"Hey...you awake?"

"Mmm..."

Tsukuyo's vision slowly pulled into focus. It was still pitch black, but the low rumble of the van was long gone, replaced with endless silence and a soft, familiar voice. She was on her side, still groggy and disoriented.

"Tsukuyo...?"

As she began to stir, the voice called out to her again. At first it sounded as though it was speaking to her in her dreams. It was a sound she had heard many times before, the same one that enveloped her like a warm blanket. She vaguely felt that she was clinging onto something. Something akin to that of fabric as well as skin. Her fingers trailed down the surface until she reached the end point. Soft, yet firm fingertips interlocked with hers. Her heart almost jump once she realised who was next to her, rolling onto her back and taking her hand away as she stared up at the pitch black ceiling. At the very least, she had some solace in knowing that the person next to her couldn't see her flushed expression. At the same time though, she knew he was going to rub it in the moment she let down her guard.

"Have a nice sleep?" Gintoki cheekily whispered, sliding the cover off them.

"It was ok..." She reluctantly murmured.

"Uh huh...sure. I'm sure clinging onto my arm helped with that." He replied sarcastically. Tsukuyo went silent for a moment.

"I didn't do that..." She softly muttered. Her voice dropped to a shy whisper. Even though he couldn't see it, Gintoki knew she was flustered and in complete denial from her long silence, and she'd do anything to keep him from teasing her like an immature child.

"Oh come onnn, you were totally hugging me. I couldn't move my arm at all. Come to think of it, you were pretty much on top of me the entire-"

"S-shut up you."

"You're going into your tsundere routine again..." He cheekily said in a sing-song manner.

"I'm not!" She angrily insisted.

"You totally are. You can say no all you want, but you can't fool me." He smugly replied.

Tsukuyo went silent again, quietly letting the heat wash over her body. It was so unfair that Gintoki could play her like a fiddle without lifting a finger.

W-well, we're here now, that's all that matters. Let's just get out of here..." She shakily said, trying not to be put off by his antics as she focused on the matter at hand.

Tsukuyo took a few cautious steps forward, stretching her hand out until she felt the cold surface of the door, fumbling around for anything to use for getting out, but to no avail.

"There has to be a way out..." She mumbled to herself before a low thumping noise vibrated around the walls. Judging by the sound, it was coming from inside, and she could tell by the sound that he was being reckless for no reason. "What the hell are ya doing?! Are ya begging for us to get caught?!"

"Relax, quit the hissy fit would ya? There's obviously no handle, so we have to open it in a different way." He casually replied, stepping back to press his boot against the door, thumping against it even louder than before.

"Ya such an idiot..." She hissed, quietly regretting her decision to bring him along. As he strained his foot against the door, she calmly (though very much irritably) laid her palm to her face, unable to comprehend the sheer audacity of what he was doing. She was almost certain that they'd alert everyone to their presence thanks to the ruckus he was making. It was times like this where she contemplated whether she made the right choice in making him her protector. Even after he triumphantly pushed the door open with a metallic creak she could only sigh deeply at his antics.

"I got the door open. Not that much of an idiot now am I?" He smugly replied, stepping out of the back and into the outside area while she reluctantly followed.

The light was somewhat restrained as they stepped out into the open with wary eyes. The area around them seemed vast, almost completely stripped of its greenery and nature were it not for ocean that stretched out into the distance.

"Seems like we had a long trip." Gintoki quietly remarked as he looked up at the night sky. Tsukuyo remained quiet, keeping her eyes fixed to her surroundings as they quietly navigated through the area.

The place around them was inundated with wooden and steel cargo containers and dim lanterns spread thin throughout, as well as a pair of ships docked nearby. The sky had darkened substantially since they hitched their ride inside the van as the clouds that had apparently settled in slowly dissipated, with the faint presence of moonlight looming into view. But more importantly there was no sign of anyone nearby for the moment. Still, the lack of any people at the moment left them somewhat on edge. Tsukuyo in particular felt a faint tinge of dread creep up in her chest, very much on guard at the possibility of being ambushed. After all, it was an ideal place for a clandestine meetings.

