A/N: So, uh, how's it going? I do hope you guys are doing better than I am. Anyways, received some positive reviews so thank you. And another thank you for the guy who's been giving me some word tips which I appreciated much (I'm sorry man, I didn't remember your name). On to chapter 8 then.
-LINE BREAK-
Gintoki's murderous gaze focused deeply onto Roman, who is unnerved, as both of them kept attacking each other. Swords meeting cane. He can say for sure that Roman is a good warmup after waking up.
Now, while he is still not 100% healed, the fact that he's faring much better than Ruby and Blake combined against Roman is saying something, which tells us of his ability in combat. Most Huntsman-in-training would be underwhelmed when they're facing against someone of Roman's league or better, but not him. Not for a man –or boy, named Sakata Gintoki. He is someone that has endured an opponent far more punishing than the most wanted criminal.
Gintoki intercepted the cane aimed for his throat with his left sword, and countered with his right. Roman expecting the counter, ducked his head, avoiding the blade by a hair's breath. However, though, he is still kicked in the chin by Gintoki, sending him into the air.
While hovering, the gear of the cane played a part, and it then revealed a gun's barrel. Aiming directly at Gintoki, the thief fired a shot, intending to blow up hi target's head.
Gintoki leaned his head to the right, completely dodging the shot –and the follow-up shot from Roman, while dashing like a madman on cocaine. One of the shot then went directly at Gintoki, and at that moment, a smirk of triumphant etched on Roman's lips.
Wrong.
The thief certainly did not expect that a kid of Gintoki's age have the capability to deflect a projectile shot with his sword. But then again, he supposed he should have expected that what's with the intense swordsmanship skills shown. He have one job, only one job whenever he's doing a heist, combat, etc.
Never expect things to be easy.
Never underestimate an opponent.
A single expectation, a single action, done in each scenario would often lead to your demise. And such is the situation Roman found himself in. As he's hovering in the air, he's completely vulnerable to attack, unable to dodge, and only able to block. His opponent leaped to the air, and sent a devastating strike with both swords, which he blocked successfully.
But just because he blocked it successfully, doesn't mean there's no risk. And such risk, happened at the moment.
"Nggh!" Roman grunted in pain, gritting his teeth while doing so in a mix of agony and annoyance as he sent to the ground. A crater formed beneath him. He would have applaud the crater made by his body if it wasn't for the war cry that is becoming louder by each second.
Roman rolled to the right, definitely dodging a life-ending strike. He immediately got up to his feet and made a leap to the kid.
Gintoki narrowed his eyes and made the same move. While in action, he made a move that his enemy didn't expect. He threw his left sword with tremendous strength, as if it was a throwing knife. And because of that, Roman was caught off-guard and had to intercept it. But then, he widened his eyes in horror as he realized, it's all part of Gintoki's masterplan.
Gintoki with both hands on his weapon, struck down with full intensity and all Roman felt at that moment was searing pain. It felt as if a flamberge –a sword of fire, struck him. And yet again, another blood was spilled. The third times, coming from the thief's body.
'How!? I'm pretty sure, no, I'm 100% sure that I'm still not out of Aura! So how is it, how is it that his strike bypass my Aura!?' Roman thought franticly. For the first time in years, Roman's expression filled with dread. Fear. His life is going to be taken. Taken, by a goddamn kid.
Meanwhile with the R and B of Team RWBY, they could not believe it. They, who worked together, struggled the whole time in attempt to defeat Roman. Granted, their teamwork might not be that good, but the point still stands. Roman was fighting two opponents at the same time and yet, he was moping the floor with them.
But now, the view of Roman' bloodied white clothes filled their vision. A kid, going toe-to-toe with the thief, and not only that, he is winning. 4 slash marks can be seen on the body of Roman Torchwick.
Roman, hiss vision is a bit blurry due to losing a large amount of blood, dropped onto his knee. One hand covering his wounds, in attempt to prevent more blood loss, and another clenching his cane tightly. He glared at the kid that did this to him. "You think you won, huh!?"
Gintoki raised an eyebrow. "You think I have won? Not yet." He approached Roman slowly, each steps made the thief squirming in fear. "The match is over only when either opponent surrender," Gintoki stopped talking for a moment, "Or when there's only one man standing, which means, the death of an opponent."
