Morning. Three knocks echoed at the Yorozuya's door. Knock, knock, knock. Ordinary sounds. But Gintoki didn't get up from the sofa. Something about the *feel* of those knocks bothered him. Not Otose's rent-collection knock. Not a neighborhood client either. Something more... official about it. Shinpachi opened the door. Standing in the hallway was a man with short black hair streaked with red. Tall. Thick eyebrows, sharp eyes. And—a jumbo-sized mayonnaise bottle jutting slightly from his pocket, completely undermining his dignified presence. Two Shinsumi soldiers stood at attention behind him. "[cold]Sakata Gintoki. You here?" His voice was low. Brooking no argument. Shinpachi went rigid. Kagura poked her head out from the back. Gintoki listened to the exchange while slowly pushing himself up from the sofa. Hijikata Toshirou. Vice-commander of the Shinsumi—the second-highest authority in the Bakufu's special police organization. The vice-commander of Edo's most troublesome outfit, headquartered four kilometers southwest of Kabuki-cho. Why was he knocking on the Yorozuya's door this morning? Gintoki had a pretty good idea. He stood and faced Hijikata head-on. "[sarcastic]What's the business, Vice-Commander?" "[serious]Your name appeared on a list of smuggling ring associates." Hijikata pulled documents from his pocket. Then—another sheet. Gintoki's eyes caught on it for just a moment. The first was that photograph. A young man standing on a battlefield, black and white. The one he'd thrown in the trash. The second was a memo with a crest. From the night he'd escaped the abandoned factory, the thing Gintoki had shoved in his pocket without showing Kagura or Shinpachi. "[sarcastic]...You dug it out of the garbage?" "[serious]Everything you threw away, everything you hid. All of it came up as evidence of ties to the smuggling ring." "[sarcastic]There are no ties." "[serious]I know." Hijikata's tone dropped, just slightly. "[serious]Personally, I don't think you're the culprit. But evidence exists. So we follow procedure. That's how the Shinsumi operates." Shinpachi started to say "Gin-san!" Kagura opened her mouth. "[surprised]You smell like mayonnaise, aru." Silence. The jumbo mayonnaise bottle in Hijikata's pocket was just barely visible. His eyebrows shot up. His face reddened. Shinpachi clamped both hands over Kagura's mouth at full speed. "[angry]I-I-I'm so sorry! This one has a habit of speaking without thinking!" "[cold]...Let's go, Sakata Gintoki." His voice was taut. Hijikata turned on his heel, barely containing his anger. Gintoki glanced at Kagura and Shinpachi. Both their faces showed it—they'd realized Gintoki had been hiding something. But there was no time to explain. "[sarcastic]Wait for me." That was all he said before picking up his wooden sword. Kagura watched Gintoki's back as he stepped into the hallway, her gaze fixed. --- "You can't go past this door." A soldier said this at the main gate of the Shinsumi compound. Shinpachi shouted "Why!?" but he and Kagura were stopped outside the gate. Only Gintoki was taken inside. Kagura stared at that door for a while. Then, without a word, she decided to take Sadaharu home. --- The interrogation room was terribly quiet. Wooden desk. Chair. The dojo roof visible through the window. Hijikata sat across from him, a young clerk-soldier stationed in the corner. "[serious]Confirming your history. You opened the Yorozuya about three years ago. Where were you before that?" "[sarcastic]Here and there." "[serious]More specifically." "[sarcastic]Too much trouble." "[cold]You bastard—" Hijikata was about to slam the desk when the clerk-soldier spoke quietly. "Um, um... the Shiroyasha—was it Shiroya*mata*, correct?" Hijikata turned back. The clerk's paper read "Shiroya*mata* Sakata Gintoki." "[angry]It's *mata*. Three strokes on the radical. Rewrite it." "Y-yes!" The sound of papers rustling, being rewritten. Gintoki stared at the ceiling with dead fish eyes. "[cold]...Don't get my name wrong." "You shut up!" Hijikata opened the Bakufu's official records. There it was—records from the Joui War era. Shiroyasha Sakata Gintoki. A former Joui activist who'd struck down numerous Amanto soldiers and was feared by enemies. From the Bakufu's perspective: "a former anti-establishment element." "[serious]This is official record. Your denial doesn't change it." Gintoki said nothing. That silence was affirmation. Outside the interrogation room, soldiers passing through the hallway whispered. The sound carried through the walls. "Shiroyasha... you mean *that* Shiroyasha?" "That guy was running a Yorozuya in Kabuki-cho...?" The information spread from hallway to hallway, through the compound. Information couldn't be stopped. The clerk made another mistake. "Shiroya*mata*" again. "[angry]Third time!!" "I-I'm sorry! Um... three strokes on the radical—which character—" "*Mata*! The *mata* character!" Gintoki rested his chin on his hand, watching the exchange blankly. *(These guys are talking pretty loud.)