Silver Moon – Book 5 Chapter 1

8 Months After the Events in Book 4…

It was a bright, warm morning in May. The sun was nearly center in the sky, shining down on the citizens of the city below it. Everyone was walking around the streets, enjoying the nice springtime weather.

Gintoki just sighed as he stared out his living room window. For him, it was just another day stuck in the house with his wife.

At this point in time, Tsukuyo was finally nearing the end of her pregnancy. After 9 long months of carrying the developing baby inside of her, it would only be a short matter of time before she would finally deliver it.

With that being the case, Gintoki ended up being forced to sit at home the entire time with his wife until it was time to deliver. He was not forced by Tsukuyo though, but by those two brats he called his employees of all people. Both Shinpachi and Kagura had insisted that Gintoki remain at home for the remainder of the pregnancy, encouraging him to spend time with Tsukuyo and be there for her.

Gintoki couldn't really complain too much. Despite his fears that Tsukuyo would become a completely unreasonable storm of anger due to the exhausting effects of pregnancy, she had honestly been quite manageable. Being the tough warrior that she was, Tsukuyo was not one to let things like exhaustion and hormones overcome her so easily. In fact, she had been rather patient and tolerant of her situation. Gintoki was proud of her for being able to stay positive despite the changes she was going through.

Today, however, was a completely different story.

Gintoki didn't know why, but today, of all days, Tsukuyo was behaving rather irritably. For some unknown reason, she was clearly in a bad mood. Something like this wasn't too unusual for the samurai though. He had seen Tsukuyo go through several "bad days" in the last 9 months. They were usually few and far between, but they still happened from time to time.

And today was one of those times.

Gintoki carefully glanced from the window to Tsukuyo, who sat a few feet away from him. She scowled at the floor as she gently rubbed her rounded stomach. It was obvious that she was not very happy right now.

Thankfully, Gintoki already knew what he had to do. He quietly and calmly picked up the latest copy of Shonen Jump and opened it up right in front of his face. With Shonen Jump being such a thick magazine, it was honestly the perfect protection for avoiding his wife's malice.

Oh, Shonen Jump he thought, thank you for letting me hide behind your walls! With you before me, I am safe!

Gintoki slowly and casually flipped through the pages, reading the latest manga chapters. Before long though, he began to sweat. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Tsukuyo would set her fiery gaze on him. Unfortunately for Gintoki, that moment came sooner rather than later.

"Hey, Gintoki," Tsukuyo suddenly called to him.

Gintoki jumped a little bit when he heard his name, but kept calm and remained embedded in his Jump. "Yes dear?" he called from behind the magazine.

There was a slight pause before Tsukuyo responded. "Gintoki…do you think I look fat?"

Gintoki tightly clenched his magazine, immediately starting to sweat some more. What kind of question is that!? Tsukuyo would never ask something like that, would she!? This is bad, it's clearly the hormones talking…I need to be careful in how I respond. Otherwise, I may very well be killed on the spot…

Gintoki quickly regained his composure. "What? No, of course not, honey…"

Tsukuyo was quiet for a moment longer, but Gintoki could suddenly feel her piercing gaze hitting the cover of his Jump.

"Gintoki," she continued, "do you still find me beautiful?"

Gintoki gulped a little, but stayed strong. "Of course, honey, you look great!"

Suddenly, a sharp kunai protruded from the pages of Jump. Gintoki flinched, realizing that Tsukuyo had just lodged a kunai right into his magazine. If it hadn't been for the thick pages of the manga, he could have been seriously hurt.

"Hey," Tsukuyo called in a deeper tone. "Look at me when I'm talking to you."

Gintoki started to tremble as he lowered Jump and looked at his wife. Stay calm he thought. She just broke one of our rules. I can use that against her…

"Um, Tsukuyo," he began cautiously, "remember what we said about handling kunai? Didn't we both agree that it's a little dangerous to be doing that in your condition?"