Roman dropped onto his butt, panicked and desperately crawled back in attempt to prolong his life. And Gintoki followed him slowly.
"And now, you die."
Gintoki in the blink of an eye appeared right in front of Roman. The thief's face lost all colours and Gintoki's blade nearing his heart. The R and B of Team RWBY tried to move as quickly as they can to prevent Gintoki from killing the thief. Ruby doubted that even with her Semblance, she would made it in time. Everyone, even Sun, witnessed as the blade nearing the heart of Roman.
CLANG
The blade did not stab through Roman. No, it intercepted a strike from behind that would kill Gintoki. The silver head moved his head to see who the assailant is.
What he saw is an ice cream themed girl. A smile that would put off most people, but not Gintoki. He narrowed his eyes at the girl, her smile became more sadistic.
Gintoki drawn the parasol/umbrella away from him, and sent a devastating kick onto her stomach, sending her flying away from him.
"A henchman of Roman?"
The girl frowned and dare Gintoki say it, cutely.
Sighing, Gintoki continued. "Fine, a henchwoman then." The effect was clear as a glowing bright smile etched onto the girl's lips.
The girl spitted the blood in her mouth, courtesy of the devastating kick from Gintoki, and she did not expect her Aura to be useless in defending against his attack. She sent one more smile at Gintoki.
"Neo!" Roman cried out.
"Ice cream themed, and your name is Neopolitan? Your parent must be obsessed with ice creams, no offense." Gintoki shook his head as in disbelief at the event happening right now. "And you're not escaping, Ice Cream."
Gintoki with quick speed went to a nearby unconscious White Fang member body, took the man's sword and threw it.
The girl's silhouette cracked, smashed into pieces and another ice cream girl appeared, her face is that of agony. Around her blood was spilled, courtesy of the sword that stabbed through the back of her right knee by Gintoki.
Roman though, was shocked. 'He can see through Neo's illusion!?'
Gintoki tapped his nose and sent a mocking grin at the girl. "You can deceive the eyes, Ice Cream, but not the nose." Gintoki made a move to strike down the girl but something stopped him.
"Freeze!" a screamed came from the entrance of the warehouse.
That moment where Gintoki stopped is all Neo needed. Flailing due to her injured knee, she managed to get to Roman in time, and ran away, creating another illusion.
The rest of the White Fang tried to escape, but a gun aimed at their face stopped them from doing so, as most Vale Police forces were there to arrest them.
"Ruby! Blake!" Gintoki watched where the scream came from, and he saw them, Yang and Weiss.
'Team RWBY, reunited huh?' A sad smile etched onto his lips.
Yang went to the R and B, enveloping them one big hug. Weiss went near them but did not participate in said hug. Both of them oblivious to the presence of Gintoki in the warehouse. "Thank god, you're both alright!"
He saw Sun approaching the reunited team, and he saw this as his moment to escape. He went to the shadows where no one will be able to see him unless they're Blake or Sun.
Meanwhile with Ruby and the others, Yang still have them in their hugs, this time, she managed to drag Weiss to participate in it. "Oh Blake, Weiss got something to say to you."
The happy tension disappeared without a trace and Blake's exposed cat ears drooped. "Weiss, I-"
"Be quiet now. Do you know how long we've been searching for you, huh?" Blake shook her head sadly. "12 hours. We wasted 12 hours searching for you, and in that 12 hours I've been thinking. I don't care."
"Huh!?" Yang and Ruby snickered at Blake's flabbergasted expression.
"I've decided that I don't care of your former affiliation. Just, next time, tell your secrets to us, we're your team. Not some… stranger." Weiss struggled to word the monkey Faunus to not make both of them offended. "And I still don't know what I think about you, Stowaway!" Weiss put her hands on her hips.
"Hey, I'm no stowaway, I'm a great stowaway!" Sun exclaimed, pointing his thumb at him.
"Not helping, Sun." Blake muttered.
Weiss was about to talk to Ruby when she saw the state her teammate is in. "Ruby, you're okay?"
Ruby was out of her thoughts. "H-huh!?"
Weiss sighed, "I asked you, are you okay?"
The rest of the team were now aware of the state Ruby's in. "I'm okay… it's just about him…"
"Him?" Yang questioned, and Blake suddenly realized after forgetting something.
