Maybe a Fake Gintama

Chapter 7: Sweet Dreams and Nightmares

"You guys don't know yet, but Kawaki likes Chinese food the most. Besides Shouyou, I don't think he has ever invited anyone to eat the food in his hands." Gintoki said with a smile.

"Is that so? Then I will wait to taste the delicious food with anticipation!" Katsura replied.

"Hmph, it's just cheap pork." Takasugi snorted in disdain, "But since you've invited me sincerely, it would be a bit unreasonable if I don't try it."

At this time, the people holding lanterns finally discovered Kawaki and his group.

"Hey, those little brats over there, what are they doing here in the middle of the night?" The middle-aged man with a lantern pointed the lantern at Kawaki and the others.

"Shoka Sonjuku, Yoshida Shouyou's disciple, Sakata Gintoki!"

"Same as above, Kawaki! / Katsura Kotarou! / Takasugi Shinsuke!"

"Charge!" The four of them shouted at the same time as they charged toward the middle-aged men with buns.

When everyone saw this, they all placed their hands on the swords on their waists, "What are you brats trying to do!" A bun hair man shouted, and everyone was ready to draw their swords.

However, at this moment, Shouyou's voice came from behind the bun hair men, "Everyone, please don't draw your swords!"

In an instant, the few bun hair men turned to look at Shouyou in shock. Kawaki and the others also stopped in their tracks.

"I hope that both sides can exercise restraint. Let's just drop this matter. Please don't force me to draw my sword." Shouyou continued.

"Yoshida Shouyou, you bastard!" A bun hair man shouted. At the same time, several bun hair men all turned around and looked at Shouyou with unkind faces. They were all ready to fight.

However, Shouyou did not care at all. He continued to walk toward Kawaki and the other three people. These bun hair men were frightened by Shouyou's aura and consciously made way.

"No matter how much you exaggerate, I will listen to you. If you think we are in the way, we'll just move out from here. But, if you dare to fight against my students, it is not impossible to seriously subvert a country."

Just as Shouyou said the two words "but", the group of bun hair men discovered that the swords on their waists had all been cut off. At the same time, perhaps only Kawaki noticed that Shouyou's pupils had turned... red at a certain moment. However, Kawaki thought that he had seen it wrongly.

The bun hair men cried out in alarm and hurriedly fled in the direction they came from. The lanterns in their hands were also thrown away in a hurry.

"Shouyou..." Kawaki was still very happy to see Shouyou.

"Yare yare." Looking at the four little ones who were looking at him, Shouyou continued, "I thought I had already sent all the students home. I didn't expect that there were still a few little brats here."

"However, I'm sorry. Student," Shouyou looked at Takasugi, "There is no dojo or school for you to challenge here."

"You don't have to worry. The one I want to challenge is not the dojo. It's you, Shouyou-sensei!" Takasugi raised his head and said.

Following that, Katsura said with a longing gaze, "For us, even if Sensei is in the field, it is our school for us."

"Besides, whether it is your or our Bushido, they are not so fragile as to be broken by such a small thing, right?" Takasugi said immediately.

"Kawaki, Gintoki, you really brought students who are more arrogant than you to my school," Shouyou said as he came to the front of the four little ones.

The four little ones also raised their heads and looked at Shouyou.

"... Right." Gintoki took his finger out of his nose and raised his head to answer.

"Really? Then let's start roadside teaching right away." Shouyou extended a finger, "It's still a hundred years too early for a half-baked boy to learn noctivagant!"

Soon after, there were four crisp knocking sounds.

"Welcome to Shoka Sonjuku."

Shouyou looked at the four little ones covering their heads and said.

"Itai, Itai, Itai(it hurts)," Kawaki stood up first, "In short, let's enjoy the braised pork first, teacher!"

"Yes, but before that..." Shouyou said as he punched Kawaki again on the head, "I told you that you can't use such a dangerous weapon on ordinary people, right?"

"Itai, Itai, Itai(it hurts)...." Kawaki cried, "I was in such a hurry to leave that I couldn't find a wooden sword!"

After Kawaki finished speaking, everyone laughed.

Then, in a remote corner, everyone ate the pot of braised pork that was already a little cold under the moonlight

From this day on, Shouyou and the four little ones walked through many places and stopped at many places. Every place they stopped left behind stories about [Shoka Sonjuku] and many laughter.

Where there was Shouyou, there was children's laughter. Unknowingly, the first four are already the tallest among the children. Many times, Kawaki felt that this happy day would continue forever, but

Behind him, Shoka Sonjuku had become a sea of fire.

Kawaki watched as Shouyou was taken away by people dressed in black and wearing bamboo hats. However, he could only remain indifferent because dozens of children were trembling in fear behind him. He had been pressed to the ground because of his impulse. If he acted rashly again, the children behind him might suffer a tragic end. Several men in black also held back Gintoki.

