PART 2: Among the Shadows, she hid. And like a shadow, she lived.
Chapter 10 - Traitor
Waking up on an unfamiliar floor, Gintoki tried to stand up, but was struck by a terrible pain in his abdomen. He painfully lay down again, not without being annoyed at not being able to get up, and stared at the ceiling of the room he was in.
From the red and gold hues, he must have been at Hinowa's place. He heard a heavy breathing, and saw that next to him was Sadaharu, asleep, with a bandaged head. The dog had apparently suffered too, although the opponent was of rather average strength compared to some of the enemies he had previously encountered. But Gintoki could not ignore what the attacker had said.
He had been sent by Kawakami Bansai, the guy with the ropes who worked with Takasugi Shinsuke, his former friend, now a new enemy and leader of the Kihetai. However, in the warehouse ransacked by Kemono, he had recognized the logo of the Harusame space pirates, admittedly positioned upside down and slightly modified, but without any possible mistake as to the organization represented. This logo linked the intergalactic crime syndicate to the shady events currently taking place in town. And this element, added to what Hijikata had told him about bad things about to happen in the district and in the rest of Edo, had put the perm-head on his guard.
But what had been decisive in his choice of next actions, had been this sudden request from Tsukuyo. Kidnappings, the oldest of which almost coincided with Kemono's arrival at the Shinsengumi? This was more than just a coincidence.
So he decided to take the lead, asking Shinpachi to convince his sister to invite the gorilla to her house so she would have enough protection...
But now that he thought about it, this wild gorilla hiding under the airs of a young woman with a chest as flat as an avenue of Edo would surely have been able to fend for herself... The old Otose, on the other hand, had Tama - a rather cold robot with a terrible strength - and probably Sa-chan, if this masochistic/stalker/freak ninja was still waiting for the return of her 'Gin-san' hidden in the ceiling of the bar. As for Kyuubei, she was a master in the art of sword handling, and for the other tax-stealing monkeys, it was obvious that if something happened, they would know how to defend themselves like the grown-ups they were.
And something did happen. Ota-san had been attacked, and so had they, when they came across the culprit. Not to mention the attack on the Shinsengumi Headquarters.
Someone had tried to intimidate them, or at least to get rid of anyone who might be in the way of any business.
But what worried the silver-souled samurai most at the moment was whether all these attacks and the Harusame were connected. If Takasugi Shinsuke was linked to the Harusame or not. If there was a link between the two, it was not going to bode well. And for once, he felt that a meeting between Devas would not be out of place.
He heard one of the doors slide open, and turning his head, saw that Hinowa, sitting on her wheelchair, was just inside the door, but not entering the room. Tsukuyo was accompanying her, and had a serious face. But concern could be seen on his face.
"Gintoki-san, are you feeling better?" Hinowa asked.
"Yes." He replied. "What about the girl we found yesterday?"
Tsukuyo's face closed, while Hinowa answered negatively with a nod.
"She has some injuries, but they're all superficial. She's even healthier than you, to tell you the truth." Tsukuyo explained. "But we haven't found the other missing girls yet..."
"But you're still searching, and questioning the suspect, right?" Gintoki noted.
The two women nodded in silence.
"Thanks to you for at least helping us save that girl," Tsukuyo said. "If the culprit is indeed the one you seriously hurt, the girls should no longer be in danger of being kidnapped..."
"Did you manage to get the guy to talk about his sponsor?"
"His sponsor?" Hinowa wondered.
"I think those girls disappeared to lure us in and set a trap," Elaborated Gintoki.
"So..." Said Tsukuyo, with a trembling voice; "you're saying that those girls were kidnapped to ambush the Yorozuya?"
It was the yorozuya's turn to nod silently.
"But do you realize what that means, Gintoki!?" Tsukuyo shouted. "What else have you stuck your nose into that innocent girls are getting mixed up in this!?"
