"Damn it, Katsura! You lost!"

"I didn't lose! You just pushed the dice off the table!" he pointed to the fallen dice.

"Are you telling me I'm lying?!" the other boy grabbed his collar. "If you look with your eyes, you'll see it's odd! See?!"

"Well it was snake eyes before your fat-"

"Shut up already!" his friend covered his mouth.

"Mhm!"

Katsura squirmed under his friend's grip but the boy forced an evil grin with veins popping out telling him to shut up.

"Let go, Gintoki!" he ripped his hand from his face.

"Sorry," his silvered hair buddy turned to the group of delinquents, "he didn't mean anything by it. You see, he doesn't know when to stop. Haha," he laughed nervously. "But yeah, it really was snake eyes."

"Are you calling me a liar too?!"

"No I-"

"They're trying to cheat us out of our money!" he turned to the other delinquents.

"EEEE!" the albino stepped back. "It's not our fault you have fat fingers!"

The whole group gasped and there was dead silence. The delinquents looked at the two boys and shook their heads nervously.

"What?" the Gintoki shifted his eyes uncomfortably "Was that not supposed to be said?

"You punks!"

The overgrown teen came rushing at them when a hand held him back.

"Stop it, you fat lard," a hand grabbed the kid's arm and tossed him aside. "You'll hurt his face."

A small brunette appeared from behind him. His expressionless face was scary enough in itself.

"O-Okita," the overweight delinquent shook on the floor as he saw him. The brunette ignored him and looked at the two students trying to sneak off.

"And where are you guys going, sempai?"

"Huh?" they turned back. "Ah… I think the bell already rang. We should all hurry back to class before Shimura sensei gets mad again."

"I don't think he'll be mad," an evil smile rose from Okita's lips as he walked closer, "because I think you owe us some money. And didn't Shimura sensei always say to pay back others for what they have done for you?"

"What?" the albino scratched his head, "Shimura sensei is always saying things! You know him! And I think I already bought some strawberry milk for lunch today so I don't have anything. How about we solve this another day?"

"Stupid!" Katsura smacked his head. "Always wasting your money!" He turned to the brunette, "I'm sorry! My friend has an addiction called 'ichigo-ititis'! He can't control himself! Forgive him! We can't do anything but here," he took out money from his pocket, "Please take this!"

The brunette stared blankly at them and at the 200 yen in his hand.

"Are you playing with me, sempai?" a vein popped out and his eyes suddenly became serious. A deadly blood lust came from his red eyes. "I don't want your money," he grabbed the coins from his hand.

"Then why are you still taking it?!"

"I know you can't pay back what you owe us. 55, 000 yen,"

Gin and Katsura looked at each other. That much?!

"I-"

"I have to go the restroom! The strawberry milk is kicking in!"

The two bolted as soon as the brunette opened his mouth.

"Agh!" They fell back as they hit a brick wall and fell down right on their backsides. They were quickly surrounded by a group of guys before they could pick their selves up. Slowly trying to stand back up, they looked at what the heck they hit and froze. That wasn't a wall! That was just some huge thing made out of muscle! A bald giant that looked like he should already be paying child support stood his ground blocking them like stone.

"You can't escape," a few of the guys in the circle made way for Okita to step in. His stare locked on to the two helpless students in the circle like a death sentence. "Even if you don't have the money now, there are other ways to pay me back."

"We can work this out, Okita!" the silver haired boy put up his arms. "We've been friends right?"

"Hm? I don't remember that. But don't worry, I like you sempai. You can work for me,"

"Eh?" Gin looked at him disbelieving. Did he actually get out of that one?

"But for you, Katsura-san," he squatted down in front of the long haired kid's face, "You can do something else for me."

…..

"Why do I have to do this?!" Katsura pulled down the skirt. "Why do I have to dress like a girl?!"

He looked at the mirror in the boy's restroom at his reflection. "But I do look good though," he checked himself out striking a pose.

Gintoki made a face, "Zura,"

"It's not Zura; it's Zurako!"

You've already given yourself a name?! "Why are you really getting into it?!" Gin exploded and gave a sigh. "How do we do this…?"

…

Takasugi zipped his pants up as he finished doing his business in the restroom.

"What do you mean?" two people were arguing. "I just have to meet the guy, right?"

"There's more to it than that!"

"What?"

"Have you seen him? He only has one eye! You don't go hanging around people like that! What if there's something under those bandages and lasers come out and sends us to another dimension?!"

"Then I'll poke his other eye!"

This was getting annoying. I mean, really? They were going to argue in the restroom? He didn't want to hear this.

"Hahaha! Don't underestimate me, Gintoki! Even if it is him, I can get Takasugi in my hands with my charms!"

"Can you stop pulling the skirt like that?!"

Takasugi kicked open the stall door. "Did you say my name?"

