Little brief analysis on the role of “blood” and blood relations as a theme in Gintama ft.Yoshiwara in Flames...
Reading over Yoshiwara in Flames in the manga for the purpose of analysis, something struck me that I had not considered previously. In this scene from chapter 221, Gintoki tells Kamui that he should be looking out for the people who share blood with him. Kamui is interesting in that he embraces his blood as a Yato, but rejects his blood relations. In addition, famously, Kamui states that the only thing that can “quench his soul” is blood. One of his key traits has always been blood thirst. Although he has blood--has blood relatives-- something that most characters in the series do not have--it is not enough to satisfy him.
In a sense of the narrative as a whole, we may call Kamui a villain because he possesses something the majority of the protagonists lack, living blood relations and the prospect of being a true family with blood relatives. The contrast is so sharp to the other characters that it truly does make him stand out as a solo act among even the other villains.
All in all, the fact that Kamui craves blood when it is he who perhaps of all the major characters has the most existing blood, is quite profound in my view.
A little late on my submission but I hope the extra time I took on this will have made the story more enjoyable!
Title: Thicker than Blood
Pairing: Takasugi/Kamui (Gintama)
Rating: K+
Summary: Modern AU in which Kamui’s family problems are inverted with Takasugi’s. Takasugi’s POV.
Takasugi never really understood the importance of a close-knit family. As far as he’d always figured, once you got to a certain age, how often your parents were around didn’t matter all that much anyway. Takasugi’s mother had passed away from stomach cancer when he was young. Ever since then, the closeness between him and his other family members dissipated. Takasugi’s father became even harsher with his punishments on his son, which caused Takasugi to resent his father even more than he already did. None of that mattered any longer. He had a new life now, with a new person who made Takasugi feel more at home with just his presence alone than his blood relatives ever did.
—
Sunday afternoon, Takasugi’s body was strewn over their dark-blue couch in their living room, watching some documentary about the Tokugawa period. The door clicked open, his boyfriend on the other side.
“Kamui, where have you been? We were supposed to go shopping for a new bed frame today. You better not give me some stupid excuse for why you blew me off.” Takasugi started off the second the door clicked shut, directing a deep frown at Kamui for being so irresponsible—yet again.
Kamui kept his eyes fixed on the ground, as though there was something invisible there a lot more interesting than what Takasugi was trying to convey to him. He started to walk passed Takasugi.
“Oi, don’t ignore me.” Takasugi snapped gruffly, jerking his body off of the couch, approaching Kamui in a fit of instant irritation, a scowl on his face. “What the hell is wrong with you today?” he asked, this time some concern leaking through his tone.
Kamui lifted a hand to Takasugi’s chest, his body slowly falling into the other man. “I’m sorry. Something came up. Let’s go tomorrow.” He said somberly.
Now Takasugi could tell something was very wrong. He placed a hand on Kamui’s shoulder blade, fingers pressing into his body in a secure hold. “What happened?”
“Nothing. Just had a bad day.”
“You don’t have bad days. You’re the one who makes other people have bad days.”
Kamui laughed dryly. “Let’s drop it. It’s not anything for you to be concerned about, I promise.”
I promise. Kamui was the only person Takasugi didn’t believe when they uttered those words.
Takasugi kissed the top of Kamui’s head, warm, forgiving him for blowing Takasugi off earlier.
“Do you want me to make you something to eat?”
“Thanks, I’m good though. I ate earlier.”
An uncomfortable lump formed in Takasugi’s throat. Kamui never turned down food once in all the time Takasugi had known him. This was more than just a bad day, but Takasugi disliked being overly nosy. He couldn’t force the information out of Kamui—he’d just have to wait for his partner to decide he wanted to talk. Getting upset over small things was uncharacteristic of Kamui, so Takasugi did of course have some worry as to whether Kamui was equipped to deal with this problem himself or not. What if it were time-sensitive or concerned law enforcement? It could be so many things… Takasugi never found himself worrying about so many things before beginning this utterly bizarre relationship.
Kamui smiled as though nothing were the matter. “Like I said, just a shitty day. I’m going to rest now.” He assured before heading to their bedroom.
By now, 99% of the time, Takasugi knew when Kamui was lying to him. It exasperated Takasugi that Kamui was dumb enough to think his excuses worked on him. He knew Kamui too well. Seriously, he never had to worry about people or things this much before.
—
Kamui slept all afternoon, and Takasugi didn’t bother him. He decided to take his mind off the incident by continuing the documentary he’d been watching. He went to bed a bit early, and woke up feeling refreshed the next morning. He got ready for work, noticing Kamui still in bed. Perhaps he got up in the middle of the night and needed to sleep in now? Takasugi accepted this hypothesis, unwilling to believe that Kamui had been sleeping all this time. Takasugi cooked up a couple omelets for Kamui to eat whenever he woke up, and headed to work.
