Silver Moon – Book 3 Chapter 16
Tsukuyo was still sitting alone in her dark prison cell. Frowning to herself, she decided to glance over her body once more. The bandages that covered her honestly looked worse for wear. She suspected that they should probably be changed soon, but in her current position, there would be no way of doing that. It didn't help that any time she attempted to move, her body ached in pain.
This situation couldn't be much worse she thought glumly to herself.
Just then, the door at the end of the room opened up, and light flooded inside. Squinting in its direction, Tsukuyo tried to see who was coming in this time. To her surprise, it was the Yato subordinate of Kamui, Abuto.
Tsukuyo immediately pressed her face against the prison bars in order to get a better look at him. "Hey, it's you!" she shouted.
Abuto barely glanced at her. "Hey," he said casually. He then ignored Tsukuyo as he took the liberty of unlocking the prison cell right next to hers. It was at this point that Tsukuyo suddenly noticed that the man had something slumped over his shoulder. Once the cell door was open, Abuto wasted no time in hurling the thing inside. As it hit the floor, Tsukuyo immediately recognized what it was. Or rather, who it was.
What is she doing here!? Tsukuyo wondered in complete shock. She honestly couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing.
Meanwhile, Abuto went ahead and locked the cell back up before heading for the exit. He soon closed the door behind him, plunging the room back into its original dim lighting. After this happened, the newcomer stirred for the first time since arriving.
"Ugh, where am I?" asked Kagura groggily. Apparently, she had been knocked out at some point on the way over here. The girl soon tired to sit up, but the handcuffs tied around her wrists and ankles made it difficult. Oh yeah she remembered. They got me…
"Kagura?" a voice called out from next to her.
The girl immediately turned to her left, only to find Tsukuyo staring at her through a set of iron bars. The girl's face immediately lit up in surprise. "Ah, Tsukky! There you are! I was wondering where you were!"
Tsukuyo just remained silent as she frowned. She wasn't quite sure how to approach this situation.
Kagura on the other hand, soon inched her way over to the bars. "I've finally found you! I can't believe-"
Kagura stopped in mid-sentence as a look of horror fell over her face. The girl's eyes had just noticed Tsukuyo's condition. Her body was covered in bandages all over, some of which were starting to turn red from the accumulation of blood. The poor courtesan was obviously in bad shape.
"W-what happened to you?" Kagura managed to whisper quietly. "Y-you're covered in wounds all over…"
Tsukuyo remained silent once more before frowning at the girl. "Don't you remember?" she asked quietly. "You're the one that did this to me…"
All of a sudden, the horrible realization of what she had done came flooding back to Kagura. That's right…I'm the one who gave her all these injuries…when I attacked her…How could I forget? Before long, feelings of immense guilt and shame welled up inside of the girl. Sure enough, her original feelings of self-hatred for letting things get so out of hand also resurfaced. It was like she was going through the entire process of remorse all over again.
"Listen, Tsukky," Kagura began quietly. "I'm sorry…I'm sorry for the things I did to you. For the things I said to you. I…I never wanted things to happen like that. I never wanted to hurt you…I'm sorry…"
Tsukuyo simply continued frowning as she listened to this. To be honest, this apology didn't really do much to help make up for the atrocities that she had committed the night before. The girl had actually tried to kill her, after all. And while Tsukuyo did feel a small sense of responsibility for what had happened, Gintoki's words were soon making her think otherwise.
"I don't care what her reasons were; Kagura was way out of line. She had no reason to attack you like that. Honestly, she was acting like a complete lunatic."
After thinking about this, Tsukuyo soon became wary of the girl before her. She was a little worried that the viciousness displayed the night before might make a reappearance…
Kagura, on the other hand, simply took note of the courtesan's silence, and looked away with a frown. "I can understand if you can't forgive me…I deserve it…"
Tsukuyo just gave the girl a stern look, but didn't respond to her. She honestly had no idea what to say to her. In the meantime, though, a more pressing question was on her mind. "What are you doing here?" she asked. Her tone didn't sound accusatory or hostile, but it wasn't gentle either. It managed to find itself somewhere in the middle.
Kagura just looked up at her. It didn't look like Tsukuyo had forgiven her, but she at least seemed open to conversation. She quickly decided to fill her in on what was going on.
