Silver Moon – Book 3 Chapter 4

A Few Days Later…

It was an average day just like any other over at Snack House Otose. The sun was shining, and the neighborhood was quiet and peaceful. However, there was one thing that set this day apart from the usual Snack House experience. As it turns out, that detail was the inclusion of some uncommon customers at the bar: a small group of friendly women currently occupied it.

"Wow, I can't believe that the wedding is only a week away!" said Otae with delight.

"Indeed," said Kyuubei, "it is approaching rather quickly."

"Yeah, it's approaching quickly," repeated Sachan in a disappointed tone.

"It's still kind of hard to imagine that Gin-san and Tsukuyo are going to be married," Otae continued. "I mean, who would've thought that they would become engaged so soon?"

"Yeah, who would've thought?" asked Sachan dismally.

Kagura just let out a puff of air as she listened to the other women talk. Once again, Gintoki's wedding was the topic of discussion and Kagura had barely any motivation to take part in it. She just silently crossed her arms and rested her chin on top of them as she leaned against the bar. She then slowly glanced down at the others.

Otae sat next to Kagura on her right. Kyuubei then occupied the seat next to Otae and one seat down from her sat a depressed Sachan. The first two women sat upright in their seats, but Sachan held a position similar to Kagura's.

Kyuubei curiously glanced over at her. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.

Sachan just replied without looking up. "I thought for sure they would break up. I thought for sure that their relationship wouldn't last. How could things have lead to them getting married? How did it all work out so well?"

"It's because they actually love and care about each other," said Otose as she entered the bar from the back room. "They're a cute couple, don't you think?"

Sachan quickly sat up and balled her hands into fists. "Who cares about that?" she asked with a hint of anger in her tone. "I wanted to be the one who ended up with Gin-san! How did Tsukky get so lucky?"

"It was easy for her," said Otose as she lit a cigarette. "She's a sweet girl with a kind heart. And you…well, you're a half stalker half masochist freak who is a little desperate for Gintoki's attention."

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY YOU OLD HAG!?" Sachan screamed across the bar.

"Damn, Otose-san, don't you think that was a little harsh?" asked Catherine as she also entered the room. Tama quietly followed in behind her.

"What?" asked Otose innocently. "It's true, you know."

"I didn't say that it wasn't true, Otose-san," said Catherine slyly.

"WHAT!?" Sachan screamed again. How dare these women talk shit about me right to my face!

Tama soon walked over the purple-haired ninja before speaking up in her calm, soothing tone. "I think that Otose-sama is just saying that Gintoki-sama is not interested in you. He is interested in Tsukuyo-sama instead."

Sachan looked over at Otose with a scowl. "She has a funny way of saying it…" she said coldly.

"Oh, just get over yourself already," said Otose indifferently. "Gintoki had every opportunity to strike up a relationship with you and he clearly decided not to. He decided to go with Tsukuyo instead, and now they're going to be married. What's happened has happened and there's no point in pouting over it."

Before Sachan could come up with a retort, Otae quickly chimed in. "She kind of has a point, Sachan-san," she said timidly. "Maybe instead of feeling sorry for yourself, you should focus on being happy for your friend. Tsukuyo is your friend after all, right? You should be happy for her!"

After hearing this, Kagura quickly tuned the conversation out as she became lost in her own thoughts. I should be happy for Gin-chan and Tsukky?

She paused as she looked away from the others. I know I should be happy for them…but I'm not…I mean, why should I be? It's not like my life is going to be getting any better. It's not like I'm going to get any happier…

In fact, all of these stupid changes are just making me upset. Soon Gin-chan will be gone and I'll be left all alone…it's like we won't even hold a special bond anymore…

Kagura unconsciously let out a sigh. It's all because of this stupid wedding. Why do Gin-chan and Tsukky have to get married anyway? Everything was perfectly fine before when they were just dating. Nobody had a problem with their relationship then…

It's only now that they're getting married that everything is starting to change and I hate it!

For a second, Kagura considered voicing these opinions out loud to the group next to her, but she quickly decided against it. She had seen how Sachan had been treated for being negative about the whole thing, and Kagura was not about to join her.

It's best to just shut up about it she thought to herself. Everybody else is so happy anyways. I don't want to be the one to ruin their good mood with my complaints…

After coming to her conclusion, Kagura just took a deep breath before slowly tuning back into the conversation. It seemed like they had started talking about the new house that Gintoki had prepared for the couple. Kagura tried her best to keep any negative thoughts out of her head as she listened. Even so, she still found it difficult to stay positive given her outlook on the situation.

