Good afternoon! An apology for the delay. I hope you have not forgotten this fanfic. Thanks to the people who read and follow this story. Enjoy. Things will get interesting at last. Nice week! :D
Parazor: Thank you very much for your effort and support. Without you this project would not have materialized.
Chapter 9
Eye to Eye
The floor roared under their feet, it trembled as a result of the constant clash of forces those two men caused every time the distance between them got dangerously short. The whole scene in which their battlefield was unfolding was lost, falling in to destruction and turning into useless rubble. In that wide hall were just the two of them, and no one else.
Gintoki, the feared swordsman who fought bravely against the Amanto to protect his friends, whose burning lust for battle sleeping in his veins awoke once again. Yuusha, the self-proclaimed new King of the Night, did nothing but pressure him and get excited over the splendid opponent in front of him.
The wooden sword resisting the force of his mace. The spirit of a samurai facing that of a vile, cold-blooded murderer. Two persons who didn't have the need to know each other and exchange punches were there, fighting and trying to maintain their own ideals. Wasn't that the only way in which warriors like them knew how to live?
"You're not bad at all, brat." He spat the blood that had accumulated in his mouth after the silver-haired man had delivered such a punch to his jaw.
"For an old man, you still can defend yourself well." Sakata, for his part, was trying to regain his balance after the blue-haired man's hit to his head.
"Are you okay being here, knowing your two proteges are wandering around my palace?", he questioned with a mocking smirk. "I'm not the only danger in this place."
"They're old enough. They can take care of themselves pretty well." He trusted them to the point that he ordered them to keep moving to find the person they came to rescue.
"If you're here to save someone, I assure you, you're wasting your time", the man expressed arrogantly. "None of those women will go back to how they were before. Not after what they've tasted."
"Tasted? What the hell does he mean by that? Is he referring to the drug Aya-chan mentioned us? Is that thing that dangerous?"
"Many things have started to happen around you and you haven't even realized it."
For a creature like that there was no problem in remaining in the deepest part of the palace. Not when it was skilled enough to use the pipes around it as trampolines that would inevitably take them to the surface, to that place where the real fun was. Besides, nobody would be brave enough to get in the way of a monstrous canine that made its way with those intimidating fangs.
"We've arrived faster than I thought we would", expressed Oshin calmly, her gaze settled on the room they'd accessed from below, leaving a world of wreckage behind.
"Damn it, why the hell didn't you warn us that we would come up here in such a way!?" Abuto almost fell from the Syx's back a few times.
"You have to admit it was much faster this way." Kamui, for his part, had gotten off the beast and was looking around. "I can't hear a thing, so we must be pretty far away from the action."
"You better park your 'pet' or it'll destroy the whole place", said the brunet to a certain black-haired woman. That thing that was rubbing its face against the apothecary's barely even fit in the room.
"But he'll feel lonely if I leave him here. He'll think I've abandoned him, isn't that right Masamune?"
"You've named it already!? Do you really intend to keep it!?"
"In a way, he could help us make our way easily." That playful look in the redhead's face couldn't mean anything. Yes, they were both able to interpret the underlying message.
"Well, if we've already made this much damage, what does it matter if we make some more?", whistled the apothecary. Abuto sighed sorrowfully.
However, before they could carry out their little mischief, they realized their intrusion hadn't been overlooked. Who would've thought? The enemies had found them first, and the best part was that it seemed they could see the one who could be considered the leader in between that whole bunch of barbarians.
"I think they're pretty eager to fight us as well." The blue eyes focused on the only person who caught his attention: on that man wearing a white hood that didn't let any part of his physical appearance show.
"You won't advance any further. You'll die right here", stated dryly the one hiding his identity. "And you'll regret ever letting my precious pets escape."
"You see? I told you. You were going to get us in more unnecessary trouble", chastised the brunet a certain troublemaker.
"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Nobody would threaten Kamui and tell him what he could or couldn't do. "I hope you bite the same way you bark", he smiled slightly, taking a fighting stance. "Because your comrade ended up being nothing more than a fraud."
"Don't compare me with that bleached small fry." There was that particular object again, which to them was very familiar.
"Do we really have to fight one of our own again? Is this place cursed or something?" To Abuto, fighting one of his own kind wasn't something he enjoyed. And having to meet someone of the sort in that place wasn't comforting at all, after having been through the same thing with his captain's sister.