"I came her to rescue you," she replied honestly. "I snuck aboard the ship and came looking for you in order to break you free. It wasn't long before they found me and captured me though." She then lifted up her wrists in order to show the courtesan her current position. The handcuffs still had them tightly bound together.
Tsukuyo just stared at the girl. "You came to rescue me?" she asked.
"Um, yeah," said Kagura somewhat uncomfortably. She then looked away. "Apparently, Gin-chan and Shinpachi came too."
Tsukuyo's eyes widened at this. "What? Gintoki is here?"
Kagura just nodded her head in silence.
Tsukuyo soon clenched her teeth in frustration. "Oh, damn that fool!" she cursed. "Why couldn't he just leave me the hell alone!?"
Kagura was shocked by this sudden shift in the courtesan's attitude. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Tsukuyo just sighed as she crossed her arms and looked away. "Gintoki showing up here was the last thing I wanted. This whole setup with me as the hostage is just a trap in order to capture Gintoki. And of course, being the stubborn fool that he is, it looks like he completely fell for it…"
Kagura frowned at this information. "I see," she replied quietly. "So if Gin-chan is captured while he's here, then-"
"Then that Takasugi bastard wins," Tsukuyo finished. "Damn it all…"
Kagura simply remained silent after this. She then glanced at the cuffs that restrained her. I wish I could find a way out of this situation, but it's starting to look worse and worse by the second…Hmph, I wonder what ended up happening to that Sadist…
Just then, the door to the room opened up once more and Abuto walked in again. This time, the Yato had two others slumped over his shoulders. As he walked in, he glanced in Tsukuyo's direction. "I got you two more neighbors," he said with a grin.
Tsukuyo narrowed her eyes as she tried to get a look at the new arrivals. To her horror, she instantly recognized them. "No, not this!" she cursed quietly.
Sure enough, it was Gintoki and Shinpachi being carried in. Shinpachi was still unconscious, while Gintoki remained paralyzed. Nevertheless, the samurai still managed to slowly shift his gaze towards her. "Tsukuyo…" he whispered.
Abuto simply grinned as he started by throwing an unconscious Shinpachi into a cell across from Kagura. Upon making contact with the floor, the boy suddenly woke up and began scrambling around in fright.
"Ah, what's going on!?" he cried.
Meanwhile, Abuto just ignored him as he closed the door and moved on to the cell across from Tsukuyo. He soon took the paralyzed Gintoki and threw him in with ease. Unlike Shinpachi, Gintoki simply sat there against the wall, completely frozen. Abuto soon locked that cell as well. He then took his leave as he walked back to the entrance and closed the door behind him.
The room was now dark once again. Nevertheless, Shinpachi was still scrambling around, trying to figure out what was going on. "It's so dark," he said. "Where am I?"
Kagura sadly glanced at him and decided to answer his question. "You're in the ship's prison."
Shinpachi quickly paused when he heard that. His eyes slowly adjusting, he soon noticed the girl that sat in the cell across from him. "K-Kagura-chan!?" he shouted.
Kagura weakly smiled at him. "Hey, Shinpachi…"
"What are you doing h-"
"YOU'RE A FOOL, GINTOKI!"
Kagura and Shinpachi both flinched at the sudden outburst next to them. To their surprise, they saw Tsukuyo clenching her prison bars, glaring at the paralyzed Gintoki in the cell across from her. Gintoki just silently stared back at the courtesan.
"Stupid man," Tsukuyo continued. "Why did you come here!? Didn't you know that it was a trap!? Just look at you! You completely fell for it! Why couldn't you just stay safe for once!? Stupid!"
Gintoki simply continued staring at her in silence. Then, after a moment, he softly spoke up. "Tsukuyo," he said, his voice full of concern, "are you all right? They didn't hurt you, did they?"
Tsukuyo's eyes simply widened in surprise at this question. She tried to maintain her angry demeanor, but quickly found herself losing her composure. A couple of tears soon started to well up in her eyes as she clenched the prison bars once more. "You idiot…I'm fine…"
Gintoki simply continued eyeing her up and down. "What about your injuries?"
