AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Thank you to each one of you who took the time to post a review/reaction to what's happening in the story so far. I'm glad the story illicit a response, a feeling - love or hate, like or dislike, even a small urge to strangle this author for taking so freaking long to update! (hehe). Because that's a small part of my goal in writing fan fiction (not the strangling part, okay?!). But I'm really here mostly for selfish reasons - to see my ship sail in the right direction because the original gorilla-author is *never* gonna go that way. If you're confused as to what I'm talking about, let me spell it out clearly - I ship Otae with Gintoki. And so, I will write them in couple-type situations as much as I can. And I'm not ashamed to say that it's all for my own satisfaction. I'm biased to this ship to the core, so please bear that in mind when you're reading the story.

With that out of the way, let me respond to a review by Guest in particular. (From here on out, I will address you, Guest. So please read carefully). I understand where you are coming from. Really, I do. It seems in this story Gintoki is getting the short end of the stick and Otae is being given an excuse to be a bitch while she doesn't have the right to since she brought this unto herself in the first place. Did I read the meaning of your review, right? Anyway, I don't usually *explain* what I write in fan fiction. But to help you put things in proper perspective, I will say that things are NOT what they seemed in this story. Now that's a hint right there. If you try to read between the lines, you'll notice it, too. OR I may just be trolling you. WAHAHAHAHA!

But really, this fan fiction is based on the Gintama universe - a convoluted mess of a universe filled with complicated, heartfelt, wacky, troll-mongering, stress-inducing, poop-constipating, lewd but adorable, extremely lunatic characters we love as fans. So IMHO, to write my Gintama fan fics in a predictable, neatly packaged and balanced POV is completely disrespectful to the awesome work of the original gorilla-author himself. So unfortunately or fortunately (depending on how readers look at it), things will stay as joyously biased and deliciously messed-up around here.

So Guest, I would love for you to continue reading it. But if, for some reason, you can't take the way things are going in this fanfic, then by all means, don't read it, because I can assure you, YOU HAVEN'T SEEN NOTHING YET. *evil grin* On a serious note, thank you for the review, I really appreciate it. :)


But Gintoki cared. In fact, he cared a lot because if he didn't, he wouldn't keep replaying the tense exchange he had with Otae. He absentmindedly picked his nose as he walked. 'How the hell did it go that way?'

Then Otae's words came into his thoughts, "I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore." 'Tch...she's definitely pissed off at me...no...more like she really hates my guts.' He let out a small sigh, 'What the hell am I going to do? How in this goddamn world could I get out of this mess now? Tch...mendokuse na...'

"Gin-chan, did you eat too much nabe? You looked like a walking dead. Don't tell me you're having indigestion and needed to go to the bathroom, yes?" Kagura said, without turning to him.

He glanced at the young girl, still expressionless. "Oi, Kagura, don't be the boss of my bowel movement. I'm just feeling sluggish after all that food. You know how it is when you eat a lot you tend to want to sleep after. That's what I'm feeling right now. I just want to take a nap," he retorted.

"Hmmm...but you seemed to be thinking hard about something, yes?" Kagura persisted as she ruffled Sadaharu's fur. "And that's something you don't do often because it hurts your head, yes?"

"What?! You're the boss of my brain now?" Gintoki snapped back, clearly getting annoyed.

"Gin-chan, are you and anego having a fight?" she asked, looking at Gintoki directly.

"You asked me about that earlier and I gave you the answer, right?" monotoned Gintoki. Like hell he would freely discuss what happened to him and Otae with Kagura. He didn't want her and Shinpachi to get involved in an adults only fight.

"I know. But anego left without finishing lunch with us, which is not like her, yes?" said Kagura, knotting her eyebrows as she recalled how Otae looked earlier at lunch. "And you...you seemed to be preoccupied about something. Is everything all right between you two?"

"Kagura, there's nothing to worry about. Everything's fine. You're the one who's over thinking stuffs. That's not good, you know, thinking too much might damage your brain," Gintoki replied. "Besides, Otae told me she was leaving early and that we should enjoy eating all the nabe. So we separated in good terms, like we always do."

