"Shinsuke, I heard you went on a date with Katsura-san." Bansai looks to me as I take a drag from my cigarette.

I feel my eyebrows furrow and my eye twitch at the teal-haired man's sudden conversation starter. How could he have found out? I calmly set aside my cigarette, "And who told you this?"

"Gintoki." Bansai drinks from his glass, the ice clinks when he places it back on the counter of the bar.

That damn Gintoki! I'm going to pay him back for this… "Ohh…"

"Shinsuke," Bansai begins again, "He won't get it unless you tell him straight out."

I grunt at the earphone wearing man before simply ignoring him, intaking a breath from my cigarette.

I know that already...

Bam!

"Little sis!~" I kick the door opposing me open and walk into the house. "Onii-chan came to play~" From the entrance, I look around the house, that's when I spot a pair of glasses floating in the air. Wow! Floating glasses! How strange! I call out to it with a wave, "Hey glasses! Have you seen my annoying little sister!"

I hear a low murmur, "Geh! Kamui-san!" come from the glasses before it speaks clearly. "If you're looking for Kagura-chan, she went to Gin-san's!"

Oh? She went to that silver perm's house? "Oh, okay." I then exit the house, waving to the floating spectacles. "Bye bye, Spectacles!~"

I hum a small tune as I skip to my next destination. I can go visit Shinsuke too~

"PLEASE ZURA, TAKA-CHIN! HIDE ME!" I grab ahold of the two men sitting on the couch after the ninja had unlocked the door for me to enter.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!" The long haired man responds instinctively. "And what do you mean by that, Leader? Hide you from what?"

Takasugi's hand made its way to my head and begins to push me away from him. "Who are you calling Taka-chin?"

This causes me to look up and face him solely before letting go of Zura and only holding onto the purple haired man. Tears were streaming down my cheek, "PLEASE TAKA-CHINKO!"

"Again! Who is that?! Who the hell is Taka-chinko?! Wasn't it Taka-chin?!" Takasugi presses his hand harder on my forehead, trying to pry me off.

I hang on tighter, digging my hands into Takasugi's back. "PUREASE! PUREASE! THAT IDIOT OLDER BROTHER WILL BE HEAR ANY MINUTE NOW!" I plead.

This comment causes the eyepatched man to flinch. He lets out a low whisper, "Idiot older brother… you don't mean—!"

Ding Dong.

I don't turn away, instead, I dig into Takasugi's shirt. I could feel him stiffen and Zura get off the couch.

Ding Dong.

Zura begins to make his way to the front door.

Ding Dong.

The doorbell intimidates the room.

Dingdongdingdongdingdongdingdongdingdong—

Zura opens the door. "Ahh! Who may you be?"

The voice from the door sent chills down my spine, making me dig into Takasugi more to try to hide from the owner of that voice. "I'm just an older brother looking for my little sister? I heard that she was here, may I come in?"

How did I get myself into this mess?

I glare at the scene in front of me.

"UNO!" Zura announces with a shout as he slams a card into the discard pile, leaving him with only one card in hand.

Two vermillion haired brats sat around the coffee table with that long-haired idiot. The girl, Kagura, has four cards in hand, while her older brother, Kamui, has seven cards. I watch them lazily from the couch as they play their eighth game of Uno.

What idiots.

I blow out smoke from my drag as I lean back into the black couch. I let my eyes narrow in on him as I watch the group play their overdramatic style of Uno.

His skin is still a smooth pearly pale, and his raven hair has grown longer but is still silky. Beautiful… I feel tempted to let my fingers comb through those soft locks. His hair has grown longer again.

"He won't get it unless you tell him straight out."

"Hey, Zura-san," Kamui's voice breaks my thoughts. I eye the squint eye boy with caution. "Did you enjoy your date last week?"

"It's not Zura-san, it's Katsura!" Zura slams down his last card. He then tilts his head in bewilderment. "And what do you mean by 'date'? I have not done anything of that sort!"

Kamui reveals his ocean blue eyes in curiosity, letting them slide to the side to meet my own eye. We hold our staring contest for a minute before he turns back to Zura. "Oh~ You don't remember? I mean the date you had with Shinsuke!"

I feel my eyebrow twitch.

"Huh? Takasugi and me?!" Katsura blinks his beautiful chestnut eyes. "No—no! That was a gathering of friends! Right, Takasugi?" He turns to me asking for my approval.

I feel my eyebrow twitch as I strain a nod. Kamui covers his mouth with his hand and trembles, trying to cover up his laughter. I feel a vein pop out.

"Ahh! But Gin-san said that you two were on a date!" Kamui gasps innocently.