Tsukuyo scowled at him, realizing that he was right, and that she shouldn't have even had any weapons on her person in the first place. She simply huffed as she crossed her arms and looked away.

Gintoki breathed a small sigh of relief, glad that he had prevented her from getting any more violent. At times like these, he truly had to tread carefully for fear of losing his life.

Glancing down at what was left of his Jump, Gintoki frowned as he slowly removed the kunai from its pages. "I guess this is no longer readable…Too bad…"

"Yeah," Tsukuyo agreed in a tense tone, "too bad…"

Gintoki gently set the magazine and weapon aside before nervously drumming his fingers on his legs. "So…" he began casually, "how's it going, honey? Are you doing okay?"

Tsukuyo refused to look at him. "I'm fine," she insisted, almost in a snarl.

Gintoki just sighed as he shook his head. She's acting worse than usual he noted. Something must really be wrong. I know it might be risky to do this, but I should probably try to calm her down instead of just avoiding her…

"Are you sure?" Gintoki asked her. "You seem a little…tense. What's the problem, honey?"

Tsukuyo kept her arms crossed as she glared at him. "There is no problem, darling. Everything is just perfect, isn't it?"

"I…don't know about that," he replied nervously. "If something's wrong, tell me."

Tsukuyo glared at him for what seemed like an eternity. Gintoki tried to remain calm under the pressure, but still ended up sweating some more. Eventually, Tsukuyo looked away before reaching up her sleeve. She then pulled something out and slammed it on the table in front of them. Tsukuyo then crossed her arms again.

"Explain yourself," she demanded.

Gintoki just stared at what she had set on the table. To his surprise, it was a tiny figurine of Ketsuno Ana. To be more specific, it was his figurine of Ketsuno Ana.

"Oh," said Gintoki, honestly surprised that she had found such a thing.

"What is this?" Tsukuyo demanded.

"Th-That's, uh…Well, that's a figurine."

"Of who?"

"K-Ketsuno Ana," Gintoki admitted quietly.

"Why do you have it?" asked Tsukuyo, clearly not amused.

Gintoki nervously scratched the back of his head. "Well, you see, uh, this figurine is a very rare collector's item that might be worth a lot of money someday."

Tsukuyo glared at him, and he felt himself start to sweat some more. "Oh really? A collector's item, huh?"

Gintoki nodded. "Y-Yeah…"

Tsukuyo frowned, and then reached behind the chair she was sitting on. This time, she slammed a box down on the table. "Then what the hell is this, exactly!?"

Gintoki just stared at the box, slightly shook. Oh shit! She found my entire collection!

Gintoki tried to wave it off. "Oh, that stuff? More of the same. Just collector's items…"

Tsukuyo only glared at him even more after hearing that. "Do you really expect me to believe that?" Wasting no time, she began rummaging through the box. "Ketsuno Ana figurines. Ketsuno Ana posters. Ketsuno Ana weather broadcast videotape recordings. And this."

Gintoki froze when she pulled out a small piece of paper. Tsukuyo glared at him before gripping the paper tightly in her hands.

"A Ketsuno Ana autograph…signed for Gintoki Love."

Gintoki just went completely silent. He had a feeling that anything he said would only make this situation worse.

"Why do you have all this stuff!?" Tsukuyo asked in an angry tone.

Gintoki put his hands up in front of him, trying to defend himself. "Um, it doesn't really matter. Are you seriously that upset over some collectibles?"

"Of course I am, Gintoki!" Tsukuyo replied. She then crossed her arms. "It seems obvious to me that you have affections for this woman."

Gintoki nearly fell off of the couch. "What are you talking about!?"

"She apparently has feelings for you too," said Tsukuyo, pointing at the autograph.

"That's just a misunderstanding!" Gintoki explained. "She signed that for me after I helped her out a while back!"

Tsukuyo just went silent for a moment as she stared at the note. "And apparently it's still important to you…"

Gintoki didn't know what to say. "Well, yeah…"

"I see," said Tsukuyo quietly. She then threw the paper back into the box as her eyes suddenly started welling up with tears. "I guess you just find her more attractive than someone like me!"

