Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama

Chapter 1 - Amaryllis Tune

Three years later

Kagura sighed and sat down on a fallen log. Her continuous travels through untamed woods had made her weary and she longed for a hot bath and a comfy bed. These were luxuries she could never afford traveling the countryside, searching for some useless idiot, barely making enough money to pay for her and Sadaharu's food.

She gave her ginormous dog a meek smile and patted him on the paw, the only place she could reach from her current position. "It's no use Sadaharu, he's nowhere."

Sadaharu barked in response, panting heavily with his tongue sticking out of his mouth. Kagura never knew if he could fully understand her, or if he just indulged her need for conversation. Though it was no use thinking about it. She wouldn't have been deterred if the latter was true anyhow. She pondered how it looked from the outside. Most girls her age would hang out with their friends at the mall or something. Or the live ones would at least.

The gloomy thoughts made a little stream trickle down Kagura's cheeks. "Geez" she said and used the back of her hand to wipe the tears. "There I go again."

Through her travels in the south. She had heard a string of tales of how Edo had become ground zero of an incurable plague. The ones who came in contact with this disease, would experience their hair turning white, regardless of original hair color. There was no cure to be found, and most people didn't live past their second month.

Almost all communication with Edo had been cut off. She had heard that the government officials had abandoned the city, and no one were allowed to leave in case they carried the disease. Once you entered the border of Edo, you were never allowed to leave again.

Sadaharu laid down next to Kagura, and nuzzled his snout in her long red hair. This had always cheered her up in the past, and this time was not an exception. The young yato giggled a little, before she flashed him a toothy grin.

"I'm sorry Sadaharu. I didn't mean to bring you down!" She sniffled a little and wiped away the last of her tears. "I'm just hungry. That's all. Why don't we look for food? I think we're nearing a village, if my memory serves me right."

The white dog barked happily and shot up on all fours. He wiggled his tail excitedly back and forth, eager to get going.

"Yosh!" Kagura matched his enthusiasm and stood up next to him. "Time to get a move on."

The village was indeed where Kagura had thought it to be, but it took a little longer to walk there than she had anticipated. The sun was setting in the distance, and they had walked none-stop since noon to get there in time. She hoped some of the town shops were still open.

It was a small country village Sadaharu and Kagura had walked through when they'd first left Edo, all those years ago. She had stayed the night at an old lady's house. She had helped her carry home her groceries when she'd noticed the old woman wobbling through town with a walking stick in the one hand and five grocery bags in the other.

Kagura walked up to the village shop, and was unfortunately met with the 'Closed' sign dangling in the glass door. She saw the shop owner closing the register, and banged on the door pleading him to open for her. The middle-aged man shook his head and pointed to his wristwatch.

She gritted her teeth and stomped off. "Looks like we won't eat tonight Sadaharu". Sadaharu whimpered in response. "I know it's unfair, but we ate all our food yesterday because we thought we would make it here in time. We're both to blame".

The yato and the dog walked to the end of the village in search of another shop, but everything was closed. Kagura hadn't really expected anything to be open after eight in such a small village, but it had at least been worth a shot.

Kagura sighed and admitted defeat when she pulled the door of the last shop. She leaned against the doorframe and watched the houses surrounding the main street. She could see families eating their dinners, taunting her mercilessly with their happy, perfect lives. She also noticed that not all of the houses seemed to hold occupants. Those without lights in their windows looked abandoned.

"Tch, maybe we should break and entry." She said sarcastically and glanced over at Sadaharu. The dog gave her a peculiar look and began sniffing the air. He caught whiff of something and jolted off in the direction of the neighborhood Kagura had eyed with envy.

"Hey, where are you going?" She shouted at Sadaharu and charged after him. "I was just joking! Please don't break into anyone's house!"

She found the dog wagging his tail proudly outside a gated fence. Kagura was a little out of breath and had to catch it before she could scold Sadaharu for running away from her. "What were you thinking!?" She finally said when her breathing calmed down. "You can't just run off like that you know!"

Sadaharu didn't care about her strict tone. He walked to the mailbox next to Kagura, continuously wagging his tail. He barked at the box, and Kagura understood that he wanted her to read it.

"Okita Residence?" She blinked a couple of times. The name seemed somewhat familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. She skimmed through her memory bank, looking through the names and faces of everyone she could remember meeting. The face that matched the name didn't please her, not one bit.

"Oh no. Don't think for a second I'll go in there. That sadist has probably booby-trapped the entire house, we'll die if we go inside." Kagura crossed her arms, "I won't go inside, and you can't make me!"

Kagura sighed when she heard her stomach speak against her will.

The key was under the mat like Okita had told her it would be. She placed it in the keyhole and turned it slowly to unlock the door. She heard a little click and pulled out the key. She opened the door slowly, anticipating tripwire attached to a cannon on the other side.

