Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama
Heaven Knows Everyone Is Miserable Now
Chapter 1: Trouble On The High Road
Considering the amount of people that lived in Tokyo, a generous shitload amount, it follows that Tokyo had to be the worst place to live in at the time of the catastrophic outbreak. Many sought refuge in shelters provided by the government, some fled to rural areas away from the cities and a few even made it out of the country. Nevertheless, it was all for naught. The epidemic was worldwide. They were all fucked. To the present day, some six months later, Gintoki still found it genius how the last news broadcasted to mankind were the loss of all hope. There was nowhere to run, nowhere safe. The dead came back to roam and devour indiscriminately.
On his better days the thought almost amused him. On the worse ones he didn't think about it at all. No humor was allowed then.
Gintoki thought he could handle it. He thought he could handle the distant wailing of sirens and dying animals, the cacophony of cars stuck in traffic and the shrieks of people desperate to leave town. He locked himself at home, barred all exits and hoped for the best. He was going to survive, the end of the world was just another bump in the road for him. But then his neighbor Catherine got bitten as she tried to leave her apartment and her screams called the nearest dozen rotters to feast on her body and roam the landing by Gintoki's door.
He didn't last two days shut inside. The smell of death and rot took over, the low grating noises and the dragging of feet nearly drove him insane. He had to get out. He packed whatever survival-essentials he had lying around, a change of clothes, all the non-perishable food he had (mostly instant ramen) and proceeded to put his plan in motion. He jammed a pair of cheap batteries into his old cassette player, blasted the nearest tape at hand, Mazinger Z's theme song, and ran to the bathroom.
The undead quickly crowded at his door, clawing and moaning, desperate to get to the source of the sound. Gintoki's heart clenched at each clacking of jaws, each jangle of rotten teeth as they fell on the ground. A sheen of perspiration stuck to his forehead. The moans grew louder and louder and soon his front door came crashing down with the weight of the rotters. They stumbled inside, all raspy gargles and sickly smell. Gintoki waited for them to press on before escaping. He took a deep breath, bade a silent goodbye to all the memories and belongings he was leaving behind and got the fuck out of there.
Outside, he saw Catherine's mangled body on the floor, face torn and guts spilling out grimy and vivid red. A sight incompatible with reality. Gintoki held back his vomit and raced to a secluded corner of the emergency stairs before puking out all the contents of his stomach.
The edges of Kagura's vision dimmed as the grip around her neck tightened. Whatever screams she tried to expel got stuck in her throat defeated and muted. Her heart rattled inside her rib cage and all she could see was a pair of blue eyes gleaming above her in some unnatural way; their hollowness chilling.
"There is no future here, Kagura-chan." Kamui said with strange calmness.
Kagura's eyes filled with tears as fury and panic gave away to sheer terror. Kamui's hands squeezed harder and the physical pain of his clasp was nothing compared to the apathy of his expression and the twitch of malice adorning his upturned lips.
"Don't worry, big brother will follow right after," he uttered sweetly "I promise."
Blood ceased to reach Kagura's brain, every vein in her body throbbed painfully and she drew a pathetic choke. She couldn't die like this, she couldn't. Her trembling hands fumbled around for a weapon, an object, anything to get him off her, but they all slipped away from her sweaty palms. Kamui jerked her higher off her feet, his hands like stones.
"Death is better than this world." he said.
Kagura wanted to cry out but her hearing was fading. She had stopped listening to the haggard breaths coming out of her own mouth.
"Go to mother."
Kagura's eyes were mere slits when she saw Kamui topple over. A metal bar knocked him in the head and he fell to the ground, his hands along with him. Kagura dropped to her knees, drool and tears dripping down her chin. Her chest heaved as she breathed deeply, never so desperate for air, never so desperate for life. Her whole throat burned like fire and she coughed painfully.
When she looked up Gintoki's face met hers, hard and unreadable. Shinpachi stood behind him in shock yet neither of them spoke. They looked at her hesitantly, unsure what to say or do though her mind was set.
Kagura got up with a wobble, wrenched the metal bar from Gintoki's grasp and bashed it against Kamui's motionless body over and over again. The all-consuming fear she'd just experienced seconds before turned into a senseless rage and she channeled it hit after hit after hit. Blood spattered her clothes and tears of frustration poured out yet she didn't stop. The metal bar had become part of her and the swinging motion felt as necessary as breathing. She only stopped when Gintoki put a firm hand on her shoulder and held her back.
