Chapter 63: Silver Soul (Earth Arc)

“Hurry up, Shinbataifu, Chikutafu,” Kagura said impatiently to the two lagging behind.

“Wait for us, Kagura-chan! It’s impossible to walk fast in these clothes,” Shinbata lamented.

Okakura Chiku and Shinbata supported each other as they made their way to the alley where Haruta was waiting. When Haruta saw the three of them, his eyes sparkled with excitement.

“Everyone!” Haruta called out joyfully, waving at them.

The four found a spot to sit together, and Shinbata and Kagura explained to Haruta how his money had been embezzled.

“What? All my money is gone?” Haruta exclaimed in shock.

“Yes, the guard you left your money with—rumor has it he even steals from the store, a thoroughly unscrupulous fellow,” Shinbata said.

Haruta hung his head in dejection. “That scoundrel!”

“All the money I earned through hard work, was it all wasted?”

Okakura Chiku crouched down and patted his head gently. “It wasn’t wasted, Haruta. We all witnessed your effort.”

“That’s right, Haruta. We saw it. You struggled because you didn’t want to keep stealing, to face your mother with dignity…” Shinbata said.

But Haruta still looked miserable. He threw the money in his hands to the ground. “What’s the point? Without money, I can’t see my mother… What meaning is there in any of this?”

“Why would anything be meaningless?” Okakura Chiku said, standing alongside Kagura and Shinbata.

“Haruta, now you can hold your head high when you see your mother.”

“To have to pay just to meet your mother is strange in itself. If you’re mother and child, you should be able to meet anytime you wish.”

Kagura picked up a coin from the ground. “The commission fee—we, the Odd Jobs, have received it.”

Okakura Chiku bent down to retrieve a banknote. “Sorry, I’m not part of Odd Jobs, so I’ll take this bill to buy myself a soda,” she said, shaking the note and tucking it into her bosom.

“You… you guys…” Haruta stared at the three in disbelief.

“Impossible! Without money, how could anyone hope to see a courtesan? The rules here are nothing like those outside!” Haruta shouted.

Suddenly, the sound of weapons slicing through the air echoed. Okakura Chiku raised her head, instantly alert, and she and Kagura, Shinbata quickly pulled Haruta away.

In a single moment, hundreds of sharp kunai rained down, striking the spot where they had just been.

“Wh-what?!” Shinbata exclaimed.

Okakura Chiku looked up and saw a woman standing atop the roof. She had pale blond hair and was strikingly beautiful, but with a scar beneath her eyes and across her forehead. She held a smoking pipe and looked down at them with indifference.

“That… that scar…” Haruta trembled all over, visibly terrified.

“Who is she?” Okakura Chiku asked.

“She’s part of the self-defense squad, Hyakka, responsible for punishing those who violate or disrupt the rules of Yoshiwara!”

“And she leads Hyakka, the strongest guardian of Yoshiwara—known as Death Taifu…”

Before Haruta could finish, the woman leapt from the rooftop.

“I am Tsukuyo! Pleased to meet you!” she declared, and before the words were fully spoken, another volley of kunai shot toward them like a rainstorm.

“Hey! You’re trying to kill us, and then you say ‘pleased to meet you’?!” Okakura Chiku shouted, pulling Haruta toward her.

Kagura opened her umbrella in an instant, shielding the four of them.

“Why is the self-defense squad after us?” Shinbata asked, uncertain and anxious.

“How should I know!” Haruta replied.

“Don’t worry about that now. Kagura-chan, Haruta, grab him and run! I’ll hold them off!” Okakura Chiku said, preparing to charge forward—but she forgot she was wearing towering wooden clogs.

With a thud… she stumbled right down the steps, landing face-first.

“…” Shinbata.

“…” Kagura.

“…” Haruta.

“…” Hyakka.

“…” Okakura Chiku. So humiliating! Could she just pretend to be dead and hope no one noticed? Her embarrassment left her unable to raise her head.

Kagura was the first to react, shoving Haruta and Shinbata toward Okakura Chiku.

“Chiku-chan, take Shinbata and Haruta and get out of here!” Kagura said, blocking Tsukuyo’s kunai attack.

