Silver Moon – Book 2 Chapter 14
Gintoki ran down the halls as fast as he could. Even though he had been ordered to stay put in the bedroom that had been provided for him, he just couldn't do it. He was way too worried. After all, his friends might have just put themselves in some serious danger for his sake, and that was honestly the last thing he wanted.
I think it's somewhere around here he thought as he turned a corner. He was currently looking for Kamui in the hopes of getting some answers. Did his friends actually invade the palace? Did their deal still hold up if they did?
"Aha!" he exclaimed as he came upon a familiar pair of large doors. "Please still be in here," he mumbled as he pushed the doors open.
To his delight, Kamui was still in the grand hall. He was silently sitting on the floor in front of the rabbit statue. A large smile was planted on his face.
Gintoki gave a small sigh of relief as he ran up to him. "Hey, Kamui-"
"Gintoki!" exclaimed the boy. "Back so soon? Hmm, I can see that you got some rest and are actually looking much better. But, I must say, you are here a lot earlier than I was expecting."
"Yeah, yeah, I took a nap and now I feel better," said Gintoki, hurriedly waving his hand back and forth. "But I'm not here to fight you yet, I actually need to talk to you about something," he said sternly.
"Oh?" said Kamui, looking curious. "And what would that be?"
"By any chance, are you aware that there are some intruders within the palace right now?"
"Yes, Abuto informed me of them only a short while ago."
Gintoki wasn't quite sure, but he almost thought he had seen Kamui's smile grow larger. "Yeah, well, I was just wondering if you could tell me if-"
"If the intruders are actually your friends?" Kamui finished for him. His smile was now starting to look malicious. "Believe it or not, the report I received actually told me a lot about these intruders, and yes, I can confirm that they are indeed your friends."
Gintoki clenched his teeth. Damn it, so it is them after all! But still, why are they here? What exactly do they think they're doing? Did they somehow find out the truth?
"Apparently," Kamui continued, "there are four intruders in total. One of them is that good-for-nothing sister of mine. The second one is a teenage boy with glasses, who I am not very familiar with. The third one is that long-haired fellow that helped you sneak into the palace the other day. And finally, there is the most important one, your girlfriend."
Kagura, Shinpachi, Zura, and…
Gintoki paused for a moment.
…Tsukuyo…
"It would seem that they are all rather crafty when they work together," said Kamui, sounding as if he was being entertained by all of this. "They supposedly split into two groups. One group is grabbing the guards' attention while the other group is sneaking around undetected. Or at least, they believe that they are undetected. The truth is, some of my men discovered them without being noticed and Abuto assured me that he would take care of them. Something tells me that they were probably looking for you."
Gintoki was completely lost in thought. They came here for me? Why? Don't they understand what I'm trying to do? How did they even find out about all of this anyway?
Gintoki paused before narrowing his eyes. Damn it Zura, it was you wasn't it? Didn't I tell you to keep quiet about this? Look at this mess that I have to deal with now!
"They must really care a lot about you if they came all the way here," said Kamui, still smiling. "Hell, they're even opposing me just so they can get you back. You must mean a lot to them, eh?"
Gintoki clenched his teeth again before slowly bowing his head. "I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"Hmm?" asked Kamui curiously.
"I'm sorry for my friends and their actions. I had no idea that they were planning on breaking into this place. If I had, I would have quickly put a stop to it. Please believe me, I honestly didn't want anything to interrupt our fight, and I didn't want my friends coming here to save me either."
Gintoki then looked up to the young Yato. "However, despite all of this, will you still promise to keep your end of the deal? I truly am sorry and I don't want either of us to have to go back on our word."
Kamui stared at him for a second before giving a small laugh. "Don't worry, I won't break my deal because of the unexpected actions of your friends. I still intend to fight you and I plan on following through with the conditions that we set."
Gintoki found himself feeling incredibly relieved. He had been seriously worried that Kamui would break their deal given the current circumstances. He was glad that Kamui had decided to stay true to his word.
"Thank you," he said sincerely. "Thank you so-"
"Hold on a second there," Kamui interrupted him, a hand raised in the air. "Even though you had nothing to do with it, your friends are still guilty of invading my palace. As far as I am concerned, that is still a crime worthy of being punished."
Gintoki's happiness quickly turned to rage. "But we had a deal!"
