Title: Events that Happen During a Winter Snowstorm are often Romanticized

Author: Rasei

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama, I'm just toying with them.

Summary: Set during the war. Two Joui Patriot gets separated from the rest, and one gets an idea to burn the world to ash.

A/N: Thank you Niente for editing my story. Also thank you N00b for suggesting the title for this story~

The two were separated from the rest of the Joui, and they had the enemy on their asses. Both were bleeding from numerous wounds on their bodies, and they were exhausted. The winter breezes kept them going, keeping them barely awake as they trudged through the forest on the mountain. If was unfortunate that most of the Amanto that they were fighting had thick fur coats that keep the Amanto warm.

Finally one of the two fell, too exhausted to go on. The other turned around and knelt down beside him. His dark eyes looked worriedly over his friend's bloody back. His friend rolled over, his silver hair falling into his face.

"Go... go on without me..." the silver hair man whispered. The other shook his head.

"Sensei always said that we should look out for each other," the dark haired man responded, reaching out to pick up his friend.

"And where is Sensei now?"

"Dead. That is why we must go on. To make sure no one else loses someone close to him again." The silver haired man looked into the other's eyes, seeing that the other meant what he said. The silver haired man smiled slightly, then coughed up blood.

"But... this is war... people die in war... you should know that by now," he whispered. The other hoisted him up, making him groan.

"Gintoki, shut up. We are going to live, and we will make the world a better place."

"Or maybe we should burn it to ashes," Gintoki mumbled. The black hair man almost dropped him.

"What? Burn it? That would just make Sensei sad in the afterlife."

"After everything we've seen, do you really believe there is an afterlife? How many times have we seen people, some our friends, getting cut down? How many times have we seen the bodies of innocent children in a burning village? How can an afterlife fit so many people?"

"We have to believe in something. We have to have hope for the future. Sensei would want us to." Gintoki let another cough interrupt his friend.

"We will get to the regroup spot soon. Kurokono will have pocari for us, and there will also be yakult to drink. So let's go on..." The friend continued, his voice slightly wavering.

" You and your yakult. Who is Kurokono again?"

"Idiot... How can you forget who Kurokono is?"

"Oh shut up..." A branch broke in the surrounding woods, and the friend dropped Gintoki. Gintoki let out a moan as he hit the ground.

"Go on without me," whispered Gintoki. His friend turned his head to glare down at him.

"Idiot, shut up for a moment," he whispered to Gintoki. Another branch broke, causing them both to tense. Gintoki forced himself up, biting his lip to keep back the coughing. The two edged closer to each other, turning their back to the other's back. The first Amanto that appeared was a tiger-like one, that smelled like rotten cheese.

"I found the two Joui," the Amanto shouted behind him. There were crashes from all around them, making Gintoki bit his lip.

"On a scale from one to ten how deep in shit are we?" Gintoki whispered. The friend looked around him, only slightly turning his head. He then turned to look back at the group of Amanto growing bigger by the second.

"I give it a twelve. Don't die on me, Gintoki. Katsura would have my head." Gintoki snorted slightly at his friend's words.

"Right back at you," Gintoki responded. Then they both rushed into battle, swords slashing the closest Amanto. As they fought the smell of blood, urine, and death grew around them. No matter how hard they could fight, there was no way the two of them could win. Both were tired, and bleeding heavily from that last fight.

It was no surprise that they regrouped with each other, breathing heavily. Gintoki looked at his friend, who was breathing rather hard and seemed to have black areas appearing and disappearing around him.

"It seems we might be joining Sensei in the afterlife," panted out the dark hair man. Gintoki open his mouth, when there was a battle cry. Gintoki watched as the Amanto were attacked from the other side by the Joui.

"It seems it's not today that we join Sensei," whispered Gintoki, forcing himself to stand straight. The last act tolled on his body too much, and he collapsed to the ground almost dead.

Gintoki was in a darkness that stretched on forever, and he looked around trying find something that wasn't darkness. He tried to yell, but he couldn't get the air into his lungs. There was suddenly noise behind him, and he spun around ready to fight.

