*Sneaks in quietly and gently places this story down before fleeing*

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*Sticks head around the corner and says softly* Hope you Enjoy

Sakata Gintoki sat, once again, staring out the window of the Yorozuya feeling bored out of his gourd and irritated as hell. Like last year and the year before that, he imagined that, on any other night, he would have thought that the city decorated up with lights for Christmas was pretty. But tonight, on stupid, bloody Christmas Eve, he hated the lights and the decorations and every other wintery thing that came with this particular holiday. He was reminded again that he lived in Kabukicho and, as with everything, they went overboard with decorating the city! The decorations were still corny as hell and everything sparkled and glittered enough to give anyone a headache. Never mind that just the other day Gin was saying this year's decorations were the best yet. It was Christmas fuckin' Eve and all the lights, and the sparkle, and the cheer only served as a reminder that Gin did not have a date tonight. For the third year in a row. Gin was still absolutely not taking Sacchan up on her offer if she appeared in his air duct. Nor would he be in catching distance of Tsukuyo if she decided to come barging in. Normally, Gin was all for consensual rope-play, but drunk Tsukuyo hoisting him above his own Christmas tree had not been a fun experience…

What pissed him off even more, though, were all the happy couples walking around without a care in the world! It was like they were intentionally mocking him for not having a date for the third year in a row! They should all just go to their love hotels and leave him alone already! Or better yet, do something good for the community and pick up trash or something instead of going on some romantic date! Charity begins with community service, after all…right?

And the worst thing about this whole damn evening, yet again, was that neither Kagura nor Shinpachi were there to commiserate with him about how annoying couples who went on dates on Christmas Eve were! Ok…so maybe it was understandable that Shinpachi went off to Otsu's annual Christmas Eve concerts, that was one of his main personality traits, after all. But, it made no sense to Gin why Kagura had gone out with that Shinsengumi sadist again this year! She didn't even like the guy (maybe…but this was the third year in a row…)! Sojiro (Danna, how many times…sigh, it's Sougo…) had come over and invited Kagura to the "Third Annual Christmas Eve fight" as he called it, and she had gone without hesitation, leaving him alone with Sadaharu again.

Just like last year and the year before that, Sadaharu hadn't stuck around for very long. The large Inugami left a few minutes later for reasons unfathomable to Gin. In depressingly familiar desperation, Gin tried again to invite Katsura out for drinks, but he'd been rejected with an, "I'm sorry Gintoki, I can't. I have plans with Ikumatsu-dono. I'm sure I'll be able to make it up to you tomorrow." Although this was a slightly different answer than he'd gotten in previous years, it didn't make Gin feel any less lonely or desperate...

But what really drove him over the edge was that Sakamoto had blown him off for the third year in a row! Feeling even more desperate after Katsura had declined his offer of getting too drunk to care about all the annoying couples, Gin reluctantly gave Sakamoto a call. Once he'd actually gotten ahold of the curly-haired idiot, Gin's offer of drinks was summarily rejected. Sakamoto's excuse was that Mutsu was dragging him to some dinner this year too because, Sakamoto's words here might not be all that accurate, "She's going for round three, Kintoki! Forcing me to take her to an even fancier place this year! Who does she think I am, a rich tycoon, Ah-ha-ha-ha! This is the third year we're doing this, though, so it seems I'm finally getting somewhere with her! Sorry Kintoki, maybe some other time."

Gin could not understand how Sakamoto managed to get that firebrand of a first mate to allow him to take her out to dinner, again! Sakamoto was hardly good company; he was an idiot and that laugh of his was really annoying. But then Gin wasn't being picky at the moment so even a laughing idiot would have been better company than Gin all by his lonesome. But, of course not, Gin's cursed luck for getting dates on Christmas Eve persisted for the third year in a row. Even Sakamoto could get a date on Christmas Even when Gin couldn't. Gin was beginning to feel a rather strong sense of déjà vu and looked up to his air duct expecting Sarutobi Ayame to jump him at any time.

After waiting for several more minutes, there was no sign of his stalker. Just to be sure, though, Gin stood on his chair to peer into the air duct. However, all Gin found was a piece of purple paper with a note written on it in Sacchan's handwriting: Gin-san, I'm sorry I can't accompany you on a date like I did last year. I would have been here, waiting for you, but I was called away on urgent business…Perhaps, I'll see you next year and we can have some more fun. I really enjoyed it when you tied me up above your tree…if only you had stayed to see me suffer…or made me suffer some more…I would have loved to feel more of your delicious pain…wait a second, that was last year's note! Why was it back in the air duct? Gin could have sworn he'd thrown that thing away last year…

Gin rolled his eyes and crumpled the note up without reading all the way to the end again. Then, for good measure, Gin stalked over to the kitchen sink and set the crumpled ball on fire so he wouldn't have the displeasure of reading again next year… So much for that. Even though Gin hadn't really wanted a repeat of last year, even Sacchan would have been better company than himself. Clearly no one else was going to be keeping him company this year, so it was back to staring out the window for him.