"We need to get up on higher ground." She noted, looking around for anything to get a clearer view of their surroundings. It didn't take long to find an ideal spot given the abundance of steel containers around them, some of which were stacked on top of each other.

"It's gotta be here somewhere..." Tsukuyo mused to herself, crouching down and bringing out a small spyglass from inside her kimono and peeking an eye through it. Naturally, Gintoki shuffled closer, wanting in on what she was observing. After all, there was only so much he could see beyond the vast empty space and the steel containers dotted around.

"Hey lemme see, I'm helping out here you know." He irritably said, fidgeting slightly as his face was kept at a distance by her hand.

Tsukuyo ignored his pleas, not interested in letting his childlike curiosity get in her way as she casually kept him away from her. The docks were indeed vast and had a lot of ground to cover. And worse still, the cover of darkness made it difficult to track where their lead had gone to, even with her spyglass. Perhaps he was on one of the ships docked nearby? Meeting up with other associates by one of the many shipping containers? It became clear that they might have to play the waiting game if they wanted the crime epidemic to end, yet every second she waited the notion of Yoshiwara being infested with more drugs and explosives while she waited continued to creep up on her. But she couldn't afford to charge in without knowing for sure if the drugs really were coming from the docks. All she could do was keep a close eye on the space in front of her and wait for an opportunity to present itself.

"Hey, you brought me along for a reason, the least you could do is fill me in on what's going on. I feel like the odd one out here." Gintoki whined, still trying to move close to see what Tsukuyo was seeing.

"Just waiting for the right moment..." She simply mumbled.

Gintoki stopped struggling for a moment, almost baffled and bemused by her answer. "That's not really an answer."

"We're waiting for them to get out so we can see if it's really them. Is that better for ya?" She repeated much more irritably and firmly.

He ended up giving up the struggle to join in on the observation. He still held her palm to his face, but slowly eased it down when he sensed her grip loosen. The steely demeanour she was putting up still worried him a little bit. He could tell her to lighten up a little bit again, but there would be no point. She would only have the same stoic response as before. For now, all he can do is support her to the best of his ability.

He sat down next to her, ready to accept the likelihood of playing the waiting game when something in the far distance caught his eye.

"Huh...? What's that?" He mumbled to himself, squinting his eyes a little bit. It seemed as though something had moved into the light.

"What?" Tsukuyo responded in a somewhat alarmed tone.

"Over there." He pointed out. The sight of a small set of figures standing by one of the ships in the dim lights was enough to raise an eyebrow.

Tsukuyo kept her spyglass fixated on the group, gazing much more intently now that her interest had been caught by this new development, though part of her wondered how his eyes had caught onto it faster than hers. There was nothing particularly significant about the entourage of men standing around. There were about a dozen of them, but the presence of the man with the neck tattoo was enough to confirm that they really were getting their equipment through the docks. But his insistence to not turn around and show his face was a little bothersome. Even more so when he was the only one who stood out amongst the much more beefier men around him. He was much more lean and taller than his associates, and the only one with a head of hair, and seemingly the smartest (or most paranoid) one as he stood on the fringes of the light whilst the rest of his associates stood in the centre of it without a care in the world. She just needed one good look at him to see if he was the mastermind or if he was a simple middleman in all of this.

"What are they up to?" Gintoki asked.

"They're just...talking. "Tsukuyo replied in a rather underwhelmed tone, watching the unmoving figures as she waited for something to happen.

Several minutes went by without incident. The wait was starting to become more irritating to sit through. Gintoki had almost given up. He was sat crossed legged, propping an arm on his leg and resting his cheek in his palm like a bored child while Tsukuyo remained steadfast. There was nothing worth of note besides a few hand gestures from the men below, as well as hauling out and opening a pair of wooden crates from a nearby shipping container while their lead stood still.

He made a gesture seemingly ordering two of the men to walk towards the direction of the closest ship, one that was docked directly behind them. He slowly turned his head up towards the clouds for a few moments before turning to the other side slightly.

