Silver Moon – Book 5 Chapter 3

Gintoki made his way back to the waiting room to find everyone still sitting there, even though it was starting to get late. He greeted them all with a smile. "Hey, how's everyone doing?"

Kagura immediately got up in his face. "Hey, how much longer are you going to make us wait, bastard?"

Otose was quick to follow with a death glare. "We want to meet the baby, perm-head."

Gintoki put his hands up in defense. Did I make them wait too long? he wondered. "W-Well, good news! You guys can finally come see her."

Their faces immediately brightened. "Really?"

"Y-Yeah, everyone follow me," he instructed. He then wiped the sweat off of his brow. I think I was nearly killed there!

The group followed the samurai down the hall until they reached Tsukuyo's room, where they finally laid eyes upon the thing they had been waiting for.

"Wow…"

Tsukuyo smiled at them. "Come on in."

The group filed in quietly, all of them trying to get a good look at the baby while she sat in Tsukuyo's arms. Tsukuyo found herself amused by their reactions.

"Hinowa," she called, "would you like to hold her first?"

Hinowa nodded silently, and Tsukuyo willingly handed the baby over. The courtesan flashed the biggest smile she could as she received her. "Oh my…You weren't lying, Tsukuyo. She really is beautiful."

Kagura and Otose leaned forward a little when they heard this, trying to get a better look. They were both clearly eager to get their own turn.

"What's her name?" asked Hinowa.

"Kyoko," said Tsukuyo. "Sakata Kyoko."

"What a lovely name…" said Hinowa as she continued to admire the girl.

"Gintoki came up with it," Tsukuyo revealed. "Isn't that right?"

Gintoki suddenly got a little embarrassed. He started scratching the back of his head. "Well, you know, the kid needed a name and all…"

Gintoki then paused as he suddenly noticed that Katsura was staring at him. Upon looking closer, he realized that Katsura's eyes were starting to water, and his lips were shaking. "Hey, what's up with you?" he asked.

Out of nowhere, Katsura ran forward and clung to Gintoki. "G-Gintoki!" he cried.

"Ah! What the hell!?" Gintoki struggled under the sudden embrace. "What's the matter with you?"

"I'm…I'm just so happy for you!" Katsura cried as he continued to hug him. "This is such a wonderful day!"

Gintoki could feel himself start to sweat. "All right, all right! Can you let go now, Zura? This is getting embarrassing…"

"As your friend…I'm just so glad that you found your happiness!"

"Hey, can you stop? I get it, I get it!"

"G-Gintokiiiii!"

"Stop crying already!"

Thankfully for Gintoki, nobody was paying them any mind. The rest of the room was still enamored with the newborn.

Seita stared at Kyoko from his mother's side. "She sure is cute, isn't she Mom?"

"Yes, she is," said Hinowa, nodding. "Would you like to hold her next?"

"Sure!" the boy exclaimed. He carefully took the baby into his arms and held her. Tsukuyo gave a heartfelt smile at this.

"Ha ha, she's so adorable!" said Seita, smiling.

Otose suddenly leaned a bit closer with a grim look on her face. "Hey, let someone else have a turn, would you?"

Kagura did the same. "We want to see her too, you know."

"Sorry Seita," Tsukuyo apologized with a smile. "We probably shouldn't let those two wait any longer."

The boy nodded in understanding, and passed the newborn on to Otose. The old woman just stared at the baby with an amazed look. "I can't believe it…My granddaughter…"

Gintoki just rolled his eyes at this. "You do know that she's not actually your grandkid, right?"

"Oh, shut up," she told him. "You know that I think of you as family, even if you're a real mess most of the time." Otose then went back to staring at the baby. "Wow, she's beautiful…Are you sure she's yours, Gintoki?"

Gintoki just shook his head at her. "Very funny, Gran."

Kagura soon started tugging on the old lady's sleeve. "Hey, Gran, let me hold her!"

"Wait for you turn!" Otose told her.