Kagura suddenly stopped on her tracks, making Gintoki stopped abruptly to avoid bumping into her. "Gin-chan, I don't want you and anego to be fighting. It's not good for our family, yes? Parents having serious disagreements are not good for the children. Sometimes, the fighting even leads to divorce."

Gintoki ran his fingers through his permed white hair. "Kagura, you've been watching too many daytime soap operas haven't you? What's up with this parents and divorce thing? First of all, Otae-san and I are not your parents. Second, we're not married so divorce is impossible. Third, there is no disagreement between us," he said with a straight face. But with the last one, he clearly lied to his teeth.

Kagura wasn't convinced, however. She rode on Sadaharu's back and led him to turn around toward Gintoki. "That's what parents usually say. Then the next thing you know, you'll be packing your bags and leaving, while the other parent cries. Then, the children will be twerking while wearing vulgar bikinis. Waah...I don't want to end up in a broken home, yes?"

"Then I'll just set you up for adoption," Gintoki shouted. "You can have new parents who will care for you better and make you brush your teeth everyday...twice." He was growing frustrated. This time, he can't wrap his head around Kagura's logic. 'Tch...have I come full circle? Why do I feel this is some kind of dejavu?' he thought.

"Fine!" said Kagura, getting equally irritated at Gintoki's denseness. "My adoptive parents would most likely be ten times better than you and they would most likely feed me better food than bread and rice everyday. Let's go, Sadaharu."

But before letting Sadaharu run off, she turned around again and shouted, "You had better apologize to anego properly. Or else, there will be two people who would never forgive you."

Gintoki placed his hand on his forehead, the nagging headache was back in full force. "Tch...that's easier said than done, especially when the person you're trying to apologize to doesn't want to have anything to do with you anymore," he whispered to himself. "Shit, I need something sweet to ease this damn headache."

He stopped at a dango shop and ordered a few skewers of yango dango. He sighed. "A parfait would have been nice but I've got no money for such expensive stuff. But these dango would do in a pinch."

"Gintoki, if you don't keep away from sweets, you'll die of diabetes," said someone sitting on a bench behind him. Gintoki lazily eyed the source of the voice.

"Oi Zura, are you the boss of my sweet tooth now? I don't need you policing my one and only pleasure in life," he said, continuing to munch on skewered dango. "Fancy seeing you here out in the open. Aren't you supposed to be lying low since, you know, you're plotting the Bakufu's demise?"

"HAHAHAHA...Gintoki, Zura janai..." Katsura began to say but Gintoki cut him off. "I know, I know...Katsura da. Man, can't you throw away that line already. The manga has been running for 10 years and for 10 years you've been saying it. Geesh, it's no longer a cliche, it's a relic from the past - the kind you find in archeological digs."

"I can't help it if it's the gorilla-author's favorite. But sometimes, he actually mixes things up a bit to prevent it from being old like leader da, pine tree da, Captain Katsura da, Zurako da, Ill Smith da, etc. etc. da. Anyway, it is what it is, Gintoki. Isn't that right, Elizabeth?"

"Right, leader!" said Elizabeth's sign.

"Gintoki, I sensed that something seems to be bothering you today." Katsura said gravely. "You seemed to be off your usual self. Has something happened?"

"Zura since when did you become an esper?" mumbled Gintoki as he chews several dango in his mouth. "I'm just minding my own business here when you interrupted my enjoyment. There's a reason why I eat my dango alone, so that I won't have to answer pain in the ass questions from pain in the asses like you."

"Gintoki, we've been friends for a long time. Believe me when I say I can sense even the smallest of change in you." He gave the white haired samurai a quick glance. "For instance, you used to eat dango off a skewer one at a time, but now you don't even notice that you're obliviously eating the skewers as well," Katsura pointed out.

"Fuwaahhh...what the hell?! Why didn't you tell me this before?! I could have choked on wood splinters! Teme!" Gintoki cried, quickly cleaning out his mouth. "Some kind of friend you are, just sitting there and watching me kill myself with skewers!"

