I finally got part 2 up, yay! It took longer than expected (Christmas kind of got in the way) but I hope you like it :)

It had been a week since that kiss and Gintoki would be lying if he said he didn't miss Hijikata. The Vice-Commander had stayed for a while that day, bickering and doing the usual whenever he encountered all three Yorozuya, but there were some small changes. He lingered next to Gintoki and whenever the kids weren't paying attention his eyes would flicker down to Gintoki's lips. Looking back on it, Gintoki thought the whole thing was kind of cute.

But that had pretty much been all that had happened. They'd barely seen each other the next day and not at all the day after. Hijikata had sent Yamazaki over on the fourth day to tell Gintoki that he was fine but would be lying low for a few days and then they'd be going on a raid. That was fine. Gintoki could handle all that. What he couldn't handle was the fact that he knew the raid had gone on (half of Edo probably knew thanks to the massive explosions) but he still hadn't heard anything back from anyone.

This, of course, had led to Gintoki loitering outside the Shinsengumi barracks. Or it would have done if he hadn't seen the state that everyone was in. Every single Shinsengumi member he could see had at least one bandage somewhere and something about it was unnerving. So now he was loitering inside the barracks. Perhaps loitering was the wrong word. Marching around trying to find someone who knew where to find the Gorilla or Souichiro-kun was closer to the truth. He'd already tried Hijikata's room and it was empty and that gave Gintoki a bad feeling, a twisting in his gut. Something had gone wrong.

Striding round a corner he had to jump to one side to avoid crashing into a shorter man who then apologised profusely. It was only when the shorter man looked up did each of them realise who they were talking to.

"Jimmy-kun, long time no see."

"It's Yamazaki, danna."

Gintoki took in the situation again. Jimmy-kun was fidgeting and had a collection of different size files in his arms. There was only one person in the entire Shinsengumi who did that much paperwork. "Need help delivering those to your chain-smoking, mayonnaise-guzzling representative?"

"You're more shrewd than people give you credit for, danna. But whenever you ask for something, there's always a price."

"Do you have that little faith in me?"

"Yes."

"Well that's just rude." Gintoki frowned slightly. "In this case, my destination and price would be the same. And you could get something else done. Play badminton or whatever it is you do these days."

Yamazaki was finding it harder to disagree. "Fine, but only because I can't be bothered traipsing over there." He held out the files. "Take these to the Vice-Commander and tell him not to overwork himself. The last part's from Kondo-san. Thanks, danna."

He had turned to go but Gintoki spoke up in confusion. "Wait, traipsing over to where?"

Yamazaki looked back, just as confused. "Didn't you know, danna? He's in the hospital."

Gintoki was still fuming when he arrived at the hospital but had calmed down by the time he was stood outside the room in the hospital which he had been directed to. Taking a deep breath, he slid open the door and glared down at the man in the bed. He was in the process of eating a bowl of god-knows-what covered in mayonnaise but Gintoki's eyes immediately fell on the layers of bandages covering his torso and arms and the slightly stiff way he was sat. He felt his glare darken but he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Hijikata looked up and frowned, placing the bowl to one side. "Yorozuya? I was expecting Yamazaki." Then he seemed to notice the dark look on the other man's face and something that might have been guilt crossed his face. "Are you angry that I didn't tell you?"

"No." The reply was simple and short, but Hijikata knew there was more to it.

"Okay, are you angry that you had to come over here?"

"This isn't a guessing game, and no."

Hijikata sighed. Honestly, he'd kind of missed the Yorozuya and had been looking forward to when they could go back to bickering and maybe continue from where they left off a week ago. But this damn raid might have ruined that.

Gintoki spoke up again, still from the doorway. "How'd you get hurt?"

"A raid."

"I know that." The reply was shorter than it would have been usually, but Gintoki was feeling too on edge to care. "Who did it? Did you let your guard down?"

Hijikata considered throwing his guessing game comment from earlier back in his face, but couldn't bring himself to do it. "Some random Joi. And no, I was protecting someone." When Gintoki's features faded into a neutral expression and he finally came into the room and sat down, that should have been fine. But Hijikata still felt something was off. Gintoki had thrown the reports down on the table next to him which he would never have normally done for fear of having to clear up the papers if they fell. Truly, he was lazy to the core.

He was right. Gintoki was silently fuming inside. He'd say that it wasn't jealousy, but he'd be lying.

"Who was the lucky guy?"

"Huh? Who did I save?" Hijikata paused. "Sougo."

"I would have thought he could handle himself."

"He can, but not while trying to escape a falling building and fighting Joi."

Hijikata shifted slightly, trying to ease the ache in his side, and this was when Gintoki finally snapped. "So let me get this straight. You nearly died trying to save some other guy and you didn't even think to tell me?"

"Should I have done?" He regretted the words as soon as they came out of his mouth. Gintoki leaned over in the chair, placing his arms on either side of Hijikata to keep him there and to demand attention, but his gaze was anything but affectionate.

Even so, he spoke quietly. "How am I meant to feel, huh? The guy I like kisses me, then disappears to go and do his job. Fine. But he nearly dies, trying to save someone, and then just forgets about me."

"I didn't-"

"I'm not done." Gintoki leaned forward again, brushing their noses together. His tone softened. "I know. It's not your fault, I would have done it too. But frankly, I'm pissed off. You shouldn't have gotten hurt in the first place. If you're there to save someone, you need someone there to save you."

