Silver Moon – Book 2 Chapter 19

Tsukuyo opened her eyes slowly. She had just woken up, and her senses were just now coming back into focus. She was lying down on a bed inside of a dim room. Upon trying to sit up, Tsukuyo realized that her left arm was in a cast. And not only that, but her body was also covered in bandages.

By the time that she actually managed to sit up, she had come to understand where she was. She was in a hospital and it was currently night, hence the darkness. She glanced out of a window that was off to the side.

This hospital is on the surface, not in Yoshiwara. I can tell from the view out there. Also, it must be sometime early in the morning...

At that moment, Tsukuyo heard a noise from off to her left. Somebody had just quietly opened the door and entered the room. Upon turning her head, Tsukuyo found a nurse walking up to her bed.

"Ah, so you're finally awake," the nurse said in a soft voice. "How do you feel?"

Tsukuyo paused to glance down at herself. "I feel fine," she replied quietly. "Where am I?"

"This is Edo Hospital. Your wounds were pretty severe when we checked you in. Your arm was broken, and you had several cuts and bruises that we had to treat too."

Tsukuyo looked out the window again. "How long have I been out?"

"Oh, a little over a day," said the nurse as she started looking at some papers. "Your friends brought you here early in the morning yesterday. You've been heavily sleeping ever since."

"My friends?" asked Tsukuyo, turning back to the nurse.

"Yes, those three right over there," said the nurse, pointing to a corner of the room that Tsukuyo had not looked at yet.

It was easy to glance over them in this dim lighting, but there they were. Shinpachi and Kagura were both sleeping with their heads facedown against a table. Gintoki sat in a seat near them, quietly snoozing with his arms crossed.

"They've been worried sick about you ever since they brought you here," continued the nurse. "They would barely even budge when we tried to treat their own wounds. They each insisted upon staying in here and watching over you. Especially that one with the white perm."

Tsukuyo suddenly started smiling. "Is that so?" she mumbled to herself as she watched the trio sleep.

"In any case," said the nurse, "now that you're awake, we should run some small tests on you, just to make sure that you're still healthy. We'll do it quietly though, and I'll keep the lights dim. After all, I think that your friends really need to get some rest."

Tsukuyo simply nodded as she continued smiling to herself. They were all that worried over me, huh? Especially Gintoki…I'll have to talk to them once they all wake up…

A few hours later, Tsukuyo had finished up with her tests and the sun had already started to rise. The nurse had left the room while Tsukuyo remained upright and patiently waited for the rest of the group to wake up. It was not much longer after that before they all began to stir.

"Ah, Tsukky!" cried Kagura as she sat up.

"Tsukuyo-san!" said Shinpachi, also starting to wake.

"Tsukuyo?" said Gintoki as he opened his eyes.

"You're awake!" Kagura shouted as she ran to her bedside.

Tsukuyo smiled at her. "That's right, I finally woke up."

"Man, we were worried sick about you," said Shinpachi as he joined Kagura.

"The nurse that was in here told me about that," said Tsukuyo, still smiling. "Thank you guys, I really do appreciate it."

Now, it was Gintoki's turn to join the group. He slowly walked up to Tsukuyo's side before looking down at her. "How do you feel?" he asked with the utmost concern in his voice. "Should I call the nurse back in to take a look at you?"

Tsukuyo wasn't sure why, but she almost felt like laughing. Maybe it was because she just seemed so happy at the moment. "I feel fine, Gintoki," she said pleasantly. "Besides, the nurse has already finished checking up on me. I've been up for hours."

"Oh good," said Gintoki with a sigh. "That's a relief."

Part of Tsukuyo wanted to just sit there and continue making idle chitchat with her friends, but another part of her was also dying to find out what she had missed since losing consciousness.

"So tell me," she said in a curious tone, "what happened after I passed out? What happened to Kamui? And is Yoshiwara still safe?"

