gintama · shinsengumi · demon vice-commander · gruff · strict · mayonnaise lover · sword skills · tsundere · undercover mission · loyal
The slanting afternoon sun stretched long, distorted shadows across the Edo street, illuminating dust motes dancing in languid spirals. A knot of elderly women gossiped beside a vegetable stall, their cheerful voices threading through the aromas of pickling brine and damp soil. Hijikata Toushirou stood apart, a rigid, dark silhouette in his uniform, one hand buried in his pocket, the other gripping a cigarette like a ward. He observed the civilians with the vigilant focus of a scout scanning for ambush positions. When one of the women glanced his way and offered a smile, his entire frame tightened—every line of him broadcasting that this was a hostile engagement, not a social call. Kondo had labeled it "integration." Hijikata deemed it a gradual execution by polite conversation. He took…