I See Red
Chapter 9: Red Melancholy


Sakata Ginpachi, the usually lethargic, occasionally heroic, old-smelling, definitely Japanese, simple high school teacher… was the non-Japanese Kagura's old man.

As Okita struggled to make sense of it, he watched as said old man stared malevolently at him, who was forced to sit at the sofa across him. He had a wooden bokuto with the characters for Lake Touya etched on the hilt laid across his knees as he sat cross-legged. His hand shook as a new smoking lollipop made its way into his mouth.

"So you're telling me, Souichirou-kun," began Ginpachi-sensei, his tremulousness still prominent over his anxious body, "that you, a teenaged boy in his prime… who was caught red-handed with his grubby paws all over my young, innocently stupid dumb kid clad only in her b-b-bra… was just.. passing by with-with no malicious or scandalous intent whatsoever…?"

"Hai, sensei." He answered plainly. He had his usual poker face on and blankly rubbed the spot on his head that collided with the wall, thanks to Kagura panicking.

"You… my famous Sadistic pupil… whom I trusted to guide my only daughter… did NOT have any plans to do this and that and that other thing… nothing involving paraphernalia of any sorts…? Nothing that will ruin her for marriage?"

"Nothing of that sort, sensei. Besides, no man alive is strong enough to survive marriage with that thing. Looks like you'll be stuck with her for life."

"Don't joke around!" Lake Touya fell on the table with a loud bang. Okita barely flinched.

"Like I told you, sensei, nothing happened. I find her so unattractive that even if she forced herself on me, nothing would stand up." Of course that was a big, fat lie. Okita knew that if his heart didn't feel like it was pulled out of his thorax by that China girl, put in a blender with 10 servings of mayonnaise and then placed in a dog bowl for a beggar to eat, he would maybe—well, most likely—think about this and that and that other thing and all the paraphernalia in question in the privacy of his room. Hey, he was a teenaged boy in his prime, after all.

"Is that so, Souichirou-kun? Is the image of my daughter in skimpy clothing not good enough for you and your xxxxx tent on those cold mornings when you need to release tension?"

"Uh. What exactly do you want to hear, Sensei?"

"I knew it! How dare you taint my pure daughter's image with your sinful thoughts! I'm going to put this sword so far up your asshole that your long dead ancestor's sphincters will-"

The door to Kagura's room swung open. Thankfully, she was fully dressed when she went out this time, garbed in a red shirt with a mandarin collar and a pair of red pants. She looked like a proper China doll, but a depressed one with slightly swollen eyes and a snotty nose. "Gin-chan. My shift is through so I don't have to go back to the bar. I'm going out."

"It's almost midnight, young lady." Ginpachi looked at her sternly but was obviously too lazy to make any real effort of stopping her.

"I'm hungry and there's no sukonbu left. I got a crazy craving and I'm not gonna sleep 'til I have some."

"Ugh. Fine. I need to buy sweets too. Otou-san will go with you—"

"I'm okay. The convenience store is just round the corner. I'll ask Catherine to come with me. I can buy your strawberry chocolates for you, Gin-chan." Without making eye contact with them, she went out of their small apartment. As the door closed, Ginpachi sighed.

Okita tilted his head at him. "Pardon me for asking, sensei. I heard you were a player back in the day, but how young were you when the Chinese woman you impregnated gave birth to that?"

Ginpachi-sensei clicked his tongue. "A father and a dad aren't always the same person, Souichorou-kun. Sometimes an innocent boy will immediately find the inner beer-bellied, khaki-pants wearing, hardware-store shopping, lawn-mowing man that has resided in his heart for a long time once the situation calls for it."

It was a pain sometimes to decode the truth out of Ginpachi-sensei's babble. "So basically her biological dad asked you to take care of her for the meantime."

The older man grunted. "So it is. One day you're reading JUMP while pretending to read essays about your students' summer vacations in Sapporo, and the next day a thick-skinned baldy calling in a favour is asking you to legally adopt his wayward daughter. After that, you're the dad to a broken-hearted teenager, even though you know batshit about taking care of yourself, let alone another human." The smoke continued to stream out of his lolly and his mouth.