"We have to go."
"Yeah," she replied a bit shaky, eyes never leaving Kamui's body, "Little sis will join you later. Death is better than this world."
And she put the metal bar through his skull.
Hijikata woke up with a jolt. He couldn't remember the last time he had slept more than two hours straight. Ghastly visions haunted his dreams no matter what little sleep he got. He sat up on the mattress and opened his eyes, soothed by the darkness. The two cots beside his were empty. It had to be pretty late. The only semblance of light in the room came from a small hopper window in the corner, letting in a faint stream of moonlight.
The wind rustled the tree leaves outside. The premises were quiet. Hijikata twirled the wedding band on his finger with his thumb and reached for the gun under his pillow. It was hard and cold on his hand yet surprisingly light.
"Hijikata-san, are you awake?" Yamazaki's frame appeared by the door holding a flashlight.
"Don't point it at me, idiot." Hijikata grunted, covering his eyes.
"Ah, sorry." Yamazaki switched off the flashlight with clumsy fingers and after another awkward beat of silence relayed his message "They are going to do it now."
"I'll be right there."
Yamazaki nodded and returned to his post. Hijikata appreciated the brevity. He wished he had more time; more time to rest, more time to think, more time for everything. But he couldn't bear another second alone. He unfolded his makeshift pillow and donned his worn police jacket. It was going to be a long night.
He left the gym's storage room, now their sleeping quarters, and made his way out. Inside the school gym two dozen people huddled together by age, neighborhood, familiarity... people bonded over anything these days. The majority of them slept, though some were awake, too fearful to close their eyes and wait for the day to come.
At the gym's front gate, Harada kept his post along with a blond civilian woman. At the backdoor, Yamazaki awaited him with a grave expression plastered on his face. He broke eye contact as Hijikata walked past him.
"They're waiting for you outside."
Hijikata nodded and exited the building, eager to embrace the cold night air so he'd at least feel something.
He spotted his destination not too far ahead. Four people surrounded a school dumpster, the stench coming from it unmistakable. Kondo was the first to notice him and he turned around with a pained face.
"Toshi-"
"Is that all of them?" Hijikata asked promptly, preventing Kondo from doing any sappy speeches.
"Yes. Let's get this over with." a girl with long dark hair replied. Her eyes were puffy from crying but her expression was stoic, determined to see the deed done through to the end.
"Who's gonna do it?" Kondo hesitated.
The girl, Nobume, volunteered at once. She picked up the fuel can and dosed its contents over the bodies piled inside the dumpster. The smell of decay mixed with the toxic scent of the fuel and she gagged, unable to suppress the nausea. Sougo, who had stood quietly until then, snatched the fuel can from her hands and dumped the rest of it before throwing the empty can away.
Hijikata wanted to reproach him for the unnecessary clatter but tonight he could live with it. He pulled out the last cigarette of his pack, lit it, took a long greedy drag from it and flicked it towards the dumpster. The dead bodies went up in flames, unleashing a repugnant smell Hijikata wouldn't forget for the rest of his life.
He and Kondo closed the lid of the dumpster and he remembered he hadn't even taken Mitsuba's wedding ring off her finger.
The blazing sun intensified the reek of the world, but it was deemed an improvement since it allowed them to fart at will without anybody noticing. Kagura enjoyed that.
"We need more supplies." Shinpachi said solemnly from the driver's seat. The car was dead.
"Oi Kagura, we have to ration the food, not gobble it all up." Gintoki scolded. He was lying on the backseat with sweat dripping down his forehead.
"Shut up, old man. You're the one snooping around the food bag when we're asleep." Kagura protested.
"Lies!"
"And you still owe me a chicken flavor packet from the other day."
"More lies!"
"Shut up, both of you! It's not about food," Shinpachi exclaimed, trying to keep his voice down and failing miserably "It's practical stuff we've run out of. We need batteries, matches, lighters, duct tape, a new pan because Kagura refuses to eat from the one you used to kill that biter-"
"What? I washed it afterwards," Gintoki argued perplexed "It's perfectly fi-"
"Over my dead body!" Kagura interjected "I'm not using that pan ever again. Ever!" she banged the back of her head against the passenger seat for emphasis.