"Where's Gintoki!?" Blake suddenly asked, enraged.
"Whoah, whoah, what's this about Gintoki? He's in the infirmary ro-"
"No, Yang, he's out and awake already! Blake and I struggled against Roman and, and, Gintoki, he's winning against him!" Ruby cut Yang off, the older sister and Weiss giving her a 'Are you serious?' look.
"Not only winning, he managed to draw blood on Roman, thrice." Blake interjected. "And he's also behind the massacre of the White Fang. Yang, Weiss, he's Shiroyasha."
Two pairs of eyes widened at the information given. "H-H-Haha… stop joking, Blake!"
"You expected me to believe that Gintoki, who is 11 or 12 years old, is Shiroyasha?" Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Maybe in a decade or two later I would believe you."
"What Blake said is true, Weiss, Yang." Ruby supported Blake. "The White Fang proved it to us. And not to mention when Gintoki was here going against Roman, no White Fang was brave enough to fight him in fear of their life being taken."
Yang and Weiss looked at each other, their faces are evidence enough they still don't believe what Ruby and Blake said.
"Let's just get back to Beacon now, alright?"
-LINE BREAK-
Neo and Roman entered a building of sorts, and the room is not illuminated by any light. For lack of word, they're trapped in the darkness. Neo laid Roman down near the wall, treating to Roman's injuries.
A snicker sounded in the whole building.
"Oh, Roman, done by some spoiled kids, huh? And it seems like, even your partner is harmed if the injury on her knee is any evidence."
Light illuminated the room but not too bright to raise any suspicions. And there on the first floor of the building lay a beautiful girl, I kid you not.
She has ashen-black hair and bright amber eyes, while her fingernails are painted dark red. She wore a dark-red, off-the-shoulders, v-neck mini dress with yellow designs. There is a blue feather-like accessory on her right hip, at the top of an open portion of her dress. The dress ends in an upside-down triangular tail in the back, ending just above the knees.
There is a baseball diamond-shaped keyhole on the dress' upper back at the same height as her chest. The sleeves end in a triangle shape, which are wrapped or tied around her middle finger, with the gold designs of the sleeve taking over at the wrists
She wears black shorts underneath her dress, as well as a black choker on her neck. She wears a gold loop earring with a black gem dangling from it on her right ear. She has dark, glass, high-heeled shoes and a jeweled anklet on her right leg.
Roman sighed, not in the mood for whatever the lady is planning for him. "I have no time for you to mock me to the moon and back, Cinder."
"Oh? What led you to grow a backbone, Roman?"
"Honestly, I wish Neo could just ignore me and let that kid kill me." Roman shrugged, making Neo pouted at him.
"Hahahaha! A kid from Ozpin's academy almost killing you? How humiliating." Cinder kept mocking him with a smirk.
"Scratch that, I hope that kid kills you before he kills me. And no, it's not some random Beacon brats that almost kill me."
"Then, pray do tell, Roman, who did it?"
Roman narrowed his eyes at him, almost to the point of glaring. "Shiroyasha. I assume you've heard of him, right? And he's what… 11 or 12 years old at max. But I'm going to tell you, Cinder, that kid is dangerous."
Cinder blown into a full laughter. "And here I thought the famed Shiroyasha would be dangerous but a child!"
Roman clicked his tongue as Cinder kept on laughing. "Dig your own grave then. That kid can see over illusion."
That stopped her laughing. See through illusion? Ridiculous. "Are you being delusional, Roman? Perhaps, lady luck shine on him and his strike managed to take out Neo's knee."
"No." Cinder raised an eyebrow at the denial made by him. "It's not that he can see through illusion. More like his sense of smell is strong. Not only that, his instincts… it's like he grew up on a place where it's kill or be killed."
Cinder cupped her chin thought. 'Perhaps we could try recruiting him to our cause. If he manage to best Roman, then surely he's more than capable.'
"Where's the two brats?"
"Mercury and Emerald are at the White Fang base, meeting with Adam Taurus."
After hearing the stories, the details, the information given by Roman, Cinder Fall, is now adamant on getting the famed Shiroyasha to her side, oblivious to the fact that he is already under Ozpin's thumb.