Despite his words though, Ginpachi-sensei was smiling. Obviously he held a great amount of affection for that wayward daughter of his. It was like talking to an actual dad. "I've taken care for her for about a year now. It hasn't been easy, but I've grown fond of her. So you better watch it, punk. I'll pummel your ass for real if I find out you did anything to her. After you take responsibility for her."

The way he said responsibility could send shivers down any other young boy's spine, but not him. "Hai, sensei… you don't have to worry. She told me that she isn't going back to Gintama High anymore."

Ginpachi stared at him for some time, his fish eyes unreadable. Did his teacher hear the tiny smidgen of melancholy in his voice? In any case, if he noticed, he chose to ignore it.

After some time, he spoke in a clear voice that was different from his baseline slur. "You know, she didn't want to go to high school at first because she felt like she was a monster who wouldn't fit in anywhere. But what kind of a high school teacher dad would I be if I didn't see to her education? She finally agreed to going to Gintama High since I spent 9 months moaning and groaning that she doesn't get to go to school while a grown ass man like me has to wake up early every weekday to go there."

He paused and closed his eyes, as if remembering the days fondly. "First day of school, she goes there against her will and refuses to list her name as Sakata Kagura and makes promises to spread lewd rumours about us so that I'd get arrested and she could go back to her life just staying at home and reading shoujo manga all day. That afternoon—I'm sure you remember this very well, Sofa-kun—she promises that she won't go back to that dog-ridden school ever again, but she didn't push for the lewd rumours strategy anymore. Said it wasn't classy and no-one would take her as a bride after."

Okita remembered how Kagura skilfully dodged almost all the blows he threw that afternoon, so that the ones that made contact felt so damn satisfying—he felt something warm throb inside his chest, but didn't let this show.

"But as the days went on, she whined less and less. Next thing I knew she was talking about going to a nice café with Tokugawa and Imai, and guarding the gorilla girl from the gorilla stalker, and illegally downloading Otsuu's latest album just to piss Shinpachi off, and plotting to overthrow the student government with Zura. Suddenly she was excited about joining clubs and planning the culture festival and even taking her exams.

"I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound like a monster at all." Ginpachi-sensei leaned back and exhaled loudly. "It sounds like a normal girl who found a place where she belonged. That said, Souichirou—isn't it strange that she doesn't want to go to Gintama High anymore, as you claim?"

His heart felt heavier than he thought possible. Dammit, China should be the one talking to him about this. "Don't look at me, sensei. I'm just relaying what she told me. I honestly don't know what's going on in her head."

"Hm. And you're relaying this to me because you hope I'd change her mind."

He didn't answer.

Ginpachi-sensei sighed again. It was an entirely exasperating conversation, and he mumbled about his blood sugar going down. "Something big happened recently with her and you, I gather."

"… It's better if China told you. All I can say is that I tried to stop her from leaving."

Even though Ginpachi-sensei had the most right to know about the trouble that Kagura got herself into, Okita concluded that it would complicate things if they told him about what happened that afternoon without having proof. For one thing, Kagura wouldn't cooperate. Then there's the issue that Takasugi was likely involved, but it was Ginpachi who fought and brought him back to school in the first place. It would be a messy accusation to do it so prematurely, and Ginpachi might not believe them, and they would lose immediately.

It was a well-known secret in school that back in the day he was a delinquent of legend as well—earning the name Shiroyasha for being the strongest and most demonic of them all. His gut told him that telling him now would only beget more violence, and that would be bad for all the persons involved…

Especially Kagura. As If on cue, the front door opened again, and the girl in question entered the apartment. She was moaning and groaning dramatically, clutching her lower abdomen. "G—gin-chan! This is b-bad! My uterus is sucking my soul out and it's gonna take me with it! Waaaah!"

"What? Didn't you just have that a couple of weeks ago? Should I take you to the hospital?" Ginpachi stood up in worry. Kagura stepped back.

"N-n-no, it's totally normal! This is normal for Taiwanese women, yup… I just need to rest, ow ow ow!"

