If I Could Say What I Want To Say

by Sweetysweetssugarytreats

They were going on their initial paths, when at the last moment, while they were walking towards each other, Gintoki's yukata brushed against the fabric of Hijikata's jacket. It was the briefest of contacts and it lasted only a second, but even as the temperature was warm their forearms felt just a bit warmer. ...Or this is simply my version of how two dumb samurai fall in love.

10. Chapter 10

Maybe Being Parents Isn't So Bad After All

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# Day two

The day had begun earlier than usual, with a light blue sky, not a cloud in sight, the birds chirping happily and... the babies crying.

'Ugh. This alarm is too loud.' Gintoki thought, still more than half-asleep.

He was moving his arm up and down trying to reach for the offending object but instead found something else. It didn't feel like a clock, the texture was smooth and it tickled his palm.

'Maybe Shinpachi bought a new clock?'

He was trying to find the switch to turn off the shrill, deafening sound but he couldn't find any buttons to press. He tried to push again and this time he heard what sounded like a grunt. Gintoki pulled on the strange alarm and the noise was louder.

'Huh, that's weird. Since when do alarms make this kind of sound? This amanto technology is really something, eh?'

He tried to pull again but something stopped his hand. Gintoki opened only one eye, trying to adjust to the light and lazily looked to the side to find two irritated eyes staring back at him.

With his mind still fogged from sleep he thought- 'Well damn, this alarm clock is really beautiful.'

But a voice broke him out of his reverie.

"Will you stop that? Idiot!"

Wait.

He knew that voice.

Gintoki finally opened his eyes wide and he saw Hijikata. "What are you doing here!?"

He was astonished to say the least, seeing the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi in his apartment, during the morning, after he had just woken up.

But he couldn't say he really minded it.

Gintoki shook his head a little. Now was not the time to get lost in one of his little fantasies... he could always do that later.

"What do you mean what I'm doing here?! Do you suffer from memory loss or somethin'?"

'Eh?' Gintoki thought confusedly.

He was trying to piece back the puzzle. What had happened yesterday? He had gone to Otose's bar early in the morning because he wasn't able to sleep and they had talked a little, then he had come back to his apartment and had found the kids... as babies.

Now he remembered!

Looking around he found Shinpachi and Kagura still sleeping soundly, but Sougo and Otae were missing. Maybe the little kid had been the alarm he had heard after all. He turned to Hijikata who was still waiting for an answer.

"No I... I remember." He drawled with voice still thick from sleep.

Hijikata scoffed but he didn't say anything and Gintoki's mind started waking up more. He noticed his hand was still gripping the man's hair, but the other wasn't telling him to stop. Instead he was now looking at him with a less 'I-wanna-punch-you' expression. People always said to take your chances while you could, right? And he really didn't know when he would have another chance like this. So the silver haired samurai loosened his grip but didn't let go completely. Instead he slowly flattened his palm on Hijikata's forehead as he moved his fringe out of the way, only to be pierced by those blue eyes.

Gintoki had come to the final conclusion that no matter what, he really couldn't get enough of them. He liked Hijikata's eyes. A lot.

The dark haired man's eyes didn't seem as irritated as before, they were almost mellow now in comparison. Maybe sleep was messing with his head too. There was a slight splash of light pink on his cheek, probably matching his own. And perhaps that was from sleep too, but Gintoki's colour definitely wasn't. And it was kind of nice. The way Gintoki was being looked at, like nothing could divert Hijikata's attention from him.

Like he was something important.

Gintoki didn't really know if missing something you had never had was possible, but right now the only thing he could think of was that he had missed this gaze his whole life. Even though he had never really had it in the first place, he knew he missed being looked at this way by Hijikata, if that even made sense. It was just... nice.

Hijikata slowly, carefully it seemed, moved the hand that wasn't trapped on the side of his body towards him. Gintoki could see his fingers gliding against the futon and his heart sped up. Always slowly, Hijikata's hand got closer to him, closer until it touched his wrist, clasped around it and Gintoki couldn't really find it in himself to breathe for a few seconds. Hijikata's thumb made small circles on the inside of his wrist and Gintoki let him.

And hell, he wanted to wake up like this every day, feeling Hijikata's warmth after only opening his eyes was something else. He would give anything to be on the receiving end of those light touches and even lighter gaze again and again. Gintoki's hand moved too, against Hijikata's temple, as he mimicked the circles the other was drawing on his wrist. He shifted a little closer next to him. They were still each on their respective pillows, but it already felt like more.

In a slight moment of panic Gintoki blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I thought you were an alarm clock."

And he thought his eyes were playing tricks on him because he was sure he almost saw Hijikata laugh, though his brows were so furrowed in surprise Gintoki was the one who almost snorted.

"…you're an idiot." The dark haired man said but his gaze was transfixed on him. It made Gintoki's stomach churn a little as the other continued. "That's why you were hitting me with your finger before?" His tone was lower now as he was almost whispering and that deep voice, that was even deeper from sleep- it did things to Gintoki.

"…yeah. Didn't really mean that, I guess your little Shinsengumi Captain woke me up after all." He mumbled in answer. Hijikata made a non-committal sound in the back of his throat and closed his eyes.

"What?" Asked Gintoki curiously.

"He's done it all night long, just when I thought he was sleeping he started crying again... it didn't matter what we did, he wouldn't stop."

Gintoki must have been really tired if he didn't hear Sougo crying. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine, Shimura-San said it was nothing. He's probably just having problems getting used to… this. Whatever this is." Hijikata raised an eyebrow and even with his eyes closed it had the same effect that just made Gintoki agree with whatever he was saying.

The silver haired samurai noticed there was a hint of dark circles under Hijikata's eyes. Without thinking he moved his hand again, carefully, and placed it on the center of Hijikata's cheek. Hijikata opened his eyes again, turning his gaze to him. Gintoki exhaled softly as he let his finger slowly knead the skin just beneath the other's eye. The raven's cheeks became a little warmer under his hand however, once again, he didn't say anything.

"You should sleep." Gintoki suggested, as if his hand messing with Hijikata's face like a little kid did with clay wasn't keeping the man from doing just that. But he didn't really feel like moving the appendage out of the way.

"Can't. Work." Came the curt reply.

Well, at least it didn't seem like he was the one keeping him from dream-land.

This time Gintoki was the one who scoffed. "You're such a workaholic, you know that?"

The corner of Hijikata's mouth twitched. "There are people who earn a living from this thing called 'work'."

"Yeah, but they don't work until they get sick from it."

"M'fine."

"If you say so."

Gintoki didn't cease the movement of his hand. Neither did Hijikata.

The quiet of the room was undisturbed, only the sounds of their breathing filled the space and Gintoki felt so relaxed he could go to sleep again almost immediately, but he didn't want to miss anything. Unhurriedly, he tangled his fingers in Hijikata's hair again, he couldn't help it, he really liked it. The strands were so smooth and soft and straight. It didn't matter what he did with his own hair, it never came out that way, always staying permy and sometimes coarse, but Hijikata's wasn't and he just... maybe he had an obsession with his hair.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes and it felt good. The Vice Commander's hand now was standing on the patch of skin where the wrist met the hand, with his thumb rubbing in the middle, where his vein was pulsing. And ever so slowly it started descending, touching the end of his palm and stopping there, just for a little while.

Because when he started moving again their hands were touching and Gintoki didn't want this to stop. He deliberately moved even closer towards him and Hijikata's hand went down again, his forefinger now drawing circles on the center of his palm. It wasn't like they were holding hands or anything, but his hand was right there there, against his, and it felt so nice. The Vice Commander's face started becoming clearer and now Gintoki was gripping tightly his hair, almost afraid that Hijikata would go away if he let him, And he didn't want to be alone.

Gintoki just wanted to melt a little more inside his eyes.

Hijikata got a little closer too and now Gintoki was gripping the back of his head, stopping his movements. The Vice Commander's fingers started sliding along his palm, a ghost touch, but since it was so subtle he felt it that much more. The rays were softly lighting the raven's face was and his hair had this almost golden hue as the strands hit by the sunlight looked to be almost shining. Gintoki started moving his fingers through them again. But his eyes- his eyes, they were wonderful.

The sun was gleaming right through them, it seemed. Until then the silver haired samurai had only seen blueblueblue, which reminded him a little of the sky and of the ocean too, but now it was such a light blue he had no means of comparison. He could actually see all the speckles of light and dark in the orbs, bright and burning everything they left behind.

Gintoki had been burned too.

Since he had touched that liquid blue fire a long time ago, without even knowing it, and now he wanted to lose himself a little more in the fire that was Hijikata.

The distance between them was slowly disappearing as their fingers moved in a less 'I-want-to-touch' and more 'I-want-to-feel' way and he wasn't used to this, he really wasn't, but hell, he wanted to be. He just wanted to lay like this with the other man, staring at him for half of an eternity. Gintoki would never get bored of looking at him. It was hard to admit, if only to himself, that the possibility of having someone important was so frightening and he was afraid of caring for Hijikata. Not because of who he was but because he could end up losing him in this cruel world and what if Gintoki wasn't enough to protect him? What if Hijikata was taken away from him and he would never be able to look into those magnetizing blue again? He had come so close the last time with those stupid amanto, what else would happen next?

His grip tightened again, however not because he wanted him closer this time, now he was just... a mess of thoughts, and deep down the fear was taking over. Maybe the frown on his face wasn't as hidden as he had initially anticipated because Hijikata's expression changed.

"Weren't you the one who told me not to think about work?"

Gintoki stopped breathing for a moment, feeling strangely like a deer caught in headlights. "I'm not even close to thinking about that. It's just… a lot of stuff."

And Gintoki was good at lying, he really was, but if he had his eyes open for one more second Hijikata would be able to tell what was going on, so he closed them and tried to make the distressing mental images leave. But it wasn't easy. He felt pressure then, on his hand. Hijikata was holding his hand, and however loose the grip might be it still made Gintoki's head spin.

"Oi. I don't know what you're thinking about, but stop." In that moment Gintoki would dare to say what was showing on Hijikata's face could be mistaken as concern. "You usually have a stupid look and now... the one you have doesn't match at all. You shouldn't be wearing that kind of expression on your face."

Gintoki's eyes widened in surprise at the words. Hijikata lightly smoothed out his frown with his fingers, and it felt kind of amazing. Maybe Hijikata's fingers would be his next obsession. He tried to arrange his features to something neutral and nonchalant, more from habit than from being caught, as he muttered what was supposed to be a reassurance.

"I'm fine."

"Liar."

He had been caught. And maybe it was because he was a little too inside his head to really try and make an effort, but most of the time it was simply Hijikata who was able to disentangle his facades. Well, sometimes he forgot this man wasn't like the others. When it came to reading people Gintoki was worried even the mask he had been putting up for years would start to crack under the other man's careful watch. He tightened the grip he had on Hijikata's hand.

"I was thinking about something stupid." He relented in the end.

"Like that's new."

Against his will Gintoki's lip curled up in amusement and after a few seconds of staring at him Hijikata chuckled at what he had said himself. This was probably the first time Gintoki heard him really laugh, he hadn't before, not from this distance and not because of him. He thought that maybe his obsessions wouldn't end anytime soon. Hijikata's voice was so deep and the sound of it was amazing to Gintoki, but hearing him laugh was something else completely.

Maybe Gintoki really couldn't live without him anymore.

"Hijikata..." Now the light haired samurai was worried about something else entirely. This wasn't good. He really shouldn't be thinking about this. He really shouldn't think this way about him.

Hijikata frowned a little. "Oi I told you to stop it!"

Crap. He had that expression again. "Shut up, it's not my fault!" Gintoki tried to defend himself. And it really wasn't, these thoughts were too alien for him (A/N: got the pun? because they live with aliens ahah... I'm so sorry for this, my humor is just so bad).

So, he did the only thing he could do to prove his point. He pouted.

Hijikata narrowed his eyes at him. "Stop it."

"Shut up."

"I said stop!"

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"I will!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Shut. Up." Gintoki crossed his arms stubbornly and rolled to the other side, his pout ever present.

Hijikata had had enough. He got up carefully, avoiding the kids, and slowly made his way to where Gintoki had isolated himself to. He was thankful that the kids were heavy sleepers or they would have certainly gotten hell from the only woman in the apartment for their bickering. Once he was near the other man he lowered himself on his knees, grabbing Gintoki's shoulders.

"Will you stop that?"

"No."

Hijikata decided to take matters in own his hands, literally, since the other wasn't going to stop then he would make him. Honestly if the Vice Commander had been more awake by this point he would have questioned his own sanity. Why was he even bothering to argue with the other? What the Yorozuya did wasn't his problem, it shouldn't concern him. But his mind was befuddled with sleep and traces of exhaustion, and like he had said before that expression on the other's face was just... so unusual and out of place. It was wrong and he didn't like it, so he wanted to wipe it away.

