BRRIINNNN-BRRIINNNN-BRRIINNN

"SHUT UPPP!! ANY MORNING THAT INVOLVES DISTURBING A MAN'S SLEEP NEVER MAKES FOR A GOOD DAY!"

Gintoki slammed his Justaway alarm clock down to stop it from assaulting his ears any longer. He doesn't even remember why he has that piece of junk. If anything, it served as a reminder that he was still a working man with a job to do, workers to pay, not that he has any, and rentto take care of.

"Gin-san, what are you talking about? It's only 9am. Besides we have work." Said Shinpachi, who'd just slid the shoji door to his room open.

"Don't care. It's too early for a man to be waking up at this time. And secondly you can't have work if you don't have any in the first place." Gintoki disappeared under his covers.

"What about Tsuki Gin-chan?" Kagura innocently said, who was standing next to Shinpachi.

Gintoki quickly unwrapped himself from his cover cocoon in a panic. How could Kagura possibly know that he went to Yoshiwara? He didn't even say anything.

"How did you-"

"You didn't talk much at dinner yesterday. And you were out for the most of the day-aru. Did something happen?"

Gintoki quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat.

"No, I uh just went to Yoshiwara for a little bit. That's all."

Kagura and Shinpachi tilted theirs heads a little bit, clearly not convinced by their boss' small justification. He usually visited for jobs or out of boredom, and while that generally seemed to be the case, Gintoki's silence indicated something else.

"Are you sure Gin-san? If you hadn't told Kagura-chan what happened yesterday then something is clearly not right. You're hiding something aren't you?" Shinpachi replied.

"Hmph, it's not like it's a big secret that'll ruin the integrity of my character in front of people I know, like hiding your knock off To Lov-"

"OIIII NOT IN FRONT OF KAGURA-CHAN!" Screamed Shinpachi, whose face turned a bright peach pink.

"Can't help it when this story's been given an M rating Pachi-boy. Anything's fair game." Replied Gintoki, who was casually picking his nose.

"That's pretty shameful Pachi-boy...turns out the cherry boy straight man is the dirtiest one out of the three of us." Kagura said in a deadpan tone, clearly not impressed.

"How do you know?! You weren't even in that episode! Did Aneue tell you? Did Gin-san tell you? And besides, I'm storing it for someone, not for my own personal use, I swear!"

"Yeah yeah we hear you..." Kagura replied dismissively, also picking her nose.

"But back to the topic Gin-san, what actually happened? What was it that got you upset?"

"Oi, I never said I was upset. I just went to Yoshiwara cos I got bored and I got roped into doing some jobs for Hinowa for the next few days. That's all." Gintoki said as he finally got out of bed.

Shinpachi and Kagura both seemed taken aback. That's what's troubling Gin-san/chan? They thought. But they decided not to push it further.

As Gintoki put away his futon and went to get dressed, Kagura suddenly spoke up.

"Oh! Gin-chan! The summer festival is happening today! Are you going aru? Pachi-boy and Anego are going too!"

"Why would I wanna go and hang out there? It's not that interesting, I'd rather go to play pachinko for the night instead." He said as he zipped up his black shirt.

"Pleaseee Gin-chan! It'll be fun! And Soyo-chan will be there too!"

"Come to think of it, Otsu is performing tonight as well. I'll need to get the fanclub together." Shinpachi said.

Gintoki sighed as he put on his white yukata with blue swirl patterns and adjusted it so that his left arm was out of the sleeve.

"Fine, I'll come along. I just hope the cotton candy was better than last year. But I'll come by later, there's something I wanna do before that after work." Gintoki went to get some strawberry milk out from the fridge and pours it in a glass.

"Oh, we got work? It's about time, beats being a lazy bum neh Gin-chan?"

"Nothing special, just some old-timer who wants her cats back because her back is strained like heck so she can't do it, so we gotta do the looking for her." Gintoki casually said as he guzzled down his strawberry milk. To him it was a waste of time doing something that can be easily done by others, especially if it's chasing down some cats, but if it helps pay the rent, it helps pay the rent. At least it wouldn't take that long, since he had one more thing to do before the summer festival gets underway.

After a few hours of chasing a trio of cats around Kabuki-chou, ending with Gintoki's left arm being completely mauled, despite Shinpachi quite plainly saying it was merely a few scratches as he bandaged up his arm, the Odd Jobs trio handed the three cats back to the old lady who gave them a surprisingly decent amount of money for a task involving finding three cats. Once the payment was received, Gintoki split off to take a stroll towards a rather unlikely shop: a flower shop owned by his very kind but very scary Dakini neighbour Hedoro.

As he walked closer to his neighbour's shop he saw the big green horned Amanto with a flower on his head tending to a few flower pots. Despite his devilish appearance, he was actually a very peaceful being, but Gintoki was usually too busy being intimidated to hold a comfortable conversation. Today was no exception. He cleared his throat in an attempt to suppress his nerves and get Hedoro's attention, which he manages to do.

"Oh, good afternoon Gin-san. What brings you here today?"

"Oh hehe, hey...uh I need a little help with choosing some flowers." Gintoki nervously replied.

"Hm? You need assistance with choosing flowers? I am more than happy to help. What is the occasion for?" Hedoro curiously inquired as he finished up his business to face the silver haired samurai.

"Uh...well..." Gintoki froze as his nerves from standing in front of the scariest neighbour he'd had the honour of living next to began to kick in.

"Is something the matter Gin-san? You seem very nervous? There's no need to be worried. I can help you with your dilemma." Hedoro calmly replied as he patted Gintoki's shoulder. As terrifying as he looked, Hedoro showed an unusual amount of compassion, something unheard of considering he hailed from a warrior race that rivalled that of the Yato, a race that lived and relished in the art of war, with feelings largely discarded on the battlefield. Gintoki took a deep breath before eventually forming a coherent sentence.

