Tsukuyo was sitting under the tree. It was a beautiful day. The summer heat isn't going to start for a while, so she used that precious time to gather some flowers. She was practicing making a flower crown, but it was to no avail. She was never good at it. It was truly amazing how she was never good at doing "girly stuff" as other women called it. To her, it was just an interesting pastime. Kunai and the art of camouflage were also girly stuff in her opinion. Still, the fact that she was bad at something, made her quite uneasy. Today she was going to put a stop to it. She was going to finally learn how to make a flower crown.
"You're doing it wrong."
The voice startled Tsukuyo. She dropped the flowers in surprise and quickly grabbed the kunai she always carried with her. Turning around she saw no one. She felt chills run down her spine. If there was no one here, then why did she hear that voice?
"That is not a good way to do it either."
She finally realized that the voice was coming from the tree. Carefully, she lifted her head and she saw a boy, not much older than her, sprawled on one of the branches, hugging a katana.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"Oi, calm down. It was you who interrupted my sleep with your awful singing."
"I wasn't singing, I was huming."
"Same thing, really. It's still awful."
The boy threw his katana to the ground and jumped after it. On the ground he eyed her again.
"Anyway, go away, this is my spot."
"No it's not, I have been coming here for three months now."
"Yes I know. And for those three months you haven't made a single flower crown."
Tsukuyo pouted. The nerve of that boy! Like he knows any better how to make girly stuff. She smirked.
"Well, if you are so smart then you make it." She had him in her hands. No way in hell he knows how to make girly stuff.
Much to her surprise the boy quietly took the flowers from the ground where she left them and started working.
"You need to intertwine them here. That's why all you tried to make split apart. But if you do this, it will be much more stable and you can even put some larger flowers in it." He stated.
She wanted to be angry at him, but he was so immersed into making a flower crown that she couldn't help but stare at his hands. They were full of callouses, probably from wielding that big katana he's always carrying with himself. When he finished the crown he offered it to her.
"It's for you…"
Blushing, she tried to say thanks, but she just couldn't say the words. Just before taking it, he snatched it and put it on a branch of the tree.
"…Only if you can make one the same as I did." He teased her.
"Ugh, you're an asshole!" She said, throwing a kunai at him. He ducked quickly and the kunai ended embedded into the tree.
"Whoa, that thing is sharp!"
"Yeah, it is, so watch how you treat me." She said triumphantly.
"I never said I won't help you. Just that you won't learn if I keep making them for you."
They spent whole morning together, him teaching her how to make it. Soon, a dozen of them were lying around them, and they were laughing.
"Gintoki!" A voice rang through the air. The boy stood up quickly.
"Shit, it's Shouyou-sensei. He realized I skipped the lunch duty! I gotta go, see ya some other time! Bye!" And he ran away from the voice.
Tsukuyo smiled at the running figure of the boy.
"So, his name is Gintoki."
Months passed. Every week, Tsukuyo met Gintoki under the tree. She became much better at making flower crowns, and he also taught her how to make rabbit traps and catch fish. Some days they just talked. She told him how she was training to become a kunoichi to protect Hinowa, the young woman who adopted her. He told her about Shouyou, the man who ran an orphanage in the village nearby. Gintoki also went to school there and had two friends, Takasugi and Zura. He often told her how stupid they were but she knew deep down that he cared for them.
Tsukuyo realized she had a crush on him that day at the river. Gintoki was throwing pebbles in the river, trying to make them cross to the other side, while she was looking at her reflection in the river. That scar was ugly. He would never like her back because of it. She was ugly. Tsukuyo covered the scar with her hand. Well, maybe she would still be beautiful if it just wasn't there.
"Hey, Gintoki.."
"Mmmm?" He asked, focusing on making the next pebble finally reach the goal.
"Am I… Beautiful?" She asked suddenly.
He glanced at her and went back to his little game.
"I guess."
"You didn't even look at me properly!" She snapped.
"I look at you every week."
"But," she began, "if this scar…"
"The scar has nothing to do with the fact that you're beautiful. It's badass, I like it." Gintoki said.
She smiled.
The next week she caught a cold. She couldn't come.
Week after that he didn't turn up. Neither the week after that one. Tsukuyo waited patiently. She told herself, if he doesn't show up, she'll search for him at the orphanage.
Going only by what he said about the orphanage, she searched down the road. The villagers didn't say anything; they just shook their heads sadly. When she reached the supposed orphanage, she couldn't move. The whole building was burnt to the ground. She could still see the traces of the fight, but it has mostly vanished with the rains.
