Silver Moon – Book 2 Chapter 16

"What a surprise!" exclaimed Kamui, smiling. "If it isn't the leader of the Hyakka herself, Tsukuyo."

Tsukuyo clenched her teeth. "Why, hello, Kamui…"

Kamui continued smiling pleasantly, as if he were simply entertaining a guest. "I must say, Tsukuyo, I was not expecting you to just show up like this. Nevertheless, it's nice to see that you came to visit your overlord."

Tsukuyo glared at him. "Cut the crap," she demanded. "I know who you are and what you're up to. You are not the overlord."

Kamui curiously glanced at her. "Oh, so you finally figured it out, eh? Hmph, took you long enough. That is correct, my name is actually Kamui instead of Kami, but it doesn't really make a difference. You see, no matter who I am, I am still the overlord of Yoshiwara."

"No, you're a fraud," said Tsukuyo bravely. "You're nothing but a hoax. The only reason you acted as overlord was because it was convenient for you. You never cared about this city at all."

"Sheesh, such harsh words," said Kamui playfully. "Although, I cannot deny that there is truth in them. You're right, this city is nothing more than a tool to me."

Tsukuyo felt herself becoming more and more angry. "You fooled us all," she said quietly. "You gave us a false hope. We really thought that a new overlord had come down to take care of us. We thought that things would get better under your rule…"

"And they did," said Kamui proudly. "I did a lot to help this city while I was in power."

"But it was all an act!" Tsukuyo shouted. "You never cared about us! You only wanted our trust, just so you could get what you wanted! And once you had it, you abandoned us without a second thought…"

"So what if I did?" asked Kamui indifferently. "You should all just be happy that I helped as much as I did. You could even say that I was very generous considering it was all just an act."

"No," said Tsukuyo firmly, "you betrayed us. You took advantage of us. And I, as the leader of the Hyakka, cannot simply sit by and let you do this. I've come to put a stop to you, for the crime of deceiving and using the city of Yoshiwara and its people."

Kamui gave her another curious glance. "Oh? And is that the only reason why you're upset with me?"

"No there is one more thing," said Tsukuyo, angrily drawing a kunai from her sleeve. "You're also the reason that my boyfriend dumped me."

Kamui stared at her for a moment before giving a big laugh. "Really? You're going to blame your relationship problems on me? Now that's just funny."

Tsukuyo glared at him, but still managed to reply in a calm tone. "You're the one who's forcing Gintoki to throw his life away for the sake of keeping everyone else safe. It's entirely your fault. But, it doesn't really matter, because I've come to take him back. We are all going to leave this place together."

Kamui stared at her, looking amused. "So what? Are you going to fight me now or something?"

"That's exactly right." Tsukuyo produced another kunai in her other hand before pointing it at Kamui. "I'm going to defeat you, and then we're all going to leave in peace."

Kamui laughed again before finally standing up. He grabbed his umbrella and rested it on his shoulder. "Very well," he said, "if it's a fight you want, I will grant it to you. Just know this, I will not be holding back."

"Good," she replied with a smirk, "then neither will I."

At that instant, Tsukuyo hurled a kunai at the boy while he charged straight at her, umbrella raised…

Gintoki was frantically running through the halls, and he was growing more and more anxious with each passing second. He had absolutely no idea where he was going, and it was starting to frustrate him.

Damn it, Tsukuyo, why did you have to run off and do something like this!? She might have already found Kamui by now! I need to hurry up and find her before its too late! But where the hell do I go!?

Gintoki turned a corner and suddenly stopped. Apparently, he had somehow found his way back to the bedroom that had been assigned to him. He took a quick peek into the room, to make absolutely sure that it was in fact the same one that he had been sleeping in before. He then gave a small grin.

It's my room! Gintoki thought happily. I know where I am right now! And not only that, but I also know how to get to the grand hall from here! I can still make it to Tsukuyo in time!

Gintoki immediately resumed his sprinting. I need to hurry. I can't spare another second. I need to get Tsukuyo out of here before Kamui ends up killing her!

He reached the end of the hall and turned the corner. He then ran for a little bit before something caught his attention. Somebody was slowly walking in through the other end of the hall. Gintoki stopped dead in his tracks once he saw who it was.

"Zura!?"

Katsura held his side as he turned his head. His eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the samurai. "Gintoki! Is that you?"

Katsura quickly started dragging himself down the hall. Gintoki immediately noticed that the man was heavily injured. He was bleeding very badly.

"What the hell happened to you?" asked Gintoki, some concern showing in his voice.

"I just finished fighting Kamui's assistant," Katsura mumbled as he stopped in front of the samurai. "He was a tough one; it wasn't easy to put him down. In the end, I couldn't finish him without taking at least a couple of injuries."

