Desclaimer: I do not own Gintama
A/N: I realized in the last chapter, I wrote, "Black slacks," instead of "Black pleaded skirt." My mistake ^_^'. Also, thank you, Kurasuchi, Sell Chan and Superemopowerz, for reviewing! I made it long especially for you guys =^_^=
Chapter 2: New Classmates Are A Hassle
'Miss goody-two-shoes'
'Who does she think she is?'
'Two-faced liar...'
'Get away from me!'
Kagura's eyes shot open, her chest inflating and deflating as she hyperventilate, sweat dropping from her forehead falling onto the bed sheets. She shut her eyes filled with fear, trying to stop the pounding in her head. She clenched her blanket, trying to bear the pounding of her heart, chest pain and the blurring of her sight. She shivered when she recollected her dream of the past, and she rolled herself into a ball, giving herself comfort.
'What was that?...' A horrified exoression was present on her face, as she covered her face in confusion.
After she had calmed down, she got up for a shower, then changed to her uniform. Kagura stared at herself in the mirror, and she sees the vulnerable girl that she was, 3 years ago. Her fist clenched involuntarily, as she rememered a few things...
A squint adorned Kagura's features as she walked down the road to school. 'I wonder why I'm being transfered,' Kagura thought, remembering about her phone call with Gintoki last night. As Kagura approached the gate, she noticed Gintoki, standing in the middle of a few students, a friendly atmosphere around them.
'Are they transferred too?' Kagura raises her eyebrows, but her expression quickly changed when she saw Okita Sougo and Kamui amongst the crowd. A look of surprise and alarm appeared on her face for a few seconds. She quickly hid her face in her scarf.
[...]
Gintoki leaned by the gate, waiting for the last student, Kagura, to arrive. Gintoki was starting to get annoyed by Sarutobi always clinging on his arms. For some reason, she just kept clinging onto him, which annoyed him to hell! Plus, Otae was beating up Kondo Isao, a none Class-Z student. Luckily, the 3rd Year students were behaved, but one creeped him out, Kamui Yato.
Gintoki started to regret his choice of students. Everything was a mess. Shinpachi talked too loud, Ayame was too touchy, Otae was too violent, Sougo kept annoying Nobume, then they'd end up fighting, and there was Yamazaki who kept mumbling 'anpan'. The only students he was okay with was Kyuubei, Kagura, and 3rd Years. Gintoki hoped and prayed that Kagura would arrive soon...
"Ah, Kagura-san's here," Gintoki said, as Kagura came closer to the group. The atmosphere became heavy when everybody noticed Kagura.
"Imouto...You're transferred too?" The usual smile on Kamui's face had disappeared, and a look of disappointment replaced it. Because of all the stares on her, Kagura buried her face in her scarf a bit more. Gintoki, who didn't notice the change in atmosphere, interrupted the dead silence.
"Then, shall we go?" Gintoki said nonchalantly, as he marched forward for the school building. While the rest of the students followed behind Gintoki, Kagura distanced herself from the others.
'This couldn't be anymore worse...' Kagura thought.
[...]
'...It just got worse,'
Kagura stares at her seat, which was in between Kamui's and Sougo's. After cautiously taking her seat, she sank into her seat, for she didn't really want to be noticed by anybody...Little did she know, that she was being watched the whole time by her seatmate, Sougo.
"Alright, since we are a new class, why don't we introduce ourselves to each other," Gintoki clasped his hands. Gintoki, who was uknowing to the situation, didn't know that they all knew each other. In the spirit of formality, they decided not to say anything, and go with the flow.
One by one, everybody introduced themselves. "I'm Shimura Shinpachi. Nice to meet you," He bowed. Kagura's stare had lingered on him. When he caught Kagura staring at him, he flashed a look of anger, and Kagura flinched in surprise, then her head lowered in guilt.
"Well, that's everybody. Then, let's begin with our class,"
[...]
The bell had rung for lunch, and usually, Kagura would stay behind, but then, the rest were staying in the classroom, so she decided to eat outside. She walked down the crowded hallways with low spirits...
'So Shinpachi's still mad at me...' Kagura thought with her head down, but because she wasn't looking straight, she had bumped on somebody.
"Watch where you're going," A deep masculine voice said. Kagura knew this voice. Her head shot up in order to see who the person was, and it was...
'It's Hijikata...'
"Ah, I'm sorry," Kagura said, wobbly walking past him. Hijikata only stared at her retreating figure until she was out of his field of sight, before going back to the classroom.