Okakura Chiku struggled to her feet, her nose bleeding from the fall. She wiped off the blood and admired Kagura’s heroic stance, then quietly removed her wooden clogs.

Kagura was so cool now—Okakura Chiku felt painfully inadequate…

“Miss Okakura, hurry, let’s escape!” Shinbata rushed over and grabbed her hand, ready to flee together.

Just then, Tsukuyo, who had been fighting Kagura, suddenly changed direction and charged at them.

“Chiku-chan! Shinbata!” Kagura cried out.

“My target… is you, brat!” Tsukuyo said, launching a barrage of kunai at Haruta.

“Haruta!” Okakura Chiku and Shinbata shouted, rushing to shield him.

Smack! A white figure appeared before them, swinging a wooden sword to knock all the kunai aside.

It was Sakata Gintoki, that naturally curly-haired fool!

“Gin-san!” Okakura Chiku and Shinbata looked up at Gintoki.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Gintoki said, smiling—though the kunai stuck in his head looked absurd.

“…” Okakura Chiku.

You totally failed at looking cool!

“Ah… um, Gin-san, you’ve been stabbed,” Shinbata stammered, revealing the truth.

“What?” Gintoki immediately put on a nonchalant face.

“You’ve been stabbed, Gin-san. Don’t you feel anything?” Okakura Chiku said helplessly.

“What? What are you talking about? I haven’t been stabbed!” Gintoki stubbornly denied.

“Gin-san, your head’s bleeding non-stop, stop pretending,” Shinbata said.

Okakura Chiku seized the opportunity to pull the kunai from Gintoki’s head, showing him the blood-soaked blade. “See? You’ve been stabbed, Gin-san.”

“Don’t pick up some random kunai and claim I’ve been stabbed! My head’s just scratched, not stabbed,” Gintoki insisted.

“…” Okakura Chiku. Enough already! Why does this useless fool always insist on such weird points? It’s so annoying!

Shinbata kept arguing with Gintoki.

“Stop it. Just pretend you weren’t stabbed—if you act like you blocked all the kunai, it’ll make me look even worse. You should look like you deflected them all, not like this. You’re making me look pathetic,” Gintoki said, patting Shinbata’s shoulder.

The moment you pretended not to be stabbed, you were already pathetic! Okakura Chiku dropped her head in defeat; this guy truly lacked any coolness.

Wait, has he ever genuinely been cool?

“You blocked all my attacks—who are you?” Tsukuyo suddenly spoke.

Gintoki was moved at once. He turned to Shinbata and clung to his shoulder. “She’s thinking about me! Saying I blocked them all. What a good kid!”

Then Gintoki turned back, putting on a serious face. “Attacks? Sorry, I thought those darts were just leisurely taking a stroll.”

Yes, they even strolled onto your head. How leisurely, Okakura Chiku couldn’t help but retort.

“How about this? Instead of pulling out those dreadful things, I’ll use something even scarier to…” Gintoki tried to strike a pose, lifting his left hand to his chin—only to realize a kunai was stuck in his left hand.

The fool spun around in a panic, muttering to Shinbata, “This is bad, what now? They’ll definitely laugh at me. I need to get to a hospital.”

Right, hurry to the hospital and get your brain checked!

“Calm down. Pretending you blocked them all is embarrassing. It’s better to act like you stepped up to protect Haruta,” Shinbata whispered.

“It’s remarkable you stood up to protect the child. Who are you?” Tsukuyo continued.

“…” Okakura Chiku. What a good girl!

“Ah, what a fierce attack. Just blocking it took all my strength,” Gintoki said, clutching his hand and making a pained face.

Okakura Chiku could barely bear to watch his performance. Compared to Tsukuyo’s straightforwardness, Gintoki’s actions were utterly disgraceful!

“Hey, Haruta, are you alright?” Gintoki turned to look at Haruta.

Okakura Chiku turned as well.

Haruta lay on the ground, a kunai sticking out of his head…

“Haruta…” Okakura Chiku rushed to his side.

“Haruta—ahhhhhh!” Kagura and Shinbata cried, running over.

“Gin-san, you came in all flashy but didn’t block a single one!” Okakura Chiku said.

“Yeah, Gin-san, Haruta was stabbed!” Shinbata yelled.

