Silver Moon – Book 4 Chapter 7

As Gintoki exited the snack house, he noticed that the sun had finally dipped below the horizon. It was now nighttime, and the streetlights started to turn on one after the other.

It's getting late he thought. I better get a move on.

Gintoki went ahead and started walking down the street. A few seconds passed before the samurai flinched for a moment and shivered. Gintoki's heart then started beating a little faster, and he took a half-glance behind him.

Someone's following me he realized silently.

Sure enough, walking a little behind the samurai and perfectly matching his pace, was a stranger. Gintoki didn't dare turn around to get a proper look at him, but he felt like he could feel a small threatening presence being directed towards him. Gintoki slowly faced forward again.

I'm not still acting crazy like earlier, right? he asked himself. This guy behind me…He's definitely following me, isn't he?

Gintoki then frowned. Hmph, only one way to find out.

Gripping tightly onto his wooden sword, Gintoki calmly and casually made a turn into a nearby dark alley. The alley was deserted, the only thing inside of it being some trash bins scattered throughout. Gintoki proceeded to walk along the alley until he was in the middle of it. He then stopped.

Slowly turning around, Gintoki finally spotted his follower.

"So it wasn't just my imagination," he said calmly. "Somebody was following me, after all."

The stranger grinned at him. Gintoki couldn't quite see his face, as it was hidden underneath his kasa. On the other hand, Gintoki did notice that the stranger was garbed in the clothing of the Naraku. The man even held one of the Naraku's unique-looking spears. He also had a katana attached to his waist.

Gintoki gave him a glare. "Who are you? And why are you following me?"

The stranger simply continued to grin. "Tell me," he said in a rather low voice, "are you the one they call Yorozuya Gin?"

Gintoki frowned. "Yes, that's me."

"Excellent," the stranger replied in a surprisingly positive tone. "I was hoping I could put in a request, if you don't mind…"

Gintoki once again tightened his grip on his sword. "Sorry, I'm afraid it's after hours…"

"Oh, please," the man persisted. "I promise that it will be something quick and simple…"

Gintoki prepared for the worst. "Oh? And what exactly is this request?"

The man snickered. "I want your head," he said, quickly springing forth. "On a silver platter!"

Gintoki instantly drew his sword and blocked an incoming jab from the man's spear. He then glared at the man, before they both withdrew their weapons and swung again.

What the hell is going on!? Gintoki wondered with clenched teeth. Who is this guy, and why is he attacking me like this!?

Unfortunately, Gintoki didn't have much time to ponder this. Dealing with this stranger's attacks would require his full attention. The man pulled back his spear and then thrusted it forth from several different angles. Gintoki managed to position his sword defensively and block them all without too much trouble.

Nevertheless, the man continued to advance. With each thrust of the spear, Gintoki was forced to take another step back in order to block in time. Eventually, the man paused before springing forward and swinging the spear in a wide arc. Gintoki just barely managed to pull his head back as the sharp metal passed by his face.

Due to this, however, Gintoki found an opportunity. As soon as the spear cleared his face, Gintoki took a step forward and swung his own weapon. Sure enough, it connected by hitting the man right in the side. The force of the blow knocked him into one of the nearby buildings.

Gintoki then took a moment to catch his breath while the man rose to his feet.

"Heh, you're good," the stranger said with a grin.

Gintoki didn't respond, but instead raised his sword in front of him. He knew that a second attack was coming, and he wanted to be ready for it.

The man drew his katana. Gintoki wasn't too surprised. He expected that it would be making its appearance soon. The stranger swung his sword twice, and then tightened his grip on the spear. Grinning once more, he charged Gintoki.

The silver-haired samurai blocked the first swing of the sword and then barely dodged the thrust of the spear. This fight was going to be a bit harder. The man continued to follow this same pattern, and increased the speed with each move. Gintoki successfully blocked all of the sword swings, but the spear was getting dangerously close to hitting him. Eventually however, the rapid speed of the thrusts became too much for him, and the spear landed in his shoulder.

The man grinned at this while Gintoki clenched his teeth. The Naraku agent then quickly withdrew his weapon, before throwing three swings of the sword. It was all Gintoki could do to block them before a shower of thrusts rained down on him. He knew that he couldn't dodge this many quick and successive attacks from the spear, but he tried to block them to the best of his ability. Still, the spear managed to leave several light wounds on the samurai's torso.

Shit! Gintoki cursed. All I'm doing is defending! I need to turn this around and go on the offensive, quick!

Swiftly thinking up a plan, Gintoki recklessly charged forward. He swung his sword, and the stranger met the blow head on with his katana. Taking advantage of the lull, the stranger once more lunged his spear forward.