Katsura gives the vermillion haired boy a bewildered look. "Gintoki did?"

"What! Zura and Taka-chin were on a date!" The energetic little sister joins into the conversation. Sh nudges Katsura with her elbow. "Oh~ Not bad Zura, you can actually get laid huh?"

"Wah! Leader!" Katsura tries to dissuade the girl. "It isn't like that at all—"

The girl ignores him and bombards the long haired man with questions. "So? How was your first date like? How did the kiss feel? Are you sure you like him? Did Taka-chinko do anything to you?! Who is on top?"

"Ahh! If you are wondering who is on top, Sougo, Gin-san, and I discussed this the other day!" Kamui inputs. "Sougo said Shinsuke would be on the top because he is a sadist! But, I still want to imagine that Shinsuke is a bottom because it would be more fun!~"

"Ohh!" Kagura nods, "I see, Taka-chinko could go either way—especially with his height and emo look." She turns to Katsura, "What do you think Zura?" she then mumbles, "By the way who is 'Sougo'?"

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!" Katsura jumps up to retort before sitting down and acting like he is thinking. "Hmm… well, Taka-chinko has 'chinko' in his name so most likely top…" he then mumbles, "Sougo is Okita-kun."

I can feel my vein about to explode in anger and frustration. That's it, I can't take these fools any longer. I stand up abruptly, causing all heads in the room to turn to me. "Oi! All of you shut up! And Zura!" I point to Katsura who jumps slightly. "Don't you realize they are talking about you? And who said you could call me 'Taka-chinko'?!"

"Aww~ Isn't Taka-chin such a dear? He is such a tsundere!~" Kagura slurs in a Gintoki way.

Kamui just continues to grin, "That's right Zura-san! Shinsuke is just a tsundere so don't let him hurt your feelings!"

"It's not Zura-san, it's Katsu—Oww!" Katsura's face twists as he flinches.

I quickly walk over to Zura, causing the man to tilt his head up at me. I lunge for his face, grabbing his chin with my right hand and tilting his face down. The two brats watch us intently, but I ignore their confused gazes and focus all my attention on Katsura.

With my one good eye, I stare into Katsura's chestnut eyes. "Open your mouth," I command.

"Huh?—!" Katsura parts his mouth to answer which gives me time to attack.

Bansai's words ring through my mind. "Instead of waiting for him, you should take action, Shinsuke."

Take action…

I let myself get sucked into his beautiful eyes as I lean forward. I could feel his breath on my own face. Then I freeze to take in the wonderful sight: Katsura's expression of bewilderment. The temptation to steal a kiss is evident in my mind.

I gulp.

"Takasugi…?" I can feel him breathe out my name, his breath warm against my skin.

Then I did it.

I stuck my thumb in his open mouth, pinched his cheeks to keep his lips parted.

"Stick out your tongue, Zura." I deadpan in all seriousness.

Zura does just that as he retorts, "It'chu not Tzura! It'chu Katchura!"

I use my hand to tilt his head down slightly so I could get a better view of the inside of his mouth.

"Hmmm…" I stop pinching his poor cheek, "It looks like you are bleeding, Zura. You should go wash it out with hydrogen peroxide and get a cold compress for it." I let go of his chin and get up to walk back to the couch and sit down.

"Ah—Ahh… I'll do that." Katsura gets up and makes his way to the kitchen.

Once Katsura had left the room, the vermillion haired siblings plop themselves next to me on the couch. Kagura gives me a sly fox expression, "So~ Taka-chin~ has the hots for Zura~" she sings. I find myself becoming irritated once again as I ignore the girl.

Next one to tease is Kamui. "Wow! It's just like Gin-san said!" I catch him stealing a glance at me, "Shinsuke really is gay for Zura-san."

Ignore them… and kill Gintoki later.

"Gin-chan said that?" the little sister asks her older brother.

"Mmhm!" Kamui nods. "He also said that it has been one-sided love since Shinsuke was a hormonal preteen in junior high!"

I take that back. I won't kill Gintoki—I'll be sure to set him up with Hijikata's mayonnaise.

"Oh, I see…" Kagura takes in the knowledge. She then pats my shoulder as if she is trying to comfort me. "Poor Taka-chinko… it must be hard on you to try to get your love through to that egg-headed idiot."

I can't help but glare at the two nuisances, as they throw their pity at me. But, no words make it into my mouth, and in the end I sigh. I turn away from the two siblings who keep a lively conversation on the side of me, discussing about how they could get through to Katsura and about my height and emo-look.

Katsura emerges from the kitchen, a smile across his face. The two siblings run up to him for the refreshments in his hands.

I let my eye wander over the slim long-haired man's figure.

Yeah…

Poor me.