"Yes, yes, yes, we know," Shinpachi nodded exasperated, tired of hearing the same complaint for the last three days "We also need to restock our first-aid kit and... er... and..." Shinpachi struggled not to stammer "Kagura's stuff."
Kagura rolled her eyes.
"I'm gonna say it again, that pan is perfectly fine," Gintoki maintained. He sat up and had to spread his legs so he could fit in the back "No need to trouble ourselves with getting a new one. They're all contaminated if you think about it. And Shinpachi, aren't you too old to be embarrassed of pads? You're like twenty now."
"S-sshut up! It's something private." Shinpachi replied flustered, adjusting his glasses to cover up his blush.
"You could learn something from him." Kagura muttered between gritted teeth.
"And you could learn to keep your hands to yourself, scheming glutton."
"You miserable piece of-!"
A gray hand struck the car's rear window cutting off Kagura's eloquent cuss. The rotter bumped his head against it and growled before resuming his crawl to the side doors.
"I'll go." Kagura declared, grabbing the bat at her feet. She stepped out of the car, shook the inertia off her arms and swung. One, two, three times; the last swing inflamed by Gintoki's japes. It smashed the rotter's brains and he collapsed to the ground with dark blood oozing out of his cracked skull.
"That was one hit too many." Gintoki commented.
"Shut up, dumbass. Why don't you let me practice on you?" Kagura proposed "Oi Pachi, come take a look. I tell you, my period looks better than this."
Three hours and five failed raids later, they found a convenience store with a third of its goods still on the shelves. Kagura went in first, accustomed to her role as scout. Shinpachi followed her, moving quietly between the aisles and scanning the shelves for the goods on his list. Gintoki joined them last after acting as decoy and driving a group of nearby roamers away. When he returned, he went at once for the register as he was wont to do. He always checked them for good ol' times' sake, missing being broke in a world that still functioned. He groped around the counter for anything useful and found a lighter amidst heaps of receipts and cigarette packs.
"Bingo."
"What's that, Gin-san?" Shinpachi whispered.
"Lighter."
"Nice."
Kagura returned from the backroom with a bitter expression, eyes shiny and red.
"I think the owner ate his own cat." she mumbled, scraping her bat against one of the shelves to get rid of the excess goo.
"That's disgusting." Gintoki replied. He noticed her pink cheeks and a wave of compassion washed over him. He turned away from her, focusing instead on the sounds coming from the street. The previous group of roamers was already on its way back. Gintoki and the kids had less than five minutes to get out of there.
"Kagura, go get Shinpachi, we gotta go."
He heard Kagura sniff before replying.
"Roger." she skulked down the aisles, feet silent.
The fullest shelf on the store was easy to spot. Gintoki glanced at it with a frown. Funny how people didn't need pet food anymore.
Their stay at the school was short-lived. The burnings had attracted more rotters than they could handle, especially since Hijikata had banned the use of firearms to save ammunition and most civilians refused to go near a dead thing out of fear and disgust. Hijikata didn't blame them. That's what he was there for, to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. To be a shield. A weapon. That's what he was. He protected people.
Nobume and Sougo cleared a path out of the school, sweeping the premises so the rest could load the cars and trucks with supplies. The two seemed to have no qualms squashing putrid brains and hacking at the undead after losing what family they had left. Bloodthirsty and detached, they had become swords for Kondo and Hijikata to sharpen. Hijikata would have pitied them if the crummy work didn't keep them vigilant, focused and more importantly, alive.
"The next school is overrun, we can't go there." Yamazaki reported, back from his scouting mission. Hijikata cursed under his breath.
"Shit. Where's the map? Give it to me."
Hijikata took Yamazaki's map and spread it over the hood of the nearest car. Every time he looked at it their prospects became grimmer. The crosses marking the places overrun by rotters dotted the whole surface.
"Maybe we should stop going from school to school and find a place where we could settle for a while..." Kondo suggested, eyes trailing to a green area down south "Our supplies are running low and we don't have enough manpower to keep plodding through the main wards. The metropolitan area is doomed."
"Wherever we go, we have to decide quickly. The sun is almost up and we shouldn't drive so near the city," Hijikata warned, glancing at the other five cars parked in front of the school gym "We're too many."
