Temple School
Okay, then. We'll continue after lunch break.
All right! Time to eat!
Yay!
Hey, let's go eat outside!
Let's eat together, Izumi-chan.
What's wrong?
Has Seita-kun still not made any friends?
And it's been a while since he joined...
Jeez, boys can be so inconsiderate.
Hey, Seita-kun!
Would you like to have lunch with us?
Izumi-chan wants to know.
H-Hey, I never said—
W-Well, I...
O-Oh, darn! I forgot my lunch!
Oh, really?
I can share mine if you want.
N-Nah, it's fine!
I-I'll go buy something at the convenience store!
Seita-kun?!
There he goes.
Don't waste your time, Izumi.
He's always like that.
We've asked him to join us before, too,
but he always runs off somewhere at lunchtime.
Is that so?
He's blowing his chance to make friends.
Seita-kun...
What could he be doing by himself?
All Mothers Pack Too Much Food Into a Lunch Box and Ruin the Shape
Hinoya Tea House
Seita hasn't been himself lately.
Not since he started temple school, I think.
Before, he was all excited about making lots of friends,
but there's been no hint of him bringing friends over, or having any fun at all.
To top it all off, look at this.
That glutton
is bringing his lunch home unfinished.
What's wrong with him? These look so delicious.
Is he not fitting in at temple school?
Hinowa, was today sports day or something?
For a child, every day might as well be sports day.
That's not what I meant!
Are you making him these extravagant lunches every day?
We can't have him unable to concentrate due to an empty stomach, right?
Moms sure have it rough, huh?
I can't believe they all cook this much every day.
Hinowa, you're the only one who has it rough.
And it's not Seita who's not fitting in at temple school.
It's these lunches.
Seita's probably losing his chances to make friends because
he's too embarrassed to be seen eating these.
What? Because of the lunches?
Why?
If a newcomer were to eat stuff like this,
he'd obviously stick out like a sore thumb!
Kids' society is harsher and more exclusive than adults realize.
This ain't sports day, you know.
Your parents have no common sense, huh?
Why? I don't put anything you'd be embarrassed to show people.
And I pack it with love!
And I'm telling you, that's not the issue here.
For a kid to fit in, he has to have the same things everybody has,
and do the same things they do.
That's right. Being "normal" is the most important thing.
Really?
That's Tsukuyo-nee for you.
Yoshiwara's queen of reading between the lines is a cut above the rest.
She's right on the money.
I wanna eat a normal lunch,
normally, with everyone else.
So that's how it was. Because of me, Seita has...
But what's a normal lunch like, anyway?
How do normal mothers make normal lunches?
N-Normally, of course.
In that case, Tsukuyo, you make Seita's lunch tomorrow.
You understand what a normal lunch made by a normal mother is like, don't you?
W-Wait a second! I can't cook to save my li—
Then this is a perfect opportunity.
If you can't make a lunch or two,
Gin-san will come to hate you.
Why'd you bring that moron up?!
Tsukuyo-nee's making me lunch? Will it be all right?
Temple School
Okay. That does it for the morning classes.
All right! Time for lunch!
Yay!
You didn't forget your lunch today, huh?
Now you've got to eat with us, Seita-kun.
Uh, o-okay.
Sure.
You know, Izumi-chan was all worried you hated us or something.
O-Of course not. I just...
Wow, your lunch is amazing!
A decorated lunch?
Aren't these those things ninjas use?
Kunai, yeah. They're rice kunai.
Wow! This is so well made!
Look, there's seaweed wrapped around them here.
This is it! This is the kind of lunch I've been waiting for!
"Decorated lunches"?
Is that what's popular these days?
Apparently it's important that they be playful so kids can enjoy them.
They're even taking trends into account!
Mom and Tsukuyo-nee can do anything if they put their minds to it!
One of the rice kunai contains a surprise. Eat with caution!
What's more, they even included a game people can enjoy together!
F-Feel free to have some if you'd like.
Can we?
But one of these contains a surprise.
Really?
Your mom sounds like a fun person.
I wonder what's in them.
I can't wait to find out.
Perfect!
This is perfect!
A lunch like this will help me break the ice with everyone!
Huh? Aren't you gonna eat?
Uh, Seita-kun...
You're bleeding...
Temple School
Sensei! Seita-kun is hurt!
Hinoya Tea House
He didn't finish today, either.
So even a decorated lunch wasn't good enough?
What part of this is "decorated"? It's a death lunch, if anything.
We followed the instructions and made it playful...
Why would an enjoyable lunchtime include a life-threatening game of Russian roulette?
