It wasn't easy being assistant to a combat-obsessed fighting machine, and when that combat-obsessed fighting machine was bored...Abuto couldn't help shaking his head as he cautiously walked behind his boss. Kamui hadn't explicitly said anything about being bored, but that in itself was the problem. His often-closed eyelids were now wide open, revealing intensely hungry, sharp blue eyes which darted from side to side while his hands occasionally twitched with impatience.

Whenever he was like this, it didn't matter who you were...so long as you were strong enough to provide him with the thrill of a good fight., he would fight you. With this in mind, Abuto planned to stay as far out of his sight as he possibly could. Though it was highly unlikely, he didn't want Kamui fighting him.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard his captain come to an abrupt stop in front of him.

'Captain?'

Kamui said nothing in response, prompting Abuto to seek out what had caught his attention. He inwardly sighed as he noticed Takasugi Shinsuke's right hand man, Kawakami Bansai approaching them. Abuto's gaze drifted back to Kamui, who quietly watched as Bansai approached and came to a halt in front of them.

'Ah, Admiral Kamui, Matako was looking around for you.' He said casually.

Admiral Kamui. Abuto found himself being reminded once again that Kamui was now the de-facto leader of the Harusame pirates now that Admiral Aho-... ahem, Admiral Abou was dead. Still, it was a pain to call him that so he preferred to stick with 'Captain'. Kamui didn't seem to mind...

'Oh?' Kamui replied with a smile. Bansai nodded slowly, hearing him even with those annoying headphones covering his ears. Speaking of which, why did he always have them on?

'Shinsuke is the one who sent her. I suppose he wishes to speak with you on something.'

Kamui's hands twitched and this caught the blue haired samurai's attention. Abuto noticed Bansai's stance changing slightly in response.

He was probably right to be wary and Kamui's smile only widened.

'Then I should go see him, shouldn't I?'

'Yes, you should I daresay.'

Kamui took on a combat stance as he examined the samurai in front of him, a look of glee spreading across his pretty boy face.

'You know, you were the first samurai I had ever seen, that day when you came to negotiate for our help against the Bakufu. It only makes sense that we should battle at least once, don't you think?'

Bansai shrugged.

'Perhaps I would have indulged you, if we had not been allies.'

'Allies? On the battlefield, allies and enemies are the same to me. All I ever want...is to follow my blood.'

Abuto figured he'd better stop it now before he lost another arm interrupting a full out battle...

'Captain, this could cause complications. Think for a second dammit. Think of how Takasugi will respond if you kill one of his best men!' Kamui turned to look at him briefly from the corner of his eye before returning his attention to the samurai in front of him.

'Kill him Abuto? No, no, I just plan to fight him...and possibly maim him, but not kill him! Tsk, tsk.' He replied, to his lieutenant's irritation.

'As if that's any different, idiot-'

'Boredom brings out the worst in you doesn't it, Kamui?' A voice remarked, prompting them all to turn to its source.

Takasugi had entered the hallway with Kijima Matako following behind him. With his entrance, Bansai relaxed his stance and Kamui's eyes narrowed in irritation.

'Ah, Takasugi, ruining my fun are you?'

Takasugi chuckled.

'It seems I'm going to have to find a leash for whenever you get bored.' He teased.

Kamui smiled and relaxed his stance, standing upright. 'You should know by now that leashes can't hold me back.' He remarked, approaching the man he had sworn to fight...but only after the world had burned to dust.

It was because of this that Abuto had no doubt that at the very least, Takasugi was one of the few who would be able to get through to him. The dark haired war veteran turned his olive green eyes to Bansai, who didn't look bothered at all by what had occurred.

'Bansai...'

'Ah. I'll get back to my business.' With that he walked off as casually as he had come into the darker reaches of the ship. After he was gone, Kamui returned his attention to Takasugi, a curious glint now gleaming in his deep blue eyes.

'So then, why did you want to see me?' He asked.

The one eyed samurai beckoned for him to follow him and led the way out. Kamui gave Abuto a look which the older warrior knew to mean he should remain, so Abuto did just that and watched as his captain and Takasugi went away to talk.

'What a pain in the ass...'

'How long are you tax robbers going to keep me here?' Gintoki yelled from behind his bars as an officer brought him his lunch. Hijikata was not too far from them, leaning on a wall by the door and he took out a cigarette from his pocket.

'For as long as you keep insisting you don't know Katsura or aren't connected in any way with the Jouishishi, Shiroyasha.' Hijikata replied nonchalantly as he lit the cigarette with his lighter. After exhaling some smoke, he turned his cold eyes to the imprisoned man in front of him. A cruel smile adorned his face as he asked:

'What's the matter? Missing your parfaits?'

'Bastard...'

The Vice Commander just shrugged his shoulders.

'Well, if you want to leave so badly, you know what to do.' He said simply, exiting the room and leaving Gintoki by himself.

Gintoki banged the cell bars in frustration before giving a deep sigh and lying against the wall, his eyes gazing distantly at the ceiling. He hated being alone sometimes...especially in circumstances like this. His mind was straying into past memories before he even knew it. One memory in particular started to play over and over again.

It was after one of their victories, when they had successfully repelled an Amanto advance. The rebels had celebrated briefly before turning in to rest, too weary and deprived of energy to fully express their joy.

Gintoki, however, found he couldn't sleep so he decided to take a walk around until he would get tired enough. It was as he was walking outside, taking in the desolate atmosphere around him, that he noticed a lone figure sitting under a tree and approached to get a closer view. The first thing he noticed was the person's natural perm, similar to his, causing him to smile slightly.

