[ He glances over his shoulder, eyebrows slightly raised, clearly confused by such goodwill on the pigs' part, but trusting that Gintoki is telling the truth. ]
[ He huffs slightly and turns away again. ]
I should hope so. If you went and allied with some other faction I'd start thinking you're refusing me just to spite me.
[ He can respect Gintoki's want to stay out of the war -- even if he still thinks it's going to come for him sooner or later, and he can only hope to be there to mitigate the fallout -- but turning him down only to team up with someone else, especially someone else who's worse in every way from dogmas to fashion sense? That's both an insult and injury in one. ]
Sounds like you're still a patriot at heart, though. [ #ACAB ]
Now now, don't get too excited. You might pull a muscle or something.
[ He might raise his eyebrows a little at that middle distance stare if he catches a glimpse of it, but otherwise he seems placated enough for the moment. ]
[ In a few minutes, he's plonking a cup of tea down on the table in front of Gintoki and taking a seat across from him with his own. He sets it down to pick up a screwdriver and a small thingamajig that is most likely part of a bomb, and starts putting it together with another one. ]
[ Don't mind him, he's just dissociating a little bit. Once the cup comes down and Zura sits, he blinks back into reality, and finally opens the box of cupcakes. ]
[ Well. Sometimes one does need to dissociate for a while. Zura's not about to take it away from him just like he wouldn't air or water, but he'd still try to ground him somehow if it seems to go on for too long. In this case, he doesn't need to. ]
A quaint little bakery on the corner of Dayrise Avenue and Parmesan Street.
[ Gintoki was obviously asking about the cupcakes, right? Right. ]
[ depending how hard it is, he might hit the table with his face, or just grunt in disapproval but stay upright. doesn't drop the items in his hands, though. ]
Oh? So you're saying that you're interested in the cause after all?
[ it's not "the cause"! he's literally been using the bombs to fight! the two don't have to be related here! ]
[ Fine, he'll just take it like a man then. Occupational hazard. ]
[ ...might still try to kick Gintoki's leg under the table, though. But not very hard, either. ]
I suppose it's good if you know... [ He may be unable to purchase it himself for one reason or another at some point! Because Gintoki would obviously run terrorist errands for him if he asked nicely. ] I had to assemble it from a few different places, actually. I heard there is an item called "magic reload" that may work as well, but I wasn't able to get one yet.
[ He's just going to list the addresses and descriptions of a few different hardware and electronics stores, a scrapyard, a metal recycling station and a gunpowder manufacturing plant. ]
[ The kick hits, and gets a quiet 'ow' but no reaction otherwise.
Yeah, actually, why did he even ask? Because he absolutely does not intend to run any terrorist errands.
He actually does listen for a bit. Once he realises it's going to be a pretty extensive list, though, he tunes it out as he keeps eating the cupcakes. ]
[ Well, he is getting cupcakes out of it, at least. ]
[ And clearly he asked because he cares and would totally do it if, say, Katsura can't run his shopping errands because of a twisted ankle or something! What a good friend. ]
Anyway, you may have your reasons, but I'm sure you're aware our circumstances are different at the moment. [ Is he just randomly back on the Shinsengumi topic? Damn right, because he can. And what he means here is, even if Gintoki blew his cover, it's not technically a lie that he's just A Guy to them right now, while they were still actively after Katsura's head last they were at home. ] Nevertheless, perhaps I will take some time to see what kind of a man he is before making any further decisions.
[ Something about it sounds foreboding... that's exactly what he said about the Power Holders though, and he just went to talk to them and that was it, right? ]
[ That 'anyway' might primarily be to signal the change in topic, but it also helps signal that Zura is done with his extensive list. It's a good thing too, so Gintoki can pull himself out of the whole lot of nothing he was thinking of instead. It takes a second for him to realise that Zura's gone back to a previous topic, his brow furrowing with confusion.
Right. The Shinsengumi.
Of course he's very aware that their circumstances are different. If he hadn't decided to officially leave all of that behind him, who knows where he'd be now. Sometimes he thinks it's unfair to leave all that to Zura, even though he made the conscious choice to continue down that path and knew very well the dangers that lay there. In fact, he'd argue that all of them are more aware of the dangers than any other patriot rebels out there. Maybe he really shouldn't have to carry that alone, though.
And maybe if he still only had himself to worry about, he might've considered it at this point. But he's picked other responsibilities for himself, he has many people to worry about, and he thinks he's just where he needs to be. With a foot in both camps, in a way. Being just 'Yorozuya' to the Shinsengumi will possibly have its perks.
It's mostly the vagueness of Zura's plans to 'see what kind of a man' Hijikata is that makes it sound foreboding. Despite that, though, Gintoki will choose to be optimistic about it. Hesitantly. ]
[ Well, it's a good thing he's not! (There's also Takasugi.) ]
[ ...which probably doesn't make the whole thing sound much better, huh. ]
[ Gintoki is right, though. He's exactly where he needs to be. And it's exactly because he's back there, living his own life and protecting the people around him, that the rest of them are able to pursue their lofty goals without looking back. ]
[ Well, Takasugi's existence at least ensures that the Bakufu don't only have to worry about Zura, so. It's something. ]
Nothing special, just that I'm not sure how he'd react to you just walking up to have a chat with him.
[ Sort of prodding.