Kagura sighed as she sat on a shaded area underneath the tree. She set her onigiri and canned juice down, and she sighed again, trying to relax and pace her heart properly. After Kagura took a sip on her juice, she sighed, once again, in relief.
"Why do you keep sighing?" Kagura stiffened when she heard a voice coming from above, and when she looked up, she sees Gintoki...
"Sensei, what are you doing up there?" Kagura asks, seeing Gintoki sitting on a tree trunk, sipping on strawberry milk with a childish pout on his face.
"What are you talking about? This is where I eat lunch," Gintoki nonchalantly said, jumping down to the ground to sit beside Kagura. "Why aren't you eating inside with the rest of them?" Gintoki asks.
"Well...I don't really get along with them," Kagura answerrs truthfully, leaving an impression on Gintoki of a lonely orange cat that he used to look after before it died...
"What do you mean?" Gintoki asks, lying down on his arms. Kagura stared at him for a while, before looking up at Class-Z's window on the third floor.
"It's a long story..." Kagura says, munching on her onigiri.
"If it's long, then don't tell me. I'll only get bored," Gintoki said, showing her that he wasn't trying to pry into her situation.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't have told you, anyway," Kagura said, emotionlessly sticking her tongue out at him. He chuckles a low one, before looking up at the tree leaves that covered the sight of the grey skies...
After that, they both sat/lie underneath the tree in comfotable silence in each other's presence, just sipping on their drinks. a little bit later, it started drizzling, leaving both of them a little taken aback.
"Sensei..." Kagura murmurs.
"Let's go back," Gintoki takes his lab coat off to shelter them from the rain, but Kagura didn't know.
"Sensei, what are you doing?" Kagura deadpanned
"To cover us from the rain when we run for the building," Gintoki says with a small smile of reassurance, as he ruffled her undone hair. Kagura's eyebrows and forehead wrinkled. She didn't like it when someone else ruffles her hair besides herself. Gintoki noticed.
"Don't make that face. You look ugly when you're mad," Gintoki laughs.
"It's your fault, though," Kagura says, taking her own red blazer off and running into the rain on her own.
"We were supposed to use my coat!" Gintoki shouts, making sure his voice was heard through the loud and obnoxious rain. Kagura turns to him, and flashed him the middle finger. Gintoki stared in awe at how she could do that to her own teacher. He smiled evily and playfully, running into the rain to catch up with her. Sneaking up behind her, he bumped her in the shoulders, making Kagura loose her balance.
"Gahk! What do you think you're doing?" Kagura asks cheekily.
"That's what you get for giving me that middle finger, you brat," Gintoki says, sticking his tongue out, before running ahead of her. Kagura just stared at his back either in anger or in content. This was the first time she's had a little fun in 3 years...
After Kagura finally had sight of the building's entrance door, she sees Gintoki there, waiting on her. She grumbled as she approached him.
'I can see her 'chest piece'...' Gintoki though as he caught a glance of her white blouse that had wet spots from a few raindrops that managed to clash onto her blouse revealing the fabric of her 'chest piece'.
"That's why I told you we should share the lab coat," Gintoki pointed on it, leaving a flushed Kagura.
"W-w-What are you looking at?" Kagura said, immediately putting her damp blazer on.
"Don't say it like I'm a pervert. It was unavoidable," Gintoki shrugs his shoulders and shook his head, at the angry and flushed Kagura. "I'm just pointing out that I didn't deserve that middle finger," Gintoki stucks his tongue out at her again, giving her a taste of her own medicine, before putting his hands in his pocket and walking away.
'I'm going to get back at him later!' She thought as she tried to catch her breath, and the bell rung, ending lunch.
[ 4 : 0 0 P.M.]
"Before we leave, I'd like to assign class reps, if that's alright with you," Gintoki said, only getting groans from the students. Nobody wants to be class rep, 'cause it was too much work or a hassle. They all hid their faces with their books, not wanting to be picked.
"Does anybody want to nominate someone?" Gintoki asks, his voice echoing through the classroom, and getting silence for a reply from the students. Gintoki groaned.
"If you're not going to nominate, then I'm gonna ha-" Gintoki said, but stopping midway when he sees Shinpachi raising his hand.
"Hai, sensei! I nominate Kagura Yato-san," Shinpachi's voice was clear to everyone. Kagura turned her head to look at Shinpachi with a look of betrayal on her face. Shinpachi knew that Kagura wouldn't want to be a class rep, so he purposely nominated her...
"In this case, the class representative for the girls will be Kagura," Gintoki announced, getting a sigh of relief from the other girls, for not being chosen. "I'll let you take over the call for the remaining candidates," Gintoki stepped into one corner, allowing Kagura to stand in front, behind his desk.
