'Marriage In Progress'

❤️ ~ 💙 ~ ❤️

Gintoki waits until the bell rings, as per Otae's advice to try to 'confront' the 'chocolate empire heir' when he has a half-full stomach- 'that way he won't feel light enough to be able to chase you all across the school and not full enough to throw up his lunch all over you' were her sweet and exact words, to be incredibly specific- and plops himself in a vacant chair that he screechingly dragged across the floor and in front of Toshiro's desk, interrupting his half eaten lunch, and staring at him with the passion of a thousand burning suns.

"I have to admit I have thought about this for a very, very long time now." Gintoki starts the conversation, voice just as intense as his stare in his very modest opinion. "And I came to the conclusion that we should marry each other. Right. Now."

There, he drops the figurative bomb and waits to literally reap what he has sown - hopefully anything involving never-ending chocolate supplies.

Toshiro, ceasing any move, looks back at him with the most unexpressive, dead-fish eyes Gintoki has ever seen on anyone but himself. "…How long have you thought about it exactly?"

Gintoki checks the clock on the wall of the classroom, nodding to himself. "Twelve minutes." Then he squints his eyes, re-checking the clock. "Twelve minutes and thirty seconds, to be more specific."

Toshiro, slowly, ever so slowly, pushes his lunch aside, a strange energy exudes out of him, which appears to be a murderous aura to most, given how his classmates are literally fleeing away in fright, but obliviousness keeps his 'desk mate' unfazed.

"I have been thinking for a while, too." The boy finally announces with a bit of a strained grin. "About how I would like to caress your cheek now…"

Gintoki perks up, pleasantly surprised. "Ooh, that sounds affectionate."

"…with my fist." Toshiro continues with that little, forced grin.

Gintoki's expression twists a little, bewildered. "That… sounds a little less affectionate?"

And Toshiro, surprising him again, almost stands up from his chair as he draws closer in the blink of an eye, and Gintoki suddenly has a face-full of him. His brain, ever so slightly, starts malfunctioning from the unexpected proximity.

"I am now this close to punching you." The other boy utters so lowly it's almost a whisper, showing his pointer and thumb which are almost touching.

"Wait a second-" Gintoki squints, now the one drawing closer to have a better look. "-your fingers are actually touching."

Toshiro turns to look at his hand in mock-surprise "Oh, would you look at that?"

Gintoki might have a dangerously low level of self-preservation, he will admit that much, but his instincts do kick in at the seemingly impending danger of a fist about to caress his cheek, and he sprints out of the classroom so fast his P.E. teacher would be proud of him- especially since he mostly tends to whine and complain and lazily drape himself over the gym floor while sobbing: okay, maybe running might be good for you… but at what cost? Dear Lord, at what cost?!

Unfortunately for him, Toshiro is one of those people who are known for excelling in both academics and sports, and unlike him he actually takes his physical education seriously. In only a matter of seconds the boy is quick on his feet, chasing after him. Otae, this time around, had not been right, even with a stomach half-full he is far too fast.

As a momentary distraction, aimed at his own self, Gintoki is just going to delude himself into thinking that Toshiro might be chasing him to confess his endless love, thus granting him free access to the endless amounts of cocoa beans his family owns- yes, that does sound like a very reasonable and wonderful outcome to think about.

"Hey! You! No running on school grounds!"

Unfortunately for the both of them, Gintoki's least favorite teacher decides to make an appearance right about now. How could he forget about her, she likes to chase him around waving a broom 'threateningly' because he 'dares to disrupt her classes', but honestly, she is just a crazy lady with nothing better to do. And how did she just happen to spot them across the other side of the school- seriously, does this woman have x-ray vision or what?!- but a broom is already waving back and forth in the sky as she aggregates herself to their 'jogging session', too.

And… well, there might be worse things than having to spend your afternoon trying to get dirty bristles out of your hair and mouth.

💙 ~ ❤️

"How did it go?" Otae asks as she flips through a fashion magazine, not even bothering to look up at her best friend.

Gintoki, with laboured breath, having ran all the way here to meet her in one of the empty classrooms (and hide from his crazy teacher), clears his throat and raises his head up high, borrowing confidence from his literally never-ending supply. "This is, what one would call, 'a work in progress.'"

Otae does raise her eyes this time, enough to spare him a glance. "No." She states patiently. "This is, what one would call, 'the attempt of a stupid to out-stupid himself.' And you are succeeding in that, congratulations."

Gintoki takes a moment to ponder over her words. "Hmm, I feel like this might be your subtle way of insulting me."

Otae gasps quietly, bringing a hand to her chest in surprise. "You're wrong. It's not subtle at all."

. . .

A/N:

This was literally one of the chapters I liked writing the most. Literally.

I had this sitting in my docs forever – 'I feel like this might be your subtle way of insulting me/You're wrong. It's not subtle at all'- and I'm going to use it in as many stories as I can, you've been warned.

I want to finish this fic as soon as I can lol, so it will probably end sometime around next week? Also, thank you so much for wasting your precious time with my silly stories and for your lovely words, you guys seriously have no idea how much I actually appreciate it!