This time, however, Gintoki did not dodge. Instead, he raised his free hand up in front of the incoming attack. Sure enough, the spear pierced through the hand, and blood flew everywhere.

Gintoki winced for a second, but then grinned.

"Got you," he whispered.

Gintoki instantly brought the tip of his wooden sword up and thrust it forward. The stranger noticed it at the last second, but it was too late. Gintoki put all of his power behind the thrust, and was able to send it flying right through the man's shoulder. This time, the stranger's blood flew everywhere.

Gintoki immediately shoved the pinned man up against a wall and held him there. The man dropped his katana as he flinched. He managed to keep a hold of his spear though, which was still embedded in Gintoki's hand. The samurai didn't mind much. As long as he had this guy on the end of his sword, he had him trapped.

Breathing heavily, Gintoki glared at him. "I'll ask again," he said quietly. "Who are you?"

The man simply grinned as he reached up and grabbed the wooden sword with his free hand. Gintoki kept a tight grip though, so it didn't budge.

"I'll admit I'm impressed," the man replied. "They don't call you the Shiroyasha for nothing."

Gintoki clenched his teeth in anger. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Heh," said the stranger, giving another grin. "My name is Yagami. I am an elite member of the Naraku."

"The Naraku, huh?" Gintoki questioned. "I should have known. Nothing good ever comes from you murderers."

"My, that's a bit harsh," Yagami replied nonchalantly. "Anyways, I have come here because I was ordered to hunt down the spawn of Yoshida Shoyo, and kill them. In other words, his rather rowdy disciples."

Gintoki frowned at this. "Why?"

"Why?" repeated Yagami. "Isn't it obvious? You're criminals, all of you, and you pose a great threat to the Bakufu. You and the rest of the disciples have already caused several disturbances and acts of terrorism within the country. It's no wonder that the higher-ups want you assassinated."

Gintoki just stared at him, and soon gave a sigh. "So that's what this is about. I was already having a rough week, but now someone's trying to assassinate me? Just my luck…"

"I'm afraid it's the luck of the draw indeed," Yagami commented happily. "I'm not trying to make things hard on you. You just so happened to be chosen as my first target."

"Hmph," Gintoki grunted. "And how exactly did you find me?"

"It was easy, really. By asking around Edo, I was able to discover your place of business. When I went there to investigate, I actually managed to find you there by chance! You were sitting in a bar, just below your office. It really was rather simple. After that, all I had to do was follow you until I could find a suitable place to dispatch you as discreetly as possible. A dark and deserted alleyway seems to fit the bill, doesn't it?"

Gintoki scowled at him. "A discreet assassination huh? Well, no one's discovered us so far, but still, your murder attempt doesn't seem to be going so well. Based on your current situation, anyway…"

"Oh, this!?" replied Yagami, glancing at the wooden sword. "Nothing but a setback!"

Gintoki then frowned as Yagami gave a snicker. Moving quickly, the Naraku agent removed his kasa and hurled it at Gintoki's face. Gintoki ducked underneath it, and tried to keep his eyes on the assassin. While the samurai was distracted, however, Yagami swept Gintoki's legs right out from underneath him. The wooden sword soon came free of Yagami's shoulder, and he quickly retrieved his katana.

Gintoki's hand also came free of the spear, and he stumbled a bit before catching his footing. With Yagami's kasa removed, Gintoki finally got a good look at the man's face. He looked somewhat young, probably about Gintoki's age, and he had light brown shoulder-length hair. His eyes looked cold and heartless, and his smile was full of wickedness.

The fight quickly resumed. Gintoki only had a second to prepare himself before Yagami advanced on him once more. This time, Yagami went in with the spear first. He thrusted three times, forcing Gintoki up against a wall while he blocked the attacks.

Once the samurai was cornered, Yagami went for a horizontal sword slice. Gintoki instinctively jumped over it, and planted his feet on the wall before pushing himself forward. As he flew over Yagami's head, he tried to strike it with his sword, but the assassin merely blocked the move with his own blade.

As Gintoki went to land, Yagami twisted around and speared him in the shoulder. Gintoki coughed up a little blood when this happened.

"Are your wounds starting to catch up with you?" Yagami taunted him. "You seem to be slowing down."

Gintoki jumped back and tore himself free of the spear. He then held his shoulder as his breathing became ragged. Shit, he's right. I am slowing down…but why?

Gintoki glared at the spear. It's that spear he realized. It's coated with poison. He's trying to paralyze me with small doses…

Yagami just lightly chuckled to himself. "Figured something out, have you?"

Gintoki clenched his teeth. "Are you really a part of the Naraku? You seem rather carefree for a member of a killing force."

