So many chapters in one day, wow.
Oh the homework. Nooooo.
MORE FUN FACTS:
Ch. 9: When the giraffe-dude says, "No use, so walling, such hard," he is speaking with a doge accent. Like, the doge meme that's been the bane of everyone existent, yet so inexplicably popular.
Ch. 13: The idea of giving Zenshi's mom an instrument is inspired by my aunt. She has a guzheng that she plays from time to time.
Random: myheadcanons!Abuto will alternate between "bud" and "old sport", the former inspired by the friendliest old janitor from my middle school, and the second from The Great Gatsby. Though, "bud" is usually reserved for Zenshi.
DISCLAIMER: GINTAMA is Sorachi's! Also, why hasn't Kondo appeared in this story yet?!
Eyes of Wolves
- 14 -
.: APRIL, PRESENT :.
He didn't realize that they'd both fallen asleep until he awoke to the soft sounds of an awakening Yoshiwara, and Tsukuyo's head against his shoulder.
.: TEN YEARS AGO :.
He is severe and almost unfriendly when he passes through the halls. Even among the most alien of Amanto, he is still reserved and separated. There are about ten Yato at this international school, but most do not associate with him. One clings to him for the sake of social means — becoming the burr on Zenshi's shoulder means increased social mobility, and thus, better relationship with Zenshi's powerful father.
The other, on the other hand, doesn't stay near at all. Zenshi doesn't believe he has friends, but he does have an ally in the orange-haired girl who wanders the campus on her own, sketchbook in hand.
"The great civil war in Kesh catalyzed the beginning of an intergalactic dispute known as the Poly-Keshtan Crisis…"
Zenshi absorbs information like a sponge, but doesn't necessarily care. He can recite word for word the greatest military accomplishments that the Inuisei Amanto have ever had — though, quite obviously, one was the opening of Earth to the universe — and write perfect papers on the effectiveness of mercenary tribes in warfare. However, upon being asked to actually converse with his classmates?
Impossible.
.: APRIL, PRESENT :.
The sun prompted the umbrella to cast shade over Zenshi's tall figure, but he nevertheless appreciated its preeminent warmth. He spent a solid ten minutes simply standing outside, staring into the colossal square that opened Yoshiwara to the world. A couple of women sauntered by, waving lightly at him — it was honestly far too early for that type of thing, in his opinion — but he paid little attention to them.
"Today," Seita announced proudly, "we will have a door again!"
He looked contemplative.
"A kitchen door!" he corrected, nodding. "And a new wall!"
The shop, which had been like most others, was mostly open in the front, so the majority of repairs came from within the house. The giraffe man repeatedly grumbled about the work load, and Zenshi was terribly tempted to simply undo whatever the Amanto attempted just to spite him. It was a gesture of sadistic malice, but Zenshi reined in his annoyed notions. The warmth of the sun was a rather split force — it at once soothed and irritated him.
Still, he preferred it over the rain, even if it meant carrying his umbrella over his shoulder.
"I'm goin' up to check on somethin'," Tsukuyo announced after a pleasant breakfast.
"Check on what?" Seita excitedly shoved himself back from the table, evoking a painful screeching of chair legs against hardwood.
"Somethin'," Tsukuyo insisted.
"It's been a day, only," Zenshi ventured.
"And?" Tsukuyo stood, throwing Seita a cautionary glare. The boy sat back down, slightly sulking. Hinowa reprimanded him for not finishing his breakfast.
"Maybe you should focus on something else," Hinowa suggested. "I don't necessarily wish to exact revenge on a terrorist. It wasn't as if we were purposefully targeted, Tsukki."
"Still. That man made me suspicious." She was referring to Hijikata Toushirou, the police officer. "He had no intention of briefin' us on the issue, and I still haven't heard from the police commissioner."
"It's been a day," Zenshi repeated.
"Did I ask for yer opinion?"
He went silent, as he was, of course, apt to do.
"I'm goin' up," she reaffirmed, putting her pipe to her mouth and striding unreservedly out the front.
Zenshi, who simply remained at the table, stared at the broken wall.
