Desclaimer: I don't own Gintama. If I did, it wouldn't have been awesome xP
A/N: I was so dissatisfied with chapter 3, and I thought it was too bland, so I immediately updated it! I hated chapter 3 xP Thank you to angel-darkness123 and Kurasuchi for reviewing Chapter 3! I freakin' love you guys xDD
Chapter 4: Camping Is A Hassle
[ 8 : 0 0 A.M.]
Kagura sighed as she walked towards school with her semi-heavy backpack, that she had prepared the night before for camping. Kagura wearily looked up to the front gate, where she sees everybody waiting for the shuttle bus to arrive. Kagura jogged her way, and when she arrived, she receives a glare from Shinpachi. Kagura slowly shifted away...
The moment the bus arrived, Kagura sat down on a two-seater seat alone, staring outside the window. She cursed underneath her breath. Last night, she had prayed for a storm to come and cancel the camping, but instead, the Heavens gave her a sunny day. She face palmed.
They were soon arriving at the campsite, where there were birds soaring through the blue sky, squirrels going up trees and grabbing nuts, and there were rabbits too. Kagura fondly smile at the little creatures, as they stopped and stared at her, as if they were acknowledging her, but of course, that was probably just her imagination.
"Alright, we have arrived at the campsite," Gintoki announces, and hears cheers from a few students. After quickly tying her hair into a ponytail, she grabbed her backpack and went down the bus, together with other students.
"Well, the place we will be staying is just up a head, so we still have to walk a bit," Gintoki said, pointing uphill. A few students groaned...
"Class reps," Kagura flinched, as she was part of the Class reps. "Make sure nothing goes wrong," a threatening smile from Gintoki made them nod their heads. Kagura stayed behind, the group, her excuse being, "Guarding the group from the rear," Kagura panted, she wasn't good in active excersises...Hijikata sneaked a glance at her, and he sees her struggling. He slows down to match her pace.
"Need help?" Hijikata asks. Kagura was surprised that Hijikata would ask. Kagura tightened her grip on her backpack.
"No thanks," Kagura replied coldly, not sparing a glance at him. Kagura tried walking faster, so as to be a few inches away from him. Hijikata only stared at her figure, and the sweat that dropped down her neck...You see, the thing is, the relationship between Kagura and Hijikata is...well, you'll find out soon enough. (A/N: I'm evil aren't I :3)
As soon as they reached their destination, Kagura rested underneath a shaded tree, trying to cool off.
"Uh, so before we cook for lunch," Gintoki said, and the 2nd years cheered, "We need to collect materials for a fire," The 2nd years groaned.
"Don't worry, I'll only be assigning two people," Gintoki said. The students were quiet as they stood in anticipation...
"Then, Kamui and Kagura will do," Gintoki says, making Kagura flinch, and the smile on Kamui's face completely wiped off...
[...]
They both walked on a random path, just collecting twigs like they were instructed...Well actually, Kagura picked up the twigs, and Kamui held on to it. Their stroll was unbearably silent for both of them, and Kagura wanted to break the ice, but it was probably impossible. It's been 3 years since they talked to each other, and ever since then, Kagura's life went down hill like a landslide...
"The path ends here. We should go back. This should be enough for everybody..." Kamui said, turning around without sparing her a glance...Kagura stared on the ground, not knowing what to look at. She clenched her fist...
"Nii-san," Kagura whispered, but loud enough for Kamui to hear.
"Did I...do something wrong?" Her raspy and hoarse voice rung through their surrounding area, but it was deafening to Kamui. Kamui grumble.
"Don't ever call me nii-san again, and don't talk to me," Kagura fell silent, not sure how she was supposed to feel. Her emotions has been so numb for many years, she couldn't feel anymore...
"Sorry," Kagura said...
"It's not your fault...It's mine," Kamui mumbled. Kagura was shocked Kamui had said anything...Now, Kagura wasn't sure if she was happy or hurt, so her stoic face remained, but she hid her face in her jacket...
[ 1 0 : 0 0 A.M.]
They finally arrived to the campsite, and they all had the equipments ready for a outdoor grill, all they needed was the twigs for the fire.
"So, now that they've arrived, let's start grilling some barbecue!" Gintoki clasped his hands, and the whole of Class Z, except for Kagura and a few of the 3rd years, cheered.
