Silver Moon – Book 4 Chapter 3

After Tsukuyo had finally finished up vomiting all over Gintoki, the two of them excused themselves to go upstairs to the Odd Jobs base and clean up. Kagura allowed Gintoki to take a shower there, only asking that the samurai try not to drag the mess through the house along with him. Tsukuyo was fine for the most part, having fortunately centered most of the mess on her husband. Nevertheless, she accompanied Gintoki to the bathroom, and hung around near the toilet, in case the sickness decided to strike again.

Eventually, Gintoki stepped out of the shower, now clean once more and sporting a towel. Tsukuyo just frowned at him as she handed him a clean kimono.

"Here," she said. "Sorry about that…"

"For what?" he asked. "The mess?"

"Yeah…I didn't mean to target you like that…"

As Gintoki dried off his hair, he smiled at her. "Forget about it," he said. "It's not your fault. Besides, kids are supposed to be messy anyway, right?"

Tsukuyo soon found herself smiling at this comment. "Yeah, I guess."

After a while, Tsukuyo looked away with a frown. "Still though, I wonder how long this 'sickness' phase is going to last. I'd hate to be vomiting all over the place until the baby comes."

"Trust me, me too," said Gintoki with a nod as he started putting on the kimono. "We should probably schedule that doctor's appointment soon. Maybe even by tomorrow if possible."

"You think?" asked Tsukuyo, still frowning.

"Yeah, the sooner the better. And the sooner you'll get better."

"Very well," she agreed.

Just then, there was a knock on the bathroom door from outside. Gintoki and Tsukuyo turned to look at it.

"Gin-san? Tsukuyo-san? Can we come in? It's Shinpachi."

"And Kagura!"

Gintoki just sighed. "Yeah, yeah, come on in."

The door soon slid open to reveal that it was indeed Shinpachi and Kagura standing there. Shinpachi looked a little concerned, but Kagura had a big smile on her face.

"Tsukuyo-san, how are you feeling?" asked the glasses-wearing boy. "Better, I hope?"

"Yes, a lot better," said Tsukuyo, placing a hand on her stomach. "I guess I just needed to get it out of my system."

"I see," said Shinpachi, sounding a little relieved. "And you, Gin-san? Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all cleaned up now," said Gintoki with a shrug. He then paused, and stared at Kagura's big smile. "Hey, what's that look for?"

"Oh nothing," said the girl, snickering a little.

Gintoki frowned at this. "Are…are you laughing at me?"

Kagura covered her mouth with a hand while she continued to snicker. "No, of course not…It's nothing, really…"

"Like hell it's nothing!" Gintoki retorted. "What's so funny!?"

Kagura snickered again, before calming down a bit. "Well, I was just thinking that…It seems to me that the baby likes to make Tsukky throw up on you, Gin-chan. Heh heh heh…"

Gintoki just stared at her, dumbfounded. "W-what? That's ridiculous, and it doesn't even make any sense…"

"Oh really?" asked Kagura with a smirk. "It reminds me of when Tsukky used to stick kunai in your head whenever you upset her."

Gintoki paused and considered this for a second. "No, no, don't be ridiculous…"

The samurai then turned and looked at Tsukuyo, who in turn just gave him a guilty smile.

"What's that look for!?" Gintoki whined.

"I don't know," said Tsukuyo shrugging. "I just found Kagura's argument to be…charming, in a way."

"What!?"

"Ha ha," said Kagura pointing at him. "The baby likes to throw up on you!"

"No it doesn't! It likes its dad!"

"Maybe it thinks that Gin-san is the toilet?"

"Shinpachiiiiiiii! Don't join in on this too, Shinpachiiiiii!"

Tsukuyo just laughed at their banter, and then glanced down at her stomach. She then smiled, secretly wondering if the baby, whatever stage of development it was in, was enjoying it too…

Within the next few days, Gintoki and Tsukuyo were able to schedule and attend a doctor's appointment. While there, Tsukuyo was put through several tests to make sure that both her and the baby were healthy. The doctor also went over some basic information on what the couple should expect throughout the rest of the pregnancy.

Some of the things that the doctor shared with them included Tsukuyo's expected due date, which would take place in about 8 months. She also heavily encouraged Tsukuyo to stop smoking for the duration of the pregnancy, claiming that doing such a thing would only hurt the baby. In addition, the doctor explained that Tsukuyo might have to restructure her daily life activities in order to account for her developing baby.

