Chapter Text

Shouyou’s Chronicles

A ghost of your former self

Yoshida Shouyou is a ghost. Well, has been for the past few years. Even when Utsuro was in control of his body, he had managed to take the form of a ghost to keep an eye on his precious students. He had been there when Katsura received his duck (?) (who is kind of creepy, to be honest. Like, he had just stared at him for half an hour), when Takasugi met his loyal allies (the guy with glasses was so cool) and when Gintoki met the two kids that would change his life. Of course he had been there. He was their teacher, after all.

He had been there when Katsura comforted Takasugi, and when Takasugi bought Katsura onigiris and yakults as his way of saying thank you. He was there when Ikumatsu had entered his smartest student’s life. Well, to be fair, more like Katsura barged into the ramen shop owner’s life. He had seen Bansai and his amazing friendship with Takasugi (Takasugi could actually hold a normal conversation without going to his “Kuwah” mode). He had seen both students learning to confide, learning to open up, even if it was to only one person. Shouyou knew better than anyone that sometimes, a person is all it takes to change a life.

He had cried when Takasugi closed his eyes for the last time (actually, he wasn’t a ghost when that happened) and had accompanied the three remaining Joui when they went to drink one in the memory of their friend. Hell, he even had gotten fond of Tatsuma and his boisterous way of cheering the others up.

Now, Shouyou is watching his most peculiar student (maybe, he isn’t sure anymore). Gintoki has built a family from nothing, with his bare hands. He took an empty apartment and turned into a home for two people to return to, and for everyone to drop by. As for now, his student is happily passed out in his own genkan. Well, not so happily. His face is turning green at an alarming speed. Shouyou watches as the feared Shiroyasha tries to run towards the bathroom while trying to take of his boots. He falls to the ground (again) dragging all his might with him. The samurai clumsily stands up, and barely manages to reach his destination. Shouyou watches him, a fond smile plastered in his lips, as Kagura gets up and drags a blanket towards her Earth dad. Shouyou approaches his disciple as the Yato girl returns to her closet, patting her giant dog in her way.

The teacher’s smile quickly fades away. Small, little tears make their way in his beloved student’s face. Half-asleep, half-drunken, Gintoki mumbles his comrade-rival-friend’s name, his own name and the hundreds of names that he wasn’t able to protect in the war. Instinctively, Shouyou reaches a hand to comfort him. Like thousands of times before, he isn’t able to deliver the pat intended for his student’s shoulder. He is just there, condemned to watch as his kind and noble student falls into the claws of the past. As he turns away from the heartbreaking scene, he meets two giant inugami eyes watching intensely at him. If he wasn’t dead, he would have died right there and then. He would never get used to being perceived by animals. And Elizabeths.

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