"They're slow," Seita said, voicing his thoughts. The two Amanto, arrived without their portly boss, had been working since Zenshi awoke — only a short interval after the crack of dawn. And they'd accomplished nothing, so far.
"Oh, that's just how they are," Hinowa sighed, hoping to placate both her son and Zenshi. Perhaps it was his discontent grip on his umbrella; he unconsciously drew his hand back to his waist, where the handle was firmly attached to his belt. But Hinowa turned to him and said, "Zenshi, can you go follow her, please?"
At this, he started slightly.
"Yes, follow Tsukki for me. Make sure she doesn't get into any trouble."
"Is that a habit of hers?"
"A bad one, yes," replied Hinowa, a tickle of a smile on her face. She gestured to Seita, who kindly obliged to wheel her over to the door. "Seita will wheel me to where I can watch the carpenters, while he goes for groceries." She handed him a list. "Go with Zenshi when he leaves, okay?"
"Sure, Mom." Seita skimmed the list. "Can we add red bean pancakes to this?"
"I don't see why not," agreed Hinowa. "Now go, or you'll lose Tsukki."
"We never lose Tsukuyo-nee," snorted Seita, stuffing the list in his pocket and sidling up next to Zenshi. "All right, to the store!"
"Make sure he doesn't get into trouble either," advised Hinowa, smiling.
"Only if he shares those pancakes," Zenshi rolled out smoothly, patting Seita's head fondly.
"You can't live on Earth for more than one week and not have those," said the boy, nodding sagely. "They're the best things ever."
"Better than space-jellyfish's tongue?"
"A what?"
.: SEVEN YEARS AGO :.
The ship is vast. Every few doors, he sees the same Harusame brand imprinted on the wall, and he wonders if he has already walked a circle. Eventually, he finds himself completely and utterly lost; he immensely regrets discarding the map that Abuto so very thoughtfully procured for him. Studying is one of his strong points, after all.
Rounding a corner, he runs face first into another person.
To be more accurate, it was more like that person's face smacked against his chest so hard that she stumbled backwards and held her nose.
"Are you all right? That was my fault," he immediately — and awkwardly — amends, unsure of whether to approach the other figure or just stand there gawking.
The girl swears under her breath.
"I'm fine," she says, "just surprised."
She lets go of her face, rubbing her nose. When she tilts her head back to see him, for he quite towers over the shorter Yato, their eyes meet and simultaneously widen.
"Nice hair," they say in unison.
"Thanks," she replies, while he nods wordlessly. She studies him rather critically. "When'd you get so tall?"
"I thought I always was."
"Right." She is skeptical, but doesn't elaborate upon any sarcastic comments that come to mind. "I recognized you by your scars, but you cut your hair pretty differently."
He nods. His once shoulder-length black hair, which swept past his ears in locks of navy-ink hue, is cropped short. He has a straight undercut, the once messily long black hair buzzed to the scalp. While his numerous scars, pierced ears, and deadened gaze often define him, even Zenshi admits that a glance in the mirror surprises himself. No longer is he the boy with soft, silky hair that his mother lovingly ties into the occasional boy's braid.
"It's like, I've never seen your head before," she notes, smirking.
"And what did you do, stick your head under the sun, have it accidentally burn off, and then fail to reproduce its original color?" he shoots back casually, jerking his head sharply at her.
"What, this?" She runs a hand through her hair. In her school days, she sported the longest hair he'd ever seen on anybody — tresses of carrot orange hair that hung to her hips, shimmering like an effervescent satin blanket down her back. "This was because everyone kept calling me my sister's name. We look alike, you know."
"I know."
Now, the girl's hair is cut even shorter than Zenshi's, but soft and spiky around her heart-shaped face. It's dyed bleach blonde, almost white. She has salmon eyes that match her natural hair color, but now they simply jut out like mismatched coins with her whitened hair.
"My first words to the silent kid in three years are, 'Nice hair.' I'm not sure how I feel about that."
"Then don't feel," he replies vaguely, hands slipping into his pockets as he retreats into himself and continues down the corridor.