Gintoki and Tsukuyo listened to her words very carefully. They did their best to make sure that they didn't miss anything that might accidently lead to disaster. It might have seemed like they were overreacting a bit, but they didn't want to take any risks.

When the doctor was finally done, she turned to the couple with a smile. "Now, do you have any questions?"

"Um," said Gintoki, slowly raising his hand, "this morning sickness thing…er, when does it stop?"

"It depends," replied the doctor with a shrug. "Some women only experience it for the first few weeks. Others have to deal with it throughout the entire pregnancy."

Gintoki started to sweat a little, while Tsukuyo just gave him a weird look. "Gintoki, don't tell me that you're worried about that. Kagura was only joking…"

"But…what if she was right?" asked Gintoki, looking rather concerned for his own safety.

"Is something the matter?" the doctor asked him.

Gintoki started scratching the back of his head. "Um, well, it's nothing really…"

"No, please, tell me," the doctor insisted. "If it's something important, I should know."

"Right, well…" Gintoki paused for a moment. "Is it possible that…the baby…it uh, likes to make Tsukuyo here throw up on me?"

Tsukuyo just face-palmed at her husband's unnecessary anxiety. Meanwhile, the nurse looked absolutely dumbfounded. "The baby…what?"

"Listen," said Gintoki, trying to explain. "Let's just say that the kid has a nasty sense of humor. Is it possible that it finds it funny when my wife throws up on me?"

The doctor still stared at him, not sure what to say. After a while, she just gave a gentle laugh. "Ha ha, I see. You're very funny, Mr. Sakata."

Gintoki felt a small vein appear on his forehead. "Hey, I'm being completely serious here…"

The doctor just ignored him and turned to Tsukuyo. "Well, if that's all for today-"

"Hey, you didn't answer my question!" the samurai complained. "Don't ignore me!"

"I suggest that you make another appointment," the doctor continued, "and we can meet up again in a few weeks."

"That sounds great," said Tsukuyo, standing up to leave. "Thank you."

"Of course," the doctor replied.

Tsukuyo then turned to her upset husband. "Come along, darling."

Gintoki just frowned as he rose to his feet. "Yes, honey…"

As they walked towards the door, Tsukuyo fervently whispered to him. "I told you that you didn't have to worry about that! For goodness sake, the doctor won't even take you seriously!"

"I know, all right?" Gintoki whispered back. "I know it sounds dumb, but I can't help but feel a little scared, you know? I'm just letting Kagura's stupid taunts get to me. That's all…"

As they reached the door, the doctor suddenly called back to them. "By the way, would you mind telling the next couple that I'm ready for them?"

"Of course we can," said Tsukuyo politely. "Gintoki?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," he replied as he opened the door. He looked out into the hall and soon found the waiting couple in question. "Hey, you two, the doctor says that-"

Gintoki froze as he suddenly locked eyes with the man waiting in the hallway.

"Eh?" he said quietly.

The man in the hallway also froze. "Eh?"

They continued to stare at each other in silence until Tsukuyo came up from behind Gintoki. "Hey, Gintoki, what's the hold up?" She then glanced in the direction that he was looking, only for her eyes to widen. "Oh…"

To their complete surprise, sitting there in the hallway was none other than Gintoki's friend, Hasegawa. And of course, sitting next to Hasegawa, was his wife, Hatsu.

Hasegawa eventually gave a nervous laugh as he waved at them. "Heh heh, oh hey, you two."

"Hasegawa?" mumbled Gintoki, confused. "What are you doing here in the…" He trailed off.

Eventually, Hatsu glanced at her husband, wondering what this strange encounter was all about. "Is everything all right, Taizou?" she asked.

Hasegawa quickly turned to her. "Yes, yes, of course. Everything's fine."

"Isn't that your friend?" she asked, pointing at Gintoki. "Gin-san, right?"

Hasegawa nodded. "Yes."

Hatsu smiled a little at this. She then stood up and approached Gintoki with a bow. "Hello, Gin-san. Do you remember me? I believe we've met before."

"Of course," said Gintoki slowly. "You're Hasegawa's wife, Hatsu," he explained, more for Tsukuyo than himself.

"That's me," the woman replied sweetly. She then glanced at Tsukuyo. "And you're Tsukuyo-san, correct? I attended your wedding, but I don't believe we got the chance to officially meet."

Tsukuyo blushed a little at this, remembering the reason why the two of them didn't get the chance to meet one another. The courtesan was still a little embarrassed to say the least…

"Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you," said Hatsu with another bow.

"Of course, the pleasure is all mine," said Tsukuyo, surprised at her politeness.

