Gintoki woke up late in the afternoon, sore but refreshed. He heard some noises from the office, no doubt the kids had come home. He heard approaching steps and his door was ripped open.

"Gin-san, you were smoking!" said Shinpachi in an accusing tone. It wasn't even a question, it was a statement. Gintoki cringed at the loud words, and his head gave a warning throb.

"Could you lower the volume, Shinpachi? What's with this false accusation?" Gintoki asked, slightly annoyed at the remnants of his migraine. He reached for the glass of water that was next to him.

"Mother is really angry with you, you stupid boy." Kagura rushed in to accompany Shinpachi in a collective scolding of their boss.

"I don't get it, could you quit trying to frame me with crimes I didn't do?" Gintoki said in a lazy tone and gazed at the glass he held. It was full, yet he remembered gulping it all down before he fell asleep.

"Don't act innocent, the living room smells of cigarettes more than a tabbacco shop." Kagura crossed her arms, demanding explanation and confession.

"Oh." Realisation hit Gintoki, and it hit him hard.

"Don't oh us! So it was really you? Did you send us away so you could poison yourself?" Shinpachi's tone was not only accusing, but there was a hint of hurt in his voice asif he was just betrayed.

"Unforgivable!" chirped Kagura.

"Oi, oi. Gin-san doesn't smoke, so stop with the lies already. It was a customer." Recollection slowly filled in the missing parts of his day. He felt wretched and miserable in the morning, knowing it was going to be one of those days. Like a damn girl on period, Gintoki felt the approaching migraine and as a precaution he sent his subordinates off. Mainly because he wanted to survive it by resting quietly, and also because he didn't want the kids to see him vulnerable like that. His migraines were rare but they were really severe, and there was no medication that could ease it.

"That sounds like a flat-out lie. It's evident that you slept in here all day."

Gintoki glanced at Shinpachi. The boy's expression was so honest that beneath all the accusation and doubt he saw traces of worry. Meanwhile Kagura had an actresses' attitude of fake disgust written all over her face. She spat on the floor maliciously.

"Useless ossan. If you wanted to smoke, you could have just told so. You're stinking enough, it wouldn't make much difference."

"Once more, I tell you I didn't smoke." Gintoki took a sip from the water. He was through the hardest phase of his headache, and he knew that it will soon dissipate altogether.

"Gin-san. Are you feeling okay?" No doubt, Shinpachi's keen eyes noticed Gintoki's paleness and the sluggish movements were even more of a give away.

"I am. It was just a hangover." He normally didn't lie, but somehow this excuse didn't need as much explanation as the actual cause of their dismissal. Gintoki didn't want to dampen their mood with his illness either, especially as Shinpachi tended to overreact whenever someone was sick.

"Gin-san, you really shouldn't go out to drink. We have enough debts as it is." The case of the mysterious smoke smell in their living room was dropped momentarily, and the kids moved to the kitchen to make food, leaving Gintoki alone in his dim room alone with his thoughts.

He swirled the remaining water around in the glass, gazing at the clear liquid as it transformed the afternoon light with every movement. He tried to remember what exactly happened before he fell asleep.

Hijikata somehow appeared in his living room and he helped him to the bathroom when… Gin felt a blush creep up his face. What the hell did the vice-commander do at the Yorozuya in the first place? He felt incredibly embarassed at the thought of a grown-up man helping another to puke. He wasn't a helpless kid, damnit.

He drank the remaining water. He remembered everything now, clear as the water he just drank. There were so many embarassing bits that he wanted to disappear from the surface of the Earth. Or immigrate to space. Anything, just to avoid meeting Hijikata in the future. He begged for a massage, and if that wasn't shameful enough, he even received one.

He touched his forehead, remembering the gentle fingertips that massaged his scalps and temples with the sole purpose to ease his pain. 'Seriously what the hell?'

They both dreaded the day they would meet again. Their shameful secret shall not be revealed, ever. Hijikata was afraid of the blackmail train that would be unleashed by Sougo, while Gintoki was afraid of losing the last fragments of pride and reputation he had.

