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Silver Moon – Book 1 Chapter 10

Shinpachi and Kagura walked through the streets of Edo until they arrived at the first stop in their investigation. Surprisingly enough, it was the Shimura Dojo, Shinpachi's very own home.

Kagura stopped outside the gates and looked back at Shinpachi. "Let's see if the boss lady knows anything," she told him with an excited look on her face.

"You mean Sis?" asked Shinpachi, looking a little worried.

"Yeah, she knows Gin-chan pretty well. I'll bet she might know what he's been up to," Kagura replied with confidence. She went ahead and opened the gate allowing the both of them to enter.

As they walked through, Shinpachi started to feel nervous. This could be bad…he thought. Kagura is going to let her know exactly what she's suspicious of. I won't be able to keep her from doing that, so I'll have to convince Sis that the suspicions are false. It's the only way to even try to keep Gin-san's secret safe. I hope this goes well.

The two of them managed to find Otae sitting just inside the dojo at a table. The door to the outside was open, allowing the warm breeze into the house. Surprisingly, she was not alone. Sitting at the table with her was none other than her best friend, Yagyu Kyuubei. Upon seeing her, Shinpachi became even more nervous. He had not been expecting anyone other than his sister to be at his home. Now there would be at least two more people that would become suspicious. The situation had just become a little worse.

Upon noticing the two, Otae gave them a happy look of surprise. "Shin-chan, Kagura-chan, what brings you two here?"

"Hey boss lady," greeted Kagura as she gave her a happy look in return. "We came here because we were hoping you could answer some questions for us," she explained.

"Questions?" asked Otae, wondering what Kagura had in mind. "What kind of questions?"

"Well, you see," said Kagura, "Gin-chan's been acting weird lately and we were wondering if you might know something about it."

"Gintoki?" asked Kyuubei out of interest. "It's probably nothing. If he's acting weird then it sounds like he's behaving normally," she said casually as if it were the truth.

Otae started to look worried. "Gin-san is acting weird? What's he doing? Is he treating you two ok?"

"No, it's nothing like that," said Shinpachi quickly, waving his hands back and forth. He didn't want his sister to unnecessarily worry about them. "The two of us are fine, it's Gin-san that's the problem," he explained.

"Well, what's wrong with him this time?" asked Kyuubei.

"We think that he might be going out with some girl," said Kagura, revealing her true suspicion.

Upon hearing the news, Otae and Kyuubei both showed extreme expressions of shock. Their eyes widened and their mouths fell open. They couldn't imagine what Kagura had just suggested. They had never heard of such a thing happening before.

Otae tried to gather her thoughts in order to respond to Kagura. "Seriously? G-Gin-san is…is…" she trailed off. She just couldn't believe what Kagura was telling her.

"Gintoki has seduced a woman?" asked Kyuubei, completely misreading the situation.

Shinpachi immediately realized that things were getting out of hand. "Now, wait a minute," he said loudly, hoping to calm them down. "We're not completely sure about this. It's just a theory. We have no idea if he's actually dating someone," he tried to explain.

"Right," said Kagura. "But' it's still our best guess. We came here to ask you two if you would know anything about it."

The two girls managed to calm down enough to listen to what Shinpachi and Kagura were saying. "I don't know anything about Gin-san seeing some girl," Otae answered truthfully.

"Neither do I," said Kyuubei.

"Nor do I," said a mysterious third voice.

The group suddenly started looking around, wondering who had just spoken. It was clear that it was none of those present; it had to have been someone else who was nearby. "Is someone there?" asked Shinpachi, still looking around.

Suddenly, a cupboard door slid open, revealing the owner of the new mystery voice. Out of the cupboard crawled the chief of the Shinsengumi, Kondo. He stood up and looked at all of the shocked and angry faces in front of him. "Um, sorry," he said, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

The group of girls all looked at the new intruder with disgust. They were not happy to see that this man was stalking the dojo once again. Shinpachi, however, appeared to be the most distraught at Kondo's sudden appearance.

"Why are you even here!?" he screamed out of anger. Even though he appeared to be angry with Kondo for stalking his sister again, Shinpachi was actually worried about something else. He was now concerned with his new priority. Another person had just become suspicious of Gintoki's secret, and it made him feel even more nervous. This is starting to get out of hand…he thought.

