Ephemeral [Gintoki x Reader]

The Encountered

‘There you stand, soaked in blood. The splitting image of a demon. 

After failing to defend your comrades, you chose the path of carnage. 

But your monstrous hands... In time…

they will even take those you hold dear, and crush them to oblivion. 

That is the price a demon pays. 

Devouring both beloved and hated, 

you will be left to howl in solitude, alone in this world, 

Shiroyasha.’

 

Sludgy mud splattered over the place in the road of the desolate town, whereas in Edo as an absolute, terribly soaked man in his familiar white blue wave design of yukata at the edgy sprint through the heavy downpours. Ignoring the pitty-patter vibrance of the rainfall pouring without any sheltering object to cover, the silver head and his giant inugami dog footsteps didn't even lose the speed towards somewhere. 

"The White Plague– no, it didn't have that name back then. Do you know why Gintoki knew about White Plague before it spread across the planet? It’s because he'd already encountered it fifteen years ago."

"Fifteen years ago?"

"Yes. It was back during the Joui War. Fifteen years ago, the Shogunate tried to put an end to the long–running Joui War by sending a particularly mercenary squadron to a certain battle. Once they enter a battle, they cause enough damage to render a planet useless. Thus, their existence was considered a taboo and locked away in the dark chapter of history."

Vague image of tall, grey building behind the midst of heavy pouring registered in his maroon orbs. The hesitancy washed all over his body as his figure shivering both from the cold breezy air and the rain, added up with the anxiousness digging his mind. Inhale and exhale a ragged breath, the silver wavy-hair climbs down from his pet later sprint to the counter. 

Lips trembling mess, while an obvious muscle in his jaw set, a person named shakily left him with uncertainty. Eyes fluttered badly, he scrutinized towards a lady in the white uniform, a rasped left breathing. After the countless attempts to fight over the horrible emotion flashed through his mind, he got a right name out from the nude pale lip. 

Undying measure of flashback interrupted his thoughts. The conversion back with the former leader of Joui Rebel and Shinsengumi replay endlessly as his feets keep searching the room of the person. 

"Some called them the World Breakers, but this abominable group's actual name was–"

"The Enmi."

"I heard that they caused a huge number of losses in Joui rebels camp with a spell called Pestilence. But in truth, this 'spell' was spread by nanomachines. And these nanomachines of theirs bore a striking resemblance to a certain modern day menace–"

–The White Plague."

Gasping a sharp breath, standing one metre away from the closed metal door with a glass window, revealed the person in the room. Wavering tremendously on feet, nailing to the floor later the pair of his significant maroon pupils enlarged a terror gazed. 

"But I'm sure that Gintoki saw something. That must be why he knew the White Plague was coming and took measures to prevent its outbreak. I should've realized something was wrong when he, of all people, came to me to reminisce about the past. That cross was not yours to bear alone, Gintoki….