a/n: Last chapter. I tried to tone down the cheese but also, I didn't really write a 100k+ word longfic to suppress my GinTsu trash loving heart, so.
I took a lot of major inspiration from the historical counterparts of Katsura and Takasugi, and basically I would say this chapter's timeline takes place in the beginning of the Meiji period. History buffs can weigh in later, if they so wish! :)
The Shinigami Dayuu is designated for me, and only me, for all eternity.
- Sakata Gintoki, Chapter 493
26. epilogue
(one year later)
The newly constructed Edo Terminal was neatly divided into classes, and truthfully, Gintoki wasn't used to where he was sitting right now, despite the fact that he technically had unlimited access to it.
Takasugi had snickered, but poured him a drink regardless. "I see someone's turned back into a country bumpkin."
"Shut up," Gintoki said. "Just because you're a rich boy again doesn't mean you're ever going to be taller than me. Never forget that, Chibisugi."
His friend rolled his eye. "Hey, I work for a living, unlike you. No one's handing me my salary for free, you know."
"Sorry that you don't appreciate the beauty of dating a modern, career-oriented woman. With the way you go about things, good luck if you ever meet someone who can even keep up with your schedule."
Now Takasugi scowled. "You know I don't give a damn about that kind of thing. Plus, it's not like you're a catch either."
"Hey! I object to that!" Gintoki said, standing up from his seat at the first class bar. "I'll have you know that I'm a goddamn terrific catch. I cook, I clean, I do the laundry - "
"Why are you suddenly auditioning for Edo's Top Ten Eligible Housewives?"
"Men are supposed to be doing those things anyway. We're just stuck in this patriarchal society."
Takasugi remained unimpressed. "Is that what she told you? Or are you just saying that because she keeps you on an allowance where you have to be a good boy and say all the right things to her before you begin to waste her hard-earned money on pachinko or sweets?"
"I'm just too progressive for you, Takasugi! And both you and Zura know it."
"Know what?"
The two of them turned their heads, seeing that Katsura had entered the bar, taking a seat next to them.
Takasugi smirked. "Oh, he's just in denial that he's a bum. That's all."
"Well, considering that we've tried to give him jobs, and he's turned them all down... " Katsura sighed. "I'm afraid I will have to agree with Takasugi on this one, Gintoki."
Personally, Gintoki thought they were all massive idiots for continuing to work for the Bakufu, considering they'd sacrificed a hell of a lot fighting against them in the first place. But true to his word, Tokugawa Shigeshige had installed a massive reform of the entire system, which meant that the two former leaders of the Jouishishi movement were now placed in positions of immediate power.
"You two are just cranky because this is the first time in a long while that either of you have gotten time off," Gintoki accused them both. "Well, if that means you're going to make fun of poor Gin-san here, so be it. I'll be generous, just this once."
The intercom of the terminal they'd been milling about in suddenly beeped. "Arrival from Chatoran Planet, Terminal D."
"Finally!" Gintoki said. "Feels like forever since he's been here."
He hopped from his ergonomic seat, and the automatic doors opened - a direct transfer from the spaceship to the premium lounge, which was where the three of them planned to meet. What happened after that was to anyone's guess.
"KINTOKI, YOU BASTAAAAAAARD!"
It was truly, unmistakably, Sakamoto Tatsuma in the flesh. Gintoki had winced, forgetting how loud he was - and therefore missed the incoming fist, finding himself on his floor all of a sudden.
"YOU ASSHOLE! WHO GREETS THEIR OLD FRIEND WITH A PUNCH?"
"I DO, AHAHAHAHA!" Sakamoto took off his expensive looking sunglasses. "And anyways, you deserve it, for stabbing me in the back like that! Why am I the last one to know you're about to, I dunno, GET MARRIED? I thought we were supposed to be bachelor permhead buddies together - don't you remember our promise back then?!"
Gintoki lifted himself off the ground, wiping his mouth with his sleeve of his yukata. "Are you fucking joking? I don't remember making a shitty promise like that! And anyways, if you're so concerned about being the only bachelor in this ragtag bunch of losers, you ought to talk to these two! They're never going to get married! They're way too concerned about the direction of this country that even if some hot babe came up to either of them, and begged them to fuck her with no strings attached, they'd say something pathetic like Sorry, I don't have the time - "
Now Takasugi whacked Gintoki on the head. "Don't be so crass, asshole. Just because you're lucky enough to trap some poor woman into your shenanigans - which, by the way, I've warned her multiple times not to agree to this farce of a marriage, knowing how completely and utterly unsuitable you are as a potential husband - doesn't mean me or Zura are trying to compete on your level."
The white haired samurai scowled. "So YOU were the one trying to sabotage this engagement! Is that why she knows all my embarrassing childhood stories? Well, that's not going to stop me from tying the knot with her!"
"I knew there was something going on, before that raid we did in Kyou," Sakamoto accused Gintoki, although he now took a seat next to them. "Well, do you have a picture of her, at least? Tell me you at least own a camera, Kintoki."
"No, why would I need that?"
His friend groaned. "You guys. Seriously?"
"Amanto technology is still far ahead of ours," Katsura admitted, and now poured Sakamoto a drink. "We're in the process of installing a national rail system, but it's going to take a lot of capital we don't have just yet."
