"Gin-chan!" Kagura cheerfully called over the white-haired man that was gazing up in to the sky. He turned his gaze to the younger girl who was running towards him. It had been a long time. The Yato girl had become a beautiful young woman in her late teens - early twenties. How long had it been since he had first met Kagura? 5 years? So she would be 19 or 20 years old now.
Behind the Yato girl, stood a raven haired man with glasses, Shinpachi. He too, had grown up to be a strong man. He was less of a crybaby and didn't complain as much—although he still loved to ramble that mouth of his… His sword fighting had gotten better too. But still not as good as Gintoki would have liked. Progress was undeniable: he could now fight up to twice the people that he used to. So Gintoki shrugged it off and was proud of his children.
The big dog, Sadaharu, jumped onto Shinpachi.
He gave them a goofy smile.
"Shin-chan wants to go to a new cafe that just opened, wanna go?" Kagura asked, twirling her umbrella.
"Sure! Gin-san wants cake!" He said cheerfully.
"Since we babysited the princess, we've got loads of money to treat ourselves for once." Shinpachi said, smiling to Gintoki.
That's right, he thought to himself. He had forgotten that the princess had stayed with them for two whole months since it was summer and she wanted to spend some time with Kagura. The two friends didn't have much time to hang out like they used to when they were little. Kagura now had more jobs to take care of since she was on duty to help the yakuzas to hunt down drugs dealers, and the princess worked in a restaurant to help her brother even though they still had loads of money to keep them alive until they died.
The trio made their way towards the new cafe. It was a little before sunset. They joked around as they walked down the streets of Edo.
A few feet ahead of them near the shop, someone called out to the silver haired man.
"Danna," a monotone voice intoned. Okita was leaning against the wall of the shop.
"Oh, Souichiro-kun." Gintoki greeted the younger man, "what's up?"
"It's Okita! I'm here to see you, Danna." He replied, ignoring the glares from Kagura. She still liked to annoy him to no end, even if she really did like the older boy. They were really good friends and respected each other a lot. Shinpachi gave the boy a gentle smile and a slight nod of the head to greet him.
"Oh? And what do you want from me? It must be urgent since you stood in front of this fairly new shop waiting for me to come." Gintoki directed a smirl at the younger boy, taking on an arrogant air.
Okita stared back at Gintoki and opened his mouth, but was interrupted by a certain demon vice-commander.
"Sougo! We're on patrol. Get your ass moving and don't waste your time on these good-for-nothing!" barked Hijikata, walking over to the small group.
Silently, the infamous trio glared at Hijikata, while Okita ignored his words. Instead of heeding his command, he grabbed Gintoki's yukata, bringing him closer, and whispered into his ear.
Hijikata got annoyed. He knew Okita had a thing for the silver-haired man, but he himself had also shared the same feelings.
"Tonight. At 8 PM. I'll come by to pick you up," Okita whispered to Gintoki.
The older man blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his head as Okita let him go and walked away.
Hijikata glared a bit at the back of Okita, but then looked at the trio; the two children were crowding their boss, wondering what could Okita have said to him.
He clicked his tongue and made his way past them, making sure he brushed pass Gintok who completely ignored him.
It pained him a bit to see Gintoki had his attention elsewhere. Normally, he would bicker with the other man to get his attention, but today was not the case. Okita had spotted the man before him.
He cursed under his breath as he took out another cigarette and lit it up.
The two policemen walked away, doing their patrol and the trio went into the cafe, excited to try out new sweets that the little shop was able to provide them.
Hijikata kept glancing at Okita, wondering what on earth he could have said to Gintoki.
"If you're wondering what I said to Danna, forget it." Okita muttered without looking up at the vice-commander.
Hijikata clucked his tongue, glaring sullenly at the ground.
"Look Sougo—I know you're trying to get into Sakta-san's ass, but I'm not going to back down," the vice-commander growled, intent on getting his point across.
Okita stopped in his tracks. So did Hijikata.
"Hijikata-san," the brunette scoffed, turning his head to look at the mayo obsessed man. "I'm very serious about Danna. I don't just want to get into his ass. And I'm not letting someone like you to hurt someone important to me ever again. So starting from now, we are rivals on that part" stated Okita, his usual monotone voice gone, replaced by a more serious and confident tone.
Silence reigned between the two until Hijikata sighed and grunted in agreement to the younger man's statement.
