Chapter Text
When Doctor Kazama walked out of the emergency room, all of them immediately stood up. Right away, Shinpachi recognised the doctor as the same one who treated Gin-san back when the man had that scooter accident that led to them losing their memories for a while. What a coincidence, but perhaps this was a good thing...
The doctor let out a long sigh as he saw them.
"You can be at ease for now. As far as I could see, Sakata-san didn't seem to suffer from any serious illness. From what I can tell, it looked like he collapsed due to stress," the doctor paused to look at the notes they were holding before continuing. "Have Sakata-san been having trouble sleeping lately? Lack of sleep could've contributed to his current condition—"
"Gin-chan always had problems sleeping at night," Kagura responded almost immediately, "But before this, Gin-chan never fainted suddenly or got so sick like this. He's not the kind of guy to fall over things like this—!"
"Could this have anything to do with Gin-san recovering his old memories?" Shinpachi finally chimed in. "Gin-san, after all, had been saying that he had these recurring headaches for the past few days..."
Doctor Kazama frowned at him. "What did you mean Sakata-san had been recovering his memories? Has he lost his memories again since the last time? Did he get involved in some other accident again?"
"Oh no..." Shinpachi hastily interjected. "It's not like that! It's just... we believed that way before this, Gin-san must have gotten involved with something that led him to forget who he was—"
"About that, let me explain..."
Shinpachi turned around as the old man who called themself Watanabe Tsubo stepped out and took out an old photograph to show to the doctor...
"Hmm... so you're saying that this was what happened in the past?"
Watanabe nodded as he took a document out of his shirt. "While we've been waiting earlier, I took the chance to run a DNA test on a strand of Gintoki-kun's hair. Since I wanted to know for sure."
"A DNA test?" exclaimed Katsura. "But for you to run a test, don't you have to get something else to compare it with—"
Watanabe gave Katsura a brief glance.
"We did have it. Something that we can use to find out if Gintoki was indeed the son of my late master," Watanabe gritted his teeth as he turned his head towards Chiisako. "Isn't that right, Chii-san?"
Everyone turned their attention towards the woman as Chiisako nodded. "Yes, because I kept a lock of hair from the young master, all those years ago." She shrugged. "Because the young master would soon undergo the genpuku ceremony, we had been making all the preparations for it... which includes the preparation for the capping ceremony."
Chiisako let out another sigh. "I was the one who had supervised the preparation, and I was the one who had cut the young master's hair for the capping. That lock of hair was meant to be disposed of, later on—but who could've thought... that shortly after that, both master and young master had encountered such an incident!"
Chiisako bit her lips. "How could I throw those away when that's the only few things that remained of the young master's memories?"
Watanabe smiled weakly at her. "But thanks to that, we were able to use it to identify the young master's identity—"
×××
Shinpachi let out a gasp. "T-then... does that mean, Gin-san really was—"
The older man just nodded their head towards him. "Yes. I've just received the confirmation from the person who ran the test. Sakata Gintoki... is really our long-lost young master. Young master Manjumaru, no, young master Munemitsu. Even if the ceremony was left unfinished, that was the name which was supposed to be given to the young master..."
"—then I suppose, that silver-white hair really didn't happen naturally..."
Shinpachi turned his head towards the doctor as Doctor Kazama started to speak again. "...hmm hmm, so that made sense. I see now—"
"—Sakata-san... must have encountered a very traumatic incident in his youth to have caused all of his hair to turn white overnight. And considering that he didn't have any memories from his childhood, it must've put an extreme burden on his mind when he tried to unlock all those memories that had been buried for so many years."
"I suppose right now, all that we could do is wait for him to get better—"
The small room echoed with the beeping sounds of various monitors and machinery, as well as the sound of pumping air. The air smelled sterile, slightly lemony. It's a somewhat familiar sight and smell that he'd gotten too used to, especially when one worked under an employer who tended to get gravely hurt every few weeks or months. And sometimes, the one who ended up hospitalised is yours truly, so there's no other choice but to get used to such sights and smells.