Tsukuyo then hopped to her feet (which she did quite easily, despite her condition), and ran out of the room. Gintoki just watched her go with a lost expression. He then slowly faced forward again.

What the hell was that!? he wondered. This pregnancy thing has really dragged on long enough. The Tsukuyo I know would never get jealous over a figurine and a signed note, would she? Of course not! It's obvious that her emotions are running rampant today. Just my luck. Shinpachi and Kagura probably thought that they were doing me a favor by having me stay at home instead of working, but they've actually just locked me up here with my crazy pregnant wife…

Gintoki then gave a sigh as he rose to his feet. I better go calm her down…

Gintoki slowly approached their bedroom door, which by the looks of it, had been slammed shut. He then silently pushed his ear up against it, and managed to hear Tsukuyo softly crying inside. He then backed away with a sigh. He honestly hated the fact that he was the reason that his wife was crying right now, even if it was mostly the fault of her emotionally unstable mindset.

Taking a deep breath, Gintoki prepared himself and gently knocked on the door. After waiting a moment, he slowly slid it open. "Can I come in?" he asked.

Tsukuyo was sitting on their futon, and swiftly started wiping her tears away when she saw him. "What do you want?" she asked, sounding more hurt than angry.

Gintoki nearly rolled his eyes at this. Why does she have to be so overdramatic right now?

Despite this, Gintoki remained calm as he approached her. "I wanted to come talk to you."

Tsukuyo suddenly rose to her feet, making Gintoki stop in his tracks. "About what?" she said, crossing her arms in defense.

Gintoki paused as he tried to think of the right words. "Your feelings."

Tsukuyo's shoulders suddenly dropped a bit as her face showed a look of surprise. Nevertheless, she soon turned away in an effort to keep her distance. "Wouldn't you rather go talk with that attractive weather woman?" she replied harshly.

Gintoki felt like sighing again, but he held it in. She's not going to make this easy, is she?

"Listen, Tsukuyo, you can't really be mad about all that stupid merchandise, can you?" he asked softly. "You know that that stuff is just some old junk, right?"

"Junk?" repeated Tsukuyo. "You think it's junk?"

"Of course," Gintoki replied with a nod. Like hell, though. After this fiasco I'll definitely need to find a better hiding spot for my collection. Somewhere she'll never be able to find it…

Tsukuyo looked confused. "But if it's junk, why did you keep-"

"It's not important," he said, cutting her off. "The point I'm trying to make here, Tsukuyo, is that…well, I love you."

Upon hearing this, Tsukuyo's eyes widened and her lips started to quiver a bit, almost as if she had never heard those words from Gintoki before until this very moment. "You…you do?"

"Of course," Gintoki replied again. Isn't it completely obvious by this point, dummy? Haven't I said 'I love you' like a thousand times before now? Why are you acting like this is shocking news? I swear, this baby has really turned your brain into mush today.

Despite his inner thoughts, Gintoki put on a sincere smile. "Tsukuyo, believe me when I say this…There's no woman more beautiful than the one carrying my child."

Tsukuyo felt a few tears slide down her cheeks as she nervously clenched her big rounded stomach. "You…don't really mean that…do you?"

"It's the truth," he assured her. "I love you."

Tsukuyo slowly started to break down. "Oh, Gintoki…"

It was at this point he knew that he had won her over. "Come here," he said, holding out his arms.

She slowly walked forward until she found herself in his embrace. "I…love you too…" she admitted quietly.

"I know," he said, patting her head. He then held her for a few minutes, allowing her time to finish crying and finally calm down. He had a feeling that if she just let all of her emotions out, she might return to her normal self.

After a while, he looked down at her. "Do you feel better?"

Tsukuyo nodded before looking up at him. She surprisingly looked a little guilty.

"What's the matter?" he asked.

