Hi! Thank you for having opened that story. This is set in an AU (you will see quite quickly that it is an AU : Kagura can sing!), very close to the original Gintama Universe, but in which Kagura (19yo) is working in a cabaret since she got on Earth. Apart from that, everyone else is doing exactly what they were doing in the original universe, meaning slacking off for most of them!
I hope you will forgive any OOC-ness that may occur. This is a one shot so I think you should really give it a chance!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. I actually own several Gintama mangas, and the Benizakura DVD but well, you know, I'm not the creator or anything, I own them because I paid them and -is gagged but keeps on talking-
Anyway, enjoy!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please make a round of applause for our girl!"
The place was as crowded as usual, and people cheered loudly. A waitress placed a glass of Bloody Mary on a table, and the man sitting there thanked her with a sign of the hand, his eyes still fixed on the now-empty stage. The waitress smiled. He came every week and never minded talking with whoever was on the mood to chat with him, but never when it was her turn to show up. He was then mesmerized and a wall would have been more talkative.
"Now comes the time for our exotic beauty! She traveled all the way from China to entertain you tonight! Please welcome... Gura, the Princess of Kabuki-chô!"
People applauded but as soon as she set her foot on the stage, the whole room became silent. She always had this effect on people. The crowd was drowned in the ocean of her eyes, and no one wanted to disrupt the show.
Her performance that day was quite slow and delicate. She was singing a soft traditional Japanese song, walking between the table, teasing a few customers, sometimes leaving a piece of clothing on one's table. She left her hairpin, black ebony with a bright red pearl and silk threads, next to the Bloody Mary. The flaxen-haired man sitting here watched as her now free vermilion locks cascaded on her shoulders. When she usually never spent more than a second or two with every man, she locked her eyes on his as the lyrics went on "Forever united". She finally left his table to keep wandering among the remaining tables, yet he couldn't help but notice that he was the only one to have a special treatment. He smirked as he glared at the others.
As you might have guessed by now, the place was a cabaret, one of the rare to provide occidental as well as Japanese shows. The performers were all lovely girls, and even though they often stripped down, they never ended up naked and rarely even on underwear, making the performances elegant and never vulgar. The audience was therefore mixed, even though there was a majority of men, couples or even just women sometimes came to watch the show.
The young woman finished her song with a shy smile. She looked young, but she must have been a bit more than 18. As soon as her eyes met the young man's, the smile became wider, and she left the stage with sparkling eyes.
Another performer hit the stage, but the young man had lost his interest. He left his table, his glass on the hand, and sat at the bar. The waitress smiled at him.
"She's as lovely as usual, eh?"
"Well, I've seen worse pigs in my life."
The waitress chuckled. "Should you really be saying this kind of things, sir? I mean, you obviously come here every week for her. So what's the point of pretending you have no interest?"
He smirked and took a sip of his drink. "Never said I was not interested in pigs, miss."
The person next to him put – no, crashed – an empty glass on the bar. "A pig? Should I break your neck for the offense, sir?"
He did not need to look to know that two gigantic cerulean eyes were staring at him right now. He raised his hands in an apologetic way.
"My, my, that was indeed very disrespectful of me. A sow is way more appropriate, I apologize."
Her dark aura usually scared everyone, but he was not fazed by it. Actually, he even smirked. She glared at him for a while then relaxed and laughed.
"My boss says I can't be on bad terms with good tippers, so I guess I won't kill you tonight! Ah, Eli, fill this gentleman's glass, it's on me."
She winked as the barmaid replaced the flaxen-haired man's glass with a similar drink.
"Trying to get me drunk, aren't you? Sorry but I have no intention of finishing the night with you no matter what, sweetheart."
She let out a clear laugh. "Oh, don't you worry, this is far from being my intention either. If I wanted to end the night in someone's room, I would already be in their sheets, not taking time to chat a bit! And you are clearly not the type of guy who would get fooled by a drink, I'm afraid."
"Oh? I'm pretty sure this is actually the first time we talk to each other... And yet you claim to know the type of guy I am?"
She was obviously amused and clapped her hands with a cheerful laugh. "Please, there are dozens of men coming here every day. You have to get used to understand them easily. It would take longer for Krillin to die than for me to read through you! Want me to give it a go?"
"Sure, go on."
