Title: Thin pink line
Fandom: Gintama
Characters: Mutsu, Sakamoto Tatsuma
Rating: T
Summary: Kaientai's second in command finds out about something that will significantly change her life. [drabble]
Disclaimer: Gintama is not mine, although the writing certainly is.
A/N: this is my first time writing about these two, I'm not sure if I got Mutsu's character right but there's always room for improvement, right? Comments are, as always, appreciated.
Title taken from a novel by Lauren Baratz-Logsted; don't read it, the book's rubbish.
She is fearless and brave, calm and collected – yet her hands are shaking, and she feels like the whole world was crumbling around her. All because she holds a small, insignificant thing with a think pink line on it that means that from now on everything is going to change.
Mutsu bits her lower lip, hard, she can almost taste blood on her tongue. She tosses that damnable thing away, fearing it may accuse her of... of what? She was always the responsible one, and now she has proven she is no better than that stupid, careless, brain dead idiot.
Speaking of Tatsuma, it's all his fault. Mutsu feels anger burning within her and for a split second she wants to storm into his cabin and wipe that stupid grin of his face for good, throw him into a black hole so she won't have to see him ever again. But she obviously can't do this, especially not now; anger disappears replaced by a feeling of complete emptiness. Great, is she getting hormonal already?
She sits down, looks at the stick again but the result hasn't changed. Minutes pass; there's a distant humming of machines, usually she finds this sound soothing but now she can't concentrate on anything. At least she can hide here knowing no–one will dare to disturb her in this place (Sakamoto got her a room with her own bathroom because she's a lady; Mutsu scoffs, yeah, right she is).
She glances at the box lying on the cold floor by her feet. There's a smiling baby on it, with blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and light brown locks around his big head.
Congratulations!, says the baby with a mocking smile. Soon you'll have your own kid looking just like me. Aren't you happy?
Mutsu grabs the box and tosses it away, swearing under her breath. She would be calm if it was the first test, but no, it's her third and they all show the same result. That thin pink line is right now the most hated thing in the whole universe, second only to the father of her child. The very idea of going to Sakamoto to announce the news makes her groan in frustration. She can already feel a massive headache creeping at the back of her head.
The problem is, she never even considered having kids, but now it is already happening. She could, of course, deal with this on her own, but she knows she could never do that because, incredibly, she is a little bit excited. And knowing that idiot, he will be ecstatic when she tells him. They have been on and off for so many years, and it worked somehow. He has asked her to marry him at least five times already (sometimes pretending it was a joke, but she knew it wasn't), though she always said "no", maybe fearing that once they make this step, everything will be ruined forever. They are probably the last people in the known universe that should start a family.
"Family, huh?" Mutsu says quietly. Considering her upbringing, the concept is rather unfamiliar to her, but perhaps... perhaps this will change.
Slowly, she gets on her feet again. Walking to the door, she wipes her face with her hands (to her own surprise her cheeks are wet), and whispers that everything will be fine. Although one part of her disagrees, Mutsu knows it's true. It won't be easy, that's for sure, but eventually...
Everything will be fine. She is the responsible and calm one, after all.