to roll past Takasugi's feet.
Solid ground had stopped Gintoki's screaming, and when he looked up to find a dozen swords and guns in his face he didn't hesitate to stand and dust himself off.
"Gintoki," It wasn't much of a greeting, but it was all Takasugi had. Arms crossed, he watched as Gintoki pulled at the back of his boot, then straightened his yukata, as if he had time to spare. If he was coming directly to Takasugi in the dead of night alone, there had to be a damn good reason.
After tending himself, the Yorozuya gave a frustrated breath and brought his hands to his shoulders in one of the laziest surrenders Takasugi had ever seen.
"Time out." He said, and before Takasugi had the time to process the declaration he fully understood.
With a look towards his men, he motioned them away.
Rubbing at his neck and straightening his clothes, Gintoki fussed as the men slowly obeyed, and while most of them put down their weapons, the few that recognized the white demon were armed when they slipped through the doors and back up the stairs. "Jeeze, who attacks on sight anymore? I said your name so you wouldn't shoot; if I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to kill me."
"Charming." When they were alone, Takasugi studied Gintoki's deceptively dead fish eyes. "What do you want?"
"Don't play dumb." The Yorozuya jammed his hands into his pockets when Takasugi crossed his arms in the stomach of his yukata. It looked to be an honest truce. That didn't necessarily surprise Takasugi, Gintoki was known for his new, questionably peaceful walk of life. He had hardly been peaceful the last time he'd been on Takasugi's ship, but bygones and such, he supposed.
"You'll need to use your words, Gintoki. Though I know how difficult that can be for you." He reached for his pipe, and as he pulled the bag of tobacco from his pocket, the force of a boulder slammed into his jaw. Takasugi's head snapped to the side, and his full weight hit the deck, half twisted over. For a second his vision had been pure white, but as his eye refocused, he found Gintoki glaring down at him.
The bastard had sucker punched him. After calling a timeout!
Yeah, that makes sense. He thought, swearing under his breath. Unsteadily, Takasugi pushed himself back to his feet, scooping his pipe and spilled bag of tobacco back into his hands. He struck a match and smoke poured into his lungs as he fumbled for normalcy, and the Yorozuya let out a pent up breath.
"All right, now that that's out of the way." Hands on his hips, Gintoki swiveled on his heels. He looked over Takasugi's ship. "Where's Ki? Kids these days run away and don't even call or leave a note. What's wrong with them? No appreciation, I swear."
"What?" The hand working against Takasugi's jaw halted. Not only his hand but everything inside of him. For a beat, his mind was full of interpretations and scenarios. Short imaginary clips so awful he didn't want to bring them to full realization, and from the look in Gintoki's wide red eyes, he was having the same revelation. Takasugi tried to regain himself. He took a drag from his pipe and shook his head. He started as he wanted, detached and aloof, but the more he spoke the more bitterness he could feel sinking into his words. "She's not here. We decided things would be best if we seperated."
"Ah," For a moment, Gintoki didn't acknowledge what that meant. He didn't say a word about his sister being missing, or kidnapped by an unhinged businessman. "Oh, buddy, that's rough." True sympathy was in Gintoki's voice, but he laughed all the same and it didn't sting any less.
Glaring at the man, Takasugi tapped the bowl of his pipe on the side wall of the ship.
"It was a mutual decision." He grit, and the Yorozuya crossed his arms.
"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." Waving one hand towards Takasugi, Gintoki dismissed his defense.
"You're awfully calm to learn that your sister is missing, Gintoki. Shouldn't you be running after her by now?" He didn't know how much Kinu had told the man, if anything, and he didn't want to broach the topic any further.
"My stop's on the way." Gintoki held his gaze until he rolled his eye. He wasn't going to dignify that with a response. "What kind of lover's quarrel makes a woman pack a bag and run off? We always knew you had no finesse with the ladies but-"
"Spare me." Takasugi would have tacked on a please if he thought it would get him somewhere. On instinct he took out his phone and brought up the tracking app.
Ship it claimed. He refreshed, and then she was home. Busted. The thing was entirely wrong. Occasionally, it would go off the map entirely, but as he pulled up the log and scrolled through something interesting caught his eye. A single little blip on the map at around noon. Gintoki was still talking.
"-but no, kids don't listen. You tell them not to touch the burner and-"
"Oi," When Takasugi refreshed the map again, she pinged. Far west. And then she was gone. Home. "Does she know anybody in Kyoto?"
Gintoki was at Takasugi's side in an instant, pressing into his shoulder. His brow bunched, and he made a face.
"Is that a tracker? Are you tracking my little sister like a-" His hand covered his smiling mouth and he hopped back a step with a solid punch to Takasugi's shoulder. "I feel like I'm gonna be mad if I ask! I feel like I'm already getting kind of mad! Yeah. Just a little, let's just go."
"It's broken." Takasugi tried to recover, but he knew it was best not to push his luck. He squeezed at his aching arm, glaring daggers into his friend's back, but they were in agreement when they started up the side navigation deck to change course. Gintoki didn't want to hear it, and he still hadn't found the energy to defend himself.
Being punched every few minutes wasn't nearly as bad as a territorial fight with Gintoki.
He wasn't the most welcomed man on Takasugi's ship. That was made clear halfway to the deck when Matako spied them down a hallway and charged guns first until she saw Takasugi just around the corner walking with the man.
"Shinsuke-sama? What's going on?"
"Just a detour." The less he offered, the less chances there were of Kawakami coming to tell him about the monthly gas expenses. He'd kept asking Takasugi the same questions.
How are we going to stay in the air if we can't trade Shinsuke? What are we going to do if this black listing sticks?
It never does. Takasugi had told him, but maybe his friend was right and it was only a matter of time. One day it would. They were comfortable enough for now, so it was a problem for then and not now.
The ride was awkward and silent. They sat up top, watching the pilot press buttons and adjust the wheel through a glass door. Above, the clear night sky whizzed past the framed clear ceiling.
"This is just a ride, got it?" Gintoki finally said after they had gone too far to turn back. "If Ki broke up with you, you're not using me to weasel your way back in with her."
"Wouldn't ever dream of it." Takasugi muttered back, but that sent his mind turning. Was there a way to do that? Could he use Gintoki to bring her back? Surely Kinu would be angry if he tried to hold Gintoki captive to draw her in, but maybe there was something else. Hell, Gintoki might have something to say about the capture idea. If he showed up with Gintoki at his side, she'd think they had worked things out. He would be the bigger man, bringing her concerned brother directly to her, because he cared.
It was hopeless and he knew it, but there was no harm in dreaming. That was all he'd had for the past week, and it hadn't let up as he'd wanted. How could it, when men were literally falling out of the sky to talk about her? At the end of his days when he dragged himself back into his bed her pillow nagged at the back of his mind, even after he'd tossed it from beside his.
Sleeping brought no relief because when he closed his eye, he was immersed in thoughts of vengeance.
Not for some business deal gone wrong, or for the seedy underbelly of the government managing to wiggle it's way out of grasp, but for what he had allowed himself to want.
She had become a plague on his mind. A blight on his existence.
They touched ground just before morning's first light. Gintoki, full of surprises, pulled a picture from his wallet to show around. It was old, and faded around the edges, but looked to be a school photo of a tiny blonde Kinu grinning in a soft pink yukata.
"Have you seen-" Gintoki was pushing that picture around and motioning to where hair would fall if his had been straight or long enough. "-but with stripes like a reverse skunk, and more dead than smiley?" The first three received shakes of the head, and Takasugi palmed his face.
"Nobody is gonna see that and think of her."
"You got any better pictures?"
"No." He left it at that.