The Shadows We Bear [Part III / ???]
Ba-dum-ish.
Basic premise for those who do not know: this fic is set the the world of theskytides, an AU panfandom RPG set in a steampunk line in which it is totally a fandom of its own. Miles Edgeworth (from the Ace Attorney series) and Hijikata Toshirou (from Gintama) happen to be the first mate / boatswain respectively in of one of the ships in the game. In this story, Hijikata has something of a... crush towards Edgeworth that he has never told anyone, though he is aware. Which of course, will only lead to nothing but trouble...
Parts: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI
THE SHADOWS WE BEAR
TST!Shadowverse fic : Part III
One week ago.
The Victoria II was in complete chaos.
While that really shouldn’t have been so surprising given the fact that anyone who knew the ship well-enough would remark that the vessel was constantly in chaos no thanks to the crew, this time it was much more than that. More than anything else that the ship had ever faced, be it sky whales or yeti attacks or surprise break-ins or even the sudden appearances of dough monsters in the kitchen (not that there had been one ever since that one time).
No, it wasn’t anything like that at all-this time, the crisis that had hit them was a big and major one; much more than something so ridiculous as dough monsters even though some of the crew were still harping on about it until this very day. This time, it was a huge issue.
The first mate of the ship-Commander Miles Edgeworth-had, in all literal senses of the term, vanished from total existence. Completely and utterly vanished without so much as a warning or a note. The ship had been docked back at Bellcius after their latest mission, so the news of his disappearance had been a shock to all; this wasn’t anything like the incident back in the Badlands, where they were on neutral ground-now they were on their home ground, their motherland, and yet the man had just seemed to disappear from them again.
Worse still, there was no evidence around to show if the man had been kidnapped or otherwise. Nobody had seen him, and his residence and cabin were utterly neat with no signs of a fight or struggle. It was almost as if he had simply walked out from the place without question. And the notion of that idea was of course, so very laughable to many. The only people who would kidnap a man like Miles Edgeworth would only be his enemies and (most) all of them were in Vohemar territory. There was no way he could have been taken away by one of them and not be caught at all, after all...
Still, it didn’t explain just how and why and even when the officer had vanished-and if anything, the sudden disappearance had done nothing but whip up a storm of rumours and false stories and woven fantasies that were splattered annoyingly across the headlines of the latest issue of the Bellcius Yard that a certain boatswain was glaring at the moment. The title had went as such: THEORIES CONTIUNE TO FLY AS COMMANDER M.EDGEWORTH REMAINS LOST.
Hijikata couldn’t help but frown in distaste as he pretty much forced himself to read the article. Theories and rumours continue to fly as results regarding the disappearance of Commander Miles Edgeworth of the Ivona Navy have turned up with nothing. Miles Edgeworth has been particularly known within the military circle as an upstanding young man who not only is the protégé of the famous Admiral Manfred von Karma, but also works on his mentor’s ship as the current First Mate of the flagship of the nation, the Victoria II. It is without a doubt that such a position on such an esteemed vessel carries a fair amount of burden and responsibility with in-perhaps a burden that proved to be too much for the Commander. There have been theories that...
“The last thing I need is for the damned reporters to rub this all in,” muttered the samurai irritably to himself as he tossed the papers with a fair amount of anger to the corner of his cabin where the rappig had made its home in, though said rappig was currently off in order to do its daily wandering around the ship. And if the lack of mewing was of any indication, the cat had done likewise as well. The puppy was still in the room though, and was at the moment currently on his lap dozing quietly as the boatswain absently petted it.
By all accounts, the disappearance of Edgeworth had done nothing but put a stain to everything. With the sudden lack of their first mate, it had somehow fell to his hands in order to keep everything in order. Quite unsurprisingly, any attempts from Hijikata to keep a semblance of peace had only been quickly ruined no thanks to his own short temper and preference of fists over words. It had only been a week since he had vanished, but anyone who looked at the boatswain now could only remark that the samurai looked like hell. Dishevelled hair, rumpled up clothes, notable circles around his eyes-all signs clearly indicating the officer’s lack of sleep and proper rest. Trying to keep the Victoria II in order was nothing but an uphill task, and it didn’t help that every time the first mate was mentioned the boatswain would only snap anyone in his general vicinity.
And if he was fortunate enough to actually have no duty on his hands, the man would be pouring over every source he could reach in order to try and find out where the hell the bastard had ran to. It was just... wrong how the asshole could have just vanished into thin air without a warning at all-sure, he did do that before back in the Badlands, but still that had been in the Badlands, not a place like back in Bellcius. The fact that he had vanished from here and Bellcius in general was what worried the boatswain. He wasn’t a guy who’d just do something as stupid as that-he knew that much from the years they had been working together. And there had been nothing at all to indicate that he had run away or anything like that at all so...