But I've never made a lunch for anyone before!
You're hopeless.
I can't believe that Yoshiwara's star courtesans can't even prepare a kid's lunch.
In the end, I guess your bodies are all you've got.
You're a couple of loser women that guys want to play around with, but never marry.
Did you really think all mothers make such elaborate lunches every day?
That's only until kindergarten, you know.
Boys his age want to rip off the nappies their parents put on them
and try to act all grown-up.
Who could eat this crap?!
That's the age they get most embarrassed about lunches packed with love.
Normal mothers are much lazier with their lunches.
Giving him that space is the only way you can show your love to a boy his age.
Sa-san actually knows where it's at.
Let me give it a shot next.
I'll show you what a normal mother is like.
Temple School
Uh, Seita-kun.
Are you all right now? Did your wound heal?
Yeah, I'm fine.
That's good to hear.
Then why don't we finally eat together today?
That's probably a bad idea, Izumi-chan.
She's right, Izumi.
Sorry for screaming last time.
I was just so shocked.
I should be the one apologizing. My mom takes her pranks too far.
Um, I made too much lunch today.
Have some, if you'd like.
Is she trying to look out for me?
There's two of each side dish, so feel free to take half.
She must've figured out that my mom can't make a proper lunch.
She's such a nice girl!
But she's totally looking down on my mom here.
I can't let that stand.
Th-Then you can have half of my lunch!
B-But...
It's all good.
I've got a normal lunch today!
My mom's completely normal!
So take half!
But...
Yesterday's lasagna is in the fridge, so heat it up and eat it. P.S. If Mom and Dad break up, who will you stay with, Seita?
You don't even have half a lunch.
Yesterday's lasagna is in the fridge, so heat it up and eat it.
P.S. If Mom and Dad break up, who will you stay with, Seita?
Hinoya Tea House
Sure, it's the kind of thing a mother would do,
but this is too lazy.
That's what mothers are like.
They think even cold love can be warmed up again with a microwave.
P.S. If Mom and Dad break up, who will you stay with, Seita?
And the postscript has nothing to do with lunch.
It's a dessert that's a bit on the heavy side.
This lunch would only lead to an upset stomach!
What would you rather I'd done, then?
Aren't you a sad monster with the body of a woman and the heart of a man?
Figure something out!
Quit calling me a monster.
As someone who was raised as a man,
I believe your concerns are unnecessary.
When I was his age, I was on a warrior errantry,
but I filled my stomach myself.
Don't waste it, okay?
Whoa!
A kid he may be, but he's still a man.
If you give him some pocket money, I'm sure he'll work something out.
Thank you very much!
Hooray!
But convenience store lunches would give him an unbalanced diet.
I didn't say convenience store lunches.
If he eats things like that, he'll end up with a weak body.
A meal fit for a man would be...
Temple School
Seita-kun!
Huh? Where's Seita-kun?
Eating with him again? How passionate.
Your boyfriend's outside.
Oh, Seita-kun...
The Barara Gator. Rated Capture Level 8.
Barara Gator Rated Capture Level 8
Note: Capture Level 1 requires ten samurai armed with real swords to take down.
P.S. Mom and Dad have sorted out their problems, so don't worry.
Hinoya Tea House
Sure, that sounds more like a man,
but I think Capture Level 8 was overkill.
Komatsu Level 1 is probably more like it.
Komatsu Level 1
That's not the problem here!
And what the hell is a Komatsu Level?!
P.S. Mom and Dad have sorted out their problems, so don't worry.
Really?
I took out the burden of his family situation
because I thought it might be too much for him...
That family situation never existed to begin with.
They do say that lions throw their cubs off a cliff to make them stronger,
Gaaaaah
but wasn't Seita-kun already thrown into an abyss by all those crappy lunches?
Making a kid who'd climbed back up the cliff
face a Barara Gator is much too cruel.
Yaaaaah
You just have to cook something up and pack a proper lunch for him.
That's what a mother ought to do.
Temple School
Seita-kun?
Dad's in the fridge, so don't open it no matter what. P.S. Now the two of us can live happily ever after.
Dad's in the fridge, so don't open it no matter what.
P.S. Now the two of us can live happily ever after.
Hinoya Tea House
Wait, that's what you were cooking up?
That's what you meant by sorting out their problems?!
Is something wrong with that?
Everything is wrong with that!
What happened to lunch?!
We were talking about lunch?
In that case, just feed him off your naked body or something.
Yeah. Your bodies are the only thing you've got going for you, anyway.
I'm sorry, but I have no time to waste on lunches.