"Fine, you're doing this to yourself."

"Huh?"

Hijikata turned him on his back, away from the kids, and with his arms immobilized him. It didn't matter how much Gintoki struggled, he had the upper hand.

"Stop it! Oi! What are you doing to poor Gin-San's face!? The main character can have bruises and blood only in real fight scenes to look cooler!"

"I told you, you brought this upon yourself! And who said you're the main character!?"

They continued like this for maybe a minute before Hijikata decided enough was enough and in a bout of bravery (or stupidity) grabbed him firmly, placing his forehead against Gintoki's and everything stopped. The silver haired samurai was looking at him with those round, russet eyes and Hijikata felt fire coursing through his body, but he tried to think about the task at hand and breathed.

Gintoki could feel how fast Hijikata's heart was beating too and in that moment they were like two completely different clocks that had synchronized. He thought it was one of the best feelings in the world.

Their breaths were leaving them in warm puffs of air and their noses were almost touching. They were close. Hijikata took Gintoki's cheeks in both his hands, which were free since he had used his elbows to pin him down. Gintoki didn't know if the warmth he felt was because of Hijikata's hands or his own face going red from embarrassment or maybe a bit of both. One of the other's hands was getting closer and closer to his lips, almost touching them and then... he pulled it.

Like, actually taking his lower lip between his fingers and pulling. Hard.

"Oww!"

"If you don't stop it I'll do this every time and pull even more, it's really going to hurt." Hijikata had an annoying smirk on his face as sat back.

Gintoki rubbed at his poor injured (not really) lower lip. "You're an asshole, wipe that grin off your face!" But Hijikata's grin just got wider.

The Yorozuya boss was still mending at his painful wound when Hijikata leaned slightly in. "Stop moping around."

Gintoki's eyes widened as he threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "I wasn't! Why is everyone so fixed on this?!"

"And you were pouting too." Hijikata continued in a monotone.

"I wasn't!"

"You were."

"Shut up I wasn't! I never pout or mope! Go away you almost broke my lip and threw it off!" Gintoki made a motion with his hand to shoo him away.

Hijikata almost snorted as he mocked him. "What a crybaby."

Gintoki's nostrils flared in irritation. "Would you like it if I did it to you?! Haah?! Would you like if I tore off your mouth?!" He shoved Hijikata off, albeit gently, as he sat and held his pulsing mouth between his fingers. If this wasn't even supposed to hurt then Gintoki didn't want to find out what would for Hijikata. Never mind that the warmth of the other's fingers was clouding up his brain and making his lips burn.

Hijikata huffed a little. "I didn't break it. Lemme see."

"No! You'll just rip it off! I'm not going to show you anything!" Gintoki turned his head away childishly.

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "I won't, you big baby."

"Stop it!"

"C'mon, it's not that bad."

"Yes it is!"

The light haired samurai was behaving worse than even Sougo did in his teenage from. It was obvious that ordering him around wouldn't do anything except complicate matters even more. Hijikata at this point didn't even question what he was doing anymore, he just wanted to know why the stubborn idiot was being so defensive and didn't want to show him his apparently 'fatal injury'. So the raven took a deep breath and scooted closer. He sat on his knees in front of the silver haired samurai. The Vice Commander kept looking at him as he bumped his forehead on the other's temple, lightly, and stayed like that.

"Hey." He lowered his voice this time. "Let me see."

"...no." But Gintoki's voice was softer now and maybe even unsure? He had his head lowered down and his hands were covering the lower half of his face. But he didn't try to pull away from Hijikata. The raven's fingertips grazed his wrist, missing his breath hitch slightly.

"...let me see, you big baby."

But it was whispered in such a low tone that it didn't really sound insulting. In Gintoki's messy mind he even thought it was almost... affectionate? In a strange kind of way. His face felt warmer and he didn't want to take his hands off it. It was so weird, he was sitting in his living room with his legs open, bent at the knees and his head down while his face was hidden between the strands of hair and his hands. And Hijikata was sat between his legs, with his fingers touching his wrist and his forehead against his temple, and if Gintoki turned his head just a little their foreheads would be pressing together. It felt weird and he felt so embarrassed, but it also felt kind of nice. Okay. maybe more than nice. Hijikata was usually irritating but he was also nice with him. Did Gintoki already mention that he liked this?

The white haired samurai slowly lowered his hands and Hijikata's slid up his wrist, like they did a few minutes ago. As his hands fell from his face they were replaced with the raven's. The Yorozuya at first kept his head down, his heart beating furiously. But as time passed the curiosity ate him inside because he wanted to look at the other man. He lifted his gaze, little by little, and turned his head, little by little, until their foreheads touched, making his heart skip a beat. He found Hijikata looking back at him and Gintoki's breath got stuck in his throat because he wore such a different expression than the one he was used to. His eyes were light and intense and seemingly staring into his soul.

And they were kind.

Hijikata's thumbs joined in the middle of Gintoki's lip and slowly pushed at the reddening flesh. The Vice Commander noticed how soft the other man's lips were and in the back of his mind, still disoriented from the lack of sleep and an abrupt awakening, he thought the cause might be from all the sugar he ate? It was making his heart speed just a little as he touched it. He skimmed his thumb delicately over the plump lip while the curls of Gintoki's hair brushed against his other hand, their foreheads still attached.

"See? I told you it wasn't that bad." Hijikata's voice was no more than a whisper and it made Gintoki's eyelashes flicker. As the Vice Commander continued with his treatment, he got lost in it, forgetting completely about the 'injury' on his lower lip.

"What... were you thinking about?" Hijikata continued, this time his voice sounded almost unsure. "With that frown on your face?"

The question caught him a little by surprise since it seemed his mind had been wiped away from anything else other than the man in front of him.

"I-" Gintoki gulped, he couldn't really tell him, could he? "... some things."

Hijikata almost scoffed. "I told you, you shouldn't think about those."

Blue met red.

So close.

"...can't help it." By this point Gintoki's voice was a murmur too. And Hijikata's fingers were so warm, he could feel them with every word that came out of his mouth.

"And why's that?" The raven's voice sounded a little breathless. Or maybe it only sounded to Gintoki that way? He was getting a little dizzy, he couldn't really believe Hijikata was so close to him right now. It made a rush travel through his body, pushing for more. And Gintoki did, he pushed just a little closer, and Hijikata shifted a little too, they were so close their noses slid the tiniest bit against each other.

And maybe he was imagining this too, but the affection behind the gesture felt electrifying to him.

He remembered he was supposed to use words and speak and answer. "Because..."

Hijikata got even closer and Gintoki's heart was trying to escape through his ribcage.

"Because?" The Vice Commander prompted. Hijikata's hands were locked in his hair now, and as his fingers slightly moved every trail they made left a path of hot warmth rising on his skin.

"...I... I was..."

It was so difficult to think about anything that wasn't Hijikata. His heart started racing, making him feel even more warm than he already did. Light-headed, Gintoki felt the urge, the need, to get closer. Ignoring everything else other than the rush inside of him he grabbed the shirt of Hijikata's pajamas in his sweaty palms and, inch by inch, pulled.

"You were?" Hijikata's question was uttered lowly, in that husky, throaty voice of his, and the sound was getting lost in the space of the living room.

Lost in the space between Gintoki's thoughts and his fantasies.

And if this was how he was going to be comforted then maybe bad thoughts weren't the worst thing.

"Hijikata..." His voice was small, quiet, he had rarely heard himself like this.

But Hijikata was here now and there was something in Gintoki that had changed because of him. He felt like, like-... like he needed him. He needed Hijikata. And he knew he was such a selfish idiot, what if Hijikata didn't want the same thing? Of course he didn't want the same thing and here he was, forcing himself onto him this way, but he really couldn't help it. It seemed he couldn't help anything when the other man was involved.

"Hmm?" Hijikata hummed calmly, the tip of his nose grazed almost tenderly against Gintoki's as he moved slightly closer and it made his breath stutter.

"I-I need..." Gintoki's tongue felt too thick inside his mouth and the only thing he could do was pull Hijikata closecloseclose until their chests were brushing every time they took a breath. Not that he was succeeding much in the that department.

"What's wrong?"

Hijikata was so close but so far away at the same time. His touch not enough but almost too much and he pulled at his clothes again, holding tightly. Hijikata's palms were burning his cheeks and he seemed so calm right now. How could he maintain his composure when Gintoki felt a storm raging on inside of him? No, it was more like a hurricane. He felt so impatient, his head was fuzzy and in his stomach- forget butterflies, there was a whole zoo was taking place.

Did Hijikata feel it too?

"...I..."

Could someone explain to him how to breathe? It seemed like he had forgotten. His eyes travelled down to the other man's lips and then back up to his eyes again. One of the Vice Commander's hands slided down, until it was on Gintoki's shoulder, leaving shivers tingling in its wake.

"What do you need?" And the way he whispered those words, it was making Gintoki go crazy. He liked when Hijikata got felt confident around him, maybe a little too much, and he was starting to think that it was okay to feel this way. If it was with Hijikata.

Gintoki's lips parted. 'You.' He thought.

Having thrown all the rationality he had outside the window, which wasn't much to begin with, Gintoki was going to answer him like that, he really was, he was going to tell Hijikata how he felt and-

BAM!

The door opening was such a shock that they both went tumbling down.

The two samurai fell on their backs, across each other. And in the middle of the shock, his head hurting from having smacked it on the floor and wondering what the hell the noise that had startled them was, Gintoki thought they were once again too far away for his liking.

"OTAEEE-CHAAAN! Where are you my beautifuuul? "

Oh, so it had been him.

"Oh! Yorozuya, Toshi! You're still sleeping at this hour?! Get up before you get lazy! Ahahah!" Kondo was laughing with gusto.

Gintoki could just kill him right about now. He had been so close to Hijikata, so close! And now his chance was ruined!

Well, it was over now. He sighed as a strand from his fringe fluttered from the small puff of air he let out. And in that moment he kind of felt like that lonely curl, only going up and down if it was pushed with some air, but staying motionless and pathetic on its own. He sighed again.

Why could he never say what he wanted to say?

"There's a thing called knocking, you know?" Gintoki pointed out annoyed after a few seconds ticked by.

He looked over at Hijikata and found a little solace in seeing that the other man seemed just a little unhappy with the interruption too and he gave him a look that Gintoki could translate in 'It can't be helped', before getting up to greet Kondo. He wondered how many interruptions Hijikata had had to survive through because of his Commander.

"Sorry! I really wanted to see Tae-Chan and I guess I just forgot about it." Kondo had a shy smile on his face as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. But he wasn't sorry. At all. Gintoki didn't care either way, he almost had a heart attack from his intrusion and he still wanted to kill him.

Otae chose that moment to walk in the room with Sougo. "Oh, you're already here." It didn't sound like she was angry, maybe because she already knew the Gorilla would visit, but she didn't sound pleased either.

Kondo's eyes sparkled with joy when he saw her. "Otae-chaaan! You become more beautiful every day!"

She ignored his compliment. "Isn't it too early for you to be already here?"

All of a sudden Kondo struck a pose. His head was turned the other way, his shoulders were tense and an air of seriousness took over his figure. Slowly he lifted his gaze as he the corner of his mouth turned up in a smile and he raised his thumb up.

With a deep voice he recited: "It's never too early... for love."

Never too early his ass! Gintoki wanted to choke him! If it wasn't too early then why had he interrupted his confession of l- wait!

WAIT A SECOND!

It wasn't like Gintoki was about to profess his undying love for Hijikata or anything like that! Nope! What Gintoki felt wasn't love, no, no, no. No. It was just... some kind of feeling. Yeah, just that. No biggie.

As soon as Sougo saw Kondo his eyes lit up. "Oh, look who's here! Did you just wake up little munchkin?" The Commander cooed in his 'baby-voice' as he took him from Otae's arms and hugged the baby tightly, squishing his face against Sougo's.

"Not really, he's been up almost the whole night." Otae answered him. "Just ask Hijikata-San."

If she was willingly answering the Gorilla then she must be really tired. Once again Gintoki thought that he hadn't heard a single thing about what had happened the night before, it seemed like these past few weeks had really taken a toll on him. The silver haired samurai decided to get up as well, since staying on the floor wouldn't do him any good, and he went to the small group. He might have been closer to Hijikata than the rest of them but that was only a small detail.

"Really?" Asked Kondo surprised, probably more about the fact that Otae had answered him instead of yelling or ignoring him. Hijikata nodded, he looked to still be a little drowsy as he tried to suppress a small yawn escaping from his lips.

Gintoki thought that was one of the most adorable things he had ever seen in his life.