"Whoa, calm down there," said Gintoki, holding up his hands in protest. "Don't start getting all riled up like that, it's not good for your recovery."

"Oh, be quiet Gintoki! Just tell me what happened!" said Tsukuyo urgently.

Gintoki crossed his arms disapprovingly, but nevertheless said, "Very well then, you guys fill her in."

"Well, to be honest, there's not all that much to tell," said Shinpachi. "After Gintoki escaped from the palace, we gathered up both you and Katsura-san and came straight here. We've been sitting in this hospital ever since."

"Katsura is in here too?" asked Tsukuyo.

"Yeah, he was badly wounded," explained Kagura. "Right now he's being treated in another room."

"I see," said Tsukuyo before moving on. "But what about Kamui? What happened to him?"

"He escaped," said Kagura in a slightly spiteful tone.

"We haven't heard anything about him," Shinpachi continued. "Gin-san reckons he left for good."

"And Yoshiwara?" asked Tsukuyo.

"From what we've heard, it's perfectly fine. We spoke to Hinowa-san over the phone. She said that she'd get everything in the city settled out before coming here."

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo let out a big sigh of relief. "Thank the heavens, it looks like we made it out okay."

"That's right," said Gintoki in a reassuring tone. "It may not have been easy, but it seems like we all managed to settle that situation out."

"Yes," said Tsukuyo, "and it couldn't have been done without you guys. Thank you all."

"It was nothing," said Kagura.

"We were glad to help," said Shinpachi.

Gintoki did not say anything, but simply stared at Tsukuyo instead. The room was silent for a while before Tsukuyo eventually spoke up.

"Gintoki," she said, turning to face him, "we need to talk."

Gintoki continued staring at her for another second before giving a sigh. "Well, I knew that this was coming sooner or later. Shinpachi, Kagura, get out."

"Huh?" said Kagura.

"You two leave the room," ordered Gintoki.

"But why do we have to-"

Kagura was interrupted when Shinpachi placed a hand on her shoulder. "Er, let's just go, Kagura-chan. I think they need to discuss some things."

Now it was Kagura's turn to let out a sigh. "Alright, fine."

"We'll be waiting in the hallway," said Shinpachi as he started leading the way out.

Gintoki and Tsukuyo did not say anything as they watched the kids go. Even after the door was shut behind them, the room still remained silent for a time.

Tsukuyo then took a deep breath before she started speaking. "Gintoki," she said calmly, "I need you to explain something for me. That night that you…broke up with me…well, what exactly was that all about? What happened between us?"

Gintoki was silent at first. He did not look at Tsukuyo when he eventually answered.

"The night before that one," he said quietly, "the night that I had agreed to fight with Kamui. That's where it all came from. That night, I had resolved to die in the upcoming fight. I planned to sacrifice myself fighting Kamui, and in-turn hopefully save everyone from his reach."

"So…I figured that if I was going to end up dead, you guys would all be against the idea of it. I knew you wouldn't let me go through with it. However, I honestly felt like I didn't have any choice. The offer to fight with Kamui seemed like the only way out of a hopeless situation. So, in the end, I knew that I would have to deal with you guys somehow. I started thinking that maybe you would all be better off if you didn't care so much about me, maybe even hate me…"

"So I made it my goal to get rid of you guys by doing some hurtful things. Anything that would make you truly wish death upon me, just so that you wouldn't have to mourn my loss. For Shinpachi and Kagura, I just left them a note telling them to get lost. And for you, well, you know…"

Gintoki went silent for a moment before he continued. "I'm sorry, Tsukuyo, I really am. The truth is that it was all just an act. All of it. I never wanted to break your heart. That was never my true intention. I was honestly just trying to protect you guys. I…I'm sorry I put you through something like that…"

Gintoki paused for a second before finally looking over to Tsukuyo. Surprisingly, her head was hanging down and it looked like tears were starting to form in her eyes.

"Tsukuyo?" Gintoki asked softly.