As the women continued talking, somebody new suddenly entered the bar from the street. Everyone immediately turned to see who it was. To their surprise, they found Tsukuyo standing in the doorway. Tsukuyo in turn looked a little surprised to see them.

"Oh, hey everybody," she said with a small wave. "What are you all doing here?"

Everyone gave Tsukuyo a warm welcome as she entered the bar…everyone except for Kagura, that is. Instead of greeting the courtesan, Kagura just looked away from the entrance as she secretly rolled her eyes.

Oh great, she's here again…

Unfortunately, it seemed like Kagura had started to grow a little tired of seeing Tsukuyo around so much. It seemed that constantly seeing the courtesan only served to remind the girl of the upcoming wedding that she dreaded so much.

Kagura just leaned against the bar again as she rested her cheek against her fist. Sorry Tsukky she silently apologized. It's not that I hate you or anything, but I can't help but feel a little upset every time I see you. You are partly responsible for all of these upcoming changes, after all. You and Gin-chan…

"Anyways," said Otae once the welcoming was finished, "we were just sitting in here talking about your upcoming wedding! We're all really excited for you!"

"Really?" asked Tsukuyo, a little surprised. "All of you? Even you, Sarutobi?"

Sachan silently glanced at the cold death stares she was receiving from the others before she produced the most sincere smile she could muster. "Yes, of course I'm happy for you!" she said through slightly clenched teeth.

Tsukuyo simply smiled as she watched. She could tell that an effort was being made, at least. "Well, thank you all. I'm glad to hear it."

"By the way," Kyuubei chimed in, "what brings you here?"

"Yeah, we weren't really expecting you to just show up like that," said Otae with a kind smile.

"Gintoki asked me to meet him here," Tsukuyo explained. "He said there are some things we need to look over."

"That sounds exciting," said Otose, also smiling. "Are you meeting in here?"

"Yeah…although, I don't think that Gintoki was expecting all of you to be in here," she said with a doubtful tone.

"Ah, who cares?" said Otae with a wave of her hand. "It will just be a surprise for him then."

"Speaking of surprises," said Otose with a grin, "I heard Gintoki showed you that new house of his."

"Yeah," said Tsukuyo with a small smile, "it's really-"

Kagura just let out an inaudible sigh as she tuned out again. Will they ever stop talking about these stupid changes?

Once Tsukuyo was done talking, Sachan nonchalantly got to her feet as she produced a scowl. She then slowly walked over to Tsukuyo before leaning against her shoulder.

"So, Tsukky," she said in a cool voice, "tell me, have you and Gin-san done that together yet?"

Tsukuyo gave her a weird look. "That?" she repeated.

"Yeah, you know…have you, uh, slept together, or anything like that?"

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo just remained calm as she returned the scowl. "That's hardly an appropriate thing to ask, Sarutobi…"

"Oh, just answer it!" Otose suddenly barked from the back of the room.

Everyone slowly and warily turned to look at the old lady.

"What?" she asked innocently. "I just want to know."

"Well, not that it's any of your guys' business, but no, we haven't," said Tsukuyo sternly.

"Is that so?" Otose mumbled as she put her cigarette to her lips.

"Yes," said Tsukuyo in defense. "I mean, there were a couple of times when I thought he wanted to, well, you know…but he never really insisted on anything."

Upon hearing this, Sachan took on a smug smile before patting the courtesan on the shoulder. "Glad to hear it."

As Sachan walked away, Tsukuyo began to notice that everyone in the room was staring at her rather awkwardly. She soon started feeling uncomfortable as she slowly realized that she might have said a little bit more than she should have. It was then that Otose added the comment that sent her over the edge.

"Hmm…it's kind of a shame," she said quietly. "For a second there, I thought that was actually the reason why you were getting married so quickly. I thought you might be getting married because you had to…if you know what I mean…"

Tsukuyo couldn't help it any longer. She could feel the heat start rushing into her cheeks and she knew that she must have been blushing madly by now.

"Sheesh," said Catherine offhandedly, "are you still hoping for those grandkids or something, Otose-san?"

Tsukuyo knew that it would be better if she didn't open her mouth, but she felt like she couldn't just stand there without saying something. Sure enough though, her words only came out as embarrassed incomplete sentences.

