"Kashira, are we really going to be ok with this? He might be here to spy on us!"
"Can we really trust this man? We've never had one in here before? How can we know if he's reliable or not? He sticks out like a sore thumb with us around!"
The start of Gintoki's first night of patrols was exactly as he expected. It was fair to say thay his arrival on the rooftops where the Hyakka were gathered was not particularly well received. They were more inclined in giving him the cold shoulder, and understandably so. From what Gintoki had heard around town, the Hyakka were a strictly female group akin to that of ninjas, so it was not out of the blue to see them being so sceptical of a man's presence, or even see them coming. Judging by his lazy, half dead eyes as he gave slight nods at them in greeting, he didn't care all too much though. He was there to assist Tsukuyo, no matter what they thought of him. He would rather let the work speak for him. And besides, they weren't his colleagues, they were Tsukuyo's. And she had more or less endorsed him as a reliable hand so the Hyakka would have to take their reservations about him to their boss.
"I can't really show ya the ropes with this Gintoki, so ya gonna have to learn on the job." Tsukuyo warned, taking a long drag of smoke from her signature pipe.
Gintoki merely scratched his head like it was not a big deal. "Oh well. I'm tied to you anyway so you can't exactly fire me-"
Tsukuyo immediately shot an angry glare in his direction. "Don't slack off though." She harshly said. "We're just going around, checking the streets and alleyways. Ya see any trouble, make sure ya deal with it. We don't tolerate shit going under the radar. Make sure people can go about their business without being harassed."
There was a collective response of "Kashira!" from the Hyakka in acknowledgment, and in no time at all, they immediately split off into different directions around the city and disappeared into the night.
Gintoki gave a look of resignation towards Tsukuyo. "Guess that leaves just us then."
"Yep. Leaves just us." She said as she gently blew out more smoke. "Try not to lose sight of me huh?"
Without a moment of hesitation she effortlessly leapt from the rooftop onto another. Gintoki almost lost sight of her straight away as he jumped to catch up to her. "Hey wait!"
With the speed Tsukuyo was going at, it was almost like a game of cat and mouse, except the cat was slower, new to the concept and couldn't keep track without losing its prey at least once. By the time he caught up to her on street level he couldn't talk for a few minutes, much to Tsukuyo's pleasant surprise and amusement.
"I'm surprised ya managed to keep up." She conceded with a smug face as she slowly walked on.
"I'm...new to this...just gimme...time. I have no sugar in my body goddamn it..." He panted.
"Yeah yeah, ya get used to it." She casually replied as she blew out more smoke.
The city was almost completely different at night. Lantern lights illuminated the streets, densely packed with both men and women, the former looking for a place to blow some spare money in their quest for a quick round of adult entertainment. There were a great variety of outlets too. So*plands, ma*age parlours, cab*et clubs. Yoshiwara had them all, and were great sources of income.
"Nice to see the town come alive." Gintoki remarked, glancing at several courtesans inviting potential customers into their parlours, as well as a few smoking pipes similar to Tsukuyo's.
"It's just a normal night. That's how it is here." She noted. "With a dirty industry comes dirty people who are worse than the people who take part in dirty acts."
Gintoki hummed in agreement. "And you're here to keep it manageable."
Tsukuyo blew out a puff of smoke followed by a more solemn sigh. "Yep...pretty much." They both knew that it would be impossible to rid Yoshiwara of its crime entirely.
No words were said as they continued walking along. There wasn't much activity that warranted intervention as the hours went by, with the exception of a few rowdy drunk men overstepping their boundaries, who Tsukuyo easily 'pacified' with a pair of tantos holstered at the back of her kimono. Their punishment was rather extreme for Gintoki's standards: a few corpses and lopped off arms. And to think she did it so casually too.
"That's a bit much for a minor offence don't you think?" He delicately asked with his hands resting behind his neck, still surprised by Tsukuyo's ruthlessness.
"Ya toying with people's livelihoods down here Gintoki. Ya fuck around like that, ya pay the price. Besides, this isn't some ordinary 'I don't kill, I just warn them off' type of shit. What we do sends a message to any other man who even thinks about trying that on the women here." She harshly explained, puffing more smoke from her pipe.
"Ohhhh so that's why this place is a red light district...you die if you step out of line here." He summarised cheekily, which earned him a kunai to his temple as he winced in pain. "The fuck was that for?!"
"That's for acting like an idiot. Now shut up and do ya job." She bluntly answered, holding back a smirk as she watched him Unfortunately for her, he caught a glimpse of it.
"You totally wanted to laugh just then, I can see your face just change. You totally want to be the straight man in this situation. Secondly what kind of leader attacks their subordina-" He mumbled before receiving another one to his head. "HEY! CAN YOU STOP DOING THAT!"