Shinpachi stepped inside the hospital room where Gintoki was assigned. Looking at the sight of the man lying unconscious on the bed with so many wires and equipment attached to their body to monitor their condition, he couldn't deny that he was bothered by it. Even when he should already be getting used to seeing the man bedridden or covered in bandages, he still couldn't stand it. He really hated it... seeing the man like this.
A hand suddenly rested on his shoulder as Shinpachi turned around to see his older sister. "Don't make such a horrid face, Shin-chan. Gintoki would've scolded you if he saw you looking like this."
"How's your arm... Big Sis?" he asked as Tae started flexing her left arm in front of him.
"It's fine," his sister said, even when Shinpachi noticed her flinching slightly earlier when she moved her arm. "Guess I also picked up on his bad habit of treating my body like a Gundam—"
His sister started to laugh off his concern as Shinpachi bit his lip.
The memories of the earlier incident were still fresh in his mind. He was on the way home with Katsura-san when he saw the fiasco in front of Grandma Otose's shop. For some reason, Gin-san was fighting with Kagura and his sister. But something was weird; it didn't look like it was the usual light banter he used to see. Gin-san... really was using their full strength to fight, as Kagura and Big Sis did their best to keep the fight under control.
It was as if Gin-san had been possessed by something; his elder seemed to be fighting some invisible opponent that only they could see. That's the only reason he could think of to explain this, because how could Gin-san seriously try to hurt Kagura and his sister? Or even anyone in Kabukicho? Gin-san's behaviour was so wild and unpredictable that Katsura, Kagura and his sister couldn't help but intervene to prevent the man from hurting any innocent bystanders in their solo rampage. They kept trying to call out towards him, but it was as if there was an invisible veil that prevented Gin-san from seeing or recognising them.
Eventually, it felt as if their voice finally reached the man—like Gin-san's bokuto had stopped short of hitting Kagura and his sister at one critical moment when they could've gotten really hurt, but then Gin-san suddenly froze stiffly and started screaming. Katsura-san barely reached the man before Gin-san began to falter and fainted into their arms.
He felt awful. If only he hadn't asked Hijikata-san to investigate this matter, things probably wouldn't have turned out this way. He should have just gone to look for Watanabe-san and convince the man to give up trying to see Gin-san instead. Even when it turned out that Watanabe-san's assumption was true... what was the point of finding out the truth if Gin-san ended up becoming hurt again? They barely got the Yorozuya team back together after two years being apart, and things had only started to become normal after the second incident at the terminal... but now this had to happen to them!
Will Gin-san be all right?
"He'll be fine..."
Shinpachi turned towards his sister as she sat next to Gin-san's bed. "No matter what happens now, it'll be all right. Because we'll be right next to him to keep him company. Isn't that right, Shin-chan?"
Shinpachi stared at his older sister as he silently noted how naturally his sister reached out to hold Gintoki's hand. He couldn't stop noticing how normal it looked to see his sister's and Gin-san's hands intertwined together. He glanced up again to look at his sister's face.
Right away, he could see it clearly.
Otose-san was correct back then. His older sister... had liked Gin-san. Not as a friend or a big brother... but as a man.
It's not as if he never noticed it; he just never bothered to acknowledge it. It's different compared to when his sister was with Kondou-san, Kyuubei-san... or even Hajime-nii. He wondered if his sister was aware of her feelings, though... all these times. He knew that Gin-san cared about his sister anyway, either romantically or platonically. It wasn't that hard to tell anyway. He always noticed how differently Gin-san treated his sister compared to the other potential love interest the man had throughout the series. It was even more obvious whenever he saw Gin-san pull their 'pranks' on Kondou-san, in the guise of trying to pry the stalker away from his sister.
Though, to be honest, he used to wonder if the two would ever get together. Since they always acted as if they never thought of each other as being involved romantically. Even back then, when Hajime-nii had returned home... the two acted as if they had never been close. It's as if, the two of them were waiting for the other to make their first move.
Shinpachi sighed.