"What about the other people stuck in school shelters? Who's gonna save them?" Tsukuyo joined the discussion with crossed arms. She'd steadily grown into a spokesperson for the civilians since they'd rescued her group from the police camp set in the TaitÅ ward. Her word carried weight.
"Most schools of the district have been overrun." Yamazaki replied sadly.
"And those who've managed to survive must have left the shelters already. It'll be a waste of time and resources." Hijikata added.
Tsukuyo didn't agree.
"So you lied to people? Told them they would be safe inside these so-called government shelters and now you're abandoning them to save your own skins?"
"We were just following orders." Yamazaki replied, though his argument fell short and he regretted it as soon as he said it.
"Well, look where that got us," she declared, bitterness coating her voice "And whose orders are you taking now? His?" she pointed an accusing finger at Kondo "A man who abandoned those he swore to protect to chase after a woman desperate to find her brother? Those bodies you burned the other day, they are on you."
Kondo lowered his head in shame yet Hijikata's hawk eyes locked on Tsukuyo mercilessly.
"You are quick to blame others, but where were you that night?" he asked her "Stealing painkillers from the storage for your friend."
"Hinowa was in extreme pain. We had to amputate her leg!" Tsukuyo exclaimed in disbelief.
"Everyone is bound to be in pain," Hijikata said flatly "I told you we couldn't spare any more for her. You had no right to steal them."
"How can you say that?!"
"Toshi-" Kondo tried to put in a sympathetic word but he was interrupted by Sougo's arrival.
"It's no good trying to reason with him, boss lady" Sougo said melodramatically "You really expect Hijikata-san to understand you? He didn't even bat an eyelid after burning his wife."
Hijikata didn't have time to lunge forward. Kondo stepped between the two and pushed them away from each other.
"That's enough, Sougo."
"Sure thing, Kondo-san. I was just passing by any way." Sougo blinked an eye at Tsukuyo and went to help Harada hotwire the cars.
"You know he didn't mean that, Toshi," Kondo murmured "That's just his way of dealing with what happened."
"I know." Hijikata replied coldly, though his hand seized the holstered gun behind his back.
Being on the lookout twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, took its toll on anyone. Their trek south, already slow as it was on account of the rotten fiends, seemed to go even slower. Food rationing had reached a point where it was impossible to keep slimming the portions without conjuring a fake story about transparent food. Dirt got everywhere, hair, skin and clothes all shared the exact same rusty shade. Shinpachi had increased his daily count of "How much longer?" and "How much farther" and Kagura had fallen into deep silences unlike her, which made Gintoki realize how much they depended on her usual sunny disposition, or whatever happy disposition a person in their circumstances could have.
Times were bad. No doubt about that.
However, in spite of everything, Gintoki genuinely believed their odds were getting better. They had left Tokyo's metropolitan area behind them and entered the suburbs which were easier to plod through, with less roamers and hordes blocking their way. The journey remained slow and difficult but it didn't seem as impossible as before. Moreover, they weren't wandering around aimlessly. Gintoki's crumpled, smudged map attested to that. Katsura had sent it to him back when people still believed they could fix whatever was going on. He was paranoid like that. What Katsura wasn't though, was an anxious half-starved survivor. Gintoki got homicidal urges just thinking about him washed clean, nestled in bed inside his safe house with a belly full of food. The masochist thoughts spurred him on.
At sunset, the three of them abandoned the railroad tracks they'd been following all day and sought refuge in a house nearby to rest for the night. They found one close to the highway running parallel to the railroad. The house was deserted, no undead owners crawling from under the tables or locked inside closets. The three ate their meager supper in silence, wary of the strange neighborhood, and used rock paper scissors to decide the watch order.
"Oh noooooo, I don't wanna be first again... Gin-chan change with me pleaase." Kagura begged him.
"I'm an old man, my back needs rest." Gintoki replied, flopping down on the floor.
"Luck of the draw, Kagura-chan." Shinpachi added.
Even though there were futons in the bedrooms, sometimes even actual beds, they never slept on them. They chose to lay on the floor, usually in the living room, as close as possible to an exit. They refrained from touching personal belongings and only scavenged the house for food or supplies if needed. It was their way of cherishing the concept of home in a world that didn't permit it.