"You idiot," Tsukuyo said quietly. She paused before finally looking up at him with a hurt expression. "Did you really think that we would be happy if you died?"

Gintoki didn't know what to say. In the end, all he could muster was, "Tsukuyo…"

Tsukuyo then started wiping her tears on her uninjured arm. "I mean, honestly, how stupid can you be? Trying to make us hate you by hurting us just so we wouldn't be hurt when you died? So stupid…"

When Tsukuyo was finished wiping her tears, she then looked at Gintoki with a firm glare. "Listen, Gintoki. No matter what you do, we will always care about you. We will never, ever 'wish for your death'. You should have known better than that."

Gintoki stared back at her before closing his eyes. "You're right. I'm sorry. I just thought that I was-"

"Doing the right thing?" Tsukuyo finished for him. "Look, you said it was all an act, right? That you didn't truly mean what you said? In that case, it's like what I said back in the palace: I don't blame you. If you thought you were doing the right thing, and are sorry for what you did, then I will forgive you."

Once again, Gintoki was at a loss for words. He decided to just stay silent until Tsukuyo spoke up again, which was just a short moment later.

"So, uh…," she began awkwardly, "does this mean that, um…well…" She paused to take a deep breath before finishing. "Are we still together?"

Gintoki managed to produce a small smile. "Well, after everything that I've done to you, if you still want to be…"

Now Tsukuyo started smiling. "I do," she said firmly. "I still want to be together with you. And, well, after all, someone will have to keep an eye on you from doing stupid things like this in the future."

Gintoki's smile grew larger. "Then I guess you're the one for the job."

Before either one of them could see it coming, they were already kissing each other, silently apologizing and forgiving each other's mistakes through an act of love.

"Gintoki," Tsukuyo said eventually, "just don't ever do something like that again…"

Later that day, Katsura awoke inside of a different hospital room. Similar to Tsukuyo, he took his time trying to figure out what was going on. All he knew was that he was bandaged and lying in a bed.

"Ugh, where am I?" he asked as he sat up with a hand pressed against his head.

"You're in the hospital, fool," said a voice from beside him.

Katsura recognized the voice before he even turned to see who it was.

"I-Ikumatsu-dono!?" he exclaimed.

"That's right," said the woman known as Ikumatsu. She was Katsura's 'lady friend' who was also the owner of a well-known ramen shop. She was usually in good spirits, but at this time she appeared to be a little short-tempered with the man sitting in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" Katsura asked her.

Ikumatsu crossed her arms. "Gintoki called me yesterday and told me that you had been seriously wounded and put in the hospital."

"Gintoki called you?" asked Katsura, sounding a little worried. "W-why would he do something like that?"

Ikumatsu gave Katsura a weird look. "He said that he thought that I might want to know that you had been injured. He thought that I would be concerned for you, and I was. I came here as soon as I could to check up on you, but you've been unconscious the whole time."

There was a silent moment in which Katsura did not reply. He simply sat there until Ikumatsu decided to continue speaking.

"So tell me, what stupid thing were you off doing this time?" she asked plainly. "Those wounds are nothing to laugh about."

"Well, uh, it wasn't anything too important," said Katsura coolly. "It's just as you said, we were just taking care of something stupid. It's really nothing that you should concern yourself over."

At this point, Ikumatsu gave a sigh. "I know what you're trying to say, but for some reason I just can't help but worry over an idiot like you." Then, before Katsura could even say anything, Ikumatsu had already risen to her feet. "If you really are fine though, then I think I'm going to head out."

"You're leaving?" asked Katsura, sounding a little surprised.

"Yes," she replied as she made her way to the door. "I've spent enough time here already, and you claim that you're okay, so there's really no point in me sticking around any longer."

Once she made it to the doorway, Ikumatsu paused and looked back to Katsura. "By the way," she said, "I took the liberty of covering your hospital bill. It's all paid up, so once you're done healing you're free to go."