"Isn't it better to face one of your own than fight someone who's just pretending to be one through cheap tricks?" They weren't dealing with a 'he', but with a 'she'. They knew it the instant she removed her garment. "Yuusha has ordered me to get rid of all the intruders, so this is nothing personal, kid."
"Wait a minute… What she's carrying is… Where did you get that sword?", asked Oshin as soon as she noticed such a particular object.
"Oh, this? I found it lying somewhere", she answered calmly.
"Is your name Aya, by any chance…?" Shinpachi had managed to tell her the reason why they'd come here and he also mentioned the young woman who gave them the job; there was no way to mistake a woman like that if the silver haired samurai had described her with such detail.
"Not at all", she assured. "My name isn't that… not at the moment." She smiled widely, with extreme mockery. "Is it you the one who's looking for this sword? This trinket really has to be important to have this many people searching for it."
"So, this was a trap from the beginning… Is this how they wished to deal with the only person who could try to do something to save Yoshiwara? I'll admit you were pretty smart, fooling those three, making them believe you actually wanted to save someone important to you." What disconcerted those two Yato wasn't her words, but her actions. She had moved to where Kamui stood, and unlike other occasions, she showed interest for the person in front of her. "Do you pretend to get rid of that samurai to do as you please here?"
"Would it be a problem if that were the case? Are you perhaps thinking of stopping us?", she lashed out, entertained. She was looking down on her. "Although I must punish you as well for taking my precious pets out of their cages."
Her threat became reality as soon as that simple kick sent the person - who until then had only hurt with her words- flying. For someone with her strength, that feat didn't require even the slightest effort.
"She probably had a quick death, though not a painless one." To the brunette, the only important prey were those two Yato and no one else. "Now that we've gotten rid of the obstacles, should we have some fun together?"
"Maybe you spoke too soon", whispered the redhead to the confident girl.
"Oh don't tell me…", spoke Abuto after feeling the sudden trembling above the ceiling. The one that indicated that everything could come down on them.
Every action has a reaction. Even the boldness of the brunette had gotten a practically immediate response; one that, to her displeasure, she hadn't seen coming and that would make her experience quickly the same fate to which she condemned the apothecary.
However, it wasn't a kick what sent her several meters backwards, destroying everything behind her back, but that pillar that had been pulled out of its foundations to be warmly thrown to her person with the clear intention of making her regret her previous actions.
"…I hate when people interrupts me when I'm trying to explain my point of view. And also, what makes me real angry are people who like to trick others, pretending to be the victims... In more simple terms, I don't like you…" Her voice could be heard clearly, becoming much louder the closer she got to where they all were. The astonished looks of their enemies couldn't believe that she was standing there, right in the entrance she created when she was thrown. "I'm also really careful with my clothes, so the fact that you've got it all full of dust p*** me off."
"She's angry. That chick really screwed it up", spoke Abuto, watching the black-haired woman directing her steps through the path she herself had made when she threw that concrete pillar. "I'm afraid the whole castle's going to come down thanks to her bad habits."
"Abuto, it's not fair that she's getting all the fun."
"Idiot, we still have…" Correction, there was just the two of them now. The rest of the men attacking them had been killed by Kamui in the blink of an eye, and the rest were already on the Syx's stomach, who all they needed was to grab them as if they were human gummy bears. "S hi t, I'm surrounded by two bloodthirsty beasts… And the worst part is that the one who can control them has left to kick that chick's as s…"
It wasn't as if she didn't know that a measure as simple as the one she'd done would manage to knock a woman like that out. But she was completely sure that she'd been careful enough, so the pillar impacted on the right area and left her with at least lack of air and trouble standing up.
"I-I thought you weren't more than a mere slave that had come across those Yato. But it seems I was wrong… Although it's kinda hard to notice when you don't look like one of us at all", spoke the false Akiko while she stood up and felt a shiver all over her body. "Who tried to trick who, now, huh?"
"I don't like umbrellas, I'm not a fan of those oriental clothes you love to wear so much", she pointed out, fixing her gaze on the woman. "And I completely disagree with your notorious excitement for fighting and killing before the slightest provocation."
"You're the first Yato I hear speaking such nonsense… Perhaps there's something wrong with your head?"
"You should be more worried about yourself than about my way of seeing things", she stated plainly. "If you move too much, your lungs could end up being punctured."