The exchanged stares between the two policemen seemed to stretch on for what seemed like an eternity to Hijikata, even though it couldn't have been more than a few seconds. Okita turned on his heels and started walking again. The vice-commander suit followed without uttering another word, continuing to smoke his cigarette.
Gintoki was happily eating a strawberry shortcake in the cafe, while Karugra and Shinpachi were enjoying some delicious smoothies.
"Neeh, nehh, Gin-san, did ya hear what's going on in the other districts?" Kagura asked as she flipped a page of her little notebook that she always carried around. "I overheard a conversation while I was working in the port, that there's a gang trying to take over the districts."
"I don't think it concerns us, Kagura-chan," drawled Shinpachi, a hint of concern detected in his voice nonetheless. "What happens in the other districts in none of our business."
"Yeah, but I mean if they're looking to take down each district, they'll obviously come to ours too," Kagura mumbled as she read her notes. "The thing is that it seems like they're attacking random places. So we can't predict when and where they're going to attack."
The silver-haired man hummed, putting down his spoon. "I don't think it's important for now. But you keep an eye out, Kagura-chan. Shinpachi, you should collect more men and teach them how to fight. I can let you off for a few days to continue teaching," he ordered.
Both younger adults nodded and continued enjoying their small moment together. It seemed like even the three of them spent less time together. Shinpachi started to work more in his dojo, Kagura was working with the yakuza. While Gintoki… well, he sat there either working on papers or just being a couch potato.
"Gin-san. What are you doing tonight? My sister is inviting you guys to eat dinner at home," asked Shinpachi, finishing his smoothie with a slurp.
"Ah. No can do for me. Gin-san is going out drinking with a friend." Gintoki gave the younger man an apologetic smile.
"I'm coming," informed Kagura."I have the whole day off. Though I need to get back before 1 AM."
"Are you going to see Okita-san, Gin-san?" the boy with the glasses asked.
Gintoki continued eating his piece of cake, looking unbothered. "Who knows. I'm asked all over the place during the night."
Shinpachi didn't say anything and stared at Gintoki for a few more seconds. He watched his boss, wondering if he really was going to go see Okita.
Two hours later…
"Gin-san!" Shinpachi called out from the entrance with Kagura by his side. "We're heading out."
"Okay! Say hi to your sister for me." Gintoko called back.
"See ya! Don't get drunk tonight, Gin-san," Kagura's bubbly's voice chimed out.
"Yeah, yeah, you guys go have fun," he answered back.
Kagura and Shinpachi stepped out of the house and descended the stairs. The sun was setting and it wasn't too hot nor too cold. Summer was ending and fall was just around the corner.
"Neh, Shin-chan, don't you think that Gin-san has been acting a bit strange?" Kagura asked, lowering her umbrella so that nobody could see her face.
Shinpachi hummed in agreement. "Yeah, he's been more distant than usual. When did it all start?"
"Probably because you told him he was a good for nothing even though you're in the same boat as him!" Kagura stated, with a playful smile on her face.
"What?!" the boy with the glasses yelled. "It's definitely not because of that!"
And that was when they started bickering all the way to Tae's. Both of them where too busy to pay attention to their surroundings as a certain brunette passed by them, heading to where they came from. He paused, looking back at them, waited for a few seconds, then resumed his earlier pace.
Okita arrived at the Odd Jobs headquarters. He rang the door bell. When no one came to greet him, he repeatedly pressed the door bell until he heard the sound of footsteps and Gintoki's yells to shut up.
"What do you want?" the white man shouted, sliding the door open with a lot of force. When he saw the younger man, Gintoki froze. "Oh. It's you," blushing a bit because of his outburst.
The brunette smiled. "Good afternoon Danna."
"H-hey. Come on in. I still need to finish some stuff," Gintoki said, backing up into the entrance to let Okita in.
Sougo entered and followed behind Gintoki into his study. He made himself comfortable on the couch as Gintoki went back to his desk to fill out some remaining papers.
"It's rare to you working, Danna," remarked Sougo, watching the older man with interest.
"I guess… I need to fill them for Kagura since I'm her leagal guardian on Earth." It was complicated situation. Kagura was of legal of age, but she still needed an adult to fill out some papers since she didn't know how to do all these kind of stuff.
"Eh, even though most of your things are illegal? You guys are pretty strange."