Yagami flashed a grin at him. "Oh, come then. With this final clash, I'll show you just how serious I can be…"

Gintoki didn't want to admit it, but this Yagami guy was probably right. Gintoki would have to settle things right here if he was going to have any chance of victory at all.

Grabbing his sword tightly with two hands, Gintoki ran forward. He unleashed a flurry of swings on Yagami, who managed to block the blows with his sword. He seemed to have no trouble keeping up with Gintoki's movements. However, this also didn't give him any room to strike back with the sword, either.

And this was all according to Gintoki's plan

Forced into a defensive position, his only offensive chance will be the spear!

Sure enough, once Yagami had the opportunity, he thrusted his spear out. Gintoki saw it coming though, and did what seemed best. He leapt atop the outstretched weapon, and once he found his footing, brought his sword down right on Yagami's head.

Yagami crumpled underneath the force of the blow, and Gintoki leapt back to safety. To his surprise though, Yagami recovered quickly, and came at him once more. Gintoki soon found himself blocking blow after blow.

Damn it, I can feel my body slowly numbing! Even that blow I struck against him just now didn't hit as hard as it should have!

Unfortunately, Gintoki could feel his movements becoming slower and slower as the battle started to come to a conclusion. Clenching his teeth in frustration, Gintoki decided to use the last of his strength and attempted to land one more blow on Yagami's temple.

However, the assassin brought his spear up just in time, and blocked it. In his haste though, Yagami lost his grip, and the spear went flying out of his hand as a result.

Gintoki noticed this, and quickly decided to muster up one more blow.

"RAAAAH!"

Suddenly, Gintoki froze as he felt cold sharp metal pierce his skin. Yagami's katana had stabbed him in the chest. Gintoki felt his knees buckle underneath him. He dropped his sword as he slowly started to fall to the ground.

However, his descent stopped when Yagami grabbed him by the throat. The assassin then pulled Gintoki up to him.

"No screaming," he hissed. "This is supposed to be a discreet assassination, remember? What if someone hears you?"

Gintoki just glared at him as he felt what little strength he had left flee his body. The poison had fully taken effect. Movement was now beyond him.

"Well, no matter," Yagami continued with a wicked smile. "I'll just make sure that you won't make any more noise from now on."

Suddenly, Yagami tightened his hold on Gintoki's throat, effectively crushing it. He then gave a snicker as he let Gintoki fall to the ground. Gintoki immediately started wheezing as he tried to take several deep breaths. He tried to scream out of agony, but couldn't. His throat was no longer capable of making sound.

Yagami simply stared at the samurai before smirking and walking away to retrieve both his kasa and spear. Once he had both, he sheathed his sword and went to stand overtop of Gintoki.

"Look at you, Shiroyasha," he said with a grin. "Paralyzed, crushed throat, and bleeding everywhere…What a mess you are…"

Gintoki just glared at him as he continued to wheeze. He was still able to breathe, but every breath he took caused his throat pain.

Yagami stared at the samurai thoughtfully. "Hmm…I wonder…"

Gintoki continued to glare at him, wondering what he was up to.

"I should hurry up and finish you off right now," Yagami continued. "But…I wonder if I should…considering the information I just received a little bit ago…"

Gintoki gave him a look of curiosity, as if to say, 'what are you talking about?'

"You see," Yagami explained with a frown, "back when I first found you in that bar, I happened to overhear your conversation with the old lady and that young girl." Yagami then paused and curiously glanced at Gintoki. "Tell me something, Shiroyasha. Is it true that you are married, and that your wife is currently with child?"

Gintoki froze upon hearing this. His eyes widened in fear of what the man was about to say next.

"It would seem that it is true," said Yagami, intrigued. "Based on your reaction, anyway. How interesting. So after fighting the Amanto back in the war, you decided to settle down and play house? How cute…"

Yagami then gave another frown. "Nevertheless, you are still a dangerous criminal, Shiroyasha. I need to make sure that you die. It's just that…Hmm, I can't help but wonder…if I should wipe out your unborn child along with you…"

Gintoki's eyes widened even more. He threw the fiercest glare he could at Yagami. No he thought. You wouldn't dare go after an innocent child that has nothing to do with this…

"And what's that look for?" asked Yagami. "Your child might be a massive threat one day, just like you are."

Gintoki clenched his teeth. That's ridiculous! It's just a baby! It hasn't even been born yet! How can you deem it a threat so easily!?

"Since it carries your blood," Yagami continued, "I have little doubt that your child will turn out like you did. Just as Yoshida Shoyo fostered criminals, so will you continue this cycle. Yoshida Shoyo was a threat. You are a threat. Your child will be a threat. All of these things must be handled accordingly."

Gintoki couldn't believe what he was hearing. His heart started beating faster and faster as he felt himself filling up with rage. So what if he was paralyzed? Who gave a damn!? There was no way he could just sit there and let this man attack his innocent unborn child!