Just as Gin settled back into his chair in front of the window, he remembered that this was about the time that Tsukuyo had barged into the Yorozuya last year. Although he wasn't really hoping for a repeat of last year, a drunk, crazed Tsukuyo would be better than no one at all. With hope in his lonely, lonely heart, Gin sat on the edge of his seat expecting Tsukuyo to come rushing in at any second.

A minute passed…two minute passed…five minutes passed. Gin growled and sat back with a huff. Why wasn't Tsukuyo here? Why was he still alone? What sick, sadistic, evil being hated him so much that he would be alone for the third consecutive year on Christmas Eve? Just as Gin was about to question further the sanity of the author writing this story, there was a weak knock at the door.

Gin figured the knock was just wishful thinking, though, because it was such a weak and pathetic knock and there was no follow up immediately after. But just as Gin was settling into his chair again, he heard the knock again, this a fraction stronger.

Eyebrows knitting together in consternation, Gin walked over to the entrance of the Yorozuya and slid the door open. What he saw on his stoop left Gin even more confused. There seemed to be a corpse lying just outside the door. The corpse was of a man in his early thirties with messy brown hair and what looked to be the earpieces of a pair of sunglasses sticking out from the back of his head. Said was wearing a threadbare red Kimono and reminded Gin quite a bit of Hasegawa Taizo's. But Hasegawa wouldn't be here lying on Gin's stoop, after all Gin had heard that he and Hatsu were going on a date tonight (the lucky bastard).

And yet, there was no one else around, meaning that…the corpse had been the one to knock…? A shiver went up Gin's spine at that thought. He really should contact the police, lest they think Gin was the one who killed this Hasegawa look-a-like. Gin sighed deeply, great, just one more reason for him to hate Christmas…

The silver-haired idiot was about to shut the door, when the corpse lifted its head an inch or two and spoke, "Food…"

So not a corpse, then, thankfully. Hearing the voice, Gin recognized the only half-dead corpse was, indeed, Hasegawa Taizo. Wondering what had happened, Gin sighed once again, "I'm sure we have something that counts as food around here, Hasegawa-san. Let's get you inside."

Gin lifted Hasegawa onto his shoulders and made the much heavier trek back to the couch. Once there, he deposited the starved Hasegawa Taizo haphazardly onto said couch and walked over to the refrigerator. Gin groaned long-sufferingly, the only thing that was ready made was a chocolate strawberry parfait…one that he had been planning to eat later…to console himself for being dateless again…

Gin sighed, although he really didn't want to share, now didn't seem to be the time to be selfish with Hasegawa groaning pathetically on his couch. Sighing one more time, Gin took the parfait out of the fridge, got a spoon, and walked back over to the couch.

Gin tried to hand Hasegawa both the spoon and parfait, but the Madao's hands could only weakly flop close to the proffered food. Hasegawa groaned again, "Gin-san…too weak…"

Gin made a face and, for the first time that night, was glad that both Kagura and Shinpachi were out for the night as they were sure to take this the wrong way (especially after that drunken escapade that one time). Gin dipped the spoon into the Parfait, drawing out a large bit of layered chocolaty-strawberry-y goodness.

Lamenting the fact that he wasn't eating this parfait himself, he guided the spoon over to Hasegawa's open mouth. Hasegawa made a face after swallowing and said, "So sweet, Gin-san…"

"Well," Gin said, rolling his eyes, "if you had called ahead, I could have gotten some Oden for us to share. You can't expect greatness with only a minute's notice." Gin dug out another spoonful and was about to pop it into his own mouth when Hasegawa's stomach rumbled he made such a pitiful noise that gave Gin pause.

With a sigh, Gin spun the spoon around and into Hasegawa's mouth. Let the poor Madao eat something (even if it was his favorite dessert). Hasegawa took it gratefully without any more complaints about how much of a sweet-tooth Gin had. Once Hasegawa had eaten just over half of Gin's parfait, Gin said, "So, what happened? I thought you went off on a date with your wife to…rekindle your romance, you said? How'd you end up outside the Yorozuya?"

It was hard to tell with the sunglasses, but Gin could sort of see that the question had caused Hasegawa to tear up a little. Hasegawa motioned to Gin for the spoon and the parfait and quickly shoveled the rest into his mouth once Gin had handed them over. After a long silence, Hasegawa stared into the bottom of the empty parfait glass and sniffed sadly, "…Who'd want to go on a date with a sad old man like me, anyways?"

Gin scoffed, "Oh, please. You're early middle-aged at least. Sure, you're going through a rough patch right now, but you were a government official once, right? That's gotta count for something, ya know."