"I agreed to leave Yoshiwara and your friends alone, that is true," said Kamui patiently. "However, they still broke into my palace of their own accord, and are possibly coming to take you away. Now, I will not go out of my way to try and harm your friends, but if they were to happen to come after me…"
Kamui's eyes glinted with excitement. "…I will not hesitate to kill them."
Gintoki found himself getting angry and worried at the same time. "But what about right now? Didn't you say that your guards are chasing after them? Isn't that putting them in danger?"
"Consider that their punishment for breaking into my palace," said Kamui indifferently. "If they manage to escape my guards, so be it. I will not hold it against them. But like I said, if they come after me, I cannot guarantee their safety."
Shit! Gintoki cursed. This is bad. I tried to protect those idiots from danger and they just put themselves right back into it! And if they go after Kamui, they could all die! Uggh, what do I do?
"Damn it," Gintoki suddenly muttered before turning around. "I have to go," he said bluntly as he ran out of the room.
"Alright, see you later then," said Kamui with a small wave.
I need to find them Gintoki thought as he ran. I need to find all of them and force them to get the hell out of here. Don't they understand how dangerous this is? Don't they understand that I want to be here right now? Hmph, those idiots…
Tsukuyo and Katsura ran down the halls as they searched for Gintoki. So far, they had been unable to find even a single trace of the samurai. They were soon starting to realize that they had no idea where he could be.
"Do you even know where he might be in here?" asked Katsura quietly from behind.
"Well, I can think of about two possibilities," replied Tsukuyo, staring straight ahead. "One, he is fighting Kamui right now, which means he is probably in the grand hall. Or two, he has yet to fight Kamui and he is being held somewhere, probably in one of the bedrooms."
"Or three," said a new, unknown voice. "Your friend has already fought Kamui, and is probably dead and in the ground."
Tsukuyo and Katsura immediately stopped in their tracks. "Who's there?" asked the courtesan.
The owner of the voice soon appeared before them after dropping down from the ceiling. It was Abuto, and he was carrying a large red umbrella with him.
"Remember me?" he asked, taunting them with a smile.
"Oh, so it's you," said Tsukuyo, her distaste evident in her tone. "Kami's assistant Edward…or should I call you Abuto?"
Abuto just rolled his eyes at this. "Yes, please do. I hated being the captain's assistant, I constantly found myself feeling bored or stressed out the entire time. I'd much rather just go back to being plain old Abuto again."
"How did you find us?" asked Katsura, ignoring everything the man had just said.
"Some of our guards spotted you earlier while you were running and then reported it back to me. After that, I decided to come here and greet you guys. I would welcome you into our palace, but it would seem that you've already let yourselves inside…"
"Sorry," said Tsukuyo, a small smile coming to her lips, "we didn't realize we had to make an appointment in order to meet with the overlord."
"The overlord?" repeated Abuto with a smirk. "Huh, I was sure that you would have come to save that boyfriend of yours instead."
The smile dropped from Tsukuyo's face. "Gintoki? So he is here?"
"Of course, he's been here for a while now."
"Is he alright?" asked Tsukuyo, starting to look worried. "Where is he?"
"Sorry, can't tell you that," said Abuto, shaking his head. "I'm afraid we'll be keeping him until we're done with him. But that's besides the point, I think that we're getting a little off topic here…"
Abuto then lifted his umbrella up and rested it on his shoulder. "I came here to take care of you two. After all, we can't just have you running around the palace now can we?"
Tsukuyo clenched her teeth. "Shit," she mumbled as she produced two kunai in her hands. "It looks like we're going to have to fight him."
Katsura was quiet for a moment before he slowly walked up to Tsukuyo. He stopped right in front of her, facing towards Abuto. "No, that won't be necessary," he said, gradually drawing his sword until it was completely out of it's sheath. "I'll be taking him on, by myself."
"Wait, what?" asked Tsukuyo, looking stunned.
Abuto lifted an eyebrow out of surprise. "You think you can handle me by yourself, little samurai?"
Katsura did not look intimidated. "Sure, I think I can at least handle the overlord's assistant."
A vein suddenly appeared on Abuto's forehead as he gave a light smile. "Care to repeat that?"
"Katsura, you can't be serious about this," said Tsukuyo, trying to grab his attention from behind. "You plan on taking this guy on by yourself? That's ridiculous, it will be a lot easier and a lot safer if we just take him on together."
Katsura just gave a determined smile. "But if we do that, then who will go and rescue Gintoki? That was our original goal, was it not?"
