Silver Moon – Book 1 Chapter 11
The front door of Odd Jobs Gin slid open to reveal the small group standing just outside of it. It was the newly formed investigation team that was determined to discover the truth behind Gintoki's secret. Standing in the front was Kagura, followed by Otae and Kyuubei, with Kondo and Shinpachi in the back. They all carried serious looks on their faces, except Shinpachi, who secretly looked quite concerned.
Kagura cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled as loud as she could, "Gin-chan! Where are you? We have some questions to ask you!"
The building stayed quiet. No response came from inside the house. Shinpachi began to wonder if Gintoki was staying quiet out of fear or if it might be possible that he actually wasn't home.
The group stood in the doorway for a moment before Kyuubei spoke up. "We should hurry up and confront Gintoki before he has time to escape," she said with a determined look.
"Right," said Kagura, starting to lead the way into the house. She walked down the short hallway that led to the main room and quickly opened the door. "Gin-chan!" she called again.
Once again, there was no response. The room was completely empty save for Sadaharu, who was silently sleeping in a corner. The group walked into the room quietly, starting to look around. They were all starting to get confused.
"I don't get it, where is he?" asked Kyuubei.
"I don't know," said Kagura, seeming a little lost. Her new plan had just come to an unexpected halt. "He was here when we left."
"Do you think he slipped away when he heard us come in?" asked Otae.
"No, he would have had to have jumped out of a window," said Kondo. "Then again, knowing him, he was probably stupid enough to actually try that."
"Not likely, the window is closed," said Kyuubei, pointing to it. "Plus, I don't see his corpse lying in the ally down there."
Kagura continued to look around the room, unable to believe that Gintoki had escaped. "Gin-chan?" she mumbled.
Shinpachi simply stood in the doorway, his mouth open in awe of the miracle that had just happened in front of him. He's not here! he shouted in his head. He managed to escape before we got here! How did he do it? Did he know we were coming? Did he decide to make a break for it when he had the chance?
Shinpachi tried to calm down as he sighed with relief. Whatever happened, it seems like we dodged a bullet on this one. If you had been here, Gin-san, they would have dragged the secret out of you for sure. Let's just be thankful that you weren't here when we showed up. You're safe with your secret for now, wherever you are.
Suddenly, a small crashing noise came from behind the partially open door that led to Gintoki's bedroom. Everyone immediately stared at the door, wondering what had just made that noise.
"Gin-chan?" asked Kagura, sounding a little hopeful.
HE'S IN THERE!? screamed Shinpachi from within his thoughts. He couldn't have found a better hiding place than his own room? What kind of escape is that!?
Kagura walked over to the partially opened door and placed a hand on it. "Gin-chan? Are you in here?" she asked as she opened it all the way.
"Did somebody say Gin-san?" asked an excited voice from within the room. Suddenly, a female figure leaped out of the room and pounced onto Kagura, forcing her to land on her back.
Shinpachi stared in horror at the new figure that sat atop Kagura. Oh no he thought. Not her. Anyone but her.
To everyone's surprise, the new guest was none other than the purple-haired ninja with an extreme crush on Gintoki. Sachan had just revealed herself. She held Kagura down on the floor as she began to excitedly talk nonsense to the young girl.
"Gin-san!" she cried. "It's been so long since I've seen you! Have you missed me? Don't worry; I'm back now! We can spend all of our time together, just the two of us!"
Kagura stared up at Sachan with an annoyed look. "I'M NOT GIN-CHAN YOU IDIOT!" she yelled.
"Huh?" asked Sachan, suddenly realizing who she was sitting on top of. "Kagura?"
"Duh!" she shouted back. "Now can you get off me?"
"Oh, sorry," said Sachan as she lifted herself to her feet. "I thought you were Gin-san and I just couldn't help myself."
Shinpachi was suddenly put on edge as he stood in silence. Why? Why did she have to be here now of all times? She's the one with the biggest crush on Gin-san. The others are going to tell her what's going on with him, and she's definitely not going to take it well. This situation could get even worse once she knows! And I can't stop the others from telling here either! They'll start to grow suspicious of me if I do…
"What are you doing here, Sachan?" asked Otae as she stared at the girl. Everyone else in the room was wondering the same thing.
