Chapter Text
Today was another hot day in Kibukicho, with everyone preferring to lock themselves in with the air-conditioner on full blast. Unfortunately for our lazy protagonist however, it was kinda impossible. The electric bill, the way overdue rent, the water bill and the various debts to various people, all the usual stuff. Today, he gotta work in this heat with Gengai!
Why does Shinpachi get to go with his sister to a family wedding with lots of free food? Why does Kagura get to play with the princess with cool air blowing everywhere? Why did those two brats leave Gin-san all alone with a stinky old man in this heat? “NANDEEE?!” Gintoki screamed.
“Oi Ginnoji, hurry up and move your lazy ass, there’s still lots of work to do,” said Gengai from across his workshop.
“Hai hai, wakattayo! Now shut up, will ya?” Gintoki said irritably. “Besides, what’s with all these useless pieces of junk you’ve got lying around? And what’s this thing?” he asked pointing to a weird mash-up of different robot parts randomly stuck together. On it was a very suspicious red button, and it was basically screaming “Push me! Push me!” Poor Gintoki fell for it. Within a moment’s time, soy sauce came spurting out of an opening somewhere near its head.
“AREWA SOY SAUCE JANEKA? WHY THE HELL IS IT ALWAYS SOY SAUCE? JUST HOW MUCH OF A SOY SAUCE FAN ARE YOU?” Gintoki screeched, which he thoroughly did ever since soy sauce first came out of a toothpick.
“Ha! You younglings just don’t understand anything,” replied Gengai while fiddling with another piece of junk. “And what do you mean piece of junk? This is no junk! Although they’re pretty useless.”
“Hah! You admitted it just now, you said it was useless yourself!” Gintoki accused, pointing frantically at the old inventor. “So, what does this thing even do? Drown people with soy sauce?”
“Shut it, you perm-head. I knew you were going to be curious; this device can rejuvenate oneself and make one young again! It practically works the same way a time machine does. It’s my pride and joy. It’s still in beta though, therefore Ginnoji, give it try,” Gengai replied, pen and paper already in hands to take notes.
“USAKERUNA JIJJI ! NAZE ORE GAAA, YOU ARE THE ONE WHO MADE IT RIGHT? THEN YOU ARE THE ONE WHO TRY!!!” Gintoki shricked, mentally preparing to make a run for it.
“Don’t whine! Have you already forgotten who fixed your trash of a scooter?” countered Gengai.
“My scooter ain’t no trash! It’s you who installs weird shit into my precious scooter and blow it up with me on it every single time! Which means I end up spending one or two weeks in the hospital with burns everywhere!” Gintoki retorted.
“At least make yourself useful for once, you good-for-nothing!”
“I don’t wanna hear that from you, you shitty old geezer! Fine I’ll do it! Don’t blame me if Edo goes up in flames, it’s all your fault, got it?” Saying that Gintoki pushed another button, a green one this time.
Suddenly smoke rose from the machine and quickly filled the workshop littered with metal junks. It was so thick that Gengai couldn’t see anything "Oii Ginnoji cough are you cough alive?" Gengai asked worriedly while covering half of his lower face with his sleeve. A few moments later, the smoke which covered almost whole house disappeared to reveal a small figure behind it.
“Is that you, Gintoki? Did it work?” Gengai was starting to get seriously worried now. Who knows what will happen to him if accidentally killed the sugar-freak. Well, he didn’t want to hurt Gintoki. Gintoki is the one who saved him after all. Besides, even though those kids who hang around him badmouth him constantly, he knew how much they cared for him and how far they are willing to go for their prediabetic boss.
The figure who was now busy coughing the smoke out of him, had a head full of unruly silver hair that had been dirtied by dried blood and dirt; he wore a yukata slightly too big for him, also dirty and stained deep brown with blood. In his hands, he clutched a bloodied and chipped katana, and his wine-red eyes weren’t so lazy or apathetic as of now, instead they were full of raw emotions and fear.
He gazed at Gengai and his surroundings with meticulous caution, and after a long pause, he spoke, his voice quiet and careful, “And who the hell are you? What is place?” He gripped his katana even more tightly, Gengai noticed.
“You’re in Edo, and the war is over now. So, you can put down that sword now,” Gengai replied gently, trying to ease his way over the young boy.
Without warning, Gintoki slipped out his sword and swung at the old mechanic. Barely avoiding the blade, Gengai also noticed that the young Gintoki had eyes that only battle-hardened warriors have, to live another day no matter the cost. Grabbing a nearby control, the mechanic got one of his robots to hold the kid in place.