Gintoki wanted to punch himself on the face for thinking that.

'Stop thinking about this you big idiot! Nothing happened before and nothing will happen in the future! So stop it!' He mentally scolded himself. He was sure about it. For Hijikata this meant nothing, maybe it was just a way to mess with him or something, otherwise he would have been more affected, right? ...well, now Gintoki just made himself a little sad. Great.

"Aww, why did you keep them all up Sougo? You shouldn't do that, you care about Otae-Chan, Toshi and the Yorozuya, don't you?"

In all answer Sougo giggled.

Hijikata scoffed at the scene while the little boy hugged his Commander, apparently he really liked him.

It was during this time that they heard another baby cry, Kagura. While Otae went to retrieve her Gintoki noticed Shinpachi had woken up too but he wasn't crying, just looking around. As soon as he saw Gintoki he gave him a big smile and started waving his hand, if that could even be called a wave. Gintoki grinned a bit and went to him, lifting the baby up in his arms. He returned soon after to his position beside the black haired man, while Otae was trying to calm down little Kagura.

Shinpachi waved his hand to Hijikata too, who didn't know how to really respond and looked at Gintoki for help. It made the light haired samurai's chest tighten just a little in knowing Hijikata had some sort of trust towards him, enough to at least to ask for help with the kids. He took a step closer and with his eyes he tried to convey the same message he had given him the previous day. Hijikata seemed to understand because, even if with a little uncertainty, he patted the top of Shinpachi's head and the little boy grinned more.

"Now that we're all up we can finally eat breakfast together!" Kondo pointed out enthusiastically. Gintoki then noticed that the Gorilla had brought bags with him, maybe he wanted to cook? Kondo whispered something to Sougo then passed him into Hijikata's arms, who almost looked horrified as he tried to hold him, in fact Gintoki and Otae had to help him with his grip so the little kid wouldn't fall.

"Today I'll cook something special for Otae-Chan! Of course for the little ones and you guys too!" Kondo announced with a glint in his eyes.

"Do you even know what infants eat?" Otae asked him skeptically.

"Yes I do! I did a lot of research and I know everything i need to know!" The Commander grinned. "Don't worry, leave it all to me!"

Otae was still suspicious. She decided to let him do whatever he had planned, but if it turned out to be something disgusting she would throw the food and him out of the apartment, the kids had to eat only the best after all. And in her very modest opinion her cooking is the best. Maybe Gintoki's might be good too, but everyone knew that she's the best when it comes to food (no she isn't). Kondo took the reigns of the kitchen, he had said they couldn't come in until he was finished. So, while he took care of their breakfast the other three watched over the babies. Otae had changed their diapers already, (Gintoki and Hijikata had chickened out, again) but she hadn't changed them in the new day-to-day clothes they had bought, letting them stay in their comfortable pajamas until after they would finish eating.

Now they were sat on the mat, watching the little kids play. Shinpachi had taken a little car, crawling, or trying to with all of them scattered there. At one point he was moving towards Gintoki, more precisely towards his leg, which was laying stretched out. The little boy started pushing the toy more, not thinking that he could have gone on another route or maybe even lifted the plastic car, as if he thought he could somehow make it pass through.

"Oi, that's Gin-San's leg if you haven't noticed. And he needs it." Gintoki told him after the ninth time Shinpachi pressed the car into his shin.

The little boy looked up at him with the most innocent eyes as he blinked his big, chocolate orbs at him.

And then proceeded to push the toy even harder against his leg.

"You know, when I said I needed my leg I didn't mean it to sound like a suggestion for you to stop if you wanted to. I meant it like 'stop immediately'. "I need my leg, to- what is that thing that people always seem to do? Hmm..." Gintoki looked up to the ceiling as he stroked his chin and in remembrance. Then he fixed his gaze on Shinpachi again. "... Oh, yeah. To walk." He finished in a flat voice.

The other two had also paused their own games to look at Gintoki and Shinpachi. Sougo was laying down while Kagura was sat and had her thumb in her mouth as she watched the scene, which Otae gently pried out and replaced it with a pacifier. Shinpachi once again blinked his eyes, looking the picture of innocence as he grinned. Gintoki sighed, he had finally understood it seemed-

And this time Shinpachi smashed the toy against Gintoki's leg.

The samurai bit his tongue to not let out a groan of pain as Otae chuckled quietly behind her hand and Hijikata turned his head to the other side, having a somewhat of a hard time containing his amusement at the scene, while Sougo and Kagura tilted a little their heads to the side.

Gintoki, now knowing it was useless to try and reason with the little boy himself, asked the question to his sister. "Why is he like this?"

"He is a little kid, what did you think? That he would understand everything you said and take care of himself like an adult?" Otae asked back with a raised brow and traces of laughter still in her voice.

"Yeah." Gintoki answered promptly, as if he expected the answer to be obvious.

Otae narrowed her eyes a little as she looked at him incredulously. She opened her mouth and then closed it, shaking her head and diverting her attention to the babies. It was too early for this. Hijikata's mouth twitched just a little at the display, having the sudden urge to shake his head too, but there was something else collocating itself inside his chest. He decided to ignore it.

The silver haired samurai quickly lifted his leg as soon as he saw Shinpachi try to attack him once again and the little boy, not having expected it fell forward.

"Ha! Look who feel for it this time!" Gintoki mocked him as he pointed at the little kid.

"Gin-San, don't hurt him." Otae's voice was partly concerned and partly exasperated as she reprimanded him.

"I didn't, I didn't!" Gintoki quickly amended as lifted his hands in surrender before taking hold of the boy's shirt and helping him in a sitting position while Shinpachi was giggling. "See?" He said to Otae as he patted his head. In all answer Otae rolled her eyes. Hijikata this time didn't refrain from shaking his head, finding the other man childish, but the corner of his lips still turned the tiniest bit up.

After a few more minutes of playing Kondo finally marched into the room in all the glory his white apron gave him, with a written 'The Best Cook' on it (Otae didn't think so), and all of the frills (Hijikata shook his head in the corner) and stopped in front of them with his hands on his hips (Gintoki tried to get rid of the wax inside his ear).

"The breakfast is... served!" He almost yelled while looking ahead of him and for some reason the kids burst out laughing, the adults weren't finding it as funny, however.

"Could you not raise your voice like that?" Otae glared at him in annoyance.

"Ah, sorry Otae-Chan! But breakfast is ready!" Kondo grinned at her widely as he spoke in a 'sweet' voice this time.

Otae glanced at Gintoki from the corner of her eye as the annoyance seemed to double and all Gintoki could offer in support was a lopsided smile and a shrug of shoulders.

---

At the table the kids had decided to take their place in the adults' laps, not wanting to use the high chairs. Kagura was with Otae, Shinpachi with Gintoki and Sougo with Kondo since Hijikata was still hesitant to stay in contact with his subordinate-turned-into-a-kid when it wasn't strictly necessary. Gintoki and Otae were on one side while the Shinsengumi members were across from them since he hadn't wanted to risk it with how the brunette had that kind of look in her eyes, like she knew something. To be safe he opted to behave normally around the Vice-Commander, not wanting to give Otae even more ground for her theories to grow on.

To distract himself Gintoki was trying to feed Shinpachi, trying to because the little boy was restless and seemingly wanting to do anything else other than eating. But he didn't really blame him since on the kid's plate there was something orange-y and mushy. He had no idea what it was. Once in a while he would sneak some bites from his own plate too, though he had no idea what that was either because all he could focus on was Hijikata, but he was sure he could detect some eggs, maybe, and the taste was actually good. Gintoki was honestly surprised. But how could he pay attention to anything else except for the man in front of him after what had happened only a few minutes ago? Or maybe hours ago. Again, he hadn't really paid attention to anything else.

"Kagura-Chan, slow down." The light haired samurai turned towards the source of the voice, he could hear the hint of laughter behind Otae's voice. And when he looked at the scene he snorted. Kagura was currently devouring, no inhaling, what was on her plate, her face was mashed on it and her arms were too. It seemed like she hadn't eaten in weeks. Even Shinpachi and Sougo had stopped what they were doing to look at their shrunken companion.

"You poor soul, who was the one who let you starve?" Gintoki asked her while trying to keep his snickers at bay.

The little girl looked up when she heard him and stared for a moment as some of the food fell from her face as she blinked wide, baby blues eyes at him.

Then smashed her face into the plate, again.

Gintoki burst out laughing at the display. Otae tried to hide her chuckles and Kondo joined him with a boisterous laugh while Hijikata looked away, his mouth twitching against his will.

"Ahah! Glad to see someone enjoys my cooking so much!" Kondo exclaimed happily. "Don't worry kiddo, there's still a lot left!"

In all answer Kagura ate even faster than before.

Between trying to feed the kids, trying to stop Kagura from not only devouring their food but their plates too, and eating themselves, breakfast finally came to an end. Kondo offered to be the one to do the clean up since he was the one who had barged in to cook for them, he said it was only fair. Gintoki wasn't going to complain about that. They lounged around until the Commander finished and joined them on the table.

There was an air of seriousness around him as he was the first to interrupt the silence. "From the information we gathered what they went through was because the effects from a new drug circulating, but it isn't dangerous or life threatening. Apparently the amanto use it to reinvigorate themselves and often, however it is different on the human body, it shrinks whoever comes in direct contact with it." The Commander looked at the three kids, then back at the grown ups.

"For everyone who 'turns' because of the drug-" He continued. "Even if they are eighteen or eighty, their age becomes one year old, approximately. It's mostly found in specific packages of snacks or beverages, the ones Sougo, Kagura-Chan and Shinpachi-Kun at one point ate or drank from. In the meantime we have banned their distributions and our men are working on researching these strange phenomenons. The effects are bound to last around a week, well, six days now. But at this point I don't think there is really anything else to worry about." Kondo finished with a reassuring smile.

"So... what do we do now?" Gintoki asked while scratching at his scalp absent-mindedly, also looking at the kids.

"You take care of them just like you did yesterday!" Kondo answered, still with the grin plastered on his face.

"We can do that." Otae murmured as she softly smiled down at Kagura.

"That's what I wanted to hear!" The Gorilla exclaimed as he started getting up. "Very well, I should go now. Toshi, you don't need to come in today but tomorrow we might need you, I'll let you know." Hijikata nodded, albeit reluctantly. He just wanted nothing more than to go back and carry on his job and his day-to-day life, he wasn't ready to be stuck with... this.

Kondo bid his goodbye to him and the children. "I'll see you guys very soon! Remember to be good and behave well with Otae-Chan... and Toshi and the Yorozuya too, of course!" The Commander added hastily at the end, almost as if he had forgotten the presence of the other two men.

He probably had.

Hijikata shook his head a little while Gintoki rolled his eyes while the kids giggled. They really seemed to like him, Gintoki wondered why. But when it was Otae's turn he tried reaching for her hand to kiss it. And she blocked him with a wrestling move. All the while with Kagura still sat contently on her lap.

"R-right... I-I'll be going t-then." Kondo stuttered from the floor.

"Yes, that's a good idea." Otae confirmed while smiling sweetly (dangerously).

Hijikata glanced at his Commander laying on the ground and then turned to Gintoki "That was his fault."

Gintoki nodded his head. "I agree." Well, at least he had had his partial revenge thanks to Otae for the Gorilla's rude interruption.

As Kondo left with a few final words the kids called and waved at him. The light haired samurai was distracted by the funny faces Shinpachi was pulling, snorting at some of them, but his attention was suddenly diverted when the only woman in the room spoke the next words.

"I have to leave in about an hour too. You will be fine on your own, right?" Otae asked them with a tilt of her head.

"No!" They both shouted at the same time.

"W-Where are y-you going s-so soon?" Hijikata stuttered the dreaded question.

"W-Wait! D-Didn't you start w-working in the e-evening?" Gintoki asked in the same way.

She smiled apologetically. "Not today, I start in the morning. We have some preparations to take care of first, clean and make sure that everything is in the right place, then we can open up." She looked at their worried expressions and added quickly, "Don't worry, you will be fine! You already did a great job yesterday, today it's going to be a piece of cake!" Otae said encouragingly, but Gintoki and Hijikata weren't so sure about that.

"Didn't you still have a few days off or something?" Gintoki asked again, desperation and hope mixing in his voice.

"No…" Her face fell a little, obviously wanting to stay with the kids too, however she brightened again. "But I have flexible hours. I have to go today because there is an issue that we need to fix, but I should be back by the evening at the latest."

The two samurai sighed. At least she would be back before the night. Gintoki was sure he wouldn't have been able to control the kids for longer than that and from Hijikata's face he was sure the other wouldn't either. He exhaled slowly as he looked at the three little kids. They had to make sure this was going to work. He wasn't exactly amazing with children, but he wasn't terrible either. After all he had taken care of Kagura and Shinpachi before and even if it now required more effort he was sure he could pull it off. And after witnessing how Hijikata was able to calm Sougo down the previous day he knew the other was also capable.