"Well, I was waiting around for Gin-san to come home so I could spend some time with him," she explained. "However, it would seem that you all showed up before he did. What are you all doing here anyway?"
"We're here for the same reason you are," said Kondo. "We are also looking for that silver-haired idiot."
"Hey, I just thought of something," interrupted Otae, looking a little pleased with herself. "Sachan, you like to stalk Gin-san around all the time, right?"
"It's my favorite thing to do," said Sachan, smiling a little bit as she blushed.
"Hey, I see what you're getting at!" shouted Kagura as she realized what was happening. "You think Sachan might know what Gin-chan's been up to?"
"Yep, I'm thinking she might know what he's been hiding from us," explained Otae.
Sachan started to look confused. "What are you all talking about?" she asked, looking at the group in front of her.
Kagura quickly started to question the girl in return. "Do you know anything about where Gin-chan has been going in the last month? Have you been following him in that time?"
"The last month?" asked Sachan. "I'm afraid not. I was stuck with a big job that required my level of skill as a Shinobi. Unfortunately, that mission lasted the entire last month, so I was unable to see Gin-san in that time," she said in a disappointed tone.
"Oh," said Kagura, once again feeling let down. It would seem that another one of her plans had failed to reveal any new information. "Doesn't anyone know what he's been doing all this time!?" she yelled out of frustration.
Now Sachan was starting to get upset. "Hold on, what are you all talking about? What's going on with Gin-san?" she asked.
Here we go…thought Shinpachi, looking at Sachan with worry. He was bracing himself for the worst.
"Listen," sighed Kagura, "Gin-chan has been disappearing without saying a word several times within the last month. He refuses to tell us anything, and now we want to know what he's been up to," she briefly explained.
"That's all?" said Sachan, looking a little confused. "So Gin-san has been going off to do stuff on his own, who cares?" She clearly didn't see why the others were so interested in this case.
Otae decided to reveal the information that would ultimately change her mind. "We think that Gin-san is going out with some girl," she said.
Sachan simply looked at the group in front of her. She stood in silence with a blank expression on her face. "I'm sorry," she said, "I must have misheard you. I thought I just heard you say that Gin-san is dating some girl," she said with a small laugh.
"He is," said Kagura, starting to completely believe the suspicion herself. "There's no other explanation for his behavior. He has to be going out with someone."
Sachan was starting to get upset with what she was hearing. "Stop joking around," she said. "Gin-san dating a girl? Come on, that would never happen. He would never take interest in a girl that isn't me," she said with clenched teeth.
"Hold on a minute!" shouted Shinpachi. "It's not what you think, Sachan-san!" He had decided to take this opportunity to intervene. He knew that if he didn't do something to help, Sachan would go blind with rage. Once again, he would have to convince the group that they were wrong.
"Listen," he told her, "this thing about Gin-san dating someone is just a theory we came up with! We have no idea if this is actually happening. We don't even have any proof for this theory." He stood there holding his hands out in front of him, hoping his words had calmed her down.
"Just a theory?" she asked, seeming a bit skeptical. "Well, if it's just a theory, then why are you guys acting like it's the truth?" she asked accusingly.
"Cause it is," said Kagura simply. She crossed her arms and looked up at the ceiling. "Yep, Gin-san has been making these phone calls to this girl non-stop. He's been taking her out for a few hours at least every week. Face it, Shinpachi, this is the only possible explanation."
"No, wait Kagura-chan!" shouted Shinpachi "We don't know if-"
"ENOUGH!" yelled Sachan, starting to lose her patience. "I can't take this any longer! I want some proof of this claim RIGHT NOW!"
"I'm afraid we're looking for the same thing," said Kondo in a serious tone. "We have nothing to prove it at the moment."
"We were going to ask Gintoki about it, but we don't know where he is," explained Kyuubei.