But what was meant to happen couldn't be avoided. Less than a week after Hijikata's day off, he was patrolling the streets, keeping vigil for the sake of the citizens. Terrorist activity had a rising rate, so each of the Shinsengumi officers were dispatched over all of Edo. Hijikata seethed inside when he realised he had to patrol Kabuki-cho, meaning his chances to meet the white haired idiot were irritably high. It wasn't even noon when the most dreaded event occurred. Hijikata considered hiding in a nearby trashcan when he saw the trademark white yukata with blue swirls. What he didn't know was the fact that Gintoki also had an urge to jolt and jump into a nearby drink vending machine just to avoid the officer he spotted from far away. Neither of them listened to their instincts and their steps approached toward the other. Turning around was also out of option because neither of them was a coward to run away. They avoided eye-contact though, so when they neared each other both of them purposedly looked away.

They bumped into each other. Really hard.

Gintoki fell on his bums, with a yelp. This turned out worse than he could ever imagine. Hijikata swayed too but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Oi, watch where you're going" Gintoki rubbed his shoulder where they collided. Hijikata was pissed off too. Instead of staying away from this man, they managed to run into each other – literally.

"You shouldn't hinder an officer. Go and commit seppuku you loiterer!" an angry response. That was something Hijikata was good at. He even dropped his cigarette in the accident and reached for his packet to light a new one.

"I thought at least you would help me up? What kind of policeman are you? Not only do you run over people but you let them stay helpless in the dirt, eh?" Gintoki stood angrily, dusting his bottoms off. The street dust got into the yukata and no matter how hard he tried to get rid of it, it remained within the fabric. Just one more thing to add to his list of annoying factors.

"Get lost, I'm working." The officer took a long, nervous drag from the cigarette, and it was already halfway to finish.

"Gin-san's working too." He reached down to gather what he was carrying: a huge bag.

"It was supposed to be delivery." he added, no doubt to make Hijikata feel guilty. He glanced inside the bag with a smirk to make sure that everything was fine.

"Good luck with that."

"…" Gintoki didn't respond.

"What?" Hijikata didn't know what to make of the situation. Gintoki stood checking at the content of his bags without uttering a single word.

"It's broken." Gintoki said.

The way he said it indicated that something terrible happened. Hijikata stood there eying the other nervously.

"It was your fault, not looking where you walk when you carry fragile things!" Hijikata didn't want to be blamed at all, clearly the other was at fault.

Too bad for him because an old man who stood nearby, witnessed it all.

"Officer-san, you should at least apologize. It was your fault." Hijikata glared at the old man maliciously, who shut up immediately and skittered away fretfully.

"What was it anyway? I'm sure it's not important."

"It was a 200 year old porcelain teapot I was supposed to take to its rightful heir." Gintoki said with an unreadable expression.

"It's worth more than my house." Gintoki added, to make a point.

"You don't even have a house!" Hijikata yelled, but that didn't help at all. He felt really bad now, and it seemed that the Yorozuya was the source of all misfortune in his life lately.

"I wonder how will I play this off.. really there's no excuse for such thing, is there?" Gintoki sounded as if he lost it altogether, he went down an emotional spiral and thought of all possible consequences.

"Is it really that broken? What if it's only chipped? That's not that serious, is that?" Hijikata laughed nervously a little. Damn that old man, how could he say that he was the one at fault? It was clearly the Yorozuya! And why did he feel like he really was responsible?

"Let me see." he said. Hijikata had a boost of hope. Maybe he can fix it. He looked into the plastic bag only to see… a perfectly flat box. He lost all hope. To worsen the situaton, his walkie-talkie went off.

"Hijikata-saan. Did you just run over a person? Is he okay? I didn't hear you apologize! You should apologize even if he's dead. Over." Okita Sougo's voice sounded lazy and uncaring even over the radio.

"Damn you Sougo." Hijikata smashed his radio and stepped on it in anger. It died with an awful crackling sound.

Gintoki didn't move, and he still had an ashened expression. Hijikata was at loss. Apologizing was really out of the question, especially when he knew that he wasn't the one at fault. But he felt really, really bad, as if he was guilty and caught red-handed.