"I'LL STOP DOING IT WHEN YA GROW UP AND DO YA FUCKING JOB!" She yelled back with much more irritation.
Between them it was simply a case of two people on equal terms screaming at each other. As for the people around them going about their business, the tension was similar to that of an argument between husband and wife. The shouting was cut short immediately once they realised the entire street was staring at them.
With that in mind they simply continued walking on in awkward silence, mutually agreeing to forget about the conversation they just had. Tsukuyo took long drags of smoke to mask her discomfort whereas Gintoki started to whistle, but that was quickly shut down with a sharp flick to his cheek and a scowl.
"So..." Gintoki finally spoke up, clearing his throat to politely diffuse the tension.
"Ya pretty much get the gist of what we do here at this time." She curtly said. "I trust that I can leave ya on ya own for a little bit?"
"Lady, I made a promise to protect you. No way am I leaving your side." He flatly answered. Tsukuyo sighed. He wasn't totally wrong, but there was something bothering her that she needed alone time for.
"Whatever...we'll split up here. I'll take the high ground. If ya get into any trouble, the Hyakka will know. We know these streets well enough." She said, hopping up to the rooftops once more before disappearing into the distance.
"So you're just gonna leave me alone?" Gintoki shouted before sighing in defeat. "You're the boss..."
What a stubborn lady...
"Well this is an interesting shift for a first night...why am I here again...? Oh right to help the edgy lady with her duties as the 'enforcer' of Yoshiwara..."
To Gintoki's relief and dismay, nothing worth of note occurred as he walked through the streets and alleyways combing for potential trouble. It meant that he wouldn't be attacked, but it also meant he was bored to death. He was walking around with his left arm resting in his sleeve like a sling, considering returning to the tea shop and leaving for an early finish, but this was no ordinary supermarket job. This was security, so he had to remain present. Besides, Tsukuyo would know if he was slacking off one way or another.
"Urgh...when are we doneeee...?" He lazily moaned.
"Kashira! Are you ok?"
"They're Hyakka! Kill em!"
The shout sounded like it came from nearby. And just as when he thought the night would be a complete bore. Yet there was a sense of urgency in his steps. He couldn't help but feel a tinge of concern for Tsukuyo if she was the one caught up in the scuffle.
It took a little bit of time to home in on the commotion since he was still not quite familiar with Yoshiwara, but he eventually found the source of the noise in a secluded alleyway. The Hyakka was indeed in a spot of bother, and Tsukuyo was with them, holding her twin tanto in an underarm style.
Standing before them was a group of lightly armed but decently burly thugs who were a good head taller than the Hyakka. And the situation seemed to be in their favour despite several of the men being on the floor in their own pools of blood. They had the numbers advantage by eight to five, and judging by the weary looks of the ladies things would go sour quickly. Nonetheless they stood defiant against the troublemakers.
"I'm fine. We can deal with this later." She dismissively ordered after giving a quick glance on her arm. Her kimono was slightly torn, and there was a notably cut on her upper arm. Her glare remained present as she eyed up the group of sword wielding thugs in front of her as they moved closer, menacingly whispering how easy they looked on the eyes and didn't want to hurt them.
Before either of them took a step further, a slender, brown object darted into her field of vision. It came to a sudden stop as it was embedded in the temple of the thug closest to Tsukuyo. His eyes slowly rolled up before his body crumpled to the floor like a ragdoll. She stared at the lifeless body as blood slowly seeped out from his head, taking note of the object in question. It was a wooden sword that had a distinct inscription on the handle which read: Lake Toya.
"Ginto-"
All of the combatants involved froze at the unexpected intervention and looked in the direction of where the sword came from.
"Who the fuck's there?!"
"Blah blah blah blah, you boys in mating season or something?"
Gintoki made his slow, almost leisurely entrance into the scuffle, still resting his left arm like a sling as he idly waltzed over to retrieve his bokutō from the fallen thug, briefly spurting out blood when he pulled it out. He glossed his eyes over the arm, where there was a tattoo of a red spider.
"Heh, dumbass thugs." He smirked. This was an easy catch. Gangsters were a joke to him.
Tsukuyo couldn't help but shake her head with a smirk, almost in disbelief that he would come in so late, yet with impeccable timing.
"Ya late." She bluntly said.
"Shut up, I haven't done my dramatic entrance yet..." He casually replied with a smile. The men standing in front of him held their ground despite being unnerved by a man with an untamed silver perm who was shorter than them.
"The hell are you supposed to be? You have any idea who you're messing with?" One of them spoke up.
Gintoki maintained his smug smile as he rested his sword on his shoulder. happy that the 'boys' were playing along with his dramatic entrance, although whether it was intentional or not he didn't know.
"Nobody special. Just a girl-loving playboy."