There is a blue circle at the distance, almost the size of the palm of a hand. He can almost grab it, treasure it like a rare diamond. How long has it been since he left the Earth?
Maybe ten years. During the war, the present was nothing more than a silly man's dream. He remembers when he was young and left his comrades with only a few possessions on his bag and a single dream to follow: A reality where the little world, hanging on infinite kilometers from the tip of his fingers, and the outer world would mesh and collaborate together.
Now, a very important businessman, Sakamoto is busier than ever in this lonely voyage he set for himself more than ten years in the past. How would his friends be at the moment? How would that man be right now? The last time he talked with him in person, his dearest companion was under what would be considered a healthy body weight and his skin was as pale as snow.
Since said day, he grew more worried about him but he could not come back. He has promised that person he would become important and fight on his own way. Such is the reason why his float has not stopped near the Earth in a decade.
But today is different, as his company is strong enough and has settled enough deals to show off to his former comrades.
After leaving his blue orb, he wandered anonymously on foreign ships, until he got into a pirate enterprise. There he met his actual vice-captain, his loyal second hand. He also managed to buy all the slaves from said pirate float and those slaves became his new comrades.
It is so funny how he meets Gintoki again, because he doesn't even have to go to Earth and search for him across the country. It is a fateful encounter in the most stupid and random of ways. First, his head inside of the enormous mouth of a strange creature. Then, the former White Demon himself pulls him by the hair because the tourist float in which they encounter each other is about to fall to oblivion.
And what is funnier: Gintoki's new partners in crime are just kids. Maybe that guy doesn't want to grow up at all? Maybe he wants to revive his teenage years, and place his dreams upon those children because he wasn't able to fulfill them?
The funniest thing is how Sakamoto is able to recognize Gintoki by seeing him for mere seconds and after ten years of not seeing each other. Perhaps it is true that souls can connect in the strangest ways.
In such a ridiculous way, bonds between old partners do not die easily, as Sakamoto is entirely confident that Gintoki will save him if he is in danger. And lo and behold, when Sakamoto lets himself be captured by a giant creature resembling a squid, he does it still smiling because of two reasons: He is able to save his entire float, and the moment Sakamoto is in danger Gintoki dives into a sea of hot sand to give him his hand and take him away from the perhaps attractive melody of death.
It is quite cute how Gintoki seems to bond with the kids, like if he had a younger brother and a little daughter. Their names, he learns, are Shinpachi and Kagura. An earthling and an Amanto.
If this happened to be an animated story, Sakamoto would not appear again in two hundred chapters. Thankfully, the next moment he finds them is only one chapter apart; he finds Gintoki at a hostess bar, not drinking more than a little thanks to the passive-aggressive courtesy of Shinpachi's older sister.
He is more drunk than Gintoki for sure, both comrades going back to an apartment located in that same district named Kabuki. It turns out Gintoki lives now in the capital, leaving behind his past as a war hero and embracing the Amanto life instead. Despite the forbidding laws, he still wears a sword. One made of wood.
Tatsuma stays the night, sleeping on a sofa because his levels of alcohol are high enough for the man to pass out just by touching the soft futon. Four hours of sleep and two pills for the headache after, the merchant wonders if the fight in front of him is just a common occurrence. Kagura and Gintoki fight over how much the little girl is eating because food doesn't just arrive in great quantities to the Sakata residence.
"I can eat what I want, I am the one who gives the power and charm to this place, huh?" The girl shouts in Gintoki's ear.
"Ah, what is that? Do you really think you are charming, brat? Not even in your dreams!" The man wants to pull out his silver hair -which would be horrible, Sakamoto thinks. - "We have been eating egg and rice for an entire month. Either work harder or Gin-san will not be able to support this place anymore."
"Money falls from trees, but this is one sad tree, huh? Maybe if you gave the tree all the strawberry milk you drink, I could have the life I finally deserve! What kind of old man still drinks strawberry milk anyway?"
"Who are you calling an old man, Kagura? At least I am not an entire waste of writer's talent! If the writer of this thing had any redeeming qualities, that is." He turns to glare at Sakamoto, who just grins completely amused at the scene. "We are not old men, right Tatsuma? We are just in the middle of our development! A man needs milk to grow up and find One Park one day!"
"Hahahaha, how amusing!" Sakamoto looks at the girl wearing foreign ornaments on her hair. "But say, rice and egg is not that bad, is it?"
He contemplates his empty plate, because these guys have been discussing for an entire hour and forgot to serve him. Nonetheless, he grins and looks at it with a melancholic shade on his blue eyes.
"I remember a good time when we needed to beg for food, and rice and egg was a gift from the gods. Even with my help, we had times like those. Do you remember, Kintoki? So right now we can share this meal together, even if you bastards completely forgot about me when rationing the rice, ahahaha!"