Gintoki quietly looked away from the wounds. "Uh, never mind. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"I'm here for you, of course," answered Katsura. "We all came to rescue you. We couldn't just leave you here to kill yourself for our sakes."

"Oh, hey, that reminds me," said Gintoki, calmly walking up and grabbing Katsura by the front of his shirt. "Why the hell did you tell everyone about my fight with Kamui!? I thought I told you to shut up about that!"

Katsura simply stared back at him. "I couldn't help it. They were all so worried about you; I couldn't just leave them in the dark. I had to tell them what was going on…"

"Damn it Zura!" yelled Gintoki as he shook the man's shirt. "Now look what you've done! They all went and put themselves in danger for me! This is exactly what I was trying to prevent!"

Katsura completely ignored the man. Instead, he tried to take a glance behind the samurai, like he was looking for something. "I'm a little surprised," he said calmly. "I thought that Tsukuyo would have met up with you by now…where is she?"

Gintoki suddenly let go of Katsura. "Oh shit, Tsukuyo," he mumbled, "I completely forgot what I was doing! I have to go!"

Gintoki tried to go around Katsura, but he was unable to do so. Katsura had blocked him with outstretched arms.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" he demanded angrily.

"Zura, get out of the way!" shouted Gintoki, trying his best to get around the man. Katsura just wouldn't budge.

"No way, you're not going anywhere! We all came here to rescue you and I'm not moving until you agree to come with me and leave this place!"

"I don't have time for this!" Gintoki shouted. "Tsukuyo is in danger! I have to go and get her!"

Katsura looked at the samurai like he was acting suspicious. "What kind of danger?" he asked warily.

Gintoki stopped struggling for a moment in order to hastily explain. "She went to go fight with Kamui! He's going to kill her! Now, please, let me-"

"Pfft, nice try," said Katsura, refusing to move. "Tsukuyo wouldn't go after Kamui. Before we broke in here, we all made a promise that we would avoid Kamui. I know that she would never break that promise."

"Damn it, Zura, I'm not lying!" Gintoki insisted. "Now move! We're running out of time!"

"Yeah right. You're just trying to trick me so that you can slip away," said Katsura firmly. "Well, guess what? I won't allow it. I agreed to help rescue you and that's exactly what I'm doing."

"Zura, you don't understand! I can't waste another second! MOVE!"

"NO!"

"Damn it all!" Gintoki shouted, suddenly jumping back a bit. He put a hand on the sword that sat at his waist. "You've given me no choice! If you're not going to move out of the way, then I'm just going to cut you down right here and now!"

Katsura raised an eyebrow. "You're kidding, right? You're not actually going to attack me, are you?"

In response, Gintoki slowly drew the sword from its sheath. He was glaring intensely at the man across from him. "Move," he ordered.

Katsura stared back in disbelief. "You're serious?"

Gintoki silently crouched down into an attack position. He was completely serious.

Katsura clenched his teeth before shaking his head. He then slowly drew his own sword. "Fine!" he shouted out of frustration. "If it's a fight you want, then let's go! I promised the others that I would help bring you back and I'm not going to let them down! If this is the only to do it, then so be it!"

Gintoki didn't bother to argue. He had already lost a lot of time and was now losing even more with each passing second. Even though he didn't really want to attack Katsura, Gintoki knew that it was the only way that he would be able to get around him and finally go after Tsukuyo.

Both men drew back their swords and took their stances. They glared at each other, both extremely determined to win. There would be no holding back. For a moment, there was silence, and then…

Gintoki and Katsura flew at each other, swinging their swords at the last instant. There was a clash, and both samurai landed on their feet, facing away from each other. Everything was still for a second, until suddenly, a large gash opened up on Katsura's chest and blood splattered everywhere. He soon fell to the floor as his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The loss of blood had been too much; he was now unconscious.

Gintoki, who was completely unscathed, turned back to look at him. He frowned as he slowly sheathed his sword. He almost looked sympathetic for his fallen friend.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I didn't want to do that, but you gave me no choice. I understand that you really wanted to rescue me, but you honestly had no chance of beating me just now."

Gintoki paused as he turned away. "I'm sorry," he repeated, "but it looks like my resolve was stronger in this fight…"

Without another word, Gintoki ran off again. He was now heading straight for the grand hall, where he would hopefully find Tsukuyo and get her to safety…

Tsukuyo hurled dozens of kunai at Kamui as he began to draw nearer and nearer to the courtesan. She was trying her best to keep him at a distance, but he was apparently having an easy time of dodging everything that came at him. As the kunai became stuck in the wall far behind him, Kamui's excited smile grew larger.

