Silver Moon – Book 2 Chapter 5

Gintoki and Tsukuyo were now left alone within the samurai's bedroom. It seemed like the two of them were still trying to wake themselves up even after all of the excitement that had recently taken place.

"Did you have a good sleep last night?" asked Gintoki, looking towards Tsukuyo.

"Yeah, for the most part," she replied. She then paused for a moment, staring back at him. "What about you?" she asked.

"Huh?" said Gintoki, scratching the back of his head.

"Did you sleep well?" she repeated.

"Oh…uh, yeah, it was good…" he replied, suddenly turning away from the courtesan.

Tsukuyo simply continued to stare at Gintoki as she thought back on what she had witnessed in the middle of the night.

He's lying…

It was true; Gintoki had not slept well, and Tsukuyo had noticed it. At some point in the night, it was clear that he had been having some kind of nightmare. Tsukuyo soon started to think about bringing the topic of the nightmare up to him, but quickly stopped herself.

No, I shouldn't bring it up she thought. It's clear that for whatever reason, he's trying to hide the truth from me and doesn't want to talk about it. Plus, I did make a promise last night that I would be patient and wait to talk with him about his past. I'm not going to ask him about it until he's ready. So for now, I guess I should just drop it.

"Hey, Tsukuyo," said Gintoki, suddenly turning to face her.

"Huh? Oh, what?" asked Tsukuyo, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Do you have to be anywhere anytime soon?" he asked.

Tsukuyo took a second to think about it. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

"Do you care to stay for breakfast?" he asked with a small grin.

Tsukuyo simply smiled in return before answering. "Sure, that sounds great," she replied.

Gintoki gave her another smile before making his way to the door. "Good," he said.

A little while later, Tsukuyo and Kagura were sitting next to each other on one of the couches in the living room. On the couch across from them sat Gintoki. All three of them were currently chowing down on a bowl of cereal they held in their hands.

"So," said Kagura, trying to start some conversation, "how did you end up here last night, Tsukky?"

"Oh, I'm actually not sure," said Tsukuyo, still trying to remember. "I was actually planning on asking you about that, Gintoki."

Gintoki stopped eating for a moment as he looked towards Tsukuyo. "You sure about that?" he asked. "I don't think you're going to like the answer."

Tsukuyo gave him a slight look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Don't you remember?" asked Gintoki. "You went pretty crazy last night."

"What are you talking about?" asked Tsukuyo, still confused.

Gintoki just continued to look at her before giving a sigh. "Come on, you really don't remember anything?"

Tsukuyo paused and tried to think back to the last thing she recalled from the night before. "Let's see," she said. "I know we met up and went to that club together. I also remember Kami-sama showing up and we spent some time with him…"

"And then?" asked Gintoki, trying to help jog her memory.

"I remember I left to get us some drinks…"

"And after that?"

"Um," said Tsukuyo, trying to think back. "I'm not really sure. Everything after that point is just a blur."

Gintoki just gave a small laugh before looking Tsukuyo in the eye. "Figures you don't remember," he said, "because after that point you were completely drunk."

"What?" asked Tsukuyo, surprised at the news. "I was…drunk?"

"Yeah, I guess you must have had a little drink or something because you were going crazy in seconds."

"Wait, seriously?" asked Tsukuyo, hardly believing what Gintoki was telling her.

"Yeah, you were shouting and swinging a bottle around. Everyone around you was scared for their life. A lot of stuff was broken too."

"Ugh, I don't believe it," said Tsukuyo putting a hand to her head out of embarrassment. "Please tell me you're joking."

"I'm sorry to say it's true," said Gintoki.

"Wait a minute," said Tsukuyo, suddenly realizing something. "D-did Kami-sama see any of this?" she asked nervously.

Gintoki gave her a small smile of sympathy as he nodded his head up and down.

Tsukuyo immediately started to blush before burying her face in her hands. It was obvious that she was ashamed of herself. "How could this have happened?" she whined.

"That's what I wanted to ask you about," said Gintoki, suddenly looking serious. "You should know better than to drink that stuff. You know what it does to you."

"It's true, Tsukky," Kagura chimed in. "I've seen you like that before, it's not pretty."

