Of course he would not just escape like that.
Gintoki used a random branch he had picked up to cover the side of his face, hiding his figure as he ran through the Zenin Clan’s narrow roads.
The farther he went toward the remote areas, the harder the path became.
Even rarely visited places should have a limit, right?
Wasn’t this…
Wasn’t this the kind of place where Gin-san could sneak in and sleep anywhere if he had nowhere to live!
It really had to be a big family.
Even if he could not eat his dad’s bonus, he could still pick up random stuff and fill his stomach.
Gintoki actually did not care about that kind of thing.
If there was no sushi stacked on sushi, he could eat the cheap and filling Uji Gintoki rice bowl.
If there was no rice bowl, he could eat his dad’s prison meals.
Even if he freeloaded here until he died, he would have nothing to complain about.
But his mom was different.
Gintoki sat on the broken roof.
Through the cracks, he could peek at the woman’s expression.
All her gentleness and hope had vanished, leaving only a face full of despair.
Actually, there was nothing surprising about it.
A kid’s dream of getting into Tokyo University would at most last until elementary school.
The moment they graduated from private school, they could throw away that unbelievable ideal.
Or rather, not achieving it was the normal thing, right!
Gintoki said nothing.
The woman below made no movement.
This was bad…
What exactly should he do now!
Should he appear like a brat who had failed an exam, act like nothing happened, then give an “ehe” laugh, and Okaa-san would mercifully smack his head?
Or should he cry a bit, then take a heavy beating, and then this incident, which was basically equal to the family going bankrupt, could be smoothly passed over?
He had no experience!
Kagura!
Shinpachi!
What exactly should he do at a time like this?
A normal brat had no way out here, so what should an abnormal brat do?
Abnormal brat, appear!
“Are you that trash who didn’t inherit the Zenin Clan’s Cursed Technique?” The abnormal kid stood below with his head raised, sizing up Gintoki like he was watching a monkey.
He had clearly come over on purpose to watch the fun.
“He appeared. An abnormal brat.” Gintoki looked down at Zenin Naoya, who had suddenly popped up, and slowly showed a smile with bad intentions.
Question.
If failing an exam caused the family to go bankrupt, and you were worried that Okaa-san’s body and mind would both be affected, what was the correct thing to do?
A.
Take Okaa-san and leave home, breaking free from a terrible original family.
B.
Fix the root of the problem, which is Otou-san.
C.
Make an even bigger mess, so no one has time to care about the grades.
D.
Obtuse angle.
All right, which one was the correct answer?
Gintoki clenched his fists and walked closer to Zenin Naoya.
The little boy clearly saw his evil intentions and hurriedly took a counterattack stance.
“You’re just trash. I’m a genius! Do you think you have the ability to hurt me?”
“No need for Naoya-sama to worry about that. After this is done, I’ll treat you to crayfish.”
“Who wants to eat crayfish?!”
Gintoki threw 1 punch, and Zenin Naoya completely lost his memories of what came next.
He held up the limp, pretty little boy, moved Zenin Naoya onto the broken window, and supported his hands.
“Um, the factory going bankrupt is all my fault. I messed up, I messed up. I didn’t think someone would suddenly pop out. I messed up. A bloody incident suddenly happened.”
Gintoki hid behind Zenin Naoya and said this like he was performing a two-man comedy act.
Thinking about it carefully, life sometimes got lost in a factory too.
As long as you changed to another factory, maybe you could find the value of life.
Gin-san’s dream was actually to find One Piece and become the Pirate King, own a whole candy island, drink strawberry milk every day until he was full, and reach the peak of life.
…
It would have been better if you had never been born.
…
Gintoki carried a small bucket of crayfish he had fished out of the pond, and from time to time, he stuffed 2 into Zenin Naoya’s nose while he was hanging from a tree.
Seriously, whether it was Otou-san or Okaa-san, they never hesitated at all when stabbing knives into a brat’s heart.
At a time like this, wasn’t it supposed to be that kind of plot?
Something like, as long as you’re healthy, that’s enough, or as long as you’re happy, that’s enough.
Even if they disliked you, they couldn’t shove you back into Okaa-san’s belly.
You were already born like this.
Right, annoying straight hair?
Uuuaaah—
Do the crayfish taste good?
I originally wanted to keep them as reserve food, but this is already more than enough for 2 people.
After all, no 3rd person will come in the future, right?
Sustainable development and family planning, you know.
If there are too many, crayfish will be everywhere.
Eh?
What?
It’s not that era anymore?
It’s the 3-child policy now?
I see.
Aaaaaah—
You think so too, right?
It’s already a different era, but they’re still tirelessly acting out soap operas and 8 o’clock dramas.
But these disgusting crawling things are still relatives of crabs and shrimp, after all, so they should taste good.
Uuuuuu…
You don’t have to be that happy.
You’re making me embarrassed.
Zenin Naoya’s face was covered in crayfish.
Even his pretty face and the tears seeping out could not be seen clearly anymore.
You’re actually pretty cute when you close your mouth and can’t talk.
No wonder the readers are all yelling for you to fix your male virtue and fix your life along with it.
Don’t come again if you don’t want to get dragged in.
If your mouth is always full of “trash,” sooner or later someone will deal with you.
From behind, snap, and you’ll lose the important joystick of your life.
Gintoki swaggered away, and the crayfish crawled freely.
With a snap, the rope was cut by the crayfish, and Zenin Naoya’s whole body smashed onto the ground.
He miserably returned to the estate.
His mother only thought he had accidentally fallen and been pinched by crayfish, so she treated his wounds for him.
But Zenin Naoya did not sink into his mother’s gentleness.
Instead, he recalled Gintoki’s face.
Those red eyes looking at an empty point in the sky, that beast-like creepiness as he stared at him, and the smile that suddenly showed.
He could not forget.
There was no way to forget.
It was like he alone had discovered a treasure.
No matter how painful it was to be hung up and tortured, no matter how unbearable the time when crayfish charged into his nostrils was, he still stared at Gintoki with full satisfaction.
He wanted it.
Wanted it.
Wanted that white beast.
The white beast himself, who was being obsessed over, lay lazily on the roof full of holes.
Blue sky, why are you so blue?
If your mood is that good, share a little with Gin-san.
No good.
Totally no good.
For now, he still counted as the protagonist of a hot-blooded series, right?
He could not handle an 8 o’clock drama.
But there was only 1 thing he understood clearly.
If left alone, she would die.
His mom was like a flower.
She survived on hope and the love she wove for herself.
Once she lost those, her life would wither too, and she would fall into confusion.
So, entrusting your life to an unreliable guy really was too sad!
You stepped into marriage full of expectations for love, only to find out that marriage was love’s grave!
In the end, life was full of tiny annoying problems, and there was no earth-shaking love to turn the tide at all!
Besides, Zenin Ogi could not even bring out a trace of love from the very start, right?
By the same logic, even if Gintoki ignored 3 times 7 making 21 and dragged his mom out no matter what, moving a flowerpot into the wild and telling it that the era of surviving on its own had come was basically no different from urging her onto the road to death.
He could not save her…
With Gintoki’s strength, he could not save her.
Happy reading!