Silver Moon – Book 1 Chapter 1

It was a bright, warm morning in May. The sun was nearly center in the sky, shining down on the citizens of the city below it. Everyone was walking around the streets, enjoying the nice springtime weather.

The name of the city is Yoshiwara. It used to be a city that was only held in darkness, known as being an "eternal night". The city is now completely open to the sky, allowing all of its citizens to enjoy wonderful days such as this one.

Three of the people in this city were currently all walking together, each of them holding something in their hands.

"What a beautiful day it is today," noted the glasses-wearing boy known as Shinpachi.

"It is for you," said the girl known as Kagura. "This sunlight is deadly to a Yato like me," she said, holding her umbrella up high to prevent the rays from hitting her delicate skin.

"I thought we already told you that the author forgot about that detail a long time ago," said the silver-haired samurai known as Gintoki. "Besides, we won't be able to enjoy this weather seeing as we have to be inside entertaining a customer all day," he said with a frown.

Shinpachi looked at him with a frown. "Come on Gin-san, don't make it sound like this is torture. It's just a birthday party for a friend."

"Yeah, a birthday party that we have to set up and organize," he replied. "Plus, we had to go out and buy gifts for the brat. I'd much rather spend the money at the pachinko parlor," he complained.

"Hinowa said she would pay us for helping set up and that Seita would love to see us at his party," Shinpachi explained. "They must really think of us as good friends. We should be happy to come and spend time with them."

"And eat plenty of cake," added Kagura.

"Well, as long as were getting paid," said Gintoki.

The trio continued on to Hinowa's house in order to celebrate Seita's birthday. The three had been invited to his party and were asked to set up beforehand. Hinowa had offered to pay them for the trouble, an offer they gladly accepted. Each of them was currently holding a present, a gift for the birthday boy.

When the Odd Jobs gang arrived at their destination, they knocked on the door, and waited to be answered.

"Come on in," called a voice from inside.

The group opened the door and let themselves in. They removed their shoes and set their neatly wrapped presents down on the floor.

"I'm in here," the voice called again. It came from the kitchen. They all walked in to find Tsukuyo looking at a list of what they assumed was a to-do for the party. She looked up to see the Odd Jobs crew entering the room. "Oh, good. You guys are here," she said.

"Tsukky!" Kagura cried. She ran over to give Tsukuyo a hug, happy to see her.

"Good morning Tsukuyo, where's the birthday boy?" asked Shinpachi. He looked around, wondering if Seita was there so they could wish him a happy birthday.

"Seita and Hinowa left a while ago," Tsukuyo explained. "They are going to spend the day at the zoo together and come back here for the party tonight."

"Wait a minute, if Hinowa's not here, who's going to help us set up this party?" asked Gintoki, who was currently picking his nose.

Tsukuyo looked at him. "She left me in charge of this task. I'll be the head of the party-planning." It was true. Hinowa had asked Tsukuyo to set up the party and had hired the Odd Jobs to give her a hand. Tsukuyo had not really wanted to do it, but Hinowa had insisted, saying it would be a good experience for her.

Gintoki couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What? Are you serious? You're in charge?"

"What's the problem with that huh?" asked Tsukuyo, starting to get angry with the samurai. The two younger Odd Jobs members just stood there in silence, watching the two adults begin to argue.

"You don't know how to throw a party do you? You're just going to screw it up," he said, shaking is head. "It's for the best if I'm in charge."

Tsukuyo was seriously starting to get pissed off now. It was true that she wasn't exactly an expert when it came to something like this, but she was giving it her all. She didn't want to let Gintoki take it from her.

"Listen, you. Hinowa left me in charge of the party. I know what I'm doing. I even made this list of stuff we need to do to make it a good party," she said, waving the list in front of Gintoki's face. "You're just the help she hired."

Seeing that Gin was about to continue arguing, Shinpachi decided to break it up. "Alright, alright. Let's all calm down." He took the list from Tsukuyo and looked it over. "These ideas look pretty good Gin-san, let's go with these."