"You thought that we were…and that I was…? Why would you…? How could you even…?"

Just as she had predicted, Tsukuyo couldn't get the words out. She quickly stopped talking as her blushing became even worse. She couldn't take it much longer. She needed some kind of release from this embarrassment, something to make her calm down…but what?

At that instant, by some weird act of fate, Gintoki and Shinpachi entered the bar. Tsukuyo turned to look at the two of them, and for some reason, the moment she laid eyes on Gintoki, instinct took over. Without even thinking Tsukuyo produced a kunai and threw it as hard as she could at her fiancé's forehead. Needless to say, it landed without fail and Gintoki quickly dropped to the floor.

"Oh shit," Tsukuyo mumbled, horrified at what she had just done. "Gintoki!"

Gintoki managed to look up from the floor. "Hey sweetheart…what the hell…was that for?"

"I'm sorry!" Tsukuyo apologized as she crouched down next to him. "It was just a reflex! Here, let me get that!" Without hesitating, she grabbed ahold of the kunai and yanked it out.

"Ouch! Not so fast!" Gintoki whined as blood spurted everywhere.

Sachan just gave a slight snicker as she watched. "She's the perfect match for Gin-san? I have a hard time believing that."

The others just remained silent. Not even Otose had a comeback for that after witnessing such a bizarre event.

Tsukuyo managed to get Gintoki back on his feet again. "Are you alright?" she asked gently as she eyed his new wound.

"Are you still doing that?" asked Gintoki, ignoring her question. "I thought we had moved on past this whole kunai-in-my-forehead business."

"Hey, Gin-san!" Sachan cried from the bar. "Do you want me to take a look at that wound? I'm sure I could bandage it up for you!"

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo threw a glare in the shinobi's direction. "I'll be the one who takes a look at it," she declared adamantly, before pulling Gintoki aside and placing him in an empty booth. "Let me see that," she demanded as she forced the man's head down.

"Ouch!" Gintoki cried again. "Why so rough?"

Meanwhile, Shinpachi, who had been standing in the doorway this entire time, cleared his throat. "Anyways, what are you all doing here?" he asked, looking at the others.

"We were just relaxing and talking," explained Otae with a smile. "We didn't realize that Gin-san was going to secretly meet Tsukuyo for some alone time here."

"It's not like that," Gintoki spoke up from the corner where he was being treated. "I just needed to look over the guest list one more time with Tsukuyo and confirm who is planning on coming."

Shinpachi simply took a seat opposite Gintoki. He then glanced at the women who sat at the bar. "I'm guessing that all of you are planning on coming, right?"

"Of course," said Otae happily. "We wouldn't even think about missing it."

"That's right," said Kyuubei with a nod. "And of course, thank you for inviting us to such a big event."

"Really?" asked Gintoki. "Well thank Tsukuyo here," he said as he pointed up at her. "She's the one who insisted on inviting all of you."

Tsukuyo just stared at the man as she attempted to bandage his forehead. "Oh, come on, Gintoki. How could we not invite them? They're your friends, after all. Mine too."

Tsukuyo then glanced over at the group. Well, maybe Sarutobi wasn't such a good choice…

"You can count us in too, of course," said Otose with a grin as she gestured to Catherine and Tama. "We'll be sure to make it."

"Great," said Gintoki as he marked all of this on a list that he had originally brought in with him but the author had been too lazy to go back and actually write in.

Gintoki put his pen (which the author also forgot to write in) to his mouth for a second as he continued thinking. Meanwhile, the other occupants of the bar started striking up conversation amongst themselves. This left Gintoki and Tsukuyo alone to privately focus on their guest list.

"Let's see…Shinpachi and Kagura will definitely be there." Gintoki glanced up at Tsukuyo. "What about Hinowa and Seita?"

"You know they'll be there," said Tsukuyo with a smile.

"Right…and how many members of the Hyakka are coming?"

Tsukuyo looked away for a second. "Er, almost all of them…"

Gintoki looked up at her like she was crazy. "Seriously?"

"They insisted on coming!" Tsukuyo exclaimed in defense. "They said that they really didn't want to miss this, so they're trying to send as many as they can while still leaving Yoshiwara attended to."

"Why didn't you just tell them to shorten it down a bit?"

