It was another day at the Yorozuya, and Shinpachi was cleaning the floor with a broom, while Gintoki sat lazily reading a Jump magazine.
"I would really appreciate some help, Gin-san." Shinpachi sighed, seeing no great reaction in his permed boss.
"Of course not. I'm your boss, and my leader position would be reduced to ashes if I help you in your chores." he said, scratching his nose.
"What kind of lazy leader are you?! And what the hell do you think I am, then?!"
"Oi, oi, would you two just shut up for once? It's just 2 pm and you two are already fighting like Bulma and Veggeta. There is people who's trying to sleep here, damn it..." Kagura entered the room, still in pajamas and uncombed, yawning.
"DON'T ENTER AND SAY THAT LIKE IF TO BE ASLEEP AT 2 PM WAS THE MOST NORMAL THING IN THE WORLD!" snapped Gintoki.
"AND WHO THE HELL ARE YOU COMPARING WITH BULMA, BASTARD!" yelled Shinpachi.
That ended up being one of the usual verbal fights in the Yorozuya, but then an alarm clock rang. To the surprise of Shinpachi, Kagura and Gintoki smiled.
"Seems that finally it's time, right?" broke the silence Gintoki, confusing Shinpachi even more.
"I hope there's good food, otherwise it'll be a waste of time, aru." said Kagura.
"What are you talking about?" asked Shinpachi, puzzled.
Kagura and Gintoki looked at Shinpachi little impressed.
"Have you already forgotten the event, Pattsuan? You're a hopeless case." said Gintoki, shaking his head.
"His confusion doesn't surprise me much, Gin-chan. It's like that time when he forgot we'd meet in Jabaody after two years of intense training." Kagura said in a bored tone.
"THAT NEVER HAPPENED! STOP STEALING ELEMENTS OF OTHER MANGAS!" yelled Shinpachi.
Gintoki stuck a finger in his ear and closed his eyes in irritation.
"Anyway, let's get going. I won't miss the chance to eat free. And you, Shinpachi, you wouldn't like to miss your sister's wedding, don't you think?"
Shinpachi looked at Gintoki with wide eyes.
"Huh? What do you mean, Gin-san? Don't make jokes like that, please."
Kagura and Gintoki observed Shinpachi with narrowed eyes, wich caused him to sweat.
"Your stupidity never stops surprising me, Shin-chan. Aren't you supposed to be the most intelligent character?" said Kagura with sneer and arms crossed.
"Forget it, Kagura. The poor Shinpachi's still in 'that stage'." Gintoki whispered to Kagura a little too loud.
"What the hell does that means?! Tell me what's happening already!" demanded to know Shinpachi.
Kagura and Gintoki stood watching Shinpachi with suspicious expressions.
"It's the Gorillas's wedding, Megane. You should know that." said Gintoki sighing.
Shinpachi took a couple of seconds to understand Gintoki's phrase and, when he did, started laughing stupidly.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha...is a joke, right? You're deceiving me, RIGHT?"
"Believe what you want, Pattsuan." Gintoki surrendered and along with Kagura, went towards the Shinsengumi.
"Oi, wait! Don't leave me behind, bastards!" yelled Shinpachi, and followed them.
What Shinpachi saw on arrival was a nightmare come true. He just couldn't believe what his eyes were seeing. He tried waking up several times, throwing himself glasses of water and punching his forehead against a tree. It didn't work. Several of the guests looked at Shinpachi scared, but he just ignored them. He had no time to bother with good impressions. What was happening was unthinkable: his sister and...that damn gorilla head of the Shinsengumi.
"Oi, Shinpachi what's up?" suddenly appeared Yamazaki, dressed in a white suit.
"Oh, Yamazaki, it's just you..." said Shinpachi, staring at him blankly.
"What do you mean with that?!" blurted Yamazaki, annoyed. "Dude, you look really bad, are you okay?" he asked this time with some concern.
"My sister's getting married with the last person I expected. So, no, I'm not okay."
Yamazaki smiled pathetically.
"Shinpachi, calm down a bit, man. Later you'll have to face with even more stressful situations. Try to put yourself in your sister's and Kondo-san's place. Try to reflect in you the positive emotions they're feeling right now. And if they feel negative emotions, then try to understand them." said Yamazaki.
Shinpachi looked at him strangely.
"Yamazaki-san..."
"Here they come! Here they come!" cried suddenly a person.
Everyone looked towards the door, and then came the bride and husband happily, taking hands.
"Congratulations, Kondo-san." said Hijikata with tears in his eyes.
"Try not to die at the hands of this woman, Kondo-san." added Sougo with a smile.
Shinpachi saw this scene with an open-mouthed. Both Hijikata and Sougo wore black suits and the gorilla couple wore a shimmering white and had big smiles pasted on their faces.