"Oh, and since there is not enough grill for everybody, you need to share grills," Gintoki said, and the students nodded in understand, but Gintoki sees Kagura and her worried face, not having anyone to share a grill with, since she was basically an "outsider"
Gintoki approached Kagura, "You wanna share with me?" Gintoki asks with an expression of pity, and Kagura sighed.
"I have no choice, do I?" Kagura said, walking with Gintoki to their grill. Gintoki noticed how dull Kagura's expression was. Gintoki figured that something had happened with Kamui, but of course, he wasn't going to suddenly ask about it.
"Cheer up," Gintoki pats her in the back as they sat down on the stools.
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kagura dead panned. Gintoki only shook his head in disbelief.
"Anyway let's start grilling,"
[ 1 1 : 0 0 A.M.]
"Sougo, can you get me a wet towel?" Hijikata asks, since his hands were sticky from the soda he drank a while ago. Sougo says nothing, and goes by the sink.
"Kagura-san, could you get the cooking oil over there?" Sougo hear's Gintoki say from afar, and he sees Kagura running past him, getting the oil from the bag that Gintoki had brought.
"This one?" Sougo sees Kagura ask with her face not that cold-looking as the ones she had since the beginning of the trip.
"Hm. Yeah," Gintoki says from afar...Suddenly, when Kagura passes by a campfire, some oil spilled out onto the fire, and the fire roared like a lion, and it had burnt Kagura's hands and arms!
"Ahh!" Kagura exclaimed from the pain. Sougo ran to help her, when he sees Gintoki running to her rescue. Sougo stops in place, and stares hopelessly at Kagura. His grip on the wet towel tightened.
"I can't save her..." Sougo mumbled. Little did he know, that his every move was being servailed by Hijikata.
Gintoki quickly poured cold water on the burnt area of her arm, and Class Z merely stared from their places.
"It's alright, go back to what you were doing," Gintoki says to the others, while he helped her up so he can patch it up wtih a first aid kit.
[...]
"You were going to save her weren't you," Hijikata wanted to talk to Sougo privately, so they went somewhere where nobody could hear them. Hijikata crosses his arms, looking at Sougo, who was practically angry at himself, who couldn't save the woman he loved! Sougo remained silent.
"You know you can't. If you saved her, what If someone ever told Kijima Matako (A/N: One of Takasugi's followers in the anime) about you saving her, Kagura will be-"
"I know! I know...I get it, but...It's so hard!" Sougo, with a look of desperation punched a tree, leaving a dent on it. Hijikata only stared at Sougo.
"You still love her?" Hijikata asks.
"What do you think?" Sougo says.
[...]
"Sensei, you do know I can still use my hands right?" Kagura stared weirdly at Gintoki, who was trying to feed her some barbecue. Gintoki snapped his line of thoughts...After Gintoki cooled her hand off and wrapped it with a first aid bandage wrap.
"Oh, that's right," Gintoki chuckled. "Sorry, It's just that, whenever I see you, you remind me of a cat I used to take care of. It died because of its clumsiness," Gintoki laughed, making Kagura uncomfortable.
"So, are you saying I'm going to die because of my clumsiness too?" Kagura raises her eyebrows, taking a slice of barbecue, and munching it.
"No, of course not," Gintoki says, trying to surpress a laugh.
"It ain't funny," Kagura said, with a frown on her face.
"Yeah, no. It's not," Gintoki finally manages to calm down.
"But it sure is hot today," Kagura says, as a sweat dropped down her forehead.
"Hmmm...Yeah,"
"At this case, the heat might trigger my asthma..." Kagura mumbled to herself, but Gintoki heard it.
"You have asthma?" Gintoki asks.
"Hm. Yeah," Kagura says, sipping on her cola.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Gintoki asks.
"There's no point in telling you, so I didn't. It's not like I was trying to hide it or something," Kagura says, taking another slice of barbecue.
[ 5 : 0 0 P.M.]
They were wrapping it up, cleaning the campsite and such, and they were on their way back to where the parking lot. Kagura, who was still in space, thinking about what Kamui had said and trying to find meaning in it, was slowing down, idling as she walked...
"Huh? Where did the others go?" Kagura said once she saw a fork on the road.
"Oh no! I'm going to be left behind," Kagura took the left path...little did she know, that it was the wrong path.
[...]
"Is everybody here?" Gintoki asks, and receiving a yes from everybody, when he notices, Kagura wasn't there...
"I'm sorry, but, can you take these students back to the school? I'll stay for a little while," Gintoki says to the bus driver, when suddenly, he is approached by Hijikata.