Sakamoto whistled. "Well, at least you've got the Altana resources for the pure basics." He took a sip of the sake. "Damn, that's good."
"It's premium," Takasugi said, still snappish after dealing with Gintoki's idiocy. "None of that sludge we used to drink back when we were out camping in the sticks after a raid."
"Don't remind me," Sakamoto replied, shuddering. "I remember it mighta been the same as swallowin' rubbing alcohol."
All of them had turned soft after the end of the war, but maybe because they'd won - or something pointing in that vague direction - it was an easier matter to adapt to civilian life. The four of them were practically celebrities in Edo by now, having the public approval of the Shogun, but none of them sought it out or capitalized on it, at least intentionally.
Katsura now lifted his cup. "Hey, weren't we here to, you know, celebrate something?"
"That's right," Gintoki said, grumbling, but poured all his friends another drink. "We're supposed to be here because I'm getting hitched in two days. Sorry that I'm surrounded by absolute dickheads who can't recognize it for the grand achievement that it is."
In truth, they all had things to celebrate. It wasn't only the Shiroyasha who had moved on from the war.
Katsura had become a politician for the common people, advocating for structural changes throughout the nation. With the blessing of Tokugawa Shigeshige, the Bakufu had eventually removed the archaic system of granting feudal property to only the samurai, and had asked for more resources to funnel towards the lower classes in society. There were even rumors of the Shogun setting up a democratic government in due course, thanks to Katsura who, along with the help of the Hitotsubashi faction, was beginning to unite all the regional domains together under one nation.
Takasugi, on the other hand, had been recruited by the Bakufu, who had long recognized his innate talents for combat organization. He was now responsible for modernizing the fledgling Imperial Army, which had suffered previously from old military techniques that had been outdated for generations. Now that the Bakufu had instated Hasegawa Taizou as the new head of the Immigration Bureau, his department had granted free passports towards the planets that had been a victim of Utsuro's destruction, and they'd been more than grateful to serve the nation on their behalf.
And Sakamoto had been one of the few, leading pioneers for intergalactic space trade, opening trading routes that would benefit both humanity and the Amanto in the galaxy. The Kaientai had been instrumental in connecting Earth to a network of over fifty planets, and continued to explore more potential routes with each incoming month. Without the Tendoshu's iron grip on the Altana ports, the rest of the universe had quickly discovered that there were actually other planets that were better utilized for providing their energy resources, and had started to leave Earth alone save for the ones who were genuinely interested in living there.
"Fine, fine," Takasugi said impatiently, and lifted his cup in a toast. "To Gintoki, and the beginning of his marital problems, which I'm sure I'll spend the next fifty years hearing endless complaints about how it wasn't what he thought it'd be like."
Gintoki glared at him. "You wanna die or not?"
Sakamoto laughed, raising his cup to meet Takasugi's. "To Kintoki, then!"
Now Katsura lifted his as well, the most serious of them all. "To Gintoki. We all wish you a lifetime of happiness."
They clinked their glasses, and drank it down in one go.
-x-
Despite Gintoki's inherent pessimism, the day of the wedding went smoothly enough. The cherry blossoms were in full bloom, and most of the guests attending had been genuinely happy for the couple, even if there was a cynical group of naysayers sitting near the front.
"Five years," Takasugi said stubbornly. "I'll give it five years before she gets tired of that idiot and files for divorce."
Sakamoto laughed. "You think so? But she looks like she's really in love with him, Bakasugi. I say it'll last at least ten years."
Katsura, who still believed in the existence of true love, sighed. "You guys... and here I thought we'd grown up... "
"Growing up? That's overrated," Sakamoto said, chuckling. "You gotta take your jokes whenever you can, Zura."
He knew that more than anybody else. Dark things had happened to all of them, but the point of continuing to live was to walk forwards.
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!"
Sakamoto grinned, choosing instead to pour himself a drink.
Glancing around, it was clear that there were a motley array of people attending. There were a fair amount of Amanto and humans involved - many of which he didn't recognize, despite Katsura trying his best to point them out. There were a few war heroes in the crowd - the great Umibouzu had came with his family in tow, their umbrellas protecting them from the sun - but there were also a fair few space pirates who'd had their history of crimes absolved after their involvement in the last war against Utsuro.
He'd almost felt sorry for Takasugi at first - his hatred for the Amanto had been known far and wide, back when they still fought in the Kiheitai - but at the looks of things, the former commander had gotten over it, or something close to it at least. Katsura was diplomatic as ever, showing a maturity that Sakamoto couldn't have predicted before he left Japan - back when the Joui war was a losing cause, and the future prospects of the samurai had been very bleak indeed.
Maybe people would say he deserted his countrymen in a time of need, but it hadn't worked out that way. He just knew that there were better things in tow for all four of them, and he was glad that he'd been proven right, in the end.
-x-
"Here," Tsukuyo said, passing Hattori a laminated poster with Gintoki's autograph on it. "Is this all right?"
He nodded, sighing. "Thanks. I owe you one." After he wished her congratulations, he left, slinking into the crowd, and she smiled.