After this, he wondered if his sister and Gin-san would finally get together. Not that he cared too much now that it turned out that Gin-san was the lost heir of some prestigious clan or anything. He just... wanted Gin-san to be happy. The guy had already experienced so many unhappy things after all. What with Takasugi-san's death... as well as Shouyou-san...
So if being with his sister could make his 'big brother' happy again, he wouldn't mind having this silver-haired bum be his brother-in-law...
"Oh!"
Shinpachi glanced back towards his sister. She was looking anxiously at Gin-san as the man started to frown in their sleep. Shinpachi gritted his teeth.
Is Gin-san having a nightmare right now? Shinpachi turned his head towards one of the monitors placed next to his elders, as he noticed some slight changes in the reading. But so far, the monitors didn't emit any kind of alert to indicate that something bad was happening... so should he be calling for the doctors now? Or not?
"It's all right... Gin-san," his sister spoke softly, as their other hand caressed Gintoki's head gently. And eventually, the man started to settle down again.
He wondered what could've troubled the man in their sleep.
Hopefully, they weren't having a horrid nightmare...
"Take Manjumaru away from here! Make sure that you'll keep him safe from danger, and if something happened to me—!"
Tears started streaming down his face as he kept running forward to find his father in the midst of the intense battlefield around him. It was really foolish for him to run back here by himself, but he couldn't stand the thought that he wouldn't be able to see his father alive in front of him again. So that's why—!
"Manjumaru-sama!"
He turned around in surprise as one of his father's attendants appeared to save him as they slashed down two assassins who had sneaked up to him from his blind spot. The man turned to look at him in alarm.
"What're you doing here, Manjumaru-sama? You were supposed to escape with the others and head back to Izu!" exclaimed the man in alarm.
He looked up at the tall man standing in front of him. Usui Sadayuki, one of his father's retainers who served as his father's guard. Earlier, his father had entrusted him to the man to be taken away to safety. But later, the man had told the other soldiers and servants to take him away instead, while they continued to fight off the attackers. That bothered him a lot... so as soon as the other soldiers were distracted by the other warriors trying to get to them, he ran back to find his father.
Because why should he run away by himself? Shouldn't his father also be with him? After all, his father is also a very strong warrior...
"But father was still here fighting! I can't leave here knowing that father—!"
Sadayuki-san suddenly pulled him away as they blocked a stream of arrows that were released towards them with their sword.
"We'll talk about this later! Let's look for Mitsutaka-sama and get away from here!"
For some reason, the moment he was able to relocate Sadayuki-san, he was overcome by relief. Everything will be all right now. After all, Sadayuki-san is as strong as his father. The man is part of the four after all! He used to hear so many stories from his father of the many adventures they've encountered in the past, the kind of strong monsters that they've fought off before. Those odd invaders... the Amu... those Amantos...
And this time, the people attacking them were just normal bad people. Even if the other three were not here, as long as Sadayuki-san could be with his father and fight together... everything should be fine.
That's what he used to believe—!
They'll be able to find his father! They should be able to get some help! And all of them should be able to come home together, he thought desperately as Manjumaru tried to ignore the increasing number of dead bodies that littered their path. Those dead bodies didn't belong to the people from his household! It shouldn't be!
He told himself over and over, even as he passed a few dead bodies that clearly carried the Minamoto crest on their person.
"Manjumaru-sama! I could see Lord Mitsutaka over there!"
Just as he was about to be happy to be able to reunite with his father again, he was greeted with an awful sight as an assassin sneaked up from behind his father and proceeded to cut off his father's head with one swift swing.
"Nooo! Father!" he screamed as he tried to run over towards his father.
As they were running, even more Naraku started to chase after them. Sadayuki-san put him down on his feet and told him to run as they tried to fight those warriors off. He didn't want to leave alone and begged Sadayuki to go with him. But because of that, he didn't see another Naraku rushing towards him—aiming for the kill—before Sadayuki-san rushed in between them and was slashed in his place. Sadayuki-san had told him to run again, but he couldn't make himself move away as he fell on the ground. It was as if his whole body had been turned to stone.
