Chapter 3 : Abrupt Visit

The sun had risen high on the sky and marked a new day in the city.

The courtesan of death, protector of Yoshiwara by the name of Tsukuyo was strolling around the streets on her daily routine; guarding the women, catching dirty geezers, usual stuffs. The weather was friendly enough to let her walk for a long time.

"Okashira!" a member of Hyakka approached her.

"Is there any problem?" assuming any kind of danger, Tsukuyo put on a wary face.

"No, I'm just delivering a message to you from Hinowa-sama"

Hinowa used to gave her messages of trivial things, so she never worried that much.

"What is it about?"

"She told you to finish work early tonight and leave the rest to us"

"Wait, why?"

"She said that you'll have something to do for the night"

"You should spare me the details"

"I can't give you the specifics, but I can tell that it'll be a private matter"

"Okay... I'll leave tonight for you then," the Hyakka member nodded and went back to her job.

Tsukuyo spent the rest of her day by continuing her patrol while she was thinking about the meaning of the matter. She wanted to ask Hinowa directly about it, but she decided to follow her words and wait until the evening when her supposed shift would end.

The day was quite unusual...

Evening eventually came and she took her time to went back to the house where she belongs. Hinowa rarely ask her to get back early unless there's a big event outside and she'll need some people to keep company. But Tsukuyo couldn't remember anything special that day, so she would just get the info later. She entered the tea shop where her small family live and found Hinowa who was waiting for her.

"Ah, you really get back early, Tsukuyo," Hinowa smiled gently to the said person.

"Care to explain what is this about?"

"Relax, there's nothing dangerous coming. Although I can say that you'll have a hard time tonight"

"Just get to the point, Hinowa"

"I have asked the Hyakka to take your job for a while because an important person wanted to meet you. He should be here any minute now"

"I don't like where this is going," Tsukuyo dreaded.

"Come on, don't be like that. There he is!" she waved her hand to a direction behind Tsukuyo's, welcoming someone.

The curtain at the front of the shop flapped, revealing the man who was supposed to meet her. She was strucked to her senses when she realized the identity of the familiar man who stood before her eyes.

"Am I late?" his raspy voice filled her ear drums.

"Of course not! You're right on time," Hinowa replied with such joy written on her face.

"W-Why are you here?" Tsukuyo stuttered a bit.

"To meet you of course," his crimson eyes glanced at her solemnly.

"Sorry for not telling you beforehand, Tsukuyo. But I know you'll avoid seeing him if you noticed earlier," Hinowa explained.

"I don't understand...," Tsukuyo was disoriented by the current event.

"I'll explain later. We should go now," the man suddenly pulled Tsukuyo's arm and guided her to walk outside. She wailed quite loudly to the man but he kept on dragging her to the street.

"Have fun tonight!" Hinowa shouted to both of them and waved her hand although nobody really saw it.

...

2 days earlier, at the festival, Kabuki-cho

Hinowa breathed deeply, swallowing the fresh air that roamed around the open area. It was a great afternoon for her to chill and forget everything in life. Seita seemed to be enjoying the festival so much and Tsukuyo...

...Well, where is she?

She scanned the surroundings until her eyes caught something near the river. It was Tsukuyo, but the thing that caught Hinowa's attention the most was Gintoki who sat beside him. Who would've thought that the two was finally able to sit together and had a conversation, not about mission, not about anything dangerous, just about themselves. Hinowa knew about Tsukuyo's feeling towards him, and she always hoped that Tsukuyo could tell it someday, if only that's possible. She was a great warrior and excelled at combat, but when it came to love, she couldn't do anything. Not long after, Seita came to her and probably asking her to accompany him at the festival. Tsukuyo stood up and left the place after excusing herself to Gin.

That was short...

Hinowa couldn't stop being curious about the whole situation, so maybe she would get some answers from the man who was sitting near the river alone. She approached him from behind and found out that he was spacing out in his own thoughts. She tried to call him back to the real world, "Gin-san!" and he was startled when he noticed her presence.

"What do you want?" he was seemingly annoyed.

"I only want to know what you two were talking about," she started asking the question.

"None of your business," he quickly replied.

"Come on, it won't hurt for you to tell me"

"Argh, you're such a pushover! Can't you see I'm being stressed right now?"

"Is it about her?" she put on an investigating grin on her face.

"Yeah, she had thrown me into this situation right now," he scratched his not iching hair.

"It'll be better if you tell me. Maybe I could help you for this matter"

He sighed and tried to think of the best way to start the story.

"So first off, she suddenly asked me if she looked good for someone, and then the next minute she confessed to me," he explained briefly.

"Really? she said that?" Hinowa delightly gasped from hearing it.

"Yes... but she didn't let me answer because she thought I'll be better with someone else... now it's complicated, I don't want to make the situation worse but I can't leave it like that either. I'm confused now thanks to that damned woman!" he scratched his head again.

"Well, what's your answer then, Gin-san?" Hinowa tried to ask the most vital point.

Just silence from him, a long one.

"...I don't know. I never thought about it... it's kinda hard to explain," Gintoki frowned when answering her.

"Gin-san...," she spoke gently, "...I may not know your answer, but I promise it'll be better if you talk to her about this one day. I'll leave the decision to you but you can ask me if you need any help," Hinowa concluded.

"Maybe that's what I need, a help"

"What is it?"

Gintoki paused for a moment before continuing, "Can you make her go out ...with me? I swear I'll handle it if she got mad"

Hinowa's face glowed up and gave an agreeing look, "Of course! When?"

To Be Continued