Sharp Wings; 鋭い翼 [Gintama]

11 | You'll never know what you'll get when you pay attention to small details

XI

Manga: Chapter 29-31

Anime: Episode 17

"WHO'S there?"

Katsura raised his head as he lowered his hat to keep people from recognizing him. After feeling a presence next to him, he sharply asked who was standing beside him. A sharp chuckle was the response that he got.

"Zura, still on the run from the Bakufu, huh?"

Knowing full well who it was, Katsura sighed.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura." He replied as he closed his eyes. "Why are you here? I heard you escaped from the Bakufu's pursuit and were laying low in Kyou." He didn't bother to hide the deep frown on his face. It's been a while since he's been in contact with the man standing beside him and he's not sure that he wants to talk to him at that moment.

"I couldn't resist after hearing there was a festival going on, so, here I am." Said the man wearing a purple kimono. He just stood there while looking at the river below them as he pulled out a pipe from under his long purple sleeves.

"Better keep that love of festivals of yours under control." Katsura replied lowly. "The Bakufu hates you even more than they hate me. You'll get yourself killed."

The man chuckled.

"No way would I miss a festival that the Shogun, himself, is going to attend."

Katsura turned sharply to the person standing beside him. "How did you know?" he asked lowly before a look of realization came to his face.

"You're not going to...?!"

The man lightly scoffed. "I don't intend to do anything that's outrageous. But that would be fun, yes." he nodded, a smirk evident on his face. "If the Shogun's head should fly during the festival, the Bakufu and the entire country would be turned upside down." He started chuckling until he broke into a low laugh.

Then suddenly, he abruptly stopped, making Katsura look at him.

"Oi, Zura, did you..." the man called lowly as he dropped his hand, making it hang idle beside him. There was a minute of silence in between the two males, Katsura being the one who was waiting for what the other was going to say.

Even though he knows what he was going to ask, Katsura stayed silent, wanting the words to come directly from the other male.

After a while, the man spoke again.

"No, never mind." He said and suddenly turned away, not saying anything else before leaving Katsura to watch his back move and disappear in the crowd. He stayed silent for a moment before he sighed.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura."

"Ane-san, I'm going to go and meet Gin-san and the others!" Shizuku called from the front door as she pulled her high socks up and put on her sandals, just as she always did when she was going out of the house.

"Have a safe trip!" Tae called from living room.

"I will!" Shizuku yelled back before going outside and opening her umbrella. She began walking down the road and into Kabuki-chou with a smile on her face. She was greeted by the people that she frequented seeing, as well as the shop owners of the places that she would always buy things from. She even saw a few officers here and there. She always greeted them back with a smile.

A few blocks away from the Yorozuya office, Shizuku suddenly heard someone singing on the top of their lungs, but the person seemed to be either tone-deaf or they just didn't know how to sing. Curious, Shizuku walked closer to the place where she was hearing the singing and the closer she got, the better she could hear that it was somewhat similar to Shinpachi's voice.