Author's note/Disclaimer: Gintama ain't mine.


It was the 14th of February, Valentines' Day, and love was in the air. You could smell the roses and lilacs and lavenders, which, arranged together in beauteous bouquets, were in wonderful clumps of dazzling colours. You could see couples walking or sitting close together, with their arms around each other and their hands entangled with the other's. You could hear words of love and affection murmured, whispered, proudly declared, all throughout the city square.

Perhaps it was safe to say that Sakamoto was a lone wolf in a pack of lovey-dovey lovebirds.

He sat, all by himself, on a bench by a corner of the square, a bouquet of curious flowers in his hand, which he had imported from various parts of the universe. There were flowers which shone and twinkled as if they were stars. Some blooms, on the other hand, which were greyish white in colour, emitted a soft and gentle glow. These he had set in the midst of midnight-blue leaves, which contrasted, complemented, the flowers he would give.

Yes, he was going to give his beloved, his Mutsu, the night sky in all its glory.

He had to wait a couple more minutes before he saw a figure approach him, with a straw hat on her head and a collected demeanor. A wide smile crept its way through his lips, and it was all he could do to refrain from laughing from pure glee, in his trademark way, lest he ruin the mood.

"What did you call me here for, Sakamoto?" she queried, even though she could already foretell what was to happen after having seen the flowers he held in his hands.

Handing her the bouquet of flowers, he faced her and looked at her straight in the eyes.

"I like you, Mutsu. I really, really like you."

For once, no laugh accompanied his words. What had been a wide grin was replaced by a small, yet sincere, smile on his lips.

"I don't like you, Sakamoto," she stated curtly, which caused the smile on Sakamoto's face to disappear for a second, maybe two.

"You always end up in trouble, and call on me to fix things," she continued, which caused Sakamoto to laugh nervously.

"And the way you laugh is so irritating," she muttered, which caused the laughing to stop. By then, the brown-haired man was barely clutching the bouquet in his hands.

"And I hate the fact that whenever you visit the Earth, you end up drinking, which often leads you to make bad decisions," she went on. "But you know what I dislike the most?"

Sakamoto found his voice stuck somewhere in the back of his throat, but somehow, he still managed to spew out a small "what".

"…I dislike that despite all those things…or perhaps even because of them…I grew to love you."

"Wait. Mutsu. What did you just say?" he said, with pure disbelief in his voice, as he tried to take in the words she just uttered. She? Love him? Was he mishearing things? Maybe he fainted from shock when Mutsu said that she didn't like him, and now he was just imagining things to go the way he wanted? He pinched himself lightly on the arm. No, he was not just dreaming. Then what? What the heck was going on? Didn't she just say that she didn't like him?

While he tried to understand what was going on, Mutsu stared at him, amused. "Do you really want me to repeat what I said? Or perhaps you would prefer it if I took it back?"

"No no no no no!" he exclaimed, her last statement snapping him out of his reverie. "Don't take it back!"

"Shh, you don't have to shout," she murmured, silencing him by placing her index finger to his lips. "I won't. I promise."

Gently pulling her hand away from him with his free hand, he then proceeded to silence her too by pressing his lips to hers. She reciprocated. Soon, he found himself with her hands entangled in his thick, brown hair, and with his free hand at the small of her back, pulling her closer, ever closer, to him.

She loved him back. Tears fell through his cheeks as he found himself completely engulfed by bliss.