"For someone who's against her own nature, you've done something pretty macabre…Admit it, you want to end my life right now… Come on, let those instincts teach you what you're capable of."
"I'm not trying to kill you, because there's actually no real reason for me to do it." The brunette found herself stunned before what she was hearing. And at the same time, she couldn't understand why the woman was so calm and nonchalant about what was happening. "A good for nothing old man told me a few years ago that if I wasn't capable of murdering someone for whatever was the reason, all I had left was one other choice to make them stay out of my way..."
Had it been a consequence of her actual condition what had made her slow to react or was that woman much faster than she had thought? The answer didn't have any significance at the moment; the only thing that made her pupils tremble now was the fact that her right arm had become a mere useless adornment that would hinder her ability to move adequately.
"…And that was to break their bones… so they were unable to get up again." Aya understood she had made a terrible mistake in provoking her, not because of what she'd just done or the warning of what would come after, but because of what she was seeing in those crimson eyes; she found nothing more than her face reflected in them, and the absolute nothing.
"…I see the person who trained you was a freaking sadist." She smiled with enthusiasm, like she was trying to provoke her, and Oshin couldn't understand that gesture.
"More like he's someone who revives a part of his soul when facing dangerous opponents", she mentioned with some annoyance. "I sometimes think a part of him is like a Yato's, 'cause he's very much like you all."
"Denying your nature won't make that blood disappear, kid." The pain was nothing to her and more since she was now motivated by the person she was facing; she might not have the guts to kill her, but she had enough nerve to leave her limbs useless. "What are you so afraid of? Are you scared of discovering the monster inside of you?"
Prolonging his fights more than necessary wasn't his style, but there was nothing he could do against someone who, no matter the damage he received, continued to be completely whole, his body was simply healing at an unimaginable rate while his own was quickly decaying. And the worst part was the excessive amount of blood pouring quickly from his left shoulder; the same one that almost got teared off after receiving a full blow.
If he wanted to get out alive from there he had to make sure that man wouldn't get up again, and therefore he had to seriously consider that the best way to do that was to be certain that his heart wouldn't beat anymore.
However, that wouldn't be so simple, and much less now that the only weapon protecting him was nothing more than a useless piece of wood which collapsed when trying to pierce Yuusha's chest.
"It shattered that easily!? Did his body harden all of a sudden or something!? How the h ell does he manage to heal himself so quickly!? What is that man!? Damn it, there must be a way to finish him." The exhaustion after such an intense fight was already taking its toll. And the worst thing was that his opponent was too fresh, as if he was just getting serious, and that meant dangerous problems.
"You should have picked your battlefield better." The blue-haired man glanced at the sorry state Gintoki was in. "I really enjoyed our fight, samurai. Though sadly, we must end it."
"I wouldn't bet on it", he straightened up, with his head held high, as if he had a huge advantage over him. "It's common sense to stop a freak like you from surrounding himself with beautiful women. It'd be unforgivable for a master of seduction like myself."
"…I found you…"
That melodious voice not only had completely cut the tension between the two, but it had also managed to get them on high alert. Because whoever had come to interfere had left very clear what he was looking for there.
"I think I arrived at the best possible moment, didn't I?" It wasn't the blood on his right hand what caught their attention, but the forearm that had been thrown into the air like it was a simple paper ball; yes, the same one that was missing from a certain blue-haired man.
"What is he doing here…!?" Gintoki looked dumbfounded at the redhead, the one he swore he wouldn't see again for a long time after what happened a few months back. He knew there'd be trouble if he was involved.
"It seems I underestimated you… You being here is a clear sign that you've managed to crush my two partners." There he was, standing between his two adversaries.
"So, you're that 'Yuusha' I've heard about since I came here." Kamui smiled with a brutal madness. He had even thrown his little souvenir far away. "You've been a little careless, but you've moved fast enough to lose only your forearm."
"What are you doing here, huh?", demanded the silver-haired. He couldn't just ignore a personality like that.
"Today's my lucky day~… First, I meet him, and now you." He looked at them excitedly, with a clear idea in his head.
