Summary of the Love Potion Arc.

Basically, a love potion is let loose in Yoshiwara and everyone is affected, including Tsukuyo and Gintoki. It's all masterminded by a woman called Hotaru who was Tsukuyo's friend when they were kids in Yoshiwara. She's turned sour and sad after being stuck in Yoshiwara as a courtesan for long as she left behind her lost love. He visited her in Yoshiwara for years and swore to study hard and become a great carpenter and swore to come back for her when he could support them both. But he didn't. When she was finally able to leave after Hosen was defeated, she found him but he was laughing with another woman so Hotaru assumed the worst and went back to Yoshiwara. She finds the love incense and lets it loose on the city after she forgets what real love is. Gintoki and Tsukuyo are affected by the incense and it's adorable how she tries to hide her crush on him. He starts calling her honey, along with like every other woman, lol and she calls him darling, it's so damn cute.

At the end, Hotaru plans to jump off a roof to kill herself. But of course, Gintoki and Tsukuyo save her and the Love Potion wears off. Hotaru is 'banished' from the city and finds out that her lost love turned down a marriage proposal from an important woman and focused on his work to the point where he became injured and couldn't walk anymore. He felt he couldn't support himself or her so he spent his days waiting at the Yoshiwara gates where they finally meet up again.

There's a brilliant scene at the end with Gintoki and Tsukuyo standing on the balcony while she's smoking. She says that as long as she can stand by his side and blow smoke in his face every once and a while, then she'll be happy. If that scene wasn't some kind of admission of their feelings, then I dunno what is. Well, it's as much as we'll get from Gintama anyway, it's not really that kind of a show is it?

Chapter 1: The Way to a Man's Heart is Through His Stomach.

Sitting in a cafe in Yoshiwara opposite Tsukuyo, Gintoki was wolfing down a huge cake covered in icing, chocolate and strawberries and this was his second cake so far. After Tsukuyo had told him that it was her treat, he vowed to eat until he could eat no more.

"Don't ya think, maybe ya should stop now?" she asked. She was still eating the same small slice of cake she'd been given when they first ordered.

"Nope," he replied.

"Pig," she said. Within a minute, he was almost finished with the cake and she sighed. "I heard somethin' interestin' when I went to visit Hotaru on the surface," she said.

He didn't stop eating the huge slice of cake in front of him, but he did raise and eyebrow and mutter a quiet "Hmmm?" at her.

"Apparently, you've been helpin' her darling start a carpentry business," Tsukuyo said.

"No idea what you're talking 'bout," he replied, licking the last of the icing from his spoon. "Ah...that was amazing. Best cake ever! Even better than the first one. Oi, chef, chef-dono? Another cake over here!"

"Another one?" the woman blanched from across the counter.

"Oi, you even listenin' to me?" Tsukuyo snapped.

"Something about a carpet? You don't have carpets, do you? You do? Did I ruin your carpet? Sorry. Was it Kagura? Or Sadaharu? Just when you think the mutt is house trained..."

"Carpentry, not carpet, idiot!"

"You want Sadaharu to fix some carpentry for you? Well, that might be difficult, he's got no thumbs, y'know," he mused. He held up his hand and wiggled his thumbs as he stared at them thoughtfully.

"What're ya talkin' 'bout, stupid moron?! I was talking about Hotaru and her husband!"

"Hotaru? Don't know any Hotaru."

"You're doin' this on purpose, aren't you?! Ya really pissin' me off! You want a kunai in the head, bastard!"

"Oh...Hotaru...right...now I remember...she's the circus performer, right?" he snapped his fingers.

"WHAT?!" Tsukuyo exclaimed, standing up angrily while everyone else in the cafe stared at them.

"Oi, Oi, you're making a scene, Tsukki," he muttered to her.

"Circus?! What're ya talking 'bout, stupid bastard?! I mean the Hotaru who set that love incense all over Yoshiwara! My friend, Hotaru! Is ya memory really that bad? Go to a hospital, bastard! Ya need a new brain!"

"Aaand that's her favourite episode of 'My Secret Yoshiwara Romance' show," Gintoki declared loudly, telling everyone who was staring at them. "She big a big fan, y'know, has posters thiiiiis big all over the place, nah, honey?" he asked her.

"Eehhhhhhh?" she blushed.

