Disclaimer: Sorachi is our lord and savior. On mondays only.
NOTE ON THE TEXT: (*) means end of flashback.
How Fools Fall In Love
Chapter 4: To Break Boundaries You Have To Put Some Up First
9 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS AGO
After living in the dorm for two months, Hijikata doubted there was still anything in a hundred mile radius that could surprise him. He had memorized all the little quirks of the decaying house by grievous experience and his body had adapted to them unconsciously. He was now an adept at avoiding the bad spots of the hardwood floor and the uneven stair steps; an expert at closing the dripping taps and shutting out the noise of the old fans. He was even able to tolerate the dorm's degenerate tenants to a considerable degree.
Hijikata thought he had seen everything. Everything, except Sakamoto Tatsuma.
The first time he met him, Hijikata had been enjoying one of those unusual peaceful evenings of study in his room after Gintoki had gone out to buy another load of worthless snacks. A man had blast opened the door of their room and sauntered in with a pile of magazines tied up in a string. He flung it to the floor with a sort of triumphant jerk and laughed with his head thrown back in merriment.
"Hahahahaha! Look at this Kintoki! Another batch of exquisite high level! Ya won't get your hands on anythin' like this in your dirty alleys! Not in a million years!"
Hijikata bit the cigarette he had in his mouth and looked at the man with a mix of confusion and anger. Who was he? What did he want? Was he another one of Gintoki's retarded acquaintances? Why did Gintoki's life consist mostly of shitty characters like this? Hijikata reviewed these questions hastily and then looked closer at the magazine pile in the center of the room. Three shades of red crept up his neck, yet he managed to remain cool and collected.
"What the fuck is this filth and who the hell are you?" he reproached from his desk.
Sakamoto's smile didn't waver, if anything he laughed harder, as if Hijikata had just replied with some amazing follow-up joke. The man was so out of it Hijikata didn't know how to act.
"Remember when ya asked me if I could get ya this gem?" Sakamoto loosened the knot and pulled out a magazine from the pile.
"That's not Gintoki." a voice said. There was a pause and Hijikata noticed a short girl standing quietly behind the weird man.
"Wait a second," Sakamoto's eyes peered at Hijikata over his sunglasses and he leaned his head to the side "You're not Kintoki."
"No I'm not!"
"Oh whoa! I'm sorry I didn' recognized ya at first!" Sakamoto's astounded expression was replaced by a big smile "You're that Oogushi-kun! Heeey! How have ya' been?" Sakamoto bowed his head curtly and gave a firm squeeze to Hijikata's hand "Oi Mutsu, look here! It's that Oogushi-kun I was tellin' you about the other day! The one who fenced us that rare Yugi Hoe card deck!"
"No, he is not." the girl replied nonchalantly.
"I'm tellin' ya it is! I'm pretty sure it's the same Oogushi-kun. We even went out for drinks after."
"Oogushi wha- who? That's not who- I am not Oogushi-kun!" Hijikata burst out, unable to keep hearing the name coming out of the man's mouth "Who the hell are you? Did that asshole send you here to piss me off? With your- your..." Hijikata was too riled up to even spell it, so he just pointed to the pile of porn mags on the floor.
Sakamoto stared at him for a few seconds before turning towards his companion and wondering aloud "You're right Mutsu, I don't think he is Oogushi-kun. Oogushi-kun ain't that rude."
Hijikata was about to send the butt of his cigarette into the man's brown perm.
"I moved here about two months ago! I'm Hijikata Toshiro and I'm trying to get on with my work here!" he explained exasperatedly "Now, who the hell-" his question was interrupted by another burst of emotion.
"OOOOOOOOOH! Look Mutsu! It's Kintoki's new roommate! I knew it! Heeey! How are ya!" Sakamoto reached for Hijikata's hand again and shook it with another big grin "I live just across the hallway! Sakamoto Tatsuma at your service," he introduced himself "This here is Mutsu." he gestured towards the girl.
"Hello."
Hijikata returned her greeting out of mere politeness. He was too overwhelmed by Sakamoto's personality to handle the necessary mood shift to address her. They were a strange pair.
"So how are ya likin' it here? Want some of these?" Sakamoto pulled the magazine pile to himself and began skimming through the issues, searching for the one he thought would best suit Hijikata's taste "I'm something of a merchant, you see, if you need anything, anything at all just ring me. Want big in the front? Big in the back? Genderbend? Other gender? Mixed genders? Whatever you want, I'll get my hands on it, no judgment. But everything for a price. We also trade depending on the items."