His girlfriend - to quote Hattori - was a super fan of the Shiroyasha, despite the fact that the man himself had no desire to be associated with his former reputation any longer. Still - all of Edo had persisted in immortalizing him, saying that he was the hero of the ages. Zenzou had complained enough about it at the ugly girls' club to where Tsukuyo was getting somewhat concerned about their relationship.
"She's got action figures, posters... she's even got a friggin' body pillow. When she heard I was going to this wedding, she basically twisted my arm and said if I didn't return without at least an autograph, she was going to stuff me where the sun doesn't shine."
To this she replied, "So why are you still hanging out here?"
He sipped on his whiskey. "Honestly? Because I enjoy your company. Platonically, of course. And because Jiraia may or may not have asked me to keep an eye out for you."
"He doesn't trust Gintoki? After all this time?"
"Uh, well considering that he punched your master, maybe not? He's worried that you're might not be happy, after all this time. Should've seen him after you sent out the invitations."
Truthfully, Tsukuyo never wanted a wedding.
It'd been Hinowa who had chipped away at her arguments, saying that it wouldn't be proper if the Savior of Yoshiwara, along with its protector, wouldn't give the red light district something to look forward to. Though Edo had recovered a bit faster from the battles of war, Yoshiwara had suffered a bit more in terms of pulling in money, and it'd been a bit of a difficult year for everybody.
She had mentioned it off-handedly to Gintoki - who by then had figured out what he wanted to do post-war, and was thinking of setting up a school of sorts. She had expected him to dismiss the idea as Hinowa trying her best to vicariously live through Tsukuyo - it wasn't malicious - but he thought it was a great idea.
"I mean, I haven't seen my friends in a while," he said, and the two of them were sitting in the balcony of her small apartment. She was smoking after a shift, and he was reading his latest copy of Shonen Jump. "Plus, I'd kinda like to rub it in their faces that they're sad and lonely."
"What kind of reason is that to throw a wedding?" she asked, incredulous. "You're trying to make them jealous?"
"I mean, who wouldn't be?" He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. "I've got a hot piece of ass - " at this, she threw a kunai at his forehead - " - bringing the bacon home, while they're caring about things that'll never get better. If you ask me," he said, calmly removing the knife from his bleeding forehead, "I'm really the one who's winning, don't you think?"
"Don't call me that!" she said. "That's not a good reason to get married, anyhow!"
"Tsukki. What I'm trying to say is that people like to see other people in love."
"But isn't it enough to just be together?" she asked, bewildered. "I mean, there was a time where this," and here, she gestured at their apartment, the little remnants of domesticity signalling their partnership - "... Was impossible to dream about. Isn't that good enough?"
He closed his volume. "Maybe you're right, but it's not war time anymore. Things are smoothing out, and people aren't suffering anymore. If you ask me, it's things like weddings that gives people hope that things are going to get better, that things are going back to normal. That's the point of such ceremonies, anyway."
She absorbed this quietly - Gintoki had a unique way of explaining things to her that made sense inside her head - and lit up her kiseru again.
"Well, fine. So what's in it for you?"
They certainly weren't a traditional couple - Yoshiwara had beaten out all the romanticism in her, if it ever existed in the first place - and as for Gintoki... Well. He wasn't like any other man she'd met. If he wanted to get married, he would have already understood that she wouldn't magically turn into a housewife, perfectly happy to stay at home. In fact, she was grateful, for he seemed thrilled to know she would always continue to serve as the guardian of her city. Some things were too important to be changed.
"Truthfully?"
She nodded.
"I just want to make it official," he said, shrugging. "I mean, I already see you as my wife. But whenever we go out together, and I have to say that you're my mistress - or concubine - "
She narrowed her eyes.
" - I just wish I could just call you my wife instead of my girlfriend," he said, saving himself from what must have been certain death. "I guess we could also file the paperwork and get it out of the way, too. But that would be pretty boring, in my opinion."
"Oh."
"So anyways, that's my reasoning behind that. If you don't like what I have to say, it's really your decision, and we can forget we ever had this conversation," he concluded, and picked up his copy of Shonen Jump again.
"I didn't expect you to say that."
"Sometimes, I can be intelligent," he said, picking his nose.
They didn't talk about it for a few days after that until she started looking for locations in Edo that would be able to handle huge capacities for their guest list. It had snowballed from there.
It was that particular conversation that had brought her here now, and now she was thinking about how a simple discussion had led her to this grandiose, almost gratuitous celebration; the whole event had left her feeling somewhat light-headed. She certainly wasn't used to being the center of attention instead of hiding in the shadows. By now she'd already lost count of how many people - some of them she didn't remember all that well - who had come up to her, wishing her happiness, or passing on marriage advice.
Now another guest had approached her - and she vaguely thought she seemed familiar. The woman that walked up to her was remarkably beautiful; her scarlet hair had been braided into one neat plait, and she'd been dressed in a blue qingpao with gold buttons. The effect was stunning, and for a moment Tsukuyo was transfixed.
"I'm Kouka," she said, her blue eyes shining bright and merry.
"Oh!" Tsukuyo blinked, and then smiled in return. "It's nice to meet you."
"Thank you for taking care of my son," Kouka said, wrapping her hands warmly around Tsukuyo's as Kankou held a parasol over both their heads. "I know it wasn't easy."
Tsukuyo was glad to see that she was healthy again. "It wasn't anything special."