Tsukuyo lifted her head up and looked at the two of them. "I don't know what happened," she said. "I don't normally do something stupid like that. It must have happened by accident or something…"

Gintoki continued to look at her before giving a sigh. He just couldn't stay upset with her when she looked like that. "Well, you do look like you feel pretty bad about the whole thing, so I'm not going to bother scolding you any longer."

"I'm sorry," she said.

"Aw, don't worry about it," said Gintoki, trying to make her feel better. "It wasn't that big of a deal. Even Kami seemed to understand."

"Really?" said Tsukuyo, starting to cheer up a little bit. "Oh, good. I was kind of worried about what he would think."

"Don't be. He seems like a pretty considerate guy; he won't hold it against you."

"Yeah, I think you're right," she agreed. She then paused for a moment before realizing that her original question had yet to be answered. "So then, how did I end up here?"

"Well, I ended up chasing you around the city for a while before you finally passed out. I was going to carry you home but I remembered about that stupid meeting at your house. I figured I couldn't interrupt it so I just carried you here instead."

"Wow," said Tsukuyo, looking at the samurai with admiration. "You really carried me all the way here just because of that meeting?"

Gintoki looked away as he started eating his cereal again. "Well, you said it was important so I just figured…"

Tsukuyo just watched him eat as a big smile came to her face. "That was incredibly nice of you, Gintoki. Thank you."

Gintoki just shrugged. "It was no big deal, really…"

"Still, thank you," she said sincerely.

Gintoki looked at Tsukuyo for a moment before thinking back on how upset he had been when he was carrying her home. For some reason, none of that seemed to matter to him now. In his mind, seeing her smile and hearing her thanks had made all of his hard work worth it.

"Sure, anything for you," he said sweetly.

Tsukuyo then stared back at him with a warm smile. It was clear that she was pleased with the man. Gintoki also looked rather pleased himself.

Kagura, on the other hand, simply stared at Gintoki with a weird look. "Man, you're acting strange again, Gin-chan," she told him.

"Huh?" said Gintoki, turning to face the girl. "What are you talking about?"

"It's weird," she said. "When you're around Tsukky, you act differently. You actually act like a likeable person. It almost seems like you're trying to behave yourself or something."

As he listened, Gintoki started to become agitated with what the young girl was saying. "What do you mean? I don't act differently."

"Yeah, you get all soft and start acting like a pudding cup."

"Pudding cup? What kind of comparison is that, huh? How the hell do I act like a food? You don't even know what you're talking about!"

"You know what?" asked Kagura, starting to smile as she teased the samurai. "I think you're acting all soft because you're in love…"

Gintoki started lightly blushing as he grit his teeth. "So what if I am?" he asked, starting to sound angry.

Kagura soon started laughing. "Man, I used to think you were a total badass, but I guess you've just turned into a soft little lover's boy."

"Grrr," growled Gintoki, suddenly standing up. "Listen you, I-"

"Gintoki," said Tsukuyo, calling his attention.

Gintoki immediately stopped and turned towards his girlfriend. She was lightly smiling at the situation in front of her. It actually almost seemed like she was trying to hold back laughter.

"Calm down," she told him. "Kagura is only teasing you."

Gintoki tried to listen to her, but he was still too upset. "But she-"

"I know," said Tsukuyo calmly. "We all know that none of what she's saying is true. She's only trying to make you mad and you're easily falling for it. So please just calm down before you make a fool out of yourself."

Gintoki continued looking at Tsukuyo before taking a deep breath. He soon calmed himself down and had his body under control. "You're right," he said. "It's obvious she wants me to play her little game, but I should just ignore her. I don't really care what she has to say anyway."

The room was then silent for a moment before Kagura gave a small snort. "Heh, lover's boy," she said with a grin.

"ALRIGHT THAT'S IT!" Gintoki screamed as he once again gave in to his rage. He immediately jumped towards Kagura as she started running away. "COME HERE YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Kagura just laughed as she ran around the room with Gintoki chasing after her. She was clearly happy that she had successfully been able to piss him off. For some reason, she found it to be fun.

Tsukuyo, however, could only give a sigh as she went back to eating her cereal. It's true that Kagura is kind of a kid, but Gintoki isn't really that far off himself. Unbelievable.