* He figured it was carrying outside the compound. --- Information spread through Kabuki-cho fast. On the way back to the Yorozuya, Kagura stopped at the convenience store "Dogramagura" in the shopping district. She'd only meant to buy one pudding. But the owner, who usually greeted her cheerfully, flinched slightly when he saw her today. "[cold]...We can't serve someone associated with people who fought the Amanto..." Kagura opened her mouth. Then closed it. She set the pudding on the counter and left the store without buying it. Shinpachi was stopped in an alley by someone connected to the dojo—a parent of one of Taae's students. "[whispers]You were working for someone that dangerous...?" It was quiet, but deliberately audible. Shinpachi adjusted his glasses, searching for a response. Nothing came. Residents hurried past the Yorozuya. Shopkeepers who wouldn't meet their eyes. The sense of being "part of Kabuki-cho" that the three of them had slowly built crumbled audibly. Shinpachi returned to the Yorozuya and opened the ledger. He tried to look at the numbers. But before the numbers came the thought: *Does it make sense to be in this town?* His pencil stopped. Kagura went into the closet room and leaned against Sadaharu. She didn't speak. Sadaharu pressed his large nose against her cheek. It was warm. That was all that mattered. --- Evening. Gintoki left the compound. Hijikata said one thing at the door. "[serious]The investigation continues. Keep your head down." Gintoki said nothing and walked out. He crossed the stone pavement of Kabuki-cho, turned down an alley, and came back in front of the Otose Building—and saw it. The Yorozuya's hand-painted sign. That sign with the peeling "chi" character. Written in large red paint across it: "TERRORIST GET OUT" Gintoki stood there for a while, looking at it. Then he reached out his hand to wipe the letters. His palm rubbed the paint. But it was already dry. It wouldn't come off at all. His palm just turned faintly red. Gintoki looked at his hand. Then he went inside. Kagura and Shinpachi were waiting. Both sitting around the sofa. They looked up when Gintoki came in. "[cold]You two don't need to come here anymore." His voice was quiet. Not angry. Not sad. Just... that. "[angry]Gin-san!" "[serious]If you're with me, you'll get the same treatment. Like today." Gintoki kept his gaze out the window, motionless. Kagura watched his back in silence. Shinpachi started to say "But—" and couldn't finish. Gintoki pulled his wallet from his pocket and set coins on the shelf. Today's pay. A pittance. An amount that showed just how tight the Yorozuya's budget had become. "[cold]Today's share. Leaving it here." --- Shinpachi started to say "Gin-san..." Started again. Head down, he left the Yorozuya. Kagura stopped at the door. She turned back toward Gintoki's back and opened her mouth. But no sound came. Her lips moved. No words formed. She left with Sadaharu. The door closed. Gintoki alone remained in the Yorozuya. He looked out the window for a while. Then he sat on the sofa. He looked at his palm, reddened from before, one more time. The room was too quiet. With Sadaharu gone, there was no sound at all. *Grrrr.* His stomach growled. Gintoki opened the refrigerator. One pudding sat inside. The one Kagura had left untouched. On the lid, in oil pen, were squiggly characters. "For Gin-chan, aru" Gintoki stared at that pudding for a while. He didn't eat it. He closed the refrigerator and lay down on the sofa. Staring at the ceiling stain. That one shaped like a crab. The one that'd bothered him for a while. Beyond the window, beyond Kabuki-cho's sky—an orange light flickered faintly. Toward the shopping district. A color like flame. Gintoki closed the window and shut his eyes.