"Yeah," she calls after him, eyes rolling. "And don't get lost, too."
.: APRIL, PRESENT :.
"You know, Tsukki, there's this thing called patience," the kunoichi pronounced slowly, "and you lack it. In fact, I don't think you even have the faculties for containing patience, because you're all over the place! You see, this is why Gin-san likes me more than—"
"Have ya got anythin' or not?" demanded Tsukuyo, patience thinning. Zenshi, squatted rather jadedly on a distant tree branch, settled back. Tsukuyo had captured Sa-chan wandering the premises of a popular dango shop, and the two sat down by forceful request of the Yoshiwaran courtesan.
"It's been a day!" exclaimed Sa-chan, echoing Zenshi's earlier words. "It's not very probable that I have anything!"
"Not even how many times that mayonnaise head went to the bathroom? Not even that?"
"Tsukki, I'm already a stalker. I could tell you how many times Gin-san went to the bathroom, but I cannot tell you—"
"Are you even investigatin'? I paid yer boss already, ya know."
"Tsukki," hissed Sa-chan. "Are you dumb? Of course I am!"
"Then why haven't ya got anythin'?
"It's been a day!"
The lavender-haired kunoichi threw up her hands, stuffed a dango stick into her mouth, and unceremoniously stomped away.
"Let me do my job!" she screeched over her shoulder, breaking into a run and then disappearing off some rooftops.
"You aren't doin' it!" hollered Tsukuyo after the other woman, muttering embittered curses beneath her breath.
At this point, Zenshi had descended from his post, earning a few distressed yowls from stray cats, and startling the nut-hoarding dwellers of the tree.
"You seem in need of otherworldly red bean pancakes," he stated, seamlessly falling into stride with her. She started a bit, and then shook her head.
"What're you doin' here?"
"Following."
She glared, having recognized this pattern before.
"Well?" she prompted. "Whaddaya want?"
He blinked twice. She glared harder.
"I think you need those pancakes."
.: SIX YEARS AGO :.
"That's definitely wrong," she says indignantly, pointing at a spot on the map. "There's definitely one there."
"There is no asteroid belt," he insists.
"Yes, there is," she retorts.
He wears the haughtiest expression he can muster, channeling every square inch of essence his father ever gave off to him. He can admit that he has grown shamefully proud of this face, the one that overpowers even the most adamant of debate foes.
"Wipe that grin off your face," she hisses. "Or I'll dye your hair this color, too."
"And how many times have you tried?"
"For the record, seven. So far." She glares. "Were you always this snarky?"
"On the inside."
"And on the outside?"
"I was the prince of Planet Pheromones."
"You are awful," she snorts, throwing a pencil at him. "We're supposed to be working."
"I'm done," he says, displaying an entire stack of completed paperwork. "You've been sitting for the past hour trying to figure out if there's an asteroid belt between Earth and its neighboring red planet."
He pauses.
"And there is not, by the way."
"There is!" she exclaims.
"Actually," enters a new voice, "it's between Mars and Jupiter, not Earth and Mars."
"Shut up, Kamui," she spits, rolling her eyes. A few crewmembers turn and eye her in shock, but it doesn't register for her until a few seconds later. She swears under her breath, and then swears again at her own profanity.
"Wow, Mei," Kamui drawls, twirling a piece of red hair around his finger, "is that insubordination or just you being dumb? I don't even know."
"You twelve-year-old little shit," is the next insult that flies from her mouth, before she claps her hand over her face.
Kamui only laughs.
"You've done it now, Mei," mutters Zenshi when their young captain leaves. She sulks, doodling swirls on her paper because she's embarrassed.
"I guess I'll have to fix that, won't I?"
He only cocks his head to the side, dark blue eyes teasing.
Mei is a party. She's the type to "LET'S PARTYYYYYYYYY".
though what is this plot twist?!
Tsukuyo's competitor?!
ZenTsu at the beginning of chapter, and ZenMei at the end?!
NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.
Complications, complications.
And imagine having a 12-year-old captain. Like, what the heck. It's like that annoying little bro at all those family parties is suddenly your boss. wOW.