Gintoki ignored Okita, finishing up his task. After about a half an hour, both men stood at the entrance, Gintoki leaning on the wall to balance himself to put his boots on.
"Where are you taking me, Souichiro-kun?" inquired Gintoki.
Okita didn't answer at first. He put his chin in between his thumb and index finger. "It's Okita! Well, it has been 3 years and the place has changed quite a bit. But there is one that I do want to take you to," the younger man informed, a smirk making its way onto his lips.
"Oh. Okay, As long as you pay," Gintoki replied, fixing his clothes.
"Don't worry about that, Danna."
Both men headed out, making their way to a well known street to the LGBT+ community. The silver-haired man sweat-dropped internally.
Okita and Gintoki kept small talking until they arrived in front of a small restaurant that had only private rooms to eat in.
"Hold on, you're planning to eat here?" questioned Gintoki, joking playfully, "it feels almost like a date!"
The younger man turned to stare at him. "Well if you want to call it a date, then it's a date." He then took Gintoki's hand and dragged him into the restaurant.
Hijikata was on another patrol. Sougo got the night off, so he was by himself.
The demon vice-commander was muttering to himself and smoking a cigarette as he spotted familiar silver hair in the distance.
His cancer stick fell to the ground as he took notice of Sougo with him, taking him by the hand, dragging him into the restaurant they had been standing in front of.
'Fuck no.' Hijikata thought. He powered walked to the restaurant the other two just went in and paused just a few feet away from the door.
Hijikata was furious. Okita had an objective and he was already taking action, while he was still hesitant about his feelings towards the silver haired man.
"Excuse me sir, but you can't just stand in front of the shop. You either go in or you keep making your way." An elderly man warned, stepping out of the restaurant. "This place has very important people inside right now, you might get suspected."
"Sorry." Hijikata muttered his apology and continued his way down the street, only to turn into an alleyway, waiting for Okita and Gintoki to come out of the restaurant. He knew he had to wait a long time, so he texted his boss to let him know that something came up and he couldn't finish the patrol and that he didn't know at what time he would be back.
Okita and Gintoki entered one of the smaller private rooms and their server came to introduce them self.
"Good afternoon. My name is Kagome and I'll be your waitress tonight." The woman bowed to the two men who gave her a warm smile. "Anything to drink?"
"A bottle of one of your best sake please," Okita requested.
"Yes sir." Kagome bowed her head, left the room and shut the sliding doors as quietly as possible behind her.
The younger man turned his gaze to Gintoki who was picking his nose.
"So.. Danna. What have you been up to during the three years we were gone?" Okita asked, setting his elbow on the table separating the two men, resting his chin into the palm of his hand.
"The usual stuff."
"I'm guessing that you've heard that there's some commotion happening in the other districts."
Gintoki hummed indicated he had.
"We're dealing with a monster, Danna." Okita paused, wondering if he should tell Gintoki that he had ran into them.
"I…fought with them.. And I lost half of my eyesight." The younger man confessed, pointing a finger to his damaged right eye.
Gintoki raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "They were that strong? To the point that someone sadistic as you lost half of their eyesight?"
Okita shrugged, trying to appear unaffected. "Yeah, but Danna is even more sadistic than me and macho."
"Whatever."
There was a soft knock and the door slid open once more. Kagome was there with a tray that balanced a bottle of sake and two cups. She entered the small room discreetly and put the objects in the center of the table for them to use
"Please enjoy. Call me when you're ready to order. The menu is on the left side of the table." She bowed once more and left.
"So, Danna… What are you going to do? There's no more Shougun, and we're back… Are you going to stay?" Okita poured some sake for both of them, waiting for an answer. The silver haired kept silent. "No.. We're going to disband. I'll send Kagura away to train and Shinpachi will stay here to train.."
"What about you Danna?"
"I… I don't know." Gintoki finally replied as he took a cup, staring into his reflection that shimmered on the liquid. "I need to stay low."
"Why don't you come and live with me, Danna?"
Gintoki's head snapped up to the younger man, "no. You're a cop. You're the vanguard of those men. You can't just leave them."
Okita's brows scrunched up in confusion. "Who said I'll leave them?"
"Ah, no what I meant was that you have a job and all of that. You can't just spend time and money on me." Gintoki corrected himself, giving the policeman an apologetic smile.
"It's okay, Danna." Okita held his cup up. "To whatever comes next"
The white demon did the same and simultaneously they took a sip of their drink.
