Hello again or for the first time, Murayama Tsuru here. After I posted my last Oneshot, I got a review suggesting I write an Abuto-Kada story. At first, I was hesitant because I doubt my abilities with romance. But then I thought about it some more, and an-co-xx, agreeing with SnowDreamYuki's review, gave me an idea. If you haven't read A meeting Straight from Hell, I reference some made up characters from it, but I don't think it's necessary to read it to understand it (but if you want to, that would be nice). So here it is, I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not Own Gintama; it is the property of Sorachi Hideaki.
The first time Abuto met Kada was at the Harusame New Year's Party. Though he doubts she remembers, it was the moment he realized he was in love with the beauty he played Chou-Han with.
The day began with Hosen calling him and Toya into his office. It had been a month since Abuto had joined, so he was fairly surprised that Hosen even knew who he was. When he left his room, he began wondering if he was in trouble. There was that prank he had played on Toya last week, so he figured Hosen had found out about it. As he was walking along, he began imagining whatever punishment Hosen could give him. By the time he actually made it to Hosen's office he was a complete nervous wreck, ready to do anything to prove his innocence. So when Hosen told them that they were both invited to the New Year's Party, he was immensely relieved. As he was about to leave, he heard Hosen chuckle and turned around, "You knew?"
"Of course I knew Abuto. There's not a prank that goes on around here that I don't know about. Don't worry, you're not in trouble, just don't do it again. Besides how could I not notice, you came in here all tense." And Abuto had to laugh at this, and then he left. On the way out, he passed a very annoyed Toya, but he decided not to say anything. Then he spent the rest of the day hanging out with Ungyo and Unkyo, the twins who joined at the same time he did.
Then the party started, and at first it was interesting (read, dinner was good), and then he got bored. Now, Abuto may always look bored, but he rarely ever gets bored enough to go to the bar to drink his boredom away. Which is what he found himself doing tonight.
On his third drink (of Shochu and water, Hosen hadn't given him extra money to spend on drinks), he heard a melodious, proud sounding voice ask "Barkeep, a bottle of Daiginjo please."
"Wow, this girl likes her Sake." Abuto thought, then turned to ask why she was drinking so much when his jaw dropped. Beside him was a tall, willowy woman with straight blue hair; she was wearing a shear yellow Kimono with a dark blue Obi that brought out the red of her eyes. He must have been staring for too long because she sat down, chuckled (the sound sent tingles down Abuto's spine) and said "It's been a long time since I received such obvious staring. Like what you see?"
Abuto tore his eyes away and cleared his throat, "It's not that I was staring at you or anything…I was just amazed that you could drink all that Sake by yourself."
"Haha, I wasn't going to drink it by myself. You see those people over there?" Abuto looked to where the woman pointed and saw Hosen and some others he didn't know, "I was going to bring it to them, but I think I'll stay here. You seem much more interesting than them."
Abuto felt his face heat up. Then he realized something; if this lady was hanging around with the Hosen she must be a captain herself. And there's only one female captain in the Harusame so he exclaimed "Ah, you must be 4th Squad's Captain, Kujaku Hime Kada. You're as beautiful as the rumors say. I'd be honored if you wanted a drink with me." Kada chuckled at that and poured him a drink. After his first cup, Kada suddenly said "Let's play a game. If I win, you take a drink. But if you win, I'll give you a kiss." Abuto was so surprised; he choked on the Sake he just swallowed. After a coughing fit, he looked up at her and asked "So, what game are we playing?" she smiled then took out a cup and two dice.
After twenty rounds of Chou-Han, Abuto was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. So he asked, with a slight slur, "Hey, Kada…san, can this be the last round? I'm not sure I can drink too much more."
Kada chuckled and nodded. Then she put the dice back into the cup, covered it, and overturned it quickly. "Which do you think it is? Chou or Han?"
At random, Abuto chose Chou, not expecting to win. So he was pleasantly surprised when she lifted the cup and it was Chou. Abuto grinned at Kada, but before he got the kiss he was promised he heard Hosen call out "Kada, where's that Daiginjo we asked for?" and she stood up quickly and asked for another bottle. But before she walked away, she pressed her lips against Abuto's cheek. All Abuto could do after that was watch as she went back to the other captains, his cheek feeling like it was on fire.
Abuto spent the next couple days in a daze. He replayed over and over in his mind the New Year's Party. It got so bad that he didn't even retort to the usual litany of insults Toya threw his way. Eventually he was again called to Hosen's office. When he got there, Hosen asked "Is everything alright Abuto? I've gotten reports that you haven't been as diligent as you usually are. And you seem unusually out of it."