"Please, Tsukuyo, it's not his fault," Hinowa interjected to calm the Hyakka leader. "I know it's hard to hear, but Gintoki-san is in no way responsible. The one responsible is the one who let that criminal loose on our streets, and gave him his orders."
Tsukuyo gritted her teeth, and it seemed she was holding back from crying.
"You jerk... Not only do you cause innocent girls to be attacked, but you almost get yourself killed too!?" She shouted, on the verge of a nervous breakdown. "And by a guy so pathetic that even Hosen wouldn't deign to give him a look!?"
Tsukuyo almost seemed to be more angry at the Yorozuya Boss, than at the criminal they had managed to catch the day before. But the young woman was really just expressing her concern about Gintoki. She had already seen him in a bad state after some of his fights, but this was the time of too much. For her, this guy was an irresponsible person doubled of a deceiver. Yet he was strong! So why was he still letting himself be hurt by guys like this criminal? She was angry, and she had every right to be. Angry about the whole situation.
She rushed out of the room.
"Tsukuyo is definitely transparent when it comes to her emotions..." Hinowa sighed. "Don't take what she's blaming you for personally. Deep down, the person she's angry at is herself. She must be terribly angry at herself for not being able to protect those girls, even though it's her mission."
"The worst part is that she's worried about things she shouldn't be worried about..." Said Gintoki, who had also seen through the Hyakka Chief's emotions. "By the way, where are Shinpachi and Kagura?"
"They're downstairs. They didn't want to go home, even though they spent the whole night here." Replied the Yoshiwara leader.
"Whoah... If they find out that I left two kids alone overnight in Yoshiwara, I know a bald guy and a demon woman who won't let that go..." Gintoki sighed.
He then heard Hinowa's pleasant laughter.
"At the same time, Yoshiwara's reputation is a bit overrated," she smiled. "I think you'll need a few more days of rest, so I'll ask Tsukuyo to take Shinpachi-kun and Kagura-chan home."
"Suit yourself," Gintoki said, looking away. "But I don't think you can get them to move... Ah, I can already feel the scolding that Shinpachi's big sister is going to give me..."
Hinowa laughed again, then closed the door before walking away down the hallway, the wheels of her chair sliding silently on the floor.
Gintoki closed his eyes. He wondered why this guy had been sent, when he was clearly a disciple of Kawakami Bansai. Why wasn't it his master who had come instead? And why go to all this trouble to attract them?
He understood that these guys wanted to eliminate obstacles to their plans, but he didn't understand why they had sent half-portions... Sure, the guy with the wires was tough, but not as tough as Takasugi's sidekicks... It was almost as if...
GINTAMA
Shimura Tae was in a bad mood, because of this attack, but also because she had to invite the gorilla to her house. And this since the day before. She was definitely ready to kill someone. So she almost threw a porcelain vase in her little brother's face when he entered the dojo.
"Ah, where have you been?! I went to the other perm-head guy's house, and you weren't there!" She snarled.
"Sorry big sister, we had a difficult case, so I could only come home now." Shinpachi apologized, which had the effect of calming her sister down.
"A difficult case? This good-for-nothing is going to pay for that!" She said with a threatening look.
But Shinpachi's serious look left no room for another remark from the young woman.
"Shin-chan, what's going on?" She asked, concerned.
"Are you okay, big sister?" He asked.
"Why do you ask?" She wondered. "Some weird guy attacked us while the gorilla was here, but we got rid of him. I could have even taken care of it myself, to tell the truth..."
Shinpachi breathed a sigh of relief.
"I'm reassured, especially after what Gin-san said..."
"What Gin-san said? He knew this was going to happen, and that's why he sent the gorilla to my house?" She asked a little embarrassed.
It obviously made her happy to see that the Yorozuya Boss cared about her.
"Yes. He was asked about it after it received first aid from the Hyakka and Hinowa-san," he explained.
"Treatment? Did that jerk hurt himself unnecessarily again?"
"Not really..." Shinpachi grimaced. "I told you, it was very hard. Kagura stayed with him and Sadaharu, but I had to go back to reassure everyone. We also got attacked on our side, and unfortunately there were some serious injuries..."