Kagura took first watch while they slept, but Gintoki didn't sleep. To him sleep was just lying down with his eyes closed while listening for any suspicious movements. He trusted Kagura and Shinpachi and he knew they were able to take care of themselves in a pinch, but being the eldest Gintoki still felt responsible for them. Out in the open as they were, he could never be at rest.
When Kagura nudged him to switch shifts he was already set.
"Gin-chan, it's your turn." she said with a yawn.
"Everything okay?"
"Yeah. But Shinpachi fell asleep with his glasses on."
"Idiot."
"Yeah. Goodnight, Gin-chan."
"Goodnight."
Kagura took his spot and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the mat. Her sleeping face made her look ten years younger, no traces of the horror and despair she'd known in her unfortunate adolescence. Gintoki tucked her in with a blanket before taking care of Shinpachi. He knelt beside him and took his glasses off so he wouldn't break them in his sleep. These moments were the worst, he thought. The hunger, the exhaustion, the mauling, the killing, those Gintoki could handle. It was looking at these kids and knowing they had been robbed of a future and a good normal life that broke him.
He left them to go make his rounds.
"Gin-san, Gin-san, come here!" Shinpachi called his name in a whisper but in the stillness of the house it sounded like a roar. Even Kagura woke up.
"What's the matter?" Gintoki moaned, standing up slowly, joints cracking. He'd switched shifts with Shinpachi not an hour ago, just before sunrise.
"You have to see this. Look there." Shinpachi hissed, pointing to a place outside the window.
Kagura and Gintoki approached and peeked out, instantly recognizing what the fuss was all about. Six cars drove down the highway, a police car among them.
"They're going the same way as us." Shinpachi observed.
"So what?"
"Don't you think we should signal them? Maybe they could take us."
"Just because they're cops? Anybody could be driving that car." Gintoki pointed out.
"Yeah, they could be evil men who'd take advantage of us and steal our stuff." Kagura said.
"You mean cops?"
"Gin-san, stop it."
"Shut up, Gin-chan, I was just thinking out loud."
"Oh, so that's what it was."
"But don't you think they could help us?" Shinpachi wondered.
"I don't know. Why, are you afraid Pachi? You big baby." Kagura cooed.
"You're the one crying yourself to sleep every night, I just never said anything before because I thought it was totally uncool!"
"I do not! Remember that time you almost got killed 'cause you got distracted by a Tsuu-chan cardboard cutout?! If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead meat right now-"
"Shinpachi, Kagura," Gintoki's tone was enough to grab their full attention "Something's wrong."
Their heads turned and the three of them gathered around the window to witness the horror that followed.
Hijikata knew something bad had happened the second he saw the brake lights flash in front of him. The line of cars had stopped. Harada still had his foot on the pedal when Hijikata stormed out of the car, hand immediately on his gun.
Shrieks came from down the road, some three cars ahead. People were opening their doors and pushing their heads out to get a better look at the crisis in front.
"Get back inside! Stay inside! Stay back! Back!" Hijikata growled at them, compelling them to stay inside the cars and lock their doors.
When he reached the middle of the row he saw Tsukuyo standing beside a black sedan. She had one hand over her mouth and an arm around a little boy who held on to her waist and muffled his screams against her stomach.
"Hinowa... It's Hinowa..." Tsukuyo whimpered, tears welling up in her eyes.
Inside the car Hinowa had her teeth sunk on the driver's flesh, gnawing at the junction between his shoulder and neck. Blood ran down his arm and over Hinowa's fingers which clung to him like claws. The whites of her eyes had sullied, as had her once smooth skin. The driver's cries of pain made every word he uttered unintelligible. Hijikata couldn't bear it. He leaned down just enough to reach them and put a bullet straight through Hinowa's skull. Bits and pieces spurted on the backseat window, along with a stream of blood that suddenly gushed out of the bite on the driver's neck and painted the windshield red. Hijikata shot the man twice in the head, putting an end to his misery.
As he stepped away from the car, the gunshots rang in his ears. Seita's pitiful sobs reached him like an echo as did Kondo's hurried footsteps.
"What's going on? Those shots will be heard for miles!" Kondo blurted out.
Tsukuyo couldn't look him in the eye. She tightened her hold on Seita and breathed deeply while trying to regain her composure.