In their direction.

Tsukuyo could feel a slight shiver creep up her spine. She still couldn't get a clear glimpse of him since he stood right outside of the dim circle emanating from the lantern above, but she could tell that he was looking in their direction. Even though they were quite a long way from their target, she couldn't help but stop breathing for a moment as he remained fixated in their general direction, and her body stiffened up from the tension crawling up her body. She could swear that he looked at her directly through the spyglass at one point. All with an uncanny smirk on his face as his head continued to slowly swivel around like a sentry before turning around and catching up with the pair of thugs. The worst part of it all was that she had a distinct sinking feeling in her chest, as if she had seen this person before. From visual observations, the only thing she could go on was the unkempt, shoulder length dark hair... there could be thousands of men with that same look. It surely couldn't be anyone she knew.

"Have they done anything yet...?" Gintoki moaned, his eyelids half closed from boredom and feeling the need to sleep. Tsukuyo didn't answer.

"Anything new come up yet?" He asked again. Still no answer. She had gone silent. Very unusual of her to do so. Normally she would hit back with a sharp retort or just tell him to shut up. He gave a quick glance at her. She was completely stock still.

He blinked out of slight confusion and worry. From the way she remained completely still and the lack of sound coming from her mouth, something was definitely up. His brows furrowed as he got up and gave her a light tap on the shoulder.

"Something on your mind?" He asked softly.

Tsukuyo gasped lightly as she lowered her spyglass, turning to Gintoki's concerned face for a moment before averting her eyes, more so out of worry than the usual embarrassment she felt. "I think he was looking right at us..."

Gintoki's brows narrowed. He too felt an uncomfortable, sinking feeling in his body. There was no way in hell they could have been spotted from such a long distance.

"No way. You serious?" He said sceptically.

"I don't know, he was just looking over here, like his eyes were wondering all over the place..." She murmured, uncomfortably swallowing to dispel the lump in her throat.

"Did you get a glimpse of him?"

"No...stood right outside the light." She said through gritted teeth. "But when he looked over here, I could swear he was looking right at us..."

Gintoki took a deep breath. If what she said was true, then they were going to have to get their hands dirty. And he was just about done sitting around ready to fall asleep.

It was now or never.

"Well, at least we know we're in the right place now." He nonchalantly remarked, slowly getting onto his feet.

Tsukuyo drew her eyes away from the spyglass hole towards him. He stood much more taller, more confident. He looked raring to go, like his mind was made up. And for once, she wasn't going to stop him. For once, she was on the same page as him.

"Better late than never. And if that guy really has ratted us out, there's no point staying up here." Gintoki wearily mumbled, hopping down the metal container onto the floor below with little to no noise on the landing. Tsukuyo quickly joined him as they made their way closer to the group.

As they drew closer, they slowed their pace, taking cover behind another shipping container nearby. So far, their enemies' complete lack of awareness gave them a little bit of relief, knowing that they hadn't been caught yet.

Without a word, Tsukuyo slipped out of cover whilst the Spiders' backs were turned, blissfully unaware of her presence. She skilfully whipped out a dozen kunais from her sleeves, accurately nailing each man in the back of their heads as they collapsed onto the floor, their blood slowly oozing out from their wounds.

Tsukuyo glanced left to right for any more members nearby, hoping that they hadn't heard the sounds of their comrades simultaneously flop to the concrete. Once she considered it safe, Gintoki slowly left the safety of the container wall.

"Was that seriously it?" He asked rather disappointedly.

Tsukuyo didn't bother to look at his underwhelmed deadpan eyes as she turned her attention to one of the wooden crates brought in. "Doubt it. But we better make the most of this opportunity. We don't have long before they find out." She sternly replied, cutting through the ropes binding the lid to the crate with her kunais as she set it aside.

Her eyes narrowed as she laid them upon the contents. Everything she expected to be present in the crate was there. She wasn't particularly surprised, but a deep, uneasy exhale made her feel disturbed nonetheless.