"See, but she gets so embarrassed, poor thing, so keep it quiet, yeah? Thanks everyone," he laughed and sat back down.

"Who ya callin' honey?" she ground out, angrily, "And what's 'My Secret Yoshiwara Romance', anyway?"

"Dunno," he shrugged.

"Ya the one who said it!"

"Sit down, tayuu, eat your cake, it's good. If you don't want it, I'll eat it. You don't want it right? I'll eat it for you. Women are always on a diet, right? I'll help you," he said, rushing across the table to steal the half eaten slice of cake.

"Oi, touch that cake and I'll kill ya," she threatened and his eye twitched nervously at her dark aura.

"...Right," he mumbled, sheepishly. "I just needed a guy to fix the back wall," he admitted after a moment.

"Huh?" Tsukuyo blinked

"Kagura kicked the whole wall down in her sleep the other week. She was having a nightmare about cockroaches taking over the world. Sheesh, she's a yato for crying out loud and she terrified of little bugs. Anyway, that guy was cheap, he practically worked for nothing. Shinpachi had to help him move around the place 'cause he can't walk, but he did such a good job, pretty soon everyone wanted a piece of the guy. Feels kinda like I got used," he lamented, "Well, I barely paid him anything and now he's charging people ten times what he charged me, so I guess I got lucky."

"Since when do you pay people for work?"

"Well, I was behind on reading JUMP that week so I didn't have time to fix the wall. I was just gonna put a bag over that whole side of the building..."

"Where would ya get a bag that big?!"

"No one'd notice..."

"Idiot! Everyone'd notice!"

"But the old hag kept nagging me so I got him to do it for me while I read JUMP," Gintoki replied, sounding disinterested.

"Hmmm," she scoffed, "I see. Hotaru told me he's doin' so well he plannin' to build them a house. She's working in a flower shop in Kabukicho, 'pparently says ya know the owner, too."

"Dunno," he shrugged again.

"She seems...happy, for the first time since I met her."

Gintoki gave a small smile and rested his chin on his hand, resting his elbow on the table and he stared out the window. "Sounds nice," he remarked, "Those two."

"Hmmm," she repeated. "Thanks," she muttered.

"Told you, didn't do anything," he said but she smiled back at him.

"I know," she said.

"Aaaahhhh," Gintoki breathed, stretching his arms up as they left the shop. "I love cake. Did I ever say how much I love cake? And this place! I'm gonna come here every day!"

"You'll eat them outta business," Tsukuyo replied, "Anyway, how did ya even eat three whole cakes?"

"I could've eaten three more if you hadn't dragged me out," he retorted.

"They're closing!"

"It's only one in the afternoon," he complained.

"Ya ate all the cake! They have to close to make more, idiot!"

"That's the highest form of compliment. Who knew Yoshiwara had a cake place this good?" he mused. "Thanks for the free food, Tsukki," he said and started to walk off, "Ja na," he called over his shoulder.

"Oi...where ya goin'?" she said, blushing a little.

"Back home, I guess," he shrugged, "Got no work on though. Probably just take a nap."

"Ya could...stay here...maybe...for a while," she muttered. "I...have to...p...patrol for a while...but ya could come with me...there's still jerks who take advantage of the women 'ere..."

"Sounds like work to me," Gintoki sighed, "I was planning on having a day off, y'know."

"Fine, if that's what ya want, go home and sleep!" she said, still blushing and storming off.

"Oi," he sighed. He gently turned and grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "Quit yelling at me. Why're you getting so worked up, anyway?" he grumbled.

"...Y...ya..." Tsukuyo stammered, staring at his hand still holding her wrist.

"I should probably walk off that cake anyway, I'll get indigestion if I fall asleep after all that," he told her. "I'll stay. I'll help you patrol if that's what you're doing," he said and then released her wrist. "Kagura and Shinpachi are back at your place with Seita and Hinowa, so it's not like I have to be anywhere today. Lead the way."

They quickly met up with other women of the Hyakka and began a contest of leaping from the rooftops until they saw a brawl staring out one of the bars.

"I'll deal with that," Tsukuyo declared and leapt off the building.

"She's not meant to be working today," Ayami told him as they watched Tsukuyo deal with the drunk men easily.

"Hmmm?" Gintoki turned to Ayami and Sakura who nodded.