"You can't come on raids with me, Yorozuya." Hijikata looked away for a moment. The conflicting feelings here were driving him mad. It was intimate, but he felt like a scolded child.

Gintoki noticed his discomfort, but didn't move. Why should he? If their roles had been reversed, Hijikata would have done something similar, just in his own, shouting-someone-to-death way. He hummed, thinking. "Then, if I can't go on raids with you because I'm not Shinsengumi, I'll go as your personal bodyguard!" A slight sparkle appeared in his eyes. "Yeah! Then I'll still be Yorozuya, and I can jump in if things get really bad!"

Yet again, Hijikata knew the trainwreck was coming as soon as he opened his mouth without considering the consequences. "But I don't need you." That sparkle died as quickly as it had come and Gintoki made to get up. "Ah, no, wait! That's not what I meant!" In his rush to reach for Gintoki, to pull him back and explain himself, Hijikata got tangled in the hospital blankets and fell to one side. It just happened to be the side which he had been stabbed on. He winced, but knew Gintoki was hovering nearby, waiting to see what he was allowed to do, so he carried on. "I'm always gonna get hurt, the same way you are. If I asked to help out every time you nearly died, I'd never stop. I'm no different. Every time I leave the barracks, or even every time I put on that uniform, I'm putting myself in danger. So I'm not gonna ask for you to watch my back all the time. I'm gonna ask you to help me limp onto the next battlefield."

Gintoki was quiet for a moment, his face blank. Calculating. Then he leaned down and straightened Hijikata up again, one hand lingering on his chest and the other on his face. Absently, Gintoki brushed a stray eyelash off of Hijikata's cheek. "That was oddly poetic of you, Hijikata-kun."

"Shut up." He scowled and would have folded his arms if there weren't a permy obstruction in the way.

"Never." Gintoki kissed him softly and briefly on the lips, just a kiss for kiss's sake. "So let me get this straight. You want me to - how to put this - be your arms and legs while you recover?"

Hijikata nodded slowly, wondering where this was going.

"Two questions." He held up a finger. "1. Would you do that for me forever, say if I happened to lose a leg?"

"Don't get any ideas, Yorozuya."

"Awwww." His pout quickly faded into a smirk as he held up two fingers. "Do you have to stay overnight?"

"Huh?" Hijikata had to think back to what he'd been told. "No, I don't think so, there's a doctor at the barracks who can do most things they can here."

"Then why are you still here?"

"I can't really walk yet and I don't want a wheelchair." Hijikata didn't like where this was going. Not one bit.

"I'm your new legs, and I can walk just fine." Gintoki pulled back the covers dramatically and slid his hands under Hijikata's legs and back.

"Uhhh..."

"How is most comfortable for you, bridal, fireman's lift or like I'm going to fuck you against a wall?"

Hijikata expelled so much air so quickly it was like he'd been punched in the gut and his face suddenly felt much warmer.

Gintoki came to his own conclusions, as he often did. "Last one it is."

"Wait-" Too late. Gintoki had lifted him up, carefully avoiding all the places he could see bandages, and held him close.

"Put your arms round me." They were so close they could hear each other breathing and feel the low rumble as they spoke.

"No, bastard." Why was his face so warm?

"If you don't, you'll fall."

That made sense, but Hijikata, the Demon Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi's pride was at stake here! Then again, if he fell, he'd probably have to spend more time with the bastard because his injuries had been aggravated. Damn. Slowly, he wrapped his arms around the back of Gintoki's neck and tried to hold back the fluffy feeling that he got when Gintoki smiled broadly at him. "Please don't do this again." Even Hijikata wasn't sure he meant that, and he'd said it.

Gintoki shifted so that he could speak into the ear of the man he was carrying. "Why not? I've still not fucked you against a wall yet." He breathed the words, making sure Hijikata felt the promise behind them.

As soon as he could, Hijikata buried his face into Gintoki's shoulder to hide his embarrassment, but he couldn't help that little spark of excitement which flashed somewhere between his heart and his stomach. Didn't mean he was going to lift his head up any time soon though.

Gintoki put on his best taxi-driver impersonation. "Where would you like to go, sir?"

"Barracks." The reply was muffled, but Gintoki still understood.

"Alright, off we go!" As an afterthought, he grabbed the reports he'd tossed on the side. He had been asked to deliver them and he never liked leaving a job unfinished. Sliding open the door he paused, blocked by the two men standing in the door. Well, a boy-sadist and a gorilla. The gorilla was crying and muttering something along the lines of how beautiful love was while the sadist was just blankly looking on.

"Oi, Hijikata-san. If I had to see this, I'd rather you left me to die next time."

"Next time I will, Sougo!"

"Don't," Gintoki chimed in, "Otherwise I'd have no reason to do this. Now, let's go princess!" He began to amble down the corridor, whistling to himself.

"Oi! Who you calling princess?" There was no response but slightly strained whistling, as though Gintoki was holding back laughter. "YOROZUYAAAAA!"

Sougo glanced at his gorilla boss. "Kondo-san, didn't this happen last time?"

"No, Sougo. This is completely different."

Sougo looked back down the corridor. "Sure. As different as you and a gorilla."

"What you trying to say Sougo? You'll make me cry!"

"You're already crying, Kondo-san." Sougo set off after the danna and Hijikata-san, determined to prank them at some point on their journey, and all the gorilla could do was follow, quietly crying.