"It was everything, and then some," Kouka said firmly; her smile made the world seem even brighter. "My children mean the world to me." She turned her head, and saw that Gintoki was lifting Kagura up at a distance, making funny faces at the little girl, making her laugh. A further distance away, she could see Kamui chasing Seita around. "Maybe you'll find out someday... ?"
Now the Yato laughed at the ensuing blush over Tsukuyo's face. "Take your time. I waited six hundred years to meet the love of my life. But it was worth it, in the end." She gave Kankou a fond look, and he smiled in return.
"Actually, we were here to sort of look for a house," Kankou admitted. "I was getting sort of tired of how rainy it was on our planet."
"Oh?" Now Tsukuyo was intrigued. "I know a neighborhood that's pretty friendly towards the Amanto..."
-x-
Takasugi took the back entrance from the venue, needing a break from the crowd of people.
Someone else was waiting in the alley.
"Senpai, you're going to bump into someone if you linger around like that," he said.
"Sorry," Oboro said. "But I couldn't help myself."
Takasugi lit up his kiseru. "You know I've already told Gintoki and Zura about who you are. If you want to wish him congratulations, you're well within your rights to do so. No one here knows that you were a former crow."
He let out a puff of smoke. "Though if people knew you were the Coordinator of Utsuro's defeat, they might be the one to hold celebrations for you, instead of Gintoki."
"I don't need any of that," Oboro said, and a wry grin flashed his face, for a moment. "The fact that Sensei is resting in peace is enough for me."
At this Takasugi smiled. "Right. What's the situation now?"
"They're all gone," Oboro said. "I tracked down the very last crow yesterday night."
The only redeeming aspect to Utsuro was that he hadn't told anybody else about exactly how he made things immortal. The general public was well aware that living creatures could become immortal, but so far, nobody had been able to replicate the same exact process except for the very few who had sworn to keep it a complete secret. The more important thing was that they knew how to destroy immortal things, which in Takasugi's opinion was a hell of a lot better than the other way around.
"Good," Takasugi said. "And what about Mukuro?"
"She seems to be happy where she is."
He had dropped her off at the Sasaki estate the other day. A prominent samurai and his wife - who were highly ranked in the Bakufu, and respected by all who knew them well - had been struggling to conceive children, and it had been a few months where the idea for adoption had been floated around for an orphan. Takasugi had gotten a hold of the list and had quietly added Mukuro's name to it. They'd been skeptical about taking in an older child, but once they'd gotten to know her, they'd been charmed.
"I see. I'm glad to hear that."
"Sensei wanted me to erase her memories of the Naraku, so that she'd have a happy childhood. But when I told her that, she asked me not to. She didn't want to forget Sensei, even if it meant remembering that she had blood on her hands."
"Well, I don't blame her." Takasugi said, contemplative. "There are things we shouldn't forget."
He refilled his pipe again with tobacco, and lit it up. "What do you think you'll do now, then?"
"You'll laugh. But I've decided that I don't want to kill anyone, any longer. I'm tired of doing it, even if it's for society's own good."
"You've done more than enough," Takasugi said, breathing out smoke. "I know that more than anybody."
-x-
There was one last guest who was waiting for her. But unlike the rest of them, it was Tsukuyo who sought him out, rather than the other way around.
"Shishou, you'll scare the guests if you don't say hello to at least one of them."
"Hmmph," he grumbled, but she could tell he was pleased, nevertheless. "I'm a shinobi. We don't need to socialize."
"Still. People will think you're the bad guy if you keep sitting so still like that."
"Let them. The world needs a villain, even at the best of times."
She laughed. "You can't be as bad as the worst of them." Taking a seat at his mostly empty table, she stretched her limbs, finding her wedding kimono somewhat bulky and restrictive compared to her normal work uniform.
He was drinking - they all were - and had offered her a drink. She declined, not wishing to make a scene or to dislocate someone's wrist by accident. Although once people started leaving, it was open game...
"Does he make you happy?" Jiraia finally asked, once he finished his cup of sake. "You can be honest with me, you know."
"Yeah," she admitted. "He does."
Jiraia had lifted his eyebrow at that.
In truth, he wasn't the first person to ask her this question. All of Gintoki's friends - and not to mention a few of her newfound Amanto pals - had given her ample warning about his true nature - that he was in fact, a lazy, good-for-nothing samurai who couldn't hold down a job to save his life.
What they didn't know was that sort of person suited her perfectly. He knew when to slow her down, knew when to push her in the right direction when all she wanted to do was to pull away from him. He fit into the spaces that were missing inside of her, and though they could function perfectly independent of each other, life was just better with him around.
"We understand each other," she said. "We want to protect the things we hold dear to us. I can't really explain it any better than that."
"If you say so," her master said, and she grinned, knowing that it'd take a lifetime for him to be convinced that anyone would be good enough for his last student.
"When do you get back to the ninja village?" Tsukuyo asked.
"Tomorrow. I still have four years to finish the rest of my sentence."
"I see..."
He chuckled. "Don't look so sad. I'll be a free man by the time you have kids."
"Shishou!"
-x-
They stumbled into their house, him more so than her - and she'd been planning on tucking him into bed, inebriated as he was. Sakamoto had insisted on plying them all with as much alcohol as was humanly possible, and she was in too good of a mood to stop the former Jouishishi patriot from doing so. Both of them were drunk, but she'd sobered up quicker than he had, considering they offered him more drinks than her.
