On this particular matter, Gintoki didn't argue back at all. After all, what his friend said was completely true—he really was freeloading on free food and drinks. Chugging down another can of Mahiru's beer, he put his shameless attitude on full display.
Shinpachi said listlessly, "Lucky for you, my family runs a kendo dojo, so I can still afford to pay for your food expenses."
Every time Gintoki freeloaded on free food and drinks at Mahiru's house, Shinpachi was always the one to clean up his mess by paying financial compensation. This was despite Mahiru always saying it wasn't necessary every single time.
Since Mahiru was about two years older than Shinpachi and Kagura, the two of them always called her "Mahiru Anego" or "Big Sister."
To Kagura, anyone who could feed her was a Big Sister.
Shinpachi very skillfully pulled an envelope filled with money from inside his clothes, then quietly placed it on the table beside Mahiru's bed. Even though the woman always refused, this money still had to be given.
Gintoki instantly looked displeased. "Instead of giving it over there, you'd better just hand that money over to me so I can go out and buy a red bean rice bowl and ice cream mixed rice!"
"How on earth could I hand this money over to you?! How is that any different from throwing money away?!" Shinpachi shouted, loudly voicing his protest.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
In the outside world, Mahiru and Kagura were walking hand in hand while strolling around the vegetable market.
Even though the day was still bright and clear, Kagura kept using her jet-black umbrella. It was just that on the inside of the umbrella, there was a scribbled drawing of two young children holding hands.
Mahiru had once asked her, "Does this umbrella have a special meaning?"
Kagura only answered with a wide grin, "None!"
Seeing that reaction, Mahiru didn't press any further.
The two of them walked under the umbrella, which had been repurposed as a sunshade. Right at that moment, Kagura began to tell a story from her childhood: "The scribble inside this umbrella was drawn by someone I met when I was little."
"My father was never home, and my mother had already passed away, so I was left all alone in the house. Then, a kid who came to my house to hide because he was running away from debt collectors suddenly showed up at my place. That was how the two of us got to know each other."
Mahiru's footsteps instantly ground to a halt.
(Eh? Why does this background sound so familiar? It's just like my husband's.)
Kagura continued to talk non-stop. "When I was little, thankfully that person was there to play with me, so I wasn't too bored. Unfortunately, he only came for a few days and then ran away right after. I've been looking for him ever since."
"When Mahiru Anego found me on that rainy day back then, I was actually looking for someone in this country, and the person I am looking for is him."
Mahiru's beautiful brow furrowed, and she immediately asked, "What is his name?"
Kagura pretended to think long and hard. "He seemed to have said back then that he was one of the highest combat powers of the Japanese Marines, a member of the Shichibukai."
"No, no, no! That's an obvious lie!"
[Note: This world has the One Piece anime, which is why Mahiru immediately voiced her protest against her bluff.]
However, Mahiru also felt relieved. (Thank goodness it wasn't my husband...)
For some reason, she let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar man wearing sunglasses and a black suit walked over, stopping right in front of the two girls.
"Shiina Mahiru-sama, could you come with us for a moment?"
Several other people wearing identical black suits emerged around them. It was glaringly obvious that they were not people with good intentions.
Kagura reflexively stepped forward to shield Mahiru behind her.
"What do you want, aru?"
The strange man still didn't answer, merely repeating his previous words: "Could you come with us for a moment? Our master wishes to see you."
Veins of anger instantly popped up on Kagura's forehead. "The modern era is already here and you're still acting all mysterious!"
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
With a few strikes, Kagura immediately used her umbrella to knock all the black-suited men down to the ground. She then blew her red bangs away with an annoyed look on her face.
Mahiru also found it strange, why did these people suddenly want to capture her?
In truth, these people were messengers sent by Atsuomi to "invite" Mahiru for tea at his place. Calling it a tea party was actually just a cover to place her under house arrest, which would be used as collateral to threaten Ryunosuke.
It was just that what Atsuomi never expected was that around Mahiru, there were many high-level experts. In fact, there were two people whose strength could go toe-to-toe in an arm-wrestling match with the strongest creature on earth.
One was Kagura, and the other was Gintoki.
Mahiru crouched down, then looked at the people who had fallen beneath her feet with curiosity. "Why do you want to capture me?"
The man wearing the black suit and sunglasses did not reply. He only lowered his head deeply and remained flat on the ground.
They couldn't possibly leak information about their master, otherwise, the consequences would be incredibly severe.
Mahiru seemed to understand that they wouldn't talk. She stood up, straightened her flower-patterned dress, and then held Kagura's hand to leave together.
"Let's go, Kagura-chan."
"But Big Sister, are we just going to let them off like this, aru?"
"Yes, just let them go. After all, they won't say anything anyway."
"Alright then, since Mahiru Anego has said so..." Kagura couldn't help but look back. She pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue, clearly mocking those who had severely overestimated their own abilities. "As long as Big Miss is here! Don't you dare think you can touch Mahiru Anego!"
The group of black-suited men remained flat on the ground while gnashing their teeth in fury.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Upon their arrival at the house, Mahiru straight away went to the kitchen to cook. Meanwhile, Kagura related the earlier incident to Gintoki and Shinpachi.
The expressions on both men's faces instantly turned rather serious.
Gintoki said to the two of them, "From now on when outside the house, absolutely no one is to leave Mahiru's side."
The two of them nodded in agreement very firmly. After all, one glance was enough to tell that they were being targeted by a major power. A party capable of sending people in expensive suits and sunglasses like this was bound to be no ordinary group.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Meanwhile, at Atsuomi's residence, his right hand balled into a tight fist and slammed hard against the desk's surface. He cursed in anger, "You are truly a pack of useless people! You can't even manage to capture a single woman!"
The group of black-suited men shrank their necks back, then countered in a very small voice.
"Atsuomi-sama, there is a very powerful expert by that girl's side. We were no match for her..."
"Haaah..." Atsuomi massaged the bridge of his nose, which was feeling a bit throbbing. "That's why I said you are a bunch of useless people. If five or six people can't capture her, then send even more people! 10 people, 100 people, is it possible you still can't handle it?!"
Atsuomi balled his hand into a fist again and slammed the desk surface, causing the group of people in front of him to flinch in shock. They immediately declared that they wouldn't fail again, and would call hundreds of their brothers to go capture the target.
Atsuomi leaned his body back, lying down on the expensive sofa while closing his eyes to rest his mind.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
At Mahiru's residence, two new guests had just arrived. It appeared they were friends of Gintoki.
One was Katsura, who was frequently called Toupee, and the other was a strange creature wearing a bizarre mascot costume, whose name seemed to be Elizabeth?
Mahiru tilted her head in slight confusion, but she didn't dwell on it too much.
(Since guests have come to visit, of course I must entertain them well.)
Mahiru then immediately went to the kitchen to prepare some food.
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