She sucked at faking it. Okita swore that if she pretended to drop dead there, he'd press his elbow down her neck until she actually passes out. "That's not what I remember from Tsukuyo-sensei's sex ed lecture—" began Okita.

"You weren't paying enough attention in class you cherry boy! Now excuse me!" Kagura rushed to her room, slammed the door, and gave a few more dramatic whimpers before fading into silence.

"Hm. Wonder what brought that on. I guess I need to run and get her meds. Tsk. If ever you become a dad, Yagami-kun, better make sure you don't get daughters." He scratched the back of his head lazily and gestured for them to start walking out of the apartment. He continued on his rant as they started going downstairs. "Really… little girls are so cute, with their big Disney princess eyes and chirpy voices, swindling you for 100 yen for coffee milk after a bath… but when they start bleeding there every month you have no choice but to freak out because suddenly you have to act like mom too, saying oh honey welcome to the world of womanhood even though the only time you've ever bled from down there was when you got drunk one time and…"

Okita stared at him blankly. Ginpachi seems to have just realized that he was talking to the wrong student about this. I might be giving him ideas for inflicting pain unto others so I have to stop, the look on his face said.

"A—anyway. That's neither here nor there. Point is, when they grow boobs, that's when you know it's over. Otou-san has to buy a shotgun to protect her from the evils of the world… but even with all the shotguns in the world stored in your heart, it's never enough to save them from heartbreak." A new stream of smoke flowed like steam from his nose and mouth, effectively shrouding his red eyes.

Okita fell silent. He was sure that Kagura didn't say anything about the bullying to Ginpachi either. Giving all these speeches about fatherhood, he was sure that the aloof teacher was actually at a loss on what to do for her.

They walked in silence until they reached the drug store, after which the silver-permed teacher slurred a goodbye and another reprimand and left Okita alone without a second glance. His back was slouched as always, but it looked like he was more exhausted than usual. A new heaviness invaded each step, and his gaze was focused on his own shadow.

Then again, it was already after midnight. Sensei might just be tired.


"Where the hell were you, you inconsiderate brat?!"

Hijikata was mad. Fuming mad. He had cornered him as he tried to sneak back home. Okita was being collared against a wall for the second time that evening, but he didn't have the energy to even look like his chest was in pain.

"I jogged," he answered. This earned him a slam against the wall and a barrage of curses for being such an idiot and a liar. "… also I helped a drunk girl out of her clothes and helped a worthless old man with his meds for his ageing prostate. Happy?"

He didn't care anymore. Even though Hijikata was so livid he was about to go into his Demon Mode, Okita remained unfazed. "You—you know how much Mitsuba worried about you when we realised you weren't in your room anymore? She was so anxious, she almost—"

"It's fine though since you were there, right? Because you know exactly how to take care of my sister, don't you, Hijikata-san?"

Hijikata clenched his jaw so hard that he was expecting one of his molars to crack. He forced himself to calm down and set the younger boy down on the floor again. "I don't know what the fuck is wrong with your head, Sadist. But please—for the sake of your sister—don't do anything that will hurt her."

"Rich, coming from you."

The Demon Vice-Commander was breathing in and out rhythmically. He motioned his hands as if he were taking a deep drag from an imaginary cigarette. It was a filthy habit that kept him as sane as he needed to be functional, and now he didn't have that crutch anymore. Okita loved pushing him to the edge like this.

"I get it, okay? You're having a hard time because for the first time in your spoiled life, a girl broke your heart and made you feel like trash instead of the other way around. I don't wanna say you deserved it, Sougo, but—"

"You said it just now, Hijibaka."

"Yeah I did, you little shit. But, you have other things you have to do. Remember your goals." Hijikata tossed him something that glimmered in the dark, and Okita caught it.

It was his smart phone. He didn't even realize that he left it at home. He unlocked his screen, and he was greeted with a selfie of him and Mitsuba at the park. From the mess of missed call notices from Kondou, Hijikata, and Mitsuba, he found a massive amount of unread messages from the Shinsengumi group chat. He was placed back there.