"Tsu-ku-yo ~ " he sang, hanging off her shoulders, almost threatening to pull her down when he tripped over the stairs. She was glad she'd kept her strength up - and lifted him with more ease than a normal person.
"Hang in there, big guy," she said fondly, and they made their way up into their bedroom. Maybe a bucket would be necessary - she'd have to go downstairs in the kitchen for one - and it wouldn't hurt if she brought a few towels, in case there was a big vomiting mess that would happen later.
Tonight actually wouldn't be full of puff-puff action, but as they were both exhausted, it wouldn't be missed. Plus, it wasn't as if he'd seen anything new. In a few days, his hangover would pass, they'd head off to the beach for some well-deserved respite, and then they'd probably have ample opportunity to try enough positions to fill an R-18 doujinshi.
"You're so pre ~ tty~ " Gintoki sang again, allowing her to take off his tabi and outer layer of his haori, which by now had been wrinkled to no end. "How did a bastard like me end up so lucky?"
He was mostly a sweet drunk, and even when he wasn't, he still had the basic courtesy to not come home until he was sober. Either way, it was a system that worked for both of them.
Once she had tucked him into bed, she rose up, intending to go downstairs to fix herself a cup of tea, but then he tugged on her arm, pulling her back to bed and into an embrace from behind.
"No," he mumbled into her neck. "Don't leave. Not yet."
Smiling, she curled up next to him.
-x-
(seven years later)
-x-
The Altana-powered bullet trains were a modern feat of Japanese engineering, but Gintoki wasn't paying any attention to that as someone was sitting across from him. As usual, when he was traveling with Takasugi, it'd always been in first class.
"You were right," Takasugi said. "Men actually can be open to a woman in leadership positions."
"Told ya," Gintoki said, and sipped his carton of strawberry milk. "Although I'm sure that her reputation as the Crimson Bullet doesn't hurt, either."
"Well, she's tough," he said. "She told me that her parents didn't want her to join the military at first, but she's the top scorer in the academy. It'd be in bad form to let that sort of talent slip away just because she's a woman."
Gintoki actually didn't mind Takasugi talking about his work, considering that he had a stellar record of employing many of the ex-Jouishishi patriots that would have been turned away by other means. Sometimes he'd recognize a name, sometimes he wouldn't, but either way, he liked that his friend was doing something that was parallel to the Cause, albeit something much less destructive than picking a fight with the country.
"It's ridiculous. I mean, to dock points just because she can't swing a sword? At this point in time, people really ought to know better."
Gintoki laughed. "Doesn't stop kendo from being popular. I guess Shoyou-sensei really started off something, after all."
The two of them looked at the window - which was whizzing by, with the scenery passing them at dizzying speeds.
"I sort of missed the wagons," Takasugi said wistfully. "Do you remember the war, and we were still lugging around cannons and gunpowder with horses? Nobody's going to remember that time anymore."
"Don't start getting nostalgic on me now," Gintoki warned him. "If you want to wax poetic about the Joui war, you might as well lock yourself in a room with Zura over a teleconference call. It was a shitty war, and we're just lucky that it turned out that Utsuro pissed off pretty much everybody else in the friggin' universe when we were on the verge of losing everything."
"Well, I'm not debating that it was a good war," Takasugi said. He punctured the top of his Yakulk with the pointy tip of a straw, taking a careful sip. "A lot of people still don't trust the Amanto."
The Bakufu was still in the five year beta testing phase of a fully integrated Amanto-human militia, and though Takasugi was fortunate enough to not encounter any unpleasant riffs between his soldiers for the moment, he found that he couldn't quite trust them all, just yet. Professionally, he was cordial to his Amanto colleagues. But the war had left wounds deep in the country, and it would take some time for the general public to recover from the repercussions, especially to former members of the Kiheitai.
Gintoki, on the other hand, was distracted by a billboard advertisement that had just flashed by his window. The Bentendo OwEe console had been released last week, reminding him that he'd spent most of the premiere day waiting in line with Kagura. The smile on her face once he'd secured a package in his arms, especially for her and her Mami, had been worth every goddamn minute.
"When did Zura arrive, anyhow?" Gintoki asked, not really wanting to discuss current affairs at the moment; he found the subject supremely boring. Katsura and Takasugi could debate for hours about the minutiae of politics, down to the tiniest detail of the latest tax laws imposed by the Bakufu - but Gintoki much preferred doing nothing at all, finding the shapes of clouds in the sky to be infinitesimally more interesting.
Takasugi checked his watch - it was expensive and classy, even though his haori was much more simple and plain in comparison. "About two hours ago. He was in the area already, so it didn't take him as long to get there."
"Typical overachiever," Gintoki muttered.
The train stopped at their station, and they walked for about an hour in the countryside - Gintoki with his wooden bokuto at his hip, and Takasugi taking nothing more than a small pistol to defend himself.
Not many people would recognize either of the two; they had taken special care to wear straw hats to hide their identities. The smell of the rice paddies, as always, brought them both back to a place that would evoke nostalgia.
"I suppose Oboro is doing well?" Gintoki asked.