"You what!?" demanded Katsura. "Why would you do such a thing!?"

"I did it because we're friends," Ikumatsu explained calmly. "And besides, it's not like I did it for free either. Once you're out of this hospital, I expect you to come over to my shop and work off your new debt. I may have covered you, but I still expect full payment."

Katsura wasn't quite sure what to say at first, but eventually managed to mutter, "Very well then."

"Good, I'll see you once you're out," said Ikumatsu as she turned to leave. And with that, she then exited the room without another word.

Katsura was left staring after her, simply looking at the now empty doorway. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel like he might have noticed a hint of a smile on her face right before she turned to leave…

However, Katsura had very little time to ponder this thought before someone else had appeared in the doorway. "Gintoki?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Gintoki hesitated in the doorway before taking a step into the room. "Hey," he said casually.

"You're here too!" Katsura suddenly realized. "So wait, then that means that Kamui was-"

"He's been taken care of," Gintoki explained. "We all made it out just fine. You and Tsukuyo got the worst of it, though."

"Tsukuyo is injured?" asked Katsura, sounding concerned.

"She's fine," Gintoki insisted. "She's in the other room and doing good. Shinpachi and Kagura are okay too."

"Well, that's good to hear," said Katsura with a sigh of relief. "Would you care to sit?" he asked, gesturing to the chair next to the bed.

"No, I don't plan on staying long," said Gintoki. "I actually just wanted to come over and apologize."

"Apologize?" repeated Katsura. "For what?"

"For what happened between us back at the palace," Gintoki explained. "You know, that small clash that we had right before you lost consciousness…"

"Oh, that…" said Katsura, starting to understand.

An awkward silence fell over the room…

"Look," said Gintoki, "I'm sorry about-"

"Forget it," Katsura interrupted him with a big smile. "I understand. Love can make a person do some crazy things…"

To Katsura's surprise, Gintoki actually gave a small smile in return. "Yeah, you're exactly right…" he said seriously.

Katsura didn't really know what to say to this. He had mostly been taunting Gintoki with his comment about love, but the man had actually taken it completely serious. It was not what Katsura had been expecting from him at all.

It was then that Gintoki turned around and started making his way out of the room. "Well, in any case, I still feel bad about the whole thing, so I'll try and find a way to make it up to you. Also, I'll send Shinpachi and Kagura down later to fill you in on the details of what happened while you were asleep."

Similar to Ikumatsu, Gintoki also paused once he reached the doorway and turned back around. "Oh, there's one last thing that I ought to tell you," he said, suddenly remembering.

"What is it?" asked Katsura curiously.

"You really owe Ikumatsu your thanks," said Gintoki seriously. "She probably didn't tell you this, but she was seriously worried about you. She's been taking care of you ever since you got here and I heard she never even left your side for a second."

"Oh…is that so?" asked Katsura, trying to sound casual.

"Yes, she really cares about you," Gintoki told him.

Suddenly, a smile broke out on Katsura's face. "Heh, well I guess I'll just have to find a way to repay her for her kindness then. Thank you for the information, Gintoki."

"Anytime," said the samurai as he went to exit the room.

"Oh, hey, Gintoki! Wait! There's one last thing I need to tell you too!"

Gintoki turned back around. "What is it?"

Katsura suddenly looked away from him. "I, uh…well, I just need to tell you something that I've actually been feeling kind of guilty about…"

"Yes?" inquired Gintoki.

"Um, while you were off at the palace, Tsukuyo kind of…well, gave me a kiss…"

Gintoki almost had to stop himself from laughing. "Er, is that all?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," said Katsura awkwardly. "I don't know why, I just didn't want to hide that from you…"

Now Gintoki was actually chuckling softly to himself. "Well, don't worry about it. It happened while we were still 'broken up' right? In that case, she was fair game."

At this point, Gintoki finally went to leave the room for good, but not before adding one last comment.