Or the fact that one Raven Branwen, already made an offer that could see him changing side.
-LINE BREAK-
In the courtyard, Ruby and Blake were there taking a fresh air. At first it was Ruby, but the young reaper made an ultimate sure-kill technique that is a very cute puppy eyes which broke down Blake's defence.
Ruby brought Blake to the familiar bench –at least for Ruby, a bench where there is a tree behind it, and on that tree's branch, is where a certain silver head would sleep. Nostalgia hit her like a bus, from her first meeting with Weiss, Blake, Jaune, and Gintoki. A place where he comforted and assured her when she was being insecure. And lastly, the memory of Gintoki's bloodied body, with swords stabbing his body.
Ruby sat on the bench, and patted the seat nearby, and Blake sat down where Ruby patted said place. "You know, Blake, this is where we first met." Blake nodded her and a nostalgic smile appeared on her normally stoic face.
"And it's also the place, where you first met… him, right?" Blake' voice filled with venom when mentioning Gintoki.
"Yes. Usually, the branch on the tree behind us is where he would usually sleep." Blake's expression was that of disbelief when she heard that. "I don't blame your expression, that was what I thought at first too until I saw it myself."
"Talking about me?"
A male voice spoke out, and both girls tried to find the source. That was until Blake found him, and poked at Ruby, telling her where the voice is.
And up there, just like Ruby said, Gintoki laid on the branch. If Gintoki was affected by the glare sent at him by Blake, he sure didn't show it. Heck, he is picking his ear. "I've already heard from Ruby how furious you were when you heard about it."
"Of course I am! What are you even doing here at Beacon, you murderer!?"
"Calm down, Blake, calm down! I'm sure he has his reasons!" Ruby tried to calm Blake down after her outrage.
"Reasons? Ruby, when it comes to killing, take my word, there's no justified reasons in doing so!" Blake hit back at Ruby, who flinched back.
Gintoki jumped, and landed gracefully on the ground just in front of them. "Then what about the killing your White Fang did, huh? The train accident, the Dust accident, the explosion on Schnee's buildings? There's a possibility of people dying. What's your reason, kitty? Tired of being pushed around, huh!?" Gintoki yelled out the last one in Japanese, making Blake the only that understand what he's saying.
"What's going on here!?" Someone screamed, and all of them looked only to found Yang and Weiss, the former making the scream.
"Blake, are you still adamant on Gintoki's being Shiroyasha? He is no-"
"No, White. She's right, I am Shiroyasha." Gintoki cut Weiss off. "I killed them, the White Fang, and retrieved the stolen Dust. It was a request to take the Dust back."
"And you could have only apprehend them!" Blake yelled.
"They tried to kill me! I gave them the option! And they chose the hard one! Stop… hating me for what I did…" Gintoki lowly muttered, making even Blake having a hard time hearing the last part. The four girls oblivious to the tears gathering on his eyes.
"Gintoki, all this time, we thought you would be someone cool! Don't you dare talk to my sister again, you murderer!" Yang yelled at him, her face in rage. Weiss, and Ruby looked left and right, sitting on the fence.
"Better yet," Blake continued for Yang, "Don't go nearby us! Or even the rabbit Faunus that you saved, or Team JNPR, or anyone!"
"What the fuck do you know about me!?" Gintoki's outburst surprised all of them. "You all don't know a single thing about me except my name or age! You don't know what I went through before coming here! You all don't know, how hard it is, to steal, to kill, just to survive!(1)" Then all of them saw it, the tears going down his face, full of anguish, sadness, and lost. "For fuck sake… it's kill or be killed…" He sobbed quietly.
For that moment, the four girls were speechless. No words could come out of their mouth. Everyone just stood like a statue, as if something petrified them, turning them to stone. Ruby was trying to reach for Gintoki, but somehow, the distance is becoming greater by each second.
"G-Gin-"
Gintoki made a run, in his mind, he just wanted to be anywhere but there. He don't want be there, besides:
They don't want him anymore, right?
-END-
(1) A line by Raiden from Metal Gear Rising Vengeance when confronting Steven 'Senator' Armstrong.
A/N: Hey, guys, for once, there's not too many Line Break hahahaha. Anyway, I hope you guys will be enjoying it. Thanks again, for the supports you all give to me!