Chapter 6

A/N: To all my readers, I'm so sorry for the long gap between this chapter and the last one. I haven't had a ton of time to type so I can post along with dealing with some serious back pain, I have scoliosis but I'm trying to fiugre out what is causing the pain otherwise. Since the scoliosis is supposed to mild, the severe pain doesn't make sense. From now on, I'm going to do my best to update this story. I'm also still writing this story though so please have patience. Here is the newest chapter and I hope you enjoy it!

Noon came and, as Gin and Kagura were still asleep, Shinpachi knocked in vain at the Yorozuya entrance. What poor Shinpachi was unaware of was the fact that Kagura and Gin were cuddling in his futon.
The noise from knocking on the door woke Gin up, as he sat up.
"Hm? Who the hell is pounding on the door?" the annoyed samurai mumbled.
Kagura curled into the futon and clinging to his arm as she mumbled, "Five more minutes Papi."
After ten minutes, the otaku figured he should just let himself in. Just as he made his way to the living room, out came Gin and Kagura stumbling, as they were not fully awake yet.
"What the hell?" Shinpachi shouted as his eye twitched, "You were still sleeping? Why were you both coming out of Gin-san's room?"
Suddenly, without warning, Kagura punched Shinpachi in the face as she screamed, "You're so noisy, you'll always be a Shinpachi! Urusai!"
Before it could go any further, Gin grabbed them both by the shoulders and banged their heads together.
"Both of you bakas, stop now!" he shouted at them authoritatively.
Just after Gin spoke, Sadaharu bit him on the head. After a few minutes of struggling between the four, they sat normally or as normal as possible for Kabuki-chou's Yorozuya.
Sighing, Shinpachi asked tiredly, "So what is going on exactly then?"
Gin sighed and told him what had happened after Umibozou left. Kagura added to it from her point of view until the megane otaku understood.
"Oh, so Umibozou-san left and Kagura-chan, you were upset? So you comforted her and let her stay in your futon last night Gin-san?" Shinpachi said as he tried to make sense of it all.
Once everything was cleared up, they sat drinking tea and not saying anything more.
Shinpachi broke the silence and told them, "I'm sorry, I was just looking out for you Kagura-chan."
Kagura pouted and responded, "I was just lonely when Papi left, Gin-chan wouldn't do anything."
"Yeah Pattusan, so don't go jumping to conclusions so fast!" Gin yelled in irritation.
"Heh heh, sorry about that guys," he apologized, "Let's eat okay?"
Once Shinpachi went into the kitchen to make lunch, Gin asked subtly, "So when did you wake up, around when Hage was talking to me?"
Trying to appear nonchalant, she shrugged and said, "I don't know, I was half asleep."
Frustrated, he grabbed her by the shoulders and asked frankly, "Did you hear what Hage and I were talking about or not?"
"Um," Kagura started to say then whispered, "yeah but it's not such a big deal, Gin-chan."
His eye twitched as he said, "Not a big deal? You shouldn't be listening in on private conversations Kagura."
Kagura shrank back at his tone but said quietly, "I have nightmares too, even if they aren't so bad anymore."
The silver-haired samurai was shocked to hear that and it showed on his face.
"You've been having nightmares? Since when and how do we not know about this?" the sweets samurai inquired.
She rolled her eyes and replied cheekily, "Obviously I've been hiding them as well as you hid yours all this time."
Gin glared at this cheeky young woman standing in front of him, as he thought of the fact that she had kept something from him. Usually, she was so honest and brash with her feelings that he thought it was impossible for Kagura to hide anything.
He pinched her right cheek and said, "You little brat, you need to trust us more, hm?"
Quietly, Kagura confided, "I only started having them after I saw baka aniki again in Yoshiwara. It was mostly from what happened with Papi and when I nearly lost myself fighting that Yato guy, they got to me. To be honest, they were intermittent until I left with Papi."
Gin softened as he realized how long she'd been holding onto this.
Just then, something occurred to him, "Wait, does Hage know?"
Kagura shook her head no, which surprised him.
"How couldn't he? You guys were always together," Gin mused as he tried to understand.
She shrugged and replied, "I guess I could hide them well enough by then."
The silver samurai took a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself before saying, "Sorry Kagura, I shouldn't have overreacted like that. I just tend to get defensive since I haven't really told anyone before."
She smiled broadly as she repeated his words, "You big brat, you need to trust us more hm?"