Hijikata hissed in irritation under his breath, resisting every urge to grab something from his desk (like his sixth ashtray for the week) and throw it against the nearby wall. Every single thing about this whole incident was doing nothing but annoying him to no end-not only had the idiot left him with so much work to do, he had also left with nothing but trouble, trouble and even more trouble. Honestly, it wasn’t as if his life didn’t have enough of that already...
That and also the fact that he was worried-downright sick with worry-over him, but that was something the man would simply keep to himself. Duty was more important than whatever personal feelings he might have, even if both were currently pointing him towards the direction of FIND MILES EDGEWORTH complete with capital letters and flashing neon signs. Not that he could actually do that, given the fact that there were no leads whatsoever regarding his disappearance.
The swordsman only sighed loudly and leaned back against his chair, ignoring the strange feeling of a few days worth of stubble on his chin. Recent days had given him little time in the ways of personal hygiene and he really wasn’t bothering much about it despite the constant irritation Jade was giving him for this (Honestly Major, as much as I admire your sudden dedication to the ship-you could spare a few minutes to take care of yourself before settling your various issues. The last thing we need is our lone competent officer to keel over in exhaustion.) Quite frankly put, the boatswain did not care at all-and would really never would until all his current troubles were put to ease; and that wasn’t going to happen until they found back the bloody bastard.
But where the hell can I even start? Hijikata snapped to himself as he closed his eyes, brows scrunched up in thought. I don’t even have a single clue where to begin...
If he only had the clue he so desperately needed...
“...Mr. Hijikata Toshirou?”
The man snapped open his eyes at that, jerking up back as his name was called out from who-knows-where. The sudden action caused the canine that had been on his lap to yelp in surprise before scampering off, leaping down from its spot and scurrying out of the room through the pet door that had been (grudgingly) installed onto his door. (Jade had never stopped teasing him for that.)
“Mr. Hijikata Toshirou?” came the voice yet again, and this time he managed to realize that it was coming from the journal. Someone in the Network was calling him.
There was a moment of fumbling as Hijikata pulled himself back from his surprised daze before he managed to figure out the voice function activation key on the keyboard and pressed down on it. He cleared his throat before speaking to the unknown caller. “Who is this?”
A pause of silence on the other end of the line at that, and the boatswain was almost convinced that this had been a prank call before the voice spoke up again, his voice serious and terse.
“Seta Souji. You might know me as the cousin of Miles Edgeworth.”
Basic premise for those who do not know: this fic is set the the world of theskytides, an AU panfandom RPG set in a steampunk line in which it is totally a fandom of its own. Miles Edgeworth (from the Ace Attorney series) and Hijikata Toshirou (from Gintama) happen to be the first mate / boatswain respectively in of one of the ships in the game. In this story, Hijikata has something of a... crush towards Edgeworth that he has never told anyone, though he is aware. Which of course, will only lead to nothing but trouble...
Parts: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V | Part VI | Part VII | Part VIII | Part IX | Part X | Part XI
THE SHADOWS WE BEAR
TST!Shadowverse fic : Part III
One week ago.
The Victoria II was in complete chaos.
While that really shouldn’t have been so surprising given the fact that anyone who knew the ship well-enough would remark that the vessel was constantly in chaos no thanks to the crew, this time it was much more than that. More than anything else that the ship had ever faced, be it sky whales or yeti attacks or surprise break-ins or even the sudden appearances of dough monsters in the kitchen (not that there had been one ever since that one time).
No, it wasn’t anything like that at all-this time, the crisis that had hit them was a big and major one; much more than something so ridiculous as dough monsters even though some of the crew were still harping on about it until this very day. This time, it was a huge issue.
The first mate of the ship-Commander Miles Edgeworth-had, in all literal senses of the term, vanished from total existence. Completely and utterly vanished without so much as a warning or a note. The ship had been docked back at Bellcius after their latest mission, so the news of his disappearance had been a shock to all; this wasn’t anything like the incident back in the Badlands, where they were on neutral ground-now they were on their home ground, their motherland, and yet the man had just seemed to disappear from them again.
Worse still, there was no evidence around to show if the man had been kidnapped or otherwise. Nobody had seen him, and his residence and cabin were utterly neat with no signs of a fight or struggle. It was almost as if he had simply walked out from the place without question. And the notion of that idea was of course, so very laughable to many. The only people who would kidnap a man like Miles Edgeworth would only be his enemies and (most) all of them were in Vohemar territory. There was no way he could have been taken away by one of them and not be caught at all, after all...
Still, it didn’t explain just how and why and even when the officer had vanished-and if anything, the sudden disappearance had done nothing but whip up a storm of rumours and false stories and woven fantasies that were splattered annoyingly across the headlines of the latest issue of the Bellcius Yard that a certain boatswain was glaring at the moment. The title had went as such: THEORIES CONTIUNE TO FLY AS COMMANDER M.EDGEWORTH REMAINS LOST.