Gintoki’s expression stiffened, and after a few seconds, he turned to glare fiercely at the Hyakka squad.

“You people… are you prepared to die?”

“Don’t shift the blame, you curly-haired useless fool!” Okakura Chiku shouted angrily.

Hyakka’s members, alarmed by his glare, raised their weapons. At that moment, one Hyakka member raised her hand.

“Uh… sorry, I saw it. When that man came to save us, a kunai bounced off and… stuck in the boy’s head,” she said.

“I saw it too.”

“So did I.”

“If the kunai hadn’t bounced, it probably wouldn’t have hit him!”

“So, it was that man who killed him.”

Hyakka members murmured among themselves. Gintoki’s face grew increasingly rigid, cold sweat trickling down.

He stepped forward, once again putting on a fierce expression. “You people… are you ready for death?”

“…” Okakura Chiku. This guy’s shamelessness is extraordinary—so embarrassing even as his companions!

“You can become another soul claimed by my kunai. I’ll send you to join that boy!” Tsukuyo admitted to killing Haruta.

“…” Okakura Chiku. What a good girl—so much cooler than the curly-haired fool!

Even Gintoki was touched. He choked up and said, “Ah, wait, don’t make excuses for me. It was me who killed Haruta.”

“It was me,” Tsukuyo said.

“No, it was me,” the curly-haired one finally admitted.

“I said it was me!” Tsukuyo shouted, hurling a kunai at him. He collapsed, weeping.

“Gin-san!” Okakura Chiku, Kagura, and Shinbata stood up—only for a kunai to hit each of them in the chest.

The moment the kunai struck her heart, Okakura Chiku felt no pain. What…? She followed the momentum and fell to the ground.

After falling, she heard Tsukuyo shoo the rest of Hyakka away.

What was Tsukuyo planning?

“Get up, or I’ll use a real one next time,” Tsukuyo said, playing with a kunai fitted with a rubber suction tip.

Okakura Chiku and the others got up, puzzled as to why this woman was helping them.

Then Tsukuyo brought three sets of clothes and shoes, better suited for movement, for Okakura Chiku, Shinbata, and Kagura.

Once dressed in short kimonos and low-heeled boots, Okakura Chiku felt utterly liberated—those tall clogs were simply impossible for her.

After changing, Tsukuyo led them up to the pipes above Yoshiwara, opening a hatch for the five of them to escape.

“Aren’t you the leader of Hyakka? Why are you helping us?” Haruta asked, puzzled.

Tsukuyo took a drag from her pipe, gazing at Haruta’s stubborn face. She sighed—this child was too headstrong; unless she explained, he wouldn’t leave.

So Tsukuyo began to tell Okakura Chiku and the others the story of Hinawa, Yoshiwara, and herself.

It wasn’t a long tale. Everyone listened quietly as Tsukuyo spoke. Hinawa, in the story, was beautiful and strong, shining with a unique radiance that brought hope to those around her.

Okakura Chiku remembered the woman sitting atop the tall building—a woman with remarkable eyes. Hinawa… truly the sun of Yoshiwara.

Haruta had a wonderful mother. Okakura Chiku couldn’t help but think of her own mother. Mothers everywhere must love their children like this.

Mother…

“What a touching tale…” Accompanied by the sound of boots on steel pipes, a man approached, wearing a cloak and carrying an umbrella.

Okakura Chiku sprang up—the voice was so familiar! And the outfit…

The man slowly lifted the umbrella covering his face, revealing features Okakura Chiku knew all too well.

“Night Rabbit!” Kagura cried.

“Abuto!” Okakura Chiku and Kagura exclaimed at once.

Hearing his name called, Abuto turned in surprise to Okakura Chiku. Who would have thought to meet someone familiar in a place like this—what a small world…

“I remember you. The girl who fought with the captain—Okakura Chiku? That’s your name, right?” Abuto said lazily.

Everyone stared at Okakura Chiku in shock.

“You know that man, Miss Okakura?” Shinbata asked.

“Ah, I’ve met this uncle a few times. He’s not so bad—but I don’t know if the other guy is nearby…” Okakura Chiku’s left hand clenched into a tight fist.

That super bastard Kamui!