She intensely looked at him and kept silent for a few seconds. You could see how concentrated she was. Nothing escaped her gaze: she had a look at his face, his hands, the way he had tied his tie, how used were his shoes. Victorious, she smiled.
"You are really full of yourself. You think you're above everyone else, and to a certain extent this is true. You are talented and smart, but you're arrogant and always want to be the center of the attention of those you admire. You are a pure sadist, and you are terrified to get attached to anyone because you've already lost too much and refuse to go through this pain again. How did I do?"
"Interesting. You're not that bad, I give you that. But you know what? In my job, you also see a lot of different persons. So reading through you is probably even easier than reading the JUMP! . Mind if I try?"
"That would be unfair of me to refuse."
He did not even inspect her the way she did, and started right away.
"You have little to no self-confidence, no matter how hard you try to prove otherwise. You had a shitty childhood and left everything behind to come to Edo, where you probably hoped to get a nice job, money, and a perfect little life. However, like so many before you, you realized that life was as cruel here than in your hometown, and you ended up working in a cabaret to pay the bills. You've never got as much attention as you deserved and that's why you're keeping this job. I don't really know why and it's not something I can guess just by looking at you, but you somehow looks scared. Oh, and you're a sadist as well, no doubt about that, it takes one to recognize one."
She smiled but it somehow looked bitter.
"I would say I'm impressed, but this is the back story of most of the cabaret girls you'll find in this town... So I'll give you a 5 out of 10. But good job, though."
Applauses resonated in the room. The performer had finished her show – a clumsy maid whose clothes kept on getting caught by the furniture and who got undressed a little more every time. It has been really fun and entertaining and everyone was still laughing.
"I have to go now. I guess I will see you next week, Mr Sadist?"
"If I'm free and there's nothing interesting to do, I might pop by."
"Please come. I'll be the last performer... And I can promise you a show you've never seen before."
She had put her showgirl mask again, and only then had he realized that she had let him see who she really was. She winked at him and blew him a kiss as she walked away.
"Be sure to come!"
And deep inside, he knew he would be there.
He got home lazily. He had only one evening off weekly so he had no reason to hurry.
When he eventually got there, he got greeted by some sly grins that he ignored, until one of them got more annoying than the others.
Actually, the smoke that was blown in his face annoyed him even more than the actual grin. And the sarcastic tone that came after was even worse.
"So, Sougo, is your little Chinese doll okay?"
"Oh, Hijibaka. So I guess you did not die today either. Too bad. What's with the sudden interest? Isn't she a bit too young for you? Are you a lolicon?"
A gorilla in uniform appeared, crying.
"I have troubles believing it. When we took you to the cabaret 4 years ago to celebrate your 18th birthday and your first step in adulthood, you clearly showed no interest in that... And now, you've been going every week for almost four months? Toushi, our little boy is becoming an adult, aren't you proud?"
"Kondo-san, stop crying on my shoulder. And stop talking as if he were our kid. None of us have anything to do with the conception of such a little bastard. Furthermore, something's really messed up in his education -"
The raven-haired man stopped talking, a sword on the throat. The flaxen-haired boy was staring at him with a deadpanned expression, not really threatening, as if it was his way of greeting someone.
"Come on, Hijikata. Insult me all you wish, I will kill you anyway, but don't insult the education my parents and my sister gave me, you bastard, or I'll kill you."
"In the end you will kill me no matter what!"
And they went on, chatting and insulting each other with Kondo not doing anything but laughing.
The week went on as slowly as usual. The Shinsengumi First Squad Captain, Okita Sougo, was on patrol duty every day. Nothing unusual was going on lately so he was quite easily bored.
On the first day, he took three naps on three different benches on three different parks. He peacefully dreamt of Hijikata's murder. The nape of his neck was somehow tingling.
On the second day, he was called by a Pachinko room owner asking him some help to kick out a drunk player who did not have any money left and was trying to sell his clothes. He was barely surprised to see it was the Boss of the Yorozuya, and agency with even more free time than him. The tingling was getting stronger.
On the third day, he helped an old lady carrying her shopping bags and listening her telling him how much he looked like her grandson. He kicked a tree to make a stuck ball fall. He thought about the fact that being a cop when there was no villain to arrest sucked. The tingling spread to his whole body.
