Chapter 12: Silver Soul (Era of Expulsion)

Although Okakura Take’s expression was particularly fierce as she chased down the Amanto, she was still a member of the Loyalist Army, so Takasugi and the others brought their troops to support her, wiping out all the enemies in one fell swoop.

Seeing the Governor and his group return, Okakura Take finally felt at ease. Uncle Ueda, wearing a constipated expression, sidled up to her. "Okakura, who would've thought you were this tough? You really gave those Amanto a beating." Now, whenever the Amanto caught sight of Okakura Take, they shivered like timid rabbits.

Okakura Take scratched her head and smiled innocently. Ueda suspected that a good part of their fear came from the lethal power of her face.

"Okakura, the Governor wants to see you," a soldier came over and patted her on the shoulder.

The Governor wanted her! Okakura Take, both elated and nervous, followed the soldier to stand before her idol. Governor Takasugi was still as striking and aloof as ever.

"Your name is Okakura Take?"

He was speaking to her! She could hardly contain her joy.

"Y-yes, Governor," she stammered.

"What about the wounded inside?" Takasugi asked.

"I-I carried them all to the back mountain," she answered, inwardly screaming at how nervous she was speaking to her idol.

"Lead the way."

"Yes, of course!"

Under Okakura Take’s guidance, the group found the wounded in a mountain cave, but the guard, Kimura, was nowhere to be seen.

"Uncle, where’s that guy?" Okakura Take asked one of the wounded.

"Bah," the man spat disdainfully, "He ran off not long after you left. Useless coward."

Okakura Take frowned; she hadn’t expected him to actually run away. If she saw him again, she’d make sure to bash off his so-called Armstrong Cannon—since he was so unmanly, he had no use for it anyway.

"But I didn't expect you to actually come back alive. Without you, we’d all have been slaughtered by the Amanto," the man added.

"It’s nothing, I was just following orders," Okakura Take replied indifferently.

After that, the wounded were carried down the mountain by the soldiers, and Okakura Take received a reward—she got to chat with Governor Takasugi! If only she could ignore the ever-unpredictable Katsura and the White Demon, she thought.

The fire at the temple had been extinguished, and though some buildings were heavily damaged, Takasugi reorganized the area. Now, they sat together in a meditation room at the rear of the temple for a discussion.

"Truly, heroes emerge young, Okakura," Katsura started, for he was far more talkative than Takasugi.

"Thank you for your praise, Mr. Katsura." Okakura Take sat beside him, Takasugi directly opposite, and the White Demon diagonally across, currently lying on his mat picking his nose…

"Where are you from? Do you have any family left?" Takasugi asked bluntly.

"My hometown is in Shizuoka Prefecture. I suppose I’m the only one left in my family," Okakura Take replied, bowing her head.

"Suppose?" Takasugi pressed.

"Ah, my mother and sister were killed by the Amanto. My father joined the Loyalist cause—his name is Okakura Takehiko. I don’t know if he’s still alive. I came here hoping to find him."

"What a fine young person," Katsura was moved.

After a moment’s silence, Takasugi spoke. "I’ll help you search for your father in the future."

"Really? Thank you, Governor!" Okakura Take stood up and bowed deeply.

"Your sword skills are impressive. Did your father teach you?" Takasugi asked.

"Yes! My father taught me kendo for a time."

"The Loyalist Army is in need of talent right now. Are you willing to go to the front lines and contribute your strength?" Takasugi asked coolly.

"I am! To fight for our country is a warrior’s honor!" Okakura Take replied solemnly—she truly meant it.

"Gintoki, I’ll assign him to your squad," Takasugi said, turning to Sakata.

Gintoki, with his lazy dead-fish eyes, replied, "No objections here. Do as you like."

"Okakura Take, from today you’re transferred from logistics to Captain Sakata’s squad."

"Yes!" She bowed in Sakata Gintoki’s direction. "I’ll be in your care, Captain Sakata."

Gintoki nodded, still picking his nose.

Afterwards, seeing that the leaders had matters to discuss, Okakura Take excused herself.

Once she left, Katsura spoke up. "Takasugi, do you suspect him?"

"Yes. Given the situation, we must be cautious, even with the smallest details," Takasugi replied.

"Don’t worry, I don’t think there’s any problem with the kid. He even shared his strawberry milk with me," Gintoki said, still picking his nose.

"What! He tried to bribe a superior? That kid!" Katsura sprang up.

"Pipe down, Katsura. He gave me milk out of admiration, and besides, one carton of milk isn’t much of a bribe. At least a whole crate would count as bribery." A whole crate would do it?! Really?!

"It’s not Katsura, it’s Katsura! Damn it, I’m so jealous. Why does no one ever give me paw pads? I want soft paw pads too!" Katsura exclaimed excitedly.

