Silver Moon – Book 1 Chapter 5

Right now, are we…on a date?

Gintoki's mind was racing, freaking out at the question Tsukuyo had just asked him. It had been so unexpected, so out of the blue. He wanted a minute to think of a proper response without letting Tsukuyo know what he was thinking. He was trying to keep his outward appearance normal, but unfortunately beads of sweat were starting to form on his face.

Why would she ask that? he wondered. She doesn't really think that we're on a date right now, does she? Why the hell would she think that? I had not intended for tonight to be a date between us. Is that how she's perceiving it?

He looked over at Tsukuyo to see that she was staring at the ground, apparently too embarrassed to look at Gintoki after asking her question. I have to be careful about this situation he thought. Even though we're really not on a date right now, I can't just tell her we're not. She'll think I was toying with her emotions and I'll end up with a kunai in my head.

He took a second to try and calm down. I better take it slowly. I'll dodge the question for now and ask her why she thinks we're on a date right now. I might be able to gently convince her that we're not on a date depending on what she says.

Gintoki looked at Tsukuyo and tried to keep cool as he asked his question. "Why do you think that?" he asked her.

Tsukuyo looked up from the ground and stared at Gintoki. "Well…" she began, "first you came and picked me up at my house. After that we went to a diner where you bought me a sundae. Then you asked if we'd take a walk through the park. And now, we're sitting alone together in the park…"

Gintoki just stared at her in silence as even more beads of sweat began forming on his face. It sounds exactly like a date! he screamed in his head. Shit! I didn't intend for us to be on a date! I honestly just wanted a treat! A sundae or a parfait! I didn't want to go on a date with Tsukuyo! But now I've gone and done it. She has every reason to think that this is a date right now. What am I supposed to tell her? 'I didn't really want to spend time with you, I just wanted a free dessert'? She would kill me for sure!

As all of this was going through Gintoki's head, Tsukuyo just continued staring at him, making him feel really nervous.

Shit! She's expecting me to say something, but what? I have no answer for her. The truth is that we're not on a date, but I can't just say that. Maybe I should lie? He thought about that idea for a moment before dismissing it. No, I can't tell her that this was an actual date. I wasn't even thinking about her tonight, I was just trying to please myself. Nobody deserves that on an actual date.

Gintoki continued to struggle to find an answer that would make Tsukuyo content and leave him alive. However, no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't do it. In the end, he couldn't think of anything to say to Tsukuyo. They just sat in silence until Tsukuyo slowly figured out the truth.

Tsukuyo looked down at the ground. "It's not a date, is it?" she asked him gently. "You just wanted a free dessert, right?"

Gintoki didn't know what to say. Tsukuyo had figured out the truth all on her own. His silence confirmed it. Well, here it comes he thought while flinching. He was preparing for dozens of kunai to begin tearing him into pieces.

However, to Gintoki's surprise, Tsukuyo didn't begin killing him. Instead, she just continued looking at the ground and sighed. "So that's how it was," she said. For some reason, Tsukuyo was somewhat let down to hear the truth. She was feeling stupid for even thinking that they had been on a date in the first place. "I guess I should have known."

Gintoki just looked at her in shock. She's not angry? he wondered. No, it's something else. She seems kind of…disappointed. Gintoki was starting to feel bad. He felt like he was responsible for making her believe that they were on a date.

Tsukuyo decided that she was done spending time with Gintoki for the night. "I'm going to go home now," she said dismally. She slowly got up and started to walk away from the park bench.

Gintoki just couldn't stand to see her leave in such a state. "Hold on," he said, getting up off the bench to follow her. "Why do you sound so disappointed?" he asked, still wondering why she didn't seem angry.

Tsukuyo stopped and answered without looking at him. "I guess…I was kind of entertained by the thought of us being on a date together."

Gintoki was confused at what she was saying. "You were? Why?" he asked.

Tsukuyo clenched her fists, but still wouldn't face Gintoki. "You really can't think of a reason why I would enjoy being on a date with you?" she asked him without emotion.

"Um…no?" Gintoki answered in confusion. He still didn't really know what she was trying to say. He was more confused than ever; he just wanted her to tell him why she seemed so hurt. "Why would you want to go out with me?" he asked.

Tsukuyo turned around to face him and answered without thinking. "Because I like you, you idiot!" she shouted.

"You…you do?" asked Gintoki, a little surprised to hear this. He had never heard her say anything like this before. He thought back about it for a second. There had been times when he had wondered if Tsukuyo might have had feelings for him, but he had never heard her voice them out loud like she was now.