"They're fine too," she insisted as a couple of tears slid down her cheek. She then gave him a small smile. "I'm perfectly all right, you fool…"
Gintoki just frowned at this before he slowly began pulling his way forward along the floor of his cell. The effects of his paralysis were slowly wearing off, and it was now possible for him to make small movements if he tried hard enough. Before long, he had dragged himself to the front of his cell, where he was able to get a better look at Tsukuyo. He then clenched his teeth at what he saw.
"Liar."
Tsukuyo simply frowned as she looked down at her old blood-stained bandages. She then sighed. I guess there's no fooling him…
"Those wounds still need attention," Gintoki told her. "It's obvious that you should be in the hospital right now."
"Well, it's not like I can help that," she said as she crossed her arms. "I guess we're both fools, aren't we?"
Gintoki didn't respond to her, but instead just gave a frustrated sigh of his own. He then turned to look at Kagura for the first time since arriving there. "What the hell are you doing here?" he asked, more out of surprise rather than anger.
Kagura just gave him a blank stare in return. "I came here to rescue Tsukky, same as you," she explained. "I had no idea that you guys were going to be here though…"
"You came to rescue Tsukuyo too?" asked Gintoki, even more surprised.
Kagura slowly nodded.
"How did you get out?" he asked her. "I thought the Shinsengumi had you locked up."
"They let me off for good behavior," Kagura mumbled as she rolled her eyes.
"Hmph, bastards…"
"It doesn't really matter," Tsukuyo suddenly interrupted. "This whole thing was a trap, and all three of you just fell for it. It would have been best if you guys had just stayed away. By coming here and getting captured, you've just played right into that bastard's hands."
"And what were we supposed to do?" Gintoki quickly responded to her. "Just leave you here locked up in this cell?"
"It would have been better than having all four of us locked up," she replied with a shrug.
"Oh, stop acting like you know what the best plan of action is," Gintoki told her sternly. "You should know by now that we think with our hearts instead of our brains. If the plan was to lure us here in a rescue attempt, then it was destined to succeed, because none of us could ever live with the thought of abandoning you. We chose to come here because we care about you, and we don't care what the consequences are. That's the path that we chose, and if this is the punishment that we have to face for it, then so be it."
After that, the room went silent. Tsukuyo was rendered speechless, not quite sure how to respond. Kagura was surprised, since it seemed like Gintoki had included her in his little speech as one of the people that deeply cared about Tsukuyo. She thought for sure that there must have been some lingering feeling of bitterness left behind. Meanwhile, Shinpachi, who had been rather silent up to that point, decided to chime in.
"You know, Tsukuyo-san, it's hardly fair to accuse Gin-san of being a fool for this when you've done the exact same thing in the past. Remember back when we stormed the Yoshiwara palace in an attempt to save him from Kamui? You went with us and ended up risking your life in order to get him back. How is that any different from this situation?"
Tsukuyo stared at the glasses-wearing boy for a moment before frowning and looking down. "You have a point…" she muttered.
"Gin-san just feels the same way that we all did back then," Shinpachi said with a small smile. "That's just who he is, and it's the same for all of us."
"You're right," Tsukuyo quietly agreed. She then looked up at the samurai across from her. "Gintoki, I'm sorry…"
He stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry too," he replied. "I never intended for us to get stuck in this mess. But don't worry just yet. I promise…I'm going to get us out of here. All of us. I swear it."
Just then, the doorway at the end of the room swung open, and light flooded in once more. This time, all four of the prisoners turned to see who was standing in the doorway. To their surprise, it was none other than their head-captor, Takasugi.
Kagura quickly sat up. "You!" she exclaimed.
"Bastard," mumbled Gintoki and Tsukuyo at the same time.
Takasugi in turn just grinned at them all before slowly walking inside. "Oh hush now," he told them. "You don't need to start barking like dogs when I walk in."
"Oh, shut the hell up!" Gintoki shouted at him as he clenched his prison bars. "You bastard…come over here so I can kick your ass!"
Takasugi simply glanced at him. "Hmm…you're looking rather scary, aren't you, Gintoki?" He then smiled as he looked away. "Well, not really. I'm not concerned since all of you are powerless within those cells. They're built to be strong enough to hold even the strength of a Yato. Although, it doesn't hurt to have their hands and feet tied together too," he said, glancing in Kagura's direction.
