Chapter 4
Suddenly, the doorbell rang so Kagura went to answer it. Standing at the door was Otae, Kondou, Hasegawa, Hijikata, Okita, Ayame, Tsukuyo, Kyuubei,Tojo, Otose,Catherine, Tama, Katsura, Elizabeth and Ikumatsu, while Otose held a cake for Gin.
Once they see Gin in the kitchen, they come in and shout, "Happy Birthday!"
Surprised, Gin asks, "Why are you all here? I didn't think anyone even remembered my birthday."
Shinpachi smiled and simply said, "That's what we wanted you to think,Gin-san."
The silver-haired samurai simply smiled and said, "Go put the cake down. The food's almost done anyway."
Once they all sat at the table, Shinpachi served Gin then everyone else. As they ate, Kondou slipped out and brought a bunch of packages from the police cruiser.
"Presents before or after cake?" he asked.
"After Gorilla, let's just eat," Gin answered as he continued to eat.
The Shinsengumi commander set the gifts down and sat back in his seat and finishes with the others. After dinner, Shinpachi sat besides the birthday boy as he settled to blow out his candles.
'Hm, I just wish to have my family here in Kabuki-chou, happy and healthy. That's good enough, I guess,' Gin thought.
When the candles were blown out, Otae gathered them up as Shinpachi gave him the knife to make the first cut. Kagura was nearly drooling on the cake so Otae quickly cut pieces up. As soon as Gin had taken a bite, the Yato girl had devoured her piece.
"Kagura-chan, relax. We have enough cake for all of us, enough for three or four a person," the young wife reassured.
Once everyone had their fill of cake, Kondou handed Otae the presents so she could give them one at a time to the sweets addict.
She handed him the first one that was a simple envelope from Otose, which he asked, "What is this Babaa? Cheap much?"
"Baka, look inside!" the older woman retorted.
When he looked inside, it said that he didn't have to pay the rent for two months with Otose's signature at the bottom.
Gin smiled slightly and said, "Thanks Babaa."
"Here's Isao-kun's!" Otae proudly presented to him.
"Another envelope huh?" the sweets samurai said as he opened it.
Inside was another note that said Kondou would pay for any repairs to his scooter by Gengai for six months, it also had Kondou's signature at the bottom.
Gin was touched that they had given him such intangible gifts. His birthday was hard to get through since he always had bittersweet memorie of Sensei, Zura and Takasugi.
"Thanks Gorilla," he simply stated.
Next he got a cheap bobble head of himself from Catherine, who in return got a bump on the noggin. Gin recieved a porn magazine from Okita, who Hijikata smacked for that stunt.
"Gintoki, my present has already been recieved. I paid for the large cake I hope you all enjoyed," Kyuubei announced.
He chuckled and replied, "Well no wonder it was so good, it was probably expensive."
Hasegawa brought him a bottle of rice wine and he whispered, "It's for special occassions okay?"
Gin just shook his head at his friend and said, "So what else is there?"
Ayame came over and put her bow on her head while she told him, "I'm your present Gin-san."
His eye twitched and would have hit her but Tsukuyo beat him to it.
"Tsukky! Why are you hitting me?" the kunoichi shouted in shock.
Tsukuyo glared at her friend and replied, "Sarutobi, you're ruining Gintoki's birthday. Just behave yourself," the Hyakka leader said harshly, as she was so close to attacking that Gin came over.
He tried to say, "Tsukuyo, maybe you shouldn't-"
Just then, she punched him hard in the face and he flew into the couch.
Kagura was horrified when she saw that the whiskey bon-bons that her friend had bought had one missing and the Yato girl exclaimed, "Gin-chan, Tsukky's drunk! The bon-bons!"
"Oh come on, I can't get away from this abuse on my birthday even?!" Gin cursed loudly.
Before Tsukuyo could do anymore damage, Ayame suddenly flung herself into action and knocked her out quickly and painlessly.
"Sorry Gin-san, I just acted silly. I thought Tsukky was just jealous and gave her one. No one said those had alcohol in them," the masochist apologized and hung her head, "It's my fault."
He went and put his hand on her shoulder and smiled while saying, "Don't worry so much, I should have figured I couldn't get away from all this even today.I kind of missed this craziness actually!"
"Thanks Gin-san. I'll behave for you," Ayame said meekly as she went to dress more appropriately.
Otae came over and told Kagura and Gin, "Thank you, you both handled this well. Here is Tsukuyo-san's gift of whiskey bon-bons Gin-san."
She gave him the box and Gin smiled as he took it.
"I'll thank her when she wakes up then. Okay, who's next?" the birthday boy asked.
Ikumatsu went over to Gin and handed him an envelope, "Here Gin-san, open it."
He ripped open the envelope to find a handmade coupon for fifty percent all ramen at her shop for a year.
The sweets samurai smiled and said gratefully, "Ikumatsu, you know me all too well and how poor I am. Thanks, we'll definitely be using this. We all can use this?"
"Of course, the Yorozuya is always welcome," the older woman said with a sincere smile on her face.
Next was Tojo, who sneakily gave him an envelope that seemed to have something...different inside. He seemed to discreetly make sure no one saw what it was, especially Kyuubei.
"What is this? You seem to be hiding it from Kyuubei," Gin asked quietly so no one could hear him.
Tojo darted his eyes and said in a whisper, "Two tickets for a strip show, you could bring a friend. Who knows, you could bring me or something."
Gin's eye started to twitch before he said, "Hey Kyuubei, do you mind hitting this pervert for me?" as he tucked the envelope into his kimono.
Gulping, Tojo waited as he expected a beating but he heard Kyuubei sigh.
"Can't you just behave today Tojo?" the young woman with an eyepatch spoke in a quiet voice.