Kondo looked at the group and decided to respond to Shinpachi's question. "Well, you see," he explained, "I was simply spending some time with Otae-chan when I accidently heard you say that your boss is stalking someone."

"No, Gorilla-san," said Kyuubei, "Gintoki is not stalking someone, he is seducing some innocent girl. Not everyone is a stalker like you."

"Actually, Kyu-chan, Gin-san is dating some girl, not seducing her," Otae corrected her.

"Actually," interrupted Shinpachi, "We don't know if he's doing anything with a girl. This is all just a theory, remember?" He was once again trying to keep things under control. If he could convince the group that nothing was going on, he would be able to keep Gintoki's secret safe.

"Listen," said Kagura, trying to get the group's attention. "I just want to find out if he's going out with somebody. Do you think you guys could help me?"

"Well, I am curious to see what kind of tramp Gin-san has taken interest in," said Otae with a slightly evil smile.

"As am I," agreed Kyuubei.

"Me too! I want to know who he's stalking!" yelled Kondo.

"So you'll help me find out what Gin-chan's up to?" asked Kagura, starting to get excited. The three of them each gave her a nod, confirming that they were in. Kagura smiled and turned to face Shinpachi. "Isn't this great? Look at all the help we have! We'll find out Gin-chan's secret in no time!"

Shinpachi managed to smile as he hid the feeling of dread within him. This is bad he thought. This is really, really bad. I could handle one of them, but now there are four people who are close to discovering Gin-san's secret! What do I do?

"So now what do we do?" asked Kyuubei.

"Isn't it obvious?" asked Otae with a smile. "We'll go right up to Gin-san and ask him who he is going out with. Simple as that."

"Hold on a minute, boss lady," Kagura interrupted. "Every time I asked Gin-chan about his secret, he wouldn't tell me a thing. I don't think that this time will be any different," she explained.

The group started to look a little dismayed when Kondo spoke up. "Hold on," he said, "Do you really think he'll be able to turn all of us away? If we all confront him at once, he will have no choice but to tell us what's going on. He won't be able to keep quiet if we ask him as a group."

Kagura's face lit up as she gave Kondo a look of confidence. "That might actually work, Gori!" she shouted excitedly.

"Yes, nice thinking Gorilla-san," Otae complemented him.

Kondo blushed upon hearing praise from his crush. "Oh, it was nothing," he said modestly.

"Gin-chan should still be at home," explained Kagura. "Let's go confront him right now!"

"All right, off to Odd Jobs it is!" said Otae. She and Kyuubei got up from the table they were sitting at. The whole group then followed Kagura as she led the way back to her home.

Shinpachi, however, just stood at his home in silence. While the rest of the group had been deciding on their plan of action, Shinpachi was left to keep wondering what he should do to handle it. Now they're heading straight for Gin-san! What do I do? I can't stop them; they're convinced that he is dating someone! They're already heading out the gate!

Shinpachi immediately snapped out of his thoughts and ran after the group. He decided that he might as well try and keep an eye on them, even though he couldn't do anything to help at that point.

I can't stop them he thought. I've failed. You better be prepared, Gin-san, because I can't get you out of this situation. I tried to keep your secret safe, but it's spiraled out of control. The situation is in your hands now, whether you know it or not!

Meanwhile, Gintoki and Tsukuyo were sitting across from each other in a small restaurant. They had just met up a little while earlier and were now having lunch together. It was a nice and simple date that allowed them to enjoy each other's company.

As Tsukuyo was eating, she couldn't help but think about how she felt in her current situation. Surprisingly, she felt perfectly normal. It was almost the exact opposite of the first date she had experienced. She didn't feel nervous or uneasy or anything like that. If anything, she felt comfortable around Gintoki.

What a long way I've come she thought to herself. I used to not be able to look into his eyes, but it doesn't bother me much anymore. I used to feel nervous holding his hand, but now I can do it without a problem. In fact, I really like to do that sort of thing…I guess I've grown sort of attached to this silver-haired idiot she thought with a smile.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Gintoki, suddenly interrupting Tsukuyo's thoughts. He was staring at her and wondering why she was being so quiet.