Tsukuyo frowned. "I couldn't do that, they all seemed so happy. Besides, we can make it work out, can't we? There's not all that many others coming anyway…"

Gintoki just stared at her for a while before looking back at his list. "We'll see what we can do..."

Tsukuyo smiled at that. "What about Katsura? You did invite him, right?"

"Against my better judgment…"

Tsukuyo rolled her eyes. "And what did he say?"

Gintoki smiled. "He told me that he's coming…and that he's bringing a date."

Tsukuyo's eyes widened. "Really? Who is he bringing?"

Gintoki's smile turned into a grin. "Not sure; he didn't say. Although, I do have an idea of who it could be…" Gintoki looked up and saw Tsukuyo give him a look of confusion. "I'll tell you later," he said.

Tsukuyo just shrugged. "Alright then, good for him."

"Yeah, good for him," Gintoki retorted as his smile slowly faded. "Now we're going to have another mouth to feed."

Tsukuyo sighed. "You know that we can accommodate for that, Gintoki. It won't be any trouble."

"I suppose…"

Tsukuyo paused while she glanced down at Gintoki's list. "Who else is on there?" she asked.

Gintoki also scanned over the paper. "Let's see…"

At that moment, a man suddenly came bursting through the door. This new arrival immediately caught everyone's attention and they quickly turned to see what exactly was going on.

Gintoki just looked at the man before he looked up at Tsukuyo and pointed back at him. "There's him," he said.

"Gin-san!" the man exclaimed the moment he laid eyes on the samurai. "I've been looking for you! I've got great news!"

"Well, hello to you too, Hasegawa-san," Shinpachi mumbled from his place opposite Gintoki. It was no use. For some reason, it seemed like the madao was just too excited to listen to anyone at the moment.

Gintoki just gave Hasegawa a blank stare. "What are you so excited about?"

"Oh, it's just the greatest thing ever!" Hasegawa exclaimed gleefully. "I can't even believe that this actually happened! You're not going to believe it either!"

Gintoki was growing more and more curious by the second. So were the others. "What?" he repeated. "What happened?"

"I mean, I always hoped that this might happen someday. I really did wish for this! And now, it's finally come true! "

Now Gintoki was starting to grow a little angry. "What are you talking about? Just say it already!"

"I think that it's safe to say that my luck has turned around for good! Yep, I still can't believe-"

Gintoki suddenly jumped up from his seat and lifted Hasegawa off of the ground by his shirt. "Damn it man, just spit it out already!" he yelled straight into the madao's face.

Hasegawa suddenly realized that might have been being a little too dramatic about the whole thing. He gave a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh, sorry about that…"

"Forget it," said Gintoki, dropping the man to the floor. "Just tell us what you need to tell us."

Tsukuyo walked over to stand next to Gintoki. "What's the big news, Hasegawa?" she asked politely.

Hasegawa just gave a big goofy smile before he started speaking. "Right, well…remember how I landed that nice job a few months ago?"

Gintoki raised an eyebrow at this. "What happened? Did you lose it?"

"Why would I be happy about that!?" Hasegawa barked at the samurai. "No, my job is going fine, thank you. No, on second thought, it's been going great! I've been able to make a living for myself! It's wonderful! And now, because of this, I've actually been able to take the chance to reconnect with Hatsu!"

"Hatsu?" Tsukuyo whispered to Gintoki.

"His wife," he informed her.

"Anyways," Hasegawa continued, "she ended up being really pleased with me! I think that she was glad that I finally managed to not screw something up!"

"Well, there's always time-"

Gintoki's words were cut short as Tsukuyo jabbed him in the side while also giving him a glare. "Be nice!" she hissed.

Shinpachi suddenly decided to join the conversation. "So, what ended up happening then, Hasegawa-san?"

Hasegawa's smile grew as wide as it could. "Well, we ended up spending a lot more time together and things really improved for us. And then, just this morning, she finally agreed that we could start living together again!"

Everyone looked at the man out of surprise. They had not been expecting this good piece of news.

"Wow, really? That's wonderful, Hasegawa-san!" exclaimed Shinpachi with a smile.

"Congratulations," said Tsukuyo. "It sounds like you've finally found your happiness."

"Good for you," said Gintoki with a small smile.

"Indeed," said Otae, "congrats, Hasegawa-san." The others said much of the same.