Gin still wasn't happy. "I still don't want to take orders from someone who doesn't know what she's doing."

That comment managed to push Tsukuyo over the edge, and with one swift movement, landed a kunai in Gintoki's forehead. He fell to the ground without uttering a sound, probably because the blow had knocked him unconscious.

Kagura ran over to him, "Oh no! Tsukky, you knocked Gin-chan out cold."

Tsukuyo looked away and crossed her arms. "He deserved it for being such an ass to me."

Shinpachi sighed. These two will spend all their time arguing if I don't do something about it. "We're not getting anywhere like this. Gin-san, if it will make you happy, both you and Tsukuyo can be in charge. Is that alright with you Tsukuyo?"

She thought about it for a moment. "Whatever. As long as he shuts up and leaves me alone."

The four of them were now sitting at the table in the kitchen, going over everything that Tsukuyo had put on the list. They would need balloons, streamers, birthday candles, candy, and all of the food required for cooking that wasn't already in the pantry.

"Well, looks like that should be everything," said Gintoki as he finished going over the list.

"Tsukuyo did a good job listing everything, right Gin-san? She seems to know what she's doing," said Shinpachi, trying to ease the tension set between them earlier.

"Fine, she managed to do one thing right," he admitted, a little embarrassed.

Tsukuyo smiled upon hearing this. At least he can admit when he's wrong, she thought.

Gin decided to move on before anyone could comment. "Alright, let's get started then." He pointed to his two workers and tossed them the list, "Shinpachi, Kagura, you two go out and get everything we need for tonight. While we wait, Tsukuyo and I will stay here and start the cooking with what we have. Understood?"

Shinpachi and Kagura both nodded in agreement. Tsukuyo, however, was not quite on board.

"C-c-cooking? Me?" she stuttered.

Gin looked over at her. "Is there a problem, leader?"

"Yeah, I'm not exactly useful when it comes to cooking," she said nervously. "How about I go shopping with one of them, and the other can stay here and help you."

"Nonsense, these two are the ones that are truly useless when it comes to cooking," he said, pointing at his two employees. "You should do just fine compared to them."

"What do you mean by 'useless at cooking'?" asked Shinpachi and Kagura in unison.

"What? It's true," said Gin, who was trying to play it off innocently. "Hurry up and get going, we need this stuff as soon as possible."

"Fine."

Shinpachi and Kagura got up and started walking out of the room. Tsukuyo tried one last time to change their minds before they left. "W-wait a second, are you all sure about this? I-I mean…" she trailed off. It seemed like everyone was already on board with the plan.

Gin stood up and walked to the pantry. "Let's get started, shall we?"

A short while later, the two chefs were getting ready to start on the cake.

Gintoki was gathering all of the basic ingredients to get started while Tsukuyo watched, not really sure what to do.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Gintoki," she said, "because I won't be much help." She felt a little bad, seeing as she would end up being completely useless in this situation. She definitely didn't feel like she was in charge anymore.

Gintoki didn't seem to care about her lack of skill in the kitchen. "Don't worry, just do everything I tell you and it should be fine. I know exactly what I'm doing. When it comes to cooking, I'm a master."

Tsukuyo was a little surprised to hear this. "Really? I never knew you were good at cooking."

"Why so surprised? If I weren't any good, the whole Odd Jobs would starve to death." He looked like he was about ready to start. He turned his back to her and got to work.

"Who taught you how to cook?" asked Tsukuyo, who was still a little curious.

Gintoki seemed to slow down with what he was doing, but he kept working. Tsukuyo began to wonder if he had heard her question when he suddenly gave a reply.

"My master taught me…but that was a long time ago…" His head fell down a little bit in sorrow.

Tsukuyo didn't know what to say. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She had previously learned that he had lost his master sometime in the Joi War. She had not meant to open up old wounds. He must have cared for his master a lot. Maybe that question was a little too personal. I should probably apologize for bringing it up.