“Hahaha, how is it? Can’t move now, can you?” he bragged, momentarily forgetting who he was facing at the moment.
Letting the sword fall from his right hand, Gintoki caught it with his left, made a quick turn and sliced the unlucky robot in half. None too soon, both parts of the robots exploded, displaying a show of fireworks. That was when Shinpachi and Kagura showed up.
“Iaaa! Why did you do that?!” Gengai cried out in grief.
“Konnichiwa Gengai-san, is Gin-san here? If you’re busy we can go somewhere else to look for him.” Shinpachi greets Gengai with his usual politeness, but then mutters characteristically, “And here I am thought Gin-san got lonely, hahaha...”
“Ano hanabi wa sugee, aru! Were those test fireworks for the upcoming festival? Will you make some more? Can I set some off? And where is Gin-chan? Who’s that kid that looks a lot like Gin-chan, aru?” Kagura came bouncing in the workshop.
“Hahaha, don’t say that Kagura-chan; matte, you’re actually right. That kid does look a lot like Gin-san, rather, it would be more accurate to say this is mini Gin-san. Ia ia ia, matte matte matte, NANIII??!!! Gengai-san, what is going on?”. Shinpachi prompted with a somewhat puzzled look on his face.
Taking advantage of this confusion, the silver-haired boy dashed out of the workshop and started running away, away from the Karakuri Dou. Because Karakuri Dou was located quite a while from the heart of Kibukicho, no one was yet to spot the kid.
“Ah! Quick! Go after the kid before he gets away! …Ah. Too late. He got away. Let’s just hope he doesn’t run into trouble. Oh,” said Gengai, noticing the blank stares he was receiving at the moment. “Etoo…the kid’s… Gintoki… Yeah…” Gengai trailed off.
Silence filled the area for a brief second, then started the screaming.
“Matte, NANI?! THAT KID’S GIN-SAN?! DO YATTE DESU KA? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED WHEN WE WERE GONE JUST FOR ONE WEEK?” Shinpachi screeched running around looking for nothing in particular.
“UWAA!! IT’S CHIBI GIN-CHAN! We’ll get to have more fun!” Kagura, on the other hand, was happy to see a younger and cuter version of her ‘earth dad’.
By now, people had started to take notice of one odd little silver-haired boy carrying a sword running around the outskirts of Kibukicho. Even if they found it odd, they paid no attention to it. After all, this was Kibukicho, the place where those on the bottom usually were.
***
“What do mean there’s a kid who looks like good-for-nothing waste-of-space guy in Kibukicho?” growled Hijikata, the Oni no Fukucho.
Could the day get any worse? It was bad enough when there was a badminton tournament going on today. Plus Okita-taicho was particularly ‘active’ today; no, not ‘active’ as in patrolling the streets, it would be great if he did that. He was ‘active’ in assassinating a certain person. Goodness, I already saw him dodge around 30 attempts. He looks ready to chew my head off.
“Yes! Apparently, it’s the talk of the town now. A dirty silver-perm, blood-red eyes, a somewhat dead look, and here’s the most important thing, the kid’s carrying a katana!” Yamazaki finished, ready to flee for his life any moment.
“…tell me everything, don’t you dare leave anything out, about this … kid. And keep an eye on him,” ordered Hijikata.
…
◯ Month ❀ Day
Ahh... this really is Danna. But why is he so small? And where is the actual, full-sized Danna? Whoops, almost lost track of him, gotta hurry. Oh yes, the anpan’s actually pretty good, next time I’ve got to go back to that anpan place next time I have a stakeout. I really should hurry… Ack! He spotted me! That’s it for now. Oh… he’s coming over here, what do I do? This is bad, he’s emitting the same kind of aura I usually sense in Fukucho… I might really die at the hands of a kid Danna. If I do, please bury me with my rackets and birdies. Unosuke can have my spare racket. I leave my secret stash of anpan to Tama-san. AHHHH!!!
…
“What the hell is this? An essay? A confession? A will?” snapped the Shinsengumi Vice-Captain, multiple tick mark appearing on his head.
“Where is that useless spy anyway? Sougo, go check up on Yamazaki on how’s he doing. While you’re at it, take a look if he is still the sweet freak, if he is, bring him here; if not, bring 'im here anyway,” said Hijikata. “And do it within two hours. Now scram!”
“Haaaii, got it, within two hours, right? Here, some mayonnaise for your hard work.”
Saying so, casually tossed a bottle to Hijikata, and disappeared into one of his numerous hiding spots. Suddenly, a boom could be heard, followed by the telltale scream of “SOUGOO~~!”