"Alright so...I just need one more male student to take up the class rep' role," Kagura tried to make her voice loud enough for everybody to hear.
"Is there anybody who would like to volunteer himself for this?" Kagura asks, nervous. It's been so long since she's talked in a large crowd. For Kagura, 11 students and a teacher was a large crowd.
"Is there anybody?..." Kagura's voice slowly started fading, and the silence was making her shrink.
'Don't give up now, Kagura!' She motivated herself.
"Is there anyone who would be willing to take this class and achieve higher things with me?" Kagura's face flushed. She felt so uncomfortable saying all this embarassing stuff.
'Someone...Anyone, please raise your hand!'
"I can do it." A masculine voice rang through the classroom. Everybody including Kagura was shocked to see Hijikata raising his hand. "Any objections? No objections?" Hijikata asked, asking in such a manner that forced people to be quiet.
After a few seconds, Kagura finally gained her composure back. "If there are no objections, Toushirou-san will be the male class rep' then," Kagura announced.
"Then, Hijikata-kun, would you please step out as well and perform the rallying with Kagura?" Gintoki asked, which was more of an order. As Hijikata walked over, Kagura gulped.
"What's that look for?" Hijikata asked Kagura.
"No...Nothing..." Kagura mumbled. "Thank-Thank you..." Kagura said, looking on the floor, too embarassed to face Hijikata.
"Moron. I just want this to end sooner so I can go home..." Hijikata whispered, and Kagura thought, 'urgh'
"Let's get this over and done with," Hijikata grumbled. "Alright, we need three more representatives. Anyone keen to do it?" Hijikata asked.
"Me," another voice rang though the classroom. "I will do it." Katsura said, walking up to Kagura, and standing beside her. In between two tall men, Kagura felt and looked tiny. Kagura let the two men do the rallying, as she stepped back a little.
Before Katsura could even talk, a hand shot up right away.
"Tak-Takasugi!" Katsura exclaimed. "I will take up the role," Takasugi smirks, not looking at anybody in particular. Then he walked up beside Katsura. Kagura looked even more tiny. The silence and the students just waited for one more person to be either nominated, or volunteer. Slowly, a hand rose from the group.
"Then, I'll do it," Sougo said, with a look of determination. A few students gasped, including Kagura, wondering why he would choose to be a class rep', especially if Kagura was in. Kagura's head lowered a bit, hiding her face from him as he walked over in front. Gintoki had a small smile, looking at Kagura shifting in her place uncomfortably.
"Then, it's decided. These are your class rep," Gintoki announces, and the students clapped, still uncertain or in disbelief of Sougo's choice.
[...]
Kagura sighed as she stood by the school entrance, just waiting for the rain to stop. Sadly, Kagura didn't bring her umberella, for she barely watch T.V. weather forcasts because she doesn't have one. The only time she gets a glimpse of one is either at work, or when she passes by an Electronic store that has T.V.'s for display in their front window.
Suddenly, Kagura is 'accidentally' hit on her shoulder, making her stumble on the concrete floor. Kagura winces in pain, while she looked at the person who hit her.
"I will never forgive you for what you did to Aneue that time...If I was heartless, I would've already made your life a living hell," Shinpachi, the hitter, said with a dark expression, before disappearing in the rain. Kagura, who was still on the floor, sighed.
'...Why...' She thought as she stood up and pat her dusty skirt.
[ 8 : 0 0 P.M.]
Kagura's dull eyes stared at nothing as she entered her apartment. After taking her shoes off, she undressed herself to take a half-bath to refresh herself. Once she was done, she changed into a pair of shorts and a red tank top, and made onigiri for dinner.
'Maybe I'll eat on the roof for a change...'
She carefully climbed the roof that had water puddles from the recent rain, then she spread her picninc blanket on the surface. After she squatted and settled down, she munched on her onigiri while she looked up at the purple night sky that was adorned with a thousand twinkling stars. Kagura sighed in its beauty and significance.
"Papi, How are you doing?" Kagura said, talking to the stars, hoping that they would send her message to her beloved Papi.
"Me? I'm doing fine...I think," Kagura said, remembering her encounter with Shinpachi. "Today, I saw Shinpachi, which really made me happy!" A bright smile appeared on her face.
"But I think he's still mad at me...and I still don't know what I did..." Her voice that was filled with sadness and desperation was soft and quiet. She munched on her meal, trying to eat away the sadness that was knocking on her heart's door.
"Mami," She shifted her conversation from her Papi to her deceased Mom. "I'm glad that today I saw Nii-chan, but he was a little harsh on me..." Kagura pouted.