Laughing and shouting could be heard throughout the room as Gintoki continued to chase down Kagura. After a short while, Tsukuyo was suddenly able to pick up a faint sound amidst the chaos. It was the sound of someone knocking on the front door.

Tsukuyo glanced at the other two before quietly standing up. She then gave another sigh as she walked towards the door. I guess I'll have to answer it.

Once she arrived at the door, she immediately opened it to be greeted by two smiling faces. On the left stood the boy with glasses, Shinpachi. On the right stood the hopeless madao, Hasegawa.

"Oh, good morning, Shinpachi, Hasegawa," said Tsukuyo.

"Tsukuyo-san?" asked Shinpachi out of surprise. It was obvious that he had not been expecting to see her there.

Hasegawa also looked at the courtesan with surprise. "Tsukuyo?" he said. "Wow, I didn't know that you and Gin-san were living together."

Tsukuyo quickly gave the man a frown and a scowl. "We're not," she said rather abruptly.

"Oh, r-really?" stuttered Hasegawa, suddenly feeling intimidated by the woman. "I didn't know, I-I mean…"

Tsukuyo started to realize that she had unintentionally scared the man with her answer. She soon found herself feeling bad for him. "Um, I'm sorry," she said, "this morning has been kind of stressful."

"What are you doing here?" asked Shinpachi in a polite tone.

"It's kind of a long story. Why don't you guys come on in?" said Tsukuyo, stepping out of the way.

"Right, thanks," said the two men in unison. They quietly walked into the hall as Tsukuyo closed the door behind them.

"So," said Tsukuyo, "I figured that Shinpachi was probably on his way here, but it's a nice surprise seeing you, Hasegawa. To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Ah," said the madao, giving a big smile. "I happened to run into a bit of luck and I now have some great news to share with you all."

"It's true," Shinpachi added, also smiling. "I ran into Hasegawa-san on the way here and he told me all about it. I invited him to come over here and tell everyone else the good news."

"I see," said Tsukuyo, looking pleasantly surprised. "Gintoki and Kagura are in the main room. Let's go join them so you can tell us all about your good luck, Hasegawa."

"Right," he said, nervously rubbing the back of his neck.

The three of them then made their way down the hall. Upon arriving at the main room, they all paused for a moment in order to take in the situation they found in front of them.

Oh shit thought Tsukuyo.

Gintoki and Kagura were locked in a tight embrace on the floor. They were both trying their best to grab at each other while at the same time fending each other off. It almost looked like the two of them were in the middle of a wrestling match. They both seemed really upset with each other.

Tsukuyo simply stared down at them with a hand on her forehead. That's right she thought. I completely forgot about these two. I should have settled this before I invited anyone in. Oh well, too late now.

Shinpachi and Hasegawa just stared in silence at the two of them. They weren't quite sure what to say about the situation.

Gintoki suddenly reached out and managed to grab Kagura by the chin. "Stop calling me a lover's boy!" he demanded.

In response, Kagura stuck her tongue out at him.

"Why you-"

"Alright, that's enough you two!" Tsukuyo shouted as she walked over and separated them. "Can't you see that someone is here to see you?"

"Huh?" said the both of them in unison. They looked up to find the two new arrivals standing right in front of them.

"Oh," said Kagura, "it's just Shinpachi and Madao."

The two men just continued staring, as they still weren't quite sure what was going on. "Um, is this a bad time?" asked Hasegawa with a confused look.

"No, don't worry about it," said Gintoki, standing up and brushing himself off. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, right," said Hasegawa, suddenly remembering with a smile. "Shinpachi invited me over because I have some good news to share with you all."

"Really? What is it?" asked Gintoki, looking interested. Tsukuyo and Kagura also seemed curious about what the man had to say.

"Go on, Hasegawa-san," said Shinpachi with a reassuring smile.

"I can't believe I'm saying this," said Hasegawa, nervously looking at the floor, "but I finally landed a nice job!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces revealed expressions of shock. They had not been expecting this piece of news.

"Wait, seriously?" said Gintoki, looking skeptical. "You mean somebody actually hired you?"

"I know, right? I can hardly believe it either!" he said excitedly. "I'm finally going to be able to make a living for myself!"

"Where exactly are you working now?" asked Tsukuyo, becoming even more curious.

"Oh, you guys aren't going to believe this!" he shouted, the grin on his face getting bigger. "I actually managed to get a job within the Edo Castle!"