The two students quickly turned to him taken off guard. Even if they made sure no one was here, their yelling could've been heard from the outside. Takasugi studied them and saw a silver haired guy pulling down a girl's skirt.

"Can you not do that in here?" he looked away. "There are some people that don't want to see that."

The boy quickly pulled his hands away. "No! It's not like that!"

He ignored them and went straight to the sink to wash his hands.

"Ha! You think I'd actually do something with someone like this?" the girl haughtily stepped up to him.

"What are you doing?!" the boy called after her.

"Sougo made me like this!"

Takasugi looked her up and down. She was actually pretty. With her long black hair tied at the bottom, white skin, red lips, and long legs she wasn't that bad. Her face looked at him strongly as she declared herself belonging to one of the school's most notorious guys who ran the place.

"So you're Okita's girl?" A smirk ran through his face, "I thought he'd do a better job."

"What?!"

Her surprised face made him even happier as he turned to leave.

"I'm beautiful! Come back here and say it!" She was still screaming as he went to the hallways and back out to ditch class.

…

"How could he say I was ugly?!" Katsura was still complaining.

"Drop it, Zura. It's not like you're the prettiest thing out there," Gintoki mindlessly let out as he took a bite out of his marshmallow sandwich.

"Still!"

"Don't worry," Yamazaki tried comforting him as he took a bite out of his lunch as well, red bean paste anpan this time, "you're not a girl so it's expected you're not pretty."

"You guys are just blind,"

"But still, I heard that Takasugi is someone that has a thing for girls everywhere. I think he had a Lolita fetish. Or was that someone else…?" he stopped chewing and paused. "Nope, I'm pretty sure it's him."

"Then I have to get a Lolita dress!" Katsura stood up.

"I think you're getting too excited," Kagura was just shoving food in her mouth, "You can't just appeal to a man by just dressing up with his fetish. First impressions are already gone, looks are gone, so what you need to do is impress him by doing something for him to notice you! Like showing up to every restaurant he goes to and coincidentally say 'Oh, so you go here too?!' And even order the same things as him!"

"Ah!" he gasped, "you're brilliant Kagura-chan!"

"I think that's just called stalking," Gintoki and Yamazaki went at the same time.

"You don't have to go that far," Yamazaki became the voice of reason, "Okita just wanted you to get that sword he has on his waist all the time. Just for your own protection since delinquents tend to pick on guys more and not let them escape as often, he dressed you as a girl so that if you do get caught, no one will recognize you. You don't have to get close to the guy; you just have to find the opportunity to steal the sword and run away."

The others just stared at him as he sat explaining.

"I know, it's a hassle, but-"

"Why does he even want the sword anyway? It's just a weapon. Not like it's better than the other ones like it," Kagura cut in. She slurped the noodles in a way that it splashed on other people's faces and his anpan.

"Well, his is special. All the top guys in the school carry swords as the symbol of their rank and only the top can carry around pure black swords. Takasugi has one with a yellow butterfly engraved to it specifically personalized for him since he's been one of the leaders for so long. Even though Okita can par with him in status, he actually doesn't carry one. His is black but with red on it since he still serves under Kondo-san but it's not like he wants the sword. He doesn't care about its rank status in the school, but its value to Takasugi."

….

"The other side of hope is as expected, emptiness.

Far too strong for me, the work I accept eats up all my time.

My malfunctioned head aches severely as the emptiness passes by.

It must not leave even a speck of ash behind."

Takasugi slowly let his lips slip away from the mike.

"That was good," Bansai complimented him, "though Takechi might need to speed up during the chorus."

The singer gave a smug smile.

"You always mess up!" their girl drummer scolded their bass player.

"It takes time!" he argued. "The strings are hard! It's not soft like the skin of a pretty girl."

"You're sick," she made a face at him. She looked away and noticed Takasugi leaving out the door. "Where are you going?"

"The restroom," he waved a finished tall soda can at them.

"Do you want me to come with you?!," she smiled.

"Just stay here,"

He walked out and headed to the same bathroom he always uses in the south building since it was the closest to the band room. He hummed the same song they were rehearsing to keep it in his head as he entered.

"Ah~" a stall opened as he opened the door. He immediately stopped and almost gawked at the person. "What?" the same girl he saw earlier turned to him with a straight face. "Oh, so you go here too?"

She continued on passing him in his confused state and washed her hands.

"Na, na na nana, na," she started humming the same tune he was humming. Takasugi turned and stared at her. "Kiheitai, I like them too," she looked back at him as she dried her hands and then left.

He watched her go and kept still even as the door closed. What the heck?

….

"The vertigo is so extreme, that dazzling world

Sharply runs through my chest.

Scattering about distracted, I cannot sleep tonight; my chest is creating a stir.

As for trying to swim half in doubt,

It is not so bad, deep in all these lies."

Their singer suddenly pulled away from the mike and Bansai's hand caught itself from continuing on the guitar.

