dedicated to Mad Hatter who gave me the idea...
Chapter 1
Such a dreary Friday afternoon had never before existed. There had been no phone calls, no visits from potential customers, not even a whisper from their landlady about the freaking rent. Draped in his chair in a manner befitting his position of Lazy Ass, with his arms folded behind his head and feet up on the desk, Gintoki was feeling extremely bored. It wasn't very often that he felt extremely anything at all. "Aah... I'm bored." he voiced aloud. Even the words, barely spoken, seemed to sink lazily downwards to earth.
The house was being unusually quiet today, with Shinpachi back at the dojo. Kagura, on the other hand, was nowhere to be seen.
"Kaaaaaguraaa....." Gintoki called. He waited a few seconds, expecting the red head to pop up at any moment. When it didn't, he tried again. "Kaaaaaguraaa..."
There was no answer.
Gintoki got up and walked slowly towards the closet, which was normally Kagura's hideout. "Oy..." he said while sliding the paper door. Then he noticed the post-it that had been stuck there. Gintoki recognised Kagura's round handwriting.
I've gone out to meet somebody. Glasses left some food in the fridge if you're hungry.
Gintoki stared at the note in his hand until the first sentence absorbed itself into his brain through aerial osmosis.
I've gone out to meet somebody.
Curiosity took over him. From what he knew of her, Kagura didn't really have close friends her age, and she normally spent her days inside the house because sunlight was bad for Yato skin or something like that.
I've gone out to meet somebody.
Read: I've gone out on a date with somebody.
Read: I've got a boyfriend.
Now fully awake, alarm bells began to go off in his mind. Reaching the genkan at a half-sprint, Gintoki pulled on his boots while simultaneously wrenching the front door open. He was just leaping down the stairs, four at a time, and sprinting down the road when he realised what he was doing, and stopped.
Wait. What am I doing?! Trying to stop Kagura's date? More importantly, when did I become so MATERNAL?!
It was a horrific thought and he felt a sudden craving for a chocolate parfait to calm his nerves.
Inside the Natural Perm-y workings of Gintoki's brain, the Voice of Reason began a heated debate with the Voice of Irreverence.
Voice of Reason: She's fourteen, for Christ's sake... Sure, it may be a bit young for a 'serious' relationship, but there's nothing wrong in a bit of harmless fun. Besides, it's not like any normal person could beat that kid in a fight.
Gintoki had to agree with this last part.
Voice of Irreverence: Okay, so she can protect herself from physical harm... but what about EMOTIONAL harm?! You know how naive that kid is, she could suffer serious emotional damage and never trust love again...
Irreverence had won. Gintoki paid for his parfait and headed straight for the destination in which he was sure Kagura's date would take place: the Park.
Among the red-light districts of Edo, the Park was the only relatively sober place where couples could pretend their relationships were purely Platonian, before drifting in the general direction of the love hotels. The colossal stone fountain in the middle served as a picturesque background for a date, with the entire package included: little kids playing with their paper boats, the occasional sparrow fending for breadcrumbs. Today, there was the extra addition of a mysterious guy in a long brown coat, sporting a pair of dark sunglasses and a mop of silver curly hair.
No prizes for guessing who that is.
Staring around at each of the couples suspiciously from behind his stalker specs, Gintoki was looking out for a glimpse of red hair and an umbrella. Occasionally a thought bubble would appear, containing a flash of sanity: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! but Gintoki pushed this away to the back of his consciousness.
He told himself it was purely for the sake of protecting Kagura. But deep down inside, he was curious as to who this mysterious suitor was.
Voice of Reason: Now you're a high school girl as well as a helicopter mom. Always hovering.
Voice of Irreverence: Shut up.
Half and hour later, and just when Gintoki was thinking of giving up, Kagura appeared. Gintoki snapped out of his trance and quickly assumed a nonchalant pose, all crossed legs and looking up at the sky. In his peripheral vision, he tried to decipher who this new 'boyfriend' was. From what he could see, the boy walking next to Kagura was of average height, had hair the color of straw, and was wearing a white kimono.
As if sensing the fiery beams issuing from Gintoki's orbs, the boy instinctively turned around and stared at him. Unable to control himself, Gintoki's jaw dropped, as he realised who exactly Kagura was going out with.
It was Okita Sougo.
Hi! Thanks for reading up to this point....
It was meant to be a oneshot but then it got too long. Hopefully I'll end it by the next chapter, who knows. I didn't mean to add Okita at first, but if you guys have been keeping up with the manga... Okay i'm not going to spoil it for you, read it yourself!!
Till next time!