On the fourth day, he led an operation to arrest Joui patriots. He almost caught Katsura but one of the patriots took a family in hostage so he focused on saving the family. It wasn't a tingling anymore: he knew he was being followed, but did not manage to see by who.
On the fifth day, he investigated on the case of a missing Amanto boy. The parents were afraid their son might have been kidnapped. Turned out he ran away, and Okita found him in a park, crying on a swing. He sat next to the boy for a while, listening him whine about how cruel his parents were for making him cleaning up his room even though they had a maid. At one point, pissed off by the complaints of the spoiled brat, he listed all the ways the kid could get rid of his parents if he hated them that much. Some of the suggestions were so descriptive that the kid ran home crying, hugging his parents and apologizing, making them promise to never call the police again. Okita was sure he heard a laugh in the bushes.
On the sixth day, nothing happened again. He had his morning off, so he slept until noon. On the afternoon, he patrolled with Yamazaki, speaking with the shopkeepers of the district to make sure everything was okay. They stopped at a store so that Zaki could eat some Anpan, then they found a quiet spot of a park for Okita to nap. Even with his eyes closed, he could feel the presence, following him like a shadow would.
The seventh day came. On the morning was scheduled a reunion to talk about other ways to get rid of the Joui, followed by sword training. On the afternoon, Okita patrolled with Hijikata, sticking a note with an insult or a threat on the Demoniac Vice-Commander's back every couple of meters, trying not to be noticed. He did not feel followed anymore. He was particularly on a good mood, and both of his superiors had noticed it and did nothing to suppress their meaningful grins. Okita did his best to ignore them but made sure to add the double dose of itching powder in Hijikata's shampoo before taking his leave early on the evening.
He caught a glimpse of his reflection on the window of a shop. He of course had switched his uniforms to a more casual hakama – he did not want to be treated as a cop when he was off. But that also meant he had to give up on his swords and that always felt a bit wrong, as if a piece of him was missing. But he really couldn't be bothered by that tonight, and he soon arrived at the cabaret.
The waitress seated him at the table the closest to the stage. He tried to tell her that he'd rather go back to his usual table, but she wouldn't hear him out and only said that he was a VIP tonight or something like that, and deserved the best table of the cabaret. He had noticed that tonight the room was full of men, and not a single woman but the staff. What exactly was this special show? On the stage, a young woman in her twenties was doing some magic tricks that apparently made her occasionally lose a piece of clothing. He smiled at the show, sipping the glass he just ordered, because the performer was actually doing a good job at making people believe the rabbit really escaped from her corset or that one of her frilly underwear suddenly appeared in one of the customer's pocket.
The next performance was a bit less interesting to him, a dancer in a burlesque outfit moving around a chair with a dynamic music, so he tried to talk to the waitress, but she was nowhere to be seen. Performance after performance, his glass was getting emptier and no one to refill it. He noticed that the atmosphere of the room was also getting heavier. Were they all just waiting for the last performance? Why did he feel like so many eyes were set on him?
"A round of applause for the magnificent Tina! Don't we all hope all cops were like that?"
A few persons laughed, but that only increased his unease.
"And now, gentlemen... You have waited long enough for this to happen... She prepared a yet-unseen, an exceptional, an exquisite show to thank her most regular customer... Please welcome our own little Angel, Gura!"
And an angel she was. She came down from the roof, so that people could fully appreciate her tiny bare feet, her long white legs, her fluffy white dress with cute little wings on her back, her vermilion locks carefully curled, her sophisticated and yet natural makeup. She was glowing. A true angel.
When her feet touched the floor, she released herself from her harness and hesitantly took a step forward. The music that was playing was really relaxing, and he knew right away this was not going to be anything like he ever saw. He knew she would make this moment magic, not by removing any cloth, but just by the power of her voice.
She started singing, and her voice was so soft, yet so powerful that he stopped caring about what was around him to fully listen. Yet, he could not manage to focus fully on the moment. Something was off. She refused to meet his eyes. Her voice was sometimes cracking a bit. And her face looked terribly sad. He put his glass down on the table in a slightly noisy way, and the sound made her look at him. He did his best to convey his concern through his face expression, as he mouthed "Everything okay?". That's when she broke down, falling on her knees.
"You should not have come... It's my fault... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!"