"Besides, I think that if there's anyone that you should confess that secret too, it would have to be Ikumatsu. I'll bet she'd be very surprised to hear you're getting kissed by the ladies, Zura."

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura," said a flustered Katsura to a now empty doorway.

The rest of the day passed on in peaceful silence for the most part. Tsukuyo remained in bed the whole time while Gintoki, Shinpachi, and Kagura kept her company. Eventually, night fell over the city and the group all decided to call it a night. Well, all except for one of them, that is…

It was the middle of the night and the room was dimmed once again. Strangely enough, Tsukuyo had just woken up after feeling someone gently pushing on her side.

"Tsukuyo," said a soft voice from beside her. "Hey, Tsukuyo, wake up."

Tsukuyo opened her eyes to see who it was. "Gintoki?"

"Oh good, you're awake," he said calmly.

"It's the middle of the night…" Tsukuyo told him drowsily. "What do you want?"

"Sorry," Gintoki apologized, "this will be quick, I promise."

"What is it?" Tsukuyo lazily demanded with a yawn.

"Well," he began, "I was just awake and was doing some thinking…and, well, I really need to ask you something important."

Tsukuyo gave him an irritated look. "Couldn't this have waited until morning?"

Gintoki paused before replying. "Not really…"

Tsukuyo gave a sigh. "Fine, what do you want to ask me?"

"Well…do you remember what you said to me on Valentine's evening? You know, right before I, uh, walked out the door…"

Tsukuyo took a second to recall what he was talking about. It was not too hard for her to remember, especially since she had replayed that entire night over and over again in her head. Tsukuyo quickly tried to think of the comment that Gintoki was referring to.

"I love you…you're the only man I've ever loved…and I'm willing to love you forever…"

"You mean how I said I loved you and all that?" Tsukuyo asked him.

"Yes," said Gintoki, glad that she knew what he was talking about. "Well, uh, I just wanted to ask…did you really mean that? You know, what you said?"

Tsukuyo stopped halfway through another yawn, as she was caught off-guard by the question.

Did I mean what I said? That's what he's asking?

Tsukuyo took a moment to consider her answer. Well, to be honest, I was kind of desperate when I yelled all that stuff out at him. At the time, I was just trying to stop him from leaving me. But, I don't think that it would be entirely untrue to say that those words express how I really feel about Gintoki…

"Yes," Tsukuyo told him, "I meant every word of it."

"You did?" whispered Gintoki, sounding surprised. He immediately turned his head away from her and appeared to enter a state of deep thought. "I see," he mumbled to himself.

Tsukuyo sleepily watched him for a few seconds until she couldn't help herself any longer. "Gintoki, if that's all, can I go back to sleep now?" she asked with another yawn.

"Huh?" said Gintoki, snapping out of his thoughts. "Oh, yeah, go ahead and get some rest. Sorry for disturbing you."

"No problem," Tsukuyo mumbled as she attempted to drift off to sleep once more.

Gintoki, on the other hand, remained awake and simply continued his thinking…

The next day, Hinowa and Seita arrived at the hospital in order to visit Tsukuyo and the rest of the group. After making sure that their friends were okay, Hinowa began filling them all in on what had happened in Yoshiwara after Kamui's disappearance.

"Once I had the details of your guys' story, I informed all of the citizens about what had just happened," Hinowa explained. "I told them that Kami was actually a disciple of Hosen in disguise who had unfortunately been using Yoshiwara for his own personal reasons. They didn't really take the news lightly…"

"I'll bet they didn't," said Tsukuyo from her bed. "They all loved 'Kami-sama'."

"Yes, they did," Hinowa continued. "However, I explained that the leader of the Hyakka and the savior of Yoshiwara had made an attempt to remove Kami from power and had succeeded in doing so."

"She's talking about you guys!" Seita exclaimed excitedly to Tsukuyo and Gintoki.

"So what's happening down there now?" asked Gintoki.

