Days in the Life of a Shinsengumi Freeloader

Author's Note: And chapter 2. Time to start thinking of chapter names.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Gintama belongs to Hideaki Sorachi.


Life in the Shinsengumi headquarters was never boring; the members were often rowdy and noisy, and it was common for Mitsuba to be woken up early in the morning because of a squabble just outside her door. But even though she did enjoy the company of her caretakers, it often got somewhat irritating, and there were times that she wished for some peace and quiet.

Which was why, when it was announced that she would be moving in with the Yorozuya Gin, she began to dread the prospect of living. She knew that the two who lived there, as well as their regular visitor, were boisterous and loud, and for a moment, she considered trying to request a place somewhere else in the building.

Of course, when Mitsuba learned that the reason she had to move in with the Yorozuya was because the Shinsengumi could no longer protect her, her mood became downcast; if the Shinsengumi could no longer protect her, that meant that something big was happening, something that she could do nothing about.

When she arrived at the apartment/office of the Yorozuya (which was supposed to only house one person, but had somehow become the residence of two and a large dog), Mitsuba was surprised to see no one around. The perm-headed leader and his adopted "daughter" were absent; the only other living being in the apartment was the dog, Sadaharu.

And Sadaharu was sleeping, meaning that Mitsuba couldn't even talk to him. On the one hand, she was relieved that she would be able to get some peace and quiet for once; on the other hand, she'd hyped herself up for yet another loud afternoon, and was, despite herself, a bit disappointed.

Plus, there was always the issue of dog hair. Mitsuba was, naturally, rather wary of what that would do to her lungs.

With a sigh, the elder Okita resigned herself to sitting in the main living area of the apartment and staring out the window at the city. It was a nice change of pace from the daily shenanigans that took place at the Shinsengumi headquarters, and the view was pretty nice for a two-story building; the only sounds that broke the silence were the noises of the city outside, and the occasional loud snore from Sadaharu.

And then, the silence was abruptly shattered by a loud crash from the ceiling above Mitsuba.

A lavender-haired young woman had fallen from the ceiling and landed right on the table in the middle of the room. As soon as she landed, she began searching for something, though Mitsuba couldn't figure out what at first. Then, as the mysterious woman's searching became more frantic and she muttered something about glasses, the answer became very obvious.

Having recovered from her initial shock at the intrusion, Mitsuba stood and went to pick up the set of glasses that she presumed the newcomer was looking for - somehow, they had ended up on the front desk, even though there was some distance between that and the table.

As Mitsuba handed over the glasses, the newcomer offered her a bright smile. "Oh, thank you! I have trouble seeing without my glasses, you see, so-"

And then, as the lavender-haired woman laid freshly-bespectacled eyes upon Mitsuba, her gaze darkened.

"...Hey, you're that girl Matsudaira wanted me to look after. What was your name again... Okita? Why are you here? Did you come to steal Gin away from me?"

Mitsuba took a few steps back, alarmed by the stranger's sudden hostility. "N-no, I'm already taken. Sakata isn't really my type any-"

And before she could finish her sentence, the mysterious ninja lady tackled Mitsuba down to the floor, hugging her as if she was some sort of large teddy bear.

"You're already taken, you say? Oh, I remember now... I think Matsudaira said something about you being in a... kind of a relationship with the vice-commander of the Shinsengumi, and... oh, yes, that reminds me! Since you know how these things work, I can ask you for some advice."

"What's... your name?" Mitsuba asked, fighting to remain calm; not only was this woman loud and excitable, but she was also rather strong, and it was a little difficult to breathe in her tight embrace.

"Ah, excuse me." The ninja stood up and dusted herself off. "My name is Ayame Sarutobi. I've been staying here for some time, keeping an eye on Gin- what's with that look? Are you going to call me a stalker again?"

Mitsuba pulled herself to her feet and shook her head. "...What? I wasn't saying anything. What's gotten you so excited, Sarutobi?"

"...Oh, nothing." Ayame coughed, in an obvious attempt to cover up her previous behavior. "It's just... everyone says that I'm stalking Gin, but really, I'm just looking after him and trying to keep him safe from any suspicious women that might seduce him and... and poison him in his sleep, or something. After all, I don't want anything so horrible to happen to my future husband!"

"Future... husband?" Mitsuba tilted her head, confused. "You're planning to marry him? I don't think he's mentioned you before..."

Ayame shrugged. "Oh, that makes sense. Actually, it's kind of related to what I wanted to talk to you about... you see, um, to be honest, I... can't really seem to get his attention. I mean, I'm always worried about him, but he just blows me off whenever we meet... it didn't bother me before, but lately I've been wondering if he... even cares about me."

The bespectacled ninja's shoulders slumped as she spoke; clearly, this was a source of emotional turmoil for her, and despite her strange attitude and somewhat annoying demeanor, Mitsuba couldn't help but feel a bit bad for her. It was evident that the reason Ayame had seen Mitsuba as a threat at first was because of envy... and likewise, it was just as obvious that after she found out that Mitsuba was taken, Ayame wanted to ask for some relationship advice.

It was an interesting conundrum indeed. While Mitsuba was hardly surprised that Ayame's affections weren't mutual, she still wanted to do something to help.

