Maybe a Fake Gintama
Chapter 628: After the Beast's Bite...

"What do you mean?" Matsudaira's small eyes behind his sunglasses flashed with a hint of sharpness.

"You'll understand soon enough," Sasaki waved dismissively, signalling to the Mimawarigumi soldiers to close the castle gates. "In any case, the Shogun has just issued an order. The castle remains under lockdown, so you all should return."

Hijikata wanted to protest, but after seeing Matsudaira's silence, he bit his tongue, turned his head, and spit in frustration.

"Tch!"

Creak—thud!

The gate slowly closed, but just before it shut utterly, Gintoki, Shinpachi, Sougo, Hijikata, Kondo, and Matsudaira caught a glimpse through the crack—a scene inside Edo Castle marked by the aftermath of a beast's rampage.

Even though it was just a glimpse, they could see rivers of blood, dismembered bodies, and what looked like the wreckage of a ship…

As soon as the gate slammed shut, Shinpachi couldn't hold it in any longer and bent over, vomiting uncontrollably.

Seeing him in that state, Gintoki casually remarked, "Shinpachi, if you need to confess, go to a confessional. This isn't the place for you to spill your guts."

"But, Gin-san…" Shinpachi wiped the spit from his mouth, still looking pale and shaken. "That… that scene… Could it have all been Kawaki's doing?"

"Who knows…" Gintoki replied calmly, turning away and slowly walking in the direction Kawaki had left. "But if there's anyone I know capable of doing something like that, it's probably him…"

As Gintoki walked away, Shinpachi hesitated for a moment before bowing to the Shinsengumi and quickly running after him.

Meanwhile, Sougo, still processing what he had seen, murmured, "If beasts had rankings, the boss would undoubtedly be at the top. The traces left behind…"

"…are like a natural disaster." Though reluctant, Hijikata finished Sougo's sentence, muttering the words with a heavy heart.

"Well, in any case, it's over now," Matsudaira said casually as he turned back to the group. "I'm heading back to Smile Bar. Why don't you all come along and relax for a bit?"

Kondo immediately protested, "Old man! This isn't the time for that! We should be figuring out what happened and gathering information!"

"Listen up, brats," Matsudaira's voice took on a more serious tone, his small eyes behind his sunglasses narrowing. "From now on… there may not be many more chances for you to relax. Today… might be the last."

Detecting something off, Hijikata asked cautiously, "What do you mean?"

"Just like right now…" Sougo pulled out a rocket launcher and, without hesitation, fired it at Hijikata. "If Hijikata-san dies, there won't be any more chances to relax."

Boom!

Instinctively, Hijikata bent backwards, barely dodging the incoming missile. Standing up with clenched fists, he glared at Sougo, veins bulging. "No need to demonstrate that, you sadistic idiot! That could've killed me!"

"Don't worry, Hijikata. After you die, I'll take over as vice-chief and fulfil your final wishes."

"Like hell you will!!!"

...

That night, just as Lord Dingding had said earlier, the moon was indeed full.

Standing at the window, Kawaki gazed out, his eyes narrowed, always carrying a faint smile that conveyed a mix of meanings.

Outside his door, Tsukuyo stood leaning against the wall; one arm crossed, the other gently holding a smoking pipe as she puffed smoke into the air.

"Kuku, could you pour me some sake?" Kawaki's soft voice called from inside the room...

...

Holding the small sake cup, crystal clear like water, Kawaki smiled faintly.

By the window, Tsukuyo glanced up at the full moon, her expression calm as she said, "You did quite a few things today, all on your own."

Kawaki downed the sake in one gulp, placing the cup gently on the windowsill. He responded casually, "Did I? After buying my game, I just remembered an old debt I had to settle. It was on the way."

"Is that all?" Tsukuyo asked, pouring more sake, her tone indifferent. "Weren't there two debts?"

"No, just one." Kawaki chuckled, but then, with a mischievous glint in his eye, he added, "Kuku, could it be… you've been looking into my past?"