They had had enough time to play together, with Sadaharu too once he had woken up and joined them and Otae had managed to put them into day-to-day clothes before leaving for work. She kissed the babies' foreheads and patted the two adults on the shoulder reassuringly, and in a matter of minutes the brunette was already out the door. On the bright side the kids hadn't thrown a tantrum when she had left, which made things slightly easier Gintoki supposed.

And once again it was the two of them, alone with the kids and the giant dog. There were a few tense, silent moments that passed by before Gintoki decided to be the first to break the silence.

"So... now we're on our own."

"...yeah."

Hijikata sounded unsure and maybe a little uncomfortable too. Gintoki knew this was something new, too new, and that it was difficult for the both of them. But this didn't mean they couldn't do it. So he decided to take the same approach the other had done with him just a little while ago. Ask him what was wrong.

He shifted, sliding slightly closer to the other man. "What is it?"

Hijikata blinked, confused. "Huh?"

"What's wrong?" He asked again, keeping his voice steady and trying to sound calming.

Hijikata looked at him dumbfounded for a few moments, then his expression changed. "Are you really asking me that? Seriously?!" He moved his arm, gesturing around the room. "Can't you see?"

"Of course I see, but it's fine. This is fine." Gintoki answered in the same tone he had used before, then he gave Hijikata a lazy, lopsided grin. "Oi, who was the one that told me no stupid thoughts before? My lip is still facing the consequences of that."

To be honest he kind of liked those consequences. He still could feel not only his lower lip but everywhere Hijikata's fingers had lingered still tingle, the warmth still spreading through him. Gintoki sighed, feeling his chest a little too full and he wanted to be closer again. His hands found purchase in Hijikata's shoulders, his fingers curling against the material of his shirt. He stared into his eyes and not for the first time Gintoki wondered just how blue they were.

"Hey." His voice was softer this time. "I know we can pull this off. I mean, I'm a lazy good-for-nothing and you're a bad-tempered tax thief. We're like, the perfect combo! What's the worst we could do... blow up the city?" Gintoki finished with a grin.

And maybe that was the right thing to say because Hijikata's shoulders slouched in a more relaxed position and a startled chuckle escaped from his throat. Gintoki was sure that someday he would go crazy from the sound of his deep (beautiful) voice. In the back of his mind he noticed that lately, when they were in close proximity and ended up touching, being on accident or not, it always took a little less time for the tension to leave. It felt more comfortable, al least for him.

"Yeah... of course." And Hijikata smirked a little, small traces of humor colouring his voice and Gintoki couldn't help his heart from racing faster.

The light haired samurai gulped a little as he moved his thumbs, trying to draw a few shapes on the cotton of the shirt, not wanting to let go for a little longer. Hijikata wasn't smirking anymore, but the corner of his lip was still pulled up and he was looking at Gintoki in a way that made goosebumps raise all over his arms. And as if time was his luxury the dark-haired man moved one of his hands, until it was on Gintoki's elbow. He didn't grip or grab him, he just let it rest there and Gintoki could feel the warmth emanating from his palm.

It was a moment of unshattered peace.

All traces of worry or discomfort disappeared, from both their faces and it was nice. Being this close, touching and feeling relaxed in one another's presence. This was nice. It was really good.

After a minute Gintoki reluctantly let go of Hijikata's shoulders, giving one last squeeze before doing so. As much as he wanted to stay that way, and believe him he really, really did, he couldn't because they had three little people to take care of. Wow, Gintoki couldn't believe he was the one thinking rationally for once. Hijikata let go too, the pads of his fingers brushed against Gintoki's forearm as his hand lowered down.

The white haired samurai sighed again and turned to look at the children. They were on the play mat, playing with Sadaharu. Shinpachi was trying to ride him and pointing at things all over the apartment as if giving orders, how he had gotten on top of the dog Gintoki had no idea, while Sougo was petting his fur and Kagura was trying to hug one of the puppy's paws.

"Alright then." Gintoki got up, stretching lazily as he addressed the kids." "What do you say if we go downstairs? Ba-Chan said she had something for you, right? Besides-" He finished his 'morning exercise' as he narrowed his eyes at them, almost glaring. "-if this is our problem then it's hers too!"

The kids burst out giggling.

Gintoki wasn't really sure if they had understood what he had said but since they looked enthusiastic he supposed if they had indeed understood then they liked the idea. Or they just liked laughing at anything people said. Either way worked for him.

"This is how you solve it?" Hijikata asked with a raised brow.

"What? If it's our problem it's theirs too. Look at it like... like a big, crazy family. With the old hag as the grandmother, the cat woman as the demented aunt and Tama as the patient cousin. Oh, now that I think about it the Gorilla could be the demented uncle too."

Out of his peripherals Gintoki had seen a slight dust of pink on Hijikata's face at the word 'family' and maybe he shouldn't have said it, but it felt that way. It had been that way with Kagura and Shinpachi, almost as soon as he had met them he knew they would end up being a part of his life, let alone Otose who had saved him. And the others, like Otae, Tama and the rest contributed to enlarging this crazy family. And now Hijikata and Sougo (the Gorilla too) were here and it felt like they were all a big part of this. Gintoki didn't know where this confidence came from but he was going to make the most of it.

But first they had something else to do. He took Kagura and Shinpachi on each arm, leaving Sougo to Hijikata and he went in the bathroom, the other following behind. Once in there he put the kids on the changing station and... gulped. He really hoped they hadn't made a mess because he couldn't bring himself to change them. He slowly unwrapped their diapers with shaking hands, but let out a relieved sigh when he saw that the coast was clear. He had kept his head lowered the whole time to give them at least some form of deserved privacy, if he had been in that situation he thought he would appreciate the gesture. Next to him he heard Hijikata sighing relieved too, it seemed they had escaped the dreadful diaper change. This time.

Gintoki grinned at them. "Good job, you deserve some ice cream later."

The kids were gargling happily. Who knew, maybe they secretly were geniuses and understood everything he said? This time he lifted the three babies up in a bear hug and walked as fast as he could to the living room, almost running (Hijikata was walking normally behind them), before stopping in front of the couch and letting the kids plop down, bouncing on the cushions. They were laughing like crazy. Gintoki snickered as he watched them, infected by their contagious baby laugh. It looked like they had so much fun with little things, just like little kids.

"Heh, they look just like little kids." Gintoki voiced out his thought.

Hijikata stared for a few seconds at the three babies then turned towards him. "...they literally are little kids."

Gintoki's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to Hijikata. "Shit...you're right." He didn't even stop to think that he had just cursed in front of them, at least Otae wasn't here to scold him.

Hijikata was giving him a look that seemed to say 'are you being serious right now?'

To avoid answering and letting him know that yes, he had actually forgotten they were little kids right now even if they had been little kids right in front of his eyes for more than a day, Gintoki took a direct route to his/their room, not sparing another glance at them. He started his quest of three little pairs of shoes, he was sure Otae had put them in here somewhere.

After a long and suffering search that felt interminable (it lasted 60 seconds) the silver haired samurai let out a triumphant "ah-ha!" as he finally found what he had been looking for. With his new conquest he quickly reached the others, depositing his newfound treasure on the table. Gintoki took a moment to really look at the shoes, they were so tiny he almost couldn't believe that feet so small existed. Grinning a little he picked the pair that was destined to Kagura and looked at Hijikata.

"Hmm..." He began contemplatively. "I think the pink ones are for Shinpachi. It's obvious, right? I'm pretty sure Otae thought about him when she picked them."

Hijikata raised an eyebrow, but it was clear it was from mirth this time, no matter how much he tried to hide it. "The pink ones?" He asked.

"The pink ones." Gintoki confirmed. "I mean, look at them. The colour, the glinting little white and red flowers on the side. It practically screams manliness." His grin widened. "Almost as if they were made for him. I bet Shinpachi would be so happy to have them. Or Sougo. Or you know, every male baby to ever exist." Gintoki wasn't 100% sure but it had almost looked like a glint had passed through Hijikata's eyes.

"You... you know what?" Hijikata crossed his arms as he looked at the light haired baby and nodded his head contemplatively. "It looks like they would fit Sougo. He would look good with them on."

Gintoki blinked, not having expected it and his lips stretched in a grin once again as he nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, of course. They would definitely look good on him."

Hijikata nodded his head as he stroked his chin. "We should put them on him."

Gintoki's eyes widened as a strained laugh escaped his throat. "We should. Absolutely."

The corner of Hijikata's lips turned up. "Let's do it."

Gintoki huffed a laugh as he passed the pair of shoes to the other man. "Want to do the honors?"

"I'd be offended not to." Hijikata replied as he smirked a little this time.

If hearts could run marathons Gintoki's would have in that moment.

Hijikata kneeled in front of Sougo, who had absolutely no idea what was going on and the baby was blinking up at them innocently. Gintoki almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"Can you imagine how much blackmail material you're going to get out of this?"

Hijikata turned to him, eyes blown wide. "I can't even imagine it! That's how much!"

Gintoki laughed. It was just that the Vice Commander's face was so funny! He had his eyes wide in excitement, there was almost a grin on his lips and his voice had been so urgent, as if he couldn't wait to have his revenge on the little boy for all the years of (mortal) pranks that had been pulled on him. And Gintoki couldn't help the warmth that spread through him at the childish way Hijikata was behaving. Not that he didn't agree, because he was obviously all for it.

Hijikata, with agitation running through him, carefully put one glaring pink shoe after the other on the little boy's feet. But for a moment he stopped as a thought entered his mind.

"They're so little..." He whispered, more to himself than anyone else, as he held Sougo's leg in his palm. He shook his head, not wanting to linger on it anymore and carried on with his 'evil' plan.

As he was focused on carrying the task Hijikata missed Gintoki smiling softly behind him.

---

Once that was finished they were finally ready and out the door, Sadaharu following behind (Gintoki and Hijikata had changed sometime between the start to the finish of the breakfast). Gintoki was holding Kagura and Shinpachi and between his fingers the strap of a bag Otae had packed with whatever the kids might need, while Hijikata had Sougo. So no one could accuse Gintoki of not being a gentleman now.

Outside the bar he opened the door and let himself in.

"Yo." The light haired samurai greeted with his usual nonchalance as he lazily walked inside in his cool fashion, only this time he had two arm full of kids and the bag dangling from his hand.

"Look who decided to drop in today." Otose spoke calmly as she put out her cigarette.

The Vice Commander had the sudden urge to take one himself as soon as he entered and saw the smoke slowly dissipating in the air. But he couldn't right now. One way or another he was going to wait. He sighed disappointed.

It was really difficult to have kids.

Gintoki managed somehow to scratch at his scalp with the hand holding the bag and one eye closed in a show of annoyance as he answered her. "Shut up old hag, you know how much we had to do yesterday. Besides you all always invite yourselves to my apartment every time you want, I don't see why you couldn't have done it again, so don't start complainin' with me."

Tama's head, out of nowhere, popped out from behind one of the staff doors. Gintoki and Hijikata would deny it to their grave that they jolted in place at the new presence in the room.

"Don't worry Gintoki-Sama, we know how much you had to deal with. Otose-Sama is only, what you humans would call, joking."

"Tama don't say that to him." Otose chastised her, a little annoyed that Gintoki had found out.

"Who's making all this noise? People are trying to sleep here! Shut the hell up!" The cat lady yelled, making her presence known as well as she stood from one of the booths at the end of the bar.

"Shut up Catherine and get to work! I don't pay you to do nothing and just sleep!" Otose yelled back at her.

"Lower you voices! Do you have any idea how early I had to wake up this morning because of the kids!?" Gintoki shouted too.

Catherine was ready to tell him off but suddenly she stopped, blinked and pointed at him. "Oh. "You look like a desperate mom that just wants to be young again."

Gintoki bristled. "Shut up!"

Hijikata blinked at that and as he looked at Gintoki he thought that... maybe it wasn't that far fetched, though he didn't say anything.

As they started another argument in which Gintoki argued that 'if anything he was a mother who didn't want to have any kids' and the cat woman argued back that 'he couldn't be a mother without kids, what an idiot' while Otose flat out told them that 'they were both stupid', Tama swept in. She took the bag, Kagura and Shinpachi from the light haired samurai, without him even noticing, and she placed them on a booth they had arranged specifically for the little babies to be comfortable. She returned, gently taking Sougo from Hijikata's arms too and with a nod of her head and a polite smile she gestured at him to follow. The Vice-Commander, not wanting to be caught in the crossfire that was taking place (and he had to admit really stupid things were being said) went beside her.