Before he had time to wonder what she meant, he heard the distinctive noise of swords being unsheathed. The presenter appeared to escort the girl out of the stage, and no matter how hard she was kicking, struggling, crying and begging "Don't kill him please don't kill him", she still was powerless against the man and was lead out.
Okita let out a sneer and finished his glass (more to look cool than by actual need to drink it as it was mostly melted ice cubes).
"So you guys planned me a nice private show before killing me? That's actually really nice of you, I've never met anyone who cared about me making some nice memories before dying."
He slowly got up, dusting his sleeves before turning around. Every single man in the room had a katana pointed at him.
"Shut up, you government dog. To think we actually had a Shinsengumi officer coming at our club every week! We are honoured to be the ones to put an end at your life, bastard."
"My, my. Have we met before? Sorry, I'm not good at remembering the faces of the people I'm going to kill. But let me take a guess. Joui patriots frustrated by the way this country is ruled?"
Their furrowed brows was the confirmation he needed. Actually, the first time he came here was because he heard that the place was a nest of Joui patriots. He somehow got himself distracted in his mission and was now paying the price of it.
"DIE YOU DOG!"
The scream of their leader awakened them and they all attacked as one the unarmed Shinsengumi First Division Captain.
By the time the Shinsengumi got here, the walls and floor of the cabaret were covered in so much blood that there was no clean place to walk or touch. Hijikata's cold eyes were looking through the whole place, trying to find a flaxen-haired head, but everything was so red that it made any other color fade away.
"Vice-Commander! Here!"
The worried voice of Zaki made him hesitate a bit before looking. Was he ready to see that? When he finally turned his head, he saw his subordinate, the boy who at 8 was his senpai, and who even now was still a bit like an annoying little brother, sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, his head low, soaking wet with blood.
"Zaki. Is he..." The words would not reach his lips. Yamazaki looked for a pulse.
"He's alive! He's alive, Vice-Commander!"
As if to demonstrate it, the Captain grunted and raised his head. He was pale and obviously unwell, but he was indeed alive.
"Disappointed, Hijibaka? Sadists are hard to get rid of. It's been a while since I had this kind of training though, I'm a bit rusted..."
"I would have been really disappointed in you if you died like this, Sougo. But I think this time you deserve a nap. We'll take care of everything here, you'll tell us what happened once you've rested, okay?"
The young Captain smiled and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
When he opened his eyes, his head was so painful he wanted to close them again and never wake up. But he somehow was fully awake and felt groggy as if he overslept. He turned his head to have a look around. It was an hospital room, which annoyed him as it only brought bad memories.
On his left, there was a basket full of fruits on the nightstand. He also spotted some Anpan, Strawberry Milk, mayonnaise, and even a black censored thing that might have been some overburnt eggs at one point. On his right, Hijikata was probably supposed to keep an eye on him but had fallen asleep. Okita took the mayonnaise and had time to empty half of the bottle on his superior's trousers before the smell woke him up.
"Oh, Sougo, you're awa... WHY WOULD YOU SPILL THE PRECIOUS MAYO?!"
"Hijikata-san, surely you made a mistake, you wanted to bring me some edible food but instead you brought some dog food. But since I'm kind at heart, I will forgive you if you kill yourself right away."
"Like hell I will! You sleep for three fucking days and my death is the first topic you bring? Just how much do you hate me?"
"You have no idea. But three days? I really slept that long?"
"Hell yeah Sleeping Beauty. You had a severe cut on the stomach and lost a lot of blood. Doctors said you might not make it. Of course, Kondo-san had faith in your recovery and made sure there was always someone by your side. Now... Could you tell me what happened that night?"
The young man closed his eyes. Oh, he remembered. He remembered way too well. How he had to fight ten armed men with only his hands. How he managed to kill the first one and take his sword. How he slaughtered every single one of them. But he also remembered how he'd been betrayed. How she had lured him there that night. How this was all a trap.
"Sorry, Hijikata-san. I don't remember much of it."
The Vice-Commander's expression hardened.
"Is that so? Anything?"
"Well, I was watching the show, and then... It's... Blurry? One of the customer must have attacked me and my instincts took over, I guess."
"How about the girl, then? Don't you think she had anything to do with that? Maybe she knew all along and played you?"
He still saw her kicking and struggling. Still heard her apologize. She knew. She was aware he was going to get killed. And still, she told him to come. She had never cared about him being alive.