Hijikata couldn’t help but frown in distaste as he pretty much forced himself to read the article. Theories and rumours continue to fly as results regarding the disappearance of Commander Miles Edgeworth of the Ivona Navy have turned up with nothing. Miles Edgeworth has been particularly known within the military circle as an upstanding young man who not only is the protégé of the famous Admiral Manfred von Karma, but also works on his mentor’s ship as the current First Mate of the flagship of the nation, the Victoria II. It is without a doubt that such a position on such an esteemed vessel carries a fair amount of burden and responsibility with in-perhaps a burden that proved to be too much for the Commander. There have been theories that...
“The last thing I need is for the damned reporters to rub this all in,” muttered the samurai irritably to himself as he tossed the papers with a fair amount of anger to the corner of his cabin where the rappig had made its home in, though said rappig was currently off in order to do its daily wandering around the ship. And if the lack of mewing was of any indication, the cat had done likewise as well. The puppy was still in the room though, and was at the moment currently on his lap dozing quietly as the boatswain absently petted it.
By all accounts, the disappearance of Edgeworth had done nothing but put a stain to everything. With the sudden lack of their first mate, it had somehow fell to his hands in order to keep everything in order. Quite unsurprisingly, any attempts from Hijikata to keep a semblance of peace had only been quickly ruined no thanks to his own short temper and preference of fists over words. It had only been a week since he had vanished, but anyone who looked at the boatswain now could only remark that the samurai looked like hell. Dishevelled hair, rumpled up clothes, notable circles around his eyes-all signs clearly indicating the officer’s lack of sleep and proper rest. Trying to keep the Victoria II in order was nothing but an uphill task, and it didn’t help that every time the first mate was mentioned the boatswain would only snap anyone in his general vicinity.
And if he was fortunate enough to actually have no duty on his hands, the man would be pouring over every source he could reach in order to try and find out where the hell the bastard had ran to. It was just... wrong how the asshole could have just vanished into thin air without a warning at all-sure, he did do that before back in the Badlands, but still that had been in the Badlands, not a place like back in Bellcius. The fact that he had vanished from here and Bellcius in general was what worried the boatswain. He wasn’t a guy who’d just do something as stupid as that-he knew that much from the years they had been working together. And there had been nothing at all to indicate that he had run away or anything like that at all so...
Hijikata hissed in irritation under his breath, resisting every urge to grab something from his desk (like his sixth ashtray for the week) and throw it against the nearby wall. Every single thing about this whole incident was doing nothing but annoying him to no end-not only had the idiot left him with so much work to do, he had also left with nothing but trouble, trouble and even more trouble. Honestly, it wasn’t as if his life didn’t have enough of that already...
That and also the fact that he was worried-downright sick with worry-over him, but that was something the man would simply keep to himself. Duty was more important than whatever personal feelings he might have, even if both were currently pointing him towards the direction of FIND MILES EDGEWORTH complete with capital letters and flashing neon signs. Not that he could actually do that, given the fact that there were no leads whatsoever regarding his disappearance.
The swordsman only sighed loudly and leaned back against his chair, ignoring the strange feeling of a few days worth of stubble on his chin. Recent days had given him little time in the ways of personal hygiene and he really wasn’t bothering much about it despite the constant irritation Jade was giving him for this (Honestly Major, as much as I admire your sudden dedication to the ship-you could spare a few minutes to take care of yourself before settling your various issues. The last thing we need is our lone competent officer to keel over in exhaustion.) Quite frankly put, the boatswain did not care at all-and would really never would until all his current troubles were put to ease; and that wasn’t going to happen until they found back the bloody bastard.
But where the hell can I even start? Hijikata snapped to himself as he closed his eyes, brows scrunched up in thought. I don’t even have a single clue where to begin...
If he only had the clue he so desperately needed...
“...Mr. Hijikata Toshirou?”
The man snapped open his eyes at that, jerking up back as his name was called out from who-knows-where. The sudden action caused the canine that had been on his lap to yelp in surprise before scampering off, leaping down from its spot and scurrying out of the room through the pet door that had been (grudgingly) installed onto his door. (Jade had never stopped teasing him for that.)
“Mr. Hijikata Toshirou?” came the voice yet again, and this time he managed to realize that it was coming from the journal. Someone in the Network was calling him.
There was a moment of fumbling as Hijikata pulled himself back from his surprised daze before he managed to figure out the voice function activation key on the keyboard and pressed down on it. He cleared his throat before speaking to the unknown caller. “Who is this?”
A pause of silence on the other end of the line at that, and the boatswain was almost convinced that this had been a prank call before the voice spoke up again, his voice serious and terse.
“Seta Souji. You might know me as the cousin of Miles Edgeworth.”