Inheritance.
Clan Head.
Though strictly speaking, this kind of good thing definitely would not fall onto his head.
But what if?
What if he rode the road his dad worked hard to open with his whole life, and in the future, Gin-san could also enjoy the Gundam he had from birth?
Unit-01!
It was his turn to pilot Unit-01!
EVA!
Actually, EVA was just okay too…
But strawberry milk, strawberry milk 3 meals a day.
He could buy up all the strawberry milk in the whole convenience store.
Zenin Nobuaki slightly raised the corners of his lips.
He said he looked down on it, but in the end, he still showed that kind of yearning expression.
Every child of the Zenin Clan had this common understanding from the moment they could remember things.
Except for trash like Fushiguro Toji, who was born without any Cursed Energy, everyone else’s life would start at 6 years old.
Non-Zenin, non-sorcerer.
Non-sorcerer, non-human.
Whether they would live on as Jujutsu Sorcerers of the Zenin Clan or live on as trash outside it was decided the moment the result appeared.
When Gintoki turned 1, Zenin Naoya was born.
The Clan Head’s decision, which had been shaken by Gintoki and had started to lean, shifted back toward balance.
In the end, it settled into its original shape.
As for how unwilling Zenin Ogi was, Gintoki had no mood to feel it.
He kept training as always, protecting his mom’s heart bit by bit.
Until Gintoki turned 6, and the thing he cherished and protected collapsed in an instant.
That was not an incomprehensible ending.
It had even been within the Clan Head’s expectations.
Silver hair and red eyes whose origin could not be explained.
Vast Cursed Energy that could not be explained.
An obvious aura like a Special Grade Cursed Spirit, plus a Cursed Technique that could not be traced back.
The expectations built up over 6 years turned into equal disappointment in an instant.
As long as Gintoki tilted his head slightly, he could see the resentful hatred on Zenin Ogi’s face, like he hated iron for not becoming steel, and the cold gazes of the Zenin Clan people.
“So I said it was impossible! Gin-san has never eaten a bonus from his dad in his whole life, let alone Otou-san’s Gundam! Compared with really piloting Unit-01, of course what I got was the script on the side! Should I say it? Is it my turn to say it? Stuff like, don’t run away?!”
“Trash.” Zenin Ogi looked directly at Gintoki himself for the first time.
At the same time, he also noticed the boy’s true nature.
This was not the heir he had expected.
It was a Curse, a shadow, a monster that should have been killed the moment it was born.
The monster was not hurt by his birth father’s disgust.
That childish face showed a shadow that did not belong to a child.
It was as if he had never been a child from beginning to end.
“You finally tore it off, huh? That smiling expression like a kind father. Perfect. You hate me, and I’ve always thought you were a pain too. You just marry a wife and make kids, poke around with your dirty joystick, then when you’re not satisfied, you dump all your anger onto a broken mother and an unlucky kid. Irresponsible Oyaji!”
Before he could be thrown out like trash, Gintoki very wisely ran off on his own.
Curse him out, then run.
Felt great.
Compared with settling the score with his shabby dad, Gintoki had something more important to do.
Yes, something those big shots of the Zenin Clan did not value, but Gintoki cared about a lot.
That was where his mom had gone.
He did not think that with Zenin Ogi’s petty mind, his mom could still peacefully live in the estate she had lived in for the past 6 years.
She had definitely been packed up in a few moves and sent to the remote courtyard from before, together with Gintoki himself, to act as extra existences.
But compared with this matter arranged by the Zenin Clan servants, he cared more about his mom’s feelings.
Before Zenin Ogi truly used Gintoki to hurt her, before she suffered even more pain, he had to hurry and take her, plus their big and small bags of belongings, and run!
He had secretly buried several stacks of cash by the wall.
That was all the pocket money he had saved.
For going out to play pachinko!
Hey, hey, don’t make that “what is wrong with this guy” face.
Look how long it’s been.
Not 6 days, not 6 months, but 6 years!
