HijiGin - Bittersweet

Chapter 13

Gintoki awoke with a start, cold sweat beading on his forehead. Breathing unevenly, he looked around and took in his surroundings. He was at a familiar, or rather...nostalgic place.

He observed the colourless world, the deadness of it. He got up from the sheets and slowly walked around, examining everything in full detail. He touched the wall. Cold. He strained his ears. Nothing. He closed his eyes and opened them, seeing stairs that were not there before.

A bit fazed, Gintoki nonetheless climbed the stairs and reached a door. There was a sign on the door, 'Welcome Home'. It would have been pleasant to see if not for the fact that he doesn't know where the place is, if the world wasn't so colourless and if the sign hadn't been painted in what he could only assume as blood.

Taking note that colours now exist, he pushed open the door, a bit surprised to see that his own hand was also normal but then felt stupid for not realising that earlier on. He peeked into the room and could see nothing but the darkness that didn't have a single ray of light in it.

Cautiously stepping in, he made his way in and heard the door slam shut. He looked back and tried to open it but alas, it proved to be futile as he could see that the door wouldn't budge no matter what methods he used.

  Resigning to the fact that he was trapped, he turned back to the darkness and tried to feel around for his surroundings. It seemed to be a very spacious area as Gintoki's hands hadn't made contact with anything. So, instead of being stuck in one place, he walked forward.

  He didn't know how long it had been - possibly a short 5 minutes that seemed like an eternity he walked before suddenly being surprised with the 'room' brightening. The sudden change hurt his eyes and he took a few moments to adjust, getting used to the light level and scanning his immediate area and what he saw surprised him beyond words,

  There, another individual stood; his hair was black, tad bit spiky and had V-shaped fringe. In his mouth, a cigarette dangled and perhaps the most obvious feature was his eyes. How could Gintoki ever forget about these beautiful charcoal black orbs?

  "Hijikata!" Without even realising it himself, he called for Hijikata, who in return snapped his head to look him in the eyes.

  "Gin...toki?" Surprise was evident on the other man's face as his cigarette fell out of his mouth, but neither men cared about that right now. Only about each other. They took quick strides towards each other and fell into a natural embrace. Gintoki relaxed, something he hadn't done for the past few weeks.

  He'd wanted to ask questions, but decided that a full-out hugging session was his first priority. In fact, he was so absorbed that he didn't realise another set of footsteps approaching him. Until the entity spoke.

  "How lovely. You love him soo much, don't you?"

  Gintoki was immediately snapped out of his trance and twisted around his body so fast it made him dizzy. He recognised the voice...It belonged to the man who had tormented him for the past few weeks, the mysterious entity.

  "You...! Why are you here?!" Gintoki half-shouted at the man before him; a complete clone of himself, except for the black hair.

  "Aww, is this how you greet your dearest friend, Gin?"

  "You're no friend of mine." Gintoki spat venomously at the man before him. He looked back for Hijikata, only to see that he's already disappeared like he wasn't there from the start.

  "What did you do to him?" Gintoki growled, but he already knew the answer. It was all just an illusion. He knew and yet, he had hoped that it was at least half-real. He craved to be with Hijikata again.

  "Seems like you already know the answer," smirked the clone, "he will never come for you. Give it up."

  "Shut...up." Gintoki clutched his head in pain.

  Why wasn't Hijikata there for him?

  Why didn't he come to rescue him?

  Was what the clone said real?

  He didn't want to believe his words but, it seemed hopeless to continue to fight and struggle.

  Gintoki...

  "...!" To say that Gintoki was startled would be an understatement, but he was shocked to hear Hijikata's voice. He looked around frantically, looking for the owner of the voice. Nothing. He slumped his body, defeated, and chuckled.

I must be going crazy...there's just no way...right?

"What the...!"

The clone suddenly exclaimed, and that caught Gintoki's attention. He spun around to see what the commotion was, and tears sprung to his eyes. There, before him, was the real Hijikata. He knew because he could feel it, call it bull shit or whatever but he was dead serious.

"Sorry for the wait, Gintoki." Hijikata looked at Gintoki with an apologetic expression. "You see, I was a bi-"

Thump

Gintoki had launched himself to the man and locked him into a tight grip.

"Hijikata..."

Now it was Hijikata's turn to be shocked. He felt Gintoki's body tremble and his anxiety melted into anger, furious at whoever did this to him. This wasn't the Gintoki that he knew, no. He remembered the man to be a lazy, good-for-nothing - someone with a stinking attitude, but also someone you can rely on when the time comes.

He looked at the clone with a murderous glare, but remembered his objective and whispered to Gintoki.

"I'm going to get you out of here right now, ok?" A nod was all he received. All that he needed. He smiled and wrapped himself protectively over Gintoki.

  The clone seemed to catch on to whatever trick Hijikata was gonna pull, because he just flipped out, screaming and running towards them.

  "NO! WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING TO DO?! STOP IT! NO! NO!"

The clone reached for them, eyes flashing bright red. Hijikata smirked at him and watched as he and Gintoki's body faded. His grip tightened around Gintoki's trembling body and strengthened his resolve.

I'll never let you go again, Gintoki.