"Sensei texted Kondou-san that you're back in the Shinsengumi. So, welcome back, you bastard. We've got our work cut out for us."

That sealed it. China was definitely not coming to school the next day, even though they had one exam to go. Every time he realized that he wasn't going to see her the next day, it pissed him off more and more. What a waste of time those hours of practice quizzes, insults, and smacks on the head turned out to be…

"Oi. You're spacing out." Okita snapped back to reality. Hijikata's stern face showed concern. "You better come in already. Don't go in with that kind of miserable look. Mitsuba'll worry herself sick over you."

"Die, Hijikata." Without further ado, he left him there and slammed the door shut on him.


The last day of exams came and went. The seat next to Okita's was glaringly empty; everyone who passed by looked at it in surprise or knowing sadness. Kagura's close friends in class were also quiet—he supposed that they figured out one way or another that she won't be coming back. Despite that, no-one dared ask him or even Ginpachi-sensei, who still called out her name during roll call and was met with silence.

Takasugi, that arrogant bastard, feigned indifference to it all. But just barely. There was a layer of self-satisfaction in the usual sneer he had on his face, and he wasn't afraid for it to show. There was nothing that Okita wanted to do more than to bash that one-eyed freak's head on the table, but Kondou-san ordered him and the rest of the Shinsengumi to stay silent, bide their time, and strategize.

The problem that they faced as the committee is that the person they wanted to defend didn't want to be defended, and the persons that they wanted to report had a witness who will testify against them. If they spoke up at this time, Kagura will only appear like a guilty runaway, and the Shinsengumi plus Katsura will be the ones to suffer the consequences. The mistrust that they faced before will come back with a vengeance, and no-one in the campus will believe in them anymore. And Takasugi will have won.

The Shinsengumi went off to celebrate the end of the exams by instantly holding a meeting about it at Yamazaki's place. All they could figure out was that those who hurt Kagura had different motives apart from jealousy; that their goal was to stop her from coming to school, and nothing else apart from that; that Matako might have been involved from the start (Okita remembered that an angry-looking blonde was there when he first caught Kagura being bullied); that she was in cahoots with that crazy-eyed bastard.

"What's on your mind, Toushi?" asked Kondou. He had just finished placing photos of all the suspects in the case on a corkboard, along with a red string of yarn that he randomly connected in between the photos. (He totally didn't know what he was doing, but he was imitating what cops do on American cop dramas).

"Dragon's Vein is Takasugi's turf. She probably brought Kagura there to let him see… he was probably hiding in the shadows like a cockroach during that incident." Hijikata banged on the corkboard where Takasugi's photo hung, and then promptly fell.

They had zero clue about the motive though.

"We have to be very sure about this, Toushi. There was never any mention of Takasugi at any point. Just because Kijima and those two fellows were involved, doesn't mean that Takasugi ordered them to do it." Kondou picked up Takasugi's photo and carefully placed it at the center of the corkboard.

"What does Katsura have to say about any of this?" That's right—that terrorist wannabe was one of Takasugi's closest allies, but had a falling out when that guy went batshit crazy. Years ago, when Mitsuba got in trouble, Katsura suddenly lent them a hand and led them to where he was.

"… not much. He claims he followed us to help out China-san and to see what Takasugi was up to… but he tells us he doesn't know anything about him anymore." Kondou answered.

"… and you tortured him to get this information?"

"What? Sougo, no!"

"Hmph. I guess I'll have to take care of it, Kondou-san."

"Stop kidding around, brat. We just need more evidence…" muttered Hijikata. "I'm sure we'll find something."

"Until we do, we can't accuse him of anything." The gorilla sighed. They fell silent simultaneously, deep in thought. Nothing was heard apart from the "Zzz's" of Saitou, who already had a balloon of snot rhythmically blowing in and out of his nose.


AN: I dunno man, I love Gintoki (especially Dadtoki!) but it's hard for me to write him~ How hard is it to be a single parent to a Yato teenager and a teenaged glasses stand, you think? I dunno but he doesn't make it look hard. Sigh.
Thank you for reading! Tell me what you think and what I did wrong/right. The next chapters will be... troublesome yup