"Yeah. It's really amazing how well he keeps them fed; he's quite good at managing things on a budget," Takasugi said. "Of course, no thanks to you."
Gintoki flipped him the bird. "You and Zura send enough money to make up for whatever paltry coins I might find under the vending machine."
"And whose fault is that?"
"Fuck you," Gintoki said, but there wasn't any animosity in his voice. Takasugi simply grinned in response, and they continued to walk through the pathway that would lead them to the place that it had all started.
Shoka Sonjuku.
The children had spotted the two of them as they slowly made their way to the school. It had been newly constructed a few years back, but it looked just as nice as it did when Gintoki had first visited it.
"Ah, there they are!" one kid shouted, and they started to run towards the two samurai. With smiles, and the questions that inevitably came when they visited, they tried their best to answer them all.
Oboro was carrying a toddler in his arms, who was roused out his sleep, rubbing one of his eyes as the former assassin walked towards them.
"New addition?" Gintoki asked, smiling.
He nodded. "This child was abandoned at one of the local shrines. But I figured that with an extra wing to the school, there'd be enough room for another. How long do you think you'll stay this time?"
"I'll have to leave tomorrow morning," Takasugi said. "I had to book leave months in advance for this, but the Shogun is trying to get me to see if we can't expand our navy more than what we've already done this year."
"Yes, yes, we know how important and incredibly busy you are," Gintoki said impatiently. "For what it's worth, I'll stay here for a few days. The wife'll be thrilled to hear that."
"Only because she finally got tired of seeing that shaggy mop of yours," Takasugi muttered under his breath, but his friend pretended not to hear that.
-x-
The five of them stood in front of Shoyou's grave on the eighth anniversary of his death, and they all took turns placing sticks of incense. Katsura had taken the longest, praying for Shoyou's ghost - but no one would know exactly what he was thinking inside that empty head of his.
Personally, Gintoki didn't believe in an afterlife. But for the sake of others around him, he kept that particular thought to himself.
When Katsura stood up, they all poured each one a drink.
"Are you sure your father would approve of this?" Gintoki asked Nobume wryly. Though she had the skills to instantly kill ten men at any given time, Isaburo still imposed a bedtime curfew on the teen, insisting that it would only help her grow stronger, as if she wasn't already strong enough as it was.
She smiled. "Just one cup won't hurt. I'm not going to message him about this, promise."
"Better not be," Gintoki grumbled.
Oboro raised his, and they all followed him. "To Shoyou-sensei."
"To Shoyou-sensei," they all said in unison, and drank.
Still, Nobume was the only one who left hers half-filled with sake, and Gintoki - never one to turn down free alcohol - finished the rest of hers easily, ignoring the glares from Takasugi.
"Sensei is going to curse you," he said.
"Dead men don't talk, and he would never do such a thing," Gintoki replied. Though it didn't placate his friend for the time being, the rest of them had started to laugh.
-x-
Like a time honored tradition, Gintoki stood across from Takasugi in the dojo, their wooden bokkens lifted in a familiar stance. The children were quiet for once, awe-struck by the two legends.
Katsura had been taking bets. "Three hundred yen on Gintoki."
"Asshole," Takasugi said, stretching his arm even further.
"Language," Oboro admonished him. "I'll put down three hundred yen myself, for Shinsuke."
Nobume tilted her head. "I think I'll pass."
For a split second nothing happened; then all of a sudden, the skillful clash of their swords came out of seemingly nowhere. And then for a moment, the withdrawal from both of them, and the quiet step backwards were all that could be seen. Movements too fast to keep track of passed by quickly, and the captive audience could hear the squeaking of the wooden floors as Gintoki looked for an opening, parrying back Takasugi's offensive moves.
And then with one decisive blow, Gintoki swooped in, and pushed Takasugi right in the chest with his bokken, making his opponent fall rather ungracefully to the ground.
"Ippon!"
Oboro handed Katsura the requisite money, who grinned and pocketed it.
"That makes it my win," Gintoki said cheerfully, but helped Takasugi to his feet all the same. "How's it feel to eat dirt, Chibisugi?"
"Next year, I'll wipe that smile off your face," he said, grumbling.
-x-
When Katsura and Gintoki stood at the gates of the school, waving Takasugi goodbye the next morning, Katsura turned to Gintoki once their friend disappeared into the horizon.
"There wasn't any reason for him to leave so soon," Katsura said. "The Shogun really isn't that kind of person, to need people to be at his beck and call."
Gintoki yawned, still in his green pajamas. Tsukuyo had insisted on packing them, and he'd been glad for it - they made sleeping much easier on the wooden bunks.
"Zura, you know he's still hurting over what he did. Being here reminds him of that day."
"But it's what Sensei wanted, wasn't it? And he saved the world by doing so."
"I know," Gintoki said. "But his body still thinks it's wartime, even if he knows otherwise. It's different for us. You get personal fulfillment from helping people, and I have something more important to protect than a school these days. But Takasugi doesn't have anything substantial like that - at least, not yet. That's why he's working all the time, to focus on something else than the war."
Katsura was thoughtful. "So you're saying he needs a girlfriend or a charity case?"
"Not exactly," Gintoki said. "I think in his case, it's different; he just hasn't found his reason to move on, at least not yet. I also think he has to accept what he's done completely before he can move on. But I guess for now work is filling that hole that Sensei left behind, so..."
