CHAPTER THREE: The Man Who Has Silver Hair But Isn't Old
The setting sun tinted the town of Kabuki in soft red hues. Kagura didn't have to be a genius to figure out that this small town was populated by the scum of scum only. Questionable individuals of various races strolled from house to house, not even bothering to hide their face. Once night time set in, a large part of the town awoke and life filled the multiple host clubs and pubs.
Kagura strolled through the brightly lit streets, having just left the inn she got a room at, and decided to procure some food first.
She found a food stand a few minutes later, and after a some-what satisfying meal and a baffled vendor, she made her way to gather some more information. Somebody around here would have to know about what was going on in Edo.
She went down the street, wondering which bar to go into, but her plans lived through an imminent change when a drunkard suddenly slung his arm over her shoulder in order to use her as a support as he threw up into the adjacent alley.
"Sorry 'bout that." He slurred.
She merely narrowed her eyes at him, ready to throw him into that alleyway for shamelessly approaching a stranger like that, but decided that the way he fell over and slumped on the ground was probably embarrassment enough already.
She noted his weird, silver hair colour before entering the bar he had stumbled out of. His arm reached out and grabbed the end of her cape before she could actually enter the bar, though.
"W-Wait." He slurred again. "Can you take me home?"
She was very tempted to kick his face in with her heel, but merely grimaced instead. "Do I look like some sort of Taxi service to you? Let go of me." She snapped annoyed at him.
"That's right, a girl isn't enough to save you anymore, Mr. Sakata." A new voice spoke up. "Especially after you made off with our cargo."
Kagura turned to see a burly man standing behind them, and noted the silver-haired man's wary expression. That didn't stop the drunk idiot from spluttering though.
"T-That never belonged to you guys anyways…" He hiccupped, before turning slightly green and facing back to the alleyway, accompanied by the sounds of him emptying out his stomach contents.
"Everything I want will be mine." The man said, now being flanked by his lackeys. Judging by their nasty faces and the weapons they were wielding, they weren't on good terms with the silver-haired man who was busy wiping his mouth.
"I don't want to be a part of your little quarrel." Kagura simply said before attempting to leave again. Fights never meant anything good.
"W-Wait, I'll give you my greatest treasure! I'll give you all my strawberry milk!" The man called after her, lunging forwards and clinging to her leg. "Just help me, please!"
"What?" Caught off guard by the absurdity of his offer and the extra weight on her foot, she took a punch to her face from one of the burly guys' lackeys.
The man never had a chance to pull back his fist though, because Kagura had already latched onto his wrist with her hand and effectively snapped it like a twig. The guy cried out in pain and backed away from her in panic.
"Wha-? Monster!" He shouted, his good hand waving around and flailing around while his brain was still trying to process what had happened.
Kagura sighed in defeat. Looks like she was going to have to fight after all.
She picked the silver-haired drunkard up by the collar and dumped him on the ground behind her, taking a protective stance in front of him.
"Don't get in my way." She muttered, before dashing towards the group of men surrounding them.
The first one took a punch straight to the face, his jaw bone cracking and breaking under the impact and his head snapping back in an instant, causing severe damage to his spine. He dropped to the ground, unmoving.
The man next to him let out an angry growl and slashed at her with a large sledge hammer, unaware of his disadvantage in this situation. With her high agility, she easily sidestepped the attack and landed a perfect roundhouse kick to his back, sending him flying across the street.
A few pedestrians glanced at the scene, but didn't take action of any sort.
Like that, the men fell one after the other as she blocked punches, broke limbs and weapons and revelled in the sound of blood spurting out of wounds. They all carried heavy axes, broadswords, morning-stars and hammers, and while they all could have probably hurt her significantly, they couldn't swing their weapons fast enough to actually hit her.
One sword did manage to graze her, but the blood trickling down her forearm only made her Yato instincts go even further on a rampage. Picking up one of the fallen weapons, she let a grin slide on her face.
"Let me show you how to use this properly."
Not even waiting for their response, she swung it at them effortlessly, taking in the thuds of their mangled bodies meeting the cobblestone road. She had forgotten her reason for doing this, there was only one word on her mind. Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill.
Their leader stood further to the back, a mixture of anger, fear and disgust etched on his face.
Yes, that was the look she was used to. She was a Yato. Her abilities are disgusting. She's a monster. Those are the eyes that must be cut down. Don't look at me with those eyes.
She shortly glanced at her surroundings, at all the men she had taken down single-handedly.
Papi, was this what you meant when you told us we had to be strong?
She pointed the weapon at the leader, who was currently doing his best to keep his poker face on.
"That's right." She muttered. "Fear me."