"Hey, for all I know you want to commit seppuku with skewers. As your friend, it is my duty to sit quietly by your side and bear witness to your last act on this Earth," Katsura reasoned out as he eat a non-skewered dango.

"That's not a friend at all, you bastard. That's more like a prison warden, making sure the death row inmate dies swiftly and efficiently ," Gintoki said, swiping some dango off of Elizabeth's plate.

'Hey! No fair!' said Elizabeth's sign. He stood up from the bench and moved away from Gintoki, carrying his plate with him. 'Go eat your sweet skewers! Glutton!'

"Gintoki, don't try to change the subject. Is there something bothering you? Eating away at your soul, making you think disturbing thoughts and wondering why that something didn't go your way?" asked Katsura, almost hitting the bull's eye.

Gintoki fell silent and reverted back to his nonchalant self. "Betsu-ni...it's just something unnecessary I have to deal with. Nothing I couldn't handle."

"How naive. Don't you know love itself is made up of unnecessary things? An unnecessary flutter of the heart, an unnecessary sense of insecurity, unnecessary struggling, and unnecessary endings," Katsura said seriously. "But who would ever claim they were all unnecessary? No, everything in this life is gained by those so-called unnecessary things."

Gintoki eyed his childhood friend. He just couldn't believe Katsura was making sense for once. "Zura, when did you become an expert at love? As far as I know you haven't encountered love, even one that's unnecessary. You're better off spouting those words in the tranny bar, Zurako would probably gain unnecessary attention over there..."

"Mou ii...if you don't want to talk about it that much then I won't mention it again, teme," said Katsura, irked at Gintoki's stubborn facade. "As far as I'm concerned you can split your skull open with your bokuto or skewer your brain and grill it, see if I care. I'm just making conversation."

Gintoki was silent for a while. He admitted he had a tendency to push away the very people who are trying to help him. With Katsura's words, he realized his friends had done countless unnecessary things for him. Some were headache-inducing, but most, if not all, were soul-warming. And he felt guilty at times for failing to recognize their effort. He knew now that those 'unnecessary things' were the very foundation his friendships were built on. He let out an irritated grunt, the best he could do at an apology to Katsura.

"Okay, how about this for a conversation: I have a friend who has a friend of a friend who did something terrible to another friend. This friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend said terrible things to this other friend who got hurt. This friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend realized this and tried to apologize but the other friend was so hurt that he/she didn't want to be friends with this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend anymore."

"Wait a minute, are we playing six degrees of separation?" Katsura looked at him, very interested. "I'm good at that game. So you're saying that you're a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend of this person? So where does that leave me? Ah, since I'm one of your friends, I can be a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-..."

WHACK!

"Teme! I thought we were having a conversation here?" Gintoki shouted at the fallen Katsura. "What's six degrees of separation got to do with what I'm telling you?! Are you even listening?"

"Of course, I'm listening," Katsura recovered quickly. "I should listen because somewhere along those friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend line, I could be related to Kevin Bacon."

"You could be a friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend-of-a-son-of-a-bitch for all I care!" said Gintoki, vein popping on his forehead. He was beginning to think it was a bad idea starting this conversation with Katsura in the first place. He should have known that things would go nowhere.

"So? Is this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend of yours apologized again?" Katsura suddenly asked, not looking at him.

Gintoki was taken aback by the simple question. He scrambled for an answer: "Ah...um...no. He/she didn't even get a chance to say sorry the first time because the other friend hates his/her guts."

"So this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend of yours just gave up?" asked Katsura again. "He/she didn't attempt at another apology?"

Gintoki coughed. "Well, the other friend considers this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend doesn't exist anymore. He/she has been catapulted to the position of stranger. So how can he/she apologize again?"

This time, it was Katsura who heaved a deep sigh. "Gintoki, a friend will always be a friend, no matter if the other friend has thrown him out of the circle of friendship. If your friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend did something to hurt that other friend, he should apologize no matter what. It may not mend the friendship, but at least both of you can go on your own way without a lifetime of regrets."

