Debris and smoke came flying as Katsura and Gintoki shielded their faces from the Shinsengumi's assault.
'Tch! Bakufu dogs.' Katsura muttered under his breath as he ran out the back.
'Zura!' Gintoki shouted after him.
'It's no use! You've been surrounded!' Hijikata yelled with a triumphant smile. He turned piercing blue eyes to the men behind him. 'Follow him! Make sure he doesn't escape!'
'Yes Vice Captain!' They shouted in unison, heading in the direction the freedom fighter had run off to.
As Gintoki watched them run off after his friend, he couldn't help but wonder at all that had occurred. He was snapped out of his musings, however, by a familiar 'click' sound around his hands.
'Eh?' He raised the aforementioned hands and stared at the shiny silver handcuffs that had been placed there. Hijikata gave him a smirk.
'You are under arrest.'
'Everyone, this is Gintoki. He'll be joining us from today.'
'My name is Katsura. Katsura Kotarou. Nice to meet you.'
'Keh, I should've known a pest like you would be having secret meetings with terrorists.' Hijikata sneered as he examined Gintoki from the other side of the interrogation table with his ever present cigarette in his mouth and a plate of odangos smeared with a generous helping of mayonnaise in front of him. Standing by his side was Okita Sougo, Captain of the 1st Division, who looked on with dancing reddish-brown eyes and a smug grin.
'Like I already said, I was having a late night meal when he showed up.' Gintoki repeated through low, bored eyes. 'Tch, I knew I should have just gone fishing instead.' He muttered to himself.
'Like hell that happened! You think I'm some kind of idiot huh?!' Hijikata demanded.
'Only idiots can turn odangos into dog shit!' Gintoki retorted, looking at the aforementioned odangos in disgust.
'What was that?!' The two butt their heads at each other and cringed their teeth.
'How long are you scumbags going to keep me here anyway?!' Gintoki demanded, examining the small room in irritation. It was extremely warm and claustrophobic and he had been in here for more than eight hours. To add insult to injury, the renowned chain-smoker had been smoking non-stop, making the room stuffy.
'You shouldn't expect to ever leave after what you did!'
'Why aren't the REAL police the ones interrogating me? At least they'll listen to sense!'
'We're not leaving terrorists like you in their hands.'
'TERRORISTS?!'
'Ah Hijikata-san, speaking of dog shit I forgot to tell you earlier...' Sougo began after a moment of silence prevailed in the room.
'What?!' Hijikata didn't turn away from Gintoki but Sougo continued anyway with what he was going to say. He pointed at the bottle of mayonnaise on the floor which Hijikata had used on his snack.
'That was the last bottle of mayonnaise.'
Silence.
'Hijikata-san?'
Damn Yamazaki...I told him to buy more yesterday!
The Vice Commander's eyes began to twitch.
Stay. You have an interrogation to do!
Sougo can take over. Besides, if you don't go and check now, there won't be any mayonnaise for the sukiyaki you want to have later!
'Are you feeling alright, Mayora-samurai?' Gintoki teased. Hijikata ignored him.
Stay.
Go.
Stay.
Go!
Stay.
GOOOO!
He raised himself up slowly and returned his gaze to Gintoki.
'Umm, excuse me. I'll be back soon.' He turned to Sougo. 'Sougo, take over.' With that he stormed out, leaving the two sadists alone in the room. Quick footsteps signaled his retreat.
'YAMAZAKI!' They heard him yell.
Gintoki mentally took in a deep breath as Sougo sat in Hijikata's place and leaned back in the chair, casually placing his arms behind his head.
'Katsura was able to get away from us. He used a hand bomb to scatter our forces and made his escape. Seriously, that guy has the lives of a cat.' He said.
'Is that so?' Gintoki asked with as much disinterest as he could muster. The younger samurai nodded his head
'We received a tip off that there would be a Joui meeting at that restaurant so we mounted surveillance.' He continued. Then he gazed into Gintoki's eyes. 'Boss, we've also been hearing multiple reports of Katsura involving himself in some suspicious activities.'
