Hey guys Murayama Tsuru here. Here is the 13th chapter of this story. One more chapter and it'll be longer than my last one! Yay! In other exciting news Gintama volume 47 is coming out in Japanese on December 4th! According to the Japanese Amazon site, the cover will feature Gin and Shachi in their Mangaka outfits! Without further ramblings, here's the 13th chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama; it's the property of Sorachi Hideaki-Sensei, Bob's your uncle (Yes, I know that was very random. But my mom and I were having a conversation about this over the phone about his weird phrase and for some reason she said that Bob's your Uncle was a translation for Naruto's Dattebayo…please forgive her, she's a supreme weirdo, just like me!)

There was a short, awkward pause after Katsura left. Breaking the silence, Shinpachi said, a little quietly, "Didn't Katsura-san seemed a little…exuberant about cross-dressing and infiltrating the witches' meeting tomorrow?"

Gin waved a dismissive hand and said boredly, "Nah, he's always like that. If he gets to do anything that involves disguising himself, he usually gets pretty excited. It's one of his many…flaws I guess. But it's going to help us out this time, so it's not much of a flaw at the moment. Well as long as he doesn't blow our cover it won't be."

"Yeah," Kagura piped up, "He's really bad at remembering code names. If you call him by one, he always says 'it's not –codename- it's Katsura', uh-huh."

Abuto listened to the three talk about the long haired man who just left for a little while. It was kinda strange to listen to people he didn't know very well complain about someone he knew even less. After a while, Abuto got bored, stood up, and began walking to the door mumbling, "Well, if there's nothing for me to do right now, there are things I need to do."

But before he could exit the Yorozuya's house, he heard Kagura call out, "Where are you going Abu-chan, don't you want to complain about Zura too?"

Abuto stopped opening the door and looked back at Kagura, "A-Abu-chan?" he asked incredulously

"Yep," Kagura chirped happily, "that's what I'm going to call you from now on, uh-huh! So where are you going?"

"To procure some if-necessary back up. There are some 'friends' who might be able to help."

Gin gave Abuto a surprised look and said, "Jiraiya-kun, I didn't know you had friends."

Abuto rolled his eyes, "Yeah, perm-boy, I've got plenty of friends, a whole fleet of 'em too."

Gin gave Abuto pointed a look, "Oh yes, I'm sure they're your friends. Just don't bring Bakasugi; we don't need any more trouble."

"Don't worry; I will try to keep him out of it. That's trouble not even I need."

"Then have fun," Gin blinked, "I'm sure Kagura's Nii-chan will be happy to see you."

Abuto glared at Gin, but Gin just smiled sadistically and waved Abuto a goodbye. As he exited the house, he heard Kagura say, "Good luck, Abu-chan, you'll need it!"

'Great,' Abuto thought derisively, 'now things are sure to go horribly.' Abuto then shook his head, trying to dispel the depreciating thoughts about his boss and descended the stairs.

Kamui was in his office, humming a melody-less tune and doodling on a piece of paper that was probably some form he should be filling in. He had decided that since Abuto wasn't going to be back for a while, he'd let his work pile up to give Abuto something fun to do when he got back…well it would be fun for Kamui to watch Abuto complain about all the work he'd make Abuto do, anyway.

As he was doodling mindlessly, and thinking about all the ways he could torture Abuto, he heard a knock, which startled him a little. Kamui looked at the door, thinking whoever was on the other side had some balls interrupting him like they just did.

But instead of punching through the door and nailing whoever was behind it, he yelled in his usual cheerful voice, "Whoever you are, you have five seconds to either come in or leave. Any longer and there will be dire consequences. You're interrupting my…work, and that is unacceptable." And then he started counting cheerfully.

After two seconds, the door banged open to reveal a slightly mad, slightly annoyed, slightly concerned for his life Abuto. Once the door was fully open, Abuto took a look at Kamui, a look at his desk and the large stack of paperwork on it, and then sighed, "Admiral, you are definitely not any doing work."

"Oh, it's you Abuto," Kamui grinned, "I'm leaving all this for you, you should be happy."

Abuto rolled his eyes, "I am not going to do your work for you. I came to ask you a favor."

"That depends…" Kamui started, "If I say 'yes' will you do my work for me when you get back?"