'Tatsuma.'

Sakamoto turned slightly in surprise at hearing his name but when he realized who had called him, he relaxed and smiled warmly.

'Oh, Gintoki, can't sleep?' He asked as Gintoki came up and sat next to him.

'I should be asking you that question.' Came the reply. Sakamoto shrugged his shoulders slightly.

'I sometimes come here to clear my thoughts, that's all.'

'Thoughts?'

'Yeah...' At this the brown haired samurai sighed and motioned to the remnants of the battle they had won. 'We had a decisive victory today. Everyone is happy about that but...'

'You have mixed feelings?'

'I guess I do. Just thinking about the countless people that died here. How long can we keep this up?' He wondered gravely.

Gintoki had looked down at that, for those sentiments mirrored his own and he didn't have an answer for them. When Tatsuma realized he wouldn't get a response he continued.

'I guess I shouldn't be so thoughtful.' Gintoki shook his head.

'No, there's nothing wrong with that. That's just how you are, always looking at the future.'

'What are you guys doing here?' A voice asked, causing them to turn and see Takasugi and Katsura walking up to them.

'Takasugi, Zura...'

'It's not Zura, it's Katsura.' Came the automatic response.

Gintoki realized they were waiting for a response to Takasugi's earlier question and scoffed.

'What, we can't come out and enjoy a bit of fresh air without you asking us questions?'

'There's nothing fresh about this air.' Takasugi deadpanned to Gintoki's irritation.

'Well, what are YOU guys doing here?' Gintoki returned.

'We realized you two were missing and came to check if you were here, moron.'

'Who are you calling a moron, pipsqueak?'

'What was that?!'

Katsura sighed, catching their attention. He was also looking out at the field in front of them.

'What a sad victory.' He mused, almost to himself.

'Ahahahaha! So, you feel the same way, Katsura?'

'It's not Katsura, it's- whoa!' Katsura had turned his gaze to Sakamoto now, seemingly shocked that he had been called rightly. He seemed to notice something in happy-go-lucky samurai's face for he asked:

'Is everything okay, Tatsuma?'

Sakamoto had laughed off his concern but Katsura wasn't fooled. He joined them on the floor and folded his arms in his haori.

'Maybe, just maybe, one day all of this will make more sense. The ideals that those who died today fought for will be realized.' He said softly.

'Those ideals will not bring them back.' Gintoki almost spat.

'No, no it won't...'

'Don't be such wussies.' Takasugi had scolded, prompting them to turn to him in unison.

'Takasugi...'

'These men were willing to die for our country to be free. They knew what the risks were when they joined. The only way to properly see them off is to win this war and make sure their sacrifices were not in vain. You think if we stopped now it would make us or them any happier?'

'That's cold.' Sakamoto had replied angrily, surprising both Gintoki and Katsura.

'But it is what it is.'

An awkward silence settled over them for a while but thankfully it was interrupted when Katsura began shuffling for something in his pocket, catching their attention.

'I think I know something that will cheer us up...' He said.

'Hmm?'

'UNO!' He replied happily, as he brought out some cards.

Sakamoto and Gintoki couldn't help the smiles that came to their faces and Takasugi had sighed. They knew Katsura was trying to do.

'Sure, whatever.'

So they had spent the rest of the night playing UNO, temporarily forgetting their worries and living in the moment. Gintoki had, at some point in the game, looked at Katsura and inwardly smiled at just how good he could be sometimes at diffusing the atmosphere with his silly games.

'Zura...' He had said. The raven haired samurai had turned to him then.

'What is it, Gintoki?'

'You'd better not die on us, okay?'

'Huh?' Katsura and the others had been surprised at his question but Gintoki hadn't elaborated, even when he had been asked.

The memory ended and Gintoki found himself sighing again. 'Mataku...' He whispered.

Outside, the Commander of the Shinsengumi, Kondo Isao, met up with Hijikata, who was still smoking.

'How's the interrogation going, Toshi?' He asked his deputy. Hijikata exhaled some smoke slowly before answering.

'He's not talking although, I doubt he was participating in any Joui activities.'

'I see. Keep interrogating him anyway.'

'Hmm?'

Kondo shrugged and elaborated.

'It would be suspicious of us to let go of someone who was in the same room as Katsura when we were told he was going to have a meeting. If it had been anyone other than the Yorozuya, we'd probably be torturing him by now to get the facts.' Hijikata nodded in understanding.

'That's true. Okay, Kondo-san, we'll keep him here a bit longer then.'

'Good, good.' He said patting the younger man's shoulders and walking away. The Vice-Commander found himself looking at Kondo's retreating frame, though he did not know why.

Elizabeth entered Katsura's room as he was looking out the window and held up a sign. Katsura turned round.

I'M GOING SHOPPING. WE'VE RUN OUT OF SOME THINGS

'Oh, is that so Elizabeth? Okay, but don't spend too much time outside.' The penguin-duck nodded and held up another sign.

IS THERE ANYTHING YOU WANT ME TO BUY FOR YOU?

'No, thank you. I'm okay.'

ARE YOU SURE KATSURA-SAN? YOU SEEM UNHAPPY TODAY, LIKE YOUR SHAMPOO HAS FINISHED OR SOMETHING

Katsura smiled slightly.

'There's still plenty of shampoo and conditioner left, no worries.'

OKAY, KATSURA-SAN. I'LL BE BACK SOON

With that, he walked out. Katsura's smile faded and he returned to viewing the outside of his window. A question was reverberating throughout his mind as he quietly watched the clouds moving in the sky.

What am I doing?