"Even with all that happened between baldy, him and Kagura, it's impossible to think he'd stop his bad habits overnight… Especially all those that involve his stupid wish of facing rivals as strong as him… Dammit, and now I'm completely unarmed… I'm in the middle of two freaking monsters…"
The Yato didn't lose any more time and charged at the nearest prey, the one he'd come looking and went a long and tiring way for. And the best part was that he didn't regret doing it; that man was reacting so good to the attacks that it was hard to believe he had lost a limb a few minutes ago.
His strength against Yuusha's. His skill against the experience of a man who'd been in countless battles. The same bloodlust they both possessed. And the immutable idea that the only way this fight would be solved was if only one of them continued living.
The samurai limited himself to watching from afar. It was clear that the blue-eyed boy didn't want him to stick his nose into his new entertainment and, at the same time, he understood perfectly that as soon as he finished with the blue-haired man, he'd go after him; after all, there hadn't yet been an opportunity for them to face each other properly.
"That idiot… He's fighting that way even with all those injuries…" It didn't go unnoticed to him all those bandages and the damage Yuusha was causing him. He knew that if he continued like this, that Yato wouldn't succeed without losing something for it. "Damn it, this is why I hate troublesome children like him… This is why I hate that freaking baldy's kids, because they've brought nothing more than problems since I met them…!"
"So now you've decided to work as a team?" While the man tried to evade Kamui's frontal kick, he managed to stop the punch that was aimed to his chest.
"Would you mind staying out of my business?" That gentle smile was warning him not to pry where he wasn't supposed to.
"A kid with such wounds shouldn't be acting so cocky. You could end up crying and begging for daddy to come pick you up", Gintoki added with the mockery so characteristic of him. "Let a real man take care of that disfigured old pervert."
"I'm sorry, but he's my prey. You'll have to wait so I can deal with you."
"Stop that bull shit and stay still!"
It was impossible to think they'd get to a conclusion with both their stubbornness. The only thing it was good for was to confront their mutual enemy, who continued standing despite the damage the two of them kept causing him.
To call it irony was an understatement. Because never in their lives had they imagined they'd share a battlefield again, and that they'd even have an adversary in common; and even though they had been verbally fighting about who'd take care of Yuusha until a few minutes ago, now they seemed to have understood they had to put their differences aside and focus on that man if they wanted to stay in one piece.
At first sight they looked like two animals that had been cornered and were just looking for an opportunity to strike the one who'd gotten them in that situation. Others would even think they were nothing more than bullies that couldn't respect a fair fight.
The warm crimson had stained both their clothes and bodies, but it had also reached their adversary. Someone seemed to have lost his enviable healing ability and found himself in the same conditions. It would all inevitably come to an end, but who would be able to sing the hymn of victory?
"Ungh… After all we've hit him he still doesn't fall. Is he a freaking invincible beast? Did you also drank the same freaking miraculous water?", spoke Sakata ironically, lying down on the floor while trying to catch his breath. He was reaching his limit, and his body wasn't answering like it should.
"Are you letting him defeat you for something as simple as this?" Kamui wasn't in better conditions than the samurai. He stood with one knee on the floor and the other flexed to prevent him from falling completely, and at the same time his wound had reopened, staining his bandages with blood.
"They'll kill us here and now and you come up with such a nonsense… Give me a break, damn sadist…"
"You've fought wonderfully well, but I'm afraid this has lasted more than it should have." Yuusha hadn't avoided the fate of ending up in such poor conditions, either, but at least he still possessed enough strength to stand and deal the final blow to them. "I'll take care of you first, since you came to me before this kid." Of his mace only, the long iron handle remained; but it was enough to pierce his adversary's rib cage and choke him with his own blood.
If he didn't move or tried to defend himself he'd die right there. But what was he supposed to do when his body wasn't reacting and he didn't have a weapon in his hands? How could he find a way to escape and take care of him? Was everything destined to end like this?
"Gin-san, use this!"
He knew that battle cry perfectly. And although he wanted to know where exactly it was coming from, he didn't have the time for it. The only thing he could focus his attention on was what had been thrown to him, and that was now stuck on the ground, only a few centimeters away from his right hand.
He didn't even think about it, his mind just reacted automatically and his body seemed to have synchronized with the thought crossing his head at that exact moment. The next he knew was that he'd avoided Yuusha's attack and that the sword's sharp edge had found its way right into his chest and had settled in there in the worst way possible.
But Gintoki wasn't the only one to act. His revival had motivated the redhead in such a way that he didn't need a sharp object to pierce his enemy's chest; only his hand was enough to decorate it with a nice hole.
