Gintama; Takasugi X Reader (part 2) [Save Me]

Chapter 22 {Takasugi Shinsuke}

     Y/N.

I stare frozen at her as she disappears then rises high on the ship's railing. Her hair forms a certain around her shoulders as she turns to face us.

How can this be? How can she...

I get distracted that I don't notice a blade is hurling in my direction. It flies across my throat before I can move. And before I realize whose the blade belongs to, the sound of gunshots fills the air.

I instinctively look at Matako but the sight in front me drowns my senses.

Y/N tips backward, and as her eyes once again land on me, her form vanishes beneath the ship.

I want to shot forward, but realize that I barely taken a step ahead. The one standing on the other ship's bridge stare wide-eyed downward, unmoving.

     "Shinsuke-sama! Are you alright?" Matako's voice triggers my movement and I turn to search for the blade behind me. It sticks into the wooden floor though at an odd angle, odd side. My heart sinks as I touch my neck.

She reversed the weapon.

I force away the agitating questions and remain neutral. Though I'm unable to keep the tremor from my voice.

     "All of you, clean this up," I order, eyeing all of my men who remain standing.

     "But the enemies-"

     "Leave them. This fight is over," I cut off before Matako could point to the retreating ship of the Yatagarasu.

     "Yes, sir!" a group of men say in union.

     "You're no fun," Kamui speaks up, walking to me.

I frown at him. "See to entertainment for yourself." I eye him with aggravation. "And I thought I told you not to meddle with my affair."

He shrugs and says, "I was trying to help, since you seemed short on hands." He looks over to where Y/N had just now been. "Speaking of which, I never knew that The Crows had a new leader. Not to mention it was a girl." I maintain a bored look as he eyes search mine. "Can't wait to see her again."

     "Why don't you go and look for her now?" I severely say.

     "And fight an already dead corpse? No, I'll wait when she's fully recovered." A smile plasters on his face and adds, "Anyways, now that the foes are gone, I suppose I'll see you later."

I watch him skip to where his ship is waiting as his men slowly clear mine.

When he reaches, he speaks over the bloodied deck to me. "Don't forget to invite me next time. 'Cause I'm sure the girl will recover very soon enough." His lips curl as he turns away and leaves.

I dismiss his remark and flicker a look across the deck. "Bansai," I call, "come with me."

He gives a nod and I move into the ship, willing to take firm steps until I reach my room.

I drop my blade to the floor when I hear Bansai shuts the door. A shudders consumes me when I remember how Y/N fell.

     "Shinsuke, she..." Bansai trails.

I walk to the window, unable to clear my mind of the image of her blank eyes.

     "How can she still be alive?" I say, breathless.

Bansai walks further in and says, "And she was with the Yatagarasu, their leader."

     " I don't understand." I raise a hand to my face. "But she was there, alive. And-" I choke on the words. The lightness at bloomed within my chest when I realized that it was really her turns to stone. "She was alive, but she fell-"

     "Shinsuke." I feel Bansai's hand on my shoulder. "Calm down."

I hold his gaze for a long moment before speaking. "We have to find her. Now that I know she's alive, I can't-"

     "She won't survive that fall," he bitterly says.

His remark knocks air from my lungs. "Even so," I utter, "I have to find her. I need answers."

The whirling thoughts in my head stops when Bansai's grip tightens. "Alright," he says. "I'll go and find her. Dead or alive, I promise to bring her back to you."

I look at him with an new unfathomable feeling as if relief. Feeling the words tight, I nod.

     "In the meantime," he adds, "think of what we could do next. It's not like our captain to be seen shaken by a presence of a girl."

Despite the situation, the corner of my lips curl. Bansai gives another pat before leaving the room.

Now that I'm alone, the previous agitating thoughts whisper louder and hammer in my ears. Whenever I blink, behind my eyelid resides the image of her tear-stained face as the veil fell off.

Each beating of the heart pounds with the immediate need to see her. I stare out to the extending night and look for the luminous moon hanging in the dark sky.

Somehow, I notice that I'm hoping for the lunar light that would lead and illuminate the right path for me to regain back the same beauty that once illuminated my heart.