Tsukuyo looked around. Gintoki was nowhere in sight. She heard someone moving behind her and turned only to see a boy with long hair wearing couple of katanas in his arms. He probably stopped to look at the burnt building.
"Are you looking for someone?" He asked politely.
"I, err…" She began. How is she going to explain to him? She couldn't find the right words to do it.
"Oi, Zura, I'm going to leave you behind!" Another voice came from up the road. Another boy was holding some armor plates.
"It's not Zura, it's Katsura. And there's a girl here." The long haired boy stated calmly.
Zura? He must be Gintoki's friend. But what are they doing with all those stuff?
"Err… Gintoki, where is he?" Tsukuyo managed to say, ignoring the blush that formed on her cheeks.
"Gintoki? Why are you asking that?" Zura asked. He showed his pinky. "Are you his, you know?"
"N-no, I'm just a friend." She stuttered.
He eyed her for a moment. Then, apparently deciding she wasn't that much of a threat he motioned for her to come with him.
"He's staying at my place. I'm heading there now. I'm Katsura by the way, and this other guy is Takasugi."
Takasugi nodded in greeting and continued walking in silence.
"Erm, could you tell me what happened here?" Tsukuyo asked.
"To be honest, we don't know either. That morning we only found the school burnt to the ground and Gintoki unconscious and tied up. He keeps saying that they took our sensei away, but I don't know who were those people. We reckon that if we join the war, we could rescue him…" Katsura went on and on. Tsukuyo stopped walking.
"Join the war?" She repeated.
"Well, I think Gintoki can explain it all better than me." Katsura continued. "Oh look, we're here. Gintoki, you have a visitor. I'll just leave you two alone."
Tsukuyo waited patiently for Gintoki. When he stepped out of the house, she gasped in surprise.
He had bags under his eyes. Pale colored face showed he lost plenty of weight in these two weeks. Upon seeing her, he just shrugged. She decided to speak first.
"Your friend says you're going to join the joui."
"Mhm." He said.
"Aren't you, I don't know, too young?"
"Nah, we'll just lie about our age. They'll admit us anyway. They need people."
"Why?" She asked, suddenly angry.
He approached her swiftly and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Because, Tsukuyo, he's somewhere there! He's in prison. I have to rescue him. He rescued me once. I can't allow them to take him away from me."
She has never seen him show that much emotion and it surprised her. There's no way he'll change his mind.
"When are you leaving?" Choking back tears, she asked.
"Tomorrow morning, before the sun comes out."
"Oh." She paused, and then, as if remembered something she asked. "Can I see you then?"
"No."
"Mhm. Then I guess this is goodbye." She turned to leave. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a tight hug.
"I'll come back. Once I find him, I"ll bring him back here and I'll come back, I promise."
"You promise?" She couldn't hold her tears anymore.
"Yes."
She pulled a hair out and tied it around his finger. Gintoki watched her, amused. When she finished she giggled.
"It's a trick Gran-gran Suzu taught me. She says that this way you are bound to keep your promise."
He looked at his hand and smiled.
"Was she by any chance…"
"Shut up."
As they parted that evening, she couldn't help but smile a bit. He was always so nice to her.
"Gran-gran also said that most men don't keep their promises though."
AN: OKAY FUN FACT - GOING TO WAR IS TOTALLY A DULL BUSINESS! Let me quote my dad when asked how does that thing work.
"That's a load of bs. The moment the public announcement is made, you just sit at home and wait for the courier to arrive who will tell you where to report. You pack couple of things and by the evening, you're asking your fellow soldiers what's for dinner. Mind you I told your mother 'Bye hon, I'm off to war' and she literally told me that I can go f*** myself if i want and she doesn't care."
AND NOW BACK TO STORY: *ahem* I had to change the AU slightly, to be a bit angsty (even tho it's not really) and I guess a bit of explanation is in order: This is an AU where Tsukuyo and Gintoki met before he left for Joui wars. She's training to be a kunoichi in Yoshiwara (it's a load of barnacles I know, but it's a custom AU so I don't really care) and to protect our most beloved courtesan ever, Hinowa, our beautiful queen. Everything else should be ok.
Anyway, this is dedicated thabluesheep because she asked for this beautiful AU and I am forever grateful ,because suddenly, 500 words became 1600 and it's only possible because she picked good stuff. Kudos to you!
That it! Have a nice day!
Yell out!