Dimensions

Silver and Steel

"Souji, Hajime, what is this?" asked another black-haired man as Saitou lead them into a room. Souji stood in the corner, Rui's life still in his hands. Despite having Hajime and the rest backed against a wall, he didn't seem to have any intent of letting go of his bargaining chip.

"They saw us," said Souji, his green eyes flashing dangerously.

The black-haired man seemed exasperated as understanding crossed his face. Hajime and Shun shared a look, as Kakeru and Koi huddled together, Aoi placed a hand on Kakeru's shoulder, perhaps giving the illusion of comfort. You and Arata shared a look as well; Yoru placed a hand on Iku's shoulder, which was probably to stop Iku from committing suicide by running up to Rui.

"What do you want with us?" asked Hajime, stepping forward.

The black-haired man narrowed his eyes, as Hajime matched his gaze.

"Toshi?" asked the person sitting next to him.

"Nothing, Kondo," he said, looking away from Hajime to study his team mates.

"I'm Gintama Kondo and this is Toshizo Hijikata, and him over there is Saitou Hajime. The one with your friend is Okita Souji—"

"Kondo, why are you telling them all this?" sighed Hijikata, as Haru and Hajime glanced at each other, their suspicions proven correct. These people were the Shinsengumi, which means they had been tossed back into the 19th century of Japan. "You shouldn't trust them with our names!"

Kondo smiled rather sheepishly, which made Hajime wonder if he could be reasoned with. Kondo looked to Hajime. "They say you saw them—"

"—committing homicide?" finished Kai.

"This place seems pretty lawless," said Arata as You nodded in agreement.

"They don't seem to realize what happened, so should we let them go?" asked Kondo, looking around at Hijikata.

"That doesn't mean they won't speak," said Hijikata, his eyes closed.

"The best way to shut someone up is with a sword. We could start with the child here," said Okita, gesturing to Rui, who looked like he just wanted to go home. The wound on his neck—which was thankfully not deep—had begun to close.

Shun looked murderous as Kondo shook his head. "These are children, Souji. You can't hurt children."

"They seem around Heisuke's age," said Saitou, who had been silent for most of the proceedings.

"Do you know who we are?" asked Kondo, indicating Hijikata and the rest.

Haru pushed up his glasses. "The Shinsengumi. The military government organized a special police force in Kyoto called the Shinsengumi in 1863. They were active—"

Hajime, alarmed, threw a hand over Haru's mouth, deciding it would be disastrous to let him finish. Haru threw him a look of apology.

Kondo and Hijikata shared a glance, before Kondo looked around at them. "Would you join the Shinsengumi?" he asked. Silence reigned for a second, before exclamations of surprise echoed around the room.

"Kondo, you can't just take in random people. We don't even know where they're from! Even their clothes look suspicious," he said, eyeing Haru's scarf with distaste.

"We're from Edo," said Hajime, recalling the city's past name, which carried centuries of people's memories before it came to be called Tokyo. "We're... wandering entertainers."

"There we go. That's good enough for me. And if they join, we can also keep an eye on them," said Kondo, his eyes studying Hajime. "You don't have a katana?"