Hijikata didn't know what was more disturbing, Gintoki's apparent bad taste in porn, the sleaziness of the magazines or Sakamoto indulging in them with a young girl looking over his shoulder. She looked pretty innocent but maybe that was a ruse, like everything had turned out to be since Hijikata had arrived in Tokyo.
"How is Kintoki? Doing well? Been a while since I saw him. I mean, I have been out for a few days, or is it weeks? I think I lost track of the time. Too busy I guess. I didn't think Kintoki would be up for another roommate after all o' that with Taka-"
Hijikata was actually paying attention to Sakamoto's words when Gintoki's arrival put an end to his speech.
"What the hell are you doing in my room, Tatsuma?" he was sweating from the walk and he had a frown on his face "I told you to stop barging in like this. Did you even fence that shit radio I gave you like a month ago? You know I could have given it to Gengai and made something of it, right?" He strolled in casually, acknowledging Mutsu with a nod and then flopping down by his usual spot with the plastic bag full of sugary snacks he had bought at the convenience store. Hijikata felt like he was watching a bad teenage flick and his head hurt. Being in the same room with two perm heads was not beneficial to his health.
"Yo Kintoki! I found someone who's interested in that thing but he's being difficult about it. Just gimme a few more days. In the meanwhile, check this out, I was telling it to Oogushi-kun here, I got me a nice deal for this rare pile of quality porn..."
Hijikata's eyes met Gintoki's at the word 'Oogushi-kun'. His roommate turned towards him with a slight confused look and Hijikata noticed, with much contempt, how Gintoki mouthed a solemn Oh, as if he hadn't even noticed Hijikata sitting there before.
Hijikata blew a big puff of smoke in his direction and turned back to his study. He hunched his shoulders and tried his best to shut out the whole conversation unfolding behind him. It was best to just ignore them.
Sakamoto left twenty minutes later after successfully persuading Gintoki to buy some of his trashy magazines. Hijikata mumbled a couple of goodbyes out of his dying goodwill and hoped Gintoki would either just disappear or stay quiet for the rest of the evening. What followed was too distressing for him to predict.
First came the rustling sounds, which were annoying but conspicuous enough since Gintoki would always find something to grate on Hijikata's nerves whenever he was awake. Then began the short breaths and the silence. No pages being turned, no fidgeting, no nothing. Hijikata felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand up in alarm. Another gasp. He couldn't believe it. He turned around slowly, his eyes squinting. Yes, Gintoki was jerking off, or trying to, not five feet away from him.
"Are you fucking kidding me- !" Hijikata stood up so abruptly his chair fell back.
Gintoki stopped his ministrations with a furrowed brow, remaining completely at ease.
"Can't a man enjoy his porn in quiet?"
"NO HE CAN'T!" Hijikata blared, his voice so stretched he was afraid a shrill might sprung out instead "Don't you have any fucking decency, what the hell-" Hijikata tried to construct the rest of his sentence but his eyes were no longer fixated on Gintoki's smug face. They were travelling way bellow his midriff and he didn't know what else to say except expelling a stream of curses.
"You can join me if you want, there's variety." Gintoki said, nudging a couple of magazines with his foot. Hijikata gasped.
"You make me fucking sick!" he kicked the fallen chair aside and stomped out of the room, his face red with fury and shame. Hijikata had no other way to subdue those feelings but to exercise them away. He made it straight for the dojo where Kondo practiced, eager to lash out at the first opponent.
Gintoki went back to his business as soon as Hijikata was out. A smirk playing on his lips.
"And that's for smoking inside, bastard."
(*****)
There wasn't much to do but sulk. Sulk in Gintoki's typical pathetic way. Three empty parfaits were lined up on the counter, a fourth melting away, his purse was lighter than air itself and his shirt hung loosely around his neck. Behind the counter the owner gave him a fishy eye. Nobody liked to be present for Gintoki's slumps, especially when he stuck to one's business like a parasite. The owner had already finished his fifth round of cleaning the glassware, but his persistence couldn't be blamed. It were three in the afternoon and there wasn't much to do other than creeping on the customers.