At the mention of this, everyone's jaw fell open.

"E-Edo Castle?" stuttered Gintoki. "You mean the place where the Shogun lives?"

"That's right," said Hasegawa. "I'm going to be doing some housework kinds of things there. I'll mostly just be helping take care of the grounds along with the building. It's some pretty simple stuff."

"Wow, that sounds great," said Tsukuyo, still surprised.

"It is! I'm actually going to be working at one of the most important buildings in all of Edo. Plus, the people that hired me are really nice and they're even starting me off with a good wage too! Oh, and the best part is, they're even going to let me wear my sunglasses the entire time I'm working!"

"Um, is that really the best part?" asked Shinpachi, giving the man a look of doubt.

"I don't believe it!" Gintoki shouted as he looked away. "A job at Edo Castle? Some people just get all the luck!"

"Um, when have I ever had all the luck?" asked Hasegawa, looking upset.

"Huh," said Kagura, "so then Madao is no longer a madao?"

"Nope, I'll finally be free of that ridiculous title! I think from now on, things are going to start looking up!" he shouted positively.

"Well congratulations, Hasegawa," said Tsukuyo, giving him a smile. "I hope everything works out for you."

"Thanks a lot, Tsukuyo. That was very kind of you."

A moment of silence fell on the group before Shinpachi turned to his fellow coworkers. "Don't you guys have anything you want to say to Hasegawa-san?" he asked them.

"Try not to screw this up," said Gintoki bluntly.

"You'll always be a madao to me," said Kagura with a blank face.

"Um…right. Thanks, guys," said Hasegawa, looking slightly annoyed.

After that, silence once again fell onto the room. Tsukuyo quietly looked at the nearby clock before deciding it was time to go.

"Well, I think I should probably start heading back home," said Tsukuyo, turning to the group in front of her. "Hinowa is probably wondering where I am. I was originally supposed to be back last night."

"Uh-oh," said Gintoki, playfully smiling. "I hope I didn't get you into trouble."

"Very funny, but it's not a big deal. I'll just explain where I was; she'll understand."

"Well, alright then," said Gintoki, slowly walking over to where she stood. He then grabbed her by the hands and gently pulled her in close. "I'll see you again sometime?" he asked.

The two of them lightly kissed before slowly pulling away. "On the evening of the 13th," said Tsukuyo. "Don't forget, we're supposed to meet with Kami-sama that night."

"Right," said Gintoki, staring into her eyes. "I'll be there."

"I'll see you then," said Tsukuyo, staring back.

The two of them continued to hold each other for a moment longer before finally breaking away. Tsukuyo then gave a wave to everyone as she started making her way out of the room. "See you all later," she said.

They all gave her a wave goodbye as they watched her walk down the hall. Before long, she was already out the door and on her way.

"It was nice to see her again," said Hasegawa, turning to face Gintoki. "She's a really nice girl. I take it you two are still doing well?"

"Yeah, we've been great," said Gintoki. "Better than ever, actually."

"Gin-san, by any chance, have you gotten her a Valentines gift yet?" asked Shinpachi, looking curious.

"Oh," said Gintoki, suddenly not looking very excited. "I'm still trying to figure that one out," he said truthfully.

"Valentines gift?" repeated Hasegawa. "That reminds me, I should probably get something for Hatsu…"

"Seriously, Gin-san?" said Shinpachi, looking disappointed. "You know that Valentines Day is only a few days away."

"I know, I know," said Gintoki, clearly looking stressed. "I just can't come up with anything!"

"Really?" asked Hasegawa, looking surprised. "You seriously can't think of a single thing?"

"Well, it's complicated…I mean, I did think of one thing, but…I don't know…"

"Just go with your gut instinct," said Kagura. "That should work out for you."

"I would if I knew what my gut was telling me," he replied.

"Look, it's simple," said Hasegawa, calling the samurai's attention. "You just need to get her something that will make her happy. That's all there is to it."

Gintoki just gave a sigh. "I think that only makes it more complicated…" he said.

Shinpachi then gave a sigh himself. "Well, just keep working on it," he told him. "Don't forget that you promised all of us that you would get her something nice."

"Yeah, I know," said Gintoki, holding his head in his hands out of stress.