Once the kids were settled contently on the comfy cushions the robot woman turned to him. "Thank you for the wonderful job you have done for the children Hijikata-Sama. Without you caring for them it would have been much more difficult." She bowed slightly and gave him a kind smile. "We all appreciate your help. Gintoki-Sama does too, even if he doesn't voice it out loud."

Hijikata didn't know why but his face felt a little too hot. He nodded curtly at her, not really knowing how to answer. He sighed as he tried to think of anything else. The ruckus the three were making caught his attention again and as his eyes landed on Gintoki he quickly looked away, his face feeling even warmer. From a glimpse he had seen the light haired samurai and the lady with black hair trying to beat the living daylights out of each other, and as he looked at the woman with green hair, who was smiling and talking gently to the kids, he decided that if he had to pick one out of all of them he would choose her (A/N:after Gintoki of course, but it will take some chapters for him to admit it).

She had been polite, kind and helpful, which reminded him of the Shimura sister. He had to admit the women around the Yorozuya weren't as bad (or crazy) as he was, and for that Hijikata was thankful. Tama took out a bowl for Sadaharu too, not that he hadn't eaten before but it seemed the dog was still hungry judging by the giant pile of food that was quickly disappearing.

As Hijikata looked at the little girl with red hair he thought it was true when people said that pets were similar their owners, after all.

When the trio's discussion, which had taken a turn in whether 'monkeys or giraffes would be the best to have as pets' and Gintoki stating that 'even if giraffes would be infinitely better, they were unfortunately mythical creatures, just like dinosaurs' and Catherine and Otose looking at him as if he had grown another head on the spot, finally giving up on his stupidity they had decided to join the others.

"Have a seat so we can talk." The old woman spoke first as she took a seat next to Kagura, patting the little girl's head and letting her play with her fingers.

Hijikata was sure she was talking to Gintoki only, but when he turned for confirmation from the other he found Gintoki looking at him. He had his usual bored expression on, but there was also something else behind those eyes he couldn't quite decipher and he nodded in the direction of the kids. Hijikata, not wanting to awkwardly stand in the middle of the bar or block the way, hastily slided next to Sougo, and to his surprise Gintoki followed, taking a seat right next to him and across from the old woman and the little girl. But as the other man was getting comfortable his knee brushed against Hijikata's and he froze. Because suddenly images of that morning flashed in his mind, haunting him.

Now that he was thinking more clearly the embarrassment came crashing on him tenfold.

...what had he done?

It wasn't like he had been completely in his right mind, but he had seen at one point the idiot assume a different expression, one that he wasn't used seeing on him and it had just felt... he just had to do something about it. Because the Yorozuya hadn't been wearing that lazy grin he usually had that made it seem like he was above anyone and anything else and irritated Hijikata only thinking about it. Or the way he carried himself like he owned the place and couldn't give a shit about it at the same time, that made the raven just want to punch him. And that bored, half-lidded gaze he always seemed to have that gave off an air of indifference, as if anything that could happen wouldn't affect him in the slightest, as if he was unreachable, like nothing in the world could affect him... as if he was untouchable.

And for some reason that made Hijikata mad more than anything else.

But during that morning, during that moment, his eyes were completely different. Actually the opposite of what Hijikata was used to see and it just... it just didn't feel right. He had wanted to wipe that expression off the idiot's face because for a second he thought he wouldn't mind having those irritating half-lidded eyes directed at him if it meant he wouldn't have to see his disheartened gaze. And he had acted on an impulse, which didn't happen very often. Even though that had been one of the first times the silver haired samurai's mask had cracked in front of him.

Probably the first time Gintoki didn't feel so unreachable to Hijikata.

In his defense he can't even begin to reason when he wakes up, that's why it's Sougo's favourite moment of the day to pull (mortal) pranks on him.

"Did you find out how this happened?"

Hijikata snapped out of his stupor at the question and for a moment his eyes collided with Otose's stare. The first thing that passed through his mind was how piercing they actually were. He could feel authority pour out from her every pore, reminding him of a few people he had encountered in his line of work, mostly big shots. She was definitely strong, someone not to be messed with.

Gintoki was the one who answered her. "The Gori- I mean, the Shinsengumi's Chief came in this morning and-..."

Hijikata zoned out as he felt his face warm up more at the aforementioned morning and something told him the white haired man remembered what had happened too. But had it been his impression only or had Gintoki sounded a little irritated as he began his sentence? Was it because of what had happened, maybe it had made him mad? Was it Hijikata's behaviour that he didn't like? Had he angered him in some way?

While he was torturing himself with these thoughts he saw the Yorozuya abruptly turn toward him with an annoyed expression, and his stomach sank a little because oh, after all he had really been mad with him- but then Gintoki spoke.

"Oi! Stop devouring Sadaharu's food! Shouldn't you eat cat food or something like that?"

For a wild moment Hijikata thought that had been directed at him and he questioned the man's sanity once again. But he was actually ready to protest that no, he didn't in fact eat dog's food and that he would never eat cat's food either. But then he remembered he wasn't eating any food so to speak and he noticed Gintoki's line of vision aimed somewhere behind him, so he turned his head too.

And his face fell flat at the sight of the woman with the bowl cut crouched down on all fours and eating- more like stealing- the food from the giant dog's bowl.

"I didn't devour anything! And a lady like me eats only refined foods you bastard!" The woman with cat ears shouted back.

Clearly it was a lie since she was still munching on something, having straightened up when she had been caught. And she had her hands behind her back, probably with the dog's food. Otose started yelling something about 'work' and 'not paying her for this' and Gintoki took the distracting moment to his advantage as he slided in the booth just a little closer to Hijikata, until their legs were fully touching and the raven jerked slightly when he felt a warm palm press to the joint of his knee, squeezing, and in a second the sensation was gone. Hijikata turned questioning eyes on him but stopped as soon as he was met with Gintoki's, which once again weren't what he was used to.

Instead there was something... softer in his gaze and it made Hijikata's breath get stuck in his lungs, for just a little.

Suddenly something crossed his mind. Had Gintoki distracted them on purpose because he had seen all the questions running through his head and had wanted to... reassure him? Hijikata blinked surprised as he stared at the other man, who was still looking at him with those eyes, which were still making Hijikata's breath stutter in that way and...

Had Gintoki been able to read him?

...Again?

Hijikata was well aware that he should feel angry at being so easy to figure out, or maybe even exposed in some way, but right now all he could feel was... at ease. Because if it had been the Yorozuya's intention to assure him that he wasn't mad at him then, well, it had actually worked. That didn't change the fact that his face, if it had been warm before, felt on actual fire now. Though he wasn't really sure why. And he wasn't really sure why he wanted Gintoki to keep wearing that expression towards him, either.

The old woman returned and they snapped their attention back to her. "So, you are telling me that this 'transformation' of sorts that has taken place is due to the amanto's drugs and in six days it will wear off without leaving dangerous effects behind?" Gintoki nodded once at her.

Wow, had Hijikata really been spacing out for that much of the conversation?

When had they talked about this? Had he missed it because he was focused on... something else entirely... .Even in this moment Hijikata still didn't feel one hundred percent present. He could feel Gintoki beside him, as if his presence couldn't go unnoticed for even one second and instead of that bothering him, once again like he knew that it should, it made him lose the tension he had been feeling. That was probably one of the reasons why when he saw Sougo reach for him he passed a hand through the kid's soft hair, almost absent-mindedly, and let him held his fingers weakly as the little boy looked at them with curiosity sparkling in his wide eyes. And if the Vice Commander had to actually be honest with himself he would admit that it might even feel, kind of... relaxing.

He had never, in his wildest dreams, thought that he would ever feel this way with what he suspected was actually an aspiring serial killer. Well, at least to Hijikata he was. The dark haired man suddenly curled his fingers in a way that made the little boy laugh, though not suddenly enough to scare him since he didn't want a repeat of what had happened the last time the little boy had been startled.

He obviously knew it hadn't been the other kid's fault, it was just that Sougo's personality had taken such a 360° turn, making him the complete opposite of what he was in his teenage form. As a baby he was actually calm, quiet and Hijikata could admit to himself, even good. Just over a day ago not only had he thought this was extremely weird, he hadn't wanted to be stuck with awkwardly baby-sitting the one who tried to erase him from the face of earth. On a daily basis. But now he wasn't feeling as repellent to the idea. Who knew, maybe he could survive the rest of the week, after all?

As Otose and Gintoki were still discussing Tama arrived with a tray filled with snacks, and what looked like something... slimy, for the kids too. The children seemed to be accepting the idea of a second breakfast without any complaints. Actually it seemed they liked it a little too much since they were making a mess. Shinpachi had reverted to throw his food and watching as it landed everywhere while he was laughing almost hysterically at the scene. Gintoki was starting to think that maybe he and Sougo had swapped their personalities, Kagura however had remained the same because the little girl was trying to eat everything on sight, but failing to do so, since half of the meal was smashed on her face. Gintoki couldn't help but smile at the scene.

"Ka-Chan." Kagura turned towards him and so did Hijikata.

"Who's that?" The Vice Commander asked perplexed.

"It's a diminutive of Kagura." Gintoki explained. As Hijikata nodded in understanding his leg jolted in place, accidentally pressing his thigh to Gintoki's. And the silver haired samurai was very glad he had decided to sit like this. Like, really glad. He cleared his throat a little and turned his attention back to the little girl.

"You might have something on your face." Gintoki indicated his own chin with his pointer finger to show her and Kagura put her hands on the lower half of her face. He shook his head at her. "But don't worry, it's so little it's not even noticeable. Keep eating like you're doing, I heard boys really like girls who eat like ladies. And you're doing it perfectly." He did the 'perfect sign' with his fingers.

Kagura grinned and actually followed his suggestion through as she continued. The little girl had almost finished what was on her plate and since she couldn't reach the food with the spoon anymore, which she had taken on her own before anyone of them could even try to feed her, she took the plate and lifted it to her face, trying to lick at the remaining food that was on it. When she put it down there was food on her whole countenance. Nose, mouth, chin, cheeks, forehead and even her eyelashes and hair were covered. Gintoki was laughing so much he had to hold his belly.

"Stop messing with her." Otose chided him but he couldn't help it, it was too funny and even the little girl was laughing with him. Before the old woman could wipe the baby girl's face Gintoki quickly took Hijikata's cellphone from his jacket's pocket and opened it, struggling a little until he managed to snap a picture of Kagura.

"Oi! What are you doing?" Hijikata didn't actually sound that angry. While Otose was trying to clean the kids, that thanks to Shinpachi were now as dirty as little Kagura, Gintoki smiled a little at him.

"Saving memories." He explained.

Hijikata didn't really have more complaints after that.

---

After the children had been cleaned and taken care of, even getting a present from Otose (one of those small houses where you played with the dolls inside), they stayed maybe an hour more, simply chatting and relaxing, before they were ready to leave. But as they were taking the kids, Catherine, who had woken up from another nap she had decided to take (and they called Gintoki the lazy one, right), much like she did before stopped in her tracks, blinked and pointed at them, at something in particular.

"What are those?"

"Hm?" Gintoki glanced down and saw Sougo's shoes. "Oh those. They really fit him, don't they?" He asked rhetorically with a grin.

The cat lady raised an eyebrow as she simply asked. "Why?"

The Yorozuya took a fist to his chest and declared proudly. "Because we are great parents!"

"You are fucking idiots." She said with a flat expression.

Gintoki, feeling affronted, yelled what he was thinking at her. "We are fucking great idiots!" But it didn't come out exactly as he had planned. He stopped and blinked a few times as he thought about what he had said. "Wait, no. That didn't come out like I expected. I didn't mean it-"

"Like I said, fucking idiots."

"Just- shut up!" He couldn't really think of another comeback.

Anyway, since Gintoki had told the kids they deserved ice cream, and in his opinion for all the crazy work he had been put through the past days he deserved it too, he told himself 'why not?' and decided they would go and get the sweet.

"Let's go get ice cream." He stated decisively as they were nearing the staircase to his apartment.

Hijikata looked at him a little confused, as if he hadn't expected the sudden proposal. "Ice cream?"

"Yeah, ice cream. It's good for you and it tastes delicious, which is always a great combination." Gintoki nodded to himself. "And you know, the kids need-" He waved his hands as best as he could full with two babies and a bag "-fresh air and all that stuff to grow up healthy. Or something like that."

Hijikata frowned a little. "...everyone needs fresh air."

"I don't. I can stay all day inside with just three issues of Jump and some sweets. One time I spent 42 hours just like that." Gintoki smirked, clearly proud about his accomplishment.

"Of course you did." The Vice-Commander told him in the flattest voice he possessed.