Gintoki's slump derived from a multitude of problems that had been piling on for days. Most arose from the same pain in the ass chagrin of always, money. No one would have wondered about it who knew Gintoki's lifestyle, not even Gintoki himself, so much so that he was dealing with it as he ever did, ignoring the problem and hoping for the best. This included waiting for money to rain down from the sky or winning the lottery. Both pointless solutions to the problem since he wasn't a very lucky person to begin with. But experience had taught him all there was to know about gambling and the most important part was to keep playing until he won. Perhaps the fault was in the system.
Shinpachi wasn't a big advocate of Gintoki's approach to financial difficulties. He saw its faults right away, yet he didn't contribute with any plausible alternatives. He was always yapping "get a real job, get a real job, get a real job". Gintoki had begun filtering it a long time ago. He knew what happened to people who got real jobs. They became assholes. He'd rather wither and die and be reborn a plant than get a real job. Besides, he still had a roof over his head, didn't he? He still managed to put food on the table. Meager stuff, yeah, but they got by.
Gintoki sighed. Truth be told, it wasn't even about the money. Gintoki's body was just too used to nurture the drag of the bills and the debts. It didn't know how to process the whole spectrum of feelings people in TV dramas dealt with on a weekly basis. He was afraid he'd give in to his own baseless speculations.
A hand on his shoulder caught him unaware.
"What?-!" Gintoki swiveled around on the high stool he was sitting on and cracked his spine in the process. All at once the small amount of healing he had managed to achieve after two weeks of working with the movers was replaced with pain all over his torso. He cursed under his breath and leaned against the counter pitifully. The lifeless stare that beheld him didn't encourage him to embrace the pain either.
"Hello." Mutsu greeted him.
"W-what do you want..." Gintoki tried to look cool but his failure was a hard thing to witness. Fortunately for him, Mutsu was used to stupid antics. She was in fact eager to inquire Gintoki about another such fool as himself.
"Have you seen him around?"
"Who? Tatsuma?" Gintoki groaned. Just thinking about that brown perm gave him a headache, one which he needn't add to his list of physical aches at the moment "No I haven't seen him, but if he is around it's not hard to guess where he is, right?" Gintoki said, caressing his lower back and turning back towards the counter. His parfait was approaching liquid state.
"What do you mean?" Mutsu asked and sat on a high-stool beside him.
Her back was straight and her long hair fell on her shoulders without a lost strand. Her clothes weren't very feminine and her face looked as serious as always. Gintoki didn't like to look at Mutsu anymore. She reminded him of too many things past and present. He remembered how cute she was all those years ago with short hair and mini-skirs. He used to feel sorry for her every time Sakamoto brought her with him to the dorm. It wasn't a place for her. Gintoki always thought she deserved better than that, but she had chosen to hang out with the idiot of her own free will. She still did, so perhaps all that crap meant little or nothing to her.
"You know..." Gintoki wanted to get his point across without having to say it directly. For some reason he felt horrible having to say it out loud. Usually he would have blurted it out without a second thought: Ask Otae, Why don't you go by the Snack Smile?, He's out to get rejected again is what, but this time it was too cruel. This time Gintoki even pondered on consoling her. But he checked himself before he could fall into such a sappy trap.
"You chose a bad business partner, you know? You can do better than that idiot." Gintoki said halfheartedly, as nothing intelligent seemed to be in a hurry to reach his brain. Mutsu didn't reply. If she had any emotions they were well hidden away.
"Anything I can get you?" The owner stopped by them to take Mutsu's order and he left with a frown after she asked for a glass of water. He brought it back almost unwillingly and set it down in front of her with a grunt. She didn't notice him. After a moment of silence she spoke.
"I don't know what to do."
Gintoki picked up his liquid parfait and took a sip. It seemed the perfect thing to do after such a miserable sentence. He didn't have any good advice to give her. Not knowing what to do was his perpetual way of life.
"Neither do I."
9 YEARS AND 10 MONTHS AGO
Gintoki couldn't pinpoint the exact moment he had started putting a little more effort into his relationship with Hijikata. So far they had only pestered each other given their incompatible personalities and equal resentment towards having to share a room together. Kondo in particular felt this more keenly than any other person seeing as he was the one to blame. Nonetheless, Gintoki would admit to take his harassment a bit too far if Hijikata confessed to purposefully disregard all the unofficial rules of room-sharing. Rules which Gintoki had established right from the start. The smoking especially bothered him to no end. Not because he hated it, but because he knew the stuck-up piece of shit did it intentionally behind his back. Their whole vengeance-based system of coexistence thrived on these minute details.
