2

Hijikata Toushiro sat up from the hotel's lobby couch after he was done smoking. He was in Matsudaira Hotel because he had to talk to Kondo about something.

He waited at the elevator to reach the ground floor. As he was waiting, he looked around the hotel, seeing many wealthy guests being tended to by hotel staffs. He didn't fail to notice a silver-haired man wearing black suit and tie surrounded by five bodyguards in the lounge.

He decided to ignore that suspicious-looking man and his bodyguards and focused on the elevator that was nearing the ground floor.

"GERMAN SUPLEX!"

Hijikata heard the voice of a woman inside the elevator scream as it reached his floor.

When the elevator tinged and its doors opened, a freaky-looking girl ran past him. He gaped at the fast-paced happenings and looked back inside the elevator.

There he saw Okita on the ground, his head bleeding.

OOOOoooOOOO

Sakata Gintoki saw his boss's daughter running towards the entrance of the hotel. He gestured the bodyguards to run after her before she gets too far away, and ordered them to bring her to the car.

The silver-haired man stepped closer to the elevator to see what happened since there was a crowd forming. He suspected that Kagura had done something again, and hoped the damage wasn't that terrible.

He peeked inside and saw a raven-haired man poking a sandy-haired boy on the ground.

That's when he noticed that the sandy-haired boy's head was bleeding. He immediately face-palmed. Damn that Kagura.

He walked closer to the two after he shooed the crowd away. The crowd, fortunately, dispersed.

"Oi sorry for what the young lady did. She's just a little girl. Forgive her, okay?" he said as his dead-fish eyes bore into the raven-haired man's metallic blue ones.

Hijikata remembered him and thought, "He was the guy from earlier. What does he have to do with this?"

Deciding to ignore his suspicion, Mayora asked, "Hey, you know the girl that did this to him?" Sougo was still staring at the ceiling, looking as if he was thinking of something deep, as his head dipped into a little pool of his own blood.

"Yeah, she's my boss's daughter. Listen here, if you keep this a secret from the media, then you can keep this," Gintoki pulled a blank check from inside his coat's pocket and handed it to Hijikata.

"Looks like the girl who did this to my kouhai came from a pretty influential family," Hijikata said, eyeing the logo of the Yato clan in the check on Gin's hand.

He pushed away the check and said, "Unfortunately for you, we don't need that."

"Huh?" Gin asked, confused. Whenever someone saw the Yato clan's family logo, they would immediately cower in fear and agree to their conditions.

"This guy here," he pointed at Okita with his thumb, "even though he looks like an idiot, he's actually the heir of this five-star hotel you're standing at. That means that he's equally influential as your boss's daughter."

Gin suddenly grinned mockingly. "Now, wait a second here, Oogushi-kun. You do know about the 'Big 3', right? The top three families of Japan: Shinra, Dakini and Yato. Everyone knows about them, even the normal, poor citizens. And right now, you are dealing with one of the Big 3. The Yato clan. I'm sure you've seen the Family Emblem in the check I'm giving you."

"Are you threatening me?" Hijikata grinned arrogantly. "We are not going to stoop so low and succumb to your wishes. You don't want us to tell the media that the Yato clan's princess is such a freaky, violent, and weird girl? Then you shouldn't have left her alone in the first place."

"What's this? You picking a fight with the Yato clan, huh?"

"Are you even part of the Yato clan?! Why don't you have the Yato emblem marked on your hand then, you white-haired bastard?"

"SILVER! It's freaking silver! And don't you question my involvement with the Yato! It's a long story, you damn mayo-smelling freak!"

"Don't you insult the greatest creation on all of mankind!"

Meanwhile, while the two were head-to-head arguing, Sougo was left inside the elevator and still staring into space. He kept on thinking how the China-girl was so strong. Never in his life did he meet a person that strong. And she's a girl, too. His reflexes didn't even kick in when she moved to attack him.

It was weird.