"This is definitely it. The rest of it has gotta be on that ship." She theorised, looking towards the one the trio of men were walking to a few minutes earlier. It had to be. They saw them walking over there. If the main bulk of their equipment really was there, then they were clearly not criminal masterminds.

"Then we go up there, wallop the guys on board and sink both the drugs and the ship. That's a win-win." Gintoki merrily suggested.

For a moment Tsukuyo looked at him almost in disbelief before putting up a faint, if reluctant grin. "That's actually not a bad plan."

"It isn't. Too bad neither of ya will be around long enough to do it."

Their faint glimmer of optimism was quickly dashed at the sound of the coarse, unfamiliar voice. The two immediately swivelled their heads to the unwelcome intrusion, both readying their weapons. A lone, burly looking shape stood ahead of them in unkempt, olive coloured attire. Tsukuyo could feel her heart sink a little bit. The one thing she was hoping wouldn't happen, did. Then again, it was only a matter of time before they would be spotted.

They kept a steady hand as the figure inched closer, not willing to back down. Their grip tightened at the collective sounds of footsteps and unsettling chuckles getting closer, almost as if to entrap them in a circle. Tsukuyo's scowl only grew more as she felt dread creep up her body, turning her back to Gintoki to face the numerous amount of thugs that had gathered around them, leering at them with knives and swords in hand like a pack of rabid wolves desperate to pounce on their prey.

"Ya got any good ideas on how to get out of this?" She calmly asked, brainstorming for any possible solution to get out of their current predicament, but she knew deep down that the chances of getting out were slim given the huge difference in numbers between them and their foes.

"Nope." Gintoki mumbled, keeping his eyes focused on who he assumed was the leader of the pack. Despite his slightly altered attire, the shaved look made him just as unimaginative and lacklustre as the rest of his cronies.

"You don't look like someone who's in charge of a whole pack of people. You all made in a factory or something?" Gintoki cheekily quipped. "And where's the manager? We wanna see him real quick. This place looks and smells terrible."

"For a funny guy, your jokes sure aren't landing well. He's not here at the moment but I'm sure we can give him a message for ya." The leader hit back. "Namely snooping around places ya don't belong."

Two men from each side suddenly lunged forward with their blades. Gintoki easily sidestepped the amateurish movement whilst Tsukuyo charged forward at her foe, jumping up at the last second and leaping off his shoulder as he crashed into his comrade. Gintoki quickly turned around and thrusted his bokuto straight into both men with deadly accuracy, piercing both of their chests before forcefully pushing them off with his foot. A slight turn of the head got him a faint glimpse of Tsukuyo manoeuvring around their foes in the air, stamping on their heads whilst almost effortlessly avoiding their attacks and striking them down with her kunai. Her movements were precise, yet with an air of deadly grace.

Without missing a beat, he immediately dashed to his next target, twisting his wrist with his free hand and disarming him of his sword before he had any time to react, snatching it and slicing his throat with his newly acquired weapon as he crumbled to the floor. The entire half of the circle that had surrounded him collapsed in, mindlessly rushing in to attack, hoping their numbers advantage would do the trick. Their hopes were quickly dashed by a single, brutal sweep of the sword, taking out several men as they abruptly stopped for a moment, almost out of both awe and fear. As if to register that for a moment, they had picked a fight with a predator rather than prey.

Gintoki's expression was unusually resolute. There was a cold gaze to his darkened red eyes. He wanted to enjoy the moment after waiting for so long, but this was no laughing matter. With the numbers baring down on both him and Tsukuyo, there was no room to relax even for a little bit. But then again, he felt as though he did his best when the odds were against him. And in this moment, he was in his element to tap into the unrelenting aggression that had remained dormant since his war days.

He charged forward, taking advantage of their moment of hesitation to hack and slash his way through the crowd, easily moving around and effortlessly transitioning from parries and blocks from his now unnerved enemies to mercilessly cutting them down with scarily swift and forceful slashes, yet his movements remained fluid and precise rather than being unrestrained and animalistic, easily swapping out his stolen weapon with anything he could get his hand on. His eyes were constantly darting over the area, quickly taking note of the threats closest to him. Whenever his foes made their move, thinking he had left himself open to attack, it was immediately thwarted with a swift response from his bokuto. It was as if Gintoki had a third eye.