"Un-cuff me and we'll see about that!" the girl angrily shouted at him.
"Oh yeah?" said a new voice from the doorway. "And what's a weakling like you going to do even if you had your arms and legs free?"
Everyone turned to the doorway again only to find Kamui walking in this time. As always, he wore an amused smile on his face.
Kagura glared at the boy. "You! You're here too!?"
"That's right," he said with a grin. "Does that upset you, crybaby?"
"What's Kamui doing here?" Tsukuyo wondered with a frown.
"He's with Takasugi. They're working together," Shinpachi explained to her.
"Man Shinsuke, your plan worked out a little too well, didn't it?" asked Kamui as he glanced around the room. "You captured Tsukuyo without a problem, and then all we had to do was round up the rest of these guys once they showed up on your front door!"
"That's what happens when you have careful planning," Takasugi told him with a grin.
"I've tried that before," Kamui confessed, "but I usually end up messing it up by giving in to my random impulses."
"You have weak determination," Takasugi noted.
"And what the hell is your plan, exactly?" Gintoki suddenly interrupted them. "Why have you captured us?"
Takasugi glanced at him once more. "Ah, I was wondering when you were going to ask that. I might as well tell you, since there's no point in hiding it at this point."
The room then went silent as they waited for Takasugi to speak. Kamui went ahead and got comfortable in the corner, since he knew that this would probably be a long story.
"My goal," Takasugi began, "was to capture you, Gintoki, so that I could safely proceed with my plan for Edo's destruction. I wanted to prevent you from having any chance of interfering with my forthcoming attack. You see, I knew that if I tried to pull a stunt like this, you would be the first one to show up and stop me. So I asked myself this: why not just remove you in the first place? And now, as you can clearly see, I have already accomplished that. You are at my mercy, Gintoki…"
Takasugi then paused as he turned to Kagura for a moment. "Our ship will soon rise into the air and begin our attack on the city. It is to my understanding that Kagura here went ahead and destroyed our control room, but I assure you that our ship is still fully functional, and that we have more than one way of controlling its flight."
Takasugi turned back to Gintoki. "Therefore, we will lead the rest of my forces in an attack on three of Edo's key places of interest. We are going to simultaneously destroy the Terminal, Shinsengumi Headquarters, and Edo Castle."
Gintoki just clenched his teeth as he glared at the man before him. "Do you really think it's going to be that simple?" he muttered.
"Probably not," Takasugi mused, "but we are more than prepared for what's ahead of us."
"That's right," Kamui agreed with a smile. "I'm finally going to get to see some action!"
Slightly grinning, Takasugi then turned towards the two girls locked up behind him. "I'm so glad that my plan worked out as well as it did, and I have nobody but my two star players to thank for that." As he finished speaking, he slightly gestured his hands out in the direction of Tsukuyo and Kagura. In return, the two girls just stared at him.
"Star players?" repeated Kagura.
"What are you talking about?" asked Tsukuyo.
Kamui then gave a snicker from his corner. "Isn't it obvious? Tsukuyo was the bait, while the weakling was the catalyst for these events."
The girls stared at the Yato this time, now feeling more confused than ever. Meanwhile, Takasugi soon approached Kagura's cell with a delighted smile. "I must commend you, Kagura. We honestly couldn't have done it without your help."
Kagura just stared right back into his eye. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded.
Takasugi simply closed his eye as he continued grinning. "Perhaps an explanation is in order? I suppose I at least owe you that much…"
The room then went silent as they all waited for the man to continue. Before he did, though, he went ahead and pulled out his trademark kiseru and took a moment to light it. Once it was softly placed on his lips, he began his story.
"You see, from the beginning, we had implanted a drug inside of Kagura known as Dragon Rage. What it does is that it forces the user into a dangerously unstable state when they become angry. Without having any control, the user soon goes on a complete rampage, hurting all of those around them. In this case, it was Tsukuyo who activated the drug. Kagura became very upset with her while the drug was active inside of her body, and so, the target of Kagura's rage became Tsukuyo. This then led to the violent attack that took place between them. Tsukuyo was soon out of commission, while Kagura naturally reverted back to normal. And now, looking back on this whole scenario, I can see that Kagura truly was the perfect piece for my game…"
As Takasugi explained all of this, everyone's eyes went wide with surprise.