Everyone was surprised especially Tojo but they just chuckled at his luck. They were glad that some of them could be mature and that Kyuubei had calmed down on dealing with Tojo.
"I'm sorry Waka," the blonde man said as he sat down next to her and was quieter.
Hijikata exhaled his cigarette and said, "Here Shiroyasha-dono, this is your present."
He handed him an envelope and, when Gin saw it, he asked, "This is appropriate to open here right?"
"I'm not like him," as he pointed to Tojo, "or Sougo. I got you something simple but appropriate."
The silver-haired samurai chuckled and said, "Thanks then Mayora."
When he opened the envelope and found tickets to the new Alien vs. Yakuza movie inside, Gin laughed.
"You're right, they are appropriate. Do you remember Hasegawa-san?" the older man asked his friend.
Hasegawa chuckled too and replied, "Yeah, I remember your bad acting and when you ran straight to the terminal to save that monster girl from that alien. I lost that job but you tried to help at least."
Kagura spoke up and said,"Oh, that's when Papi found me the first time. That was crazy!"
Umibozou chuckled at the memory of that time and enjoyed himself while he was on Earth.
While Gin was still reminiscing, Elizabeth put a sign near his face and it said, 'We have a present for you too.'
Just then, behind him, Katsura pokes him in the back with something.
"Ah! What the hell Zura?" the sweets addict screamed angrily at his old friend.
Katsura laughed and replied, "Hahaha! Gintoki, it's just your present. Don't get so bent out of shape, here it is. It should go well with your line of strawberry products."
When Gin saw that it was strawberry lotion, his eye twitched and a tense mark appeared on his forehead before he took Elizabeth's signboard and slapped Katsura with it. Elizabeth grabbed it back before he could hit the baka again while Kagura held Gin away from Katsura. Ikumatsu went to check that her boyfriend was alright and was satisfied that he just had a bruise on his face from the slap.
"What the hell Zura? Lotion? Do you have any idea what people see when a guy gives another guy lotion? Damn Zura," he vented while Katsura was silent.
They were worried only until they heard a whisper of, "It's...not Zura...it's Katsura. Gomen Gintoki, I didn't think about it."
He calmed down and helped him up along with Ikumatsu.
"Sorry Zura, I really got carried away there. You're right, it'll go well in my collection of strawberry products," Gin conceded as he shared a short hug with his childhood friend.
Kondou spoke up after he cleared his throat, "Okay, let's all relax again. Otae-chan, Shinpachi-kun, Tama and China still have gifts to give."
Gin sat down so Otae and Shinpachi could hand him their gifts to him. Otae handed him a very heavy bag and he took it.
When he opened it and saw at least a hundred Bargain Dash ice cream containers, he inquired, "Um,why ice cream? And your favorite?"
"Oh well, you love sweets and I found a new flavor I thought you'd like. Look!" Kondou's wife emphasized.
Gin looked closer, read the label and facepalmed.
"Seriously Otae? You guys act like I can't live without strawberries or something," the Jump samurai joked.
Kagura went and pinched his cheeks as she teased, "Because you can't live without them! Remember? You love strawberry milk."
In return, Gin pinched her cheeks and replied, "You cheeky brat, why do you always have to turn that on me? Funny, I missed this when you were gone."
"Me too Gin-chan!" she exclaimed happily before she hugged him.
Shinpachi cleared his throat and said, "Gin-san, you're forgetting my gift. Here."
The younger man handed his good friend an envelope as well which confused Gin.
"Another envelope? What is it th-" he started to ask before he saw what was contained in said envelope.
Inside was a simple card, confirming his subscription to Shounen Jump for a year in Shinpachi's name.
The sweets addict teared up a bit and gave Shinpachi a one armed hug saying, "You know me too well, thanks Pattusan."
"Stop being mushy Gin-san, Tama is next okay?" the young samurai said, as he was a bit embarrassed.
Gin stopped hugging Shinpachi and looked at Tama expectantly.
"So Tama, what's your gift?" he asked the robot maid.
She smiled and said, "You'll see. Everyone gather for a group picture."
Confused, Gin didn't understand why everyone seemed to know what to do.
"Gintoki-sama, you're the last one. Come be in the picture," she pointed out.
The sweets samurai smiled and joined the picture group, as Tama set the camera then joined them, smiling with them all.
When the camera took the picture, Gengai showed up to help Tama get the picture off quickly and she gave it to him saying, "Here Gintoki-sama, you're present is all of us in this photograph. Do you like it?"
In answer, Gin hugged Tama then Shinpachi, Kagura, Otae and the others.
"Thanks guys. I really appreciate all this, you guys are great! You're crazy but great!" the silver-haired samurai shouted happily.
Suddenly, Kagura whispered, "Gin-chan, I don't have anything for you."
He chuckled, "You don't? Funny, you and Hage already gave me a great gift. You guys came back best gift is the Yorozuya back together!"
She grinned and jumoed Gin much like when she got back that morning, causing Umibozou to shout, "Kagura-chan! Punk, don't do anything to my baby girl!"
They all enjoyed themselves being crazy until it was late at night, around eleven o'clock.
A/N: Sorry about the hiatus, I decided that since it will take quite a while to get a new computer that I am trying a new plan. My computer doesn't save things right on it but I can write on wordpad and save it to my flash drive, basically I'm going to type up as much of my story as possible along with continuing to write more so expect more chapters up as regularly as possible. I am still dealing with back issues, scoliosis but I'm managing it as best I can. I appreciate all my readers and hope you'll stick with the story and enjoy the ride! This is rewritten so it's slightly different from the original but HijiOki and GinKagu fans along with Kamui fans, you won't be disappointed!