"Toshi what the hell did you-" Kondo's breath caught in his throat when he saw him. Hijikata's face was bathed in blood, his pupils abnormally dilated. He looked deranged.
"You okay, Toshi?" Kondo's question was beside the point.
"We should go." Hijikata said, alarmed by the rustling sounds coming from the bushes that skirted the road.
"Yes, you're right. You two," Kondo turned to Tsukuyo and Seita and took hold of the situation "Forget this car, it's lost. Take out your stuff and get in the next one. We need to keep moving."
Tsukuyo was too shocked to argue. She crouched to look Seita in the eye and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"Seita, go sit by Tae and wait for me, you hear me?" she shook him a bit to stall his tears and get his attention "Everything is going to be alright, okay? I'll be right back."
She detached from him forcefully and ran to the trunk of the sedan to pick up their bags. Kondo made sure Seita got in the next car and gave Hijikata a thumbs up.
"Good job, Toshi."
Hijikata nodded at the gesture feeling completely hollow. His feet took him back to his place by the rear on their own and he sat down in a haze, watching the other cars pull away and resuming their drive. Harada flinched when he saw him come in.
"Sir, what happened? Are you-"
Harada never got to finish his question. Two arms grabbed him from behind through the open window and a set of teeth bit his face, tearing out his cheek and ripping his mouth open. A shriek caught in Hijikata's throat. He wriggled back in revulsion, the sight of Harada's disfigured face too sickening for him to process. He averted his eyes and glanced at the road ahead only to watch the other cars already disappearing in the distance. His heart sank. His whole body began shaking with fear and for a moment he panicked, resigned to his fate, consumed by the sounds of Harada being eaten alive. He beckoned any god to help him but no prayer came to mind. In his despair he sought the door handle to flee but a thumping noise from behind stopped him. What little hope he had died in the pits of his stomach. He glanced at his wedding ring smeared with blood, wishing to yield, wishing to give up. Yet nature didn't consent, his body resisted.
His frenzy dissipated and impulse took over.
Hijikata reached for his gun and blasted four shots at the horror show in front of him. His trembling hands were recipe for poor aim but the proximity helped and he got both targets easily.
The rotter knocking at the door behind him was next. Hijikata mustered his remaining courage and turned around, gun aimed and ready to rain shrapnel through the window, however, all he met was the rotter's head sliding down the glass pane, leaving a dirty trail behind.
Hijikata stilled and that's when he saw it.
Silver.
Gintoki kicked the rotter aside and pulled open the passenger door. The man inside was alive, albeit covered in a crazy amount of blood and sporting a haunting expression. His eyes shone, pupils blown wide, and his chest rose with ragged breath. In his hands he held a gun right at Gintoki's face, his hold fast.
"Not in a hurry to thank me, are you?" Gintoki asked.
"Gin-chan, sorry I'm late," Kagura stepped out of the bushes by the road, adjusting the grip on her bloodied bat "I caught a few nasties on the way. Did you get them?"
"The bald one didn't make it," Gintoki told her "But we got the hero."
"Oh, sorry. My bad." she lamented.
"Don't apologize. Serves him right not to let his window down in this day and age. And you," Gintoki turned towards the paralyzed man inside the police car "Are you gonna lower that gun or are you as dumb as the other one?"
He got no reply. The man seemed stuck in survival mode, not budging. Gintoki noticed the badge on his police jacket and acknowledged, with some distaste, that Shinpachi had actually been right. They were real cops.
"Nobody here is gonna hurt you," Gintoki said "We saw what happened. Sorry about your friend."
"Step away from the car." the man uttered in a sullen voice. Gintoki started in surprise and caught Kagura tensing up out the corner of his eye.
"It's okay Kagura, stand down."
Kagura lowered her bat petulantly.
"We're not a threat to you. Look, I'm gonna put my blade down, okay?" Gintoki crouched slowly and placed his fixed blade on the asphalt.
The gesture seemed to satisfy the stranger. He lowered his gun and got out of the car, height matching Gintoki's.
"You two alone out here?" he asked.
"You really expect me to tell you that?" Gintoki sneered. The stranger brought his gun back up and Gintoki reformulated his answer "Alright, alright," he put his hands up "I'm actually babysitting at the moment. I have another kid waiting for me."