Tsukuyo shot him a disinterested glance before turning away. "Who would care about your boring past?"

"Good." Kawaki picked up the newly filled sake cup and brought it to his lips. But just as he was about to drink, he paused, smiling again. "By the way, just a little warning—don't go poking around about my past or talking to dangerous people. Especially that one… a guest who once visited Yoshiwara. He's a very dangerous guy."

"Who?" Tsukuyo asked, confused.

Kawaki finally drank the sake, then answered calmly, "Who knows…"

Tsukuyo quietly murmured four names: "Sakata Gintoki, Katsura Kotaro, Sakamoto Tatsuma, Takasugi Shinsuke…"

Hearing this, Kawaki chuckled and shook his head, setting the cup down as he once again gazed up at the full moon.

"Looks like it'll be full moons for the next few days," he said softly.

"Maybe," Tsukuyo replied, still gazing at the moon. "Perhaps the heavens are trying to compensate for a woman who's been waiting far too long."

"Perhaps…"

Somewhere, in a quiet corner of Yoshiwara, an older man with only one arm and an older woman, hunched over and aged, might be standing at a window or leaning against a tree, silently gazing at the same bright moon, just like Kawaki and Tsukuyo.

Silent yet speaking volumes.

...

Three days passed in a blur, and just as Tsukuyo had predicted, the full moon lost a piece of its perfection.

Standing at his window, Kawaki silently watched the street below, bustling with courtesans and their guests. Among them, he noticed Rokuro Mukuro cradling a small wooden box in his only arm; his face softened with a gentle expression as he slowly made his way toward Yoshiwara's gate.

Smiling with narrowed eyes, Hinowa remarked, "It looks like the courtesan Bellflower finally left with the man she made a promise to."

"And the fee for buying her out?" Kawaki asked, not turning away from the window. "After all, she was a top courtesan. Anything less than two hundred million and I won't agree."

"Oh no! I completely forgot about that!" Hinowa gasped playfully. "Should we chase after them?"

"Let it go. It might just be a runaway romance." Tsukuyo, leaning by the door, chimed in. "Even if we brought her back, her heart wouldn't be in the work."

Kawaki sighed softly. "What a shame. I only ever got to drink one cup of sake poured by that courtesan. Now, I'm a little envious of the man who ran off with her…"

"Kuku, would you like a cup of sake tonight as well?" Hinowa asked with a smile.

"No, I'm fine." Kawaki shook his head lightly, gazing up at the moon, which was missing a piece. "Tonight's moon isn't full."

"Is that so?" Hinowa replied before shifting the topic. "By the way… I heard something big happened at Edo Castle today. Lord Dingding, the former Shogun, passed away from illness. All businesses in Edo have been ordered to shut down, except for Yoshiwara."

"No wonder we've had so many customers today. I just hope we don't get any strange ones."

"And who would be strange?"

"Like a foolish nephew who barges into other people's rooms and eats their snacks without a care."

Kawaki glanced over at Kamui, who was sitting at a table, snacking contentedly.

"Isn't that right, Nobita?"

"I was just passing by," Kamui replied, licking the crumbs off his fingers and smiling innocently. "Then I remembered my NEET uncle who's holed up in his room, so I thought I'd drop by and say hello."

Tsukuyo's pupils narrowed slightly as she noticed Kamui's presence, but she quickly composed herself, pushing Hinowa out of the room with her.

Just before leaving, Tsukuyo glanced back at Kawaki, who still wore his usual carefree expression, then quietly shut the door behind her.

"Is that so?" Kawaki replied casually. "I thought you were here on behalf of someone who's still wondering about things."

"Haha, Uncle, you sure like to joke."

"Whatever. Just tell him I don't know anything." Kawaki turned back to the window, his voice soft. "Who's using whom, and who's being used… I know nothing."

