The Yorozuya was quiet that morning. Quiet, or rather—there was no sound. Without Sadaharu, the floor didn't shake. Without Kagura, the refrigerator didn't open on its own. Without Shinpachi, there was no rustling of ledger pages. Gintoki lay on the sofa, staring at a crab-shaped stain on the ceiling. It was the fourth morning. Knock, knock, knock. Someone rapped on the door. Gintoki didn't move. "[gentle]Gintoki, it's Otose. Not about the rent. Just show your face for a moment" A raspy voice came from beyond the door. Otose—the landlady who ran a snack bar on the first floor of the Otose Building in Kabuki Town. In her sixties, hunched-backed, foul-mouthed, but oddly caring. Gintoki answered without taking his eyes off the ceiling stain. "[cold]We're closed" "[gentle]…I see" Silence fell in the hallway. Then, footsteps descended the stairs, slowly fading away. When the sound disappeared, the room returned to its original silence. Gintoki sat up and opened the refrigerator. One pudding inside. Kagura had left it. On the lid, in shaky marker handwriting: "For Gin-chan." Gintoki picked up the pudding. He looked at it for a while. He didn't open the lid. He set it back on the table. He lay back on the sofa and looked at the ceiling again. Grrrr. His stomach growled. "[sarcastic]Shut up" He said it to his own stomach. Then he didn't move. From outside the window came the sounds of Kabuki Town. Two residents passing by were whispering as they eyed the Yorozuya sign from a distance. That sign with "Terrorist, get out" written in red paint. The one he'd tried to take down yesterday with his own hands but couldn't. Gintoki didn't look outside. --- Past noon, the sounds changed. At first, it came from far away. The sound of breaking glass. Then screams. Gintoki opened one eye. It was coming from the direction of Kabuki Town's main street. --- Kagura and Shinpachi were at the entrance to the shopping district. They'd been walking aimlessly since morning with Sadaharu. They wanted to go back to the Yorozuya but couldn't bring themselves to. With that feeling, the two of them had been walking in circles on the same road. Then a group of ronin appeared. Fifteen, maybe sixteen of them. Holding old-model high-energy guns, they advanced while smashing the shopping district's signs one after another. Residents screamed and fled. The noren curtain of the restaurant "Hokuto Shinkken" was torn to shreds. The glass of the convenience store "Dogramagura" shattered. "[surprised]What the hell is that" "[scared]Armed ronin! There are too many—run—" At that moment, a man appeared behind the ronin. Pale blue skin. The color of a Heavenly Being. A thin frame dressed in a black administrative official's coat. He looked to be in his early thirties. He was smiling. "That's a Heavenly Being administrator," a nearby resident whispered. "A guy named Garza… despite being a low-ranking official, there's a rumor he's been buying up land in Kabuki Town." Garza spoke to one of his subordinates, loud enough for others to hear. "[sarcastic]Using the name of the White Demon, humans cower on their own. A convenient pawn. The blackmail photos, the schematic memo at the abandoned factory—we planted all of it. Thanks to that, the Yorozuya got arrested and Kabuki Town's security went to hell. Let's have a little more fun until the land prices drop" Kagura's fist clenched. Blackmail photos. The schematic memo. The day Gintoki was taken away by the Shinsumi… It was all this bastard's doing? "[angry]I'm gonna beat every last one of you!" She started to rush forward. Shinpachi grabbed her from behind, wrapping both arms around her. "[scared]Wait wait wait! Did you count?! How many of them do you think there are?!" "[angry]Numbers don't matter!" "[scared]They absolutely matter!" While the two of them grappled, Shinpachi's glasses bent. They tilted at an angle from the impact of Kagura's headlock. "[angry]My glasses! My glasses!" "[angry]I don't care! I won't forgive anyone who disrespects Gin-chan!" Sadaharu wagged his tail between them. Something else went flying. --- The Shinsumi mobilized. Soldiers in black haori coats ran onto the main street. At their head was a man with black hair and red streaks. Hijikata Toshirou. The vice-commander's sharp eyes swept across the group of ronin. "[serious]Restrain everyone. Don't let them escape" The soldiers charged in. But the ronin had old-model high-energy guns. They couldn't block those with swords. Every shot sent a soldier flying. Despite the Shinsumi having superior numbers, they couldn't advance. "[angry]Dammit, we need to take out the source of these weapons or this won't end!" As Hijikata gritted his teeth, smoke rose from beyond an alley. It was coming from the direction of the snack bar "Otose." --- Kagura noticed first. An orange glow was leaking from the depths of the alley. The smell of smoke. The smell of flames. "[scared]Otose's snack bar!" Garza's men had circled around while the main force kept the Shinsumi occupied. Kagura ran. Shinpachi ran. Sadaharu ran. The snack bar's door was burning. Flames licked