"Oh, it's nothing," said Tsukuyo, starting to blush a little as she looked away. She didn't want to let Gintoki know that she had been thinking about him.

Gintoki looked at her with an amused curiosity. "If you're not thinking about anything, then why are you blushing so much?" he asked with a grin.

"I'm not blushing," she insisted, although it was clear she was lying.

Gintoki smiled as he dropped his voice down to a whisper. "You were thinking about something dirty, weren't you?"

"I WAS NOT!" shouted Tsukuyo, looking at Gintoki with anger.

Gintoki had to try hard to keep himself from laughing. "Calm down, it was only a joke," he told her.

"Yeah right," said Tsukuyo, a little upset. Gintoki had recently managed to go the entire last month without pissing Tsukuyo off, but he had just ended that streak with his last comment. "And just when I was starting to think that you had matured too," Tsukuyo scolded him.

Gintoki realized that he might have pushed her a little too far and decided to apologize. "I'm sorry, it was just a little joke."

Tsukuyo couldn't help but give a small look of surprise upon hearing that. Did he really just apologize for saying something stupid? That's never happened before. Maybe he actually has grown up a little bit.

"It's ok," said Tsukuyo. "I realize that you were only trying to be funny in your own stupid way."

Gintoki surprisingly laughed a little upon hearing that. "Well, it looks like you're finally beginning to understand me," he said somewhat jokingly.

Tsukuyo laughed a little in return and then silence fell between the two. Tsukuyo looked away for a second as she thought about something.

"Gintoki," she said, "can I tell you something?"

"Of course," he said, "you can tell me anything."

"Well, I was thinking," she said with a pause. "I…I think I might be ready to tell some people that I'm going out with you," she revealed.

Gintoki gave her a look of complete surprise. "Really?" he asked.

"Well, yeah," said Tsukuyo as she looked down at the table. "I think I should stop keeping it a secret from the people that are close to me. We've been going out for a while now. I think I'm ready to let people know the truth." She paused as she slowly looked up from the table to face Gintoki. "What do you think?" she asked him.

Gintoki gave her a look of confidence. "I think that it sounds great," he said with a smile.

"Really?" asked Tsukuyo, a little surprised that he had agreed with her.

"Of course," replied Gintoki, "If you're ready to tell your friends, then go right ahead. I don't want to hold you back."

Tsukuyo gave him a smile to show her appreciation. "I'm glad you said that. If you're ok with it, I think I'm going to tell Seita and the Hyakka sometime soon. Honestly, I think that they might have started to notice that I'm hiding something from all of them. It will feel good to finally let them know the truth. I think that they'll be happy to hear it too. At least, I hope so anyway."

Gintoki was still smiling, but he suddenly had a serious expression on his face. "That sounds fine," he said, "but do you mind if I ask you a favor?"

Tsukuyo gave him a weird look. "What is it?" she asked slowly, wondering what he had on his mind.

"Look, it is fine if you want to tell all of your friends about us," he said sincerely. "But, I would like to ask that you please continue to keep it a secret from all of my friends."

Tsukuyo looked at him with confusion. "Um, ok," she said, trying to follow along. "Who exactly do you not want me to tell?"

"Oh, you know," said Gintoki as he slowly looked away. "Just Kagura, Gran, and everyone who lives on the surface," he said simply.

"…That's a lot of people," replied Tsukuyo.

"Look, can you please just keep it a secret from them? Please?"

"I don't understand," said Tsukuyo, still a little confused. "You don't want to let anyone know that we're going out?"

"Well, not really, no," he answered.

"Why not?"

"Look, I just don't want them to find out just yet," he tried to explain. "I mean, you know who they are; they're animals. They'll freak out the moment they find out about us."

"You said that Shinpachi didn't when you told him," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well he's actually a nice kid with a normal brain. The rest of them are all idiots who will tear me to shreds if they hear anything about this."

Tsukuyo looked at Gintoki with disapproval. "So, you're just not going to tell them?"

"Not anytime soon," he replied.

"Hmmph," said Tsukuyo as she sat back and crossed her arms. "You're really reluctant to tell people that you're going out with me. It makes me wonder if you even care about me."

"That's not true!" said Gintoki, trying to defend himself. "You know I care about you. It's everyone else that I'm worried about. Besides, you've been keeping it a secret up until now too. It's not like I'm the only one guilty here."

