14: Joi to the World
.
.
Even thought they are old friends, the more time Katsura spends around Gintoki, the guiltier he feels about blowing up buildings. It's not just Gintoki, he feels guilty when he's around anyone not involved in his war, especially now that the holidays approach. Children run laughing through the street, and he feels guiltier still. Innocent bystanders suffer the most in a war, and he can't help thinking that no matter how much he believes in his cause and saving the country, it's not worth much if children get hurt in the crossfire.
But it's not like it's easy to stop now that his picture is famous for decorating the police's most wanted list for three years in a row. Logically, Katsura can do the most good by staying with his group of freedom fighters and trying to keep the destruction they cause to a minimum.
"I think we should halt all Joi actions for the month," Katsura says. "It wouldn't feel right this time of year. And this way everyone gets to take a vacation."
"But Katsura," one of his men protests, "isn't that exactly the type of action that the Shinsengumi would expect? If we plan an attack now, it will have the advantage of being unexpected."
"Yes, but that's exactly the type of unexpected action that the Shinsengumi have been trained to expect. Therefore, in order to truly surprise them, we must do the opposite of the unexpected action that they expect, which would be the expected unexpected lack of action, which then would be truly unexpected since they won't expect it."
Katsura's men are left scratching their heads in confusion, but they eventually understand their leader's brilliance. Or at least they understand enough to wander off to visit their families and loved ones for a few weeks.