"And it was nice to see you too, Gin-san."

"Um, yeah, likewise…" Gintoki mumbled.

Hatsu then turned back to Hasegawa. "Well, should we head inside, Taizou?"

Hasegawa just paused as he stared at Gintoki. "Um, you go ahead. I'll be inside in just a moment."

Hatsu stared at him, then just shrugged and entered the room from which Gintoki and Tsukuyo had just exited. The couple just watched her until the door was closed. They then immediately turned on Hasegawa.

"Um, what the hell are you doing here?" Gintoki asked bluntly.

"Is there something you need to tell us, Hasegawa-san?" asked Tsukuyo with a frown.

Hasegawa simply started to sweat under their gaze. He quickly broke down and shot up out of his seat. "All right, all right, fine!" he shouted. "It's exactly what it looks like!"

Gintoki didn't really know what to say to this. "So then…Hatsu is pregnant, I take it?"

Hasegawa paused before answering. "Yes…As it turns out, I'm going to be a dad too, Gin-san…"

Gintoki was shocked to hear this. So much so that he ended up speechless.

Tsukuyo was also surprised, but was still able to form a response. "W-wow, Hasegawa, that's…that's great. Congrats."

Hasegawa smiled at this. "Thanks."

Suddenly, Gintoki unfroze. "Wait a second, you're having a kid too!? What the hell!? Why didn't you tell us!?"

"Shh!" Hasegawa hushed him. "Keep you voice down or else somebody might hear you!"

Tsukuyo gave him a curious look. "I don't understand…Is this some kind of secret?"

Hasegawa started nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, not really, but…"

Hasegawa then took a moment to shake his head. "Listen, I don't know why, but ever since good things started happening to me, I started having this feeling that I was just going to end up losing it all once again. From my nice job to my restored relationship with Hatsu, I started to wonder if things were too good to be true for a guy like me…"

Hasegawa paused. "The next thing I know, I find out that Hatsu and I are going to have a baby. When I heard that, I felt really happy. But at the same time, I thought, 'this is the one thing that I absolutely don't want to lose'. So…I decided to keep the news to myself, for now. You know, just so I wouldn't jinx it or anything, with my luck…"

Gintoki and Tsukuyo just stared at him with frowns, feeling incredibly bad for him.

"Hasegawa, you don't have to feel that way," said Tsukuyo sincerely.

"Yeah, don't you think you're overreacting a bit?" asked Gintoki.

"Hmm, maybe," said Hasegawa, looking down with a smile. "Heh, isn't it amazing though? I never thought that I would get this opportunity. I was starting to think that I had gotten too old. Or maybe that I was just too hopeless…But now…"

Hasegawa reached up and wiped away what appeared to be a tear out of his eye. "But now, maybe I should just accept that things are finally turning around for good."

Gintoki and Tsukuyo just stood there in silence, not really sure what to say.

"Gin-san," said Hasegawa quietly. "It seems that we both get the chance to experience fatherhood then…What do you say we make the best out of it?"

Gintoki stared at him for a moment, then just closed his eyes and smiled. "Heh, you idiot, shouldn't you be getting back to your wife? I think we've distracted you long enough."

Hasegawa simply smiled, even though Gintoki didn't directly answer his question. "Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll see you later then."

As Hasegawa made his way to the door, Gintoki called to his wife. "Come on, Tsukuyo. Let's go."

Tsukuyo glanced back and forth between them for a second, but soon nodded. "Right."

As they started to walk away, Hasegawa smiled once more as he put his hand on the doorknob.

"Hey, Hasegawa…"

Hasegawa paused after hearing the silver-haired samurai call his name. He stared at his back.

"Congrats."

Once they were outside, Tsukuyo crossed her arms and playfully scoffed at Gintoki. "What was that all about?"

Gintoki glanced back at her. "What?"

"Was it just me, or did it seem like you were in a hurry to get out of there towards the end?"

Gintoki gave her a confused look. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Tsukuyo smirked. "You weren't about to cry back there, were you?"

"No, of course not," he said, facing forward again. "Why, were you?"

Tsukuyo felt taken aback by this. "What? No…"

Silence fell between them for a moment, until Gintoki spoke up once more.

"I'm happy for him."

"Me too," Tsukuyo agreed.

Gintoki smirked. "Say, it is kind of funny though. As soon as we discover that we're going to have a kid, so does Hasegawa. Do you think it's fate?"

Tsukuyo smiled at this. "Hmm, who knows? Maybe everyone's going to start having kids," she suggested with a laugh.