Kagura pinched his cheek after she said that and giggled. He rolled his eyes and whacked the back of her head playfully.
All of a sudden, from the kitchen, Shinpachi asked, "Is that why you sleep until noon?"
Surprised that he'd been listening, they blinked stupidly before breaking out into laughter.
When Shinpachi came in with the food, he asked, "Was that a yes?"
Once they sat down and Shinpachi served them, Gin smiled softly and said, "Yeah Pattusan."
"The Joui war and losing comrades and your sensei, the possibility of losing us in Kabuki-chou and Yoshiwara?" the otaku asked, almost certain he was right.
Gin gave him a look before saying, "Yeah, along those lines."
They all ceased talking as they started to eat in silence for a while. Soon, they started chatting about things when Kagura was gone, aliens she'd hunted in space and things she'd done with her Papi.
A knock came at the door and, as usual, Gin and Kagura looked to Shinpachi. Sighing, he got up and went to answer the door.
When Otae came inside and Kagura saw her, she shouted happily, "Anego-chan!"
The two women hugged as Otae patted her head as she always had before.
"Kagura-chan, how have you been? These two are treating you well right?" the married woman asked as she glared like a basilisk at the two men.
They rolled their eyes at Otae but Kagura just grinned from ear to ear and reassured her, "No, these two are great like always. I missed them so much!"
The older woman smiled and replied, "It's so good to see you. You've grown into quite a beauty."
Blushing as she brushed off the compliment, Kagura insisted, "Nah, you, Tsukky, Sa-chan and Kyuubei are prettier. I'm not that different, just older."
Otae shook her head and countered, "You're too modest, you have beautiful skin and hair. Beautiful eyes, a figure men would swoon over and women would die of envy over too, Kagura-chan. But don't forget..."
"All men are perverts!" she answered happily.
Gin rolled his eyes as Shinpachi was shocked at what his sister was teaching his friend.
"Let's go watch television Shinpachi," the lazy man suggested.
Once they settled on the couch and the show started, the megane asked, "How did you sleep last night, Gin-san?"
He was shocked and looked at his friend as the show turned to a commercial.
As he wasn't sure how to broach the topic, he paused a moment before answering, "I had a nightmare that kept me up until Hage left. After that, I slept pretty well actually."
Shinpachi thought for a moment then said, "That was after Kagura slept with you last night?"
"Yeah, weird huh?" Gin said simply without much thought before turning back to the television.
Even though he hadn't thought much about it, Shinpachi decided to keep that in mind.
They all enjoyed themselves that day and as the weeks passed until the week before Halloween and Otae's birthday. Since Kagura had been back, they all wanted to organize a birthday party/Halloween party for Otae! On the morning of October 18th, Gin, Kagura, Okita and Shinpachi scattered from the Yorozuya and Shinsengumi to organize the party. Gin, Kagura and Shinpachi gathered past customers and friends while Okita enlisted help from the Shinsengumi officers and a few others.
First, Gin ended up running to the Murata swordsmithy to talk to Tetsuko.
When he came in the door, Gin shouted, "Hey Tetsuko, can I talk to you?"
She had been pounding her hammer while working on a sword for a customer, so she looked at the door and saw him.
Tetsuko put her hammer down and waved while asking politely, "Hello Gin-san, did you need something?"
He sighed and explained, "Remember Shinpachi? His sister's birthday is coming up and we need some help setting up. How about helping?"
While he explained, she nodded and when he finished, she simply said, "Of course, I'll help. I owe you much more than that."
Gin shook his head as he responded, "No, I owe you way more but thanks!"
He grinned before he had to hurry, as he had to run to the next person. Next, he ran to see Heiji and Haji, Tatsumi and Katsuo.
By the time he arrived at Ikumatsu's ramen shop, it was just about lunch time.
When Ikumatsu saw him come in, she turned from the ramen she was preparing and exclaimed in welcome, "Gin-san! It's been a while, how are you?"
Gin smiled and replied, "Hey, I needed to talk to you actually. Can you-"
"Gintoki, how rude. Do you have nothing to say to me, your friend?" Katsura interrupted his old friend as he spoke.
A vein popped on Gin's forehead when Katsura started speaking.
"Zura, I didn't see you there. Why don't you speak up then?" the sweets samurai started then sighed, "I need to talk to you and Elizabeth too so listen up. I need-"
Again he was interrupted but this time by Katsura's girlfriend, who had a bowl of ramen in her hand.
