[The glint of metal has Gintoki jerking his head upward. He blinks a few times before his gaze locks with Takasugi's. His heart clenches, any playful air he'd retained in hopes of keeping this "normal" melted away as quickly as Takasugi's rush of adrenaline had.

Takasugi isn't the only one with the realization that it could be the last time they saw each other. Gintoki moves to take his weapon out of the bag - pulling the neck of his shamisen out first. The instrument's bell gives a hollow thud as he hits it to the ground.]

What, you want to trade?

[Gintoki tilts his head a bit, a little annoyed that the other wouldn't give him anymore info than some edgy bullshit like "why would I tell you?"]

Cause I like this one too much. Pretty much my style, huh? So maybe I can play myself into some sort of solution to this mess, right?

[Come with me. Don't die. Let's figure something out. Don't leave. Let's get Zura. We have to go back. These thoughts continued to crop up into his head, but he couldn't force himself to spit the words out. He knew it wouldn't be like that. It couldn't be like that.

But, shit, did he want it to be like that. So there was a point in trying - right?]