There was a peaceful silence that filled the space between them until Okita decided to break it.
"You've changed, Danna." Okita finally pointed out. "You let your hair grow out."
"I could say the same for you. Your sadistic eyes have gotten worse. And you've become manlier. "
"Danna… I have a question."
"Hm?"
"The day we came back, did Hijikata come to see you?" the younger man blurted out the question that had been on his mind.
It was out of character for him to ask such a thing, so Gintoki stared at him for a few seconds, eyes wide with bewilderment.
"Yes.. he did… Why do you ask?"
"Ah, no. Nothing important." Okita dismissed the subject by taking another sip of the sake.
He looked down to his lap and wondered if he should confess his feelings to the older man.
"Danna I-"
"Ooh look! They have really good food here!" Gintoki exclaimed, ignorant to what was going on. Belatedly realizing he had interrupted Okita, he glanced up from the menu, raising his eyebrow. "You?"
The brunette shook his head and looked back down at the menu, losing his nerve. "Nevemind."
The rest of the night went well for the both of them, Gintoki and Okita got a bit drunk, so after they ate, they went to an arcade store that was open 24/7 and there, they competed against each other on almost every game available. They were so into the games that they started yelling at each other. Finally, the employee had to throw them out because they were causing too much trouble.
After that, they decided to go for a walk to try to get a bit of fresh air.
Gintoki stretched out his limbs, chuckling to himself.
"It's been a long time since I've had some fun like that," he admitted in the quiet of the night.
"Hn. I'm glad you enjoyed it."
They stopped at a vending machine and got drinks, sitting down on a bench nearby.
"Ah I wish the night was always this good," Gintoki commented, looking up at night's sky in contentment.
Okita hummed in agreement and a silence settled in, both men enjoying lack of usual noise, instead soaking in the sound of footsteps, mindless chattering, and laughter from the nearby streets full of night owls.
Little did they know that they were being trailed by a demon vice-commander.
Hijikata knew he wasn't supposed to be there. He knew he was violating their privacy, but he couldn't help stalking them.
"Danna." Okita finally broke the silence, staring at the older man. "Why don't we train together after you guys disband?"
Hijikata's breath hitched in his throat. 'He's planning to disband the Odd Jobs?' he asked to himself. 'But the kids loves him and wouldn't accept it.'
Gintoki didn't say anything but nodded. "Alright. I bet I can beat you in one hit." he boasted, turning his head towards the younger man.
"I know. But I just can't help wanting to clash swords with you." A wide smiled stretched Okita's lips.
"Heh. You're a real monster, Souichiro-kun." The silver man said, giving him a playful smile.
"Says the White Demon," the first captain of the division chuckled a bit.
Gintoki laughed with him.
"So, when are you going to disband?" Okita asked, staring off in the tree lines.
"In a week."
"I see. Then in a week, I want to know your answer," the younger man said, gathering to his feet. "I'll walk Danna back home."
Giintoki also got up and both men started to walk back to the Odd Jobs headquarters.
Hijikata decided it was time for him to also leave and get back. He decided he would confront Gintoki tomorrow.
Okita walked Gintoki back to his place; they both said their goodbyes before the younger man decided to head back to the dorms. Once in to his room, he heard running footsteps in his direction. 'Ah, Hijikata.'
"SOUGO!" Hijikata shouted, his voiced raised, echoing in his ears. "I saw you with that natural permed hair guy! Why were you with him?"
"What I do, who I'm with during my free time, is none of your business, Hijikata-san," Okita calmly answered, taking off his shirt.
"I know, but I can't help hating the fact that you're spending your free time with him," the vice-commander admitted.
Okita breathed in and out slowly, trying to calm down. He looked at Hijikata with a glare that sent shivers down the vice-commander's whole body.
"If you don't like it, then don't stalk other people. If you don't like it, then move your ass by winning him instead. But I'm lucky, I know you won't make a move. You're still fucking doubting yourself. I won't even let you get close to Danna, not until you've decided what your feelings are for him," the younger boy growled out. He took his towel and headed towards the baths but stopped when he passed Hijitkata. "But what you're afraid of is ruining your reputation. You're afraid that people might hate you because you're with a man, and to top it off, it's Danna. That's the difference between you and me, Hijikta-san, I don't care if people hate me, I don't care if I'm seen with him, I don't care about my reputation. I love him and none of that matters to me." With that, he left.