However, before she could apologize, Gintoki brought his head back up and sped up the pace of what he was doing. He appeared to have gotten over it and was moving on. "Anyway," he said, "I'm surprised you can't cook." He had turned the attention back to her.

"Why is that so surprising?" asked Tsukuyo.

He stopped what he was doing and turned around to face her. "Well, you know. You're a woman right?"

"What's that have to do with anything?" she asked, starting to get a little angry.

"Women should know how to cook, it's one of the few things they're good at."

Tsukuyo glared at him with a vein popping out of her forehead. She was about to lose it. He was seriously pissing her off now with his sexist comments. However, before she could say anything, he kept on talking.

"Honestly, if you can't even do something that women all over the universe can do on a daily basis, then I guess you really are uesle-"

"SHUT THE HELL UP ASSHOLE!"

Gintoki had finally pushed her over the edge with his last comment. He now had a kunai planted firmly in his forehead with a small stream of blood flowing out of the wound down his face. Surprisingly, he seemed unfazed by his new wound, and was still staring at Tsukuyo, who was still steaming with anger.

"So what if I'm a woman who doesn't know how to cook? I told you that I gave up my femininity a long time ago. I'm a warrior; I don't need to know how to cook. And it's none of your business whether I can cook or not!"

Gintoki just smiled as he continued staring at her. "You should learn, I think you'd be good at it," he said sincerely.

"Why, because I'm a woman?" she snapped. She was still upset with him.

"Well, that's certainly part of it, but mostly because you're a very skilled individual that excels at everything she does. That's all." He turned back towards the counter and continued his work.

Did he just complement me? Tsukuyo wondered. Damn it, what game is he playing? He's saying such insulting comments and then he says something sweet to me. Tsukuyo couldn't help but keep watching Gintoki as he continued working, even though there was still a kunai in his head. I guess this is how he's always been. A complete ass who shows his sweet side once in a while.

Hearing no reply from Tsukuyo, he decided to pipe up, "You know, you should say 'thank you' when someone complements you."

Tsukuyo ignored this comment and threw a cloth on his head. "Pull that thing out of your head and clean up your face. We don't need you dripping blood all over the cake."

Gintoki grabbed the cloth from his head and smiled at it. I guess this is her way of saying thank you he thought to himself.

Before long, Shinpachi and Kagura came back carrying everything they needed for the party. The four of them spent the afternoon getting everything ready for Seita's return. Gintoki focused on finishing the cake while the other three decorated the living room in preparation for the party. When they were finished, the room looked perfectly ready for a party. It was filled with balloons and even had a large banner that had the words 'Happy Birthday Seita!' written on it.

"It looks great," said Tsukuyo, happy that things turned out so well.

"I'll bet Seita is going to love it," said Shinpachi. "When are they going to get here?"

Tsukuyo looked at the clock. "Hinowa said they'd come home around 6:00. We have about 15 minutes left."

"Gin-chan! Where's the cake? I'm hungry!" shouted Kagura. She cared more about the food than the party.

Gintoki walked into the room, wiping his hands with a dry towel. "The cake is finished, but keep your hands off. It's for the party."

"Now we just have to wait," said Tsukuyo. She felt proud that she was able to get everything together. She had been a little worried when Hinowa had asked her to do this, but now she was happy she was done. And it all looked great too. I couldn't have done it without them she thought while looking at the Odd Jobs gang.

"Oh!" said Shinpachi, suddenly remembering something. "I almost forgot, we left our gifts at the door. Where should we put them Tsukuyo?" he asked.

"Oh, that's right," said Tsukuyo, realizing she had also forgot something. "Hinowa had some gifts she wanted me to set out too and I-" she suddenly paused. "Oh no," she said, starting to look a little panicked.

She had gained the attention of the other three. "What's wrong, Tsukky?" asked Kagura.

"I just realized…that I forgot to get a present for Seita," she said slowly. She was looking at the ground, with an expression on her face that looked like she had just done something horrible.