Gintoki sighs. "Oi, you idiot. The name's Gintoki. It is useless, right? No matter if I gave you a good portion of food, you would still be such an inconsiderate asshole, right? This is sad Kagura, no matter how much you work to get us this insipid meal, he will still be disrespectful to this house."
Gintoki's words seem to be emotionless, the pitch even and without changes. His eyes have the same boring spirit than that last time at the end of the war, and the man doesn't even pretend to have motivation anymore; he just picks his nose, trying to search for a pirate's treasure in a cavity of dirt.
Sakamoto wonders if he even remembers how their relationship used to be like back in the war. Alas a long time has passed and the captain of the Kaientai cannot really complain. Still, the man hopes for it in a very small corner of his heart.
At night Gintoki reads JUMP, Shinpachi leaves home after a tiring day of doing chores and Kagura and Tatsuma -still there- are discussing about money. Gintoki doesn't pay them attention in the moments they are not being annoying to him, which means he has been listening to the whole conversation even if he does not want to.
"Tatsuma, why are you still here? It is weird that Mutsu has not found you yet."
"It is okay, Kintoki! My company can live without me for a few days. Also, the thought of Mutsu finding me is scary."
Gintoki does not reply to that, because he may be right.
"Sakamoto," Kagura starts acting like a gangster, walking close to Tatsuma with crossed arms. "You own us around 500 packs of sukonbu for staying last night! Do not try to play dumb, huh, because my subordinate here knows how to deal with guys like you! We will burn your ship down, hohoho!"
The poor man can only manage to raise both arms in surrender at the sight of an umbrella pointing at him.
"Wait, wait, young lady! Don't be so hasty. See, I left my wallet in the Kaientai's ship, actually! But I can pay your subordinate in other ways so he doesn't hit me!"
"Oi, Tatsuma. Don't tell her weird things. Don't you see her head is already in violent mode? You will have to comply to her requests or she will kick you out."
In that moment, Tatsuma's cellphone rings. The man trembles a little, before picking up the call.
"Ah, Mutsu! Just in time. I need you to talk with someone for a little bit! Oh, no, don't worry. My balls are still in the same spot, hahaha!" Kagura takes the phone, still in gangster mode.
"Oi, you bastarrrds! You need to give me 1000 packs of sukonbu or your captain will die, damn it! I want them before midnight, huh, or I will feed the local zoo with his brain."
"Kagura, do you want the zoo to sue us? If we feed the animals with his brain, their brains will rot and then they will turn into zombies." Kagura had already ended the call.
"Zombies? That is so cool! I hope Mutsu comes late with my food, then."
"Hahaha, Kagura-chan, I'm still here you know?"
"Shut up, you are just the start of my own zombie apocalypse now!"
"Can I cry? Before you kill me, it must be good if I just leave on my own." Tatsuma looks at Gintoki. "Hey, Kintoki, do you mind to go with me to the port? A walk would be nice."
Both men walk outside the Yorozuya building towards the port, where Tatsuma's ship would surely wait for him. Tatsuma walks looking upwards, staring at a sky that cannot be seen in its entire beauty from Edo, while Gintoki looks forwards to an invisible point in space. The silence between both men is the most peaceful moment they had in the entire day.
His eyes hide behind dark shades, but then they diverge towards the man next to him and the time stops. He looks at his hand, next to the other, feeling powerless. Despite the energy in that close distance, he cannot find the power to break the barrier built after several years of living in separate worlds.
"They are good kids. I am actually surprised, Kintoki." He does not meet his eyes when Gintoki turns to face him. "It seems you have a good life here in Earth. I, too, have a successful life up in space. I am able to fight on my own now."
Thanks to you.
"Why are you being so melancholic? Your place is there, after all. You chose it, right?"
They arrive at the port, where the whole Kaientai crew is happy to see their captain is alright and safe. Mutsu is not as expressive, but she knows how much Tatsuma loves Earth and the people in it.
Gintoki smiles at the sight. "See? They are waiting for you."
Tatsuma advances one, two steps and then stops. He inhales deep twice and turns around to face the man he just cannot place a label on anymore. Gintoki and his thoughts about him are too complex for his brain but too simple for his heart.
I do not know what happened to you, Zura and Takasugi back in the war; but from the look of space, all problems in Earth are not so big. Would you let me show you someday?
"You are still invited to come with me. Bring Shinpachi and Kagura with you. Even if it is just for a couple of days."
"I still have to take care of shit here, Tatsuma."
The pause between them turns cold, but Gintoki looks to the side and brushes his silver hair with his hand and speaks again.
"But I will tell Kagura and Shinpachi about it."