"So…so it was you," Kagura whispered. "You're the reason why I attacked Tsukky like that…"
Gintoki angrily grabbed the prison bars before him. "You put a drug inside of her!? And all this time, I had thought…"
Tsukuyo almost felt tears coming to her eyes. "So that's why…I thought that something hadn't seemed right…and now I know…"
Shinpachi slowly hung his head in dismay. "We should have known better…"
Takasugi just grinned as he exhaled smoke into the air. "Yes, it was all my doing. You poor, poor girl. I can't even imagine the mental torture you must have went through after attacking one of your friends…Then again, it only worked because you were angry with her in the first place."
Kagura soon clenched her teeth and forced her body forward so that her forehead collided with the prison bars. "You damn bastard!" she screamed. "You've been messing with me!? This whole time!?"
Gintoki quickly followed her lead. "How dare you!" he shouted. "You went too far this time, Takasugi!"
Takasugi simply turned towards him and raised an eyebrow. "Did I?" he asked slyly. "Listen up, Gintoki. I want you to watch everything important to you go to complete ruin. I want you to feel the pain of losing everything against your will. And I will personally destroy whatever it takes in order to do that…"
Takasugi then flashed a wicked grin as he reached into his kimono and pulled out a key. Slowly turning around, he went ahead and unlocked Tsukuyo's cell. Tsukuyo simply looked up at him in surprise, while Gintoki's eyes started to go wide.
"Bastard," he whispered. "What the hell are you doing…?"
Tsukuyo, knowing that she couldn't do anything with her injuries, shrunk back in her cell. Nevertheless, Takasugi simply walked up to her.
"Get away from her!" Gintoki shouted as he clenched the bars with all his might.
Takasugi ignored him as he slowly withdrew his sword from its sheath…
"DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!"
Takasugi carefully pointed the edge of his blade at Tsukuyo's chest. "Hmm, such a fine figure," he noted. "I would just love to trace every curve of this body…"
Without warning, Takasugi then moved his sword from one point to another, leaving a small cut on Tsukuyo's body. The courtesan clenched her teeth in pain, but managed to bear with it. Takasugi then proceeded to drag his sword along Tsukuyo's arm, right over one of her injuries. As the sword moved, it left a fresh trail of blood in its wake. He soon continued to do this over the rest of her injuries. Bandages quickly came undone, and new cuts were being placed all over the poor girl's body.
Gintoki could only watch in horror as this happened. "STOP IT, YOU BASTARD!"
At this point, Takasugi gave a wicked laugh as he continued. Tsukuyo tried her best to be brave and grunted through the pain. Nevertheless, fresh streams of blood were now slowly trickling out of her wounds, both new and old.
"I SAID STOP!"
Finally, Takasugi glanced back and smirked at Gintoki before slowly withdrawing his sword. He soon sheathed it without a sound. Unfortunately, any relief brought on by this action would soon be lost as Kamui decided to enter the cell. Naturally, he too was smiling.
He soon walked right up to the freshly bloodied Tsukuyo. "Do you still remember your old overlord?" he asked playfully.
Tsukuyo just glared up at him. "You're no longer the overlord of Yoshiwara," she muttered. "Hinowa is the overlord now…and she's a hell of a lot better than you…"
"Oh, is that so?" asked Kamui with another smile. "Well, even so, as the previous overlord of Yoshiwara, I should still hold some power over you…How about you bow to your old overlord?"
Tsukuyo clenched her teeth as she gingerly held one of her bleeding arms. "You can't be serious…"
"Come now," said Kamui, his smile growing bigger. "I said bow."
Without warning, Kamui placed his foot on top of Tsukuyo's shoulder. By sternly applying pressure, he managed to slowly force her body downward. Tsukuyo tried to fight it, but it was hopeless. Her injuries were screaming at her. Before long, Tsukuyo's forehead was touching the floor, her body now in a complete bow.
"Now that's more like it!" he said ecstatically.