"Not bad," he said, "not bad at all. But, on the contrary…"

He quickly stepped around a flying kunai and raised his umbrella. "…not exactly good, either."

Tsukuyo tried to jump back, but it was too late. Kamui had swiped his umbrella and it had caught Tsukuyo right in the stomach. She instantly froze as she felt the wind get knocked out of her. Before she could even recover, Kamui followed up with a swift kick to her side. She was slammed into the nearby wall.

Shit! Tsukuyo cursed as she held her side. This guy is better than I thought! Gintoki was right to fear him...Hmm, fighting up close is definitely not going to work. I need to put some distance between us…

Tsukuyo glanced up. There!

She smoothly jumped up to the second floor balcony that stood above her. She hopped over the railing before drawing two more kunai.

Kamui cheerfully looked up at her. "Do you really think that you're going to be safe up there?" he asked doubtfully.

Tsukuyo glared back at him. Come and get me, you bastard…

Kamui just shook his head. "Very well then. I'm coming up."

Kamui leaped, and Tsukuyo released her kunai after him. He managed to twist and turn his body as he rose through the air, effectively dodging each attack. He then surprisingly came to land on the third floor balcony, the one right overtop of Tsukuyo.

Why is he up there? Did he overshoot the jump? she wondered.

One second later, she had found her answer as the floor of the balcony above her came crashing down. Tsukuyo hopped out of the way as she saw Kamui's falling body land amongst the rubble.

It was a trap! He stomped his way right through the floor so that he would land on top of me!

Tsukuyo quickly recovered her senses before going on the offensive. She drew another kunai as she approached Kamui in between the still falling ceiling. He managed to spot her just in time. He swatted the kunai away with his free hand while Tsukuyo secretly drew one of the tanto that rested in her belt. She brought it forward in a wide swing towards Kamui's face. He pulled back as fast as he could as the knife nicked him on the cheek. Kamui instantly kicked her away as he withdrew.

Tsukuyo held her side again as she stood up straight. She looked over to Kamui. A drop of blood fell from the small cut on his cheek. Tsukuyo lightly smiled.

At least I hit him this time she thought dismally. Still, I've taken way too many hits. If this keeps up, I'll be unable to continue. I've got to do something…

Kamui started laughing as he ran a finger over his new cut. "Feeling good about yourself?" he asked. "Well, you better soak it up, because that's going to be the last hit that you get on me."

Without another word, Kamui charged at her again, swinging his umbrella. Tsukuyo desperately held up her tanto in defense, but it was no use. The weapon simply shattered under the force of Kamui's attack. With nothing to stop it, the umbrella continued swinging right into Tsukuyo's side again.

Damn it! she cursed, clenching her teeth.

She hurriedly produced another kunai in her hand and thrust it at Kamui's face. With little effort, the Yato firmly grabbed her by the wrist. He then gave her a big smile before hurling her over the railing of the balcony. She fell towards the ground floor as she frantically stuck out her legs and feet to catch her. Her body slammed against the floor, and she had a hard time picking herself back up.

Kamui jumped down and landed a short distance in front of her. "Don't tell me you're done already?" he asked, sounding disappointed.

Tsukuyo got to her feet, even though it hurt to stand. "No!" she shouted. "I'm not done yet! I'm not leaving this place until Gintoki does! And he can't do that until you're completely taken care of! So I'm not giving up yet!"

"Tch," muttered Kamui.

Tsukuyo planted her feet firmly and took a deep breath. She looked back up at Kamui. "LEAVE GINTOKI ALONE!" she screamed, once again hurling dozens of kunai at the young Yato.

Kamui kept a sly smile on his face as he dodged each blade. Tsukuyo, becoming irritated at this, picked up the pace. She was throwing kunai as fast as her body would allow. The wall behind Kamui was becoming heavily littered with the small weapons.

Eventually, Kamui stopped dodging and actually reached out for one of the flying kunai. He swiftly snatched it out of the air before spinning around and hurling right back at its sender. Tsukuyo winced as it planted itself firmly in her side. Nevertheless, she continued with her assault.

I've been through worse than this before! she told herself. This isn't that bad! The pain doesn't hurt that much! You can still keep fighting! You can still-

Tsukuyo's thoughts were cut short as two more kunai landed in her chest. She coughed, and small specks of blood flew out of her mouth. She stopped throwing her kunai and looked up at her opponent. Kamui was still unharmed, and was smiling maliciously.

"If you want me to show you how to hit a target, just keep on throwing those things," he taunted her. "After that, I can teach you how to dodge them."

"Shut up," Tsukuyo spat. She took turns gently grabbing each of the three kunai in her chest and swiftly pulling them out. Blood flowed out of each new wound and her previous ones continued to ache from the pain. This was not looking good.

