Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama or any of its characters.
Title: Iron, Rust and Blood
Summary: The first of the three murders was only the beginning. The real game of hide and seek began when Hijikata Toshiro was taken.
Characters: Hijikata Toshiro, Sakata Gintoki and Sougo Okita with mentions of others
Rating: T
Warnings: Violence, disturbing imagery, blood
Author's Note: This is probably one of the darker, horror-filled stories I've written before. I was inspired by a Gintama story I've read where there was a monster/killer on the loose and another one where Hijikata gets captured and I thought it would be a lovely idea to combine the two. I also decided to try a different style of writing than what I'm used to, just to switch things around. Hope you enjoy!
Gintoki stood inside the warehouse, casually slipping past the guards Kondou had placed there. He frowned at the growing stench of blood and glanced at the murky stains on the wall and floor, its edges becoming rusted and dark in such a short time.
In his mind, he imagined how the fight had gone (if he were to admit that he and Hijikata shared a similar fighting style and thought process, he immediately burned that thought out of his mind). The killer must have move quickly since he had known there was reinforcements arriving soon. Hijikata would have been fast to injure the killer but not enough to slow the killer down. He must have distracted Hijikata enough to land a hit hand enough to either render him unconscious or subdue him just enough to drain him of his blood and leave with his body.
The killer grew bolder with each confrontation. First, a dark alley where few people would tread during the evenings. A high school after hours where lone students sometimes wandered. An apartment building where a lonely widow resided. An empty warehouse to lure a Shinsengumi officer to investigate.
Instead of taking some trinket, they chose to leave behind Hijikata's sword and cigarettes like they wanted the Shinsengumi to know who they had taken.
It was a warning to the Shinsengumi, Gintoki realized. The killer decided to take Hijikata, not only to toy with its prey a little while longer, but because Hijikata was an irreplaceable part of the Shinsengumi. It was to prove the killer could take someone so valuable that they wouldn't even realize it before it was too late. And watch them flounder and struggle as a result.
The killer wasn't finished with them yet. They hadn't left a body yet – the very thought of it made his skin pucker uncomfortably – so now it was their turn to continue the game.
~.~.~
Hijikata woke up to find himself chained to a wall, his arms wrenched upwards and his shoulder ached in that position. The dusty smell of papers, coffee stains and cheap fragrance told him he was in an office building of some sort. His legs remained frozen and locked in place, the venom still coursing through them. A dull headache wedged its way between his eyes and he had to blink several times to clear his foggy vision.
Only to see the boy-monster staring right at him, crouching a few meters away.
He flinched, startled at how close they were. How powerless he was in this situation. Instinctively, he tried to back away but his head only ended up hitting the back of the wall and he cursed at the now forming bruise at the back of his head.
Smiling pleasantly as if it really was a young careless child, the boy-monster held out a water bottle. Drink, it said.
He could see the bottle cap was earlier opened and an undissolved speck floated near the rim. Hijikata replied through clenched teeth that he wasn't thirsty even though his tongue was parched.
The boy-monster smiled wider and Hijikata didn't have time to react when the boy-monster suddenly grabbed his face, jerking his entire head back and forcing the water down his mouth.
He violently coughed and spat out as much water as he could but the damage was done. A good amount of water burned its way through his throat. He demanded through watery eyes what the hell was put in there.
The boy-monster chuckled and said he would find out soon.
~.~.~
Okita was prowling like a restless beast. The streets were mostly empty, the residents scuttling quickly to return to their houses, to the warm comforts and safety of their homes. How stupid of them, he thought. Thinking those brittle walls and breakable bricks could protect them.
But still, Hijikata was the stupidest out of them all. Letting himself get caught by a killer like that. Okita sighed that he should just get the vice commander position because at least he wasn't as stupid as Hijikata.
Kondou wanted to head out himself to lead the search but Okita and the others shot down his persistent insistence that he had to be the one to do it. The killer made a move against the Shinsengumi and against their vice commander and if their commander was next on the list ... Okita's mouth quirked in grim amusement. It would be killing two birds with one stone if that were the case.
Either way, that idiot better not be dead first. After all, it was his job to kill Hijikata and anyone who tried to get his way would have to apologize with a sword through their gut. Or maybe a severed head. Or perhaps chopped up limbs. Okita had yet to decide which punishment would be suitable.
~.~.~
The minutes crawled by and with each passing second, the pounding against his head only worsened. Hijikata could feel his heart beating abnormally hard against his chest, hammering against his rib cage, sending tremors through his entire system.
Sweat began to coat his skin, sticking to his hair, and he could barely breath without his lungs burning like they were on fire. His stomach rolled uncomfortably and he almost heaved and he fought to push back the rising bile in his throat.
It didn't take long for him to realize what the boy-monster was attempting to do. The drug that now coursed through his veins and helpfully pumped along by his traitorous heart was meant to agitate his heart, causing his blood to rush and pulsate throughout his body.
All the more blood for the boy-monster to consume.
It would be a never-ending cycle, he bitterly realized. He would be fed the drug and once his heart had overworked itself, the boy-monster would come and drain him as a daily meal, before letting his body recover enough to start the sequence again. And again. And again.
He found himself feeling slightly envious of the previous three victims. Their deaths appeared quick though not entirely painless but at least they were put out of their misery. Who knew how long it would take before his heart finally gave up or when the boy-monster grew tired of him.
And the boy-monster watched him with mounting glee.
~.~.~
Shinpachi dutifully made another cup of tea for Kondou and quietly took away the previous cup that was now cold and untouched. He didn't know where Gintoki had gone and Kagura, bored and restless that a certain sadist was not there, returned home. The other Shinsengumi officers were searching and questioning but far too many people shook their heads and retreated behind doors.
He wasn't quite sure why he remained here in the den of wolves. He would not go as far as to say they were friends but they were allies and rivals, bound through adventures and schemes that only they fully understood or cared about.
Hijikata was not someone he was particularly close to – if anything, he related more to Kondou who shared and fought for the affections of his sister. But Hijikata, he reminded Shinpachi of Gintoki.
If something had happened to Gintoki and he was left behind, would he and Kagura be drifting directionless without their leader? Would he be like Kondou, sitting and patiently waiting for some sign that Gintoki was still alive? Or would he be like Okita, out hunting in the night to demand the answer he wanted?
He hoped he would never have to know.
~.~.~
Hijikata was only sluggishly aware that the boy-monster was speaking, saying something to him. It's time, he thought he heard. The palpitations of his heart and his harsh irregular breaths was all he could hear at this point.
It crouched towards him slowly. Its eyes were glittering in the dimness of the dark room as glowing red dots that drifted only closer and closer, almost hypnotically.
The boy-monster reached him. He tried to move but all he managed to do was slump against the wall. His head was forcefully jerked back and his throat was exposed. The boy-monster pressed its face to his skin, inhaling deeply. It took every ounce of his strength not to shudder at the sickly warm air brushing against the drumming pulse in his veins.
There was a flash of gleaming bone-white teeth and something digging, driving and burning into his neck.
There was no air or any time for him to scream.