Breaking that cycle, however, came nothing short of a disaster. Gintoki was too guilty and too confused by the time he caught up with his own subconscious. Fortunately for him, Hijikata was as dense as a rock and it would have taken a row of miraculous deities for him to notice anything of subtlety.
Everything had started with the callouses on Hijikata's hands. The first four or five times Gintoki noticed them he had barely made a quip about them. It was obvious where the dunce was getting those from. He probably tagged along with Kondo to the kendo club whenever his pent-up frustration reached its peak or someone made a mess of the kitchen. His dedication was truly admirable. Despite the amount of crap he had to study, he always found an hour or two to waste with the gorilla squad. Gintoki wondered if he wasn't worthy of praise himself since, in a way, he was the reason Hijikata had resorted to torturing the innocent followers of Kondo's cult.
Gintoki had taken no interest in the business at first. It barely mattered to him so long as Hijikata was out of their room. He had given it no notice whatsoever and was rather happy about it until people began to wonder how such a peaceful flower boy could be so ruthless and cruel. It was ridiculous. Gintoki couldn't go out on a job without a lanky kid complaining about the blue eyed demon Kondo had brought to the dojo. Gintoki knew by experience how prone Hijikata was to fight. He was strong but nothing grievous; he knew him to be more along the lines of peevish and prude. Not to mention, Gintoki definitely had more muscle than him. He was also like one centimeter taller and manlier. He was pretty sure these things counted in assessing a man's strength.
This obsession with the strongest body took Gintoki's harassment to new lengths and, in an unfortunate turn of events, he became his own victim.
He wanted to believe his curiosity was pure and his intentions only a stem of jealousy, but it got too awkward down the road to even remember his original purpose. Gintoki wanted to vanish into a mouse hole. Somewhere he could hide. Somewhere he could sleep.
Contrary to popular belief, Gintoki wasn't a heavy sleeper. His sleeping boasted more of quantity than quality. Thus it was common for him to wake up before Hijikata. Nine times out of ten, he would just pretend to be asleep and wait for his roommate to leave. But recently his habits had changed. He would just stay there awake in his futon, his eyes mere slits, stealing glances he couldn't resist.
The room was half dark, illuminated only by the soft sunlight streaming in through the window's dusty blinds. The murkiness certainly made it all worse. More intimate. More indecent. Gintoki wanted to claw his eyes out. He couldn't keep them away. Initially it had been too easy to just glance over Hijikata's body and cross out the weak spots in comparison to his own. But the competitive spirit took its leave before Gintoki could allow it. Watching Hijikata undress became a sort of daily ritual; sometimes out of boredom, other times...
Gintoki didn't know. He didn't want to bother with reasons either. It wasn't as if he got hard or anything. He just enjoyed how Hijikata's bare back looked when he pulled his shirt over his head and his skin appeared soft and smooth in the dimly lit room. It was mesmerizing. Gintoki would have barfed if possible. How was it fair? Hijikata was the scum of the Earth. Gintoki would have voted him off into space if he didn't have this absurdly bewitching side.
And Hijikata never changed his routine. Not once.
Not even after that one time Gintoki could swear he had been caught.
(*****)
An independent means of transportation comes with a lot of solidarity and good-will attached. Gintoki reacquainted himself with this notion when Gengai finally finished repairing his old scooter.
"Honestly, I was about to give up on it," the old quirky man told him "But it seems it has a life of its own," he said with a laugh "That or just fear of death."
"I'm sure it's that last one," Gintoki mumbled and scratched the back of his neck "How's my TV, old geezer?"
"Pretty sure it's a lost case." Gengai replied. His speedy reply earned him a sideways glance from Gintoki.
"Oi, you said the same thing about the scooter."
"Well, one can be wrong," Gengai said. He wiped the back of the scooter one last time with his dirty cloth and told Gintoki to test it "See for yerself."
Gintoki turned it on and the scooter rumbled in good health.
"You can pay me later. Work won't be sparse for you these next few weeks," Gengai declared with a guffaw "that and charity!"
Gintoki tried to laugh along with the old man but the truth was depressing. Now that he had his scooter back every wretch on the street was about to be reminded of a sudden favor they needed to ask Gintoki or an old score they had to settle. It pissed him off but it was widely known Gintoki owed many favors to many different people. One could at least commend him for managing to make the tiniest profit out of such suspicious deals.