Abuto just sighed "everything is perfectly fine, Captain, I think I'm in love."
"In love? With who?
"With Kada-san of 4th Squad."
"With the Kujaku Hime? I'd be careful if I were you, Abuto; she's not one to reciprocate feelings easily."
"But Captain, you should have been there. She was definitely flirting with me."
"Abuto, take the day off and go see what I mean. You need to get your head out of the clouds; she's not the kind of woman you think she is." With that, Hosen dismissed Abuto. Abuto left feeling both angry at Hosen and excited to see Kada again.
When he got to the 4th Squad section of the ship, he wasn't sure what he was expecting; but he was not expecting the long line of guys lined up outside her door. It turns out that the Kujaku Hime was so popular that she was forced to make rules about who dated her. The first rule was that she wouldn't date anyone who didn't beat her in a game. The second rule was that those who beat her got to spend the day (or night) with her, but then that person could not challenge Kada to another game for a year. It was then that Abuto understood what Hosen meant, but instead of feeling heartbroken that she wouldn't return his feelings, he joined the line.
The first game he played with her was poker. He lost. Badly. That day, he returned to the 7th Squad broke. The second he challenged her, it was to a game of Mahjong. Luckily, he didn't lose any money this time. Unluckily, though, it was a game of strip Mahjong, so he walked back to his part of the ship in nothing but his underwear. And the list of loses goes on. Abuto would usually go during his free time to challenge her. As his time in the Harusame grew, he would go out of his way to challenge Kada to a game. At one point, it was so bad that Abuto would go once a day to challenge Kada. Eventually the rules were changed so that someone who lost to Kada couldn't come back for a week. This made all the other challengers very mad at Abuto (though, he ignored all the nasty looks he got).
Eventually, Kada left for earth and the games stopped. At the time, Abuto didn't have time to think about the fact that Kada was leaving because he had to go home for a recruitment mission. But after he got back and the whole business with Toya was over, it hit him that Kada was gone. Then he started writing her letters about daily life. He planned to burn them (in especially low moments, he would write about his undying love for her; that was kinda embarrassing), but he could never bring himself to light the match. So, he kept them in a drawer that he could lock (and he kept the key with him always because he knew he couldn't trust Kamui).
One day as Abuto was administering the recruitment exam (Kamui thought it would be easier than going back to their home planet every time); he realized he left the key in his room. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but Kamui had asked him for a map that was in his room (he had no idea for what reason).
When the exam was over, he quickly returned to his room. For some reason, the leader of the Kiheitai was standing outside the door looking even more irritated than he usually did. When he entered his room, he saw Kamui addressing letters (What the hell?). He couldn't fathom why, so he asked "Captain, what are you doing? That Takasugi fellow is waiting outside. It looks like he wants that map now." When Abuto had first started talking, Kamui jumped and looked at Abuto guiltily. But by the time Abuto had finished, only Kamui's usual smile adorned his lips, "You're right Abuto, I completely forgot." Then he walked out of the room with the letters and the map.
"Wait, Kamui was addressing letters?...Oh crap." Abuto thought then opened the drawer all the letters to Kada were in. It was empty. So Abuto did the childish thing and closed his eyes hoping they would reappear when he opened them. After a few seconds, he opened one eye a crack and predictably, the drawer was still empty. So he calmly walked over to Kamui's office.
"Captain," Abuto said with barely contained anger, "About those letters you were addressing, did you perhaps find them in a locked drawer in my desk?"
"Yep, I read 'em too."
"You…read them?" Abuto's eyebrow twitched.
"Uh-huh. You've got a real talent with the pen Abuto. Seemed a waste to just let them sit, molding, in a drawer. So I found this 'Kada' person's address on earth and sent them off just now."
"Captain," Abuto sighed, "those letters were in the drawer because I was never planning on sending them."
"Well, it's too late now," Kamui smiled, "I did get the sense from reading the letters that you never expected a reply. Now you'll just have to wait."
So, that's what Abuto did; he waited. The love-struck part of him hoped beyond hope that he'd get a reply (even if to tell him not to send any more letters), but the rational part of him highly doubted anything would come.
One day, as Abuto was milling about in his room; Kamui came in with a letter in hand and said "Abuto, a letter arrived for you today. It's got lipstick on it, so I figured you want it right away."
"Did you read it?" Abuto asked with raised eyebrow raised.
"Now, what would make you say that?"