It was a Monday that just never seemed to end. As a model and small-time actor, Takasugi’s days were usually hectic jumping from one studio to the next, but he tried to keep his schedule between 8-10 hours of work per day. Unlike before when he used to run himself ragged, he prioritized a work-life balance that allowed him to spend time with Kamui and his friends.
Takasugi ended up arriving back home later than usual that day, despite wanting to check up on Kamui as soon as possible. His boyfriend had been the only thing on his mind since that morning.
“Kamui, are you here?” Takasugi called, uncertain if his Kamui went to work or not. Takasugi look around the kitchen, his eye widening when he saw the omelets on the counter he cooked earlier, untouched.
Takasugi entered their bedroom to find Kamui still curled up on their mattress.
“Have you been here since I left? Why didn’t you eat the breakfast I made you?”
For most people, again, skipping meals when misfortune hit wasn’t unusual, but not for Kamui, who not only ate a lot, but took pleasure in pigging out regularly.
Kamui growled, “Leave me alone, Shinsuke. I wasn’t hungry.”
Takasugi’s expression fell. “You should eat. It’s not healthy to skip meals. Get out of bed.”
“I don’t feel like it.” Kamui brushed off, turning away from Takasugi.
Takasugi shook his head, exasperated by now from having to deal with Kamui acting like such a child. “Fine. Don’t expect me to cook for you again anytime soon. I’m not going to waste food.” He asserted firmly. Usually when they saw each other after a long day, Kamui would jump right into his arms, eager to talk and relax together. Takasugi couldn’t help but remain frustrated for the rest of the evening, but decided he’d just let Kamui deal with this on his own for now if this was how he planned on acting.
—
A week passed. The days mostly consisted of Takasugi waking up to see Kamui still avoiding the sunlight with his head under the pillow. They didn’t talk much. For a few nights in a row, Kamui was out of the house when Takasugi got home. The first time it happened, Takasugi texted Kamui right away, and only got a short response that indicated Kamui would be home that night. Takasugi continued trying not to pry, until the fourth night in a row Kamui returned home with ripped clothes and blood caked onto his skin.
This time Takasugi didn’t ignore it. “I’m not tolerating you coming home like this again. What in the world are you thinking, Kamui?” he scolded, “You’re an adult, how long are you going to keep up this destructive behavior?”
Kamui just shook his head and pushed past Takasugi, heading for the bathroom inside of their bedroom. “One of the reasons I stay with you is that you don’t get involved in my fucking business.”
Takasugi followed right after him, quick to grab hold of Kamui’s wrist as he flipped him onto their bed. Takasugi scowled hauntingly, climbing onto of the bed in an angry huff, hands pinning Kamui’s shoulders down and looking straight into his eyes.
“You want me to ignore that you’ve been starving yourself? And that you keep getting into fights every night? How am I supposed to pretend everything is fine and go about my day when you’re acting this way? You... It’s impossible for me not to get involved when it comes to you.” he gushed out in one breath, letting his forehead fall to Kamui’s shoulder. “Before... I couldn’t have cared less about my own happiness, let alone anyone else’s. But I can’t take watching you suffer.”
A long pause filled the air between Takasugi’s words and Kamui’s response. “Shinsuke, do you consider me family?”
Takasugi looked confused, “Why are you asking me that? I suppose I do. I never felt the need to label us that way specifically, though.”
Kamui’s lower lip shook, his arms reaching upward to press into Takasugi’s back, bringing him down into the bed against Kamui.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so avoidant. I didn’t want to tell you this… My parents disowned me. They don’t approve of the way I choose to live my life. It’s just that… I can’t believe my mom let my piece of shit old man make it official…”
Kamui didn’t usually talk about other people, but his parents did come up from time to time. His mother was always described as an angelic figure, while his father was compared to the devil.
“How could she reject me too?” Kamui whispered the question, looking up at the ceiling, his eyebrows scrunched together, concentrating as his brain endlessly searched for the answer. “If even she doesn’t want me… You could decide to leave too…”
Takasugi leaned up slightly, his fingers moved through Kamui’s soft hair, kissing his forehead in reassurance. He understood now why Kamui put off telling him about this. “Don’t say stupid things like that. I’m never going to leave you.”
He didn’t see because Kamui turned his face into Takasugi’s shirt, but he felt the wetness through the fabric.
And Takasugi knew it was true, because normally when he saw such weakness from other humans, he wanted to run, to avert, to disassociate… But with Kamui he could never think that way for even a second. Immediately his instinct was to protect him, to give him what he needed. It was so different from what Takasugi was used to, but he knew as they cuddled that evening that what he told Kamui was true, he’d be damned to be anywhere else but with him.