"You didn't even wait for your turn, Otose-san…" Shinpachi reminded her.

"Fine, take her," said Otose, sighing in defeat.

"Yay!" said Kagura, finally getting her chance to hold the baby. "Aw, how cute! You're just a little thing, huh? Don't worry, you'll grow up to be really strong, won't you, Kyoko-chan?"

Kagura just smiled at the newborn, obviously not expecting a response. "Hey, she got Tsukky's eyes. I guess that's better than getting your dead fish eyes, right Gin-chan?"

"There's nothing wrong with my eyes!" said Gintoki defensively.

"Hey, Leader, let me see her next!" Katsura called out.

Gintoki immediately froze before suddenly reaching out and grabbing Katsura's arm. "Nope. No way."

"Huh?" said Katsura. "What?"

"You can't hold her."

"What!? Why not!?" Katsura whined.

"You're too weird," Gintoki explained. "You could end up passing your weirdness onto her."

"No I won't!" Katsura shouted. "I'll keep it to myself! I swear!"

"So you're not denying that you're weird then?" Shinpachi mumbled.

"No way," said Gintoki, shaking his head. "There's something wrong with your brain, and kids are easily impressionable, so it just won't work out."

"That's ridiculous!" Katsura insisted.

"Besides, she doesn't like you anyway," Gintoki added.

"What!?"

"Listen, she's started crying because you said you wanted to hold her."

"She hasn't started crying!"

"Yes she has, just listen."

"I don't hear anything!"

"She's saying 'Zura's weird.'"

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!"

"Could you two shut up!?" Otose finally shouted. "If you don't stop, you're going to make Kyoko upset for real!"

Gintoki and Katsura quickly became quiet. Just then, Tsukuyo spoke up. "Gintoki, come here for a second."

Gintoki came closer to her and she gestured for him to lean in. He did so, before Tsukuyo suddenly grabbed him by the ear and pulled it right next to her mouth.

"Just let him hold the damn kid, would you?" she whispered, almost in a hiss.

"Yeow! Okay, okay!" he whispered back. "Just let me go!"

She did so, and Gintoki started rubbing his ear to soothe it. "Fine, Zura you can hold her."

Katsura looked surprised. "What? R-Really!?"

"Yeah, whatever…"

Katsura's face lit up. "That's great! Leader, hand her over!"

Kagura stared at him suspiciously, but ended up complying with his request. "Don't mess up her brain, Zura. She might need it someday, unlike you."

"Nonsense," Katsura replied. "I would only use the utmost care when handling an infant such as little Kyoko."

"Don't drop her either," said Gintoki, crossing his arms. "That's what happened to you when you were a baby, right?"

This comment only earned Gintoki a rough elbow in the side from his wife. He promptly shut up as he doubled over in pain.

Katsura just ignored him. He was too busy fawning over the baby in his arms. "Oh my…Gintoki, you are so fortunate to have been blessed with this wonderful gift! She's a little beauty!"

Gintoki was about to make another rude comment in response to him, but stopped once he caught Tsukuyo's glare. "Be nice," she hissed.

Take your own advice Gintoki thought as he started to sweat, a little scared. "Y-Yeah, thanks, it means a lot, Zura."

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!" he corrected him. He then turned back to the newborn in his arms. "You're not going to call me Zura, are you, Kyoko?"

The baby just stared up at him with wide eyes, almost as if she was fixated on him. Gintoki noticed this and found it strangely unsettling. "O-Okay, Zura, that's enough. Let someone else hold her now! You'd like to hold her, right Shinpachi!?"

Shinpachi looked like he was caught off guard. "Huh? Oh, um, yeah, of course!"

"Oh, very well then," said Katsura, handing her over.

Gintoki breathed a small sigh of relief, feeling like he had just saved his infant from picking up all kinds of strange mannerisms and quirks. The mere thought of his kid adopting a personality like Zura's was enough to make him shiver. Meanwhile, Tsukuyo just shook her head and rolled her eyes at him, believing that he was truly worrying over nothing.