Tae was at a loss for words. She was so used to seeing her little brother all cheerful after working on a case with the other fool and the small Kagura... But now... He really looked tired.
"But don't worry, big sister!" Said Shinpachi with a gentle smile. "That good Gin-san is already well healed! He should be back soon! Hinowa-san told us that he should stay for one or two more days, and that he'll be fine after that."
"Ah, I see..." She said darkly. "Two days to wait... Before we can ram his skull in!"
"Are you still mad at him for that thing with Kondo-san?"
He got a death glare from his older sister in response, sinister shadows creeping across her face. He then left for his room, and returned changed - in the exact same outfit, but clean - with a bag on his back.
"Shin-chan, where are you going?" Tae asked, surprised to see him leave already.
"I'm going back to the agency. Someone needs to be there, in case any customers come in."
With that, the eyeglass holder left as he had come, leaving his sister to suspect that if he was doing this, it wasn't out of overzealousness, but to take his mind off things...
GINTAMA
At the same time, aboard a respectable-sized spaceship, a most important discussion was taking place.
"So, why did you call me back?" Abuto asked.
"Ah, if you want to know why, it wasn't because I missed your stupid face." Smiled the young red haired Yato.
"I had almost gotten rid of that guy though..." Complained Abuto.
"Your bloody skull says otherwise." Kamui mocked. Then, the young Yato took a serious look, while showing an unhealthy smile. "We still have that piece of trash, that dirty traitor, on our hands...And sooner or later, we'll get him. But the reason I called you back is because a rat snuck into our operation."
"A rat?" Abuto repeated.
He suspected that the Captain was not literally talking about the animal, but about a person.
"Yes, a rat, an insect, a useless piece of trash..." Kamui enumerated. "That curly-haired samurai I thought was very interesting, and one of his friends, that woman who bawls at nothing, got attacked while you were fighting that Shinsengumi monster.
"Oh, I see. But what does that have to do with us?" Abuto asked, "Isn't that a good thing?"
"No, Abuto." Kamui replied dryly. "It's not a good thing, if it draws unnecessary attention to us."
"Ah" Said Abuto, finally realizing why these attacks were going to cause them problems. "And what should we do about it?"
"I have a good mind to set a trap, and wait for that dirty traitor to show up, the better to gut him afterwards. What do you say?"
"Do you think he is one of our close acquaintances?"
"I don't think so, I'm sure," Kamui said, not smiling this time. "It may even be the work of that traitor. But this kind of unpleasantness was to be expected. I'll deal with it in due course, but it won't stop me from having fun before then."
"And you called me back, when I could have put that guy out of business?" Abuto asked, unsure.
The younger Yato glared at his elder, silently, before finally answering him.
"Have you forgotten why we're doing this, Abuto?" Kamui asked. "Have you forgotten who we're doing this for?"
Abuto snorted loudly, obviously offended.
"If I forgot that, I wouldn't be allowed to call myself 'Yato'," replied the old warrior.
"Precisely. Then you can be sure, that I would not let a traitor to our kind get away with it so easily..."
Kamui then laughed through his teeth, before giving Abuto one last cold look.
"We can always deal with this traitor at a better time," said the Captain of the Seventh Harusame Fleet. "In the meantime, inform the men to speed up production. I don't want any delays. Under any circumstances."
Abuto nodded, then left the bridge and headed for the ship's cargo holds. Inside one of them, behind large blast doors, were metal crates painted with the Harusame logo upside down, stacked on top of each other to the ceiling. Men were working at the bottom to assemble an intricate mechanism that would fit inside, while others were loading already closed crates into small shuttles.
"Still... To have to come to this point, and to act as intermediaries... Only to cooperate with that weird guy because he once helped the Captain..." Abuto sighed, "I really hope this works..."
He walked out of the room after giving some orders, and looking through a porthole, saw a large gas planet. They were not far from their destination anymore.
To be continued...