"Well, it's time to start this wedding." appeared from nowhere Katsura and spoke through a microphone.
"KATSURA-SAAAAAN, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" exclaimed Shinpachi, surprised.
Katsura smiled stupidly and gave a thumbs up.
"I'm the godfather." said simply.
That was the icing on the cake. Shinpachi couldn't take it anymore.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Shinpachi, wake up, Shinpachi!" a voice shook him.
Shinpachi awoke and raised his hands to his face.
"It was just a nightmare, Shinpachi-kun. But screaming like that...must've been some really ugly one, am I right?" asked Kondo.
Shinpachi turned to see Kondo, and what he saw made him scream again.
"KONDO-SAAAN! WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU!?" asked Shinpachi seeing that the Shinsengumi commander have become a brown anthropomorphic gorilla.
"Huh? You mean that we've become both anthropomorphic animals?" Kondo shrugged. "No idea."
"How can you be so relaxed!? Wait...Huh? WHAT THE HELL AM I?!"
Shinpachi put his hands on his head and they contacted with his long ears. Kondo, seeing Shinpachi's puzzled expression, grabbed a mirror that was on the wall of the room where they were and handed it to him. What Shinpachi saw in his reflection, left him with a blank expression.
"Shinpachi-kun...are you alright...?" asked Kondo suspiciously.
"A rabbit...I'm a rabbit." siad Shinpachi, deadpan.
Kondo was beginning to worry.
"Oi, Shinpachi-kun, stop making that face, you're scaring me!"
Shinpachi turned to see the gorilla and sighed.
"I suppose it doesn't matter now. Any idea where we are, Kondo-san?"
The above mentioned sat on the floor.
"As you would've notice we are in a cell. Apparently someone have found us after landing here. It also appears that we are separate from the others. I haven't had the opportunity to talk to anyone yet, so I figure someone will come to question at any time."
Shinpachi was about to ask how he knew, when suddenly a figure appeared in front of the cell bars.
"You're right, gorilla."
Kondo's and Shinpachi's eyes were directed towards the deep voice and were surprised to see a strange black animal (they didn't really know what it was) with red stripes and the only garment wich covered it were some sneakers.
Seeing him, Shinpachi got a sense of déjà vu.
"Um...excuse my rudeness, sir. But who are you? Where are we?" was encouraged to ask.
The said "sir" gave him a sharp look and raised an eyebrow at the mention of "sir".
"That's what I should ask you." he said, and then opened the cell.
"Follow me. And I warn you not to try anything funny, unless you want to make enemies." said the strange creature, looking at them sternly.
Kondo and Shinpachi felt a chill.
How cold..., both thought.
"Where are we heading?" asked Shinpachi, a little nervous.
The guy didn't even bother to turn around to answer.
"I'm taking you to see the commander. Maybe he can answer your questions"
"What's your name?" asked Kondo.
Again, the strange creature didn't even turned around to answer.
"Shadow the Hedgehog."
"Pleased to meet you, Shadow-san. I'm Shinpachi Shimura."
"I'm Kondo Isao. I hope we can be friends, Shadow-san."
Shadow nodded in consent and, although he wouldn't say it out loud, was glad that both Kondo and Shinpachi were more educated than certain other characters he knew...
"Those are some very special names, and why the add -san to pronounce my name?" Shadow asked with some curiosity.
Kondo and Shinpachi exchanged glances and smiled apologetically.
"Heh, heh, excuse us, we forgot that we're far from our home. Where we come from, we use certain honorifics to refer to people. The -san is the most common honorific and it's used to address someone formally; the -kun is to address non-adult men and also the -chan can be used to address someone with affection and also usually to children and pets. There're more honorifics, but those are the most common."
After listening carefully to Shinpachi's explanation, Shadow nodded in understanding.
"Here it is. " said suddenly Shadow, in frot of a door.
Shinpachi swallowed and felt confused at how calm Kondo was. As if he'd read his mind, he whispered:
"As head of the Shinsengumi, I had to go through several similar situations."
Shinpachi nodded, and the three entered the room.
"It's about time you got back, Shadow." said a man of strict appearance from his desktop.
This one looked at the newcomers and cleared his throat.
"I see you've awakened." said standing up from his chair and approaching towards Kondo.
"I'm the commander of the military organization G.U.N."
The appointed commander reached his hand to Kondo in greeting and he squeezed it.
"Commander of the Shinsengumi, Kondo Isao."
Commander G.U.N. smiled.
"And you are...?" he asked addressing to Shinpachi and holding out a hand in greeting as in Kondo's case.
Shinpachi nervously smiled and squeezed his hand.
"Shinpachi Shimura, nice to meet you, sir."
The said sir returned to his desk and pointed to the three to sit.
"I'd like to hear your story." the G.U.N. commander said with an important air.