"She really is cute, Gin-san," said Shinpachi, smiling. "Would you like to see her, Sis?"

Otae took a closer look and her eyes sparkled. "Oh, so cute!" she exclaimed. "When she grows up, she'll probably be a real beauty, catching the eyes of all the boys."

This comment made Gintoki freeze. "E-Eh? Boys…?"

Otae just stared at him. "Well, of course. I'm sure that a cute girl like Kyoko will grow up to be quite an attractive young lady."

Gintoki clenched his teeth as the realization set in. Sh-Shit! he cursed. I…I was worried about Zura, but I never considered BOYS! Boys are the worst! They're disgusting, rude, and evil pieces of shit! Like hell I'll ever let them lay a finger on Kyoko!

"Um, Gin-san?" Shinpachi piped up. "Are you okay? You look kind of…crazy…"

"Hey, Shinpachi…" said Gintoki, flashing an insane grin. "How much longer do you plan on holding her, huuuuuhhh?"

Shinpachi stared at that grin before he started to panic. "Oh, I don't have to keep holding her! Here, you hold her, Sis!"

Shinpachi handed Kyoko away as fast as he could, fearing what Gintoki might do if he touched the child any longer. Meanwhile, Gintoki just nodded his head slowly in approval, all the while still grinning and now mumbling to himself.

"That's right," he said under his breath. "Not a single finger…"

In response, Tsukuyo just smacked him on the back of his head. "Snap out of it, moron."

After resting in the hospital for a few days, both Tsukuyo and Kyoko were allowed to come home. Naturally, Gintoki tried his best to make a ceremony out of it.

"Welcome home, Kyoko!" he said as he swung the door open. He lifted the child up while she sat in her baby carrier. "This is where we live. I'd give you a tour, but, eh, you'll probably find your way around on your own."

"Tch, you're a big help," said Tsukuyo, rolling her eyes as she followed behind him.

Gintoki shrugged. "What? I can't do everything for her. She needs to learn how to survive on her own."

"She's just a baby," Tsukuyo reminded him. "She'll need a lot of help before she starts doing anything on her own."

Gintoki just stared at his daughter. "You want some kind of special treatment or something? Fine, fine, I guess I can spoil you for a bit…"

"A bit?" said Tsukuyo, shaking her head. "Oh please, Gintoki. You'll be a complete sucker for Kyoko as she grows up. She'll have you wrapped around her finger."

"No way," he replied. "As it stands, I'm the man of the house, which traditionally puts me in charge. I'll be making my own decisions, whether Kyoko likes it or not."

"Man of the house?" said Tsukuyo, rolling her eyes again. "Spare me…"

Tsukuyo then walked out of the room. Once she was gone, Gintoki turned and started whispering to his daughter as she lay in his arms. "Say, Kyoko, if daddy and mommy ever get into a fight, you'll be on my side, right?"

Kyoko just stared at him with her violet eyes. She then ignored him by looking around the room at her leisure.

Gintoki smiled at her. So carefree he thought.

Just then, Tsukuyo came back into the room, but soon started heading for the door. "I'm heading out," she announced.

Gintoki paused. "What? You are? But you just got home from the hospital!"

"Yeah, so what? We need groceries," she explained. "I'll also buy you a new copy of Jump while I'm out, since I ruined your old one."

Gintoki looked shocked. "Wait a second, but that means…you're leaving me and Kyoko here alone?"

Tsukuyo just stared at him. "Well, yeah…What's the problem?"

Gintoki didn't know what to say. He'd never been alone with his child before. "I don't know…I mean, what if something goes wrong?"

"Then just do something about it, 'man of the house'," said Tsukuyo shaking her head. "I won't be gone long. Just keep Kyoko alive until I get back, okay?"

Gintoki just stared at his daughter. "Well, all right."