Hijikta stood in front of Okita's room, his fists clenched into balls. 'I know. I know! I know I'm still doubting myself. Why do you keep rubbing it in my face! I hate it when you're with him. I hate it when you have all his attention!'
"And I know I need to make a decision between those two," he whispered the last part out loud, voicing out his inner thoughts.
"In between what, Toshi?"
The vice-commander's head snapped towards the person who stood next to him.
"Kondo!" Hijikata exclaimed, surprise etched onto his features. "Ah, sorry, I didn't know you were right next to me." He bowed to apologize.
"No need to excuse yourself. It looked like you were in deep thoughts."
"Oh. I guess." He tried not to show his embarrassment.
"Why are you in front of Sougo's room? Are you guys fighting?" Kondo asked, raising an eyebrow, traces of worry in his voice.
"Ah, about that…" Hijikata took a peak inside Okita's empty room. "Yeah… something like that."
Kondo sighed audibly. "You guys are always bickering, but this seems more serious this time." He smiled gently to Hijikata. "Want to talk about it? Why don't we go settle down in my room and take a drink. I feel like you need it."
Hijikata's eyes lit up at this suggestion. "Sure. I'd appreciate it a lot."
They went and Kondou got out a bottle of Sake and two cups. He poured some for the both of them.
"So, Toshi, talk to me. What's going on?" Kondo asked finally.
The vice-commander lit up a cigarette and took a few puffs of it before answering with another question. "Kondo-san… Have you ever been in love?"
The gorilla man looked surprised. He didn't expect Hijikata of all people would ever ask him this question, but he smiled a bit. "I have, and I am. I'm in love with Otoe!"
Hijikata chuckled, taking a sip of his sake." Then, what is love?"
"Hm.. Love is not an easy thing to explain, Toshi. You're asking me a very difficult question." Kondo slowly replied, taking a slight pause to ponder over this question. "Love can come in many forms and ways. You have the kind of love for friends or family, those who appreciate and have fun with and trust. Love for food, for example, mayo. Then the kind of love for your passion or hobbies you have. For instance, taking a walk by the river or writing. Then there's love of another. This love is very confusing and can be very stressful." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "This is what I've understood of this love for someone. It's the feeling you have when you get butterflies in your stomach. When your heart drums 'bam bam bam' in your ears when you see someone. When the blood rushes to your head. When you want to be the number one person of importance to that someone, and when they in turn, are your number one. When you want to be gentle, to take care of them, hold them in your arms, spend the rest of your life with them, protect them with your life, make love to them, build a family together."
There was a long silence between the two men, lost in thought. Hijikata continued smoking and drinking while Kondo sat there, his eyes closed, a peaceful look on his face and an empty cup in front of him.
"Thank you." Hijikata said at last, getting up and leaving without saying another word.
Kondo closed the sliding doors after his vice-commander, smiling softly to himself. "He might finally be getting a wife," he looked on, amused.
"Boss-lady, don't you think Gin-san has been acting weirdly lately?" Kagura questioned the older lady sitting next to her.
Tae closed her eyes, nodded in agreement. "I think so. He's been distant with us."
"I wonder what's going on in his head," the Yato girl wondered, swinging her legs back and forth.
Both girls were sitting on the floor outside, their backs facing the room Shinpachi was sleeping in. He fell into deep sleep right after they had finished eating.
"You know Kagura-chan, adults have problems that they can not talk about." Tae informed giving the younger girl a small smile.
"Well I'm not a child anymore. I'm 20 years old." Kagura pouted.
"I know." The hosts said, looking back to her younger brother. "I know."
The Yato girl yawned, stretching her limbs out. "Well I better get going." She stood up, gathering her umbrella.
Tae followed her out, escorting Kagura back to the entrance of their property.
"Take care, Kagura-chan." Tae smiled after her, waving goodbye.
"Bye bye." Kagura waved back before turning on her heels and walking away.
The next day…
Gintoki stood alone in the apartment once again thinking about how he was going to break the news to the kids. 'Should I say that we need training so we should part? Nah, too direct. We might have new enemies so go train on your own for a few months. Yeah, Gin-san likes that better.'
He stared up to the ceiling, gazing into nothing, mind blank. That was when Okita's offer suddenly came to mind.
"Oh come on! Gin-san can't figure it out in less than a week!" He groaned out loud.
"Figure out what?" a familiar voice chimed in to the room.