"I don't think so. She left the stage after her performance. I guess she's not even aware of what happened."
He could feel the cold glare of his superior.
"Oh, really? I thought you were watching the show and then it was blurry? She was the last performer, so if you remember her leaving the stage, what show were you watching, exactly?"
Okita clicked his tongue and looked away, shrugging.
"Anyway, Hijikata-san... Why did you guys show up? How did you know there was some trouble here? Are you stalking me?"
Hijikata inhaled deeply.
"Someone told us you were in trouble. Actually, that someone told us everything that happened. Even what you refuse to tell."
"Someone?"
"That Cabaret Girl. Said her name was Kagura. She gave herself in for murder and she told us everything. And don't think I'm stupid. I know you remember exactly what happened, and you probably thought you'd be covering her up, but forget about that."
Okita narrowed his eyes.
"I'd be curious to know what she told you... What have you done of her?"
"You still won't give up on her, will you? She's been locked up in a cell since that day. She behaves and looks really traumatized, and since she is not the one who directly attacked you, I think she will avoid execution. Unless you ask otherwise, that is."
"I want to talk to her."
Hijikata smirked.
"Of course you do. And you will. You'll be probably out tomorrow."
The next day, the nurses indeed let him go. Kondo was waiting for him with his uniform, his swords and even his signature sleeping mask. They did a bit of small talk, none of them mentioning even the fact that they were driving to the jail.
They entered the facility in silence. A guard led them to the cell and opened the door.
There she was, sitting on the bed, staring at the wall. When the door opened, she turned her head to see who would visit her – and when their eyes met, she became whiter than a ghost.
"You! But you are... You made it? How?"
He noted that she was genuinely surprised and also... relieved? Anyway, her voice did not sound disappointed, which somehow comforted him.
"Don't underestimate the Shinsengumi. Now, one question. For how long have you known about what was planned that night?"
Please answer you discovered it by accident the day before.
She looked at the floor with a gloomy face.
"It's all my fault... They... They manipulated me, and I've been naive enough to believe them. You see, when you said you could read in me? Well, you got it all right.
"I'm an Amanto who arrived illegally on Earth. My home was far from a happy place and I heard of Earth, where every species could live in peace. Of course, when I got there, I realized how wrong that was. Some Amantos were horrible towards humans. And a lot of humans were even more horribly racists and treated us like shit. I was living on the streets when those men, those humans, offered me a job in the cabaret. They told me they believed that everyone deserved to live together, in peace. But as I worked there, they told me that there were some people here that believed anyone who was not Earth-born should die. And even worse, they were the ones supposed to punish the bad guys. Yeah, they depicted the Shinsengumi as racists bastards, tax stealer dogs, and I believed everything they said.
"At first, when I started to perform, you were the only one who really watched my shows. That made me really happy, and even though we never talked, I could not wait for the next week to come up so that I could show you something even better. Then, one day, about a month and a half ago, I saw you on the streets. You were patrolling with some other men, and I could not believe you were part of that Shinsengumi I've been made to hate so much... But they brainwashed me so hard that instead of questioning what they told me, I just started to despise you as well. That's stupid, I know, but I felt betrayed."
She paused a bit, and wiped a tear. Okita noticed Kondo was waiting in the corridor – he was close enough to hear what she said, but still left them some privacy. Okita patiently waited for her to keep going.
"My boss noticed my attitude had changed and I told him about you being a cop. I thought he was going to get angry and to kick you out, but he said that this was actually a good occasion to get rid of one of the government dogs. He told me to keep performing and to catch your attention – to seduce you to make sure you'd keep coming every week.
And I did. I never talked to you, but I always made sure you had a special treatment. The boss told me to make you promise to come that night, and that's why I came to talk to you at the bar. However, you were a lot different than what I expected a human supremacist to be. You intrigued me. I started doubting my decision. Sure, you've been quite mean to me, told me inappropriate things and insulted me, but none of that sounded like real malice or hate. I thought that it might have been because I looked human and you did not know who I really was. So I decided to follow you, to prove myself you were the bastard I needed you to be.