For the first time in his dull, boring life, he met a very interesting girl that par with his skills.

And even more interesting: She didn't turn into an M.

He suddenly sat up, blood still dripping down his face. He interrupted Gin and Hijikata's fight by tapping the latter's shoulder and said, "I'm going back to my room."

Gin and Hijikata eyed the young man as he pressed a button inside the elevator. The doors closed and the lift ascended the floors.

That was when one of the bodyguards from before appeared. "Sakata-san, Lady Kagura is already on the car. We are now waiting for you," the bodyguard said.

"'s that so? Okay, I'm going," he turned to Hijikata, reached out the blank check and said, "Take it and shut up about it."

Hijikata, still being tenacious, refused on taking the blank check. That's why Gin threw the check on the floor. After that, he walked away with the bodyguard.

"Tch."

OOOOoooOOOO

When the bodyguard opened the door to the sleek-black car, Gin saw Kagura's sour face. And her messy state.

He sighed and went inside. The driver started the engine and began driving along the busy streets of Tokyo.

"Did you know who you attacked at the elevator?" Gin started carefully.

Kagura crossed her arms in front of her and looked at the opposite direction. "An unimportant Do-S bastard," she replied begrudgingly.

"What did he do to you?" her caretaker asked calmly.

"I was drunk and he took advantage of it. He ordered me to lick his shoes and end my sentences with a 'woof'," she replied as she thought back on what happened inside the elevator angrily.

"So he attempted to have an S&M roleplay with you while you two were inside the elevator."

"That pretty much sums up everything."

"I bet you just vented your anger at him, didn't you?"

Kagura stomped her feet, making the car shake a bit. "That's not true! Don't you believe me, Gin-chan?" Kagura protested.

"Well, you are drunk. And you have short-temper. And besides, why would a man suddenly let out his sexual fantasies on a stranger inside the elevator?" the older man stated.

"Well he just did, okay! Why would you believe him more than me, huh?!" Kagura persisted and looked away again. "Gin-chan you are so stupid!"

"That boy you attacked happens to be the heir of the Matsudaira Hotel. He is going to be an important business partner," the dead-fish eyed man informed her.

She stubbornly said, "So?"

"Now is not the time to be 'The rebellious teenage daughter'," Gin chided after a sigh.

"You won't understand!" Kagura turned to him, tears forming on her eyes, "Just when I thought that today is going to be great… Hongo broke up with me!"

Gin rested his elbow on the car door and looked at the moving view outside. "Yeah, we figured since you were in a bad mood. And you're a bit drunk."

"I-I thought he was going to propose to me… He even booked a special place in that hotel's restaurant…" she said and started sobbing. "But he… he… GIN-CHAN!" Kagura buried her face in Gintoki's chest and cried her heart out.

Gin couldn't do anything but pat her head in a fatherly way. He raised a suspicion about Hisashi. He knew the boy, and believes that something must have happened to make him break up with his surrogate daughter. "It must be something extremely important."

"I love him, Gin-chan… I love him."

OOOOoooOOOO

A girl in a pink nurse outfit gently covered Sougo's head with plain white bandages. The sadist prince was patiently sitting on his bed as she continued to tend to his wound. After she was done, she packed her things up, gave her boss a little smile, and left him in his suite alone.

His train of thoughts continued on circling around China-girl. His hand reached towards his bandaged head. If a mere girl could do this much damage to him, then that is a very special girl.

"A special girl, huh?"

Okita's eyes widened. He stood up as he remembered his talk with Kondo earlier.

"That's right! I still have to find a guinea pig who'd stupidly agree to take this hotel. If I could pass down the responsibility of being this hotel's owner, I would be free," he thought.

He needed to find a suitable heir.

Then, Okita noticed a rolled-up newspaper by the kitchen counter. He walked closer and un-rolled it. That's when he saw a picture of Hisashi Hongo on one page. It was stated there that he was a prodigy who topped his class in Harvard University and had graduated at the tender age of 16. The newspaper listed all of his achievements, and Sougo scanned all of it.