The silver haired man eyes traveled over to the man that stood in the doorway.
"It's rude to enter without knocking and permission, Hijikata-san."
The vice-commander entered the room, ignoring his words, and made himself comfortable on the couch. "I did, you just didn't hear me."
"What do you want?" Gintoki asked exasperatedly, not wanting to deal with small talk at the moment.
Hijikata remained silent, just staring up at Gintoki. "I… I'm hiding from Sougo," he half-lied.
Gintoki raised an eyebrow at the admission. "You could have just hid somewhere else, you know."
There was an awkward silence between the two until Gintoki stood up and walked over to Hijikita, standing right in front of him, staring down at him.
The mayo obsessed man was just about to open his mouth, when the door slid open with a loud bang and Okita stood there with his usual poker face.
"Hello Danna. Sorry for the intrusion, I'm here to pick up the vice-commander," the younger boy announced, walking over to the two other men, taking Hijikata by the collar and dragging him out of the Odd Jobs headquarters.
Gintoki now had a very confused look on his face."What just happened? Aww man, Gin-san's lost."
"Gin-chaan!" Kagura called out as she saw Okita dragging Hijikata out. "What were they doing here?"
"Gin-san doesn't even know." He appraised Kagura with a serious expression."Where's Shinpachi, I need to talk to the both of you."
Kagura swallowed a lump in her throat. "I don't know. I'll go look for him." She ran back out of the house with the giant dog following after her.
Shortly after, Kagura came back with Shinpachi. Gintoki made them the pair of them sit on the couch in front of him.
"There's something you guys need to know… You're not strong enough for the enemy that's about to strike." Gintoki broke the news as calmly as he could, voice serious. "Kagura, you were right bout those who were taking over the districts, it does concern us. So we're splitting up for a month or two. I want both of you to train."
Kagura and Shinpachi let out a breath they didn't know they were holding in.
"Gin-san.." Kagura started, clentching her fists. "I know what you're trying to say, but you're doubting our capabilities?! You think we're not strong enough?!"
"Kagura-chan, calm down, I'm sure Gin-san knows something that we don't know." Shinpachi placed a hand on the Yato's shoulder, glancing over at Gintoki who was picking at his ear.
"Yeah.. Remember the fight we had five years ago? We got out of there barely alive? I know a lot of time has passed since then, but I want to win this fight." the silver haired man said resolutely, a cold and scary vibe emanating from him as his eyes darkened and looked threatening.
Kagura eyes widened into saucers. "You mean… You think we're going against them?" she shivered at the thought of the monster that Okita, her and Gintoki tried to fight in the past
Their boss nodded. "Yeah, him."
"I-I see. Sorry for yelling like that," apologized Kagura, looking down at her lap, embarrassed for her outburst.
"Shinpachi, I want you to work at your dojo full time; Kagura, you should go into space and challenge as many pirates you can, and stay out of the way of your brother," commanded Gintoki, dusting his pants off as he stood up. "In a week I want both of you out of this place, got it?"
Both younger adults nodded in understanding. When Gintoki wanted them out of his sight for training, they wouldn't even think twice to stay.
"Now that that's taken care of, why don't we go out? Let's enjoy ourselves." The boss of the Odd Jobs grinned at both of them. The rest wasn't needed to be said, the trio knew the words all too well.
"Yep!" Kagura cheered, also gathering to her feet and picking her umbrella up, Sahadaru by her side.
Shinpachi smiled and stood up as well.
The three of them walked in the streets of Edo, laughing and talking about trivial matters.
Okita watched the Odd Jobs members walking down the street he was patrolling. But he focused more on Gintoki than anyone else. He hummed, finally deciding to go bother them a bit. The vanguard took out his bazooka and aimed it to the China girl. He fired.
"OKITAAAA!" Kagura yelled, charging towards him.
They fought a bit until Hijikata came around the corner, glaring at Gintoki.
"What?" Gintoki asked the vice-commaner. "What the fuck is your problem, glaring at me like that?"
"Because you're an idiot and a good-for-nothing." Hijikata stated, smirking at him haughtily.
"Excuse me? Who the fuck comes to my place only to just sit there and stare at me?" Gintoki protested angrily. "Plus I'm not the one obsessed with mayo."
They continued insulting each other; their head clashed together as they yelled into each other's face.
Okita was a bit pissed off, firing his bazooka atHijikata who dodged it at the same time as Gintoki.