"Well, Yoshiwara is now once again in the beginning stages of adjusting to life without an overlord. Honestly, we're just doing our best to return to how things used to be before 'Kami' ever showed up."

"So things will go back to normal then?" inquired Shinpachi.

"Yes, Yoshiwara is once again a free city," said Hinowa triumphantly.

"Glad to hear it," said Tsukuyo with a relaxed smile.

"But still," said Hinowa, suddenly producing a small frown, "it's clear that this whole fiasco has shaken the entire city up. I think that most of the citizens are worried that something like this will happen again. And to be honest, I can't help but worry about Yoshiwara's future too…"

"But wait, Yoshiwara is done with overlords for good now, isn't it?" asked Kagura.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," said Gintoki suddenly from across the room. To everyone's surprise, he had a small grin on his face. "If you ask me, it won't be long now before another overlord of Yoshiwara comes to power."

Tsukuyo gave him a weird look. "What are you talking about, Gintoki?"

"Another overlord?" repeated Hinowa.

"Perhaps I should explain," said Gintoki as he rose to his feet. "Take a look at this," he said as he reached a hand inside of his shirt. A moment later, Gintoki pulled out what appeared to be a small canister-like cylinder. He calmly popped the top off of the cylinder like a lid before shaking a roll of paper out of it. He then set the cylinder off to the side as he began unraveling the roll of paper.

Once he was finished, he held the flat piece of paper up for the entire room to see. "I present to you all, the official deed to the city of Yoshiwara."

Everybody aside from Gintoki was completely stunned. It was true; the actual document that granted ownership of Yoshiwara was resting in Gintoki's hands.

"G-Gintoki!" Tsukuyo stuttered. "How did you get that? I thought that Kamui had it!"

"He did," Gintoki replied casually.

"But then," said Hinowa, "how did you-?"

"It was easy," explained Gintoki, still grinning. "Kamui actually handed it over to me after our fight."

"He…he did?" asked Shinpachi.

"Why would he do something like that?" demanded Kagura.

"He claimed that is was my reward for defeating him," said Gintoki. "It was also part of our deal. I agreed to fight him as long as he agreed to leave Yoshiwara alone afterwards. Kamui said that he no longer had a use for the city, so he just gave it to me as a prize."

The room went silent. This piece of news was so farfetched that the rest of the group was having a hard time believing it. However, the evidence in Gintoki's hands clearly showed that he was telling the truth.

"Wait a minute, Gin-san," Seita piped up from across the room. "If you have the deed, then does that mean that you're…?"

Hinowa gave a gasp. "Gin-san? Yoshiwara's new overlord?"

The rest of the room also gave a gasp as the news started to sink in.

"No way!" Kagura was shouting. "No way!"

"Hinowa-san! You can't let this happen!" shouted Shinpachi.

"Yeah!" agreed Kagura. "You can't let this big idiot be in charge of your city!"

"He can barely handle a three-person odd jobs business by himself!" said Shinpachi. "Letting Gin-san be the new overlord is a terrible idea!"

Hinowa looked stunned. "Well, I, uh…"

"Gin-chan will run Yoshiwara into the ground! Right, Tsukky? Say something!" Kagura shouted, turning to the courtesan for support.

"Um, well, how bad could it be?" asked Tsukuyo with a small hint of doubt in her voice.

"It will be awful!" Shinpachi shouted. "Listen, we've been working for this guy for years now and-"

"Alright, that's enough! Be quiet!" Gintoki screamed from across the room. Everybody immediately went silent and turned to him, waiting for him to speak.

"Look," he said calmly, "you don't have to worry about any of that, because I'm not interested in being Yoshiwara's new overlord."

"You…you're not?" asked Kagura.

"No. Honestly, I think that someone else is far better suited for the job." At this point, Gintoki stopped talking and walked across the room until he stood right in front of Hinowa. "I think you should be the new overlord," he said to her.

"M-Me?" stuttered Hinowa out of surprise.