But thinking about it that would mean going outside, just them and the kids and eating ice cream and behaving like a… like a... f-fa- well, that. And there were so many things that could go wrong since he didn't have the slightest idea how kids worked and he was sure the other man wasn't an expert either. Would they even be able to survive without the Shimura girl around? There were definitely more cons than pros.

So why Hijikata felt... like he wouldn't mind too much going along with the suggestion.

He looked down at the kids and he thought that an ice cream might make them happy. Sweets and kids usually went together well, he at least knew that much, and the brunette had asked the both of them to make this a good experience for the kids... and Hijikata, in some way, after everything that had happened in their lives felt like he owed Sougo at least this.

He sighed deeply, a little of exasperation seeping into his tone, but he couldn't help it as he agreed. "...Fine."

"Fine?!" Gintoki exclaimed excitedly. Then he cleared his throat as he assumed a bored expression. "I mean, yeah. S'fine." He shrugged, looking away.

Hijikata smirked a little at the obvious excitement of the other man.

Gintoki beamed on the inside. Thankfully Hijikata wasn't really opposed to the idea, and even if he had been Gintoki would have still gone with it because he needed his sugar fix and nothing could come between sugar and him. But he thought it would somehow make the experience a little... less. Which was crazy in itself since, as he had just mentioned, nothing could come between sugar and him.

They left the stuff they didn't need back at the apartment and as they were getting ready to go out again Sadaharu fell asleep and they decided to leave him be. They took the strollers since they couldn't really keep holding the kids the whole day. It might not look like it but they were heavy after a while, and Gintoki didn't want his arms to fall off! It was easy enough because the strollers could be attached together and the handle became one, practical. Man, Gintoki felt like a dad that was taking his kids out to play. And so their search for delicious ice cream began. Lucky for them Gintoki was an expert at this and he knew a few places they could go to and the kids would most probably enjoy. There was a place near the most popular part of Kabuki-Cho that was nice and there was a park too, where people sat under the shade of the trees, read books, children played and there was the random person who was laying down and looking for a tan with the sun shining brightly.

As he had expected there were a lot of people, mostly families and the idea that right now they might look like one too crossed the back of his mind.

The light haired samurai took them to a little ice cream parlor that was just on the corner just before entering the park and since it was a tight fit for all of them, Hijikata stayed outside with the kids while Gintoki went to buy the ice creams. The raven told him told him he didn't want anything but Gintoki insisted, saying that Kondo's money had to be spent for their special needs. Of course that was his excuse for everything now, after all he had said he would make Kondo pay.

As Hijikata was waiting he heard something and when he looked down he saw the little kid with dark hair extending his hand towards him. Since the Vice Commander didn't really know what to do he offered his own and Shinpachi took it, wrapping his fingers around Hijikata's index. And not for the first time the raven mused on how small they actually were. And it was kind of weird seeing these little kids who seemed to actually like spending time with him. Hijikata had always had this conception that little kids would be afraid of him, even if he did nothing to them. He didn't know why. But seeing the little Shimura snickering as if something funny had happened while he tightened his hold was a sight so unfamiliar for him, almost surreal, that it actually relaxed him. It seemed that it was happening often lately, how he would be able to be at ease from just a little thing.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of white and immediately took a step back, letting go of the hand. He didn't know why but he didn't want the other man to catch him with his guard down, even if lately it happened far more than he would like. But the little boy didn't really seem to mind as his vision filled with the sweet dessert.

When Gintoki reached them he was, somehow, holding five ice creams in his arms. Hijikata was surprised he hadn't made them fall on the way here given his known clumsiness. Gintoki had taken two cones for himself and Hijikata and three little cups for the children. They sat at one of the tables outside the parlor, actually the two adults sat as the babies were still in their strollers. On the table there were cone holders so they could put their sweets there while getting comfortable and after they were settled Hijikata received his ice cream.

"Why did you order me this?" He asked as he eyed the creamy dessert, then Gintoki.

"Because you're going to like it." Gintoki simply answered. Hijikata wasn't so sure about that.

"Come on, just trust me!" Gintoki urged him on.

Hijikata sighed. "I'm not really sure I can."

"Yes, you can." Gintoki spoke in a firmer voice.

"No, I can't." Hijikata raised his tone a little.

Gintoki narrowed his eyes. "Yes. You can!"

Hijikata mirrored him. "No, I can't!"

"Yes you-" Gintoki changed his approach. "Tell me one time I did something bad to you!"

"I have a whole list!" Hijikata provided immediately. "One of the things there is that you almost got me in prison for that cursed lottery ticket! And I am an officer!"

"That wasn't my fault." Gintoki muttered. "Anyway, it was a mistake and I almost finished in prison too!"

"And that's new, why?" Hijikata's expression was a little too smug for his taste.

Gintoki slammed a hand on the table. "Oi! What are you trying to imply with that?!"

Hijikata also smacked his palm on the surface. "You know exactly what!"

"Are you trying to offend me?!"

Then they heard crying. Both men turned to see Kagura and Sougo in tears while Shinpachi's eyes looked shiny.

"What's wrong!?" Gintoki asked urgently.

"I don't know!" Hijikata answered in his same tone. "What did you do?!"

"I didn't do anything! Why is it always my fault?!"

But now they were crying even harder and didn't show any sign of stopping. Gintoki quickly took his two subordinates in his arms as Hijikata took his.

"C'mon guys, what's wrong? Do you want to eat? Because the ice cream is right here and I know for a fact that you're gonna like it!" Gintoki seemed to be lost in his own world for a moment as he smiled at nothing in particular. "I mean, everyone does." He added with a blissed out expression. Hijikata rolled his eyes.

But even then the kids continued. The raven tried to somehow placate Sougo like he had done these last couple of days, however it didn't work, instead the little boy only seemed to get more upset as he tried reaching for Gintoki while the other two kids were doing the same for Hijikata. The two samurai were confused now, why were they behaving this way? Shinpachi was almost falling over from trying to get to the Vice-Commander and he was looking at him with such a sad expression. Gintoki didn't like seeing them like this, he hated when Kagura and Shinpachi were sad. And in that moment even seeing Sougo this way didn't feel right.

"Oi." Gintoki called out to the other man. "Give me Sougo and take Kagura and Shinpachi. Maybe this will work."

With some difficulty they manoeuvred the kids around until they had exchanged them, unfortunately that didn't seem to tranquillize any of them. Kagura's tears were overflowing and her little face was becoming red from all the crying, Sougo's too as his voice was turning a little raw and seeing Shinpachi's mouth formed in a trembling pout- this was bad.

Suddenly a light bulb went off in Gintoki's head as he was once again reminded of something.

Didn't Otae say she wanted to give them good memories because they didn't exactly have happy ones during their childhood? He looked at the three of them and something clicked, was it possible that... they had maybe remembered something from their past? He knew Kagura's parents had had a rough history before his mother passed away and Shinpachi had lost his mother when he was very young, his father too when he and Otae were just little kids, for Sougo he knew about his sister only. Gintoki wasn't really sure if this was what was going on or maybe if it was something else that had scared them but he certainly wasn't going to leave them upset.

"I think I might know what's wrong." Gintoki murmured in a low voice as he moved his seat next to Hijikata's.

Hijikata was a little shocked at the action. "Wha-"

"Hey, guys, look at me." Gintoki called out to them gently. "Everything's all right, we're not fighting."

The kids actually turned their eyes to him. To prove his point Gintoki put his arm around Hijikata's shoulders and pulled him closer. Hijikata stiffened underneath the unexpected contact.

"Look, we like each other. See?" The white haired samurai continued with a gentle smile and a reassuring voice. "I like Hijikata."

Hijikata had no idea why but he he felt heat go to his cheeks at the words. However he couldn't be so sure since he was frozen on the spot as Gintoki continued as easily as if he was talking about the weather.

"He's good with you, isn't he? Let me tell you a secret." The light haired samurai leaned in closer to the kids as he whispered almost in secrecy. "He's good with me too. We get along well."

The children had been listening to him the whole time as their tears started falling less, Kagura was even wiping at her eyes as she was watching them. Hijikata blinked, feeling himself unfreeze. He glanced at Gintoki.

"What's happening?" The Vice Commander also whispered, not wanting to give the kids any reason to upset them more.

"When they saw us arguing just now they were probably reminded of bad memories from the past and it might have scared them." Gintoki explained in a murmur as he looked at him from the corner of his eye. "They thought we were fighting for real."

Oh. Now he understood. The Vice-Commander studied the three children's faces carefully and in their eyes he could see sadness in there. It felt wrong, seeing these little creatures suffering. Wanting to comfort in some way Hijikata brushed his thumb against the little girl's cheek, wiping at a stray tear. "It's not like that. We weren't... fighting." He took part in the conversation too. He silently inhaled as he uttered the next part. It was for the kids, he told himself, nothing else. "...We l-..l-like... e-each other."

It was only pretending, right? But why was his heart racing as he said that?

"We wouldn't... hurt each other." The dark haired man continued. "And... the Y-Yorozuya wouldn't hurt you. He's a g-good person, I..." Hijikata's breath got stuck in his throat. "...like him." He could actually feel his heart beating against his chest, every slam against his ribcage and he didn't understand why. Was it because he felt like the other samurai would now have something to blackmail him with now and would bring it up every chance he could to get the upper hand in their... well... fights. ...Or was it something else?

By this point the three babies had calmed down considerably from just a few minutes prior. Gintoki's hand felt heavy as it rested on his scalp, patting him once at the top of the head. His palm felt warm, as it always did.

"See? Everything's all right." Gintoki grinned. "We're good, I promise. And you know that I keep my promises."

The children exchanged a look between each other, then turned their attention back at them and threw themselves at the two samurai. The men had to hold them tightly so as not to make them fall. The three of them were trying to hug both Hijikata and Gintoki, so the latter simply got closer and managed to sneak an arm around Hijikata's torso. The dark haired man once again froze on the spot, not knowing what to do. But in his mind he reasoned that this was for the kids, right? So... maybe he should try to do the same? Cautiously he wriggled his arm until it was away from the others and, with a moment more of hesitation, he lightly positioned it on Gintoki's back.

Immediately he could feel the slight pronounce of muscles lining the other samurai's back, even if his fingers were only almost touching him- but his thoughts were cut short as Gintoki engulfed Sougo and Shinpachi and whispered reassuring words to them while Kagura buried her face in the Vice- Commander's neck and he tried to hold her as best as he could. And it made the group hug feel...more.

It took a few minutes for the kids' breathing to slow down and gradually the tension faded from them as they started relaxing inside the big hug they were receiving. When they were finally peaceful enough for the two samurai to lean away a bit, as their arms slid away from each other, and the babies rubbed at their own eyes with their little fists, trying to get rid of the tears, their breaths slowed down to normal once again. Hijikata had a tissue in his hand that Gintoki hadn't even notice him taking and he used it to wipe away the tears from Kagura and Sougo, since Shinpachi hadn't really cried. Gintoki kept on stroking their backs comfortingly, as he had done for the whole time, while the red started fading away from the babies' faces, returning to their normal colour and Gintoki let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay kiddos, now that the problem's solved what do you say about a nice ice cream? We're all hungry, yeah?" He asked them hopefully. Kagura's face broke into a smile and Shinpachi grinned excitedly while Sougo smiled a little as he looked down shyly. Shinpachi clapped and made some noise as the other two tried to follow his example in some way.

"Perfect! Now we can eat!" It seemed Gintoki had found his usual enthusiasm about sweet foods too, Hijikata noticed.

The two adults took the cups that were now containing almost liquid cream from remaining untouched for so long, and they started feeding the babies, who didn't seem to mind the less than solid form. They weren't on the strollers now, the men didn't know what would happen if they put more distance between them and the kids and Gintoki felt better having them here anyway. He saw Hijikata was feeding little Kagura and he remembered he had bought one for him.

"I'll do it, you have the ice cream first." Gintoki offered as he took the cup from Hijikata's hands and tried not to let Kagura eat the spoon too.

The raven was glancing at him sideways with narrowed eyes, but he couldn't say no. Not if it meant running the risk of upsetting any of them again, seeing them cry like that... it just felt wrong. He was convinced that children should be happy. Life wasn't easy, of course it wasn't, but if kids had someone that loved them and cared for them when they were little, then even if who had looked after them wasn't there anymore Hijikata was convinced that they could cope with whatever life decided to throw at them. This was what had happened to him after all, and he knew for certain that love was stronger than pain. And right now he just wanted to make the kids happy.

Because, even if he didn't want to admit it, It was too late. He had already gotten attached. To all of them.

And if he was honest with himself he would know it wasn't something that had happened in only a matter of days, it had already started a long time ago. But right now Hijikata didn't want to be honest with himself.