At this point, Hijikata would most likely not resort to immediately trying to arrest Zura if he actually did just walk up himself, but then what would he do instead? Of course, Gintoki knows very well the more likely scenario is that Zura has a different idea. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[ He huffs slightly and turns away again. ]
I should hope so. If you went and allied with some other faction I'd start thinking you're refusing me just to spite me.
[ He can respect Gintoki's want to stay out of the war -- even if he still thinks it's going to come for him sooner or later, and he can only hope to be there to mitigate the fallout -- but turning him down only to team up with someone else, especially someone else who's worse in every way from dogmas to fashion sense? That's both an insult and injury in one. ]
Sounds like you're still a patriot at heart, though. [ #ACAB ]
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[ yawns ]
Sure.
[ Aaand that's all.
He props his chin on his hand, and stares off into the middle distance. ]
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Now now, don't get too excited. You might pull a muscle or something.
[ He might raise his eyebrows a little at that middle distance stare if he catches a glimpse of it, but otherwise he seems placated enough for the moment. ]
[ In a few minutes, he's plonking a cup of tea down on the table in front of Gintoki and taking a seat across from him with his own. He sets it down to pick up a screwdriver and a small thingamajig that is most likely part of a bomb, and starts putting it together with another one. ]
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Where'd you even get this stuff?
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A quaint little bakery on the corner of Dayrise Avenue and Parmesan Street.
[ Gintoki was obviously asking about the cupcakes, right? Right. ]
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1/?
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YOU KNOW THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!
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[ depending how hard it is, he might hit the table with his face, or just grunt in disapproval but stay upright. doesn't drop the items in his hands, though. ]
Oh? So you're saying that you're interested in the cause after all?
[ it's not "the cause"! he's literally been using the bombs to fight! the two don't have to be related here! ]
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Whaddya mean 'the cause'! I'm just asking about the damn bomb parts!
[ FINALLY takes out a cupcake just to angrily shove the whole thing in his mouth. ]
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[ ...might still try to kick Gintoki's leg under the table, though. But not very hard, either. ]
I suppose it's good if you know... [ He may be unable to purchase it himself for one reason or another at some point! Because Gintoki would obviously run terrorist errands for him if he asked nicely. ] I had to assemble it from a few different places, actually. I heard there is an item called "magic reload" that may work as well, but I wasn't able to get one yet.
[ He's just going to list the addresses and descriptions of a few different hardware and electronics stores, a scrapyard, a metal recycling station and a gunpowder manufacturing plant. ]
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Yeah, actually, why did he even ask? Because he absolutely does not intend to run any terrorist errands.
He actually does listen for a bit. Once he realises it's going to be a pretty extensive list, though, he tunes it out as he keeps eating the cupcakes. ]
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[ And clearly he asked because he cares and would totally do it if, say, Katsura can't run his shopping errands because of a twisted ankle or something! What a good friend. ]
Anyway, you may have your reasons, but I'm sure you're aware our circumstances are different at the moment. [ Is he just randomly back on the Shinsengumi topic? Damn right, because he can. And what he means here is, even if Gintoki blew his cover, it's not technically a lie that he's just A Guy to them right now, while they were still actively after Katsura's head last they were at home. ] Nevertheless, perhaps I will take some time to see what kind of a man he is before making any further decisions.
[ Something about it sounds foreboding... that's exactly what he said about the Power Holders though, and he just went to talk to them and that was it, right? ]
[ It's probably fine. ]
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Right. The Shinsengumi.
Of course he's very aware that their circumstances are different. If he hadn't decided to officially leave all of that behind him, who knows where he'd be now. Sometimes he thinks it's unfair to leave all that to Zura, even though he made the conscious choice to continue down that path and knew very well the dangers that lay there. In fact, he'd argue that all of them are more aware of the dangers than any other patriot rebels out there. Maybe he really shouldn't have to carry that alone, though.
And maybe if he still only had himself to worry about, he might've considered it at this point. But he's picked other responsibilities for himself, he has many people to worry about, and he thinks he's just where he needs to be. With a foot in both camps, in a way. Being just 'Yorozuya' to the Shinsengumi will possibly have its perks.
It's mostly the vagueness of Zura's plans to 'see what kind of a man' Hijikata is that makes it sound foreboding. Despite that, though, Gintoki will choose to be optimistic about it. Hesitantly. ]
Yeah? Might be a little difficult.
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[ ...which probably doesn't make the whole thing sound much better, huh. ]
[ Gintoki is right, though. He's exactly where he needs to be. And it's exactly because he's back there, living his own life and protecting the people around him, that the rest of them are able to pursue their lofty goals without looking back. ]
Hm? What makes you say that?
[ If you've got something, spill it, Gintoki. ]
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Nothing special, just that I'm not sure how he'd react to you just walking up to have a chat with him.
[ Sort of prodding.
At this point, Hijikata would most likely not resort to immediately trying to arrest Zura if he actually did just walk up himself, but then what would he do instead? Of course, Gintoki knows very well the more likely scenario is that Zura has a different idea. ]
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[ Katsura makes a dismissive little noise. ]
I was disguised to interview the Guild Leaders. I can do it again.
[ How successful it was is anybody's guess, but as far as he's concerned, it worked perfectly. ]
Besides, in my experience, he is rather dense.
[ Says the emperor of density.................. ]
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wrapping i guess?