"Thanks anyway." Gintoki said. He put on his helmet and goggles and turned to Mutsu who had accompanied him to Gengai's shop.
"Hop on, I'll give you a lift."
She nodded and sat behind him.
"Come by tomorrow to pick up Otose's vacuum cleaner, she phoned me an hour ago to tell you about it."
"Why can't the old hag come pick it up herself?" Gintoki grumbled "My services aren't free."
"She said she'll deduct it from your rent." Gengai said with a wink, but the gesture was lost behind his industrial goggles.
"Whatever." Gintoki shrugged. He put his chin up and the scooter's engine revved. His next stop was the Snack Smile club.
Mutsu was a tomb the whole ride. She didn't fuss or said a word. Her calmness soothed Gintoki and cleared his mind. He wished he could possess her self-composure, yet he could feel her heartbeat rising as he turned the corner to the club. The paltry figure lying down at the front explained it.
"Thank you." Mutsu said quietly. She slipped off the scooter graciously and walked towards Sakamoto, picking him up with little effort. He was in a pitiful state, disheveled and reeking of booze. Gintoki tried not to empathize.
"Yooo~ Kin...toki," Sakamoto waved him a flimsy hand "Just the man I wanted to seeee." he drawled out. Mutsu withdrew her grip once he regained his footing, but Sakamoto held on to her shoulder to rummage inside his coat.
"I have something for ya," Sakamoto said "I heard Oogushi-kun was baack"
Gintoki gulped down a sudden mass of unease.
"I have something for him...wait no, I have something for you... to give to him." Sakamoto clarified, though the alcohol in his blood hindered him. He produced a package out of an inner pocket and extended it to Gintoki.
"Take it. Tell him it's a homecoming gift." he said with a snicker.
Gintoki looked at Sakamoto's outstretched arm with reluctance. He already expected one of those fleeting delivery jobs to be distasteful - there were always a few he couldn't quite chew - but he couldn't believe one had come so soon. Gintoki pinched his nose and looked at Mutsu. A minute ago he would have taken her to the other side of the world and been content. Now he just felt horrible.
He snatched the package with a click of his tongue.
"You owe me this one." he snarled.
Sakamoto laughed.
"You'll probably thank me later Kintoki."
Gintoki got on his scooter and stormed off as loudly as he could, coughing a cloud of smoke in Sakamoto's inebriated face.
It took Gintoki three detours to finally stop by Hijikata's apartment. With enough luck the package would fit in the mailbox and he would be out of there in no time. But he had no such luck. He tried to squeeze the damn thing through the slit but well-wishing only got a person so far.
"Shit." Gintoki cursed. He lifted a finger to press the doorbell and sighed. He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to push the damn button. All that courage had gone down the drain two weeks ago.
To solve his problem Gintoki decided to ring the whole building and hope someone would open the door. Bingo. After a dozen elderly voices complaining through the transmitter, he got in.
Climbing the stairs was easy. His memory of the place was pretty fresh, though not willingly and without fondness. His back still hurt from loading all those boxes and his calves hadn't recovered completely.
Reminiscing about it brought him straight to Hijikata's door.
"He probably isn't even home." Gintoki muttered to himself. He took a deep breath and tried to squash his nerves to naught.
Ring! Ring Ring Ring Ring! Ring! Ring!Ringringring Ring!
Gintoki got a bit carried away with the doorbell and was drumming a tune when the door opened violently and Hijikata appeared in full glory, frown, suit and smoke all in one. Gintoki would have smiled if he wasn't actually shitting himself with glee. And agony. Mostly agony.
"You" Hijikata uttered it the same way a person identifies a disease.
Gintoki kept his deadpan expression.
"What are you doing here?" Hijikata's voice went down a tone and he narrowed his eyes.
"Delivery." Gintoki spat out flatly. It was curious how once they got a conversation going, even if there wasn't much of it, Gintoki's throes of despair simply faded away. He peeked behind Hijikata's shoulder and noticed how many of the boxes he had helped move were still stacked up high in his hallway.
"Deliver what?" Hijikata pressed on. He saw Gintoki glimpsing inside his apartment and narrowed the gap of the open door.