***
“Where could Gin-san have gone? Should we ask the Shinsengumi for help? What do you think, Kagura-chan?” huffed Shinpachi, having lazed around too much during his vacation.
“Patssan~ you gotta shape up, aru. What are we gonna do if the old hag catches you because you weren’t fast enough to escape from paying the rent? And we’re so not asking that sadist for help, aru. Oh, that’s it! Let’a ask Tama for help! We can also ask Zura!” Kagura suggested, happily chewing on her piece of sukonbu.
Agreeing on what to do, the two set off for Otose’s bar.
“Yo! Whassup, old hag? Have you seen a mini Gin-chan around?” asked Kagura, ever so cheerful.
“Whaddya mean ‘old hag’? And if you’re talking about a kid running around with a sword, then yeah, Tama said she spotted one around. I told her not to worry, should I not have bothered with that?” Otose retorted, taking another long drag from her cigarette.
Shinpachi sighed. “We need to find him. Could you have Tama-san find where Gin-san… the kid may be?” seeing how Kagura can’t be bothered to say it, Shinpachi did.
***
Wandering the streets after taking out the latest group of people on his tail, Katsura Kotaro relaxed, but only so little. No, there wasn’t any hostile intent around as of now, but that didn’t mean he was safe.
Even though it was high noon, he attracted practically no attention at all. And not watching the road, the young silver-haired boy bumped into a monk-wanna-be-terrorists. By his side was an odd creature that apparently was an old man dressed in a penguin suit, who immediately raised a sign that read, “Don’t give me away so quickly”. Of course, this is for the sake of the readers, not for the boy with his sword out and pointing it at his companion.
“Calm down! Are you lost? Do you know where your parents are? Do you know where you live? But first stop pointing that at me, okay?” Zura said quickly, raising both hands up and going into full-blown monk mode. After all, one’s got to keep up the facades in other’s presence.
“Are you…?” Gintoki frowned, still on edge and eyeing the sword that hung by Katsura’s side. “You… won’t kill me…?” he questioned warily. Stay alert.
“And why would I kill you?” Katsura was slightly shocked that a child his age could say something that like, or rather, be aware of the harsh reality.
“Because it’s… war?” the young Gintoki replied uncertainly.
“Oh… okay. What’s your name?”
“…Sakata Gintoki. What’s yours?”
Katsura flinched at the reply, but made a good effort to hide it. Despite the storm of questions swirling in his mind, he tried a smile. “Call me Zura.”
Still gazing at him cautiously, Gintoki lowered his sword, but kept it unsheathed, nonetheless.
***
“Katsuraaa! This time you’re not getting away for sure! And leave that kid alone! We can’t have you corrupting another kid with your ways!”
“And the Shinsengumi shows up to save the helpless child from the clutches of the notorious terrorist, The Runaway Kotarou! More action after this round of advertisements. See you soon!”
“Oh look, it’s Danna-san!”
“Yamazaki, will you shut up? Sougo’s the one who’s supposed to find the kid, not you. Speaking of which, (cover your ears, seriously) SOOOUUUUGOOOO!!! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO FIND THE KID AND BRING HIM BACK TO THE BARRACKS?!! DID YOU NOT DO IT?!!” Hijikata thundered, a couple of veins decorating his forehead.
“Ah, whoops.” Okita deadpanned. The only shocking thing was, the First Division Captain was injured and was currently aiming at the Vice Captain with his bazooka. Okay, not so shocking after all, but he was injured, nevertheless.
“I may have underestimated Danna a bit.”
A collective gasp came from the rest of the Shinsengumi minus Yamazaki.
“I never thought I’d see the day where Okita-taichou is injured! By a child no less!”
“Shut it, before I make the whole lot of you commit seppuku. Yamazaki, you too.”
“Ehh?! Why me too? I even refrained from joining in! And um, both the kid and Katsura ran away, y’know?” Yamazaki was seriously regreeting is decision to come along and catch Katsura. He just wanted to spy on people and stay unnoticed when the time calls for it. Like now.
“Fine, Yamazaki. You’re committing seppuku 50 times over, whether you like it or not. The rest are free to go. Thank you, Yamazaki, for your honorable sacrifice.”
“Eeeh?!! Why?! And guys, quit cheering! Seriously, why?! It’s not fair, life’s not fair!”
While the rowdy crowd of country police bickered, the terrorist and the demon child slipped away into one of the numerous alleyways. Not long after shaking the cops off their tail, somebody else were on their tail.
Who? Why other terrorists, of course.