"What's wrong?" he turned to him, "You don't seem to be making the same tune as you did yesterday."

Takasugi brushed him off.

"I'm hungry," he put the mike down.

"Ah! So let's go buy some lunch then!" Matako jumped from her seat. "We have been practicing for a long time."

She immediately went to Takasugi's side.

"You really have a crush on Takasugi-sama," Takechi remarked.

"What?!" she snapped at him.

Their guitarist studied their squabbling as Takasugi ignored them. There was something off about their singer's tune ever since he came back from the restroom the other day that Bansai couldn't figure out. He suddenly lost his beat to continue as well and strapped his guitar on his back.

"I guess we should take a break," he adjusted his sunglasses.

"Let's go," Takasugi started walking. Bansai quietly got up from his seat and followed.

"Wait! Shinsuke-sama!" Matako called after him.

….

A big smile spread across Hijikata's face as he ran out of class. He's been waiting for the amai-mai sandwich sale at the food stand. It was the perfect sandwich with mayo combo that he's had in all his school life! Move! He pushed through the crowd. He had to get there before it ran out! He squeezed past through a mass of people all the way to the front and found the pile of the amai-mai sandwich. There! He stretched out his arm and another hand went on top of his.

"It's mine!"

Hijikata followed the arm to a silver haired kid with dead fish eyes.

"Let go," a vein popped in his head. "I got it first."

"What are you talking about? I already claimed this before the stand even opened!"

"I don't see you name on it!"

"Lift up your hand and you'll see it! Gin-to-ki. It'll be right there!"

"Like hell I will!"

"You don't even like sweets! The 'amai' sandwich is obviously meant for me! You're satisfied with anything as long as you put mayo in it right?!"

"Mayo makes everything taste better!"

"Then go to the other line!"

"My hand got this first!"

"Actually, my hand was here first," another voice interrupted them.

The two looked to who was talking and saw that a girl did have her hand first.

"Aren't you guys familiar with ladies first?"

The two guys just looked at her pissed.

"I don't care, this is mine! You can get another one!" Hijikata pulled on the sandwhich.

"The hell that's a girl!" Gintoki pulled the sandwich closer to him. "Stop wearing that uniform and back to your old one, Zura! You can be the first one to die!"

BOOM! A huge explosion exploded clearing the crowd.

"Agh!" The explosion pushed them from the stand and all three let go of the sandwich.

"That's better," Okita calmly walked to the stand with a bazooka on his shoulder. "I'd like to buy all the amai-mai sandwich."

The man at the stand nodded and bagged all of the amai-mai.

"Hey, Sougo! You don't need that many sandwiches! You just need one!" Hijikata called out as he got up from the floor. "Leave the rest for all of us!"

An evil smile ran through Okita's face as he looked down at him. "I guess you just need to buy it from me then."

"You bastard!"

"You're probably going to make them overpriced!" Gintoki followed after Hijikata.

"Do you want to buy one?" he turned to him.

"How much are they?" Katsura stood up.

"700 yen,"

"700 yen?!" all three went at the same time. "The original is 500!"

"If the three of you work together, I'm sure you can but at least two."

"Damn it, Sougo!

Okita walked forward and picked up the beaten sandwich on the floor that they were originally fighting over.

…

"Aren't they having the special amai-mai sandwich today?" Takechi remembered.

"Ah! Isn't that Shinsuke-sama's favorite?" the blonde girl turned to Takasugi. "I'll beat down the whole crowd so we can get it!"

As they walked to the food stand a bunch of students were on the floor groaning and half dying. Takasugi stepped over a crying boy.

"700 yen?! Are you kidding?" They all turned to the scene at the stand.

"Here," a brunette tossed one of the sandwiches in his hands to a girl. "You can have this one."

"What the hell?! How come he gets one?!"

The brunette ignored them letting them fight over the sandwich and turned away. He started to walk away in their direction. As he passed Takasugi, their eyes met for a brief second then broke away. His group continued to the stand.

"Are there any more amai-mai?"

"Sorry," the man shook his head. "The young man that just left bought all of them."

"What?!" Matako banged her hands on the table. "How many was that?!"

"Ah, well," he didn't want to answer, "you can go ask him if you can get any from him. I'm sure he will at least give you one. He gave one to that girl over there," he pointed to the only other group of students still standing.

Takasugi looked to the side to who Okita had given the free sandwich to.

"Share it!" a silver haired kid grabbed at the sandwich.

"No! Weren't you guys initially not going to give this to me?!"

"You can get some too after I put some mayo on it!" another guy grabbed at her hands.

"No!" she kicked them as they kept reaching for the sandwich.

He studied her angry face as she yelled. Takasugi knew she was the only one going to get an amai-mai. She was Okita's girl after all.

Okita's girl? A smirk spread across his face. Is that right?

…..