"Funny." Kagura snorted. Gintoki ignored her and continued his prattle.
"We're very busy, end of the world and all, so if you don't mind returning to whatever the hell you were doing back there," Gintoki motioned the blood-soaked car, "We'll be on our merry way."
"Where are you headed?"
Gintoki's eyes met the stranger's and he paused for a second before replying. The man was scared, armed and shocked, a nasty cocktail of attributes that made him a very dangerous threat if left alone. Whether he might be helpful or not, it was better to keep an eye on him than an eye over their shoulders every two minutes.
"Same way you are. Wanna come with us?"
"Gin-chan!" Kagura's voice rose in protest.
"You and that kid?" the man blurted slightly perplexed.
"I am not a kid! I am seventeen. I can take care of myself, bozo!"
"She's telling the truth, honestly." Gintoki admitted.
The stranger fell again into silence. Gintoki and Kagura watched him warily, the former fighting the small tingle of excitement running up his spine.
Gintoki's heart raced when he saw the man lean down to grab his blade. Any sudden move and blood would be shed. The man twisted the blade around and handed it back to Gintoki.
"Lead the way."
Shinpachi burst in a fit of hysterics the moment they got back to the house.
"Why did you take so long? I thought something terrible had happened, I was about to go after you!" he said angrily.
Kagura walked past him shrugging her shoulders and sat on the kitchen counter. Shinpachi shot her a glare, unnerved by her dirty footsteps. Truth be told, it made no sense to keep up the formalities of the old world when the need to flee could arise at any second and render all propriety obsolete. However, the smallest thing was enough to trigger Shinpachi's rage when he was worried or stressed.
"Kagura, you big idiot, don't ignore me! You left your knife behind again. What if you had lost your bat? What is it gonna take for you to learn? Losing an arm? A leg? Gin-san, you have to talk to her, she- uwah!" a yelp escaped as he noticed the other man behind Gintoki.
"Ooh right," Gintoki drawled "This is uh- what was your name again?"
"Hijikata Toshi-"
"Yeah, yeah, Hijikata-kun." Gintoki cut him off. Courtesies bored him.
"I'm Shimura Shinpachi. Nice to meet you." Shinpachi greeted the stranger with a soft bow. The normalcy of the exchange delighted him and he forgot most of his complaints as a consequence. "We saw what happened on the road. Did someone on your group turn?"
Hijikata's silence answered him.
"Oi Shinpachi, how's the toilet tank?" Gintoki asked, dispelling the heavy atmosphere.
"Half-full I think. But I still haven't filled all the water bottles."
"Good. Go fetch them and bring a rag. Hijikata-kun here needs a wash."
After leaving the kids to finish their packing, Gintoki went to check on Hijikata who was busy cleaning himself in the bathroom.
Hijikata tensed once Gintoki showed up at the door. He had taken off his jacket and shirt, both equally filthy and foul-smelling. His muscles stood out hard and strained. Gintoki looked away, choosing to focus on the dirty clothes piled on the floor.
"I don't think the owner's shirts will fit you, but I'll see what I can find." Gintoki said.
He snooped around the bedroom, searching through drawers and closet spaces for something his size. Unfortunately, the owner must have been an old man in his eighties. There was little Gintoki could do. Except one thing.
Hijikata sat in the toilet scrubbing blood off his face when Gintoki returned. He had planned to crack another joke to lighten the mood but Hijikata's clean features stole it from him. Without the questionable layers of blood and gory bits stuck in his hair, he looked quite a different person. A word Gintoki hadn't used in a while came to mind, but he didn't acknowledge it. Beautiful was too sentimental for the end of the world.
"Lame." he ended up saying.
Hijikata looked at him but didn't reply.
"Pack your dirty clothes. We'll wash them in river. Until then take good care of this. I know I have." Gintoki threw him his only spare shirt, the one he had packed almost two months ago in his apartment. Hijikata caught it in a swift motion.
"Thank you." he grunted.
"Don't thank me yet." Gintoki quipped.
He understood Hijikata's lack of response implied a need to be alone and he would have left the sullen bastard to his devices if not for the ring on his finger. Gintoki had totally missed it until now.
"What are you looking at?" Hijikata's coarse voice roused him. He must have been staring.
"Just making sure you weren't bitten."
"I haven't."
"Good."
