Disclaimer: Still don't own Gintama

(05/12/21 Crossposted from Ao3)

"Takasugi-san?"

An absentminded hum.

". . .how did you and Gin-san get together?"

The shamisen stops playing, the last note fading away.

"Why do you ask?"

Fidgeting.

Profuse sweating.

"Ahahaha, never mind! Please forget I asked that!"

Hands started waving all over in a flustered manner.

The shamisen thuds atop the wooden floorboard.

"It was war. We fucked. We caught feelings."

As dry as a desert, the 'The End' was strongly implied.

The ensuing silence was at the same time both awkward and amused.

"I—I see. . ."

Fidgeting again.

. . .

A sigh.

"Does this have something to do with the cake I saw the two idiots eating this morning?"

A jerky nod.

"I helped a girl on the train and she—"

Red crawls up even more.

"She—"

Choking sounds.

"she w-wanted to m-meet and properly tha-thank me"

A raised brow, as if saying, 'and?'

"Imnotsureifitsadateandifitisidontknowwhattodo!"

Whoosh.

". . ."

". . ."

"Shimura, you're normally so astute. But if you haven't realised, Gintoki and I don't do dates ."

A groan of defeat.

"I know! That's why I didn't want to ask at first too, but I don't know anyone else who could help!"

Boneless slumping against the backrest.

"Aneue has never gotten in a romantic relationship, Hasegawa-san is divorced, Kagura-chan is fourteen, Sacchan-san and Kondou-san are stalkers, Hijikata-san, despite being good looking, is a mayo addict, Okita-san is a sadist, Katsura-san goes after married women, and you and Gin-san just jumped right to the old married couple stage! I don't know if you've noticed, but that's the entire list of people I know!"

Flushed panting.

"You forgot someone."

Blinking.

"Huh?"

"Sadaharu."

. . .

"I give up."

An amused chuckle.

"Takasugi-san—"

"No, no. You did forget someone though."

"Who?"

Tired. As if not expecting anything anymore.

"You forgot Otose-san."

Wide-eyed surprise.

"Otose-san?"

A hum.

"Otose-san has been married before, didn't you know? And old people always gives wise advise."

A wry smile.

"Or so they say. But Otose-san definitely falls in that category of wise old people even if she comes across as rough and caustic."

"O-oh. . ."

Silence.

The shamisen is picked up off the floor.

Strings starts playing again.

"U-um, Takasugi-san?"

No answer.

"Thank you."

The door slides close.

END NOTES:

Yes, hello, another short af fic

That's all, folks!

I just wanted a Shinpachi and Takasugi convo

And also, I wanted to practice dialogue writing

so why not do both!