"Gin-San, the least you could do is sweep!" Shinpachi shouted across the kitchen, through the open door and to the man lazily draped across the couch with the newest JUMP suspended over his face.
Sighing far louder than necessary, Gintoki threw his legs over the couch. He pushed himself up and walked towards Shinpachi, then veered off to the left, stopping in front of the window air conditioning unit that had seemed to manifest from nowhere overnight.
"Huh, that AC is so broken it's starting to sound like a voice from the netherworld is using it to communicate."
"A voice from the netherworld!? Don't try to ignore me! And where did it come from?! Why did you buy a broken AC?!"
"Huh, I think I hear it too." The door to Kagura's closet slid open, and she eased onto the ground to join Gintoki's side.
"Both of you!?" The boy snapped back, and Kagura turned towards him.
"Gin-chan, I think the spirits have broken through. There's a floating pair of glasses in the kitchen."
"Don't look at them directly. That's how they steal your soul. The repair truck is coming; that'll close the portal."
As Shinpachi gaped at the two they walked past the door, but Gintoki murmured to Kagura.
"Dogs shouldn't be left in hot cars."
"Oh- Sadaharu!"
"Where are you going?!" Shinpachi leaned out of the kitchen as Kagura skipped by and slid the door to the backroom open. Sadaharu, the white oversized dog, bounded out, ready to go and stampeded through the house and out the front door; paying Shinpachi as little mind as the rest of the household. Kagura spun around to face Shinpachi and jabbed a finger around herself, hopping between her feet, then held one up at him.
"When we get back, we're gonna banish you back to the netherworld, fiend!"
"Oi!" The girl turned on her heel and grinned back, holding one eye down, then stuck her tongue out. "Oi!" Shinpachi called again, rushing to the kitchen door. They were really leaving him. Because they didn't want to clean. He should have known the moment that he started they would all have excuses, or in their case, completely made up delusions and avoidance mechanisms to weasel out of helping him. They really were cruel.
"Two ghosts to banish!" Kagura shouted from the doorway, and Shinpachi glared towards the entrance hall. He darted out of the kitchen, and to the hallway, shouting.
"This is all your damn fault!" He slid into the hallway, expecting to see the red headed Yato girl, or Gintoki grinning and sliding the door closed. Instead, Kinu froze, still in the middle of taking her shoe off, and peered at him. Her mouth formed a small O of surprise, but she didn't move. Likewise, Shinpachi sank back and went rigid.
"I- Inoue-san."
Tilting her head, the girl stepped over the genkan, shoes finally off, and stood there. Waiting for him to say something. When he didn't, she shifted, then decided to make a move. Something. Anything was better than just standing there. She walked towards him, picking up pace, and eventually the girl was moving at such startling speed Shinpachi toppled back to avoid her.
"Why are you running!?" He yelled, but Kinu was far gone, beyond him, and somewhere in the house. Scrambling up, Shinpachi turned to face the open living room. She was nowhere to be seen. What was going on?! Usually people ran away from things. This girl had just charged him and forced her way into the house, then dissolved into thin air. He would have invited her in!
Footsteps echoed across the room to the left and Shinpachi walked over to it, listening. He snatched the door open, and was greeted with an empty room and glimmering hardwood floors. Was this…? The secret technique? How had she swept and mopped already? Gaping at the room, Shinpachi stepped into it, and the girl was hanging out of Gintoki's closet, throwing a pile of clothes behind herself. He started to speak, but his eyes drifted to her form, bent over the shelf and any words he could have possibly formed died before even reaching his throat.
They were alone.
Completely, and utterly alone, and she was wearing something weird. A white button up and black skirt that he was sure she only wore to her college classes.
The girl eased out of the closet, and turned back to him, tossing another yukata behind herself.
"Uh- I- I was just- I'll do another thing in… another room..." Rubbing the back of his head, Shinpachi averted his gaze. He stood there, and she stared at him. Really stared. Like soul stealing, empty eye voids digging deep into the dusty corners of his insides. She knew he looked at her butt. "I'm sorry!" He shouted the words and ran for the door.
Confused, Kinu barely turned and eyed the place the boy had stood. Maybe she was doing it wrong. He didn't seem interested in her in the slightest. That magazine she'd skimmed through earlier said that men loved butts, and Shinpachi hadn't even looked at hers. She grasped it, turning to try to look at it and see if it was nice, but her neck wasn't quite long enough to reach. She thought it was an okay butt. With the boy long gone, Kinu too Gintoki's pile of laundry and threw it into the hamper to wash.