The sounds of near constant piercing flesh, shattered swords, spilt blood and death rattles from the pack of Red Spiders filled the night time air. Their numbers were dwindling down every second, mowed down by Gintoki and Tsukuyo's ferocity. But their numbers were quickly replenished as more filtered into the docks. It seemed as though there was an infinite number of them, and the two only had a finite amount of energy before they would eventually lose.

The newly replenished Red Spiders circled around them once more as the duo kept their backs to each other, panting heavily from their nonstop fighting. Blood and sweat drenched their clothing, their chests shrinking and expanding as they tried to regain their strength. For the first time, fear was beginning to overpower their resolve.

"Get outta here Gintoki." Tsukuyo said.

Gintoki turned his head slightly in utter shock, unable to comprehend what she had just said. "What? Why? Are you crazy?"

"Please. I want ya to get back to Yoshiwara. Tell the Hyakka about this place." She stubbornly pleaded, as if she was at her wit's end.

His expression was that of disbelief and confusion. He couldn't believe what was coming out of her mouth. It would be utter insanity to do something like that and leave her behind. After all, he made the promise to protect her. To leave her behind was out of the question. "Don't be stupid, I'm not leaving you here, and I'm not breaking that promise. I'm staying." He replied emphatically.

The next wave of thugs descended upon them, eager to finish off their exhausted opponents. Tsukuyo responded with a barrage of kunai whilst Gintoki covered her back, fending off the rest of the horde with everything he could muster. The injuries slowly began to pile up however. Small cuts and grazes were beginning to show on their arms from attacks that they barely evaded, their clothes gradually became cut up during the course of the fight, but the rush of adrenaline pumping through their veins compelled them to fight on, attacking at a even more frenzied pace to overcome their opponents and covering each other's blind spots whenever they could, whether it was Tsukuyo throwing kunai that brushed past Gintoki's head into more thugs or the latter intercepting attacks from the rear.

Their persistent fighting was beginning to pay off. The horde's numbers began to whittle down to only a few men, and it seemed as though they had finally run out of reinforcements.

"Where's all your pals, huh?!" Gintoki wearily shouted, slamming his bokuto into a Spider's face and following up with a thrust through his stomach as the latter spat out fresh blood. Gintoki attempted to unsheathe his sword from his body like he had done many times before, only to find that his foe clung onto his sword with what little strength he had left. A trio of his friends took the chance to rush in for the kill. The samurai knew he had left himself exposed.

Shit!

He quickly kicked the man off, sliding his sword out as he turned his head, ready to swing his bokuto again when Tsukuyo darted across, almost gliding through the three men with her tanto in one stroke as they collapsed to the floor. She immediately returned to him, standing back to back with him again, still remaining in a combat stance as she scanned the area around them for anymore signs of threats.

After a tense minute or two, their arms slackened, exhausted from the constant fighting, but massively relieved that they had survived the onslaught of attacks.

"Please tell me...that's gotta be all of them..." Gintoki panted, his hands holding onto his bokuto for stability.

"I'm pretty sure that's all...of them." She confirmed, similarly fatigued from the fighting. She looked down at her tantoes for a moment. The blades were covered in blood, and her hands were more or less stuck to the handles from the sweat that was clinging onto her.

"So next step...sinking the ship?" Gintoki asked, standing up more upright now that he had caught some of his breath back as he turned to face the ship docked ahead of them.

"Yeah...and find our lead if he's still around, but I doubt he'll still be here after what happened..." She replied a little uncomfortably.

