The First Fight Is A Milestone, Even If You Forget What You Were Fighting About

Three days. That was how long the fight and the ensuing silent treatment had lasted for. Three whole days. Three days in which Tsukuyo and Gintoki didn't say a single word to each other. Each night, he spent down in Otose's bar, drinking all night and then he stumbled up the stairs and collapsed into his bed.

While he spent his time sulking, she spent her time in Yoshiwara in a confused state of agitation. She and Gintoki had small disagreements before, and they certainly yelled enough but never to the point of actually ignoring and staying away from each other for so long. Without having to say a word about what had happened, Hinowa had gently encouraged her, every day, to return to Edo if only under a pretext of having forgotten something.

On the morning of the third day, Tsukuyo relented and found him sitting in the bar, talking to Shinpachi and Kagura and nursing a glass of strawberry milk.

"Ah, Tsukuyo-san, good morning," Shinpachi turned as he saw her. His expression was an odd mix of relief and desperation.

"Tsukki!" Kagura exclaimed. "Gin-chan's sulking. Make him stop. It's not funny anymore. He's boring when he's sulking, uh-huh," she said, running over to Tsukuyo to grab her hand and pull her into the bar.

He looked just about as miserable and as irritable as she'd been feeling the last few days. But both of them were as stubborn as each other.

"I think I...left some of my kanzashi 'ere...I can't find 'em," she said and it sounded like a pathetic excuse even to her, but at least no one questioned it.

"Right," Gintoki said, sounding sceptical. "Well, the ones you didn't throw at me are still in the bedroom," he muttered.

"I didn't throw 'em at ya," she muttered back.

"What? You got selective memory now, huh?"

"...Okay...maybe I did throw one...or two..."

"One or two, she says," he scoffed. "Ya broke one of them," he added after a moment.

"Eh?"

"The gold one. It broke when it hit the wall," Gintoki said.

"...The one with the moons on it? Not that one?" she asked, horrified.

"Yuuuuuup," he drawled.

"Oh," she sighed. It was, in fact her favourite one. Gintoki had bought it for her when she'd taken him out for their first date, or he'd taken her out, whichever.

"Relax already, I got it fixed," he shrugged, after glancing at her despondent expression.

"...Ya did?" Tsukuyo asked, stunned.

"Course I did."

"Why?"

"Oi, I paid good money for that thing...actual money. Besides, it's a weapon, remember, and you're meant to be a walking armoury," he said and reached into his sleeve. His hand emerged holding the elaborate golden kanzshi with crescent moons and beads on it. "I can't afford to get fixed again anytime soon though, so if you're just gonna throw it at me, I'm keeping it," he said, holding it out to her.

"I won't throw it," she whispered and took it from his hand then slid it back into her hair. "Thanks..." she said, with a small smile.

After three days, whatever was left of her anger and his, seemed to have faded away as anger usually did and just left them feeling tired. "Thanks for fixin' it," she repeated and he shrugged.

"Geez," Otose rolled her eyes at them. "You're both as bad as each other," she sighed and set down another glass on the bar for Tsukuyo. She snatched up the bottle of strawberry milk and poured some into the glass. "Here," she gestured for the blonde to sit down. "What were you even arguing about?" Otose asked as Tsukuyo slowly sat down.

Both Gintoki and Tsukuyo blinked and tried to recall what exactly had started their fight.

"Err..." he furrowed his brow.

"Well..." Tsukuyo pursed her lip.

"...You can't even remember, can you?" the old woman sighed.

"Of course I can remember!" Gintoki yelled at her, "It's just it's none of your business!"

"Oi, you made it my business when you keep drinking downstairs and putting off my customers, you stupid perm head. Just being in the same room as you every night is making them depressed! Don't come in here again tonight! You're banned!"

"You can't do that!" he exclaimed.

"Just did!" Otose glared at him and puffed out a breath of smoke from her ever present cigarette. "Geez, you're both hopeless. You've both forgotten what you were fighting about," she rolled her eyes. "You should go on one of those stupid talk shows," she muttered.

"...Do they pay well?" he asked, seriously.

"We ain't doin' that!" Tsukuyo exclaimed.

"I'm just saying, if the pay is good, then..."

"Ain't happenin'," she crossed her arms.

"Che," he scoffed. "Anyway, you stupid granny. I know what we were fighting about!" he said.

"What?" she asked, skeptically.

"I'm pretty sure it was 'cause...she spent too long in the bathroom..." he said to Tsukuyo.

"That was ya! Not me!" she yelled, "That's such a stupid reason! And it wasn't even about that!"

"It wasn't?" Gintoki muttered.

"No! It was about ya not taking out the trash. Again!"

"Wait...I did take out the trash..."

"...Ya did?"

"Oh, I remember! We were arguing about JUMP! I read a page ahead of you and you totally flipped!"

"It wasn't that," she shook her head, "I'm pretty sure we sorted that."

"Oh yeah, you hit me over the head with JUMP and then read the other page...then...Oh, wait, you wanted ramen for dinner the other day and I fell asleep so it was late...right?"

"How petty d'ya think I am?" she snorted, "Ya were tired, I ain't gonna argue 'bout that. Wasn't it...ya forgot to set the alarm so I was late going back to Yoshiwara..."

"You're in charge of the Hyakka, who are you gonna get in trouble with if you're late? You didn't seem all that mad about it," he replied. "I got it! I used one of your kunai for slicing an onion! You kept complaining that it stank. That's what we were arguing about!" he said, clicking his fingers. "Err...I mean...oops...sorry. It was sharp and I couldn't find the knife..." he trailed off.

"It still stinks," she rolled her eyes, "But I don't think that was it."