Kamui watched her for a moment before he casually started walking towards her. Out of desperation, Tsukuyo rapidly hurled the three bloodied kunai at the boy, only to watch him step to the side and avoid them all. He then quickly closed the distance between them and swiped her legs out from underneath her. As she started falling, Kamui formed a fist and punched her right in the gut. She immediately flew to the floor and landed on her back.

"Ugh!" she cried. She desperately tried to move, but she couldn't. The pain had finally immobilized her.

Kamui stood overtop of her and gave her a frown. "What's the matter?" he asked. "I thought that you were going to defeat me and take Gintoki away from here. Isn't that what you promised you would do?"

Tsukuyo glared up at him. She was unable to do a thing. All she could do was listen to the Yato that was looking down at her.

"You can't do it, can you?" he said in a serious tone. "I knew it. You see, this is why I hate the weak. All they ever do is talk a big game, but they never follow through with it. It's downright annoying. If you're not strong enough to do something, then don't go ahead make such brave speeches about it…"

Tsukuyo continued to glare at him while he lifted one of his legs. It hovered over her body.

"Let me teach you a lesson in strength," said Kamui, a twisted smile coming to his face. "Let's say I wanted to stomp on you right now. What's to stop me from doing it?"

Suddenly, Kamui's foot fell right onto Tsukuyo's torso, and she screamed in agony. Amidst the pain, she could feel her ribs cracking.

"The answer: nothing. Your own weakness keeps you from being safe. You are not strong enough to stop me, so you will simply not stop me. Want some more proof? Try to stop me from inflicting more damage."

With a sinister smile, Kamui twisted his foot back and forth on top of Tsukuyo's body. Blood flew out of her fresh kunai wounds, causing her to scream even more. Kamui eventually gave a sigh as he lifted his leg. The pressure on Tsukuyo lessened, but the pain hurt worse than ever before.

"I just wanted to make you learn your place," Kamui informed her. "Weaklings do not defeat the strong. Maybe next time you will think twice before spouting all of that nonsense like a complete idiot."

Kamui gave one last twisted smile as he dropped his leg again. This time, it landed on Tsukuyo's arm.

"AHHHHH!" she cried. She could feel her bones snapping in two from the force of the kick. He had just broken her arm.

Kamui gently moved his foot back to the floor as he stared down at the courtesan. He then gave another sigh. "Well, in any case, I'm done with you now. This fight has been nothing short of boring. You can go now."

As soon as he finished his last comment, Kamui pulled back his leg and kicked Tsukuyo's limp body off of the floor. It flew through the air for a short while before crashing back down a short distance away. Her body was now sprawled out all over the floor, looking completely lifeless.

As she lay there, all Tsukuyo could do was groan. Her body was in a horrible shape. Not only was it covered in several severe bruises and heavily bleeding wounds, but both her ribs and her left arm had also been broken as well. Before long, Tsukuyo started cursing herself.

Damn it! How could I have let this happen? My body is in tatters…I can't even move! In the end, I couldn't do anything to save Gintoki! I…I was only a burden…

Tsukuyo quietly started crying, frustrated at her own helplessness. Kamui was right…I am weak…

Suddenly, Tsukuyo stopped herself. An abrupt noise had just caught her attention. Somebody had just slammed a pair of doors open. She forced her head to turn towards the entrance.

There stood Gintoki, silently glancing around the room, trying to take everything in. His eyes eventually fell upon Tsukuyo's limp body and widened in horror.

"Tsukuyo?" he whispered.

He stared at her for another moment before closing his eyes. When he reopened them, he shifted his gaze from Tsukuyo's body, to the smiling vermillion-haired boy who was standing behind it. Gintoki's eyes were now sparking with rage.

"KAMUUUIIIIIII!"

Oh boy, here we go. Gintoki vs. Kamui finally incoming! Are you excited? I am! Let's hope I can make something good out of this! In other words, let's hope I don't screw it up! XD

In other news, I go back to school next week. Aww…but, oh well. The summer was a lot of fun and I enjoyed my time off. Nevertheless, it does feel a little nice to get back into the good old learning experience! Or at least, that's what I'm telling myself, anyway…

But yeah, I'm going back to another semester at school. This is basically just a small heads-up that I won't have as much time to work on this story. There are always other things that are more important to deal with, you know? So, in any case, the release might slow down a little bit. Maybe. We'll see. I might just end up having plenty of time to myself, so who knows?

In any case, I'll wish everyone who is returning back to school good luck! I know it can be hard sometimes, so I'm wishing you all the best in the new school year. Aside from that, I'm done here. Please leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and also look forward to the next one! See you then!