"Sensei, is something wrong?" Hijikata asks.
"Kagura-san isn't here. Just get on the bus, and I'll look for her. I'm sure she just went back to get something," Gintoki says, going up the hill again.
"Wait, Sensei, let me help," Hijikata says.
"No, I only have room for two on my scooter. If you stay behind, how am I supposed to transport you back?" Gintoki said, walking away.
[ 6 : 0 0 P.M]
"Wait...I...don't remember passing this way before," Kagura said, fear seeping into her heart...
"Which way did I come from?" Kagura mumbled, starting to get really scared of the possibility that she was lost. Kagura walked further, but seeing the path ended and it was all grass, Kagura panicked.
"What am I going to do?" Kagura worried, as she ran forward, still convinced she was going in the right direction. As she ran faster, her head and sight became hazy, and chest pain started to kick in, making her fall to the ground. She slowly stands up, only to break her ankle.
"Ack!" Kagura winces in pain, as she started to have dizziness, and her breath was short, so she had to catch her breath, but how could she calm down in this situation?
"No...The sun is going down," Kagura said, grabbing a random stick that was sturdy enough to support her body.
"Oh no...Which way was I walking towards to again?" Her memory starts to dissolve, and she was starting to get confused...She starts walking, despite the pain from her ankle, and she walks and walks for 15 minutes, when she finally couldn't take it anymore. She fell on her knees.
"I can't walk anymore," Kagura said, her hair falling out of her hair tie, and her hair tie dropping to the ground. The sun had already set, and it was dark and cold, but even though it was cold, her body was sweating from fear...She breathes, trying to calm her mind, trying to clear her sight, when she sees...
"A light!" Kagura ran to it, despite her ankle being hurt, but it wasn't the bus stop...it was a Cherry blossom that glowed in the dark forest, emitting apink glow, and even though it was so beautiful, all Kagura could do was whimper in fear, and her eyes become glossy from tears threatening to fall. She fell onto the roots of the Cherry Blossom tree, where sat, staring at the beautiful pink leaves.
"I'm not going to cry..." Kagura said, with her dull eyes. She was walking non-stop, thus making her severely dehydrated. Then, Kamui's words suddenly echoes in her ears...
"It's not your fault...It's mine"
Kagura sighed. Why was she thinking of that at a time like this. Kagura checked her phone, and it was low battery...Kagura groaned, and her stomach grumbled...
"Help...Somebody, help!" Kagura started screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was no use. She was to deep into the forest for anyone to hear...
"So, will I die here? Sensei was right...I'd die because of my clumsiness," Kagura chuckled, but the pain from her ankle only got worse. She thought it would be nice to reminisce, after all...she was at her death bed. Of all the moments of her life, her memories take her to her special birthday dinner she had with Sougo, back when they were dating, where she had her first kiss...
"Sougo...why?..." That was when tears started to fall...
"Where did I go wrong?" Her voice was strained, and tears fell to the ground...
"..." Kagura remained silent. After all this, she still wanted to live. She still haven't sorted things out with Kamui, Shinpachi, or anyone, and she still haven't had the chance to see her Papi.
Kagura inhales a big one, "GIN-CHAN! HELP ME!" Kagura exclaimed, remembering Gintoki saying to call him that.
"You called?" Gintoki appears out of nowhere, and Kagura stared at his figure, whome she thought was an illusion at first...
"H-How did you find me?" Kagura asked.
"This," Gintoki said, pulling out her hair tie from his pocket that he saw was on the ground.
Gintoki chuckled, "So in the end, you called me Gin-chan," Gintoki said, walking near her, and kneeling beside her. He laughs at her.
"You...You think this is funny? I seriously thought I was gonna rot here to die, and my body aches, and-" Kagura was about to hit Gintoki with her burnt hand, when it was stopped by Gintoki.
"You're right...I'm sorry," Gintoki becomes serious, and pulls her into a hug. More tears fell...
"I was scared!" Kagura hugged Gintoki. Right now, it didn't matter whether he was her teacher or not, friend or not, she just wanted to cry in someone's arms. Gintoki stoked her hair, trying to hush her.
"I'm sure you were," Gintoki said. "I'm sure, you were..."
They remained in each other's arms, for a good 3 minutes or so, before Kagura fell asleep.
'You scared me to death too,'
A/N: So there you have it! Chapter 4! :D And it turns out...Sougo's still in love with Kagura :O And also, Kijima Matako plays a big role on Kagura's past, so bare with me! Q_