"Well your track record for respecting privacy is pretty low so…" before he could finish, Kamui set down the letter on his desk and left, a large grin on his face. Abuto sighed and opened the letter:
Dear Abuto,
Thank you so much for all your letters, they have cheered me immensely .Recently, I've run into some trouble regarding my mission gathering funds. So, I've decided to return the Harusame very soon. I was wondering if your offer of dinner is still on the table, I'd love to catch up with you. If you'd still like to have dinner with me, please meet me in my chambers the day after tomorrow.
Yours Truly, Kada.
P.S. Please bring some money with you too, I'd love to play a game with you.
After he read the letter, his heart-rate had sped up so much that he almost missed that she had asked him to bring money with him. He found it a bit suspicious at first, but then dismissed it as a gambler's obsession.
The day after next, as he was walking to Kada's room, he heard some people whispering. "Are you sure? That can't be true; Kada embezzled money from the elders?"
"I'm sure, I heard it from a reliable source. Something about trouble in a place called Edo. She tried to take it over and was met with strong resistance from two silver-haired Samurai. She had to leave before she could bring her money back with her."
"Wow, so she took money from the elders? She must be desperate."
This got Abuto thinking, did she just call him over to take his money too? His love-struck side and rational side were so at war with each other; that by the time he arrived at her room he was feeling kinda pissed at the world.
When he entered her room, she looked up at him and her face softened into a beautiful smile (to butter me up for sure, Abuto's rational side thought snidely). He smiled back and said "It's been too long Kada; it's a pleasure to see you again."
"The pleasure's all mine. Please sit down; how about a game before dinner?"
Abuto's eyebrow twitched imperceptibly and he asked with the slightest hint of anger in his voice, "Kada, why did you call me here today?"
Kada's eyes widened (the effect they had on him was not lost even though he was angry with her) as she said "What are you saying Abuto? I called you here because I want to see you."
"Bullshit Kada. I've heard the rumors. Is it true you took money from the elders? If it is, I'm guessing you called me here just so you could get more money."
She didn't meet his eyes; it was answer enough for him. So he turned for the door, put his hand on the knob, but for some reason he didn't understand he turned around and said "Let's play a game."
"What?" she asked, surprise coloring her voice.
"You heard me, let's play a game. One round of Chou-Han; if you win I'll give you all the money I have and I won't turn you in. But, if I win, I want a kiss and more if you're willing." He mentally slapped himself for that last part. If she was willing? He'd be lucky if she even said yes to the kiss, it's not like she liked him at all. But to his surprise all she asked was "Why Chou-Han?"
"You really don't remember?" He thought, but said nothing and sat down in the chair across from her. She then proceeded to take two dice, place them in the wooden cup, then turned it over quickly. "Which is it? Chou or Han?" she said with what Abuto thought was a bit of desperation (which wasn't surprising, if she needed the money that badly). Abuto thought about it for a little; he considered saying Chou in nostalgia, but since she didn't remember anyway he answered Han. As Kada was about to uncover the dice, Abuto moved his chair closer to hers. When the cup was lifted, he looked up at her and said "It's Han, I win." And lowered his lips onto hers.
Kamui was sitting in his office when he heard a knock on his door, so he answered "Come in" cheerfully. To his surprise, it was Abuto, looking kinda down.
"How was your date with Kada?" Abuto wouldn't look at him and didn't say anything. So Kamui tried again. Still not looking at him, Abuto answered, "She wanted me to help with her scam, I said no. You should turn her in."
"Are you sure Abuto? I thought you loved her, now you want to turn her in?"
"I thought I loved her too. But I realized something tonight; she only answered my letters because she thought I would help her. It can really bring a guy down, y'know. So, yeah, I'm sure I want you to turn her in." he said, still not looking at Kamui. This annoyed Kamui, so he asked "So, did you two do it? How was she?" At that Abuto's head jerked up and he practically shouted, "Captain, this is not the time for that!" Kamui just laughed and said "How true, but it got you to make eye contact." And Abuto just chuckled in response.
I hope you enjoyed, I know it's not a typical romance because Abuto and Kada don't get together in the end. But I thought this fit, and it goes along with the manga. As I was writing it I remembered that when Kada was in jail she kept blathering on crazily about Chou-Han. It gave me the idea that because Abuto had Kamui turn her in, she was so shocked that she continued playing Chou-Han with whoever came to visit. And please pretend that Kamui and Takasugi have met before too. By the way, Chou-Han is called, in English, Evens and Odds. If you'd like, please review. But, please be gentle, this is my first romance story.
-Murayama Tsuru