"Then...what else could it've been?" he scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Oi...seriously...what were we arguing about?" he frowned.

"...Can't remember..." she mumbled after a moments' thought.

"SERIOUSLY?" he exclaimed.

"Ya can't remember either!" Tsukuyo yelled back.

"Oi...when did we forget? How did we forget?!"

"Dunno..." she muttered. "Maybe it was all those stupid little reasons, I dunno," Tsukuyo said.

"That's how it usually goes," Otose nodded, sagely. "Lots of little reasons turn into one big argument," she said.

"So...does this mean we've been ignoring each other for three days for no reason?" Gintoki said, incredulously.

"...Guess so," Tsukuyo muttered, embarrassed.

"Stupid..." he grumbled and hit his head down onto the bar, his forehead hitting it with a bang. "Stupid..." he repeated and bashed his head against the bar again.

"If you break the bar, you're paying for it," Otose remarked as he hit his head against the bar for a third time.

"Shut it, I'm busy," he muttered back.

"Told you, you should've just called Tsukki...stupid Gin-chan," Kagura said.

"I was gonna!"

"Nu-huh, you chickened out."

"I did not! The phone just...died..." he grumbled, his forehead still resting on the bar.

"You kinda did chicken out, Gin-san," Shinpachi stated while Kagura make chicken noises.

"I didn't chicken out!" he insisted, again, "It's just...there was a power cut!"

"I thought ya said the phone died," Tsukuyo raised an eyebrow.

"It did...with the power cut," Gintoki grumbled.

"Uh-huh," she hummed. "We had a power cut, too," she muttered after a moment.

"Oi, get your own excuse!" he grumbled. "Three days...so...f****** stupid..." he knocked his head against the bar again. "That's three whole days we missed out on s** for no reason!" he exclaimed.

"THAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" Tsukuyo blushed.

"Of course, that's my problem!" he replied, raising his head from the bar. "Three days is a looooooooong time!" he insisted.

"IDIOT!"

"Oi, don't start again!" Otose sighed, exasperated.

"Gaaaah," Gintoki grumbled. "Shut it. Just bring me some sake and go away, granny."

"You still haven't paid me for everything you drank last night," she scoffed, "Or the night before that."

"I'll get around it," he said, dismissively.

"Like hell you will," Otose rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm tired of you moping around in my bar every night. Just apologise to your girlfriend already," she said looking at Gintoki and then she turned to Tsukuyo. "And you apologise to that idiot and we can all go back to normal," she said.

"Oi, what'd you think you are? A counsellor? I'm not paying you for that c***** advice. And why do we have to apologise if we can't remember what we were fighting about?" Gintoki drawled.

"Seems kinda...pointless," Tsukuyo agreed.

"That's right! It's all fine now, right?" he asked, "You're not mad anymore, are you?"

"No," she answered.

"There see!" he said smugly to Otose. "All back to normal," he said and then he pulled Tsukuyo to sit on his lap.

"Waaaa!" she exclaimed as he pulled her from the stool she was sitting on without a word of warning.

"Idiots," Otose threw her hand up in the air and walked away from them, "Complete idiots the both of you. You deserve each other," she grumbled.

"So...I guess that was our first fight, huh? Does it still count if we can't remember why it started?" he mused while she settled on his lap.

"Why ya pulling me round like a rag doll," she grumbled. "Anyway, we've had fights b'fore," she said.

"Yeah, but not where you've gone away for three days."

"Hmmm...guess it was, then."

"Y'know the best part about having a fight?" he said with a smile.

"What?"

"What'd you mean 'what'? How can you not know?!" he exclaimed, "It's the whole point of having a fight!"

"I thought we 'ad a fight 'cause of lots of stupid little reasons..."

"Well, yeah," Gintoki shrugged. "But I mean the make up s** after the fight!" he explained.

"Oh..." she flushed.

"Aaaaaand I don't wanna know! I'm going to the dojo!" Shinpachi exclaimed and practically ran out of the building, dragging Kagura along with him. "I'm really glad you're not fighting anymore, Gin-san, Tsukuyo-san," he called over his shoulder.

"Waaaiiiit!" Kagura yelled.

"No, we're leaving!" they heard Shinpachi shout.

"What's with him?" Gintoki blinked.

"Ya just like embarrassin' him, don't ya?" Tsukuyo saidmaftee the young samurai had left.

"It's not my fault he's such a cherry boy."

"He's just a kid!"

"He's almost seventeen! And you know as well as I do, that he's been spending way too much time in the bathroom lately. I'm surprised he doesn't come out with a broken arm, actually."

"W...w...what'd ya...I mean...how'd ya know he was..." she muttered.

"What? I was his age once too, y'know?" Gintoki shrugged.

"I don't think he's got such a one track mind as ya do."

"I'm telling you, that's what he's been doing in there," he insisted.

"I doubt it."

"He hid porn in there. What else would he be doing?"

"He hid a...he actually..."

"Yup. And he still thinks I don't know anything about it," Gintoki chuckled.

"Huh..." Tsukuyo blinked.

"Still don't believe me, do you?"

"Dunno," she shrugged, "But whatever he's doin', it's none of our business."

"Let me have my fun, honey," Gintoki drawled. "And speaking of fun..." he trailed off as he took her hand and they both made their way out of the bar and up the stairs, both grinning.

"Idiots," Otose lamented as she watched them leave, "Both idiots...AND MAKE SURE YOU KEEP IT DOWN, YOU HEAR ME?!" she yelled.

"I don't believe they heard you, Otose-sama," Tama declared.

"No, I don't think so either," she agreed with a smile.