"Do you think he'll be okay?"
"I think so. He's got us, after all."
It wasn't as if Gintoki was completely unaware of the pain that his friend was going through. There were still some days that it was impossible for him to get out of bed, and sometimes he would have nightmares too, of that day on the cliffs where he was forced to make the choice between his master and his students.
Fortunately, the number of those incidents would lessen over the years. Having someone lying next to him each night, who for some reason, loved him unconditionally - in spite of, or despite all his flaws - helped. It helped him a lot more than he would ever let on.
-x-
This time it was Katsura and Gintoki taking the train back to Edo, and they spent the hours away playing Love Choriss on their Bentendo TS systems. There was a tray of half-eaten tuna mayo onigiri sitting on the table in between their seats courtesy of Zura, who had made them to take along the journey back home.
"I can't believe you got me hooked on something other than the Famicon," Katsura said. "I swear, Gintoki, you're a bad influence on me. Even Nobunobu's starting to think he's really got a girlfriend named Sayaka-chan."
Gintoki picked his nose. "Blame Seita. He's the one who can't get a girlfriend in high school, despite the fact that Izumi-chan has been waiting five years for him to make a move on her by now."
He looked up suddenly when a thought occurred to him, and now had a shit-eating grin plastered all over his face. "Speaking of which, I heard Ikumatsu recently got divorced - how's that going for ya?"
-x-
There was a house next to Otose's Snack Bar, and Gintoki had driven his motorbike across town after getting off the train. It was easily the nicest building in the middle of Kabuki-chou, and Kankou had not hesitated on spending a small fortune for his family, claiming that they all deserved the best.
Despite that, Gintoki felt at home here, almost as much as he did in his actual house.
He knocked on the door.
Kagura opened it, smiling. "Gin-chan! Hey! How was the trip?"
"It was good," Gintoki replied, patting her on the head affectionately. "How were things here when I was away?"
"Patsuan says he wants you to come back to his dojo," the redhead reported. "Business is booming. People haven't figured out that you're the Shiroyasha yet, but they really enjoy your lessons, yes?"
Gintoki smiled at that. Even though he considered himself a lazy bastard at the best of times, this had been one of the very few part-time jobs he enjoyed. "And where is that baldy?"
"Oh, him and Kamui are out on a mission. Apparently some monster the size of - " Kagura stretched her arms out, emphasizing the width, " - went on a wild rampage on Planet Chatoran, so they asked Papi for some extra help!" She sighed, a little envious. "It's super unfair that I can't go with him! I want to go alien hunting, too!"
Kouka came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a clean towel. "Now, now, Kagura-chan... we've talked about this."
"Not until I'm sixteen," Kagura said, huffing somewhat. "I know, Mami. But I'm plenty strong! I don't know why I can't go already!"
"Because you can't control your impulses yet, sweetheart." Kouka smiled fondly at her daughter, who was growing up to look more like her day by day. "The other week you were picking a fight with that Shinsengumi boy, and it wasn't even a fair match. He's only a human, you know!"
"He was asking for it! He was complaining so much about his sister getting married that I thought I would punch him, just to shut him up!"
"Eh?" Now Kouka's eyes widened. "I thought she was sick."
"She was, but I guess somebody found a cure for her sickness, yes? Something about Altana tissue curing diseases, or whatever. Anyways, my point is, he totally, one-hundred-percent, was asking to be punched in the face! Weddings are fun, and I don't know why he thinks it's the end of the world if his own sister finds happiness."
"Well, if you hated your boss, you'd probably hate Kamui getting married to someone like that, right?" Gintoki took out some boxes from a paper bag. "I bought some souvenirs, by the way. Strawberry daifuku."
"Yay! You're the best, Gin-chan~ "
She started to open one of the boxes, tearing open the wrapper from one of the sweets. Once her fingers had extracted the confectionery, she took a generous bite.
"Don't eat them all," he warned her. "The baldy won't forgive me if he thinks I didn't get him anything."
"Okay~ " Kagura said, her mouth already full from the daifuku.
"Gintoki, have you told Tsukuyo that you're back yet?" Kouka asked, filling an electric kettle with water and putting it on boil to make some tea. "I think she took a day off work to hang out with the kids today, so it might be more convenient if you sent her a text message."
"Ugh," he said. "I really can't be bothered. These cell phones are such a pain."
"I'll do it, Gin-chan!" Kagura's palm was stretched, already sticky with residue from the sweets. "I'm getting super good at texting. I'm even faster than Soyo-chan these days!"
He sighed. "I don't know how you kids do it," he said, but handed her his mobile anyway.
-x-
The park was sunny and bright, even though the sun was beginning to set, and for a moment, he wondered if he himself could take a break himself, lazing around on an empty bench with nothing more to keep him company than the latest copy of Weekly Shonen Jump.
Then he spotted his family, sitting underneath a nearby tree. He could see his children: his son, trying to turn the pages of a comic book Tsukuyo was reading out loud, and next to them was his daughter, sitting on the ground, playing with her recent acquisition of a Justaway plush toy. They were chattering away, neither of them aware of his presence just yet.
Without realizing it, his mouth quirked up. He had missed them dearly, even though he hadn't been away for long.