"I still don't know why he left me..." Kagura said, munching away her sadness.
"Mami...I still don't know what you look like. You disappeared when I was young, so I still don't know. I've never seen a photograph of you. But I'm sure you were gorgeous! I mean, Papi's ugly, but Kamui and I are above average...You must've been beautiful..." Kagura said, her eyes glistening with together with the stars, staring at the breath-taking full moon.
"Mami...Take me away from this place..." Her hushed, muffled mellow voice was searching for something in the stars, hoping for a sign of some sort. She sighed. She felt foolish for talking to no one. She felt...stupid and alone. Her stinging nose made her sneeze, but it also caused tears to gather in her eyes.
"...I'm so stupid!" Her lips quivered at her admitting she was foolish, making her tears fall. Her eyebrows creased closer, making more tears fall down.
"I don't know why I'm still crying, after all these years!..." Kagura slammed her fist on the roof at her being emotionally weak. She slammed weakly, again and again, over and over, hoping that tears would stop.
[...]
Gintoki sighed after removing his lab coat that he usually wore, and setting his bag down. He stared at his messy apartment, groaning at the horrible sight. After he finally managed to get through the pile of clothes on the floor, he opened the fridge and grabbed his parfait and ate.
'it's de-appetizing with all this junk in the apartment...and to think I just moved in...How did it get so messy?" Gintoki ruffled his silver hair, kicking all the stuff in his way, making it to the couch. He sighed as he ate on his parfait, thinking of nothing...
*Bam*
*Bam*
*Bam*
"Where's that coming from?" Gintoki groaned, getting up from the couch, trying to find the source of the annoying banging, leading him by the window.
"Over here?" He raises his eyebrows, peaking his head through the window, seeing a crying girl on the roof, banging her fist on the roof.
"Hey! Stop it with the banging! It's disturbing others! You're not the only one who lives he-" Gintoki yelled from his window, and when the girl turned her head around, his eyes widened in surprise, likewise with the girl, and the girl was Kagura, but before his mind could register that it was his young student, he gasped. Her beauty and the moonlight that glowed on her features and the tears dropping onto the roof like non-stop, and her hair smooth hair that rode the night breeze, and her sincere cerulean eyes...it all overthrew him. Staring at her with her painful expression and tears made his heart throb in pain. He sighed in her beauty...
"Sensei?" Kagura exclaimed, making Gintoki snap out of ther trance.
"Kagu-" Before Gintoki got to finish saying her name, in panic, she grabbed her picninc blanket and ran for her window, when she slipped on a wet puddle, hitting her head on the metal roof, making her fall unconcious. Gintoki jumped onto the roof, making sure he could grab her body that was slipping down the roof.
"Kagura!" Gintoki managed to hold her wrist, as she hung at the edge of the roof. Gintoki was surprised when he realized how light Kagura was. He easily pulled her unconcious body into his arms, and he had to carry her delicate body carefully. Gintoki sighed, after successfully saving his student from falling...
'Is this her apartment?' Gintoki thought as he peaked through a random window, when he sees her uniform hanging in an open cabinet.
'Yep, this is it,' Gintoki opened the window, and jumped in, with Kagura in his arms. He carefully set her body onto her bed, when he decided to look around...
'Her apartment is so empty...' Gintoki thought, when he realized, that Kagura was the only one living in the apartment...
'She doesn't live with Kamui?...' Gintoki concluded.
'...Then, I'll just leave her a note...'
[ 1 2 : 0 0 P.M.]
It was in the middle of the night, and the only light source was the moon light, seeping through the windows, when Kagura's eyes shot open, surprised she was alive.
"..." Kagura remained silent, when she saw a letter on her night stand.
"Yo,
It turns out we're neighbors. You're lucky I was there on time to save you. By the way, you were heavy,"
'It's his fault I fell in the first place! and I barely eat! How am I heavy?' Kagura thought as she read halfway through the letter.
"I don't know why you were crying, but cheer up. If it helps, you can talk to me. Not because I care, but because if you're depressed, it might hinder your studies, and it'll only be a hassle to me if you have low scores on your tests. Otose-iinchou is gonna kill me if someone has a low grade in my class. So, Cheer up,
-Ginpachi-sensei"
Kagura didn't know whether to be annoyed or to be grateful, but anyway, she collapsed on her bed, and fell asleep spot on.
:::::::::::::::::::::::
A/N: Bare with me, I will soon get to Kagura's past in the later chapters, so for now, just read through this badly written fic for now xP. (I was in a hurry, because I had limited time, so I'm sorry if it was boring .