"I'm…sorry for what I did to your Jump…I didn't mean to ruin it like that…"

Um, yeah you did Gintoki thought to himself. "It's okay," he assured her. "I can just buy another copy later."

"I know," she replied, "but still, it wasn't right of me to do that. I feel terrible."

"Don't worry about it," he said. "It's clear that you're just a little emotional today because of the baby. It's no big deal."

Tsukuyo lightly smiled at him. "Gintoki…Thanks for being so understanding."

Gintoki smiled back at her. "You're welcome, honey."

They then leaned in and hugged once more. As they did this, Gintoki inwardly gave himself a huge pat on the back for having handled that chaotic situation as well as he did.

You did good, Gin-san. Tsukuyo is calm now, she's convinced that you're the sweetest husband in the world, and on top of it all, she's not even going to kill you! Plus, you stayed pretty calm throughout this too. That's right, you were the man that your wife needed you to be when she got a little mopey. It turns out you're actually pretty good when you're put under pressure. Good work, Gin-san!

"I really am sorry about my behavior though," Tsukuyo suddenly continued. "I've just been a little agitated because I've been experiencing contractions all day."

Gintoki immediately froze when he heard this, and felt like an alarm started going off in his head. He quickly shifted into a panic mode of sorts.

"C-Contractions!?" he stuttered. "H-Hey now, don't tell me…"

Tsukuyo gave him a blank stare. "What?"

Gintoki gulped as he stared at her stomach. "Sh-Should I be concerned?"

Tsukuyo realized what he was worried about, and quickly dismissed it. "No, of course not. I don't think it's time just yet."

"Are you sure?" asked Gintoki, clearly sounding unsure. "You're due any day now…"

"Oh, just relax, would you?" said Tsukuyo, clearly not concerned. "Trust me, when the time comes, I'll let you know."

"Well, okay…" Gintoki agreed hesitantly.

Tsukuyo then gave him a smile as she walked past him. "Now, if you don't mind, I think there are some chores I need to take care of."

As she walked off, Tsukuyo suddenly paused and placed a hand on her stomach. She then frowned as she felt some kind of popping sensation happen inside of her. Immediately following this, a small gush of water soaked her clothes from the waist down.

Tsukuyo just stared at this in disbelief. Uh oh…I think my water just broke…

Putting a nervous smile on her face, Tsukuyo turned back to look at Gintoki. "Um…I think it's time…"

Gintoki just watched all of this happen with a surprised expression. He just stared at her, completely lost. "Eh?" he muttered. "It's…It's time?"

"I think so," she replied, gently rubbing her stomach.

"But…But you just said that it wasn't time yet…"

"Well clearly I was wrong," Tsukuyo admitted.

Gintoki just didn't want to believe it. "Are you sure…?"

"Gintoki," Tsukuyo said sternly. "My water just broke. It's happening."

"Oh…"

The two of them stood in silence for a moment before the alarm in Gintoki's head went off on full blast.

"The baby's coming!?" he cried. "We need to go! Now!"

"Ah, okay," she said, nodding.

Gintoki quickly ran to her side. "Come on. Let's go. Can you walk? Do I need to carry you?"

"I can walk just fine," Tsukuyo assured him.

"Right, of course," he said. He then frantically looked back and forth. "What do we need? Do we need to bring stuff?"

"I packed a bag for this moment," Tsukuyo reminded him. "Could you grab it for me?"

"Right, the bag!" Gintoki ran off to fetch it. He was back in an instant. "Here, got it," he said between breaths.

That was fast! thought Tsukuyo, surprised. "Thanks."

"Okay, okay," he said frantically. "We have Tsukuyo, and the bag…All right, let's go!"

"Okay," she agreed. Gintoki quickly ushered her out of the house as fast as he could. Once they were outside, he began frantically searching for something again.

"The hospital!" he shouted. "We have to get to the hospital!"

"You won't find the hospital by looking around like that, you know," said Tsukuyo as a sweat drop rolled down her forehead.