"So then how do we find him?" demanded Sachan, her anger starting to show in her tone.
"I guess we could just wait for him to come home," suggested Otae. "He's bound to come back sometime, right?"
Shinpachi tried to take a deep breath and calm down. At least their investigation has come to a stop for now he thought with relief. They can't prove that he's actually seeing someone. They can only make assumptions until they have a chance to talk to Gin-san. Who knows? Maybe Gin-san will actually be able to convince them that they are all wrong. He's pretty good at getting out of bad situations; maybe he can talk his way out of this one too.
As the group was discussing their next plan of action, they suddenly heard the sound of knocking on the front door. Everyone looked down the hall at the door and realized that someone was standing behind it, waiting for the door to be opened.
"Who could that be?" asked Otae.
"It's can't be Gintoki," said Kyuubei. "He's not stupid enough to knock on his own door, right?"
Shinpachi found himself wondering the same thing. "I'll go and find out who it is," he said. He walked down the hallway and slowly opened the door to reveal two people standing outside.
Surprisingly enough, it was the two girls that lived below the Odd Jobs building, Catherine and Tama. Shinpachi gave them each a look of confusion as he wondered what they were doing there. "Can I help you two with something?" he asked them politely.
"Yeah, could you keep it down up here? We can hear you guys yelling all the way downstairs," said Catherine, clearly not looking pleased with the boy.
"Otose-sama asked us to come up here and ask you to please quiet down," explained Tama in a polite voice.
"Oh, sorry about that," Shinpachi apologized. "I'll make sure that they stop yelling from now on."
"What are you guys doing in there anyway?" asked Catherine, starting to become suspicious. "I thought that you and the China girl went into town for the day."
"Well, we did, but the people we talked to wanted to come back here and talk to Gin-san," he explained patiently.
"Hey, who's at the door, Shinpachi?" asked Kagura as she walked up to the new small group. "Oh, it's you guys," she said in an uninterested tone.
"What's the matter?" taunted Catherine. "Couldn't you find the stupid girl that's willing to go out with that perm?"
"No," said Kagura, clearly disappointed. "We came here looking for him, but it looks like he disappeared again. By any chance, do you guys know where he went?"
"No, why would we know anything about where that idiot goes?" said Catherine, acting like she was offended.
"I see," said Kagura, starting to walk away.
"I know where he is," said Tama.
"I just can't figure anything out about-" Kagura suddenly paused and turned around. "Wait, Tama, what did you just say?"
"I said that I know where Gintoki-sama is," she said simply.
"You do?" asked the three people standing around the robot girl.
"Yes, he told me what he was going to be doing all day right before he left," she explained.
"He did!?" asked Shinpachi in disbelief. Did Gin-san accidently tell her something?
"Tama! Quick, come with me!" shouted Kagura excitedly as she ran back down the hallway to the main room.
Tama and Catherine both walked into the house, a little curious as to what was going on. They followed Kagura into the main room with Shinpachi trailing behind.
"Everyone!" exclaimed Kagura. "Tama says that she knows something about Gin-chan!" The group that was waiting in the room immediately went silent and gave Kagura their attention. She turned back to face her new source of information. "Go ahead, Tama, tell us everything that Gin-chan told you!"
"Well…" said Tama slowly as she tried to recollect her memory. "Before he left, Gintoki-sama said that he was looking for Shinpachi-sama and Kagura-sama. I informed him that you two had left and would probably be gone for the whole day. He seemed kind of upset when I told him that. I then asked Gintoki-sama if he was also leaving for the day. He told me that he was going to be gone for a few hours and that he would be back in the evening. I assumed that he was going off to spend some time with his lover, so I told him to have fun with her. He then gave me a wave as he left," she finished.
Everyone was staring at Tama in silence, trying to take in everything that she had just told them.
Shinpachi was the first one to speak. "Hold on a second, Gin-san didn't try to deny having a lover when you mentioned one?" he asked out of surprise.
Tama looked at the glasses wearing boy standing next to her. "No, he behaved as if I had said something normal."