Tsukuyo looked taken aback. "Well, yes, but-"
"Then that's all there is to it," said Katsura, still staring straight ahead. "One of us needs to go on ahead and get him. Otherwise, this entire mission was a bust. Listen, you are the only one that knows their way around the palace. Plus, something tells me that you will have the best chance of convincing him to come leave this place with us. I'm honestly not so sure he would listen to the rest of us…"
As Tsukuyo listened to Katsura, the things he was saying were starting to make more and more sense. It's true, I am the only one who can navigate through this place. And Gintoki would listen to me if I talked to him, right? Maybe I am our best hope at saving him.
Tsukuyo looked up to Katsura. "But, what about you? If I go on ahead, will you be alright here?"
Katsura grinned. "Don't worry about me. I can handle this guy just so long as you promise me that you'll go and bring Gintoki back. Can you do that for me?"
Tsukuyo was quiet for a second before she answered. "I'll do it," she said fiercely. "I'll make sure I bring him back."
"Good," said Katsura, still smiling. "I'll create an opening for you, so just go ahead and get going. And listen, you are our best shot at rescuing him, Tsukuyo. I'm completely leaving it up to you."
"I won't let you down," she mumbled as she put her kunai away. She then got ready to make a run for it as soon as her opportunity arose.
"Can we go ahead and fight already?" asked Abuto, sounding bored. "I don't just want to stand here all night long."
"Very well then," said Katsura, firmly grasping his sword. "Let's see what the overlord's assistant can do."
Abuto glared at the samurai. "Did you seriously just call me that again?" he asked through clenched teeth.
"Sorry," said Katsura with a small grin, "I just thought that it seemed accurate."
That last comment managed to push Abuto over the edge. In the next instant, the Yato was flying towards Katsura in a fit of rage. Katsura, however, was unafraid, and also charged at his opponent without a second thought. They both swung their weapons and they met with a small clang in the air.
Tsukuyo immediately took her opportunity to advance. She ran up to the two men, jumped up to the nearby wall, and then kicked off of it to land a safe distance behind Abuto. She then continued running before looking back once more.
"Katsura!" she yelled down the hall. "I'll bring Gintoki back! Just promise to stay safe, okay?"
"I promise," Katsura whispered in response.
Once she was satisfied, Tsukuyo faced forward once again and darted towards the end of the hall. She refocused her attention on her goal as she disappeared from view.
Abuto simply watched her leave out of the corner of his eye. "Shit, it looks like I let her get away. I suppose I could go after her, but you're not just going to let that happen, are you?"
Katsura didn't respond. Instead, he pulled back his sword and readied it for another swing. Abuto did the same with his umbrella. Katsura swiped his blade as fast as he could from several different angles, doing his best to get a hit on his opponent. Abuto, however, easily matched each blow with ease.
The first time that Katsura left an opening, Abuto immediately made his move. He thrust the tip of his umbrella at Katsura, who just barely dodged by stepping to the side. He quickly recovered and threw a horizontal slash at Abuto. The man jumped over the attack and prepared his umbrella for a vertical swipe on the way back down. Katsura held his sword up in defense as Abuto followed through with his swing. His umbrella hit the blade and the full force of the attack came down on Katsura. He could soon hear the floorboards creaking beneath him under the stress of it all.
Damn, Gintoki was right he thought as he held off the attack. These guys are incredibly fast and strong. This fight isn't going to be easy. I'm actually going to have to try my best just to keep up with him. I'll have to be careful…one mistake here and the whole thing could be over in an instant…
As Abuto landed on the floor, he lifted the umbrella off of his opponent. He then proceeded to start swinging it back and forth in an effort to hit Katsura from the side. Katsura watched the movements carefully and evaded or blocked the attacks when necessary. Nevertheless, Abuto advanced on the samurai without relent. Katsura soon found himself backing up from the assault.
If this continues any longer, I'll have my back against the wall he thought desperately. I need to find an opening!
Abuto swung to the left and then to the right before sending a diagonal swipe upwards. Katsura dodged them all and Abuto prepared to bring the weapon straight back down.
There!
The umbrella came crashing back down as Katsura jumped. The force of the swing caused a hole to be opened up in the floor. On his way back down, Katsura carefully adjusted himself so that he ended up landing right on top of Abuto's umbrella. Katsura grinned.