Nothing happened, and Kagura decided to duck her head inside the door. She used her umbrella to flip the switch on the wall next to her. Still nothing. She glanced up at the ceiling. There wasn't a bucket over the door, nor a chandelier ready to fall on her if she stepped on a pressure plate. It was just a regular one-story house. Kitchen and living room in one, a few sliding doors on the opposite wall. Leading in to what she assumed was bedrooms and a bathroom. All in all, fairly standard living quarters.

Sadaharu began to grow impatient while he waited for her to enter the house. When she didn't walk right in after switching the lights on, he decided to move her along by head-butting her inside.

She fell head first. "Hey!" she growled at him. He gave her the most innocent look he could muster, earning him a bitter frown instead of harsh words.

Kagura rubbed the sore spot in her forehead. The place on her body that had experienced most of the impact. She used her arms to lift her up from the ground, and headed to the kitchen. Sadaharu was too big fit through the main door, so Kagura asked him to go to the yard and see if there was a larger tatami on the other side of the house.

She rummaged the cupboards for anything edible. The shelves were mostly empty. Obviously her rival didn't spend much time here. She found a large sack of rice in one of the lower cupboards. She had to use both her hands to pull it out. '30 KG' was printed on the backside of it, in bold, red letters. She took the bowl out of the rice cooker next to the sink, and filled it with the maximum limit of rice. She turned the handle on the sink and waited for the water to cool, she then washed the rice before she placed the bowl back in the rice cooker.

Now she just had to be patient.

While she waited, she went to check up on Sadaharu. She let him in through the tatami in the living room. And moved around some of the furniture so he could walk more freely between the rooms. She checked on the other rooms. As she had guessed, there were two bedrooms and a bathroom. The one closest to the kitchen was neatly decorated. It had a white dresser with some picture frames on top, but it was too dark for Kagura to see the pictures. There was also a floor mirror and pictures on the wall. The other held nothing but a single dresser.

When she concluded the grand tour. She seated herself next to the rice cooker and watched the timer impatiently. While she did so. She noticed a letter attached to the bag of rice. Kagura yanked it off. 'China' was written on the envelope in an elegant handwriting. She ripped it open and pulled out a note, written on white stationary.

'Please don't eat everything at once. I know you're a monster, but try to ration it a little. Remember to water my plants.'

She crumbled the note ferociously in her hands. She looked around the room for a place to toss it, and noticed a trash can next to the refrigerator. Kagura was way too lazy to walk the three steps it would require to toss it directly into the bin. She opted to hit it from where she sat, but missed and hit the brim and it bounced next to the bin.

"Close enough," Kagura sighed. She folded her arms on the kitchen counter and rested her head on top of them.

She sat there for what seemed like an eternity. When the alarm finally sounded, she hummed the Amaryllis tune alongside the rice cooker. She divided the rice 50/50 with Sadaharu, and began preparing their next meal while she ate. There wasn't much to season it with, so she drenched her plate with salt and pepper.

Content with a full belly. Kagura stretched her arms and yawned loudly. "Time for night-night". She told Sadaharu. She grabbed the few bathroom articles she'd brought along with her on the trip, and walked to the washroom. She was tempted to take a bath before she went to sleep, but she was just too tired to do anything more than necessary.

Kagura studied her reflection while she brushed her teeth. Mirrors weren't a regular luxury, and she'd gone a long time with only her reflection from windows as a reference to her look. She could hardly recognize the woman in front of her. Long gone were the cheerful teenager filled with joy and optimism. Now she saw only a tired, pragmatic woman, with eyes displeased by the things she'd seen in her life.

She finished brushing her teeth. She brushed and braided her long red hair, and noticed that it was due for a cut. She took her bedroll and decided to sleep in the emptiest of the rooms. She would feel less like a trespasser if she did so. She removed her dirty clothes and tossed them on the ground next to her feet. The red top she wore, was a bit short on the stomach and way to tight around her bust. Her red pirate pants held the same problem, especially since they had started out as regular pants. The only pieces of clothing she'd kept on top on was her underwear and her winter clothes. She couldn't really afford much else, and hadn't shopped since she was sixteen and came across a well-paying job while she traveled through Kyushu.

She placed her bedroll on the floor and opened the tatami leading out to the garden. It was still summertime so it was nice to let some air in while she slept. She took a whiff of the fresh air, and stretched a final time before she headed over to her bedroll. She slid inside made herself comfortable.

Sadaharu was too big to enter from the living room, and he was too lazy to go around. He laid down outside her door. Kagura smiled and moved a little to the right so she could look at her dog. "How long do you want to stay here?"

The dog barked in response.

"Yeah. That was what I was thinking." She said and closed her eyes, slumber soon followed.

A/N Naming is the worst. But I remebered looking up the tune on my Zojirushi rice cooker a while back, Amaryllis Tune by Louis XIII. Amaryllis is a flower, and I searched the mening of it: "If you actually translate the meaning of this word in English, the floral meaning of the flower translates to pride. So, this is a great flower that you can give someone that you truly care about" ( ) It suited the story well enough. And I'm kind of lazy.