His marriage with his wife had evolved throughout the years. The first year, he remembered, had been a bit of a whirlwind adventure, with the novelty of being with someone new, a complete change from the years of war - and there was a time where he thought that frenetic energy would be enough to sustain them forever.
But as usual, life had the habit of throwing curveballs at him, regardless of whether he was ready for them or not. The twins had been difficult to take care of at first, and the two of them had essentially started off wandering around in the dark, neither of them having concrete memories of their own parents to serve as a blueprint of how to proceed from there. And still... somehow, they had stumbled together, making it all work in the end. In a way, it was almost like magic. Fatherhood had softened him in ways he hadn't expected, and it made him understand Shoyou in ways he couldn't predict as a younger man, back when he was still a soldier fighting for a cause that stretched his emotional and physical limits.
Ultimately, he was glad everything had happened the way that it did, even if he didn't see any of it coming.
He took a step towards them, and she could hear him approach them now, her eyes lighting up at the sight of him. Her voice had trailed off in the middle of re-telling of some old chapter of One Park; he could see the page in her hand just then. It was one of his favorite copies, after all.
For a moment, they just smiled.
"Hey," he said softly. "Did the kids give you too much trouble?"
She chuckled, a warm sound - throaty and deep. "No. But I am looking forward to them going to temple school, soon."
"Me too," he admitted. He leaned in for a kiss - and her lips were soft, just as soft as the first time he kissed her years ago.
They lingered, for a moment, before breaking apart, and now he gently tugged the comic book away from his son's hand.
"Daddy!"
The twins came to him, and he pressed them both into a hug. They felt warmer to him than the rays of the sun on his back.
"Did you guys miss me?" he asked.
"Of course we did! Mommy isn't as fun as you are!"
Tsukuyo scowled at that, but he just laughed. "All the more reason to be back."
He lifted his son onto his shoulders. "Come on, then. Let's go home." Tsukuyo stood up, her right hand guiding their daughter, and her left firmly intertwined with Gintoki's.
In a bit, they'd take the train back to the suburbs of Edo, back to their small, but comfortable house with a backyard full of pine trees, and he would make them all dinner. They'd settle in with whatever rerun of Gintaman was on, the children still too young to watch Ladies 4 as of yet - and when the two of them would inevitably fall asleep on the couch, he would carry them off to bed.
But for now, he simply looked at his family, focusing on the warmth of their hands in his.
The four of them walked home, happy.
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the end
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final author's note (11/04/2020): And after more than five years, this monster of a fic is finally finished. TT_TT
Thank you all so much for your wonderful support. I am so grateful that so many people enjoyed this story and if it weren't for all of your amazing comments and speculations, there was zero chance I would have been motivated to finish this story.
Gintama is a very important series to me, and I have been watching it for more than a decade as of now. When I first began to write for the fandom back in 2011 back on ffnet, you can guess what ship I started off with. ;)
Even after nine years of shipping Gintoki x Tsukuyo (yes, I was a shipper long before the Love Incense Arc was serialized), I somehow always manage to find something new to discover about them throughout the years. Still, I never quite had the confidence to tackle a multi-chapter story for several reasons; after a few failed attempts in my youthful enthusiasm, I would usually abandon them. So for eight years I would just write one-shots and that would be enough, I thought, for the fandom.
And then COVID-19 hit. On some impulse, I began to finish a 700 word draft of Chapter 8 that I started more than a year ago, and posted it, thinking that no one would be possibly interested in me finishing this old story that I started in 2015.
How very wrong I was. Some very kind souls left reviews that they'd been waiting for years for an update. It is because of those kind souls that I started to write an outline for the rest of the story, and the rest is history, as they would say.
This story is dedicated to many people, a long list of new friends and old friends that I've made on the way while I've been writing fics for Gintama.
To Sorachi, thank you for giving me a universe to play around with, and thank you for creating my ultimate OTP along with my favorite characters of all time. I hate that you couldn't even draw a kiss between Kouka/Kankou, but holy shit do you know how to write a romance. I think you discredit yourself way too much but your self-deprecation is your charm point, heh.
To MercyMeLucretia - my Gintama soulmate and closest fandom friend of over six years; you are my love, my life, my everything. Without our discussions about Gintama's ending, and your brilliant insight in general, there is no way this story would have been as good as it was without you. I still laugh at us roasting how shitty of a dad Kankou was, and your quip - "Kouka should have let him clap dem cheeks at most" still brings me to tears.
To everyone who has left a favorite, review, or a follow on any of my works on FFnet - Thank you. A special big thank you goes to my regular reviewers - I always looked forward to your beautiful comments each weekend, eagerly anticipating what you would say. Without feedback, there is no motivation for a writer to continue.
To my GinTsukki squad pals - thank you for creating content and encouraging me throughout this process! It's been very fun to chat with you all on Twitter!
And finally, a big thank you to Tom, my fiance, who has been quietly struggling as I've been locking myself in a spare bedroom churning out these chapters each weekend. Finally, it's over. He's been asking when I'm going to write original fiction, and the answer is probably never. LOL
I would like to conclude this very long author's note with a line written by Sorachi himself.
"You know, in our lives we are not readers but we are writers, the least we could do is change the ending."
Thank you.