"No one wants to give you anything because no one can keep up with your wild imagination."

"Both of you, shut up!" Takasugi snapped. "Anyway, Gintoki, the kid’s your responsibility."

"Yeah, yeah," Gintoki replied languidly.

Okakura Take returned to her quarters, only to find half of it charred by the fire. Though the flames had been put out, it was uninhabitable. All her belongings were burned; she now had nothing besides the clothes on her back—utterly destitute.

Suddenly, someone lunged at her. She turned to see Ando.

"Okakura, you’re amazing! Who’d have thought you could drive off those Amanto!" Ando slung an arm around her shoulder.

Okakura staggered but managed a smile. "Thanks for running to get help and bringing the Governor and the others back."

Ando rubbed his nose sheepishly. "It was nothing. By the way, what happened to Kimura?"

Okakura Take’s face darkened. "He ran away."

"What! That guy really pisses me off. Next time I see him, I’ll beat him senseless!" Ando shook his fist, fuming.

"Okakura!"

Hearing her name, Okakura Take turned to see Uncle Ueda and hurried over.

"Uncle, what is it?"

"I knew you were strong, but I didn’t expect you to be able to chase down the Amanto. You’re really something, Okakura," Uncle Ueda said, clapping her on the shoulder.

"Well," Okakura Take scratched her head, embarrassed. "I just thought if I was going to die anyway, I’d at least take a few Amanto with me."

"Not bad. By the way, your transfer order’s come through. Tomorrow you’ll join Lord Gintoki’s squad. Do your best, Okakura—don’t let the logistics unit down."

Meeting Uncle Ueda’s encouraging gaze, Okakura Take straightened up and replied earnestly, "Yes, sir!" Still, she felt a bit reluctant—Uncle Ueda was a good man: strict with others, stricter with himself, always lecturing the new recruits out of genuine concern. He didn’t want them dying needlessly.

That evening, after new living arrangements were made, Okakura Take found herself assigned to Sakata Gintoki’s room—naturally, a large common room with forty or fifty people packed in.

"What! Kid, you’re sleeping next to me?!"

In the quiet of the night, Sakata’s voice startled many awake, but he didn’t care, pointing his trembling finger at Okakura Take, who was clutching her bedding at the front.

"Gin-san, everywhere else is full. Your spot’s the only one left—let’s just squeeze in," Okakura Take said with a grin.

Gintoki was about to lose it. If he woke up in the middle of the night and saw that kid’s face, he’d die of fright! He ruffled his curly hair in frustration, glancing around. Everyone who met his eyes immediately rolled over and pretended to sleep.

"You’ve got to be kidding! All of you are pretending to sleep! Wake up! Isn’t this when you all gossip about Maria Ozawa and Ai Mukai? Hey, wake up!!" Gintoki’s voice grew shriller, but nobody responded.

Dejected, he shrank back into the corner—those bastards had just abandoned him…

Feeling a bit awkward, Okakura Take squatted beside Gintoki. "Gin-san, I won’t roll toward you at night. You can have the inside spot and face the wall." She’d realized by now that he was easily terrified by anything supernatural and didn’t want to scare him.

Gintoki nodded, comforting himself: Don’t be scared, he’s human, you’ll get used to it.

When lights went out, Gintoki wrapped himself tightly in his blanket, facing the wall, refusing to look back—because that face behind him would be especially terrifying at night.

Actually, it was pretty terrifying in daylight, too.

As the first rays of morning sunlight crept in, Gintoki slowly opened his eyes—only to see a pale, cold face just inches away, nearly touching his own. Cold sweat poured down his face…

"Ahhhhhhhh!!!" To wake up to such a horrifying sight was enough to jolt him wide awake; he grabbed his quilt and shrieked, clutching it to his chest.

Okakura Take was woken by the scream, opened her eyes, and found half her body draped over Gintoki. Rubbing her eyes, she recalled that last night, she’d been driven away by the stench of Uncle’s sweaty feet next to her and unconsciously edged in the other direction. The person on the other side had a bit of body odor too, but it was much milder than Uncle’s, so she kept moving closer and closer…

Remembering this, she looked up at the still-terrified Gintoki, scratched her head sheepishly, and said, "Good morning, Gin-san."

"Why did you end up on my side?!" I nearly died of fright!

Okakura Take grinned foolishly, while the uncle beside them also awoke. She certainly couldn’t admit it was because of Uncle’s smelly feet.

And so, in the days that followed, Okakura Take rolled over to Gintoki’s side almost every night, scaring him repeatedly. In the end… well, he was still afraid, but his morning screams grew a little quieter.

Okakura Take said, "Gin-san, just get used to my face and you’ll toughen up!"

Gintoki replied, "Get lost... TAT"