Hijikata glared at Okita and tsked, turned his back to the group before walking away.
The brunette and Kagura stopped fighting immediately, disturbed by what had just transpired.
"Danna." Okita called out.
Gintoki looked over to the younger man.
"Did you tell them?"
Kagura and Shinpachi looked at Okita confused then to Gintoki, who nooded to the vanguard's question.
"Okay. See you around." Okita said, waved his hand and walked away in the same direction Hijikata went.
Shinpachi looked at Okita's back who was walking away and then to their boss. 'Okita-san knew that Gintoki wanted us to disband to train? Since when were those two close?' he asked himself, but eventually shrugged it off.
It had been two days since Gintoki announced that they were going to disband. And once again, Gintoki was left alone in his office, snoozing off on the couch.
He was woken up by something warm on his lips and a flash of light. Confused, he opened his eyes and sat up.
"Souichiro-kun!" he exclaimed, even more confused in his half awake state. "What were you doing to poor Gin-san?"
Okita grinned. "It's Okita! Danna." A glint twinkled in his eyes as he looked down at Gintoki. "Nothing." He tapped on his lips with his index finger.
"Yeah right, I felt something on my lips," Gintoki growled in warning.
"I didn't do anyhing," Okita stated with a poker face.
"Don't joke with me. I know you did something to poor Gin-san as he was slseping!" The silver haired man pouted, "tell me what you did."
The brunette took out his phone and showed Gintoki something which made the older man freeze at once.
"O-oi, oi, oi, oi! Delete that right now!" Gintoki blushed and tried to snatch the phone away, but Okita didn't let him get it; he grinned and took a step away from the man, effectively keeping the phone at an arm's length.
"No can do Danna," The vanguard singsonged as he walked away.
Gintoki was left there on the couch, his mouth hanging open, right until he heard the front door close. Slowly Gintoki's face became bright red.
"Noooooo!" He wailed and slumped back on to the couch, covering his eyes with his arm.
On the other side of the entrence door, Okita stared at the ground. His heart pounding fast. He brought up his fingers to his lips and gently touched them. A tingling sensation remaining from the kiss he had just shared with the silver haired man. The brunette was furiously blushing all the way down to his ears. He loved those soft pink lips. He wanted to kiss them again and again until they became redder and bruised from his ministrations.
Shinpachi looked up to the man that just exited their headquarters. 'Okita-kun? Why is he here?' he walked up the stairs onto the balcony. "Okita-kun?"
The brunette looked up to the younger man with his usual neutral expression. "Oh, hello."
The boy with the glasses walked closer to the other man."Do you need anything?"
"Ah no. I'm just leaving." Okita excused himself, passing by Shinpachi.
The younger boy watched Okita until he was out of sight and sighed. He then entered the small appartment. "Gin-san, it's me. I've bought food." He said as he closed the front door. He didn't hear a response from the other man so he took off his shoes and walked a bit farther into the apartment. "Gin-" he stopped and his eyes widened; Gintoki was laying on the couch, his arm covering his eyes, his cheeks flaming red.
"Gin-san, are you okay?" Shinpachi asked, concern evident in his voice.
"Huh? Yeah I'm okay." Gintoki replied at last, getting up. 'My, that was embarrassing.'
"Okay then.. I'm going to go make dinner now."
Shinpachi went into the kitchen, placing the food he had just bought onto the counter. He washed the fresh vegetables and chopping them up. 'It's strange seeing Okita and Gin-san together.' he thought to himself. 'I would understand if it was Hijikata-san… But Okita...'
Gintoki sat there on the couch, deep in thought. 'What are Okita's intentions? Why did he kiss me? We're not even that close. Why does he want me to live with him later on? I don't get him.' He kept repeating those words in his head like a mantra.
The silver-haired man sighed and ruffled his smooth hair between his fingers. Pinching the end of a strand, he stared at it. Then it ticked. 'No. Impossible. Could he… be in love with me?' Gintoki shook his head furiously, refusing to accept this as truth. 'No. Impossible. He's just messing with me. But…I'll ask him the next time I see him.'
The man sighed again, his entire body slumping further into the couch. This entire Okita situation that occupied his thoughts was driving him up a wall. So much so, that Gintoki lost his cool for a few seconds.
"Aaah fuuuck! What's up with that guy?! I don't get him at all." Gintoki whined to himself. 'But I guess...'