"Hinowa-sama told her to take some time off since she's been working so hard lately. But she always works so hard," Sakura sighed. "And we told her that we'd be fine for a few days...she never listens when we tell her that. But...she might listen to you," she suggested with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Oi, oi, what with that look? And what'd y'mean she'd listen to me? Are you crazy? You've been plotting with Hinowa, haven't you? Is that any way to treat the saviour of Yoshiwara?" Gintoki mumbled at them, "You women, you're always scheming and teaming up against me."

"Don't know what you mean, Gintoki-sama," she replied, innocently and he scoffed.

"Her last scheme turned tayuu into a crazy, drunk terminator, y'know. I could've died. Forget Hosen, Tsukki in drunk, murder mode is waaaaay scarier," he said, shuddering.

"Well, at least we learned not to give okashira any sake," Ayami said, sagely.

"Okashira cares about you, Gintoki-sama," Sakura declared and he blushed.

"Oi, you can't just blurt something like that out right in the middle of the street," he snapped.

"We're on the roof," another of the women replied, dryly. She pulled down her black face covering, revealing the large scar across her right cheek and her chin. Her name was Ayano.

"Same thing," he shrugged and she sighed.

"My point is," she continued. "Okashira didn't ask you here to say 'thank you' for helping Hotaru, y'know."

"What is this, a verbal attack?" Gintoki grumbled, "If she hears you, she's gonna come after me, not you."

"We want okashira to be happy," Ayami said.

"Then buy her some chocolates or that stinky tobacco she likes. What's it got to do with me?"

"She's trying to take you out on a date," Sakura told him, bluntly.

"Eh...EEEEHHHHHH?" he yelled, "What kind of crazy woman thinks 'work' means a 'date'? Buy her a dictionary already! Have her look it up! Tell her what a 'date' is, I'm begging you!"

"That's your issue?" Ayami said, stunned for a moment, then she laughed.

"Oi, stop laughing at me! I'm your saviour, y'know!"

"Hai, hai," they said together and chuckled at him.

"You know what she's like, Gintoki-sama," Ayano smiled. "We saw you coming outta the cafe. She's not the type to go to cafe's, y'know. She'd never say the word 'date', but what else could it be?"

"But..."

"And she asked you to stay, right?" Ayano said, eagerly.

"Not that kind of 'stay'!" he exclaimed, embarrassed.

"Well...she could be working up to that. But you could just go home if you wanted to," Sakura shrugged, "No one's making you stay. But okashira will be sorry to see you go."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same person here?" Gintoki asked them.

"The same okashira that's left Yoshiwara to help you on more than one occasion, despite the fact that she has no interest in in protecting anything other than what's in this town," Ayano remarked.

"And the same okashira that blushes like a school girl when you're around. She doesn't get embarrassed like that with anyone else," Sakura said, "Ever."

"It was cute...watching her when we all got affected by that love incense," Ayami snorted, inelegantly. "She's fallen head over heels for you, Gintoki-sama," she said.

"That was the incense, idiot," he snapped. "This is what I get for helping out women in the night business, huh? My own stupid fault, I guess," he said and they just smiled at him. "Argh, I've had enough of this, I'm goin' home!" he declared.

"Or...you could stay and keep okashira company," Ayami suggested.

"Oi, oi, when did you guys get so bold?" Gintoki stared at the three of them. He scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Ah, what a pain...fine...fine," he mumbled and they grinned happily at him.

"Oi," Tsukuyo called up to them. She leapt up onto the roof again and stood beside them. "What are ya all doing, gossipin' about up 'ere? We got work to do," she said and the women saluted.

"Hai, okashira," they chimed and leapt across the roof to the next one.

"They seem pretty eager," Gintoki remarked.

"They should be," she replied.

"Hey...they can probably handle anything else, right?"

"W...what'd ya mean?"

"Y'ever played hooky?" he asked.

"O...of course not! I'm the leader of the Hyakka!" she snapped, "I don't have time to..."

"Well, shinigami tayuu, we're taking the day off," Gintoki declared and grabbed her hand. "Oi," he called over to the three Hyakka woman on the next roof, "We'll leave the rest to you, work hard, beat up the bad guys for us!" he yelled and leapt down off the roof, pulling a blushing Tsukuyo with him.

"Have fun okashira, Gintoki-sama!' the women yelled back and waved happily at them.

"Let me go!" Tsukuyo screamed.