Yorozuya Chaos as Usual! started the morning in complete disorder. Kagura had done two things in a single night. One: she'd claimed the entire closet as her own room. The other: she'd released a massive white dog—no one knew where she'd gotten it from—into the living room. The dog's name was Sadaharu. He stood about as tall as Kagura's chest, and a single wag of his tail sent everything flying. "[excited]Sadaharu-chan, over here! Over here, Aru!" Kagura bolted across the living room, and Sadaharu tore after her. Thud-thud-thud-thud—— The floor shook. The walls trembled. And the stack of ledgers Shinpachi had piled on his desk went flying in all directions. "[angry]Ahhh! Wait, the ledgers! The ledgers!" Shinpachi stretched out both hands to chase the papers, but Sadaharu made another lap and scattered them all over again. Gintoki, who'd been sprawled on the sofa, had his head resting on Sadaharu's back, half-asleep. The moment the dog bolted, Gintoki hit the floor. Thunk. "……" He lay there motionless for a while. "[gentle]Gin-san, are you alright?" "[sarcastic]Sleeping" He answered without getting up. The mole beneath his left eye was pressed against the tatami. Shinpachi sighed as he gathered the scattered papers. He opened the ledger pages and looked at the numbers. Then looked again. "……Three months straight in the red" It came out less like a murmur and more like a scream. His face was turning pale. "[sarcastic]Want some pudding" The voice came from the floor. "[angry]Pudding isn't the issue right now! We don't have any money! We're three months behind on rent, and at this rate we'll get evicted!" "[sarcastic]Can't even afford pudding, huh" "[angry]Exactly!" "[cold]……This is the worst" With that, Gintoki went quiet again. He stared at the ceiling. The cracks in the wall caught the morning light. This building was really old. Second floor of the Otose Building, Yorozuya Gin-chan. The "chi" character on the sign was peeling off, and they were open for business today——or rather, with no jobs coming in, they were effectively closed. Kagura had her face buried in Sadaharu's belly, giggling. "[excited]Sadaharu-chan is so warm, Aru" Sadaharu wagged his tail. Something else went flying. --- Past noon, someone knocked on the Yorozuya door. Gintoki cracked one eye open from the sofa to look at the entrance. Shinpachi stood up and opened the door. Standing there was an old man with a hunched back. The kind of weathered figure you'd find living on the outskirts of Kabuki-cho, wearing a worn half-coat. White hair, leaning on a bamboo cane. "[serious]Is this the place called Yorozuya?" "[gentle]Yes, it is" The old man's name was Gohei. He lived in a tenement next to an abandoned factory on the southern edge of Kabuki-cho. For the past three days, when night fell, a pale blue light leaked from the factory, and there was a sound like machinery groaning. "[serious]I reported it to the Shinsumi, but they said anything involving Amanto gets put on the back burner……So I came here" The Shinsumi——the Bakufu's special police force. Their headquarters were about four kilometers southwest of Kabuki-cho. They did handle Amanto crimes, but they had priorities, and a little light from a nearby abandoned factory wasn't enough to get them moving. "[serious]As for payment……this is all I can offer" The old man held out the amount. Shinpachi glanced at it, then back at his ledger. It was small. But it was better than nothing. "[whispers]……It's not quite a third of the rent" He was calculating under his breath when Gintoki sat up from the sofa. "[sarcastic]Let's do it" Just those words. Shinpachi took the job request with a reluctant expression. Gohei bowed deeply. Kagura grabbed Sadaharu's collar and stood up. "[excited]Sounds fun, Aru! Sadaharu-chan should come too——" "[cold]Sadaharu stays home" "[sad]……Sadaharu-chan" Kagura pressed her nose against Sadaharu's nose and held it there for a moment. Shinpachi went limp. --- The three of them walked through Kabuki-cho as evening fell. The smell of fried food drifted from the food stalls on the main street. Scooters and rickshaws shared the same road. An Amanto merchant was hauling cargo, and a human child watched intently. Just another evening in Kabuki-cho. Kagura hummed as she walked. Shinpachi walked while writing something in his notebook. Gintoki walked a little behind, holding a wooden sword from Lake Toya in his hand. A souvenir wooden sword from Hokkaido——that was Gintoki's weapon now. The Sword Abolition Edict meant he couldn't carry a real blade, but wooden swords didn't count as swords. A loophole. Gintoki moved the wooden sword absently, as if testing its weight. Shinpachi noticed and tensed slightly. The abandoned factory was at the southern edge of Kabuki-cho. Rusted corrugated metal roof, crumbling outer walls, broken windows. A place that should have no sign of