Still, for their sake he was going to have to try the dessert the other had chosen for him, no matter how much he disliked it. The Vice Commander took the cone in his hand and his nostrils were invaded with the smell, it was sweet, though it feel weird or anything like that. Not entirely reassured he sighed a little, thinking that this wouldn't be the worst thing he had done in his life, by far. He slowly lifted the cone until it was in front of his mouth and not letting himself hesitate more than he already had he licked a stripe of the cream with closed eyes and- he couldn't believe it... it was good. Since when did sweets taste good? He turned to Gintoki with an amazed face.

"What did I tell you?" Gintoki said smugly, smirk in place.

"What flavor is this?" Hijikata asked, still surprised.

"It's made with sour cream, condensed milk and vanilla. It's kinda sweet but not overly so, I knew you would like it."

Gintoki seemed really satisfied with himself. Hijikata didn't think the other would give him something that he would actually like, he expected more of an extremely sweet taste so his taste buds wouldn't be able to recover for days. And the Yorozuya had already made a good breakfast just the previous day, so he had even lower expectations than what he normally would, but apparently he had been wrong. How did the other seem to know what he would even like?

"I didn't say I liked it." The Vice Commander added quickly, not wanting to give the other man any more of a victory than he already had.

"Ah-uh. Keep telling yourself that, but we both know that you like it. After all I have a special understanding of food and people. You don't need to thank me." Gintoki was glowing with confidence now as he put his hands behind his head and leaned on only two of the legs of his chair. If it hadn't been for the fact that the kids might somehow get scared or worried Hijikata would have definitely pushed him until he fell on the ground like a sack of potatoes. Yeah, that would have been kind of funny. And the dumbass deserved it, because...

"Shut up." Hijikata muttered instead as he turned his attention to the, still very surprisingly, nice dessert.

Because why the hell was everything the idiot did lately... good? It really wasn't fair.

Gintoki turned his attention to the children, who seemed engrossed in their own sweets. He had chosen the strawberry flavor for Kagura, mint for Shinpachi and caramel for Sougo, while for himself he had obviously taken chocolate. Thankfully they finished eating without making any major mess, which was probably because Gintoki and Hijikata had a pack of tissues ready as soon as a spoon was lifted in the air, especially concerning the little girl, since they didn't feel like wiping down the whole place if they weren't careful enough.

But as they were getting ready to leave it was then that Kagura made a weird sort of noise.

The samurai's heads snapped to her as they asked at the same time- "What's wrong?" The little red head was holding her tummy with a pout on her face and with her little fists she was pulling at her dress.

"Mmh...ghm-mgh!" She was letting out these jumbled noises that sounded more like whining and she was looking at both of them pleadingly.

But after a few moments her face relaxed. And she even had a smile on, one that Gintoki usually had when he did something and didn't care about the consequences, but the others obviously did. And now he was one of the others! Alarm bells rang in their heads and they both knew what was coming. It was like lightning struck them at the realization.

'Oh shit!'

---

They had gone in the nearest store they had found. Running at full speed along the streets as people were parting like waves after witnessing the chaos they were causing, two grown men running at the speed of light with three kids on a stroller as they yelled:

"Move!"

"Out of the way!"

"Emergency!"

"Police orders!"

Fortunately the kids were having fun, laughing even louder every time they hit a small bump on the road or had to take a sharp turn. At least it looked like someone was enjoying themselves, because the adults certainly weren't. Once inside the store they ignored everyone and everything, barging into the restroom. Luckily for them it was unoccupied.

Well, if it hadn't been Gintoki would have kicked the door down anyway. What? Don't judge him people, he is a man on a dangerous mission here!

Even luckier it seemed there was a changing station for babies and Gintoki let out a relieved sigh. He actually hadn't stopped to think about that in his panic, he guessed this was the universe's way of telling him 'Don't worry, I got your back brother!' right before also telling him 'I'm going to traumatize you for the rest of your life with a dirty diaper!' Needless to say Gintoki didn't think the universe was very friendly.

It was one of those places where there was only one restroom so they quickly locked the door and... panicked some more. Gintoki lifted Kagura shakily, trying to keep as much distance between them as possible as he positioned her on the station, gently. Shinpachi and Sougo were still sitting on the stroller and watching curiously as Hijikata stood beside the white haired samurai.

"I-I-I don't think t-this is a-a g-good i-idea." Hijikata's voice was trembling just as much as his hands.

"W-W-What are y-you talk-k-king a-about?" Gintoki stuttered just as shakily. "O-Of course w-we're g-going to d-do t-this. We c-can't just l-leave her like t-that! R- Remember what Otae s-said a-about a-always c-c-c-c-changing t-them?!"

"Y-Yeah but w-we can't do t-this! We don't k-know anything about c-changing d-d-diapers a-and she's still a g-girl!" Hijikata whisper-yelled as he tried to keep his expression as neutral as possible- so the kids wouldn't think there was something wrong- while rivers of sweat cascaded down his forehead.

Gintoki was pretty much in the same shape as he tried to even keep a robotic smile on. "Y-Yeah but we're g-gonna do it! A-And w-we're going to k-keep our eyes c-c-c-closed so as not to m-make this anymore e-e-embarrassing than it already i-is! A-And w-we won't b-be s-scarred for l-life!"

"H-How can w-we even c-change her with o-our eyes c-closed you idiot?!" Hijikata tried his best to grin as he asked that, but he wasn't really used to the action so he had no idea what he looked like right now. But hey, at least the little girl hadn't burst crying so that was good, he guessed.

Out of the blue Gintoki turned to him with a confident expression and a matching grin, there was a little sparkle on the side of his mouth where his teeth were showing, exactly like the ones you saw on the anime when a character gave a thumbs up and said a sentence that had an impact on whoever was watching (Hijikata's otaku side had been very much impacted over the years). In fact Gintoki did the whole thumb up thing and in a deep voice he exclaimed:

"With teamwork!"

Hijikata wanted to facepalm himself and Gintoki too to show his fucking teamwork.

They were looking at Kagura who was staring back at them with huge, wide eyes, blinking every once in a while. Gintoki and Hijikata turned to look at each other and after a few seconds passed in silence-

"Just do it."

"Don't even start with your stupid mottos right now."

Apparently if the tone of their voices was even or quiet they could insult and say to each other whatever they wanted and the kids wouldn't bat an eyelid. The two fearless samurai closed their eyes and the silver one very, very slowly, lifted the dress until Kagura's belly button showed. Gintoki opened his eyes just a slice to see where the diaper was and put the tips of his fingers on the tabs at the sides of the diaper as he closed them again while Hijikata had the new one already open. Gintoki felt a scratching sound reaching his ears, like something that was being ripped and he thought he was doing it right until-

"AHHHHHHHHGH!"

Once again he would never admit that the scream was a girly one, to him it sounded very manly.

"What's wrong!?" Hijikata asked worried (and more than a little amused) after he heard the scream.

"I don't know! But something wet touched my hand! Agh! I'm going to puke!" Gintoki tried very hard not to do that and not to imagine what the liquid was.

"You're disgusting! Not here!"

"Do you think this is my fault?!"

"Yes! Because you're an idiot!"

"That's not true! Move I have to wash my hands!"

"Don't even try to touch me with those things or it's seppuku for you!"

They did this while maintaining an almost normal tone of voice and/or whisper-yelling, the positive thing was that the children were all laughing and having fun.

Their opposite.

.

.

.

"How... how did we even do it?"

Hijikata finally asked as he and Gintoki were sat against the door of the restroom, breathing heavily from all the effort they had put in their work while Kagura was sitting with the other two babies, looking fresh and happy. They envied her.

In the end they had somehow they had been able to change Kagura. It had taken half an hour and every time someone knocked on the door they either yelled at them to 'go frick themselves in another toilet' (Gintoki) or to 'shut the heck up or they would call the police' (Hijikata). Though the last thing no one was sure who it really was directed at, if the people at the door or Gintoki. But the kids were fine, no more crying and Kagura had had definitely more fun than anyone else, so one way or another, it was all good in the end.

The light haired samurai frowned a little as he looked at the girl in front of him. "I... don't know. I think the baby wipe I was using ended up on Kagura's face at some point?"

Hijikata narrowed his eyes as he turned sharply to him. "Are you serious?"

Gintoki shrugged. "But hey, she was laughing. So that's okay."

The Vice Commander was hit with a realization. "Oh. That's why you were washing her face on the sink. I thought you were trying to drown her because you found it funny."

Gintoki laughed a little. "Heh, that too. But yeah, mostly because of the first reason."

Hijikata blinked, not even surprised anymore. "You're stupid."

"So are you." Gintoki yawned and continued. "But at least we kept our eyes closed the whole time, if we're not gentlemen then I don't know what that makes us."

"I'm pretty sure that makes us morons and possible kids murderers."

Gintoki stared into space for a moment and then with a hand stroking his chin he nodded. "Yeah, I definitely like the kids murderer title more than the moron one."

"...what the heck is wrong with you?"

There was a beat of silence in which they contemplated how their life brought them there and if they would ever recover from the experience ever again. Someone knocked on the door. Gintoki knocked back harder. There was silence.

"I think we had waaaay too many emotions for one day. Let's just go back to the apartment." The silver haired samurai proposed after a few more minutes of rest.

Hijikata couldn't help but nod his head in agreement.

---

When they were back home it had already been a while since lunchtime had passed and Gintoki and Hijikata had lost all their appetite, besides the ice cream and the snacks from before were still keeping them full, the kids seemed to be in their same state.

After they entered they let the children to play with Sadaharu, who had taken a nice nap instead of going through hell- and wow, Gintoki was envious of a dog now, too. He put their things away and after making sure they were all good the silver haired samurai plopped himself down on the sofa, put his feet on the table, and too tired to do anything else he finally closed his eyes and let himself relax.

There was a slight breeze coming in from the opened windows and the little cheers and giggles he heard weren't really distracting, he was used to fall asleep with a lot worse. Not that now he was really going to sleep, just rest his eyes for a minute and as fun as he had to admit having these little troublemakers with him was, he let himself think of being away from all of this, somewhere where he could find some peace and quiet to read his Jump and eat as many parfaits as he wanted. Maybe somewhere warm? Like a beach...

And he would relax under a colorful umbrella as he was laying on a towel with the shades on, protecting his beautiful eyes from the rays of the sun. One of those sweet, frozen beverages in his hand, sipping while he turned the next page of his Jump to know just what Naruto was up to next and every once in a while some pretty women in bikini would pass in front of him, giggling and checking him out and he would lower his sunglasses just to wink at them, only to boost his ego a little, nothing else. And what would make it even better? Maybe... if a certain Vice Commander was there too?

He would be laying just next to Gintoki, practically doing the same thing but instead of a Jump he would have his stupid Magazine, but it was okay because even if the two were rivals Gintoki could accept it in those circumstances, and he would turn to him, smile and call him

"...Yorozuya"

and Gintoki had to admit he wouldn't mind hearing his actual name leave the other's lips, but he secretly liked how his 'work name' sounded if Hijikata was the one to say it in that way.

"Yorozuya..."

Yes, just like that and Gintoki wasn't a high school girl by any means but the way the other said it would make a fuzzy feeling grow in his stomach and Gintoki would smile at him as he said-

"Yorozuya."

-once again, and since it was just the two of them with the sun warming their skin, Gintoki would maybe lean in and Hijikata would lean in too and the soft breeze would ruffle their hair and they would be so close that Hijikata's enticing scent would invade his brain a little, and Gintoki would look down at his lips once and-

"Yorozuya!"

Gintoki jolted in place.

And found himself in his apartment with Hijikata standing in front of him. But he didn't have the sunglasses on and his expression looked torn between annoyance and concern and- oh, he had just imagined that, hadn't he? So much for realistic daydreams. However now that he was paying more attention to his surroundings- nah, just to Hijikata- he noticed the other man's face looked kind of white and he seemed to be uncomfortable.

"What's wrong?" He asked worried, he had just daydreamed for a little, right? Had something bad happened in the meantime? Were the kids hurt or was he?

The raven glanced at the three babies then to him again. "...we have to do it." His voice now sounded frightened.

By now Gintoki was expecting the worst.

"What?"

"We have to change the others too."

...Gintoki was right. This really was the worst.

.

.

.

They were sat, leaning against the door of Gintoki's room, once again breathing heavily, while the kids were sleeping peacefully inside their cribs.

They had changed the boys too and it had been a challenge because Sougo didn't stop crying, not from being hurt or anything, it seemed he just didn't like to be changed. And Shinpachi didn't stay still for a second, moving everywhere and at one point he would have fallen if Hijikata hadn't caught him.

And his time Hijikata had been the victim.

Flashback:

"What the heck is this!?" The Vice Commander almost yelled as he looked horrified at his hand.