Kondo started to think out loud. "So, it's true then?" he asked.
"Gin-chan is officially seeing someone?" asked Kagura. Everyone stared intently at Tama, awaiting her final response.
"Yes," she said, "I have confirmed this information within my data. It is as you say. Gintoki-sama has indeed found himself a lover."
The room was silent at first, but it soon erupted into an uproar over the truth that had just been revealed. The situation had turned to pure chaos. It seemed like everyone was yelling at once.
"He did it! That idiot really did it!" shouted Kondo. "He finally found a girl to stalk!"
"Gin-chan! Gin-chan actually likes a girl!" yelled Kagura out of shock.
"S-so he really did it then?" asked Otae out of surprise. "He asked a girl out? When did he become interested in women?"
"I don't get it," said Catherine, holding her head in her hands. "Who would be stupid enough to date an idiot like him!?"
"Tell me!" screamed Sachan, yelling at the top of her lungs. "Who is it? Who has stolen Gin-san's heart! I'll kill her! I'LL KILL HER!"
"Yes, tell us who it is," said Kyuubei, grasping the sword at her side. "I will take it upon myself to free this innocent girl from Gintoki's grasp."
Shinpachi was the only one not saying anything. All he could do was stand there and think about how out of control the situation had become. I'm sorry, Gin-san. I don't know what exactly happened with you earlier, but they all know it now. I've failed you. It's only a matter of time until they find out who it is and then your secret will be completely out. I couldn't do anything to stop it. I'm sorry!
Tama tried to calm the group down as they continued to yell and bombard her with questions. "Please everyone, calm yourselves!" she cried. "Gintoki-sama said that he would come back in the evening. If you have questions, you should wait here for him and ask them when he gets back," she suggested.
The group managed to settle down enough to understand what she was saying. "I think that sounds like a good idea," said Kondo, trying to remain calm. "We can get any answers we need from him when he comes back. There are more than enough of us to get him to talk."
The faces in the room all seemed to show signs of agreement. Some of them were still trying to keep from shouting in surprise. They were finding it hard to completely calm down in their situation.
"Alright, so we're agreed then," said Otae, looking around at the group. "We'll wait here until Gin-san comes home."
"Once that happens, we'll question him until he reveals this new girl's identity," said Kyuubei, continuing where Otae left off.
"And we'll definitely make sure that he won't escape!" shouted Kagura. "We've let him get away with so much up to this point. We won't let him do it again!"
"Right!" agreed Sachan rather fiercely. "I'll do whatever it takes to get the information out of him, even if it means putting together a small army!"
Suddenly, Sachan stopped talking and realized what she had just said. A slightly evil grin slowly appeared on her face.
Tsukuyo entered the front room of her house as she slowly closed the door behind her. She had just gotten back from her date with Gintoki and now had the entire day to herself. She was starting to think about when she should tell the people close to her about her new relationship. As she was thinking, Tsukuyo suddenly heard the phone start ringing in the living room.
It was not long before Hinowa answered the call. Tsukuyo walked in just as she was making her greetings to the other person. Hinowa looked up as she listened and gave Tsukuyo a small smile to as if to say 'welcome back'. Tsukuyo was going to simply walk through the room and be on her way when Hinowa suddenly caught her attention.
"Yes, Tsukuyo just came home," she said politely to the person on the other end. Hinowa listened again for another moment before saying, "Of course, please wait a moment." She then took the phone and held it out for Tsukuyo to take. "It's for you."
"Really?" Tsukuyo asked out of surprise. She didn't receive phone calls very often from anyone other than Gintoki. She knew that he was currently busy, so she figured it must be someone else. She couldn't help but wonder who it was.
Tsukuyo slowly reached out and took the phone from Hinowa. She watched as Hinowa quietly left the room in order to give her some privacy. Tsukuyo then held the phone up to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Tsukky, is that you?" asked the voice quickly on the other end. It sounded rather energetic, like its owner was really worked up about something.
"Yes, this is her," Tsukuyo responded, not quite sure who she was speaking with.