Tsukuyo smiled at him and gave him a light kiss on the cheek before heading out the door. After that, it was just Gintoki and Kyoko alone inside the house. He decided to lift her out of her carrier and hold her in his arms.

"Hmph, there's nothing to worry about," said Gintoki, feeling confident. "I guess it's just you and me, squirt. What do you want to do?"

The baby just squirmed a bit in his embrace.

"Not ready for a nap, I take it?" Gintoki questioned her. He then shook his head a bit before carrying her into the living room.

"Eh…"

Gintoki paused. "What's that?"

"Ehhhhhh."

Gintoki noticed that Kyoko was starting to look uncomfortable. He raised an eyebrow at her as her face turned a bit red.

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh!"

Gintoki's eyes widened as his ears were hit full blast by Kyoko's sudden cry. He looked at her with worry, wondering what had caused such a sudden outburst from his peaceful child.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter!?" he said.

Naturally, Kyoko just continued to cry.

"What is it? Are you hungry?" he asked, still not sure what the problem was. "Mommy said she'd be back soon. It's not my fault she chose to abandon us!"

Kyoko kept crying, ignoring his stupid joke.

"Would it help if I rocked you?" Gintoki asked. He started gently swaying her back and forth in his arms. "Shh, come on, be good for daddy, please…"

The poor girl just continued to cry. With nothing working, Gintoki started to grow a little flustered. "I don't understand, what's the matter?" Gintoki then paused as he felt something moist on his arm. "Wait a second…"

Growing curious, Gintoki decided to check the baby's bottom. Sure enough, it was damp.

"Oh, so that's the problem," said Gintoki, a little relieved that he finally figured it out. "Why didn't you say so? We can get you changed."

Gintoki went ahead and quickly set up a small changing station for himself. Once it was prepared, he laid Kyoko down and took the liberty of opening up her diaper. He then paused once he realized he was in for more than what he bargained for.

Gintoki just stared at his daughter with a blank face. "Hey, you're more than just wet…What the hell is this pixelated thing supposed to be, huh?"

Kyoko continued to cry, basically ignoring him until he fixed her problem. Gintoki just face-palmed himself a bit and sighed. "Well, I'd probably cry too if I had to carry around something like that. Let's get you taken care of."

Thankfully, Gintoki knew what he was doing and was able to take care of the mess in no time. He managed to change Kyoko into a fresh diaper, after which the child finally started to settle down. Gintoki picked her back up.

"There, see? It wasn't that bad. Daddy took care of it pretty well, right?"

Kyoko just stared at him, eventually causing Gintoki to shrug. At least she had stopped her bawling.

"I think I'll take that as a 'thank you'." Gintoki then proceeded to carry his daughter back into the living room. "Well, now that all of that excitement is out of the way, you must be tired. Are you ready for a nap?"

"Mmmmm," Kyoko fussed.

Gintoki just stared at her, completely puzzled. "More tears? What is it this t-"

Gintoki paused as he felt moisture on his arm again. After doing a quick double-take, he felt the baby's bottom once more. "Don't tell me…Seriously, again!? But I just changed you!"

Kyoko slowly started working herself up into a fuss again, and Gintoki just sighed under the stress of it all. "You've gotta be freaking kidding me…"

About an hour later, Tsukuyo finally walked through the front door with groceries in her arms. "I'm back!" she called.

Gintoki instantly appeared in front of her, looking alarmed. "Shh! Be quiet, woman! Kyoko just fell asleep!"

Tsukuyo felt taken aback. "Oh, my apologies…"

Gintoki just shook his head. "It's not a big deal, just keep your voice down. Otherwise, you might wake her."

"Understood," said Tsukuyo, nodding. "Care to give me a hand with these?"

"Yeah," Gintoki agreed, taking some of the bags out of her hands.

"So how'd it go here?" asked Tsukuyo quietly. "Were you two okay while I was gone?"

Gintoki just let out a heavy sigh. "Well, the kid's alive. That's what you wanted, right?"