"Gotcha." He grasped his sword with both hands and slashed at the vulnerable Yato.
At the last moment, Abuto reached up with his left hand and caught the sword between his thumb and index finger. The blade had stopped only a few inches from his face. Now it was his turn to smile.
"Perhaps you didn't notice," he said casually, "but my left arm is actually mechanical. It's made entirely of metal, but it still looks like a normal arm. I can easily catch your weapon without the fear of being harmed."
Katsura clenched his teeth. He had not been expecting this.
"Oh, and another thing you probably didn't notice," Abuto continued. "I haven't even used my arms or my legs to fight you until just now. I've only been using my umbrella."
Katsura was now starting to get worried. His fight had apparently been going worse than he had thought it was.
"Here, have a taste," said Abuto as he pulled his umbrella out from underneath Katsura. He then lifted one of his legs up and viciously kicked the flailing samurai in the side. He flew into the opposite wall with a crash before dropping to the floor.
Damn it he cursed as he held his side. That kick was powerful. I hope I wasn't injured too badly.
Katsura managed to stand up and winced as he felt the pain surge through entire body was aching after being slammed into the wall like that.
"Hey, what's the matter?" taunted Abuto. "That wasn't too much for you was it? I thought we were only getting started…"
Katsura let go of his side and grasped his sword with both hands again. I can't afford to take another hit like that again. I'll need to find a way to finish this match quickly. It's the only chance I have at winning.
Abuto just laughed as he watched the struggling man. "Man, you samurai are all so pathetic. I honestly don't know what the captain sees in you guys. It's obvious that we Yato are the superior race. In the end, I'm going to win this fight, and you will lose. The same goes for your friend. I mean, come on, do you actually think that he stands a chance against the captain? It doesn't matter if you came here to rescue him. You will all die, just the same."
Katsura was quiet for a moment before replying in calm tone. "You think that you've secured this victory just because you have a superior race? That kind of thinking is very foolish of you, and it will cost you this match."
"Oh?" said Abuto, almost laughing again. "And what makes you say that?"
Katsura just sighed. "Sheesh, I figured that being an assistant all this time would have at least taught you something, but it looks like you're as thick as ever-"
"WHO'RE YOU CALLING A THICK ASSITANT?" Abuto bellowed as he furiously charged at Katsura. He gave his umbrella a horizontal swing.
Katsura ducked close to the floor and darted towards the Yato's legs. He swung his sword and placed a large gash on Abuto's left ankle as he flew past. He then recovered once he was safely behind his opponent.
Abuto slightly winced at his new injury, but quickly turned around and charged at Katsura again, his umbrella swinging wildly. The samurai closely watched each move before swiftly evading it.
That's it he thought as he dodged another swing of the umbrella. Keep giving in to your rage. It will cloud your judgment and make you act rashly…and then, I'll make my move…
Abuto was now going all out. He was swinging the umbrella in his right hand while taking turns throwing kicks with each foot. His mechanical left arm reached out to try and grab the samurai every so often. Before long, Katsura found himself having trouble keeping up. The attacks kept getting closer and closer to harming him with each passing second.
Eventually, Katsura barely managed to duck under the swing of an umbrella before Abuto punched him right in the gut with his mechanical arm. Katsura instantly coughed up blood and Abuto quickly took this opportunity to sweep the samurai's legs out from underneath him. Katsura fell hard onto his back as he clutched his stomach.
Damn it, I can't take much more!
Abuto just smiled as he made a small leap into the air. He looked like he was going for the finishing blow by heavily stomping right on top of Katsura's sprawled out body. As Katsura lay there, he suddenly realized that Abuto was going to stomp using his left foot.
Finally, this is my chance! Katsura managed to grip his sword tightly as he forced himself to roll backwards. He winced at the pain as he recovered to his feet just in front of the incoming attack. Nevertheless, he quickly prepared himself for what came next.
Abuto's left foot hit the floor with such a great force that it left another hole in the floorboards. However, at the same time, blood immediately gushed out of the Yato's ankle. He paused as the pain flooded into him. The wound that Katsura had placed there was now heavily bleeding due to the stress and pressure of Abuto's attack.
Katsura took this new opportunity as the Yato paused in pain. He drew back his sword as he approached him, and Abuto, startled, instinctively raised his mechanical arm in defense. He was preparing to catch the blade again, but Katsura just grinned. He had been expecting this.