Gin-san endured a time even longer than 6 years.
In his heart, it was practically something from his previous life.
It’s decided.
The first place after going outside is the pachinko parlor!
Gintoki believed very strongly in the Zenin Clan’s skill at going with the wind.
He headed straight for the old abandoned estate.
“The wind today is a little noisy. This wind seems like it’s crying as it sweeps through the streets, and we’ll get caught up in it too. Let’s go, before this wind stops… So basically, the chips at that supermarket are half off. Let’s go already! Okaa-san!”
Gintoki suddenly slammed open the sliding door, lay against it, and met eyes with the person inside the room.
A pitch-black kimono.
A tall figure.
A scar at the corner of his lips.
Eyes that looked down on everything and were filled with negative energy.
Gintoki calmly got up, calmly lifted the sliding door, and calmly set it back in its original position.
“It was the place next door that had the sale.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
“Okay, okay, what does that have to do with you? Before saying that line, reflect on why you’re doing this kind of thing first, Shortsugi-kun. Did you despair over your height, so after reincarnating, you rolled a value over 180? Congrats, congrats. You can escape your curse now. Gin-san is still being tortured by his curse. Let go. Farewell forever.”
Zenin Toji was extremely fast.
Gintoki could only sense by instinct the black shadow rushing toward him, along with the intent behind his movement.
But he could not stop it at all.
Too fast.
That was not a speed a 6-year-old child could keep up with.
Even if Gintoki was a little genius who had been abused since babyhood, he still could not.
Gintoki struggled to free his collar.
Right when he should have confirmed he had no room to resist, he suddenly launched a counterattack.
He abruptly grabbed Zenin Toji’s wrist, bounced up, and kicked his stomach.
The sharp motion took only a split second.
Normally, this combo would have been enough for him to escape from an ordinary Jujutsu Sorcerer, but the Tyrant of Heavenly Restriction only silently and coldly lifted that leg.
Because of that, while kicking at Toji, Gintoki clearly felt like his leg almost got snapped.
“Hey, hey, this guest, are you a pedophile? Is that what the black beast inside your body is yelling about?”
“Hmph. For a brat like you who hasn’t even grown all his hair yet, fantasizing about being popular with men or women is still too early.”
“Without this head of natural curls, Gin-san could be cool enough to hold women on both sides.”
“Looks like you need to wake up first.”
Zenin Toji seemed to instantly turn off his counterattack mode.
In a way that was merciless but not fatal, he threw Gintoki out.
A big hole was smashed through the sliding door, and Gintoki’s whole body was embedded in the outer wall.
From this remote estate, he only needed to climb up twice and he could cleanly flip over the wall and leave.
Toji did not look that way once.
He also did not care where that kid who ran out to buy chips would die in the end.
His heart, filled with resentment, had long stopped holding any expectations for the Zenin Clan, even though he had once reached out both hands.
His mother had never responded to him either.
Zenin Toji lived in a remote estate.
This was not because they looked down on his strength, but because they rejected an outsider.
It was as if admitting his strength would be the same as staining the foundation the Zenin Clan relied on.
Admitting a Zenin Toji who had neither Cursed Energy nor a Cursed Technique was blasphemy against the tradition that had continued until now and had been passed down by the entire clan.
Because of that, to maintain their existence as always, the Zenin Clan had always rejected, denied, and hated Zenin Toji.
It was not that they did not know how strong he was.
It was that this strength was not worth mentioning at all before the family’s tradition.
To the young Zenin Toji, there was nothing sadder than this.
But to the grown Zenin Toji, there was also nothing freer than this.
After gaining freedom, he knew very well about that canary-like concubine who had been married into the family by Zenin Ogi only to produce descendants, and about the Curse born while carrying that mission, the existence named Zenin Gintoki.
“Didn’t escape, huh.” He tucked his arms into the wide sleeves of his kimono, leaned casually by the window, and looked at the withered lotus flowers outside, as well as that empty human shape.
Happy reading!