Gintoki felt his heart skip a beat. No, that's not possible...just not possible...He would never go back...
'I see.' Was all he said though he wondered why the brown haired sadist was informing him of this. Before he could think of asking, Hijikata returned with what looked like a bloody arm.
'Now then, where were we? Sougo, did you get anything out of him?'
'What can I say Hijikata-san? He's as tough as nails.'
'Is that so?'
'Umm...'
Gintoki had raised his hand prompting the two officers to turn sharply to him with surprise and curiosity on their faces.
'Hmm?'
'Can I have my phone call?'
'DO YOU THINK THIS IS A POLICE STATION OR SOMETHING?!'
What the hell happened last night? He couldn't even look me in the eyes...that damn idiot!
'Gin-san!'
'Gin-chan!'
Gintoki looked up as Shinpachi and Kagura ran up to the cell where he was being kept and knelt down in front of the bars.
'Be quick, we don't usually allow visitors into our cells. You have fifteen minutes.' Hijikata informed them before leaving and closing the door. The two turned to their leader with concerned expressions on their faces.
'Gin-san, what happened last night? This is the last place I thought you would be when I came in this morning.' Shinpachi started.
'Well...'
'Gin-chan probably got caught with his pants down in the women's toilet, ne Gin-chan?' Kagura responded with an all-knowing look on her cherubic face.
'Oi, what kind of guy do you think I am?' Gintoki wondered as Shinpachi shook his head.
'I'm sure it's all a misunderstanding and once we clear it up we can get you released.' He reasoned.
The two teenagers watched in astonishment as Gintoki's eyes briefly scanned the door that Hijikata had closed earlier checking whether it was properly shut before returning his attention to them.
'Gin-chan?'
'Shinpachi, Kagura...listen carefully...'
When the fifteen minute limit had elapsed, Yamazaki escorted the two teenagers out and promised to watch over the 'Boss' on their behalf. Shinpachi had noticed what looked like crusted blood in Yamazaki's nose and inquired about it.
'Oh this? It's nothing! I just tripped.' He said hastily in embarrassment as they reached the outside of the building.
'Stop looking at ladies' panties, you hear?' Kagura muttered as she started chewing on some sukonbu.
'That's not what happened!'
'Right, right.' She replied, disbelieving him. Shinpachi sighed and led her away.
'Some other time Yamazaki-san.'
'Yeah...'
After some hesitation the Shinsengumi officer returned indoors, leaving the two alone.
A quiet mood settled over them as they trudged slowly away, remembering their exchange with Gintoki when he had narrated what happened the other night.
'Katsura-san did that? Strange!' Shinpachi had remarked.
'There was something wrong with him. He wasn't even looking at me while he said all those things.'
'Do you think he was lying Gin-chan?'
Gintoki had looked down briefly in thought as he pondered the right answer to her question. He hadn't yet answered when Shinpachi added:
'Maybe he really meant it when he said that. Maybe he truly thinks we are distracting him from his cause...'
'You don't believe that anymore than I do.'
'Gin-san...'
Gintoki had looked at them then, his eyes full of purpose and determination.
'Shinpachi, Kagura...I need you to find out what's going on. Don't do anything dangerous. I have a bad feeling about all this...'
'Shinpachi, how are we going to go about this? Do you think Zura will tell us what we want to know?' Kagura asked. Shinpachi found himself shaking his head.
'If he didn't tell Gin-san, I don't see why he would tell us.' He said slowly, putting a hand to his chin as he pondered over some options.
'In the first place, we don't even know where to find him-'
'Oi Shinpachi-kun, China!'
The two turned round as Sougo came up from behind them.
'What the hell do you want?!' Kagura snapped before Shinpachi could ask. Sougo gave a wide smile, ignoring her tone and replied:
'Simple. I want to come with you.'