"Er...you do know that we're not talking about me, right?" said Gintoki, nervously. "I mean, this is about my friend who has a friend of a friend, right? Right?!"

"Ochitsuite, Gintoki. I know what you mean. There's no need to explain," reassured Katsura, folding his arms to show he knew what he was talking about.

Gintoki scratched the back of his head. "But this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend wants to mend the friendship. He/she doesn't want to lose this other friend even if this other friend really hates him/her. I mean he/she is willing to atone for his/her mistake in any way he/she can."

"Gintoki, should we just dispense of the he-slash-she and just use a single pronoun? It feels like my head is being slashed in two. Here let me re-word what you said. So this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend, that's you, wants to mend the friendship," Katsura carefully surmised, a hand placed on his chin as if in deep thought. "You don't want to lose this other friend, which is a her, even if she really hates you. And that you are willing to atone for your mistake in any way you can. Now isn't that much simpler?"

WHACK!

"Teme! How is that simpler? You just involved me in it when I told you it's not about me! How about I slash your head with a skewer?!" screamed Gintoki, obviously agitated at the prospect of being found out. "And how did you come to the conclusion that the other friend is a woman? How? Tell me!"

"It's because you never acted this way with me," Katsura said simply. "And I don't mean that in a yaoi sense, okay? I mean, I'm one of your long time friends and you throw insults upon insults at me, do you ever feel guilty? No. You just go on being you as usual. Not really caring whether I got offended or not. But this..." he made a sweeping gesture by Gintoki's face. "This is the first time I see you like this, so it's elementary my dear Watson, that it's about a woman you care about. Am I right?"

Gintoki remained silent, he had no words of comeback for what Katsura nailed on the head. "Shut up, Zura," was all he managed to say under his breath. He sat down and ate Katsura's remaining non-skewered dango thoughtfully.

Katsura didn't say another word as well. He hated using this tactic but Gintoki left him no choice. He knew his longtime comrade won't easily admit to anything, even to him. Now he could clearly see Gintoki's confusing predicament. He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Well then, this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend should ayamare over and over again until that friend softens up and forgive him/her. I don't know this other friend but I'm sure he/she is not too heartless to not realize how much effort this friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend of yours is putting to make amends," said Katsura.

They were silent for a while, both thinking their own thoughts. "Tch...mendokuse..." Gintoki finally said after a few minutes.

"Listen, Gintoki. If you really feel in your heart that this friendship is worth saving, you must be willing to do many unnecessary, bothersome things. The other friend might not like it, he/she might push you away but you must persevere until your voice breaks down the wall that came between you to gain him/her back," Katsura said with finality. He stood up to walk away. "I'm sure that other friend is saddened by the whole situation, too, and is just waiting for a sincere and proper apology."

"Oi Zura, I'm not the one we're talking about here, okay!?" shouted Gintoki desperately. "I'm not in this sad situation, okay?!"

"Relax, Gintoki. I understand. I'm your friend, after all," said Katsura, his back turned away from Gintoki. "If I were in the same boat, I'm sure you'll urge me to apologize over and over to..." he looked back at Gintoki and gave him a wink. "...to...Kevin Bacon, right?"

"You...you Zura bastard!" screamed Gintoki in frustration. "You were only thinking about Kevin Bacon all this time we were having this conversation, weren't you? Weren't you?!"

But Katsura just continued walking away while laughing out loud. Elizabeth followed behind him. He showed a sign to Gintoki that said: "Gin-san, ganbarre!"

"Shit, I think I just got fucking trolled," Gintoki hung his head in resignation. "Ayamare? I didn't even get to first base with that one."

To be continued...


JUST IN CASE:

mendokuse - troublesome, bothersome

ochitsuite - calm down

esper - psychic (as in E.S.P.-er - extrasensory perception user)

ayamare - to apologize

ganbarre - to hang in there

betsu ni - nothing in particular

teme - bastard

dango - Japanese sweets made from rice flour; yango dango - sweetened red bean paste dango