You're the ones who had to butt in, and now you say this?!
You damn rubberneckers!
It'd be quicker to just procure food for yourself.
Temple School
Izumi-chan!
I'm good to go today!
I made sandwiches myself!
Sorry! Are you okay?
Ow...
There's a sandwich in my tummy, so please forgive me. P.S. I think your egg sandwiches could use more mayonnaise. -Kagura
There's a sandwich in my tummy, so please forgive me.
P.S. I think your egg sandwiches could use more mayonnaise.
Kagura.
Izumi's not here, Seita.
She took the day off today.
Maybe she started hating school because you cling to her too much.
Quit trying to take advantage of her kindness.
Kunai? A gator?
I don't know if you're trying to get our attention or what,
but if you hurt her, I'll make you pay!
Seita, eating lunch alone suits you best.
I'm home.
Oh, welcome back.
Seita, you didn't take the lunch I made today, did you?
Eat that.
You must be hungry.
A growing boy shouldn't be skipping meals, you know.
Just you wait.
Tomorrow, I'll make you
a lunch you'll want to show off to everyone for sure.
I don't want it.
The lunches you make
are too embarrassing to eat.
You were a courtesan all these years, so you can't make a proper lunch, can you?
You're not a normal mother...
And you're not even my mother, so you can't make a mom's lunch, can you?!
I went and said
something horrible...
The one thing I shouldn't have said.
I can't go back now.
I can't go home anymore.
Huh?
Seita-kun? What are you doing out so late?
Izumi-chan?
What about you? You even took the day off school.
Oh, my dad has a cold, so I had to take care of him.
So that's why...
Those look heavy.
These?
I don't have a mother,
so I have to make lunches for my family.
What about you, Seita-kun?
Izumi-chan...
I see.
So that's why you always ate lunch alone.
But personally speaking, that makes me envious.
You're lucky you can fight with your mom like that.
I'm sure all kids with moms have fights like that,
without realizing how blessed they are.
They only realize what they have once it's gone.
And then they regret the fact
that they'll never again get to eat a lunch with so much food, it's all out of shape.
Like me, you've lost your mother once.
So why haven't you realized it yet?
Nah.
You already have, haven't you?
I mean, you always came back for afternoon classes with your stomach so full,
you couldn't breathe.
Even if you couldn't eat all of it, and even if you had to hide from others,
you always ate as much as you could.
It was because you knew, right?
That even though she was awkward at it,
your mother tried her best to make those lunches for you.
That a mom's unshapely lunch is the tastiest of all.
Izumi-chan.
You have somewhere to be, right?
I'll be fine.
My brother will come pick me up.
Sorry.
Seita-kun,
see you tomorrow at school.
Sheesh.
He's pathetic to the core.
Bro!
Let's go home, Izumi.
Did you hear all that?
I didn't hear nothing.
Let's go.
What's for lunch tomorrow?
Who knows? You'll have to wait and see.
What the heck?
Temple School
Okay. That's it for morning classes.
All right!
I was so bored again today.
Hey, look at Seita.
He's leaving.
Can you blame him?
How can he make a move on her after her brother chewed him out?
That's not all. He doesn't even have a place here anymore...
Whoa!
What is that?!
Seita-kun!
Thanks for the food, Mom!
What's with that mountain of lunch boxes?
Has he lost his mind?!
Come on, hurry up.
W-Wait, Izumi!
Seita-kun!
Let's finally eat together today.
Sure thing.
But I'm sorry.
I forgot to make lunch today, of all days.
Right, Bro?
What?
Izumi, don't tell me this is what you meant by "wait and see"?!
You've gotta be kidding me! I'm never gonna eat this guy's lun—
It's not my lunch.
It's my mom's.
Isn't it great?
Yeah.
Seita-kun, can I try some, too?
What? Is it that good?
Count me in!
Let me try some, too!
Me, too!
Looks great!
This is so cute!
Whoa, what's this black thing?
Where? Let me try some, too!
Me three!
Before Gintoki appears a
Reaper.
Kill me!
I'll die! I'll die!
Edo is rocked by
Cut through the neck, leaving just one tiny bit of flesh attached.
a serial murder case.
Who's the murderer?
A traitor
on the run.
Ikeda Asaemon
Hung Head
Soul Cleansing
The Eighteenth
Royal Swordskeeper
Ikeda Yaemon
These incidents
will gradually get linked
to Gintoki's past.
Next week,
the Reaper Arc begins!
The Reaper by Day and the Reaper by Night
The meeting of
Gintoki and the Reaper
takes the story
to its turning point.