"Gin-san," Hasegawa said, giving Gin a reproachful look (well, as reproachful as a look could get with sunglasses blocking his eyes), "you're the one who made me lose my job in the first place…"

"Not the point, Hasegawa-san," Gin said, whisking away the spoon and empty parfait glass, depositing them in the sink to be washed later, "Right now, we don't need to be hanging around inside, feeling sorry for ourselves. What we need is to go out and get so drunk we can't see straight and complain about Christmas! I'll even get you some Oden on the way, I'm sure there's someplace still open."

Gin went to retrieve his boots and scarf. Once he was back on the couch, he noticed Hasegawa staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, "Gin-san, are you sure? You remember what happened the last time we got that drunk, right?"

Gin felt his cheeks grow hot, "Well…uh…not first-hand but…if it happens again, it's no big deal…right?"

Hasegawa broke eye contact at that, suddenly finding a spot on the wall to be very interesting. After a moment, Hasegawa finally mumbled, "You're too nice to me, Gin-san…"

Gin smiled, taking this as good sign. Hey! This meant he was getting his Christmas drinks after all! Take that Katsura and Sakamoto! See who'd be inviting you idiots out next year! Not Gin-san, that's for sure! As Gin was pulling on his shoes, he said, "Hey, if we're looking for something boozy and sweet I know this place that sells these weird purple desserts, Parfait d'something-or-other…"

Gin's musings were interrupted when he felt something land on his shoulder. He looked down to see that, in the time it took Gin to put his shoes on, Hasegawa had fallen asleep, snoring softly, and looking quite at peace there on Gin's shoulder. Well, being used as an impromptu pillow wasn't so bad. Drinks would always be there tomorrow.

Gin yawned himself, feeling suddenly tired. He eyed Hasegawa's head, it didn't look very comfortable but he was feeling too lazy to roust the poor Madao to make their way over to Gin's bed. Gin let his head rest on Hasegawa's (his ear felt a bit squished, but otherwise not too bad), and his eyes slipped slowly closed.

The next morning, Shinpachi entered the Yorozuya and smiled to see that his lazy silver-haired boss had decorated for Christmas again this year. There were lights all around the house and Gin had even put up a small tree. Shinpachi walked over to the tree and was surprised to see there only a note under the tree addressed to him and Kagura. The note read: As recycling gags seems to be pretty popular this year, I feel the need to write you a note about why I didn't get you brats any presents this year. Due to…circumstances, I wasn't able to leave the Yorozuya last night. I'm sure I'll have time to do something tomorrow, sorry. Well, I'm tired now so good night, or good morning, or good whatever time it is when you read this.

Shinpachi frowned after reading the letter and looked up at the ceiling to make sure Gin or someone else wasn't hanging above the tree again. But there was no one, and Shinpachi let out a relieved sigh. It was still puzzling, though, what sort of circumstances could have led to Gin-san not getting his coworkers presents this year.

Suddenly, a loud snore interrupted Shinpachi's thoughts. He turned around to see Gin-san and Hasegawa-san sleeping on the couch comfortably together. Hasegawa-san's head was leaning against Gin-san's left shoulder, sunglasses slightly askew, and there was a thin line of drool running from Hasegawa-san's mouth to an ever widening pool on Gin's Kimono.

Gin, in turn, was resting his head on top of Hasegawa-san's head and there was a similar string of drool going from Gin-san's mouth into Hasegawa-san's hair. Grossness of all the drool aside, Shinpachi thought it nice that Gin-san's Christmas Eve seemed to have gone calmly this year. A year where Shinpachi didn't have to disentangle anyone from a rope display above the Christmas tree was a good year to him.

Shinpachi had always thought there was something going on between Gin-san and Hasegawa-san. There was that incident when Gin had gotten so drunk that he, Kagura, and many of their friends had to pull an elaborate prank on the silver-haired idiot to get him to stop drinking…it worked for, maybe, a minute, though, as very soon after, Gin-san had gone on a huge drinking binge after Gin had learned that he and Hasegawa had in fact slept together. It was nothing to be embarrassed about, though, maybe they even did it sober this time. Shinpachi shook his head, why was he thinking about his boss' sex life? He wasn't, and the previous thought was shoved into the deep corner of his mind labeled, 'stuff to unpack never'.

Shinpachi stood up and left the Yorozuya as quietly as he could. No need to wake the sleeping couple, they must have had a rough night…Shinpachi closed the door, turned around, and saw Kagura leaning against the scowling.

"Oh, Kagura-chan, I didn't see you there." Shinpachi said, wincing at the look on her face, "Is something wrong?"

Kagura clicked her tongue in response and glared at the door as if she could burn a hole into it, "Gin-chan could do so much better than that Madao, uh-huh!"

Shinpachi shrugged, that was probably true, but…be that as it may, it looked like Gin-san had finally gotten the Christmas Eve date he had always wanted.

And that is the end of that, I hope you guys enjoyed it! Maybe the next one won't take 5 or 6 years to write...

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Stay safe, wear your masks, and I hope you have a good day!