"Wait, are you serious?" asked Shinpachi.

"How could you forget to get him a present?" asked Gintoki. "I thought you were in charge of the party."

"I know, it must have slipped my mind," she said. "I was so focused on planning the party that I must have forgotten." She looked up at them. "What am I going to do?" she asked, hoping the three of them could somehow help her.

"There's still time!" said Kagura. "Go out and get something before they get here!"

"There's no time for that, they'll be here in ten minutes!" shouted Gintoki. "Just run to your room and grab something for him."

"Um, I don't think I have anything that a little boy would want," said Tsukuyo doubtfully.

"I know! Just tell him the cake is his present! That should work," said Kagura.

"Cake isn't a gift!" shouted Shinpachi. "There has to be something we can do!"

"Everyone stop! It's okay," said Tsukuyo. Everyone immediately shut up, bringing the chaos to an end. "You don't have to worry about it, I'll just tell him the truth," said Tsukuyo.

"What? No way!" said Kagura.

"Yeah, we can figure something out!" said Shinpachi.

Gintoki just stared at her in silence, waiting to her what she was going to say.

Tsukuyo sighed. "No, really, it's fine. It's completely my fault for forgetting. It's not your guys' problem to worry about."

"Are you sure?" asked Kagura, still hoping they could help in some way.

"It will be okay," she kept saying. "I'll just tell him that I forgot and I'll find a way to make it up to him later." She looked down at the floor again. "I just hope he won't be too disappointed with me. He has always thought of me as his big sister… and I guess I've always thought of him as a little brother," she confessed.

Gintoki continued looking at her. He thought for a second he might have seen a tear in her eye. He couldn't help but feel bad for her. After all she had done to give Seita such a wonderful party, she would end up feeling like she hadn't done a good job because of this. It's obvious she feels really bad about the whole thing he thought. Maybe there is something that can still be done.

He decided to speak up. "Well, it looks like it can't be helped," he said shaking his head. He went over to Shinpachi and Kagura and placed a hand on each of their shoulders. "How about you two go and bring out Hinowa's gifts while I bring ours out from the front, ok?"

They were still looking at Tsukuyo, wishing they could help her in some way. "Yeah, ok" they said. They slowly walked off to another room to fetch the gifts.

As Gintoki was about to leave the room to head out front, he looked back at Tsukuyo. "Hey, cheer up. Seita won't want to see you upset at his party, right?"

She looked up at him, revealing that her eyes were clear of tears. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," she said.

Gintoki was still sure of what he had seen earlier. He was certain something had formed in her eye. "Don't worry," he told her. "I'm sure everything will work itself out in the end."

He then walked out of the room, a plan forming in his head.

Author: Hello everyone! Well this is the first chapter of-

Gintoki: What the hell is this shit?

Author: What? What's wrong?

Gintoki: This story, it sucks.

Author: What? No it doesn't. I worked really hard on this.

Gintoki: No, no, no, you completely screwed it up.

Author: What's wrong with it?

Gintoki: Let me show you. First off, do you even know what season it is in May in Japan? Is it really Spring?

Author: …Oh…well…I tried to research it but I didn't really find anyth-

Gintoki: What a dedicated author you are! You can't even do a little research for your story! You'd rather risk being wrong then do a little work!

Author: That's not true…I mean…I thought it would be ok…

Gintoki: And what about that cooking scene with me and Tsukuyo?

Author: What was wrong with that?

Gintoki: You couldn't even tell what I was doing! You just kept saying that I "continued my work". What work? What was I doing?

Author: Oh, well…I don't really know much about cooking myself, so I couldn't really get into the details.

Gintoki: Get into the details? How about you just tell them what I'm doing!? I looked like a complete idiot in that scene!

Author: …Well that's all we have time for today.

Gintoki: Hey! Don't ignore me! We're not done ye-

Author: Feel free to leave a review, and look forward to the next chapter!