When she carried it to the living room, Shinpachi was hyper focused on washing dishes. Manic, even. He didn't turn as she entered the kitchen and took an apron from beside him. Or when she tied her hair back. So she pulled her sleeves up, and grabbed a container of washing powder as she suppressed a sigh. Maybe she needed to take a hint. They were alone, and he wouldn't even try to make small talk.
"Inoue-san…" The boy's voice sparked hope in her and she turned back more quickly than intended. Excited to hear anything he'd say to her and ready to cling to it and read too far into his words. "Your arm."
Frowning, she peered at her forearms and caught sight of a dark splotch running across her left arm. That's all. He had nothing to say, he only wanted to point out that she had been injured. She knew already, he was a few days too late.
"Did..? Are you okay? At home?" This was not what she wanted. How could he ruin a perfectly good afternoon together alone like that? She didn't want to think about that, or try to come up with something to say. She expected a pleasing stuttery conversation from him, not an interrogation. When she turned away from the boy he followed.
"Don't do that." Murmuring under her breath, Kinu threw the washing powder into the hamper of Gintoki's clothes. She hoisted it up, and walked away, leaving Shinpachi to stare after her. He wondered if it was what he'd thought, or if it was from the night the Shinsengumi had gone into her shop. Wondered if Gintoki knew. That man was always so observant about things like that, he couldn't imagine Gintoki not knowing if something was going on.
She would tell them. He was sure that she would have told them if something was wrong. Shinpachi thought that Kinu was comfortable enough around them. She knew they wouldn't judge her, and that they would believe her if she needed help. Hell, she was there to do a thankless job and she knew it. Cleaning on a Sunday morning. That implied that she was close enough to talk to them, right?
He turned back to his task then, and continued with the dishes. Together, the two tackled separate rooms and maintained enough distance to take conversation off the table. When they were mostly finished, they were dripping with sweat, and still silent. Kinu walked to the air conditioner, and lowered herself enough to look through the grates. He eased to the kitchen behind her, watching as she pried the grill and control panel off, then unplugged it.
"This isn't broken." She muttered to herself, mostly ignoring Shinpachi's presence. He hadn't spoken to her the entire time she'd been there. Hadn't entered the same room, hadn't looked at her, she might as well have been invisible. But more importantly, it was a relief. Kinu had wanted the boy to talk to her before, or to just be there, and acknowledge her, but after spending a few hours like this, she realized that she didn't actually feel anything. Maybe something was wrong with her. She wasn't sure. After his questions she'd hardened towards him, and withdrawn.
She'd wanted him to see her, not bruises, or a battered woman or whatever he thought she was. His overly sorrowful expression had been enough to close her off though. If he entertained her, it would be out of pity and nothing more. Not some foolish teenage dream romance like those comics Gintoki slipped her.
"What?" Shinpachi asked, watching as the girl ran her nails over the edges of the machine.
"It's not broken." Kinu repeated, reaching into the grime filled cavern and tugging at something he couldn't see.
"Gin-san just got it, and it hasn't worked at all."
"It's still spitting out air, just not cold?" The girl turned to the sink and grabbed a rag as Shinpachi nodded. She didn't ask any more questions. Instead she started to wipe the inside of the air conditioner off, and fiddle with something in the back. Shinpachi tried to watch, but the angle blocked him from what she was doing. As Kinu pulled her arm from the machine, she wiped a black line of dirt from her skin, and ran her rag over the machine again before reattaching the front of the unit, and plugging it back in. Shinpachi stood beside her as she turned it on, and lukewarm air washed over them.
Then, by some miracle, the air turned cold. As if it had never malfunctioned in the first place.
"Kinu-san, that's amazing!" When the girl turned to him, unusually focused and frowning, he realized what he said. Lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck. But she walked past him without a word. He turned after the girl, and watched as she gave the room a once over and removed her borrowed apron. She let down her hair, then walked down the entryway. "Hey- wait a second-" He caught the girl seated at the genkan, pulling her shoes on. Despite him speaking, Kinu didn't slow. She pulled the door open, and Shinpachi stopped at the top of the step, clawing at the kerchief over his hair and the apron wrapped around him. "I- I can walk you-"
"No, it's fine." Pausing in the doorway, Kinu kept her grip on the handle firm as she peered back at the boy. "I'll be going now." If he thought using her given name was a step of progress he was mistaken. The girl shut the door between them, without waiting for a response, and carefully walked down the stairs.
If he still came, that was a sign. That meant that he liked her. Wanted to help her, and spend more time with her. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she looked back up at the closed door. Even waited five seconds. He didn't come.