Seeing this, Sadayuki-san started carrying him in their arms again and tried to escape, but it didn't take too long for Sadayuki's strength to fail, and both of them crashed towards the ground. Before he could even attempt to push himself back on his feet, Sadayuki had placed their body over him and ran their bloodied hand over his face... telling him to pretend to be dead.
As the sounds of incoming footsteps grew closer, Manjumaru swallowed down the sobs that threatened to come out of his mouth and hold his breath still...
The moment he opened his eyes, he was greeted by the sounds of familiar beeping...
For some reason, he found himself lying on a hospital bed again. Why? He didn't remember getting himself badly hurt or anything. All that he remembered was—wait, what happened to him after he walked out of the hag's shop?
He remembered feeling extremely nauseated, so he thought going outside would make him feel better. Did he lose his consciousness after that? Because it was at that point that he seemed to have gone back to the past, where his father's entourage had been attacked by the Naraku. That was just part of his dream, wasn't it? Because it didn't make sense for him to suddenly experience some kind of hallucination while still awake—
—Gintoki forced himself to sit up and turned his glance towards the young woman who had fallen asleep on his bedside. He sighed softly.
Otae-chan and her usual bad habits. How many times has he told her to take care of her body properly? Even if she was taking care of someone (or him), she shouldn't force herself to stay awake and not rest to the point of affecting their health. And what a bad posture she was having—Gintoki frowned. Even with the dim light from outside the corridors, he could see it clearly... some faint bruises were forming on Otae's exposed arm. He turned his gaze towards the other corners of his room, and he could see the rest of the Yorozuya and Zura lying asleep on the nearby couches. And for some reason, Zura and the kids also seemed to have some minor injuries.
Gintoki blinked in confusion. Wait... couches? Why were there couches in his hospital room?, he wondered as he began to look around him in alarm.
Also...
Why did Otae and the others seem to suffer some kind of injuries on their bodies? Did something happen to them before this?
Or...
Was he... the one who had inflicted those injuries on them?
After a while, it started to dawn on him that the hospital room he was in was no average hospital room. It was actually a VIP suite. But why would he be placed in such a fancy room? As if he got so much money to pay for such a lavish setting...
It was then that it started to register in his mind.
Aside from Otae, who was sleeping on his bedside, and Zura and the kids on the couches... there was also another person inside this room. The person was sitting on a nearby chair and, like the others, was also asleep. It was an old woman, the same old woman he saw at Otose's shop earlier... who had called him by his old name. Tears started forming in his eyes as he recognised the identity of the old woman lying asleep on the chair.
"Chii... chan," he barely choked out the words as the sound of his voice suddenly felt foreign to him.
Suddenly, he wondered how it could be possible for him to ever forget the old woman. The old woman who had served as his nanny ever since he was still a wee baby.
Yamamura Chiisako.
Chii-chan!
×××
It took quite a bit of effort... but he was able to get himself out of the room. His body felt so stiff and weak... it felt as if he had been bedridden for so long.
"—where do you think you're going so early in the morning, Gintoki-san?"
Without meaning to, Gintoki felt his heart jump in surprise. As much as the owner of the voice bore no hostility towards him, it still felt unnerving when you were caught doing something you're not supposed to do. Gintoki straightened himself up and turned around to face the person.
"I wanted to go to the toilet—" he started to say.
The girl gave him a look of disbelief.
"—you didn't look like you're about to take a dump or a tinkle," Nobume spoke plainly, much to his chagrin, "and didn't you notice that you were placed in a VIP suite? The rooms were equipped with their own washrooms, so you wouldn't need to go so far to relieve yourself. If you need to."
Gintoki sighed heavily. He wasn't expecting to get caught so fast. He turned his eyes towards the room where he had come from; it didn't seem that the others had woken up because of Nobume's voice. Maybe he could still find a way to get out of this place without anyone else noticing.
"I just felt like getting some fresh air..."