Despite supposedly clearing out the dock of the Red Spiders, she still couldn't help but feel a little wary. The presence of their lead suspect still weighed heavily on her mind. They hadn't even seen him at all amidst the fighting despite how big the battle was. The only possible reason Tsukuyo could think of for his absence must have been that he had slipped away amidst the chaos. Or worst still, ambush them when their guard was down. At this point there was only one way to know for sure, but it still gnawed at her mind at the possibility of him slipping through their fingers. Still, capturing him was the least of her priorities when the presence of explosives still threatened Yoshiwara.

Without warning, Gintoki had stepped in front of her as she heard two distinct sounds that paralysed her body, her eyes and mouth widened in horror. The faint whistles of four kunai piercing his arms and legs at high velocity, and his pained gasps as he collapsed to his knees, holding onto his wooden sword for support.

"Gintoki!"

Her eyes frantically looked around for their unseen attacker until she looked up.

A shadowy figure seemingly standing on nothing but thin air, right in front of the docked ship's mast. The clouds that had loomed overhead had long departed, leaving nothing but the pale moonlight as he stood in its presence, wearing a devious smirk. Unlike the other Red Spiders, this one was tall, lean and had dark hair.

Just like their lead suspect.

But there was something else about him that bore a striking resemblance to someone they vaguely knew. Someone that they had met before.

He jumped down, stopping on seemingly nothing but air yet again just above the shipping containers.

"Long time no see."

His voice was distinctly familiar, like they had heard it a few times before. Silky smooth, calm and deep.

Tsukuyo hurriedly struggled to help Gintoki pull out the kunai embedded in his body as they clattered to the floor.

"Who... the hell is...he?" He gasped, exerting more strength than usual to get on his feet.

"You've forgotten me already? How disappointing. Then again, no one remembers my face anyway." The man sarcastically lamented, overhearing Gintoki's passing question.

The last sentence struck a chord in the both of them. They really did hear his voice before, but from where, and from who?

The man leapt down a third time onto the ground and took a few casual steps forward. His darkened attire and messy hair contrasted with his almost pale face. The realisation quickly struck them.

"I knew there was something off about ya the moment we met..." Gintoki scowled, glancing up and down his attacker.

"The jewellery store...ya bastard!" Tsukuyo cried out, quickly whipping out her kunai. Before she could even get a chance to throw them, her arms went limp as her weapons clattered to the floor uselessly, feeling a sharp sensation course through her arms. She glanced down to find four kunais firmly embedded in them. Whoever the clerk was, he was no ordinary person.

"Shut up." He dismissively replied, seeming almost insulted by her attempt to retaliate. His eyes quickly fixed on Gintoki, who had mustered up the strength to stand up and immediately threw several more kunai at him. The samurai instinctively threw his arms up to block the barrage, but it didn't stop them from piercing his arms and legs again as it sent jolts throughout his body, his legs almost buckling as he went down a knee.

"Shit...Argh...who the hell are you?!" Gintoki growled, trying not to wince from the pain.

"I think Tsukuyo is qualified to answer that question for you." The clerk sneakily responded, looking down on them with contempt, Tsukuyo in particular.

Her brows knitted as she looked at the man with a puzzled look. "What are ya talking about? I know nothing about ya! And why would ya do something like this?!"

The man's smirking expression remained unchanged, not sure whether to smile a little bit or be disappointed that she had no idea what he was talking about. "Let's say...to fatten up the prey that I will consume tonight."

Tsukuyo blinked. Not out of shock, but the horrible realisation as to who the clerk really was. She couldn't utter a word.

"Judging by your silence I take it you still don't remember? Perhaps I can refresh your memory then."

The man slowly put his hand to the right side of his forehead, almost as if he was tugging his skin. To the pair's horror it was coming off like a cloth being ripped apart, perfectly running down his face as he continued pulling it off. By the time he had finished, his uncovered side was completely barren of skin, but rather pink, scarred flesh, accompanied by a bulging eye. It was as if his face was merely a mask.

"You truly have grown beautiful Tsukuyo...yet you've fallen so far. Your spirit...disgusts me."

Tsukuyo remained completely paralysed, mixed between total denial, shock and horror as to their foe's true identity. One that she knew all too well.

"M-Master?!"