Like a cornered dog, he did the only thing he could think of. Bark. "You fucking cunt! You'll regret this!"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "Empty threats are meaningless. Bow down and beg for my mercy. You might get if you're lucky."
Kamui, was this what you meant when you told me you'd be stronger?
She closed her eyes, shoving away her memories when an image of her mother smiling at her showed up.
Mami, what does it mean to be merciful?
She turned her wrist, sending the blade directly towards the man's face. His eyes widened, dropping his brave face and visibly shivering in panic as the tip of the blade inched closer to his face by the millisecond.
He closed his eyes and began screaming. His screaming didn't stop for a long time. It turned into pathetic sobs and begs for mercy and for his life as he slumped on his knees and began bowing with his head to the ground.
Kagura blinked in confusion, her heart rate calming down and letting her take in the situation with a clear mind. Why was that man still alive?
Her eyes travelled to the side, where she saw that the silver-haired man was no longer throwing up every few seconds, but had actually deflected the broadsword by half a metre, just enough to save the man's life.
"Wha-?"
His eyes, a deep crimson, were focused, and he held a determined expression, but also something else that made her gut uncomfortable. That didn't last for long, however. In the time the other man needed to scramble to his feet, the silverhead had collapsed on the ground again, gagging while clutching his stomach. A sight that nudged her heart and brought on the nostalgia.
How often had she carried her father's drunk ass home?
She sighed as the burly man disappeared into the crowded streets and cooped up the silver-haired man into her arms.
"If you throw up on me, I'll drop you and dump you by the roadside." She told him in a serious voice, more out of instinct than anything else.
"I'll… do my best." But it wasn't the groggy, hungover voice of her father responding this time.
"First… get my sword." He grunted, pointing at a smaller wooden object stuck in the ground.
Had he really deflected her swing with that puny wooden sword?
She pulled one of his arms over her shoulder, supporting him while they slowly walked over and he clumsily pulled it out of the ground and slipped it into a niche on his belt.
"Are you an enchanter of some kind?" She asked him out of curiosity, trails of dread lacing her voice.
He laughed sleepily. "God, no. Not anymore." The last bit came out as a whisper, but Kagura still caught on to it before it disappeared in the wind.
They stayed silent for a while, walking down the road, well, rather her halfway dragging him.
"Pap-" She stopped herself halfway, reminding herself that this man was not her father. They were both just equally hopeless when drunk.
"Hey, permhead. What direction is your place?"
After rapping on the door to the kind of run-down place, but not too strongly since she didn't want to break the door, a boy opened the door with a worried look on his face.
"Gin!" He cried in relief, ready to pull the older man into an embrace, but he paused when he saw his boss' companion.
His face morphed from relief to dread in a matter of seconds before he began grovelling before her. "I'm so sorry! I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday!" His forehead touched the ground as he continued his dramatic display.
It took Kagura a moment to recognize him as the kid with the ox, but she was unsure of how to respond. Talking him down yesterday was an emotional outburst on her side, but he wasn't exactly innocent either. And now he was at her feet, begging for forgiveness.
She sighed once more. "Just forget it and take this good-for-nothing off my back."
She considered also apologizing, but her pride stopped her. Why should she apologize? She was a proud Yato. Her brother would laugh at her for apologizing.
The bespectacled kid nodded feverously and plucked the silver-haired man off her shoulders before disappearing into the house while thanking her repeatedly.
She threw one last glance at the house, than turned away and headed back to her inn. Looked like the sun was going to be rising soon.
The next few days were rather uneventful, she hit up a few bars and clubs, but nobody really had any valuable information for her. It was only when she passed the bar where she had met the silver-haired man that she got something useful.
"That damn samurai!" A man muttered angrily while kicking a wall. "Teaming up with a Yato like the little coward he is!"
Samurai? Kagura paused to listen in on the conversation. She had heard of those. A nearly extinct warrior rank amongst the humans. According to her father they were strong men with unbreakable conviction and a high code of honour, but that code of honour ultimately caused their downfall.
Much like enchanters, they were rare these days.
"That Yato took out most of our strongest men, Boss! I saw her, she was a fucking monster!" Another male voice spoke from the shadows. Oddly enough, Kagura recognized that voice. It belonged to the burly man who was begging for his life just a few days ago.
"I believe you, Kenji, but we need a way around this problem. With her help, they will definitely get the cargo to Edo, and the shogunate is going to kill us. If the opposition grows even further, the Harusame is going to side with them and break their contract with our faction." The boss contemplated, and unhappy tone to his voice.
Kagura instead found herself grinning brightly. This was it! Information on the Harusame and the situation in Edo!