"I'll wake the others. They have been worrying about you since you fainted. They'd be so glad to see that you've woken up—" Gintoki immediately grabbed Nobume's shoulder tightly to stop her actions.
"Don't. They already had a rough day yesterday; let them rest properly. I'm just going to take a short walk, so there's no need to bother them about it."
He was about to take another step to leave as Nobume spoke again.
"You're already aware that they've been worrying about you, yet you still wanted to leave without telling them? And it's actually the day before yesterday."
He sighed again.
"So many things had happened to me recently... I ended up having all these complicated thoughts in my head right now. So I thought about taking a walk outside, and maybe the fresh air could help me sort all those things nicely. I probably needed that right now... I think so."
"I heard what happened to you these past few days from the others... are you trying to say that you've recovered your old memories or something? There was an old man earlier... they were talking about having proof of your true identity. They were saying that—"
"Nobume-san..." Gintoki started to speak again.
"...have you ever thought about looking for your real family if they're still around? Have you ever wondered if there was still someone out there that was related to you by blood?"
For some reason, hearing those questions made her freeze in place. What? Family? Did she still have anyone she could consider as 'family'? No, what Gintoki was trying to say was not the people whom she had considered family in this present time... the man was asking her if she still had anyone related to her by blood. But that's—!
Not like she would know about it. It's been a very long time... and she was never curious about it.
From as far back as she could remember... she had always been an orphan. She had no memories of having any parents, and the only 'family' she ever had was the other orphans that had lived and grown up with her. As far as she was concerned, the only other family she had was Sasaki Isaburou's younger stepbrother. Tetsunosuke... and Isaburou were the only family she had or would ever need. Or maybe... she could consider Princess Soyo as part of her family. She might also consider this man—no, maybe it's not just him... but also the other disciples of Shouyo—as her big brother as well. She did... felt drawn towards that man ever since that day when she had properly met and got to know more about him.
No, more than just getting to know Sakata Gintoki better... she ended up helping the man to take down the late Tokugawa Sadasada from their position of power!
She wondered if her being drawn towards Gintoki had anything to do with Shouyou. After all, that person used to tell her a lot about their pseudo foster child that they loved and missed so much while being in the custody of the Naraku. Every time she did something that reminded that person of their 'child', Shouyou would always start telling her stories about his little 'oni', she'd end up hearing about all the things that Shouyou used to experience while travelling around the country with his cute little son...
But wait, what did this have to do with what Gintoki was saying right now?
"I don't understand... what you're trying to say—"
"I was trying to say... that right now, I'm having a bit of a hard time." She could hear a soft choking sound coming from the man's throat before Gintoki started to speak again. "From the time when Shouyou picked me up from the valley of death, I had always considered him to be the only parent that I could call my own. Whoever I was before that... or whether I had belonged to anyone before that, I stopped caring about it for a long time. I didn't even wonder why I was there in the first place... or why I ended up alone by myself."
"All of them were probably dead anyway... anyone who would've known who I was before, so I might as well just leave that past behind me. I had no memories of my past self anyway."
Nobume turned around to look at Gintoki as the man seemed to be staring at something far away.
"I told myself that I was fine with it. It's enough that I have the memories and people that I've accumulated until now. Who I really was before I ended up in that empty valley devoid of life was not important. As long as I lived my life in the best way I could, I should be fine not knowing about my origins."
A chuckle came out of the man's throat as Gintoki hastily ran a hand over their eyes. Has the man been crying?
"I didn't think... I would ever get to find out about who I really was (even if it's only from a fanfic written by a small Nezumi instead of the Gorilla), but this is still too much for me to handle on my own. I can't face them right now in this state... not like this."
"I just couldn't..."
Nobume remained standing in place as the man continued to walk away. Any thoughts of stopping the man from leaving the room were completely erased from her mind. By the time she remembered the reason why she should've kept Gintoki in his room, the man had already disappeared from her sight.
He was just taking a short walk; he'll be back soon, she told herself.
But as the sun began to rise a few hours later, Sakata Gintoki still did not return to his hospital room.