"Really?" Kamui grinned. "From what I've gathered, only three people could be behind all this chaos, which is like a return to the Warring States period: you, the Tendoshu, and the Shogun still in the castle. Of those, you seem the most likely… especially since you've had direct contact with the Shogun."

"I don't know."

...

Meanwhile, on a rooftop in Edo Castle, Oboro stood silently, gazing down at the castle prison.

"You're late, Oboro."

Hearing Nobume's voice behind him, Oboro spoke calmly, "So, you're serious about this, Mukuro… No, I suppose I should call you Imai Nobume now. Once a servant of Heaven, the youngest of the Naraku's Three Crows, and yet you choose to wield your blade against Heaven for that man… for Shoyo's disciple (Takasugi)?"

"Isaburo said that if he's going to challenge the heavens, then I'll stand by him."

"I see… Then the next time we meet, one of the Three Crows will fall."

"And what about you?" Nobume asked, glancing at Oboro. "Whose arrogance are you humoring? This incident was indeed orchestrated by that man (Takasugi) and Isaburo, but… in the end, everyone was played. Could Lord Dingding really have been provoked to this extent just by the Shogun's recent policies?"

"What are you implying?" Oboro turned slightly, his gaze cold.

"The fact that no one emerged as a true winner in this mess is what's most puzzling," Nobume continued. "Dingding's forces were wiped out, many of the Shogun's loyal retainers were assassinated by Dingding's men, nearly half of the Hitotsubashi faction was taken out by the Naraku and your crows, and your thousands of crows were slaughtered by that beast. In the end, no one won. Everyone lost."

"I simply followed Lord Dingding's orders, nothing more. His downfall was only because he provoked a more dangerous beast."

Nobume continued, "The current Bakufu isn't just a battle between the Hitotsubashi and the Shogun. With their forces weakened, all the old foxes who had been hiding in the shadows have started to emerge, trying to claim the top position they never dared to before. Even within the Hitotsubashi faction, some powerful figures are beginning to break away, seeking independence. Edo… no, this chaos feels like a return to the Warring States period. This outcome wasn't part of that man's (Takasugi's) plan…"

"I see… So even Heaven has been deceived."

"Was it really deception?" Nobume glanced again at Oboro. "The Tendoshu never intervened directly, and without their signal, the Shogun wouldn't dare issue any major decrees. So, who pushed Dingding to such extremes?"

"I don't know…"

"Some suspect that man (Takasugi) as the mastermind, a scapegoat for the hand pulling the strings behind all this. But whose hand is it? The Tendoshu, the Shogun, the beast who directly intervened, or you, seemingly cooperating with the beast… Who's pulling whose strings, or who was dragged into whose plan… there are too many possibilities."

"Are you suggesting that I'm working with that beast?" Oboro turned fully, his cold gaze on Nobume.

"It's just a possibility," Nobume replied. "Though it's the smallest possibility of all. If it were true, it would mean that not only you but at least a third of the Tendoshu elders have sided with the beast. But the conditions that would make such an unlikely possibility succeed… I haven't figured out yet. Maybe I'm just overthinking things. After all, when I look at that man (Kawaki), I see traces of Shoyo…"

As she walked away, Nobume continued, "The one who wants to protect what Shoyo left behind (Gintoki), the one who wants to eradicate it (Takasugi),

And finally… the one who's walked the same path as Shoyo for ten years, but in a direction no one else can follow."

Even after Nobume's figure disappeared, Oboro remained silent.

...

The following day, as Kawaki opened his eyes, veins bulged on his forehead in frustration.

"Hey, I've told you many times, I don't have that kind of fetish. You step on me and flash your dirty little panties again, and I'll kill you—"

"Oh?" Tsukuyo moved her foot off him, looking down coldly. "The workers' compensation fund for Yoshiwara's courtesans is missing a hundred thousand yen. Care to explain that, Night King?"

Hearing this, Kawaki quickly grabbed his clothes and jumped out the window.

"I'm off to patrol! See you—!"

"Stop right there! You scum, thief, useless NEET—!"