Instead of swinging his sword at his opponent, Katsura angled it so that it went for Abuto's right hand side. He easily knocked the umbrella out of his hands as Abuto just stood there, completely confused. He had not been expecting this.
Katsura landed on the floor again and appeared to sheath his sword for a moment. He currently had one hand on his sword and one hand on his sheath. Alright, let's finish this! he thought triumphantly as he made another leap at the stunned Yato.
Abuto, quickly gathering his senses, managed to see Katsura draw something from his waist and pull it back for an attack. He immediately lifted up his mechanical arm out of defense.
Katsura swung with his own left hand and his attack was perfectly blocked by Abuto's arm. Abuto almost felt like giving a small sigh of relief, but his eyes actually widened out of surprise instead.
The weapon resting against his mechanical arm was not Katsura's blade. It was his sheath.
Abuto found himself stunned once again. He didn't attack with the sword? He faked me out? But then, where…?
Once Abuto finally realized what was happening, it was already too late. The right hand that Katsura had been secretly hiding behind his shoulder began to swing vertically, revealing the true weapon of the samurai behind him. There was his sword.
Katsura did not hesitate to finish the fight. While his enemy was still stunned, he poured all of his strength into one final diagonal cut across Abuto's chest. It landed without fail and blood splattered everywhere.
"S-Shit," Abuto cursed, quietly falling to the floor with a thud.
Katsura landed right in front of him, and quickly dropped to his knees. Those last few moves had apparently taken more out of him than he had thought. He silently stared down at the Yato for a moment before finally sheathing his sword.
"Looks like it's my win," he said with a small victorious smile.
Abuto started coughing. Blood was starting run all over the floorboards. "Ugh, it hurts too much to move," he said quietly. He turned his head so he could look up at the samurai. "You didn't tell me you were going to use tricks like that."
Katsura was quiet for a moment. "I figured that your superior race would have been able to handle it."
Abuto gave a weak laugh. "I guess it's my fault then. Perhaps I was a little too careless?"
"You could have made some better choices," explained Katsura. "In the end, the only things that helped me win were your mistakes and your confusion. I basically had you beat the moment you started acting rashly."
Abuto was quiet before giving another weak laugh. "I suppose I owe you an apology. You samurai are a rather interesting bunch. I guess I can kind of see what the captain is so excited about. You guys aren't exactly pushovers…"
Abuto's eyes were starting to close. He looked like he was close to fainting. Even so, he still managed to produce one last laugh.
"I kind of wish I could have seen your friend take on the captain. Perhaps that fight would have been more entertaining than I had thought…"
At that point, Abuto lost consciousness. Katsura just continued to stare down at him without saying a word. Eventually, the Yato's last comment started to ring in his ears.
"Oh, that's right," said Katsura, immediately forcing himself to his feet. "We still need to find Gintoki-"
Katsura froze for a second. The pain was still freely flowing all over his body. It hurt just to stand up. To make matters worse, it looked like the two places where he had been hit were badly bleeding. Even though he had won, Katsura was in a pretty bad shape. Nevertheless, he still dragged himself down the hall, hopelessly searching for his friend.
"Shit, I'm not looked so good," he mumbled to himself. "Hopefully, Tsukuyo has already met up with Gintoki and they're on their way back…."
Katsura vs. Abuto aaaaaannnddddd Zura wins! I mean Katsura! Yay! XD I hope that this chapter was enjoyable enough. I honestly think that the most interesting part was with Gintoki and Kamui, but I still think that the fight was decent, so I'm satisfied enough.
Now, really quickly, for the Gintama Manga readers: I have a question I've been worriedly wondering about for a while now and I really need to ask it. Do you guys think that Gintama is ending? I mean, it may not necessarily be ending soon, but it almost seems like that's what these last few arcs have been building towards. It seems like we're heading towards the big finale, and frankly, I'm scared. I don't want this amazing series to end! Not yet at least! I want it to continue for at least another 300 chapters or so! Maybe even more!
That's just the vibe that I got, anyway. Does anyone else feel like that? I also saw that Sorachi left a comment at the beginning of Volume 57 where he said that an ending for Gintama was in the works…so is this it? Let me know what you guys think, I need to start preparing my mind if Gintama really is wrapping up! I hope not, but you never know. Oh well. Either way, this story will continue :)
That's it for now. Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and look forward to the next one! Also please consider answering my question! Thank you! Goodbye!