"Of course," said Gintoki. "Who cares about Yoshiwara more than you? I know that you won't use the position of overlord for your own personal reasons, but rather use it instead for the good of the city. I know that Yoshiwara will be better off in your hands."

The rest of the group was quiet as they each considered Gintoki's words. Surprisingly, what he was saying made a lot of sense. Hinowa could end up being a right fit for the ruler of the city.

"However," Gintoki suddenly continued, "I don't just plan on handing the city over to you. This document right here is valuable, and I earned it myself. I can't just give it away without receiving something in return."

Tsukuyo gave Gintoki a hard stare. Is he talking about a...?

"I want a trade," said Gintoki adamantly. "Believe it or not, you actually have something that I want, so I'm willing to trade this deed over in exchange for it. What do you say?"

Hinowa stared at Gintoki for a long time before eventually taking a deep breath. "Very well, what do you want?"

Instead of giving a direct response, Gintoki just gave her another grin. He gestured towards the door. "Let's discuss this privately, out in the hallway."

Hinowa continued staring at him. "Fine," she said.

"Great, we'll be back in a few minutes," Gintoki called as he lead the way out the door, Hinowa wheeling herself behind him.

Once the door was shut, the remaining group members tried to speculate as to what Gintoki could possibly want from Hinowa, but they all came up with blanks. They didn't know what it could be, but their curiosity was growing with each passing minute.

Eventually, the door reopened and Hinowa wheeled herself in with a large smile on her face. She then held up the piece of paper in her hand.

"I've got it," she said, "the official deed to the city of Yoshiwara. It's ours now."

As she finished speaking, a rather dejected looking Gintoki came in and took a seat next to Tsukuyo's bed. The group simply watched him in silent curiosity before Shinpachi eventually spoke up.

"So then, you actually traded it, huh Gin-san?" he asked.

Kagura then asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "What did you get for it?"

Upon hearing this, Gintoki just gave a small smile. "Oh, nothing really. It was just something far more valuable then some old city."

Everyone looked at him, a little confused by his words. It was then that Hinowa cheerfully chimed in.

"You know Gin-san," she said with a small giggle, "if I had known that you had wanted that, then I would have gladly given it to you for free."

Now everyone was truly confused, and they continued glancing back and forth between Gintoki and Hinowa, hoping for more information. However it seemed like neither one wanted to reveal anything further, so they simply stayed quiet about it. Hinowa just continued strangely smiling to herself while Gintoki folded his arms and closed his eyes, possibly upset about receiving something that he could have had for free the entire time…

Wow, what a long chapter. My longest one yet, in fact! There was so much that I wanted to fit in here, I just couldn't help myself. But, hey, who cares, right? You guys love long chapters. It means more content ;)

Hey, the Shogun Assassination Arc will be animated soon! Really soon! In fact, the first episode will probably already be out by the time this chapter is released! Well, whatever! I'm so hyped for it! I can't wait to see it! :D

But, on the other hand, the timing for that arc is way off XD I honestly wish that the anime had pushed this arc back until all of the other content was animated first. I really think that the anime is going to write itself into a corner with this one, and that makes me worried -.-'

BUT for the time being I've decided to just enjoy the arc for what it is! I'll worry about all that other stuff later! For now, let's all just enjoy the upcoming animation of this amazing Gintama arc. (Thank you Gorilla Author!)

Anyways, back to my story. Um…it's almost over! Book 2, that is. Yeah, the finale is next chapter. That's right, Silver Moon Book 2 ends next chapter! Wow! I've actually made it that far! No, we've made it that far! Let's give this book a good ending next chapter! I'll make sure we're all set up for Book 3!

Oh, uh…by the way, we're going to Book 3 next…if you didn't know…

That's a good place to wrap things up! Thank you all so much for reading! Please leave a review encouraging me to hurry up with that finale! Rally me people! XD I'll see you all next chapter, the Book 2 finale!