life. But. A faint pale blue light leaked through the cracks in the outer wall. --- None of the three made a sound. The moment they peered through the cracks in the wall, Shinpachi's entire body froze. Kagura's golden eyes went wide with shock. Inside the factory, dozens of wooden crates were stacked on top of each other. In the ones with open lids, metal gun barrels were lined up in rows. Old-model high-energy weapons——the kind used during the Joui War. Piled up like this, in a place like this. Human ronin were organizing the crates under the direction of an Amanto man. Counting them, there were more than ten. "[excited]We're gonna take every last one of these bastards down——" Kagura clenched her fists and started to charge forward. Gintoki's hand silently grabbed the back of her neck. He pulled her back. Gintoki held up his fingers and made a gesture counting the enemy numbers. Kagura's voice dropped to a whisper. "……Lots, Aru" "[whispers]This is illegal weapons smuggling, circumventing the Sword Abolition Edict. Shouldn't we report this to the Shinsumi?" Shinpachi whispered in his ear. "[serious]Yeah" Gintoki nodded and tried to quietly retreat. That instant. Crack. The rotted floorboard Kagura stepped on made a loud noise. Every eye inside the factory snapped toward them at once. "[cold]……Run" --- Two Amanto bodyguards burst out through the factory doors. Gintoki raised his wooden sword and spoke. "[serious]Kagura, hit the front. Shinpachi, the right door" Kagura moved instantly. She charged straight at one of the bodyguards. The overwhelming strength of the Yato clan——the combat race called the strongest in the universe——exploded. With a dull thud, the bodyguard slammed into the outer wall. The other bodyguard grappled with Gintoki. Gintoki turned his body sideways to slip into close range and struck the bodyguard's ribs with the wooden sword. While that happened, Shinpachi ran toward the factory's right door. A padlock. He grabbed a wrench lying nearby and pried at the lock. Clang, clang, clang——three hits and it came off. "[serious]Gin-san, this way!" Kagura ran. Gintoki backed away, using the wooden sword to keep the pursuing ronin at bay. Slowly retreating toward the door. All three passed through it. The night air hit their lungs, cold and sharp. Right after, something struck Gintoki's forehead. A stone, thrown by a ronin. The skin split, and blood trickled down. "[surprised]Gin-chan, you're bleeding, Aru!" Kagura's face changed. She reached up to wipe Gintoki's forehead with her sleeve. "[sarcastic]Spit on it and it'll heal" He said it bluntly, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly. No big deal, his expression said. But Kagura still looked worried, staring at his forehead. "[angry]This job isn't worth the pay at all!!" Shinpachi shouted. His glasses were crooked. His voice shook——whether from anger or the lingering fear from moments ago, probably both. Gintoki was quiet for a moment, then spoke. "[serious]If we don't, the old folks in Kabuki-cho will be in trouble" Shinpachi had no more words after that. --- The three of them put distance between themselves and the factory, hiding in the shadows of a nearby alley. Gintoki peered carefully through a crack in the building, checking inside. A single Amanto emerged from the back of the factory. He was shouting at his subordinates——a reprimand for letting the lookouts escape, probably. Gintoki's eyes stopped. About twelve years ago. On the battlefield of the Joui War, standing beside the enemy general——an Amanto subordinate's face. And the face of the man before him now were strikingly similar. That man was supposed to have died in the war, Gintoki remembered. "[gentle]Gin-chan, what's wrong, Aru?" Kagura called out softly. "[cold]Nothing" Instantly, he was back to his usual face. Sleepy, indifferent, ordinary Gintoki. "[whispers]Gin-san……?" Shinpachi noticed. For just a moment, there was definitely something else in the depths of Gintoki's eyes. But it was gone now. "[cold]Let's go" Gintoki started walking. Kagura followed. Shinpachi glanced back at the factory once before chasing after them both. Back toward Kabuki-cho, three sets of footsteps echoed across the night stone pavement. That night's fight——that messy retreat where the three of them moved in sync for the first time——was definitely the beginning of something, Shinpachi thought. But he couldn't quite find the words to name what it was yet. Still, when Gintoki said "Let's go," his voice seemed directed at everyone present, just a little more than usual. Inside the factory by now, anger over the escaped lookouts must have been swirling. That Amanto leader had seen their faces. It probably wouldn't take long for the smuggling operation to track down the Yorozuya's location. Gintoki had to know that. Shinpachi still didn't understand why he kept walking in silence.