The next day.
After eating a simple breakfast at Otose's snack bar, Sakata Gintoki set off with Mu Yang, followed by Shimura Shinpachi, Kagura, and Sadaharu.
The first stop on their sightseeing plan.
"Hey! It's right here, the pachinko parlor!"
Sakata Gintoki announced enthusiastically, standing in front of the pachinko parlor.
"What the hell!!!"
Shinpachi and Kagura delivered a double kick, sending Sakata Gintoki flying. He crashed headfirst into the pachinko parlor's glass door, which shattered on impact.
"Hey! Get up, and explain yourself! What's with the pachinko parlor?"
Kagura's fists clenched, knuckles cracking, her face a mask of fury.
"Who takes a guest to a pachinko parlor?! What were you even thinking?!" Shimura Shinpachi yelled, pointing at Sakata Gintoki, who was half-embedded in a glass window.
"Wait! Wait a minute!" Sakata Gintoki got back on his feet, his face covered in blood, and explained, "Well... you see... pachinko parlors are a Kabukicho specialty! It's only natural to recommend a Kabukicho specialty to someone visiting for the first time... right?"
"Pachinko parlors aren't a specialty, you idiot!" Shimura Shinpachi's face was contorted with anger.
"Then what is a specialty, in your opinion?" Sakata Gintoki retorted, as if he hadn't been injured at all, after wiping the blood off his face.
"Well, that would be... umm... um..." Shinpachi pressed his index finger against his forehead, deep in thought.
Hostess clubs? Transvestite clubs? Male host clubs? Ugly girl clubs?
Huh? Why are they all... shady places? Aren't there any respectable establishments in Kabukicho? After some deep thought, Shinpachi desperately searched his memory for anything about Kabukicho, but the most memorable places seemed to be rather unsavory.
Kabukicho… it seems like maybe… there aren't any proper entertainment facilities.
"Mr. Mu, we'll take you around."
Shimura Shinpachi, unable to think of anything particularly interesting, ignored Sakata Gintoki and spoke to Mu Yang instead.
"Alright." Mu Yang didn't object; he just wanted to walk around and scout for potential clients.
"Where should we go first?" Kagura, riding on Sadaharu, tilted her head and asked.
"Let's just walk along the street and see where we end up," Shinpachi replied.
The three of them strolled forward, Shinpachi pointing out the shops lining the street and introducing them to Mu Yang, with Kagura occasionally chiming in.
"Hey, wait for me!" Seeing the three of them just walk off, Gintoki waved his hand and chased after them.
"Wait a minute! Customer!" A burly hand clamped down on Gintoki's shoulder. In his peripheral vision, he saw a jovial, muscular man waving a piece of paper, on which the word 'Compensation' was clearly written.
"Uh…" Gintoki's lips twitched slightly.
Kabukicho Ichibangai, located in Edo, was a red-light district, a hub of entertainment including arcades, movie theaters, bars, restaurants, brothels, and various amusement facilities.
In just a few hundred meters, Mu Yang had already spotted two dance halls, three bars, six restaurants, three brothels, and three establishments offering a 10,000 yen per visit package.
This is Kabukicho, alright!
As his gaze wandered, he saw a man with pale yellow hair and squinting eyes in a kimono enter a shop offering the 10,000 yen package.
That guy looks familiar…
While thinking this, Mu Yang heard someone speaking.
"Yo! Shinpachi-kun."
"Ah! Katsura-sensei."
Looking towards the sound, a man in a blue yukata, a white haori over it, and long, ink-black hair cascading over his shoulders came into view.
Katsura Kotaro, a handsome man who seems cold when he doesn't speak, but whose natural airheadedness is exposed the moment he opens his mouth. He is one of the leaders of the steadfast Joi Rebels, with titles like 'Running Away Kotaro' and 'Crazy Nobleman'.
His personal combat ability is at the top level for humans, and as the leader of a faction with his own goals, he's very suitable to be developed as a client.
"Here, a gift." Mu Yang handed a bracelet to Katsura Kotaro.
Seeing the bracelet presented to him, Katsura Kotaro didn't hesitate in the slightest, accepting it instinctively and thanking him sincerely, "Thank you."
Following which, he looked at the bracelet with confusion, "What is this? A bomb? I haven't seen this type before! It's pretty, with its glittering."
"No," Shimura Shinpachi waved his hand dismissively, as if swatting away Katsura Kotaro's nonsense. "I said it's a gift! Who gives bombs as gifts?"
Katsura Kotaro raised his hand, indicating that he often gave gifts to the Shinsengumi and other shogunate organizations, and those gifts were various types of bombs.
Giving bombs to enemies could be considered a gift?
Shimura Shinpachi didn't even have time to retort when Katsura Kotaro 'whoosh' jumped and hid in the alley between two houses.
Just as Shimura Shinpachi was puzzled, the sound of sirens suddenly blared in his ears, and a police car roared past.
After the police car disappeared around the corner of the street, Katsura Kotaro came out of the alley between the houses, raised his hand to wipe his brow, which wasn't even sweaty, and breathed a sigh of relief, "Phew~~, almost got caught."
'Yes.' The mysterious creature Elizabeth held up a wooden board.
"No, no, no, Mr. Katsura, can you see the future? How did you know the police car was coming before the sirens even started?!" Shimura Shinpachi complained, bewildered by Katsura Kotaro, who had hidden before the sirens even sounded.
"Eh?" Katsura Kotaro looked blankly at Shimura Shinpachi, completely bewildered, as if he didn't understand what Shimura Shinpachi was talking about.
"I definitely heard the sirens first, that's why I dodged. Why would I dodge if I hadn't heard the sirens?"
"Hey, don't..." Shimura Shinpachi's face twitched, veins popping, as he was about to say something, but then he saw Katsura Kotaro and Elizabeth teleport into the alley.
A few seconds later, a police car roared past.
Katsura Kotaro had his hands tucked into his sleeves, and he looked at the police car disappearing in the distance, puzzled. "Has my whereabouts been exposed? There are quite a few police cars nearby! It seems like they're searching for something..."
'Shall we retreat, Katsura-san?' Elizabeth asked, holding up a wooden board.
Where do you even hide that board? And when did you write on it?
Mu Yang stared at Elizabeth, who could produce a wooden board with writing on it with a single gesture. He didn't see when he wrote the words; he only saw him reach behind his back, and what he pulled out was a wooden board with writing on it.
Where does Elizabeth hide his wooden boards, and how many does he carry around...?
No wonder it's one of Gintama's unsolved mysteries.
"Retreat." Katsura Kotaro nodded slightly and waved at Mu Yang, Shinpachi, and Kagura. "Then I'll take my leave. Shinpachi, thank you for the gift. Stranger, goodbye."
With that, the man and the mysterious creature vanished in a flash.
To avoid getting caught up in trouble, after saying goodbye, Shinpachi led Mu Yang and Kagura in the opposite direction of Katsura Kotaro's escape.
Not far away, they saw a crowd of people blocking the bank entrance. Outside the crowd, there was a television station's van.
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(End of Chapter)