"Oh, are you hiding something?" Gintoki teased him "You didn't use to be so messy, what happened?"
"None of your damn business!" Hijikata scowled "I haven't had the time to sort it all out yet."
"Yeah, seems pretty boring business to me. Shouldn't you be working?"
"I am!"
Gintoki hummed in agreement and raised an eyebrow when they fell silent. He could feel Hijikata's piercing eyes hesitate over his body and then switch to the wall behind him when Gintoki caught him at it. It was amusing but stressful at the same time. Gintoki took his cue to revive the mood.
"Sakamoto asked me to give you this. Says it's a homecoming gift."
Hijikata took the package and his frown deepened as he felt it with his hands.
"You know what it is, don't you? You came to laugh at me."
"I could take that as payment, now that you mention it." Gintoki replied stifling a chuckle.
Perhaps it was all that time they had spent together in their youth that bridged the distance from the doorway to the balcony. Gintoki had barely noticed the shift. He was too focused on following Hijikata's muttering voice and avoiding the contents of the house, mainly the big boxes he was afraid would fall on him. When he finally realized where he was, the sunset almost blinded him. The giant window in the living room opened to a balcony with a privileged view of the city and let in a dazzling light.
"That fucking prick!" Hijikata's yell broke Gintoki's trance and he turned around with a slight jolt. Sakamoto's snickering was well justified. Gintoki couldn't help but burst out in laughter. Inside the package was a bundle of the cheapest porn mags Gintoki had seen in a while. They were probably some relics of their years at the dorm which Sakamoto had saved for a special occasion. Gintoki couldn't think of one better. Hijikata's flustered face brought him back ten years, though the fact he was almost thirty made it twice as funny.
Hijikata clearly didn't share the sentiment. He sent a couple of magazines flying Gintoki's way, one of which hit him in the face and sent him reeling to the balcony.
"Fuck!" Gintoki clutched his cheek and checked for blood. It seemed alright with no paper-cuts, yet it got atrocious once he looked up and found Hijikata crouched in front of him, his face inches away from his own and his hands on their way to clasp his chin, which he did.
Hijikata said something but it escaped Gintoki's ears. He just saw lips moving and heard his heartbeat banging against his chest. He was reminded of the silent Mutsu on their way to the Smile club.
Gintoki's lack of response inadvertently aggravated the situation. Hijikata began running his fingers through Gintoki's hair, feeling the curls unfurl in his scalp. His lips had stopped moving and the motion was probably an involuntary act his brain had no control over. Gintoki was petrified. He could see his shocked reaction gradually mirroring itself in Hijikata's face. Widened eyes, mouth slightly ajar, an overall expression screaming what the fuck is happening? Gintoki was cut off from actually saying it by Hijikata's quick intervention.
"Just making sure your hair was still there. Thought you had a wig for a second."
While the statement was far from pleasing, Gintoki didn't so much as scowl. He could feel old gears in motion, some will of the past ingrained in his bones.
"I have to go. Kagura probably lost herself on the way home and all that. See you around." He detached himself from the constraints of that stiffing balcony and strode past Hijikata in a daze, desperate for the exit. The words don't look back echoed in his head and he was glad of it because he already had enough he wanted to forget.
Getting back to his scooter was a relief. Gintoki wasn't someone who tended to run from his problems, but this was something entirely different. He had no time for it. He rushed home with little care for safety. It was a miracle he survived.
Kagura was waiting for him when he arrived. She had just returned from walking Sadaharu and was playing with the giant dog on the yard.
"Ah! Gin-chan! You were late today so I came back alone. Aneue doesn't know," she said with a half-comforting smile "I saw Shinpachi in the store buying more idol crap. I told him we don't approve."
She pouted at Gintoki's silence.
"Did Tsukki scold you again? Or was it Aneue-" Kagura gasped as she approached him "Gin-chan! What happened to your face? It's all red!"
"Gengai did something to the scooter. I fell again."
AN: I don't know how to apologize for this ginormous delay! Work has kept me busy and I lost the writing spark during last summer. I got pretty depressed about it, but I missed writing these goons way too much. I intended to post an update on Gintoki's birthday but it fell out. Then I pushed it to Christmas and it fell out again. It was a mess. Anyway, now it's finally here and I hope I'll be able to update other stories soon. Gintama's new season will also hype me up pretty good. April can't come soon enough! As always, thanks for reading and dropping by your lovely comments.