Just then, the sound of two people shouting in the street interrupted them.

"Ikumatsu-dono!"

"Not now!"

As if on cue, a woman heading in the opposite direction brushed past them, only to be followed by a samurai desperately running after her.

"Ikumatsu-dono! Can't we talk some more about this!?"

"I said that I need to time to think, you fool!"

"What? No, wait! Ikumatsu-dono!"

Gintoki and Tsukuyo just stared at them run by without a word. After a few seconds passed, Gintoki simply resumed walking.

"Um, Gintoki," Tsukuyo called. "Was that Katsura just now?"

"Nope," he replied.

"I'm pretty sure that that was Katsura," she insisted.

"I'm pretty sure that we should just ignore it…"

That night…

Inside of a dark room, dimly lit by torches, stood several Naraku agents. They stood in two rows facing across from each other. They stood nearly shoulder to shoulder, and none of them budged an inch. Their positions created an aisle through the middle of the room.

At one end of the room, a man entered, wearing the same clothing as the rest of the Naraku. This man stood there for a moment, before slowly advancing along the path in-between the other Naraku. As he walked, he simply stared straight ahead. He didn't acknowledge the Naraku, and they likewise did the same.

Eventually, the man reached the end of the line. He then fell to the floor with a bow of respect. As he did this, the shadows before him shifted, and soon enough, another man appeared in front of him. This newcomer was shrouded in darkness, but announced his presence nevertheless.

"You," he spoke, pointing at the man kneeling before him. "You who had been called to join the Naraku as an exemplary agent that far exceeds the rest…You come to me now, having excelled in your training as an agent for both the Bakufu and the Tendoshu. This…is impressive."

The kneeling man grinned. "Thank you, sir."

"Based on this, you have earned yourself the very position that you have worked so hard for. From this point forward, you shall be known as the Naraku's one and only free assassin."

The man's grin widened. "I'm honored."

The man in the shadows lifted his spear, trademark of the Naraku, and struck the floor.

"Now rise, Yagami…"

The kneeling man known as Yagami did as he was told and soon rose to his feet. He now stood face to face with his superior.

"In addition to your new title," the superior continued, "you will also be receiving your first mission, as dictated by myself."

Yagami bowed his head. "Of course. What do you ask of your new assassin, Master Oboro?"

Just then, the light coming from the torches shifted slightly, revealing that it was indeed Oboro of the Naraku standing before the assassin.

"Your first mission, will be to kill some old war rebels that still draw breath. Even to this day, they still remain as threats to the government. They must be eliminated…"

Oboro paused for a moment. "Specifically, we want you to assassinate the previous disciples of a certain man…"

"Oh?" asked Yagami, growing curious.

"Yoshida Shoyo," Oboro breathed. "His disciples are unjust criminals. Over the past few years, they have caused several disturbances against the Bakufu. They simply must be eliminated in order to protect our interests."

"I see," said Yagami, smiling wickedly. "It would bring me great joy to take on such a mission."

"Excellent," Oboro praised him. He then went to hand a sketch to the assassin.

Yagami took it. "To kill the disciples of Shoyo, huh?"

"Yes," said Oboro, pointing at the sketch. "And the very first of your targets…shall be the Shiroyasha…"

Well, it seems like things are taking a darker turn towards danger and drama, just like always XD Don't worry, the villainy stuff won't take place right away, this is all just a setup. It's just to introduce the OC I made for this book. All you really need to know about him is that he's an assassin from the Naraku and his name is Yagami.

Where'd I get the name Yagami? Well, I thought to myself, "Hmm, I need to come up with a name for this villain…Oh hey, I like Light Yagami from Death Note…Huh, Yagami sounds pretty cool. Okay, I'll just use that." And the rest is history XD

Aside from that, I decided to treat Hasegawa nicely once again, this time in the form of a child. Yeah, I'm going to make Hasegawa a dad, in addition to Gintoki. I…I just really want the guy to have a nice life, okay? Is that so wrong? XD

When I wrote that little speech that Hasegawa gave about his bad luck, I was listening to the sad Gintama OST "Koko wa Samurai no Kuni Da". Honestly, when I listen to that and read what I wrote, I feel like I really nailed it. I actually managed to write a classic sad Gintama speech…I think XD

Anyways, that's about it. Thanks to the people that voted in my poll so far! And if you haven't yet, then please go do so! I'd love to get your input, for fun! Also please feel free to leave a review and please look forward to the next chapter! Next time: Tsukuyo makes a mistake…I'll see you all then!