Tsukuyo was a little surprised at what she had said too. Under normal circumstances, she would never have revealed her feelings to Gintoki, but right now she was too upset to care. In fact, she seemed to be getting angry, which made Gintoki worried.

Tsukuyo continued to yell at him without relent. "Of course I like you! I've always liked you! I don't know why I have feelings for a selfish bastard like you, but I do! Can't you tell that you idiot!?"

Gintoki wanted to get a word in to try and defend himself from Tsukuyo's attack, but she wouldn't stop. She just kept on yelling at him out of frustration.

"I thought that maybe you actually had asked me out on a date! I thought that maybe you had feelings for me too! I thought that I meant more to you than a freaking sundae!" she finished screaming.

Now Gintoki was starting to be annoyed by her accusations. "That's not true!" he shouted back, trying to get her to calm down and listen.

Tsukuyo, however, was still too upset to listen to anything Gintoki had to say. "Yeah right!" she shouted back. "An asshole like you doesn't care about me! Admit it, you just want me to buy you free desserts!"

Gintoki was starting to get seriously frustrated with Tsukuyo. He shouted back at her, "Did you ever think that maybe I didn't just want a sundae? That maybe I also wanted to spend time with you?"

Tsukuyo replied before Gintoki could get another word in. "Why the hell would you want to do that!?" she screamed.

"MAYBE ITS BECAUSE I LIKE YOU TOO!" Gintoki yelled at the top of his lungs.

The both of them immediately went silent upon hearing this. They were both shocked at what had just come out of Gintoki's mouth.

Tsukuyo looked at him and started blushing. "Gintoki, you…you like me?" she asked him slowly.

Gintoki was unable to answer. He was still surprised to hear what he had just said. Did I really just say that out loud? he thought. I wasn't even thinking when I said it; it just came out naturally.

Tsukuyo just continued to stare at him, waiting for his reply. She could tell that he had surprised himself with his own comment. "Do you…really mean that, Gintoki?" she asked him gently.

Gintoki just continued standing there thinking. Is it true? Do I really like her? He thought about it for a moment before finally replying. In the end, the words just came to him. "It's true, Tsukuyo. I like you," he said sincerely. "I don't know why, but I like spending time with you. I like it when you're angry. I like it when you smile. I just like being around you. I think that you're a beautiful woman with a clean soul."

Tsukuyo just stood silent and blushed as Gintoki continued talking. Hearing all of these complements from Gintoki was making her feel weird. She felt strangely happy, but she also felt embarrassed at the same time.

Gintoki paused for a moment before finishing. "It's strange, but I'm happy when I'm with you. And if everything I just said is true, than yes, I think I like you."

Tsukuyo just looked at Gintoki, trying to take everything in. "I…I never knew…" she said. "I never knew that you felt that way about me, Gintoki."

Gintoki looked away, apparently a little embarrassed at everything he had just said. "Neither did I until just now actually," he told her somewhat jokingly.

A brief moment of silence fell between the two as they continued standing there. It was a short while before Tsukuyo spoke up. "So, now that our feelings are out in the open, what are we supposed to do?" she asked Gintoki.

Gintoki looked back at Tsukuyo and sighed to himself. He felt like he had the right answer to her question. "It would seem we are both plagued by these troublesome feelings," he told her. "I don't think we will get anywhere by ignoring them or by dealing with them alone. I think we need to confront them and see where it goes."

He paused for a moment before getting to the point. "In other words, I'm willing to take responsibility for my feelings if you are," he said with a smile. "Tsukuyo, would you like to go out with me?" he asked sincerely.

Tsukuyo couldn't help but stare in shock. She couldn't believe that he had actually just asked her out on a date. She knew it wasn't a mistake like it had been before. This time, Tsukuyo knew Gintoki was serious. She thought for a second about how she should answer him, but it seemed that she already knew the answer that would make her happiest.

Tsukuyo was a little scared to give Gintoki her answer, but she wasn't worried, not after hearing him confess his feelings for her. Tsukuyo returned Gintoki's smile with her own. "Yes, I think I would like that very much," she answered.

Gintoki looked happy to hear her answer. He felt relieved that she hadn't turned him down, despite how upset she had seemed earlier. "Well then," he said, "I guess that we're officially a couple."

"Yeah…" said Tsukuyo, hardly able to believe it. She was feeling happy, excited, and nervous all at the same time. She had just entered into her first relationship, and it was with the person she had feelings for the most. "So, what's next?" she asked, looking up at Gintoki.