"Yeah, fine, whatever." Abuto groaned, he didn't really feel like arguing with Kamui at the moment

"Wow, Abuto, I'm amazed you said yes to doing my work. Now I'll have to make sure I don't do it until you come back. So what's this favor you want to ask?"

Abuto cursed almost silently, why did the admiral have to be so hard to deal with sometimes? Abuto sighed, and after a few seconds he said, "I'd like to request backup for going into Yoshiwara tomorrow. I don't know if we'll need it but…"

Abuto trailed off as Kamui snorted and his eyebrows tented, "I doubt you need any help there Abuto. But, since you do seem to be female at the moment, I guess I could send some people to 'help' you out."

Abuto gave Kamui 'you know that's not what I'm talking about' look, "Get your mind out of the gutter, Admiral. I'm not going to Yoshiwara for fun. I'm going there track down the witch that cursed me."

"Oh," Kamui grinned, "Well you should have been clearer about that Abuto. I thought you were going there to—"

"I know what you were thinking, admiral," Abuto interrupted, "But no. I don't have the time to go to Yoshiwara normally. If I really wanted to go, I'd have to sneak away. And with you, that'd be near impossible."

"You got that right, Abuto. So, do you need people now?"

"No. I'll only need them as a last resort. If I need help, and the Yorozuya trio and Katsura aren't sufficient I'll call you."

"That's going to cost you some more work Abuto."

"Huh? Why?" Abuto asked, feeling like he'd been tricked somehow

"Because, you're going to make me wait for a call that probably won't come. So, for the added effort, it's going to cost you more." Kamui grinned

Abuto sighed; Kamui really was too much of a handful for him sometimes. If only there was someone else he could co to for help, Abuto would much rather go to them. But there wasn't such a person, so Kamui was his only choice. Well, Kamui could have said no to Abuto's almost plea for help, but he didn't, for which Abuto was very grateful. If he had to do all the built-up paperwork as payment for services rendered, Abuto didn't really mind. Doing paperwork isn't that bad after all…right?

Abuto left the Harusame ship feeling oddly satisfied. Yeah, he'd probably regret not having haggled a better payment for Kamui's help, but at the moment Abuto didn't really care all that much. As Abuto was walking back to the Yorozuya's house, reflecting the odd satisfaction he felt at the moment, he bumped into someone, his nose pressing up painfully against their back.

"Ah, sorry, didn't see you there." Abuto said, rubbing his now red nose.

"Who are you?" came a familiar voice. Abuto looked up and blanched, he really must be the most unlucky Yato in the world. Standing in front of him was Takasugi Shinsuke, glowering down at Abuto; his single eye seemed to look deep into Abuto's soul.

"Me?" Abuto asked, feeling slightly unnerved by Takasugi's one eye staring at him, "I'm no one. Just a friend…of Abuto's."

"Oh, I that so?" Takasugi said, his mouth quirking up into a half smirk, "I heard that Abuto was away at the moment. So why is it that you're here?"

"Um…" Abuto dithered, "I…didn't know that Abuto was gone…?"

"Ah, I see, that would explain things. So, you were here to visit him? I don't know the man very well, but it seems to me that he doesn't get many visitors."

"And how would you know that?" Abuto asked, annoyed

"I hear it from his boss, Kamui. He may not look it, but he can be quite the gossip given the proper motivation."

Abuto rolled his eyes, "Of course he is. The admiral will do anything if you give him food."

"And how exactly would you know that? If you're friend Abuto told you that, I feel I'd have to go report him for insubordination." Takasugi's smirk grew a little more sadistic

What insubordination was Takasugi talking about? Last time Abuto checked, talking about someone behind their back wasn't a good thing, but it wasn't so horrible either. It suddenly struck Abuto that headphones had probably told Takasugi about him. So, the leader of the Kiheitai leader was probably just playing dumb. Abuto then returned Takasugi's smirk with a flat stare, "You know don't you."

A chilling humorless laugh issued from Takasugi's lips, "Yes, I know that you are indeed Abuto, it took you long enough to figure that out. But what I don't know is why you're here. I imagined that you'd be afraid to shoe your cursed form to your curious admiral of yours."

"Well too bad for you, he already knows. There's no need for me to hide anymore."