It didn't take her long to piece the puzzle together, and in conclusion the silver-haired man and the glasses boy were smuggling something for the opposition in Edo.
She smirked. This was her ticket right into the capitol city.
She walked up to the two of them, a serene smile on her face. "Excuse me, gentlemen. Can we talk about a little something?"
She wiped her bloody hands on the dark fabric of her cape and left the alleyway. What valuable information indeed.
She kind of remembered the way to the silver-haired man's house, so it didn't take long until she stood in front of the shabby house once more.
She knocked on the door, waiting for a response. She noted the ox drinking from a tub in front of the house peacefully, but couldn't sight the cart.
The door opened, revealing the glasses kid. Shin… Shinichi? Was that his name?
His eyes grew wary and confused, but he did his best to keep his composure. "C-Can I help you?"
She nodded and pulled down her hood in curtesy of entering a house. "Yes, you can. I want to talk to Gintoki Sakata."
"You want to talk to Gin?" The boy asked, tilting his head to the side.
She sighed. "Yes, That's what I just said, isn't it? Tell him I have an offer he'll definitely not refuse."
He nodded eagerly and disappeared into the corridor, giving her space to enter the house and close the door behind her. It was furnished rather simply, with only the bare necessities.
"Right this way, please!" The boy nearly shouted while bowing and gesturing to one of the doors.
She walked towards it and pushed it open, entering the small, dimly-lit room with a table and two couches.
The boy ran towards the window and ripped open the curtains, letting what little moonlight there was flood the room.
"Gin, you have a guest." He told a lump on one of the couches.
The lump groaned and moved, complained about a headache and slowly sat up while clutching its temple.
"Yes?" He yawned.
"I believe you remember me, Mr. Sakata." She greeted him while taking a seat on the opposite couch.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at her. "Ah, the young lady who helped me out. Even if your form of help differed from what I had imagined. Shinpachi, get us some tea."
Shinpachi shuffled away, disappearing into what she assumed was the kitchen. Then she turned back to Gintoki.
"If my form of help deviated from your ideas, than what would you have had me do?" She raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
"I actually only expected you to grab my hand and help me run away, not take out a group of criminals." He awkwardly answered while rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.
"I see. From what I understand, everybody in this town is a criminal. But from what a little birdy chirped to me earlier, those guys actually wouldn't be considered criminals in the capitol, would they?"
He let out a humourless chuckle. "A part of me hoped you were here for the strawberry milk, but I can see that that's not the case. I'm also pretty sure that birdy croaked after you were done with it."
"Maybe." She answered coldly. "Back to the topic, I also heard you guys need help transporting certain cargo into Edo, and coincidentally I need to get into Edo as well. What do you say we make a deal?"
The man brought a hand up to his chin. "Having a Yato guard the cargo would be of a huge advantage, but what do you want in return? A Yato that isn't part of the Harusame will be persecuted and converted in Edo, unless you have some kind of special status or so."
"Don't worry about me, I got that covered. I just want to get into the city undetected, and I believe you know how to."
"Perhaps I do. But how do I know I can trust you? From what I've heard, Yato will do most anything for money. Even go undercover." He narrowed his crimson eyes at her in suspicion. "What are you going to do in Edo?"
She calmed herself down before speaking. "Not all Yato are like that. If you insist on knowing, I intend on finding my family there."
Sakata shot an eyebrow up. "Your family?"
She nodded. "Yes, is that a problem?"
"No, it's just… a rather peculiar reason…" He shook his head. Then he looked at her with a mixture of realization, pity and understanding.
At that moment, Shinpachi re-entered the room and set two cups of steaming tea down in front of them.
"Wanting to be around others." The man continued. "Every race has a sort of longing for companionship, it's not really that complicated. We may look different on the outside, but on the inside," he paused and put his hand over his heart, "We're all just scared creatures, afraid of being alone."
Kagura bit down on her bottom lip, trying to find a way out of this conversation. "I didn't come here to talk about that. We're getting off topic."
He began pouring sugar into his tea, till the point that there was more sugar than tea in there and stirred the syrupy mass.
"You put on that tough, emotionless act," he went on, "but you're also just a soul that has been left alone a few times too many."
The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned cold as Kagura Gritted her teeth together.
She was ready to rage out at him, call him insolent and unbelievable for even thinking that, yell at him that he couldn't possibly understand her but when she opened her mouth, not a single sound came out.
Because he could understand her. So much that that last sentence seemed more directed towards himself than to her. His red, dead eyes reflected something that she had seen in her own eyes countless times when looking into a mirror.
That night, when he deflected her sword, he had the face of a warrior. A dead warrior who died along with his victims.
Much like she felt she died every time she gave into her instincts.