Tsukuyo frowned. "Well, I know that's what I asked for, but I was at least hoping she'd be in good condition too."

"Kyoko is fine," said Gintoki. "Trust me, if anyone was in danger of losing their life, it would've been me."

Tsukuyo stared at him skeptically. "It couldn't have been that bad."

"No, seriously," Gintoki insisted. "Kyoko can be a real trouble-maker when she wants to be. That's becoming clearer and clearer to me now."

"Come on, you're exaggerating," said Tsukuyo, shaking her head.

"Oh yeah?" asked Gintoki. "Just wait until tomorrow when I go back to work. You'll finally get your chance to be alone with her."

"Wow, I'm so worried I'm shaking," said Tsukuyo sarcastically. She then snickered at him.

Gintoki just stared at her before shaking his head. He then started rummaging through the bags, looking for his promised copy of Jump. "You'll see, it's not as easy as you think."

Tsukuyo crossed her arms. "How bad could it be?"

Sure enough, the next day came around and Gintoki went back to work. This left Tsukuyo and her daughter alone inside the house for the day, which the courtesan really didn't mind. She managed to keep an eye on the infant while attending to all of her usual chores throughout the morning. And, as she expected, the morning passed by very smoothly with no issues to be had.

I knew this would be simple Tsukuyo thought smugly to herself. Kyoko has been as peaceful as could be, sleeping through the whole morning.

Tsukuyo decided to go check on her once more, and entered baby's room which was down the hall from her own. As she walked up to the crib, she found Kyoko still asleep within. Tsukuyo was a bit surprised though to find that the child wasn't resting as peacefully as she was before. She was starting to uncomfortably squirm while in her slumber.

Is she waking up? Tsukuyo wondered. She decided to gently reach down and rub Kyoko's back in an attempt to soothe her.

Unfortunately, this only made things worse. After feeling Tsukuyo's touch, Kyoko immediately awoke and began to cry out in a loud wail.

Tsukuyo was taken aback for a moment. "Oops, I'm sorry, Kyoko. Did mommy startle you?"

Kyoko just drowned out her words with her loud crying. Tsukuyo winced a little bit as she reached down and picked her up out of the crib.

"Calm down, it'll be okay," she said. "You weren't sleeping for too long, were you? You probably get that from your father…"

Kyoko just cried louder. Tsukuyo felt surprised.

"Okay, okay, no jokes…What's the matter?"

Tsukuyo tried her best to rock her and calm her down, but it was to no avail. The poor child had apparently woken up in a bad mood.

"I don't understand what's wrong," said Tsukuyo after a while. "Won't you please calm down?"

Just then, the phone started ringing. This noise along with the constant wailing coming from Kyoko made Tsukuyo start to feel like she was going a little crazy. Taking a deep breath, she supported Kyoko with one arm before picking up the phone with the other.

"Hello?" she tried to ask through the noise.

"Hey, Tsukuyo, it's me."

She immediately recognized that it was Gintoki. "Oh, hey…"

"I was just calling in to check on you…By any chance, is that noise in the background what I think it is?"

Tsukuyo frowned a bit. "She just woke up and she's a little fussy, that's all."

"I see. So you're taking care of it?"

"Of course," said Tsukuyo quickly. "I'll get her to settle down very soon."

As if to prove her wrong, Kyoko immediately started wailing louder. Tsukuyo just closed her eyes and frowned harder. "Kyoko, not now…"

"Heh, not as easy as it looks, huh?" said Gintoki in a taunting tone.

"No, we're doing fine," Tsukuyo insisted.

"Really? Because, after yesterday, I am a bit of a veteran at this, you know. If you need me to come home early and give you a hand…"

"No way in hell," Tsukuyo told him fiercely. "I can handle this just fine on my own!"

"Seriously?" asked Gintoki, still sounding smug. "Put Kyoko on the phone, let me see what she thinks."

"Very funny, idiot," said Tsukuyo, getting upset. "Don't you have work to do?"