Tsukuyo, gritting her teeth harder than ever before, forced her head up from the floor. She then threw Kamui the coldest glare she could muster.
"Fuck you," she muttered.
Kamui simply frowned at this. "Tsk, what a disloyal subject. We'll have to correct that."
Without warning, the Yato then retracted his leg before swinging it into Tsukuyo's side. The force alone picked the courtesan up off of the floor and hurled her into the corner of the cell.
"GAH!" she cried as blood flew everywhere.
Kagura and Shinpachi quickly grew worried for her.
"Tsukky!"
"Tsukuyo-san!"
Gintoki, on the other hand, quickly found himself overcome with rage like never before. Clenching the prison bars before him with all of his strength, he screamed at the top of his lungs. "KAMUI YOU SON OF A BITCH! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU!"
Kamui just gave a snicker at this. "Huh, I'm starting to get tired of hearing that all the time."
Takasugi then reached a hand out and put it on the Yato's shoulder. "That's enough fun for now," he told him. "Let's go."
Kamui shrugged with a smile. "Fine."
And with that, the two men finally withdrew from Tsukuyo's cell. Takasugi then paused once the cell door was closed. "I better take care to lock it back up," he noted. "Then again, it's not like it will matter much…"
Tsukuyo simply struggled to pick herself up from her sorry state as she glared at him. Panting heavily, she managed to get on her hands and knees. "I'm fine," she breathed.
"Man, she really is a tough one, isn't she?" asked Takasugi, surprised.
"Don't you dare talk about her," muttered Gintoki, who was still seething with rage.
Just then, the room suddenly lurched, and everyone paused in surprise. The movement soon steadied out, and the room was still once more. Takasugi smiled at this.
"This ship is taking off," he explained. "At this rate, it will only be a few more hours before the attack begins. Don't worry though, I'll make sure that you're all around to see it."
Gintoki continued glaring at him from behind the bars. If only that jail cell wasn't there to separate them…
"See you later, Gintoki," said Takasugi with one final smile. He then made his way towards the end of the room, while Kamui followed behind him. As they exited, the Yato stopped in the doorway. He then turned around and gave a taunting wave to the prisoners inside. After that, he took the pleasure of closing the door behind him, plunging the room into darkness for the final time…
Hey everyone! I've finally done it! I've reached 50 chapters for this story! Woo-hoo! Man, it's been a long time coming. In fact, it's almost the two-year anniversary for this story! Holy shit! I can't believe I've kept it up for this long! And guess what? I have no intention of stopping either :)
In any case, thank you all for supporting this story for 50 chapters over the last two years! Thank you for following, favoriting, and constantly reviewing! I love you all so much! And also, thank you for putting up with my delayed/infrequent updates! I truly appreciate it! XD
I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I made it extra long just to fit all this great stuff in it! So yeah, be grateful for that! XD The only note I have to discuss is the reason for why Abuto carried Gintoki and Shinpachi into the prison cells instead of Kamui. We'll just say that Kamui handed them over to Abuto at some point off screen. Why? Well, because Abuto is his subordinate…and it wasn't quite time for Kamui to enter that room ;)
And now, as previously promised, I will now present where my story stands in the Gintama fanfiction rankings! All for the sake of making my head swell even bigger with pride! XD And also, it's because it's nice to see how far my story has progressed, so let's look! (Quick note: I included the M-rated stories this time, so this ranking should be more accurate than the previous one!)
As of January 2017, Silver Moon is ranked:
Reviews: #15 with 185 reviews.
Favorites: #96 with 92 favorites.
Follows: #36 with 112 follows.
Wow, just wow…You know what's amazing? All of these numbers are more than double what they were a year ago. I'm so happy. Thank you all so much. You know what else is amazing? Silver Moon is officially the longest Gintsu fanfiction ever written. With 200,000+ words and 50 chapters, it has almost no competition! Which is a shame, because long stories are great! But either way, this is amazing! Thank you all for sticking around for the ride!
And that's all this egotistical author has to say for now. I'm off to go learn some humility XD Please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter! I would LOVE that! Come on, you know I would! Next time, I'll continue with my top ten favorite Gintama characters. As for the chapter, we'll finally get to explore Gintoki's past…Oh boy, it should be good :D Until then, my friends!