"...Well, I'm not sure if I'll be able to help much, but..." Mitsuba took a seat by the table, then glanced over at Ayame. "From what I know about him, Sakata is... a lot like my boyfriend, Toushirou. They're both loud and boisterous and like playing hard-to-get... and I've heard that they also get into fights often because of their similarities."

Ayame sat beside Mitsuba, nodding along with the words of her new companion. "So... what do you think I'm doing wrong? Do you think that... maybe he just doesn't like my type? Maybe I'm too clingy or overprotective?"

"Most likely, yes," Mitsuba replied. "But that's not to say it's hopeless. If you calmed down a little, and allowed him his own space... he might be more inclined to get along with you. And... I don't think he hates you. A man like him wouldn't tolerate someone he hated, so really, all you need to do is try not to bother him too much."

"Well, I'm still really worried about him..." Ayame pondered Mitsuba's advice, rubbing her chin. "I mean, he's the type to get into trouble, and even though he's more observant than he looks, he can still be fooled... but he seems to be able to take care of himself."

And, having reached an answer to her woes, Ayame turned to hug Mitsuba again - this time, she made sure not to squeeze quite so tightly, as she just happened to remember at that moment that Mitsuba was still sickly. "Thank you for your advice, Ms. Okita! I'll gladly do anything to repay the favor, so if you ever need help, uh... come over here and call for me! I'll be... watching over Gin!"

Mitsuba breathed a long sigh; it felt as if everything she'd told the crazy ninja went right over her head. "...Ah, I do have one thing I'd like to talk to you about. It's about relationships as well..."

"Huh?" Ayame let go of Mitsuba and sat back down. "You need relationship advice, too? I'm... not really the one to ask, but I'll try my best, since you helped me out!"

"It's not so much advice as..." Mitsuba looked Ayame up and down, inspecting her attire. "...Well, guessing from your clothing and your... hiding place..." She glanced briefly up at the hole in the ceiling. "...you're a ninja, right? I... don't get to see my boyfriend often, because one of his subordinates - my brother, actually - keeps trying to get between us. Sougo... doesn't like Toushirou, so they get into fights a lot... and, well, my brother is also using Toushirou's smoking as an excuse to keep him away from me."

"...I don't see how I can help you with this," Ayame said, confused. "I'm assuming that you don't want me to kill your brother, so... what can I do?"

A hint of a smile appeared on Mitsuba's face. "You know the police commissioner, correct? I recall that you spoke of him when you first... appeared. Maybe you could talk to him about this? I'm not sure how much good it'll do, but... Sougo is kind of stubborn, and no matter how much I tell him to lay off, he doesn't listen. If there was someone else a bit higher up that could talk to him about it... maybe he'd be more inclined to listen."

Ayame considered this for a moment; then, she gave a quick nod. "Matsudaira isn't a very good listener himself, but I'll do what I can. And... don't worry about payment, okay? I'll just take your relationship advice as payment! Well then, unless there's something else you need, I'll be off now. If something happens, ask the dog for help - he may look cute and cuddly, but he's really quite vicious!"

"No, I don't need anything else... thank y-" Before Mitsuba could finish her sentence, the lavender-haired ninja was gone; Sadaharu lifted his head and blinked, apparently having noticed that someone was talking about him.

Mitsuba looked at Sadaharu, blinked twice at him, and then twitched. Ayame was right... though the dog looked harmless enough, there was something about him that indicated the heart of a monster was hidden beneath all that white fur. Luckily for Mitsuba, Sadaharu seemed to understand that she wasn't as tough as his owners; before she knew it, the fluffy creature was sitting beside her, nuzzling her and licking her face.

"Ah... Sadaharu?" Mitsuba addressed the dog by the name that the daughter of the Yorozuya had given him; she'd heard it a few times before, but she hadn't seen the dog enough times to actually use it. "Could you please... not get so close? Dog fur is bad for my health..."

Sadaharu obliged, though he didn't move away from her; with a sigh, Mitsuba began running her hand through the dog's fur. Even without all the noise and action that made life in the Shinsengumi headquarters interesting, it was still impossible to get bored with the characters that lived around Edo.


Author's Notes: I'm sorry, I had to include Sacchan. As I already mentioned, she's my favorite girl in the cast (with Mitsuba running a very close second). I apologize if I made her too hyper or ditzy. :x

And now, time to ask the readers what they think about certain things! Some people may already know this, but I'm really more of a Gin/Sacchan kind of person, and Tsukuyo still won't be coming into the story for some time. This ties into the 'other pairings' mentioned in the fic's description... I should probably elaborate on that a bit more sometime, but for now, question time!

1. Should I put Sacchan with Gin? (This is more of a "would you mind" sort of thing, since I know it isn't -exactly- the most popular ship, as most people prefer Gin with Tsukky, but I don't really ship that myself, so.)

2. If you didn't notice already, this is based around the start of the Shinsengumi Rebellion. I am a massive and shameless Kamotarou Itou fangirl, but I have already used up my deus ex machina savings with keeping Mitsuba alive. Would it be too much of a stretch to keep Kamo alive too? And would you guys hate me for it? (I already asked this elsewhere, but I want more opinions.)

3. Another shipping question. Would it be okay if I put Shinpachi with Otsu? I -know- it's a really freaking weird and totally out-there ship, but as you probably already guessed, I love freaking weird and totally out-there ships (as long as they're still vaguely plausible).

And with that being said, see you around next chapter! Hopefully.