Somehow mustering his strength together, Gintoki forced himself into a sitting position, and used the momentum to aim his teeth right for Yagami's leg. Yagami just gave the samurai a look of surprise before pulling his foot back and kicking Gintoki away. Gintoki immediately flew into a wall which cracked under the pressure.

"Now, now, none of that nonsense," Yagami muttered. "Honestly, what are you going to do in your condition? My decision's already been made, and you can't stop me."

Yagami then looked away as he did some quick thinking. "Hmph, the force of that kick made a lot of noise just now. Somebody will probably come running to check on this alleyway before long. Which means I need to make my escape before someone finds me."

Yagami then looked to Gintoki, who was lying on the ground once more. "Hmm…I think the easiest way to find your wife would be to wait for her to show up at your side. In that case, I'll have to observe you from afar until she shows herself. That means that I'll have to let you live for now. Hmph, a pity…"

Yagami shrugged. "Well, no matter. I'll just kill you later then. Until that time though, I'll have to make sure that you keep quiet. I can't have you going off and telling anyone about a dangerous assassin running loose."

Yagami then stood overtop of Gintoki's sprawled out body and raised his spear. "Your throat is destroyed, so there's no need to worry about you talking about me. No, at this point the real concern would be you writing a message to your wife. So, I'll just take care of your hands."

Without another word, Yagami brought the base of his spear down hard on Gintoki's wrist. Gintoki heard a loud snap as he felt his bones break. Yagami then wasted no time in doing the same to Gintoki's other wrist. The samurai could only wince in pain as the assassin rendered his hands useless.

"There, that should do it," said Yagami, appearing satisfied.

Just then, a few people appeared at the entrance of the dark alleyway and peered into it. "Hey!" they called. "We heard a loud noise! What's going on in there?"

Yagami just grinned, knowing that the darkness covered him. He then glanced at Gintoki once more. "I'll be watching, Shiroyasha…"

As soon as he said this, Yagami jumped back and forth in between the two buildings and disappeared onto the rooftops. Gintoki could only glare at him as he lay there, unable to move a muscle.

Before long, the onlookers ventured into the dark alley, and eventually stumbled upon Gintoki's bloody mangled body.

"Oh my-!" a woman yelled.

"There's a guy here, and he's injured!"

"Someone call for help!"

Tsukuyo sat down at the dinner table in the kitchen and started helping herself to the meal she had prepared. She took a small first bite, and smiled. She was rather impressed with herself. After holding a fear of cooking for so long, she had really come a long way.

Tsukuyo took a few more bites before frowning and putting down her utensils. She then got up and walked over to the window above the sink. She silently stared outside.

No sign of him…

Turning away, her frown widened. He's running late…That's odd for him. He's usually never this late unless he's on a job, and even then he lets me know in advance…Where could he be at?

Tsukuyo sat back down and lazily continued eating her dinner. Now that I think about it, his behavior has been rather strange the last couple of days…He's been having nightmares and of course he's choosing to keep it to himself…

Tsukuyo sighed. I wish he would talk to me about it…I wonder if he's really okay?

Just then, Tsukuyo's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the phone ringing. The courtesan simply stared at it for a moment before she slowly got up and answered it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Tsukuyo, is that you?"

"Yes," Tsukuyo replied slowly. "Who is this?"

"It's Otose," came the response. "Listen, I have something terrible to tell you."

Tsukuyo immediately frowned at this. She didn't like the frantic way that the old lady was talking. She had a bad feeling about this…

"Otose, what's going on?" Tsukuyo asked, concern in her tone.

"It's Gintoki," the old lady said gravely. "He's been attacked."

Tsukuyo's eyes widened at this. "Attacked? By who!?"

"We don't know," Otose replied, still frantic. "We're still trying to figure this out, but listen, you'll need to come to the hospital right away."

Tsukuyo gulped as she felt her body freeze in position. "Is it bad?" she asked timidly.

"I'm sorry, Tsukuyo…but, right now, they say that he's in critical condition."

You know how it seems like I always make bad things happen to Tsukuyo? Well this time, I deiced to make bad things happen to Gintoki! Wasn't that nice of me? XD

I guess that this is the first chapter where you get to see Yagami's personality. I tried to give him kind of a loose and carefree vibe, but also confident. Looking at it though, I can't help but feel like he's really similar to Kamui…I probably should have tried to make him stand out more, but meh, whatever. I could have just made him like everyone else in the Naraku (quiet, simple, evil), but that would've been boring XD So, here's a Naraku with a personality!

Please feel free to leave a review and look forward to the next chapter! Next time, Gintoki is hospitalized and stuff. See you then!