Gintoki looked over for a second and burst out laughing. "Bhahahahhaa!"

"Oi! Stop laughing at me!"

"He-ahah! He just pee-ahah peed on you!" The Yorozuya seemed to be in pain from all that laughter.

"Shut up you good for nothing idiot! Come here and help me!"

"What do you want me-haha to do-pfft...ahahahah!" Gintoki had really tried to hold in his laughter but it had been just too funny.

End Of Flashback

In the end Hijikata had taken a shower while Gintoki tried to calm the over-excited kids. It hadn't really worked much.

After ten minutes the black haired man had come to his rescue. For a moment Gintoki had thought that maybe that much sugar wasn't really a good idea for babies, but now at least they were sleeping soundly. They were screaming around and throwing toys one minute and lying down with their eyes closed the next. It seemed the sugar rush had left them all at once, he understood because it happened a lot to him too. As for the adults it almost felt like they had gone through a sword practice that had lasted two hours. It was that tiring.

"We did a good job." Gintoki broke the silence after a while of just sitting and existing and being next to the other man. Had he already mentioned that he liked sitting next to Hijikata?

"Are you fucking kidding me? They peed on us!" Hijikata whisper-yelled outraged.

"Yeah, they did. But now we're clean and they're sleeping and we have a funny story to tell people, so it's all good."

"It was disgusting. And why would I find a baby peeing on me something worth telling people about?"

Gintoki smirked at him. "Because it was hilarious."

"You weren't thinking about hilarious when the little girl did it on you."

He shook his head. "Nope. I was just thinking 'Holy shit, get this thing off of me!'" He grinned again. "But now it's all good."

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fucking awesome."

A minute ticked by and Gintoki spoke once again as he looked at Hijikata with wide eyes. "Do you notice how liberating it actually is to swear now?"

"Yeah..." Hijikata nodded his head thoughtfully. "I don't know how people can stay around kids without cursing once. It's hard."

"It really is."

They were close but they weren't touching. Gintoki wanted to but he also didn't want to, because if he tried right now, to maybe put his head on Hijikata's shoulder (which sounded so tempting, if only to see his reaction) he might come off as needy or weak, not to mention he would probably make the other uncomfortable. And he had done enough of that this morning. In fact, just thinking about it had him blushing.

He really had no idea what had happened during the first hours of the day, he just knew that he was still half asleep and Hijikata had looked so nice with his bright blue eyes. And the sound of that rough, sleep- deepened voice had Gintoki lost in it.

Gintoki had gotten lost in him.

Thinking about it now, maybe this was getting a bit out of hand. Feeling all these... 'things' and being this confused, he was pretty sure it wasn't really healthy... though he had never been one for health in the first place. He smirked a little at his own though.

"Oi. There's something else too."

"Hmm?" The Yorozuya boss had almost missed Hijikata's question.

"The kid that usually has the glasses-"

"You mean Shinpachi?" Gintoki interjected.

"Yeah." Hijikata nodded. "He hasn't cried once since he has become a...little kid. Right?"

Now that Gintoki thought about it, (wow, he was really doing a lot of thinking lately, wasn't he? he just wasn't used to this) it was true. He had never seen Shinpachi cry during these two days and he supposed that babies did cry. Like, when they were hungry or tired or something, but the little kid just laughed and moved a lot. He really had amazing stamina, more than his other two companions, and it was kind of strange but every baby was different, right?

"Yeah, you're right." Gintoki was so tired he didn't even notice he just admitted that Hijikata had been right on something. He had told himself he would never do it out of pure spite for the other, but things were changing and when he was going to become aware of it he would probably not beat himself too over that, at least not like he would have done a few weeks ago.

"From now on he's going to be my favourite one." Hijikata declared.

Gintoki processed it for a moment and then chuckled. "You can't pick a favourite, it doesn't work like that." He mocked the other, feeling like this would be something the brunette would say if she was here.

"Why not? He never cries, he never disturbs me and apart from moving a lot it was almost easy... changing... him." The dark haired samurai shuddered a little at the horror of the memories, but he was seriously convinced about what he had stated.

Gintoki snickered a little. "Have you never heard of the rule that parents can't choose a favourite because they love all their kids equally?" Then he tilted his head in contemplation. "Though if you pick one shouldn't you be on Soichirou-Kun's side?"

The Vice Commander hastily shook his head from side to side. "We aren't parents and they aren't our kids so I can choose whoever I like. And picking between one that has made my life a living hell, literally from the first day I met him or one that has done nothing to me, even being polite when we have randomly passed by each other, then yeah. I think I've made the right choice."

"You do have some solid logic right there." Gintoki nodded, actually feeling kind of bad from what the kid must have put him through. Though he still found it funny. What? It was his personality, okay?

It wasn't that Hijikata didn't really care for Sougo, otherwise he wouldn't be here and he also would have ignored the kid from the first time they had met each other. But even if he didn't need a lot of hours of sleep, being used to how hectic his line of work could get, he still needed at least a few hours of restful sleep- something he hadn't really been able to get a lot of lately for other...reasons too- not to mention last night when he hadn't been able to even keep his eyes closed for one hour. And now he was already tired even if it was only the afternoon.

He could probably do some office work but Kondo had forbidden him from doing so when they had talked on the phone earlier just after Hijikata had taken a shower, saying that his first priority now should be the three kids, that and resting. And maybe it was because he wasn't used to not working, which was really irritating him, or maybe because he was trying to take care of the three kids, one of which used to interfere with his job and his life in general, but he felt exhausted. He decided to close his eyes for a moment, maybe he could trick his body somehow into thinking he was resting and make all the fatigue go away. He didn't open his eyes as he felt the white haired man beside him add something to his previous sentence.

"Even if we're not parents and they're not our kids it kind of feels like that. In some way. And I think in the end I...-well, I wouldn't mind having a family kinda like this. Someday."

Hijikata felt his face warm up again at that word. And maybe this time it had to do with the fact that the other man had shared something so personal, no matter how nonchalant he tried to make it sound. Shouldn't you say these kind of things to someone you were close with? Were they... close? No. No they weren't. They weren't... right? Or was he reading too much into this? Probably.

"...yeah." In the end was all he could offer, not really knowing what else to say.

Gintoki was a little curious, he wanted to see what kind of expression Hijikata had. But when he turned his head he found the Vice Commander leaning heavily against the wall, his eyes shut closed. And he didn't want to disturb him. Hijikata looked so peaceful like this. From this distance Gintoki noticed how long his eyelashes actually were, almost touching the skin that was level with his cheekbones. His full lips parted slightly to let out small huffs of breath out, he looked comfortable. And his eyebrows weren't furrowed in a frown, they were two lines that seemed almost drawn and he looked beautiful to the light haired samurai.

So Gintoki decided to rest for a moment too, lulled by his quiet, rhythmic breathing. But in the end they both fell asleep sat against the door. Next to each other.

---

Gintoki woke up when he heard a bark. He opened his eyes groggily, quickly adjusting to the light and in front of him he found Sadaharu. And also the kids, Otae and Tama. They were all sitting in the middle of the living room and playing.

'What-?'

He looked at the clock somewhere to his right and rubbed his eyes when he saw that it was already half past six.

'Shit! Did I really sleep this much!?'

When Otae saw he had woken up from his slumber she smiled. "You are finally awake. The both of you."

Gintoki then remembered that he wasn't the only one who had fallen asleep. He turned his head to the side to see that Hijikata was beside him, it looked like he had just woken up too.

"When did you come back?" He asked her with the taste of sleep still in his mouth.

"Fifteen minutes ago and I found you like this. Tama-Chan has thankfully taken care of the children. If it wasn't for her now we would have been in trouble."

Tama bowed at them. "My apologies Gintoki-Sama, I had come to ask you about something Otose-Sama had requested, but when I was on the stairs I heard noises coming from inside the apartment and when I came here I found you both asleep and the little humans awake. Since you looked tired I didn't want to disrupt your rest and I took care of the problem myself."

Otae turned her smile to the other girl. "Tama-Chan, please don't apologize. Your help is very much appreciated and in this kind of situation we need as much as we can get. We should be the ones apologizing, thank you for taking care of them." She bowed her head too.

"No need to thank me Otae-Sama. It was a pleasure, these little creatures bring joy and life, I was filled with happiness being in their company." Tama bowed again and the two smiled at each other. Gintoki was looking at the scene, thinking it might turn out in a bowing contest if they kept thanking the other.

Then a question came to mind. "Tama, you know how to take care of kids?"

The green haired girl turned her attention to him once again. "That's correct Gintoki-Sama, I have all the data regarding them." Her eyes became black with green little dots, that were actually numbers, dancing inside them before they returned to normal.

"You should thank her." Otae told him seriously.

Hijikata was the one who bowed slightly his head at the lady-robot, the action was clearly sincere, while Gintoki nodded. "Yeah, what she said before." He drawled dismissively, referring to when Otae had thanked her. It wasn't like Gintoki wasn't grateful to Tama, but saying 'thank you' and 'sorry' didn't particularly feel right to him. He had already said the words before when the situation had really required it, but he'd rather do things on his own and have to thank or feel regret only at himself. It just wasn't like him to simply say it. He was also convinced that people understood what he really meant when it counted, so it was fine. Otae narrowed her eyes at him, but then she sighed and let it go because she knew what Gintoki was like.

In that moment they heard Tama's name being called from downstairs.

"Tama!"

"Oh, it seems I have to go now." The green haired lady got up and turned to the three adults, nodding her head at them and smiled. "Please take care of yourselves and if you need anything do not hesitate to ask." The green haired robot excused herself as she bid them goodbye, crouching down and smiling sweetly at the kids one last time. "I promise I will come back soon." The babies grinned happily at her. As she passed by him and left to go attend her duties Gintoki thought it was one of those moments where she looked the most human.

It was Otae's turn to get up from her position as she went to stand in front of the two men who were still sat on the floor, apparently they were too comfortable to move. The girl bent down and crossed her arms on her knees as she looked them straight in the eyes. Gintoki was convinced that she was going to give them an earful about responsibility, what not to do with kids and that sorta thing, but she surprised him, Hijikata too, when instead she smiled gently.

"I should probably be at least a little angry, but I have to say you did great. I talked with Otose-San the other day and we decided to let Tama-Chan keep an eye on you two and the kids. If sometimes they have needs you don't understand or know how to meet she will lend you a hand. So except for when you fell asleep- and believe me I understand that you are tired, I am too even if I managed to rest for an hour during my break at work- you have done a good job today." Her eyes seemed to be filling up with some kind of emotion Gintoki and Hijikata were both familiar and unfamiliar with.

Otae blinked a few times and continued. "Tama-Chan even told me what happened in the morning, when they started crying uncontrollably and how you calmed them down-" Gintoki opened his mouth but she beat him to it. "-And no Gin-San, I have no idea how she knows about it even if she wasn't present in that moment. Anyway, it was very smart of you to figure out why they were upset...thank you." She smiled kindly at them and her face brightened a little in excitement. "She also told me you changed the babies for the first time!"

Gintoki and Hijikata had been listening attentively at her words, and the light haired man closed his mouth after she answered his question mid-sentence, but as soon as she mentioned the whole changing thing they froze and both their faces drained of colour. The memories were still too vivid and they were sure they would become the perfect material for nightmares.

Otae covered her mouth with her hand to hide the laughter at the funny faces the two were making. "Don't worry, you have done wonderful today." Then she slowly lifted her hands, until they were above their heads and gently patted the hair, like they sometimes did with the babies. It took them by surprise, especially Hijikata who wasn't really used to this kind of physical contact, but it wasn't an unpleasant sensation, it was as if she was acknowledging their efforts.

And her smile was still kind as she dropped the bomb on them. "You are going to be good parents."

They both blushed at her praise, not really used to compliments, but... knowing that Otae believed in what she said felt, well, it felt nice.

The rest of the day continued like this. With all the five of them together playing, eating and saying silly things (mostly Gintoki) until nightfall came and it was time to go to bed. With the futons arranged like the previous day and the tiredness from today catching up once again with them it wasn't long until sleep came over all of them. Gintoki had one last thought before he started dreaming.

'Maybe being parents isn't so bad, after all.'

---

. . .

Author's Note: So sorry for the long wait, I hope the chapter turned out okay in the end and thank you for reading until here, you are amazing people!

So I wanted to ask something, at first I had decided to just make 2 chapters of Shinpachi, Kagura and Sougo being little that covered the whole week of the transformation, but I swear I couldn't stop writing, so would you rather have the next chapter being the final one of them being children or would you rather five more chapters of the little kids and see how this 'family' turns out? I'm asking because I really don't know what to choose. Thank you once again for your patience!

Edit: Problem solved! Thank you to whoever answered!