a/n: Don't read this if you haven't read chapter 519.

There will be more relief in death than living

-x-

"Shoyou? Your pupils have done what they were taught and went to die like dogs."

Katsura struggles to get up, but one of the Naraku swings his rod at his neck. A steady stream of blood trickles out of his mouth, and he can barely breathe. It's their worst nightmare.

He mouthes out the word sensei but nothing comes out. The uncertainty is unbearable.

"You don't recall teaching them that? That is what you'd like to say, no?"

Shut the fuck up, Takasugi thinks, and every muscle in his body is aching, aching, aching for action, but in the midst of the enemy's land, the adrenaline fuels nothing advantageous. The ropes tear at his skin.

"If that's the case, shall we test it?"

They rip off the ropes from Gintoki, knowing that even the famed Shiroyasha cannot defeat the strongest of the Tendoshuu, not with three hostages in their grips. He rises, so tired and weary. Defeated.

"Will your disciples choose the path of dying like a dog with you?"

Katsura's head rises, not understanding, but the feeling of horror threatens to snuff the breath out of his body.

"Or, with their own hands… Will they choose the path of survival even if it means killing their master?"

No! Katsura screams in his mind, because the ropes are bound around his lungs and he can't say anything, because this is hell, this is torture, this is beyond what any decent person can bear. He knows what choice Gintoki will make.

He knows.

"A fitting method of execution for one who fancies himself a teacher, don't you think?" The monster chuckles. "Your master or your comrades. Choose whatever you like."

Gintoki. If I die, take care of Sensei.

Gintoki; our comrades - everyone, protect them, okay? I'm leaving things in your care.

Gintoki takes one step towards Shoyou, his eyes empty and mysteriously devoid of life or light. And both Katsura and Takasugi know his choice.

"GINTOKIIIIIIIIIIIII!" screams Takasugi, his arms scratching against the rope, legs beating against the red dust of the ground, his body protesting against what he has to see.

"YOU PROMISED ME ON THE BATTLEFIELD!" he roared. "PICK US OVER HIM! GINTOKI! ANYTHING BUT HIM!"

But his choice is final.

There is no turning back. Gintoki walks towards Shoyou, his mind curiously blank.

Their beloved teacher turned his neck towards Gintoki, and a surge of love and affection bloomed in his heart.

He loved all three of them tenderly, as if they were his own children. He loved them so deeply that he was ready to die for them. He held no regrets except that he had dragged them into this war that they had no place to be in. They were so young.

Looking at his first and most cherished son, he only could feel sorrow in his heart for Gintoki.

Oh, my son. There will be more relief in death than living. And yet -

Yet you will go on, stubborn and determined, because you are a survivor. I know this because I found you that day on the battleground.

You won't give up. You won't let me down.

You never have.

"Thank you," Shoyou says, and closes his eyes.

-x-