Tsukuyo let out a small sigh as she realized that he was right. "Fine, I see your point," she said. "I'll respect your wishes for the time being. I won't tell any of your friends about us, but you have to promise that you will do it soon, ok?"

"I will," he promised. "I just need some time before I'm ready, you know?"

"I understand," she said. "I just hope that you don't put this off for too long. The longer you keep it a secret from them, the more upset that they will be when they finally find out the truth."

"I know," said Gintoki, clearly not looking forward to the situation. "Maybe if I'm lucky it won't come to any bloodshed," he said sarcastically.

A short while later, the couple was saying goodbye to each other outside the restaurant. They were about to go off in different directions.

"I'm heading off to take care of a job this afternoon," said Gintoki. "I wish Shinpachi and Kagura were going to help me, but I guess they decided to take the day off. Honestly, if they're just going to goof off the whole time while I work, I should just fire them."

"Come on," said Tsukuyo with a laugh. "We both know that you're not going to do that. Your heart is too big," she teased him.

"What are you talking about? You don't know anything about me," he said, slightly blushing. "Just watch, I'm going to go fire them right now. It will probably save me a lot of trouble in the end anyway."

Tsukuyo couldn't help but softly laugh at him. "You're such a fool," she told him.

"Whatever" he replied, slightly smiling at Tsukuyo's laugh. "I need to get going."

"Well alright, have a good day at work," she told him. "I'll see you again later, ok?"

"Yeah, I'll give you a call sometime," he said. He gave her small kiss goodbye and then started walking away.

Tsukuyo turned away and began walking back to her house. As she walked, she started thinking about the conversation that she had just had with Gintoki a little while ago. She felt a little disappointed that he wanted to keep the relationship a secret so badly, but there was nothing she could do about it.

If he isn't ready yet, then I guess that there's no helping it she thought to herself. Just because I feel ready now doesn't mean that he does too. But he'll tell them soon enough. He probably just needs a little bit of time…

Unfortunately, it would seem like time was something that Gintoki was slowly running out of. The worst part, was that he didn't even know it yet…

Author: Let's do something that we've never done before. I'm going to have two characters in this segment at once! After all, what's the worst that could happen? Let's all welcome Otae and Kyuubei!

Otae: Nice to meet you, Author-san. We're happy to be a part of the story.

Kyuubei: What are we even doing here anyway?

Author: Hold on a minute, Kyuubei. Otose used the "why am I here" argument in the last segment. We can't do that again; you'll have to say something else.

Kyuubei: …I don't get it…

Otae: What exactly do you want us to say, Author-san?

Author: I don't know. Just say something stupid that will make the reader laugh.

Otae: You mean like insult the story?

Author: Actually, I think I've overkilled that joke long ago. Besides, it's probably best to not talk negatively about the story, don't you think?

Kyuubei: But there are so many problems with it though…

Otae: Yeah, some changes could definitely be made.

Author: What? Were you not listening? We can't do this sort of thing again! The readers are probably sick of this!

Otae: First things first, we definitely need to take out the Gorilla.

Kyuubei: Yes, stop wasting words on his character.

Author: Kondo? What did he do wrong!? (Other than stalk you, of course)

Otae: I also think that Kyu-chan and I need more screen time. We might need to remove more characters.

Kyuubei: Let's take out Tsukuyo. After all, she and Gintoki took up half the chapter.

Author: No Tsukuyo in a Gintoki x Tsukuyo story!? Are you insane!?

Otae: Don't worry; Gin-san can be taken out too. That should fix the problem, right?

Kyuubei: Yes, then the story will just be about the 'x'. Plain and simple.

Author: X? X isn't even a character! Who the hell is X supposed to be!?

Kyuubei: X is the main character of "Xtama".

Otae: He works for Odd Jobs X with his friends Y and Z.

Author: What are we even talking about anymore? Are we even talking about Silver Moon!?

Kyuubei: …Silver Moon?

Otae: …Is that supposed to be the title of the story?

Author: It IS the title of the story, thank you very much.

Kyuubei: …But the moon isn't even silver…

Author: …That's it! I'm done! I can't deal with you two any longer! I'll see you all next chapter!