"Uh, erm. I can pay for it. We can sort it out. I'm sure of it." Hijikata said but he couldn't even convince himself. This was even worse than simply apologizing, and Hijikata averted his gaze once more, crushed by embarassment.

"It's … okay."

"… It's not."

It was Gintoki's turn to feel extremely guilty. He was only horsing around. He was carrying eggs home to make tamagoyaki for dinner. He didn't imagine Hijikata would be so fool to fall for the trap, also he didn't know when he himself got so good at lying. He totally deserved an Oscar for his acting. But his prank went a little too far now, it was awkward now and Gintoki's stomach tightened. He wanted to bicker with Hijikata, thinking the other wouldn't care about his troubles. How couldn't Hijikata see that the flat box had even pictograms of eggs on it? Was he blind?

'How do I make it right from this point?' the exact inner question popped up in both men's heads.

Their inner turmoil was interrupted by Yamazaki who came running and out of breath.

"Hijikata-san! Ah there you are. I finally found you! Captain Okita said that you ran into some trouble and your radio broke." Yamazaki was wheezing, which was strange because he was in good shape from playing badminton. Hijikata wondered how much did his subordinate run just to get to him in such a short time.

"That's really thoughtful of Sougo." Even as he said that he knew something was fishy. Yamazaki handed him a new walkie talkie, and Hijikata felt his suspicions arise as he took the gadget. The radio looked odd, it was heavier than usual, and there was a strange red light flashing rythmically. His mind immediately recognized danger, just as the bomb went off in his hand.

The explosion was heard in all of Kabuki-cho, and the screaming that followed it was also audible for many ears to hear.

"SOUGO!"

'Okita-kun's timing had never been so right' Gintoki thought as he made his escape. While Hijikata was occupied with the situation, he grabbed at the chance and slipped off quickly. Somehow his honor didn't matter anymore. Every fiber in his body screamed 'run away', so he did just that. He dropped the bag, because all of the eggs were smashed. He will buy eggs later, the sale can wait. Gintoki ran for his life, taking turns that made sure no one followed him. He was paranoid now, as if there was something chasing him. Later he realised that it was his own guilty conscience he kept running from.

He stopped to rest when he was nearing home. It was in a secluded alley not far from the Yorozuya's garbage dispenser. He crouched down to catch his breath and waited for his heart rate level to get lower. He was more than a little surprised to hear a noise coming from somewhere nearby. Someone was approaching him, no doubt taking out garbage. He sorted himself out and stood up, ready to leave.

"You dropped your bag." Gintoki froze.

Hijikata stood there in the dim light, barely visible form lit by the burning cigarette in his mouth.

Gintoki didn't know what to do, he felt trapped.

"I checked it, there's only broken tama inside. I wonder if these are your broken eggs?" Hijikata's voice had a malicious undertone.

"Ahahaha, no. You must be mistaken, Hijikata-kun." How in the hell did Hijikata manage to follow him?

Gintoki didn't know but Hijikata took care of Sougo quickly and headed toward the Yorozuya. While Gintoki went off the main road to make sure he wasn't being followed, Hijikata just took the shortest route to his place, thus catching up with him.

"Really?" He dropped the bag at that, and came closer. Gintoki was nervous now. They stood front of each other now, Shinsengumi officer and Yorozuya.

"My bad, someone might pity those eggs. Must have been a painful accident to have them all broken, ahaha." Gintoki checked whether there was an alternate route where he could escape. Much to his distress, there was none and he had to face the other man now. He was loathe to do that.

"I wonder if there will be anyone to pity yours after I crush them." Hijikata said with grit teeth. He was angry, and Gintoki was dangerously close to him.

"I'm sure many girls will cry at the loss." He thought of Sacchan and cringed inwardly. Also, what the hell. Why were they talking about his ball now?

"I was ready to face the consequences back there. How about you do the same, and explain why you lied to me?" Hijikata's face now really close to his own, invading Gintoki's personal space.