"Good," said Shinpachi, looking satisfied. He then gave him a smile before deciding to encourage him. "And try not to worry so much, you'll come up with something nice. I'm sure of it."

"Right, thanks," said Gintoki, slowly looking towards the floor. He kept on thinking for a moment before finally giving a sigh.

I just wish I knew what to do! he thought.

A little while later, Tsukuyo arrived back at her house. She managed to quietly enter the building without alerting anyone of her presence. She then proceeded to make her way into the living room only to be surprised at what she found. It would appear that Hinowa had been sitting in there waiting for her.

"Oh Tsukuyo," she said, turning to face her. "You're finally back home."

Tsukuyo just stared at her for a second before taking a step into the room. "Right, I'm back," she said bluntly. She then started slowly walking towards the woman waiting in the wheelchair.

"Why didn't you come back last night?" asked Hinowa with a slightly worried look. "Did something come up?"

"Well, some stuff happened," said Tsukuyo, not really bothering to go into the details. "I ended up spending the night at Gintoki's place. It kind of just worked out that way."

"Oh, I see," said Hinowa, looking slightly surprised. "So, you and Gin-san spent the whole night alone together? You two have never done that before."

"Well, we weren't really alone. I mean, Kagura was there and-"

"Did you guys do anything...special together?" asked Hinowa with a rather playful smile.

"Special?" asked Tsukuyo, looking confused. "What do you mean?"

"You know, did you guys express your love or anything like that?"

Tsukuyo suddenly froze. "Wait a minute, you mean…" She immediately started blushing as she realized what Hinowa was referring to.

"Well, did you?" Hinowa asked again.

"No, we absolutely did not!" shouted Tsukuyo, looking rather flustered. "We did not have a special moment or express love or anything like that! I just stayed at his place for the night, that's all!"

Hinowa just gave a small laugh before looking back up to Tsukuyo. "Oh, calm down, I was only joking," she said.

In response, Tsukuyo just silently stared back at her with a look of doubt. Were you? Were you really joking just now? You seemed pretty into it considering it was just a joke…And why does everyone keep asking that question anyway!?

"Look," she finally said. "Please don't say things like that anymore. Gintoki and I, we're not that kind of couple."

"Well, maybe not right now," said Hinowa with a smile, "but you might be someday. And you know, it's not really something to be ashamed of. In fact, it's perfectly normal to-"

"Hinowa…" Tsukuyo whined. "Please stop…"

"Oh, alright fine. If it will make you happy, I'll stop talking about it," said Hinowa with a sigh.

"Thank you," said Tsukuyo, looking relieved. She then started to walk away when Hinowa decided to add one last comment.

"Just let me know if you ever have any questions or need some advice on that stuff," she said with a wink.

"Hinowa!" Tsukuyo shouted, once again looking upset.

"Heh, kidding," she said, giving a smile.

Tsukuyo just sighed before turning back around. I seriously doubt it she thought with a frown.

Wow, this chapter was way longer than I thought it would be! I actually thought it would end up being shorter than normal, but man, I just wrote on and on. I guess that's the way it usually is, right? XD

Anyways, I gave Hasegawa an appearance! And not only that, but I gave him a good job too! Wow, I'm so nice XD If you were thinking that his appearance in this chapter was kind of random, don't worry, it was. I honestly only included him as a setup for things to come in the future. I have some plans for him, nothing too big, but still important…

Anyway, a lot of you reacted positively to me talking about Berserk and One Punch Man last chapter, so maybe I should talk more about different series in the future…or right now XD

My cousin just started watching Yu Yu Hakusho for the first time. I'd like to say it's the first real anime he's ever seen XD I'm actually surprised to hear that he really likes it because he's never shown any interest in something like anime. I didn't even tell him to watch it either; he just started on his own because he knew I had seen it before. Funny how that works out, isn't it?

Now I seem to find myself wanting to watch Yu Yu Hakusho again. I should have figured this would happen. One person I know starts watching an anime and all I want to do is watch it and talk about it with them. How the hell does this kind of thing even happen?

Oh, sorry, I seem to have started rambling. Well, I better wrap things up. Next chapter, I'll be getting back to Kami and Yoshiwara, so look forward to it! Also please leave a review and let me know what you thought about this chapter! Thanks a lot, see ya!