"My family comes first," he stated proudly.

"Oh, go to hell," Tsukuyo spat back before hanging up the phone. She then turned her attention back to Kyoko.

"We'll get this taken care of," she announced. "We don't need daddy's stupid help, isn't that right?"

Kyoko simply kept crying. Tsukuyo could only sigh. "I'm starting to think you're really not on my side here…"

Tsukuyo tried to feed her, but she wasn't hungry. She checked if she needed changed, but that wasn't the issue either. Tsukuyo was starting to feel completely helpless.

"Please, Kyoko," Tsukuyo sighed. "Won't you calm down? You're starting to drive mommy crazy…"

Suddenly, Tsukuyo noticed that Kyoko's cries were beginning to peter out. Her eyes widened as she stared at her. Did she exhaust herself from crying for so long? she wondered.

Seizing this opportunity, Tsukuyo quickly grabbed a blanket and decided to gently swaddle Kyoko inside of it. Once the baby was comfortable, Tsukuyo set to work rocking her in her arms and calmly shushing her.

If my guess is correct, she's just tired thought Tsukuyo, determined. This should finish her off!

Sure enough, after repeating these actions for a while, Kyoko's cries finally softened until they completely disappeared. It was soon after that the infant finally closed her eyes and dozed back into slumber.

Tsukuyo stared at her for a while, making absolutely sure that she was asleep. She then felt like breathing a huge sigh of relief, but held it in for fear of ruining what she had just accomplished. Moving as quietly as she could, Tsukuyo soon managed to place Kyoko back into her crib, before sneaking out of the room.

Finally she thought. That was rough…

That evening, Gintoki returned home. He made sure to make a quiet entrance, so as to not to potentially wake his newborn if she happened to be sleeping. He made his way into the living room, where he soon spotted Tsukuyo sitting on the couch. In return, she noticed him, and just stared at him.

"So," Gintoki said calmly, "how'd it go today?"

Tsukuyo just turned away. "It went fine," she said.

"Oh really?" asked Gintoki with a smirk. "Are you sure it wasn't difficult at any point?"

Tsukuyo frowned at his remark before standing up. "I need to go check on dinner," she said before walking away from him.

Gintoki simply watched her go before she eventually stopped in the doorway to the kitchen. She then glanced back at him, before looking away.

"You…may have had a point…" she mumbled.

And with that, she disappeared into the kitchen.

Gintoki just crossed as arms as he shook his head. He then smiled. "Told you so."

And that seems like a good place to leave things off. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, finding it cute or funny or something. I suppose I should apologize for the wait. Unfortunately, one of the cables in my computer broke and I had to get a replacement put in. And of course, this chapter was just sitting in there mostly finished and basically waiting to be posted while I had to wait in fear of possibly losing the file. Damn, I hate computer trouble. Well, at least everything seems okay now.

Anyways, we need to do something that I actually completely forgot to do earlier. We need to recognize and celebrate the third anniversary of this story! Yeah, I was supposed to notice this back in January, but I completely forgot! XD I don't even have an excuse; I just forgot XD Well, there's nothing wrong with celebrating in March, right?

Man, I can't believe I've been writing this story, and others, for over three years now. It honestly doesn't feel like it's been that long at all. I really am thankful for everyone who's stuck with me all this time, or found me in the meantime! You guys know I love you all :)

I feel like every chapter, I end up making some kind of comment that goes "I hope you enjoyed this" or "I hoped you liked that". Sometimes, it makes me feel like I'm almost begging you guys to go easy on me, desperately asking you to enjoy my story XD I know that's not the case (probably), since I know that after delivering 75+ chapters worth of content, you guys have probably found something worth sticking around for. Once again, thank you all for the support :)

Well, now I feel like I've rambled on for too long. Sorry, but you guys know how I am. Anyways, please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts on the chapter and look forward to the next one! Next time, Gintoki and Tsukuyo continue to learn about being parents. See you all then!