When she put it down, she gestured for him to eat so he commented, "Your cost to ask a favor?"
She nodded with a sneaky grin while he ate some before asking again, "Can you three help me? We're trying to find people to help with Otae's birthday."
Surprised, Katsura asked, "You mean Shinpachi-kun's sister?"
He rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah Zura, that's her. Well?"
"I-" Katsura started to announce before his girlfriend simply answered, "We'll help you, just give us the details Gin-san."
Gin smiled and told them, "I will a bit later. After I devour this ramen, I have a bunch of others to ask. See ya!"
When he flew out the door five minutes later, Ikumatsu just shook her head at her crazy friend and continued serving her customers. Her bonehead of a boyfriend started babbling about Gin but she just signaled to Elizabeth, who promptly smacked Katsura in the head with his signboard.
Gin's next stop would be Hasegawa, who would be home right he got there, Hatsu was cooking and waiting for her husband to come home for lunch.
When she saw him at the door, she smiled and said, "Sakata-san, hello. Taizou isn't back yet, did you need something?"
After he was done panting, Gin replied, "Yeah, I need help with Otae's birthday party."
Smiling, Hatsu answered, "Taizou would be happy to help his boss."
Just as they has been talking, the man in question arrived.
"Gin-san! What brings you here?" Hasegawa asked as he reached the door of his house.
The sweets samurai smiled and told him, "Actually, I wanted to ask for your help. We're trying to organize Otae's birthday party."
"Of course, she gave me a steady job! Just tell me what you need Gin-san," the older man said enthusiastically.
Gin nodded his head and responded, "Good, I'll get back to you later then. I have to gather more help now!"
Once he reached Zenzou's house, Gin sighed and knocked on the door. When the man answered, he didn't seem too happy.
"What now Sakata? Here to hit my ass with your scooter? No thank you!" the ninja said scathingly.
"Damn drama queen," the silver samurai muttered as he rolled his eyes, "You can yell at me another time, I need your help for Otae's birthday party."
Glaring, Zenzou replied, "You'd be a drama queen too, it hurts like hell. What about Sarutobi?"
"Try having an Amanto sword stuck up your ass for days then. We need your help and Kagura is asking the female pig. So are you going to help?" Gin asked, annoyed.
The ninja sighed heavily and answered, "Fine but my ass better not get hurt somehow, I'll go into kill mode."
"Yeah, yeah. Just come by the Yorozuya later, I have more people to see!" the sweets addict said as he was in a rush.
Once he left the Hattori house, Gin's next stop was the Ketsuno estate.
He just reached the gate when he saw Katsuno Ana about to enter, so he shouted, "Ketsuno Ana!"
She turned and smiled, "Sakata-san, hello. Please relax, breathe."
"Sorry," Gin said once he caught his breath, "I was in a hurry."
"Come in," Crystal said simply.
He followed her and the first person he saw was Gedoumaru, who was snacking on a pandemonium.
She looked up and responded, "Gintoki-sama, hello. What brings you here today?"
"Hey Gedoumaru, that's so nasty but I needed some help actually," the sweets samurai started to explain when Semei and Douman came inside from training presumably.
Seimei was surprised but greeted the Yorozuya boss, "Hello Gintoki, what help?"
Douman nodded, wondering what was going on.
"You guys were on a playdate huh? You guys remember Shinpachi? Well his sister's birthday is coming. We needed help and I wanted to ask you guys for help," Gin said, a bit snarkily first.
The two men glared at him but before either of them could say anything, Crystal simply answered, "Yes, we can help. Just let us know what we can do."
He grinned and exclaimed, "Thanks a lot, we'll get back to you soon. Bye!"
Gin waved goodbye before he headed back to Otose's Snack Bar. Seimei laughed at his departure since Gin had missed the kiss on the cheek Douman received from Crystal. He blushed heavily but couldn't say anything, to which Seimei smiled.

A/N: Whew, sorry about the wait with this chapter. I've been so busy and dealing with my back that I haven't had a chance to write let along type and post. I found out that my scoliosis is mild, actually it's barely even noticeable. It seems like the major weight gain from partly my depression meds from before is putting too much stress on my back. I just have to trudge on and lose weight, after that the pain should diminish. I hope you enjoy and are patient until I update with the party. The party will be fun and crazy so I hope you'll like that too. Ja ne!