They'd coordinated in such a splendidly morbid way that they both managed to send the unfortunate man to a place where their ambitions couldn't even reach.
"Gin-chan!" The samurai hadn't hallucinated his friends' voices. He realized that the moment that pair came to his side, helping him stand. "Are you okay? You're not dying yet, right?"
"H-how did you guys… get here?", he questioned both of them.
"That's… because we followed you…", spoke Shinpachi. It was then that Sakata noticed an old acquaintance and the person who saved them from those scary dogs standing at the other side of the room. "…I see…"
"And that's how you end up after ignoring my warnings", scolded the black-haired woman a certain unconscious redhead.
"Oh, you survived your fight." Oshin didn't know what pissed her off the most right now, the fact that he was branding her as useless or that he was standing there calmly like he hadn't lost so much blood and nothing hurt. "If you make an effort you can act like a real Yato."
"Do it before I change my mind and try to stop you both", said Abuto after contemplating the pathetic state the redhead was in.
Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi were dumbfounded when they understood the true meaning of Abuto's words. And it was because they couldn't imagine someone who, until then, was only scolding the boy both out of concern and of anger, committing such action.
Only a swift blow to the abdomen was enough to bend the carefree Yato and make him fall on his knees on the floor so he could feel the results of his rebelliousness.
"Sleep and don't cause us any more trouble", she said after discarding the small syringe she unceremoniously stuck on the redhead's nape.
"D-d-d-di…Did you see what she just did?! She just knocked Kamui-san out without an effort and left him unconscious on the floor.
"Did you use a much stronger dose, right?", the brunet asked the apothecary.
"A monster like him needs a stronger dose every time to have the same effect", she said, watching the Yato lying on the floor, completely asleep. "And considering how reckless he was, it had to work fast or he'd probably try to go after Sakata." Her crimson eyes focused on the red-haired girl. "Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to him. This way it'll be easier to heal him and stop him from causing more damage around here."
"It's not like I was worried about that idiot or something. It's just that I was surprised about how fast you quietened him down."
"I have experience in dealing with men like him, that's all", she pointed out. "By the way, Sakata, you finally found what I asked you… Although…"
Yes, indeed, the sword she was looking for was in the hands of the samurai. The sad part was that it was useless after being broken when it impacted against Yuusha's chest.
"Ah… I-it has a solution… I know it… The deal is still standing, right? Wait! Did you find Aya-chan's sister?" Good time to remember about the important stuff.
"Gin-san, about that. You see…" The glasses-wearing boy told him about all that really happened. Not only there was no younger sister, but that woman had tricked them into entering the lion's den through dirty tricks.
"So that means…" Gintoki stared at Oshin as if waiting for a response.
"She's still alive, if that's what you want to know… However, you should be more worried about that drug going around than about a woman like her. The former will bring us serious problems if it keeps spreading around Edo."
"What are you doing here?" Kagura also had her doubts, and she didn't mind addressing Abuto so casually. "What are you looking for now?"
"They have no intentions of getting in your way or terrorizing the country. Their motives are more of the business type; trivial matters that shouldn't worry you."
"It's good to know that." That undoubtedly lifted a weight off Gintoki's mind. "You're in charge of keeping that monster well tamed."
"Oh, don't worry, she's an expert trainer of such wild beasts and won't let her pet escape once again", hummed Abuto, amused.
"Did you just say 'my pet'!? He's a good for nothing idiot! Stop looking at me like that and pick up that moron so we can get the h ell out of here!"
"Yes, yes, whatever you say."
Both parts decided to go their separate ways, without any explanations. They'd already spent enough quality time together for a day, and they were sure that was for the best at the moment. It was like that until a dry noise alerted them completely.
Someone had shot with extreme power and skill from a distance, making both groups separate and, at the same time, they didn't realize that what they had just experimented wasn't more than a set up responsible of hiding what was really worth witnessing.
"Ungh…what the hell is this?" Kagura had felt a stabbing pain on the nape of her neck. And without losing any time, she questioned about it. "A dart…?" But she hadn't been the only one to receive an object like that; her brother had also been a target.
"I think… we have another problem in our hands…", whispered Oshin and Gintoki as soon as they noticed what was happening. How could they explain a phenomenon like that? "You have to be kidding me!"