out from the windows. "[scared]Otose!" A figure crawled out from the smoke. It was Otose. Her white hair was disheveled, her right arm pressed against her side. Her sleeve bore the marks of fire. Her skin was red, parts of it blistered. Kagura hoisted Otose onto her back. With Yato strength, an adult was light as a feather. She ran out of the alley. Shinpachi borrowed a bucket of water from a nearby resident and ran over. He slowly poured water over Otose's arm. "[sad]…Thank you, Kagura" "[gentle]Don't talk" "[serious]Where is Gintoki…" Kagura went silent for a moment. "…" The answer wouldn't come. He's at the Yorozuya. But if she said that, it would lead to questions about why he wasn't there. Otose looked at Kagura's face and didn't ask further. "[cold]The rent… I'm definitely getting paid" "[angry]Don't talk about that now!" --- From the Yorozuya's window, the sky was visible. It was orange. Too early for sunset, yet the sky burned red. The color of flames. The color of smoke. Gintoki stood before the window, watching that sky. Something moved in the depths of his mind. A burning sky. The smell of flames. The shape of someone falling. Memories from the Joui War. More than twelve years ago. But his body remembered. The sky on the battlefield was red. Comrades fell. He alone remained standing. The places he couldn't protect, the people he couldn't protect, the days he couldn't protect— Gintoki's knees buckled. He placed both hands on the floor. He held his head. He'd failed to protect again. Kabuki Town was burning. Otose's snack bar. Kagura and Shinpachi might be in danger. It happened because I was here. It would've been better if I wasn't. Or if I had been— It didn't matter either way. He no longer knew what the right answer was. His body wouldn't move. The pudding on the table entered the edge of his vision. He could see the characters "For Gin-chan." His hand couldn't reach it. The room grew darker. Only the flickering light of the flames outside danced on the window. --- CRASH!!! The front door exploded inward. More precisely, it was kicked down. By Kagura's foot. "[angry]Gin-chan!" She burst in. Her crimson hair was disheveled. Her golden eyes found Gintoki. Shinpachi came in after her. His glasses were still bent, his breathing ragged. Still on his knees, Gintoki didn't look up. "[serious]Kabuki Town is burning. Otose is injured. We can't handle this alone" "[cold]…It happened because I was here" His voice was quiet. Not angry. Just what he believed. The next instant, Gintoki's collar was grabbed. Kagura. She pulled him up. Ripping him from the floor, she yanked him to his feet. "[angry]Listen, Gin-chan" Kagura's voice trembled slightly. Was she angry, or about to cry, or both? "[serious]I hated fighting, so I ran away from my home planet. The Yato say fighting is everything. But I hated it. I didn't want to fight. So I got on a ship alone and landed on a strange world" Gintoki looked up. He'd never heard Kagura talk like this before. "[serious]When I came to Kabuki Town, when I came to you—for the first time, I felt like I belonged here. This place is my place" Kagura's golden eyes stared straight at Gintoki. "[angry]That place is burning. And you're doing nothing? I won't allow it!" Shinpachi stepped forward. His fists clenched. His glasses were still bent, but the eyes behind the lenses were serious. "[serious]I'm weak. My dojo is falling apart. There's almost nothing I can do to help you" His voice shook. "[serious]But I thought I could change if I stayed by your side. That's why I came. So please stand up" Silence. Gintoki looked at both their faces. CRASH!!! The next moment, something white and enormous burst through the door. Sadaharu. He charged straight at Gintoki and knocked him to the ground. Sadaharu licked his entire face. "[angry]Sadaharu! Read the mood!" --- Gintoki slowly pushed himself up with Sadaharu still on top of him. His gaze stopped on the pudding on the table. Just for a second. He stood up. He took the wooden sword from Toya Lake leaning against the wall. This souvenir from Hokkaido—thanks to a loophole in the Sword Abolishment Edict, when Gintoki swung it, it had the destructive power of an iron pipe. A blunt, crude weapon. He felt its weight in his palm. "[cold]You guys are really annoying" His voice was small. But he was facing forward. Kagura's eyes narrowed slightly. "[sarcastic]Finally" Shinpachi adjusted his glasses. "[gentle]…I'm glad" "[sarcastic]I'm eating that pudding when I get back" "[sarcastic]You're definitely not eating it" "[sarcastic]How do you know that" The air between the three of them shifted slightly back. Outside the window, flames and smoke still rose. On Kabuki Town's main street, Hijikata and the Shinsumi were still struggling. And Garza was giving instructions to his men. In the depths of an alley, a high-energy cannon built with Heavenly Being technology—a weapon surpassing those from the Joui War era in destructive power—was being activated. Through the shadows, it was visible. Gintoki gripped the wooden sword tighter and looked toward the door.