"At first, you were just a lazy bastard. Being paid and doing nothing. But little by little, I witnessed how you helped anyone in need, human or Amanto, and how much you actually cared for this city and everyone in it. Not only you, but everyone in the Shinsengumi shares this love. And little by little, I realized how much of an error I made, an error that would cost your life. But I could not get myself to warn you. I still somehow had faith in my boss, I thought I could tell him he was wrong, I thought he'd listen... So on that day, I told him about my investigation. I told him he was mistaken, the Shinsengumi was actually on everyone's side... As you can guess, he ignored me, said I've been manipulated by you, and that if I still wanted to have a place to return to, I'd better sing on that night... I could have stopped him a thousand times, and yet I never did. I knew he was planning to kill you, and I selfishly let that happen. I'm as guilty as any of them. Apologizing to you would be pointless."
None of them said a thing for a minute. Okita leaned against the wall in a nonchalant pose. Suddenly, he smirked and she dared meeting his eyes, worried cerulean against sarcastic crimson.
"You're right. There's no point in apologizing, there's nothing I would forgive anyway."
Her shoulders collapsed. However, he kept talking.
"Because I don't even see what's to forgive. You know, I have no idea what happened a few days ago, but I can't remember a thing. I guess I drank too much and got involved in a street fight, but I don't have any memory of that. So what you are telling me has absolutely no sense. I have no idea what you're even talking about. And I don't even know who you are. I guess I got hit on the head or something, because your monstrous face doesn't ring a bell. It leaves me confused, though. Why would you be in jail? I'm pretty sure you actually belong to a kennel. Now get out so we can put some bad guys here who deserve this room and their 3 meals a day."
She gave him a look of disbelief as he moved from the door to clear the way for her.
"Hey, China pig, do you even speak Japanese? Get. The. Hell. Out."
She got up like a robot, leaving the room without understanding what was really going on, and she was escorted out of the building by a smiling gorilla and a smirking sadist.
On the parking, she suddenly stopped.
"But, I have nowhere to -"
"Actually", Okita interrupted, "since you're pretty good for nothing, I know a good-for-nothing guy who might have been looking for someone to (self proclaim) work with him. You'll have to bear with him, which is not an easy task, and I'm not even sure he earns enough money to pay anyone, but hey... You might want to give it a try. It's not like a monster like you could do much anyway."
She was at a loss of words, and she ran into his arm. Surprised by her move, he did not move, and that was when she kneed him in the balls. He felt tears coming to his eyes.
"Call me monster one more time and I'll disembowel you. Slowly. In your sleep."
"Eh, what an ungrateful little girl. I go all the way to set you free from your cell, and you act all out-of-character like that? You're hurting the policeman's feelings, girl."
"Out-of-character? Don't make me laugh. The cabaret girl's face you knew was nothing but a mask. Be ready to deal with the real me, you sadist."
He smirked before flicking her forehead. Painfully. She insulted him all the ride from the jail to a two-story-high house with a Snack called "Snack Otose" at street level and a sign indicating that the second floor was a company called "Yorozuya Gin-chan".
She opened the door to hear an old lady yelling "You'd better pay your rent this month you bastard!" and she smiled. This somehow felt like home already.
A week or so later, Okita was sitting on a bench, trying to take a nap with the evening sun warming his face. He was bored, actually. Unsurprisingly, the cabaret was closed down and he had nowhere to go on his free evening. He let out a sigh.
Click.
He'd recognize this sound from thousands. That was the trigger of a gun, and given how close the noise was, the gun was probably directed at his head right now. He opened his eyes but remained still, trying to know what that person's intentions were. Said person started to laugh and he relaxed. He'd recognize that laugh, too, from thousands.
"I wouldn't want to miss my weekly meeting with my favourite douchebag, even if the club's closed down, would I?"
He turned his head to see a red head giving him a smile warmer than the sun. She leaned close to his face and pecked him on the cheek before jumping on the bench to sit close to him.
"You know, Gin-chan is really a good for nothing! Can you believe he threw away his JUMP! when is was not the day for combustible trash? And he won't even let me sing when I'm taking a shower!"
She went on and one about the life she was now living, and Okita only half listened to it, mesmerized by her flamboyant vermilion locks and her sparkling cerulean eyes.
He smiled, and she smiled, and at one point they ended up fighting each other, and that became their new weekly routine.
As long as they could spend time together, nothing else mattered.
Fin
I've hesitated for so long about whether I should divide this fic into 2 parts or not! I've been advised not to by friends, so I hope you will not think this was too long.
Please leave a review and let me know what you thought of it!