"Thanks, you guys," said Hasegawa, who was still grinning. "I'm just so happy that things worked out between us. I really do love that woman…"

The room went silent as everyone stared at Hasegawa with a smile. They were truly happy for the typically unlucky man. It looked like things were finally starting to look up for him.

After a while, Gintoki eventually cleared his throat. "Alright, alright, so your life is perfect now. Let's move on…" Gintoki paused as he went back to his seat and grabbed his list. "Can you tell me if you're going to come to our wedding?"

Hasegawa just continued smiling. "Oh yeah, that's part of the reason why I came over here. I wanted to tell you that I actually will be attending your wedding…along with a guest."

Gintoki just lowered his eyebrows as he scribbled it down on the paper. "Right, no surprise there…"

"I hope that won't be a problem," said Hasegawa with a nervous smile.

"No, of course not," Gintoki grumbled to himself. "It will just be one more mouth that we have to feed-"

Tsukuyo just jabbed Gintoki in the side again in order to make him shut up. "It won't be any trouble at all, Hasegawa," she said kindly.

Hasegawa beamed at this answer. "Glad to hear it! Hatsu will be excited to come too!"

Gintoki just gently rubbed his side. "For crying out loud, Tsukuyo, how many injuries are you going to give me today?"

"As many as you deserve," she said sternly.

Gintoki looked back down at his list. "Right, of course," he muttered to himself.

Tsukuyo just adopted a playful smile as she leaned over his shoulder. "So who else is left, then?"

Gintoki's eyes continued scanning over the list until a pair of names by the bottom caught his eye. "Oh right," he said as he looked at them. "I forgot to tell you that these two will be coming. They're arriving here tonight, actually."

Tsukuyo tried to see what he was looking at. "Who are they?" she asked curiously.

Gintoki just gave a small sigh before smiling. "He's an old friend of mine. His name is Sakamoto. The other one is his partner, Mutsu. They run a trading business out in space, so you've never met them before."

"Oh, I see."

At that moment, Shinpachi decided to chime in. "Did you just say that Sakamoto-san and Mutsu-san are coming here tonight?"

Gintoki gave the boy a nod. "Yeah, he told me that his fleet had set a course for Earth and that we should expect him to show up sometime tonight."

"Wait a second," said Shinpachi, "his fleet? Don't tell me…is he bringing the entire Kaientai to your wedding!?"

Gintoki frowned a little at that. "Hell no, I made sure of that. I told him specifically that only he and Mutsu could come. He agreed but for some reason he still insisted on bringing the entire fleet anyway. I guess they'll just be staying in Edo for the week. Not that I really care…"

"Oh, that makes more sense," said Shinpachi with a nod to show that he understood. "Well, if they're going to be showing up here tonight, then I guess it will be Tsukuyo-san's first chance to meet them."

Tsukuyo looked up. "Oh yeah, I guess so," she said with a slightly nervous smile. She turned to Gintoki. "What are they like?" she asked him.

Gintoki just looked away as he thought about it for a second. "Hmm…well they're a pretty friendly bunch, I suppose. Sakamoto is kind of just a big idiot if you ask me. Mutsu on the other hand is the cool silent type."

Tsukuyo continued looking at Gintoki. For some reason, she was feeling a little anxious about meeting Gintoki's old friends. "Is there anything I should be expecting from them?"

Gintoki simply pondered this before he gave her a small grin.

"Just expect to have your name mispronounced."

Hey! I finally wrote a fairly long chapter! I knew it would come! I knew I could do it! Well, then again, it's not really that long…but whatever.

Anyways, who the hell was narrating this chapter!? Did you see where it said I was too lazy to go back and write in a small detail!? That's such a lie! When have I ever been lazy!? I mean, seriously, damn that narrator…

So, guess what? This story actually celebrated its one-year anniversary recently! Who knew? (I almost forgot myself XD) But yeah, wow, I've been writing this shitty story for a whole year now! I can't believe I haven't given up or anything like that! Let's hope I keep going strong for another year! And then some!

To celebrate making it through my first year, maybe I'll start writing another story unrelated to this one…maybe, we'll see…

In other news, it's back to school time next week. Yep, it's time for the spring semester, even though it's still winter. Man, I hate winter -.-' Anyways, I hope I won't be too busy, so I can keep working on this! I'm having a lot of fun writing right now, so let's hope for no long hiatuses from me! (No guarantees!)

I think that's it for now. As always, please leave me a review with your thoughts on the chapter and look forward to the next one! See you then!