"We need a taxi!" he declared. "I'll go find one!"

Wasting no time, Gintoki ran off down the street, leaving Tsukuyo alone outside of their house. She just gave a sigh as she stood there. She knew that he'd be back soon enough.

As it turned out, she was right. Only a few moments had passed before Gintoki reappeared. "Tsukuyo, I've got one!"

Tsukuyo just stared in disbelief as she watched Gintoki physically push a taxi car towards her. He was literally bringing the taxi to her. Gintoki didn't stop until the vehicle was parked right in front of her. Once he was done, he pulled open the door and gestured for her to get inside.

"Let's go," he said in between ragged breaths.

Just then, the taxi driver stuck his head out of the window and started yelling at Gintoki. "Hey you, what the hell do you think you're doing to my-"

The driver then paused before frowning. "Oh, it's you."

Gintoki soon recognized him as Zenzo of all people. "You!? What the hell are you doing in a taxi!?"

"I'm doing this for some extra cash," the ninja calmly explained.

Gintoki just shook his head, too worked up to care right now. "Whatever, can you just drive us to the hospital!?"

"The hospital?" Zenzo repeated. "Why? Is your wife having a kid or something?"

"What's it look like!?" Gintoki barked back at him. "Come on, Tsukuyo, get in."

Tsukuyo didn't really know what was going on, but she just shrugged and followed Gintoki's instruction. She climbed into the taxi and got comfortable. Gintoki jumped in next to her.

"Get us to the hospital, Hemorrhoids-san!"

"That's not my name," said Zenzo with a sigh. Nevertheless, he did as he was told and started driving.

In the back seat, Tsukuyo stared at Gintoki as he continued to freak out. He truly looked like he was starting to have a panic attack.

"We'll be fine," he muttered. "Everything's going to be okay. No need to worry…"

Tsukuyo frowned at him. "Gintoki, would you please calm down? You're making me nervous…"

"Calm down!?" he shouted, turning to look at her. "How can I calm down when your stomach just turned into a time-bomb!?"

Tsukuyo just stared at him. "Time-bomb…?"

"It could go off any minute now!"

"Gintoki, you're clearly overreacting so would you just relax and-"

Tsukuyo paused, and then winced as she held her stomach. "Ow…"

Gintoki immediately noticed her pained expression. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I just had another contraction," she said, rubbing her stomach. "It kind of hurt…"

Gintoki just stared at her for a second before taking a deep breath. He then reached out and grabbed her hand. "It's okay," he told her. "I'm here."

Tsukuyo smiled at this, happy that he had calmed down a bit. "I'm glad."

Gintoki just took another small breath as he closed his eyes. What a crazy day he thought. First I had to calm Tsukuyo down, and now I have to help get her through this? Being a father really does come with a lot of pressure…Still, it's not like it can be helped…

Gintoki then opened his eyes and glanced at Tsukuyo's stomach.

This kid has been nothing but trouble today.

Hey everyone! I'm finally back with the first chapter of Book 5! Sorry this took a while, but there's been some life stuff going on that doesn't leave me as much time for writing. I'm still getting around to it though, so no worries.

Well, welcome to Book 5, I guess. I'm going to wait until next chapter to provide a teaser summary for the arc, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait to know what it's about. You'll also have to wait to find out what gender the baby is, but all should be revealed next chapter! :) As for now, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I tried to make it both funny and sweet, so let me know if you liked it.

A few notes: Ketsuno Ana's autograph signed for "Gintoki Love" is supposed to be from the Diviner Arc. Gedomaru promised that she would get it for him after he helped them out, so I assume that she eventually did XD I also decided to have Zenzo drive the taxi because I thought it would add a little bit to the chapter. I seem to recall one episode where he was delivering pizza, so I figured why not let him drive a taxi for a bit? I don't know, maybe it was too random XD

Well, that's it for now. Please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and also look forward to the next one! Next time, we'll finally get introduced to a new character…probably XD See you then!