Genre: Drama/Humour

Rating: K+ (Pretty kid-friendly, if I may say so myself.)

Disclaimer: All rights belong to the ingenious gorilla, Sorachi Hideaki.

Gintama - A Second Chance

Prologue

"G…n...ki…"

"Gin...oki…"

"Gintoki!"

Snorting, a certain wavy-haired individual refused to open his eyelids; even going so far as to cover his ears with both hands. He had been having this nice, dreamy sleep and nobody was going to disturb him. Not even if it was a horribly familiar voice trying to cajole him awake…

Sakata Gintoki's eyes snapped open despite himself. He slowly turned his head; a disbelieving expression etched all over his face.

"Finally…" the painfully familiar voice resonated again. "How many times have I told you not to doze off in class, Gintoki?"

The silver-haired samurai's eyes widened as his mind struggled to process everything in sight. What was happening? Wasn't he in a dream? Was this another dream? Had he somehow accomplished the art of Dreamception in his sleep? He subconsciously lifted a hand; pinching his right cheek with unwavering force. It hurt… a lot. He wasn't in a dream… Everything was real…

He inadvertently let out a gasp once he caught sight of his own hand. It was strangely small… and conspicuously lacking the roughness and veins that had emerged over the years. He gingerly felt his bruised cheek; it was soft and supple, practically bouncing with baby fats. Casting his dead fish eyes to the floor, he absorbed the sight of his body. He was wearing a deep blue keikogi over a small body…

Gintoki cupped the length of his left arm with the other hand. His biceps and triceps were totally undefined; in fact, there was hardly a trace of defined muscle in his entire physique.

The silver-haired samurai slowly inclined his head again; the entire room seemed to be staring at him in inquisitiveness. His dead-fish eyes searched the span of the room with increasing disbelief, until he lands his eyes on the man with long grey-brown hair at the front. The wavy-haired individual's fists clenched instinctively. What was this? Why was he here? How was this even possible?

The silver-haired samurai could feel his own heart screaming in shock and bewilderment. Memories began to flood his mind; memories that he had painfully put behind him in the hopes of achieving a new life. Memories that should have been stashed away for eternity... He gritted his teeth, trying desperately to shut out all vision and hearing.

"Gintoki…"

It proved to be futile once the familiar voice carried over to him. It was just impossible to ignore and evade. A visual of a decapitated head cropped out of nowhere, forcing him to pry open his eyelids.

"Gintoki," his long-deceased sensei, Yoshida Shouyo, inquired concernedly. "What's wrong…?"

The wavy-haired individual was silent as he came to a gradual realization. He took in the familiar faces of a certain would-be terrorist and a would-be world-destroying maniac, alongside the faces of those that shouldn't even be alive; well, unless his crazy theory was placed in use.

He had somehow reverted to his childhood state. As of now, he was officially stuck in homeroom class with a bunch of clueless children and the deceased teacher he had adored; with all the memories and skills of the future…