"Well...there's this one woman that I know...I love her, but I don't know how to show it. So I thought to get her a flower, but I don't know what flower to get. I've never been good at this kind of thing so..."

"And you want to gift this woman a flower to show your love..."

"...Yeah. Pretty much." Gintoki nodded, his nerves gradually subsiding, fully convinced that Hedoro was willing to hear him out. The latter took a little time to find a suitable answer.

"Hmm...I'm not familiar with the concept of love, but I do know of some flowers that are commonly associated with it. I should have some in the shop, please wait here." Hedoro disappeared into his shop while Gintoki stood outside in silence. His mind wondered back to tsukuyo and went through some of the scenarios that might follow once he revealed his gift to her. All of them came out pretty negative, each one ending with Tsukuyo likely being either indifferent or still wrapped up in denial. But for some reason he felt the urge to give it a shot anyway. Even if his confession would be shot down in spectacular fashion, it would still be worth it because it came from the heart, and would definitely help release the hidden feelings he bottled up for her. His mind snapped back to reality once Hedoro called his name as he returned with two flowers in hand.

"Gin-san! Perhaps one of these two may suit your needs."

Gintoki looked at the two flowers with very little care, clearly disappointed with what he saw. One's red and the other's pink, so what? He thought. He considered saying that to Hedoro but opted against it.

"What do those two represent?" He said drearily as he ruffled his hair.

Hedoro separates the two flowers into each hand: red in his left and pink in his right, raising his left hand first. "This one represents a deep, intense, passionate love for one, but also respect and courage." He raises his other hand. "This one is similar, but is more appealing to the sensitive side of one's personality. The concept of love for this one is more flexible since the colour is not as bright as the red one, but that means it opens up more possibilities, therefore it opens up more interpretations on love. You understand?"

Gintoki gazed at Hedoro with his deadpan expression as if his mind had shut down, which prompted a small chuckle from the latter.

"To summarise, there is no right or wrong answer. The red one is for a more direct confession, but the pink one is more open to different interpretations to fit the one you desire."

Gintoki gave a small smile as he looked at the two flowers, deliberating on which one to choose. He carefully examined each flower whilst thinking about what Tsukuyo's preferences might be, as well as his own. After some deliberation, he eventually picked the pink one from Hedoro's right hand. Hedoro hummed like he was evaluating Gintoki.

"I had an inkling you would choose that."

"Whaddya mean?" Gintoki replied nonchalantly, still giving Hedoro his dead fish stare.

"There is more to you beyond that drowsy stare of yours. I don't know what it is but you emanate an aura of sadness...suffering. And you suppress it from others around you. You are more sensitive than you let on. Much like a flower that has withstood the ravages of nature and seen many of its own perish, but instead of growing untamed and raging like a wildfire, it blooms with grace and maturity. And in time, more flowers of its kind will bloom with it. And yet, it must be held in a specific way, else it will hurt the one who goes to pick it."

Gintoki stood in silence as he pondered his words. It wasn't every day an Amanto dissected his life story without even knowing it. Then again, a member of a warrior race could probably sympathise with him to some extent. The bloodshed that comes with every battle, as well as the sacrifices made by comrades to ensure they would live to see another day. It was all too familiar. Gintoki gazed intently at the pink flower before looking up at Hedoro.

"What happens to the person who picks up that flower properly?"

"I don't know. Love is like flowers. There are many types. If it is nurtured and looked after, it will bloom into something beautiful over time. But what I do know is that person picked a very special flower, and they should treasure it."

Gintoki couldn't help but let out a small smile and shake his head, amazed that his scary neighbour could say something as meaningful and thought provoking as that.

"Heh, I thought you said you didn't know much about the concept of love. You're a terrible liar."

"When you settle down on Earth, you are bound to learn a few things. Humans are such intricate creatures. They can be foolish at times, but they learn from their mistakes and show compassion for life around them, it makes me want to grow alongside them, to see where they take themselves in the future. And as I said, love is like flowers. There are many variations, but they all lead to happiness and peace." Hedoro proudly said.

Gintoki pockets the flower inside his yukata, secretly praying it wouldn't get crushed until the festival. He then takes out his wallet and prepares to give Hedoro some money. Normally he would be reluctant to do so since he was almost always skint on money, whether it was from a lack of jobs or losing it to pachinko, but this time he felt it was necessary considering that his neighbour had just helped him out, and topped it off with some engaging conversation over a subject that both struggled to understand. For once, it was free time used in a productive manner. As he took some coins out and presented them in his open hand, Hedoro simply put a hand up and shook his head.

"Wha-you're not gonna take payment? You got a shop to run dontcha? And you helped me out as well." Gintoki said, looking extremely baffled.

"When there is a friend in doubt, I don't expect anything in return when it's all said and done." Hedoro said as he gently sealed Gintoki's coin-filled hand and patted it once.

"Fine, have it your way. And uh...thanks for the help." Gintoki sighed as he dropped the coins back into his wallet, but feeling satisfied at his result. At least he can spend the money on something else. He turns and starts to walk away from the flower shop, but not before Hedoro loudly gave him some encouraging words ("Best of luck Gin-san!"), to which Gintoki merely put his hand up as a sign of good will. As he kept walking, he contemplated returning home and sleeping in until the festival started before walking past a rather distinctive shop. It sold cigarettes, but it wasn't your average cheap vendor. It sold pipes too, including ones under the Bitch brand. After a few minutes of staring at the shop's name, Gintoki made his decision.

"Ah screw it..."

A/N: This was going to be one whole chapter but I realised it would be too much to digest, so this chapter will be split into two parts. Gintoki will be hitting first base in the next part ;)

Feel free to leave a review as it will really help! :)