"Next time, I promise I will take you on a real date. It won't be something like this," he said, indicating the time they had spent together that night. "My intentions will be clear," he told her.

Tsukuyo softly giggled at what he was saying. She found it funny that he wanted to make up for tonight. He must feel really bad about misleading me she thought.

Gintoki noticed her quietly laughing at him and felt embarrassed. "What's so funny?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

Tsukuyo continued to snicker at him; she couldn't help herself. "Nothing," she said, "it's just funny watching you feel bad about tonight."

Gintoki was getting upset now. "Look, if you're not going to take this seriously-"

"Calm down," said Tsukuyo with a slight frown. "I'm sorry for teasing you. I figured it would be okay since we're in a relationship now."

"Don't even try to make me feel bad for you again," said Gintoki, still agitated. "Listen, I feel bad about tonight, so I want to make it up to you by taking you on a real date. Will you accept that offer?" he asked, hoping he could just get an answer.

Tsukuyo decided to stop messing with Gintoki so he would calm down. "Nothing would make me happier," she finally answered him. "Just make sure it's for real this time, and no games!"

Gintoki smiled when he heard her answer. "You got it. We'll go on a real date next time," he assured her.

"I will hold you to that, then," said Tsukuyo.

Gintoki smiled once again before looking up at the sky. "It's a promise," he said.

A short while later, they were both riding on Gintoki's scooter back to Tsukuyo's house. They had both agreed that they should probably go home for the night. Once they had arrived at their destination, Tsukuyo dismounted and removed the helmet from her head. She handed it back to Gintoki, still thinking about the events that had taken place earlier.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later then," said Tsukuyo.

"Right," said Gintoki with a smile. "Listen, I'll call you up once I have plans for our date," he told her.

"Alright, I'll be waiting," she said.

Gintoki gave her one final smile before he rode off down the street. Tsukuyo watched him until he was out of sight. Once he was gone, she entered the house.

Tsukuyo walked into the living room to find Hinowa sitting there relaxing. "Oh, Tsukuyo, you're home," said Hinowa, greeting Tsukuyo with a smile. "Welcome back. How was the date with Gin-san?" she teased her.

Tsukuyo seemed to ignore her question and just walked across the living room towards the hallway. However, at the doorway, she stopped and looked back at Hinowa with a smile. "It definitely wasn't a date," she told her. She then turned back around and went into the hallway.

Tsukuyo made her way up to her room and closed the door behind her. She walked quietly over to the window and leaned out of it so she could see the night sky. The sun had just finished setting and the moon was slowly rising into the sky.

Tsukuyo smiled at the view, thinking about the fact that she now had a silver-haired boyfriend.

Author: Hello everyone! I would like to introduce our first new guest to this segment, Tsukuyo!

Tsukuyo: Um…hello.

Author: Due to overwhelming demand from the readers, Tsukuyo was chosen to join us in this Author-Character conversation. Let's all make her feel welcome!

Tsukuyo: Um, excuse me? I wasn't requested for this segment by "overwhelming demand". I didn't even get one vote.

Author: What are you talking about? Dozens of people voted for you to be in this segment.

Tsukuyo: No they didn't. In fact, nobody voted at all.

Author: They don't need to know that…

Tsukuyo: I thought that they already knew. After all, nobody cares about this segment anyway.

Author: Tsukuyo, don't you remember that talk we had before this segment? Remember how I told you to only speak positively about the story?

Tsukuyo: Yes, but I can't help it. This story sucks.

Author: Not you too!

Tsukuyo: I mean, honestly, this has to be one of the worst stories I've ever read. No wonder nobody likes it.

Author: Grrr I'll have you know that all of the reviews for this story have been 100% positive. There has yet to be a single negative review!

Tsukuyo: That's because the majority of the readers stop reading without even finishing the first chapter. They don't even care enough to leave a review for this piece of crap.

Author: …I'm tempted to call you a b*tch but I feel like you would kill me.

Tsukuyo: Um, why did you censor the word 'bitch'? It's not like you haven't used it uncensored in the story before. Remember, you made Gintoki call me one? (-Still angry about that).

Author: Oh, well you see, it makes me look like a better person to the reader. I don't want them to think I'm some jerk that curses all the time. I want them to think of me as a saint that would never call a lady something so vulgar!

Tsukuyo: If you want to talk about how much of an ass you are, I could tell the readers all about your personal life.

Author: …Give it up for Tsukuyo everybody! Give her a big round of applause because she's never going to be featured in this segment again!

Tsukuyo: Wait, wha-

Author: As always, feel free to leave a review and look forward to the next chapter!