She slumped into the seat in defeat and put her face into the palms of her hands.
"What of it?" She whispered. She was never really good at facing the truth, it seems. She thought she had a pretty good grip on reality, but apparently she didn't know of her own position on the board because she was so busy observing everybody else.
He shrugged. "Nothing, really. It just means you have a heart and you have emotions. I would say it makes you humane, but I won't for obvious reasons."
"If that was supposed to be funny, it wasn't really." She muttered.
"That aside," he awkwardly coughed after failing to lighten the mood with his attempted joke, "Shinpachi here told me about what happened a few days ago."
A few days ago? Ah, the restaurant incident.
"I know what he said was extremely rude and presumptuous, but you're not exactly a pacifist either." The samurai continued. "You're a walking, talking contradiction."
She looked back up at him, a scowl forming on her face. "Oh? Please, do elaborate."
"You have a lot of money and you are obviously a skilled fighter. It's not difficult to jump to conclusions. Additionally, you clearly enjoy fighting and are well-versed with your tribe's policies. You also know what others think of your tribe, but even so, you openly say you are tracking down your family. But I've never heard of familial bonds being valued amongst Yato."
He took an audible breath. "I only see a selfish little girl who didn't want to be alone anymore, so she's seeking out the only company she knows: her family members. She won't deny her heritage, but she will be offended by being bunched in with it. She won't fight for money, but she will for her personal enjoyment. Do you see what I mean?"
She remained silent while clenching her fists in her lap. Was this the result of losing sight of herself? Her anger was unsure of where to be directed at, at this man for laying her soul out open on the table, at herself for being like this, or at this world that made her this way?
"If what I'm doing is wrong, what is right?" She asked out loud, not sure if that was her intention or not.
"Selfish people end up alone in this world. Selfless people end up being taken advantage of. There's no right answer to what you should be. But, being selfish is not a bad thing, either." He explained, before gulping down his sugar with tea. She wanted to say something, but he continued talking before she had a chance to.
"I don't think you got angry because Shinpachi asked you to do something for him. I think it was rather his incentive that bothered you." Gintoki elaborated, changing subjects once again. "I think that, if he had asked you for your help as a person, and not as a mercenary-for-hire, you would have probably escorted him across town, even if only subconsciously."
"You think so?" She muttered heartlessly. Her emotions were all over right now, and a part of her was just ready to give up altogether. Maybe this had been a bad idea. Maybe this was too much for her to handle. Maybe she just wasn't strong enough. Was that the reason she was left behind? Because she was weak?
"Yes." He answered her in all earnest. "You helped me, a drunkard who nearly threw up all over you in the middle of a street in a town you were new to, all because I offered you something that wasn't money."
"Strawberry milk hardly counts. I actually wanted to throw you into one of the waste bins on the way, you know?" She sighed.
"But you didn't."
Yes, why didn't she? It would've spared her this ridiculous conversation. Ah, right. The stupid nostalgia.
"Why?" She decided to ask in exasperation.
"Why what?" He inquired.
"Why are you telling me all this? My personal issues are not your problem." She asked, even though she already knew the answer. It was because…
"I don't want you to make the same mistakes I did." He said earnestly. "When I saw you fight those guys that day, I couldn't even think things like 'What a monster' or so. I only saw myself doing the same thing many years ago, cutting down anybody in my way and in the way of my orders."
"Am I supposed to be your redemption of sorts then?" She asked bitterly. "Are you trying to save me because you couldn't save yourself?"
He just shook his head. "I can't save you. I'm not even sure you can be saved. But you can change yourself. If you really wanted to, you could change yourself for the better." He gave her a reassuring smile.
"What's it to you? You shouldn't care about what happens to me after the job."
"You're right, I shouldn't. But I do care about what happens to you during the job. The journey to Edo takes a few days, so I would like to get along with you until then."
Shinpachi also shot her a small smile. "I hope we can work well together."
Her eyes widened in surprise. What was this warm feeling in her chest? Why was she getting teary-eyed? A feeling so foreign, so distant… feeling welcomed.
"The two of you are morons." She answered, a solemn tear trickling down her face.
Gintoki Sakata had the hair of an old man, but he wasn't. No, he was only a man who had wise words to offer.
AN: Don't be surprised if this gets rewritten within the next few days. [Edit 04.02.18: I never rewrote this.]
As for the guest PassingByReader, if you're reading this: Thank you for complimenting my writing style, but I did mention the characters would be OOC due to the setting. Other characters also will lose some of their defining characteristics because I can't really put too goofy scenarios into this more serious storyline. I hope you understand.
Reviews and your thoughts are appreciated.
Next: The Man Who Is Katsura But Not Zura
~Emi