After he was done reading the article, he put down the newspaper and smirked in satisfaction. "There's my man," he mumbled.

OOOOoooOOOO

A blank check dropped on Kondo's desk.

"Huh? What's this, Toushi?" Kondo asked as he takes a closer look at the check. Then his eyes widened. "Hey! This emblem!"

"That's right," Hijikata said as he sat down on the couch in front of his former boss. "It's a blank check from the Yato clan."

"And it already has Umibouzu's signature! We could cash out a lot of money if we want! How did you get this?!" the gorilla-man turned to Hijikata with mixed excitement and disbelief.

"Sougo was attacked by the Yato princess and as compensation, they gave us this check. Which can also translate to: 'Don't you dare tell the media about this or we'll kill you.' Or something like that," the mayonnaise-addict said calmly.

"Huh? The princess attacked Sougo? Why would she do that?" Kondo asked. "More importantly, what is an important member of the Yato clan doing in this hotel? Why are we not informed?"

"I looked around the records of the hotel. It said there that one Hisashi Hongo had booked a table for two in the hotel restaurant. The waitress in-charged confirmed the identity of the girl he was with. It's the same girl."

"Oh so she had a reservation under a different name… But what about the hotel staffs or the other guests? Didn't they recognize the princess? And again, why would she attack Sougo?"

"Hisashi booked the most private place in the restaurant. The princess probably wore shades or some sort of disguise on her way to the restaurant. As for the reason why she attacked Sougo, I do not really know. Only the two people involved would know," Hijikata answered.

"Kids these days. You never know what's going on in their minds," Kondo shook his head as he placed the blank check inside one of his drawers. "Since the Yato clan asked us politely, we are going to keep quiet about the incident. If we let out the news that Lady Kagura attacked someone, it would be a great scandal for both their clan and our company."

"… Wow, Kondo-san. You sound like a professional."

"… And not only that, the Yato clan could wipe out all of us in a second," the President added.

"So we're really just going to let it go? Tsk. It would be like swallowing our pride."

"Now, now, Toshi. Don't be like that! Think positively! And speaking of positively, my marriage with Otae-san already has a date~"

"Good for you. Wait. The gorill—I mean Shimura agreed to your proposal?!"

"YES! Here is the proof!" Kondo proudly showed him his ring finger.

"Wow. How did you hypnotize her?"

Kondo suddenly turned teary-eyed. "How could you say that, Toushi?! You are so mean! I did not hypnotize her!"

Hijikata smirked. "I know, Kondo-san. I'm only kidding. Congratulations."

"T-Toshi… TOSHI!" Kondo jumped towards Hijikata and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! YOU DON'T KNOW HOW HAPPY I AM TO FINALLY GET A YES FROM OTAE-SAN!"

"You probably told Sougo about this already, didn't you?"

"Yes," Kondo wiped the snot from his face and nodded, "I also told him about his takeover of the Matsudaira Hotel."

Hijikata looked away. "… I see."

"So," Kondo changed the topic as he let go of Hijikata. "How are you and Mitsuba-dono?"

"Actually, that's why I came here," the former demonic vice-president of the hotel said. "You see, she's uh…

… pregnant."

To be continued.


A/N: Hisashi Hongo is Kagura's (ex) lover?! Okita wants Hisashi Hongo to take over the hotel?! Mitsuba's pregnant?! What will happen from here on? Why don't we find out next chapter?

Thank you so much for the reviews and alerts and the ones that pm-ed me in tumblr ^^ I live because of the readers! Don't worry, I'm currently writing chapter 8 (yes, chapter 8!), so expect regular updates :D

Gintama © Hideaki Sorachi


OMAKE

After leaving the hotel restaurant, a boy named Hisashi Hongo immediately took a cab and went to a hospital. He stared at the building with a pained look in his eyes.

"Kagura…" he mumbled weakly as he went inside.