"Why is that too bad for me?" Takasugi asked, his head cocked to the side

"Because," Abuto smirked in satisfaction, "It means you can't sell Kamui that information."

"Oh that is too bad indeed," the one eyed Samurai said sarcastically, "It's a pity that I can't strengthen the bond between us by giving your boss information he might want."

Abuto's eyes narrowed, "There is no bond between us. We've only teamed up with you out of convenience. I'm sure there are plenty of others who want to take over Edo like we Harusame Space Pirates. If you outlive your usefulness, there are many to replace you."

"Oh, I'm sure;" Takasugi chuckled humorlessly, "There are many to replace you pirates as well. And know this; I am not trying to capture Edo. I'm only using you so I can destroy this worthless country."

"Good luck with that then. It's not like we care all that much." Abuto glared at Takasugi and Takasugi glared back at Abuto. After a second, though, Abuto blinked, sighed, and walked past the Kiheitai leader.

Once Abuto was almost out of earshot of the eye-patched man, he heard a lazy shout, "Say hi to Gintoki for me, won't you?"

Abuto gritted his teeth, that Takasugi really irked him. If course, he was mad at Kawakami Headphones as well for telling his superior that Abuto was staying with the Yorozuya trio. But Takasugi was the only one there at the moment, so Abuto was more irritated at him. Abuto left, feeling like he'd just gone through hell and back.

"What the hell are you guys making me wear?" Abuto exited the bathroom wearing a Kimono so low cut that it left his shoulders and much of the cleavage he really wished he didn't have right now bare. Looking at himself in the mirror, Abuto was very much reminded of that Oiran girl in Rurouni Kenshin.

Abuto then glared at Gin who had probably been the one to pick this ridiculous Kimono out and repeated his question, "Sakata, why the hell are you making me wear this…thing?"

Gin shrugged and grinned not so innocently, "I didn't pick it out, Zura did. While you were out 'requesting back-up', Zura came back and deposited this at our door. He looked pretty embarrassed when he suggested you wear this. So if there's anyone you should be mad at, it's him."

"Yeah right," Abuto scoffed, rolling his eyes, "There probably were other Kimono in the pile and you made sure to choose the most indecent for me."

"A-actually, Abuto-san," Shinpachi cut in, "Gin-san's telling the truth. It really was Katsura-san who said you should wear this Kimono. I think his words were 'you should give this one to Akari-san…it would look good on her'."

Abuto sweat-dropped, the people who surrounded Sakata Gintoki were almost too weird for words. Abuto really wanted to know how Katsura knew this Kimono would look good on him. But before he could ask Gin, Kagura piped up, "Don't worry, Abu-chan, that Kimono really suits your figure well. You could knock all those witches dead with just one swish of your hips, uh-huh."

"Yeah, but witches tend to be female, so I doubt any feminine wiles I try on them will work."

"It would totally work, uh-huh. They'd die of jealousy your of your beauty!" Kagura said emphatically

"Yeah…that's a compliment every guy wants to hear."

"That's something you'd want to hear if you were an Okama." Gin suggested happily

"Do I look like a drag queen to you?"

"Well…" Gin started

"You know what?" Abuto put a dismissive hand up, but he immediately put his hand back down as he felt his altogether too low Kimono slipping even further down his shoulder, "Don't answer that. I am not an Okama."

"Ha," Gin chuckled, "Your statement would be a lot more effective if you weren't trying to keep your Kimono from falling off."

"Tch," Abuto growled, "And we're back to this damn thing again. I am changing out of this sorry excuse for a Kimono now. You'll be hard pressed to get me back into it tomorrow."

As Abuto returned to the bathroom to change back into his usual martial arts outfit, he heard Gin whisper loudly in response to somehting that Abuto didn't hear, "It'll be easy, all we have is not give him and other option and that's what he'll be wearing tomorrow." Abuto groaned internally, somehow, tomorrow was going to turn out to be very annoying if he had to wear this thing again.

And that ends this chapter. Is it just me, or does this chapter feel a little forced…I mean I liked writing it and all, but both Kamui and Takasugi just seemed out of character and slightly randomly thrust into the chapter to me…Well, I was kinda distracted writing this chapter. But I hope you guys liked it anyway. As always, please leave a review if you'd like, I always love to know what you guys think. And see you all next week.

-Murayama Tsuru