"It was a joke. A joke!" Gin brought up his hand in defense. "Let's call it even, you bumped into me, and in turn I lied. But it's okay now, let's forget it!" He said in a rush, inching away a little to the side.

"It's not okay. You wanted me to feel guilty and take responsibilities for something that didn't even occur." Hijikata didn't know why he was making such a fuss. Instead of feeling relieved because nothing unrepairable broke, he felt hurt. The Gintoki he knew wasn't such an arse. Or was he?

"It was just a joke. I didn't mean harm. I didn't expect you would overreact."

"It wasn't funny." Hijikata was astonished. Gintoki's joke didn't have any ulterior motives? When he found the bag his immediate thought was that he wanted to cheat money out of him.

"Forget it already and let me go." Gintoki said in a defeated tone. This was the worst prank he ever made. Hijikata was right, it wasn't funny at all and it even backfired.

"Not until I hear it."

"…What?"

"What are you supposed to say when you do something bad to someone else?" Hijikata smirked evilly.

"… sorry." Gintoki lowered his gaze. The black haired man was surprised at the word. He didn't expect an apology even if he asked for one.

"…about the other day." Gintoki continued. "I didn't mean to be such a bother. Thank you for your help." He had a blush spread over his cheeks, and it was contagious. Hijikata also felt his cheeks flame up. Their earlier verbal fight was immediately forgotten when 'that' topic resurfaced.

"I.." the officer was at loss, he had no idea how to react to that. At hearing no response, Gintoki dared to rise his gaze and their eyes met. The alleyway was a little dim, but the blush was clearly visible on both men's cheeks.

It just happened. They didn't know which one of them was the first one to move, but in a moment their lips locked in a sweet brief kiss. It was really quick, the experience so alien to both of them that they had no courage to do more than that. Tentatively, Gintoki reached with his arms behind Hijikata's back, embarcing him in a soft hug. This time he was the one initiating, leaning forward with more boldness, pressing his mouth against the stunned vice-commander. Their second kiss lasted longer, it was more firm and experimental. With a gasp they parted once more, only to hold eye contact once again. There was confusion and excitement in the air. They had no clue what just happened and why, but the kiss was good. Hijikata realised that he never saw the actual color of Gin's eyes before, thinking it was either black or brown, and he didn't care much either. But last week when the silver perm was so sick, he managed to gaze into those orbs to discover their ruby tint. Now in the dim dark of the alleyway, their red color wasn't that prominent. Meanwhile Gintoki thought about the blue eyes, how cold and cruel they seemed for a newcomer, but they were actually really beautiful. Gintoki wondered what was so different now, it was probably the lack of proper daylight, but the pupils were slightly dilated. He only saw such expression on Hijikata when he indulged himself with mayo at a bar they usually eated at.

The stare-off match neared its end as Hijikata blinked once, twice. As if waking from sleep, he slowly took in his surroundings and tried to comprehend what had happened. Gintoki noticed this and alarmed, grabbed the back of Hijikata's head and pulled him in for another kiss. He didn't want the other to wake up, he wanted this to last a little longer. Hijikata didn't kiss back. He tried to pull away from Gintoki's hold.

"I have to work. And you have to buy new eggs." Hijikata whispered.

Gintoki let go. He felt oddly empty as the other stepped away. He looked at his feet, as he heard steps leaving off. Except after the first step, Hijikata stopped.

"Sorry for bumping into you." He said, then left. Gintoki smiled at that. He had an urge to run after him, to say something to keep him from leaving. But he just stood there, unmoving.

"I'm not sorry!" he said after a while, saying it a little loud so that Hijikata could hear it in the distance. He saw the other raise his hand to wave. They had no clue what the hell was that just now, but it didn't feel as wrong as it should have. Somehow both men looked forward to meet again, regardless of how awkward that would be.

[A/N: Ahahaha. It's not only awkward for the main characters but the writer too! I even progressed as far as a kiss! My point is to get them from point A to point B. The next chapter won't be this awkward I swear. I intend to do this carefully. The next chapter will be about them getting comfortable in each other's presence. Please tell me what you think!]