"Oh great! I was worried it wouldn't be you!" replied the voice, starting to sound excited. "Listen up, I have something really important to tell you!"
As Tsukuyo listened, she suddenly realized who the voice belonged to. "Sarutobi? Is that you?"
"Yeah, of course it's me. Who else would it be?" replied Sachan, still talking at a really quick pace. It was obvious that she was really eager to say something.
"Sorry," said Tsukuyo, "I didn't realize it was you at first."
"Whatever," said Sachan, clearly not upset with her. "Just listen! I have something really important to tell you! It's about Gin-san!"
Tsukuyo suddenly froze at the mention of her boyfriend's name. "Oh, Gintoki, huh?" she said, trying to sound casual.
"Yeah, listen," Sachan kept on saying. "There are a bunch of us over at Gin-san's place right now. We think we might have discovered something big."
Tsukuyo started to feel worried upon hearing this. "You guys…discovered something?" she asked nervously.
"Yeah, listen closely. As much as I hate to say this, we think that Gin-san has…has found himself a girlfriend," said Sachan in a completely disgusted tone.
Tsukuyo's eyes opened in shock as she stood there listening. She could hardly believe what she had just heard. "What did you just say?" she managed to reply in a quiet voice.
"Look, I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. We've actually confirmed it! Some new girl has come and taken Gin-san away from all of us! Can you believe that!? Anyway, I need you to come to Odd Jobs right away. We're all going to confront Gin-san when he comes home. We definitely need you here as support. "
"Hold on a minute, Sarutobi," said Tsukuyo, desperately trying to get her attention. She suddenly had so many questions she needed answered. "What exactly is going on over there?" she asked.
"Oh, you'll see when you get here," replied Sachan with a slight hint of evil pride in her tone. "Just hurry up! We're going to get a few more people to show up too! The sooner you get here, the better!"
"But-"
"Listen, Tsukky, we're all going to work together to get to the bottom of this. We're going to find Gin-san, we're going to find out who stole his heart, and then" said Sachan with a slight pause, "we are going to END THAT BITCH!"
Tsukuyo went completely silent as a wave of fear washed over her. She tried to speak up and reply to her friend, but no words came out. She was completely speechless.
"Anyway, hurry up and get here!" said Sachan quickly. "We'll be waiting for you!"
And with that, the phone went dead, and Tsukuyo realized that Sachan had hung up. She slowly placed her own phone down on the receiver and silently considered her new situation.
Gintoki, I don't know what just happened she thought with a pause. But I think we are in some serious danger!
Author: Hello everyone! This time around, Sachan will be my guest. Say hello!
Sachan: Hello.
Author: So, let's go ahead and just get this out of the way. Sachan, what do you think of my story?
Sachan: Oh, I hate it.
Author: Right! Ok, moving on!
Sachan: I mean, seriously, we're 11 chapters in and now I show up? What's the deal with that huh?
Author: Um, I was hoping we could skip this sort of thing…
Sachan: You should have just had me in the story from the beginning! It should have been me who entered into a relationship with Gin-san! Not Tsukky! Why didn't you name the story "Purple Moon"?
Author: Um, "Purple Moon"? The 'moon' part comes from Tsukuyo's name and I'm assuming that you're the 'purple' part. That doesn't really indicate that you and Gintoki are in a relationship.
Sachan: Then name it "Purple Silver".
Author: What kind of title is that!?
Sachan: Honestly, with the way that I'm being treated in this story, its like you don't even care about me at all! Do you even want me to be in your story?
Author: …
Sachan: Hey! Don't just sit there! Say something you shitty Author!
Author: Of course I like you and want you in my story. It's just that you can't be anything more than a side character. That's just the way that it is.
Sachan: But you're the author, aren't you? You can change it, right?
Author: Um…I don't really think that-
Sachan: I said, you can change it, RIGHT?
Author: …Well, anyways, I have to go!
Sachan: HEY! GET BACK HERE!
Author: Leave a review, I'll see you all next chapter!