Katsura and Takasugi guarded the children in front of the group. They looked nervously at the group of men in black who were surrounding them.

"Kawaki, Gintoki, don't worry. I will be back soon. In addition, I will leave [Shoka Sonjuku] to you for the time being. Let's make it a promise!" This was the last sentence Shouyou said before he was taken away.

"Shouyou!" Gintoki and Kawaki shouted at the same time. Shouyou had already followed several men in black into the distance. In the end, Kawaki saw Shouyou's little thumb raised in his bound hands...

He finally woke up from his dream

"Are you awake?" Gintoki looked at Kawaki, who had just woken up, and said.

Now was the time of war. A few years had passed since Shouyou was taken away. In order to take back Shouyou, all of Shouyou's disciples participated in this war of expelling foreigners under the name of those who fought against foreigners. However, their goal might be simply to save their teacher and to return to the simple [Shoka Sonjuku], which was full of laughter.

A dilapidated house was full of wounded people. Not only Kawaki and Gintoki, but even Katsura and Takasugi were included. Of course, everyone was covered in bandages.

"How is it? Military expenses..." Kawaki had finally returned to reality. The current Kawaki was no longer the child he used to be. He had completely grown up. He was 1.8 meters tall. His hair was still in a ponytail, and he was dressed in a gray outfit. His forehead was tied up with a white hairband that symbolized a soldier.

"The military expenses can last until next month. It's just weapons, food, medicine, and so on. Even if we have money now, it's hard to gather them in a short time. However..." Gintoki wanted to say something but stopped.

"Hurry up and say it. Stop keeping me in suspense!"

"Have a sip. I found it in many places, Chinese White Liquor." Gintoki picked up a bottle of wine from his side and handed it to Kawaki, "Only you can gulp down this spicy wine."

Kawaki took the wine, unscrewed the lid, and gulped down a few mouthfuls, "Tell me, what is the new situation?"

"A man called Sakamoto Tatsuma, [The Dragon of Katsurahama] contacted us. He claimed that he could solve our financial problems and wanted to join us." In the end, Gintoki still said it out loud.

"Do you know the details?"

"Yes, according to our investigation results, he is just a simple wealthy young man," Gintoki replied.

"Zura," Kawaki could not think of any strategy by himself. He kicked Katsura, who was snoring beside him.

"It's not Zura; it's Katsura!" Katsura instantly woke up and shouted at the same time.

"Serious business, what do you think of the [The Dragon of Katsurahama]?" Kawaki asked,

"It's not Katsurahama, it's Katsura!" Katsura got up and rubbed his butt that Kawaki kicked.

"If he wants to join, let him join. We don't have any other way now. If he can solve our supplies problem, then we can still fight. Otherwise, this war will be over for us." Takasugi lay beside him and said, "Moreover, we can't always rely on Gintoki to take you to play Pachinko to earn military expenses. If we are as unlucky as last time..."

Since then, everyone has gradually understood Kawaki's ability. However, he would fall asleep for one to three days in the middle of every month. These days, the luck of the people who were with Kawaki would be particularly good. For example, when Gintoki brought the sleeping Kawaki with him, Gintoki had a 90% chance of winning the Pachinko game. If he didn't bring Kawaki, Gintoki had a 90% chance of losing. On one of the previous occasions, Kawaki's lucky bonus suddenly failed once, causing the entire army expense to dwindle for a whole month!

Another characteristic of Kawaki was that he could not drink any wine other than Chinese white wine. After drinking it, he would get drunk. Moreover, not only was he simply drunk, he could cause trouble. Gintoki and the other two could not hold down the drunk Kawaki.

However, this also developed another function of Kawaki, which was that if they encountered an opponent that was difficult to deal with. They would pour Kawaki two mouthfuls of other wine and throw it into the enemy, and then the problem would be solved.

[Foreign Voice]: Why do I feel a little pitiful, being lucky E and a war machine

"Although I don't like that kind of rich young man, I agree with Takasugi." Gintoki leaned against the wall and said.

"Then, let him join. I am also curious about what kind of man he is."

At night, Kawaki was lying alone on the roof, looking at the stars in the sky.

"Hey," Takasugi shouted, threw a bottle of cola over, and walked to Kawaki.

Kawaki took the cola, opened the lid, and took a sip.

"What are you thinking about?" Takasugi asked.

"I'm thinking about how to make myself not think about anything."

"Humans are not that simple creatures!" Takasugi said sternly.

"Who knows? Right now, I don't want to think about anything. I don't want to think about winning or losing. I don't want to think about right or wrong. I don't want to think about whether this war is meaningful or not. I also don't want to think about what the outcome will be." Kawaki replied casually.