There was his school and home burning to the ground, a long-silver-haired man was standing there with his back to Gintoki. Gintoki stared at Shouyo-sensei, who turned around. With a smile on his face, Shouyo-sensei just stared at Gintoki. Gintoki tried to talk again, but still it felt like he couldn't speak.

"Gintoki, you don't look that good," Shouyo-sensei broke the silence. Gintoki looked down at his body, where he was almost completely covered in blood. He looked back up to see Shouyo-sensei was nearer to him, with a slight frown on his face.

"Have you been keeping your promise?"

Gintoki froze slightly, then shook his head. He tried to argue. How could he keep his promise when Shouyo-sensei was dead? But Shouyo-sensei just put his arm out in front of him, his pinkie the only finger extended. Gintoki looked down at his feet, then at his sensei. He finally put out his own pinkie. Sensei wrapped his pinkie around Gintoki's.

"Thank you, Gintoki. It's a huge order, but protecting those close to you will make the world into a better place. You need to wake up before you die."

Gintoki just nodded his head. Shouyo-sensei started to fade away, smiling at Gintoki. His last words before he was gone away were the same as in the past.

"Gintoki. I'm leaving things in your care. I'll be back with all of you very soon... So until then... Our comrades. Everyone... please protect them for me, okay? Let's make it a promise."

"I will keep my promise this time, Sensei," Gintoki whispered as he felt himself drifting away into the darkness, and he felt his mind shutting down.

When Gintoki woke up, he was on a thin futon in the broken-down temple that the Joui claimed as their own. The world was spinning, but he tried to force himself up. It was most likely a good thing that Katsura was there to stop him, pushing him down to make sure the wounds didn't reopen.

"Lie down, Gintoki. You almost died. We just finished wrapping your wounds."

"Is..." Gintoki broke off coughing, his eyes almost shut with the force of the coughs. After a minute, the coughing died down. Katsura forced him up and held a bottle of pocari to his lips. A few sips later, Gintoki tried to start talking again.

"I don't think that pocari is a proper drink for someone that is wounded," he said. Katsura just shrugged.

"It is what we had on hand. The water isn't safe to drink here after all."

Gintoki moaned slightly in pain, as Katsura lowered him to the bed. Gintoki felt his body shutting down when he was again laying right.

"How is Gintoki?" asked his friend's voice. Gintoki forced his eyes to look at him.

"He will live, Takasugi. Now you go back to your futon," said Katsura, his eyes narrow and his arms crossed over his chest. Takasugi huffed slightly, then noticed that Gintoki was looking at him.

"You! If you say anything like you did before, I will torment you to death by drowning you in yakult." The glare in both of Takasugi's eyes showed he meant business. Gintoki nodded his head.

"This world has too many important people for me to burn it. You thought I was being serious?" ask Gintoki lazily, trying to pass it all off as a joke. It wasn't a joke back then, but he made a promise and he will keep it. Takasugi's glare deepened slightly, but there was slight concern in his eyes. Gintoki smiled at him, which caused Takasugi turn around.

"Should have guessed it was a joke. When does an idiot like you ever get serious?" Takasugi said, as he walked off. Gintoki struggled to follow him, but Katsura just held him down to the futon.

"Hey, say that again to my face! Zura, let go of me! I want to show that bastard I mean business."

"Why are you two always like this? You guys are supposed to be friends!"

"Who is supposed to be friends with that jerk?" Gintoki yelled, then broke off coughing. Katsura looked around to make sure that the medics weren't looking; then he knocked Gintoki out so Gintoki could rest. Out of the corner of his eye, Katsura saw Takasugi looking over with slight concern. When Takasugi realized Katsura noticed him looking, he frowned and glared at Katsura.

'These two are closer than they think. Maybe they will realize it someday,' Katsura thought. As if reading his mind, Takasugi's eyes narrowed. Finally Takasugi got dragged off by Sakamoto, who was yapping away like a puppy.