Gintoki waited outside for a few minutes as he ran his hand in his silver hair. "Tch...I think I went way overboard this time. Shit, why did I let my mouth run off like that." He knew he said some awful things that hurt Otae. She didn't show it, but he knew she was hurt. He had the strong urge to knock on the gate and apologize to her but he thought better of it. 'I'll tell her tomorrow,' he said to himself. He walked toward the Yorozuya headquarters with a heavy heart in his chest.
Meanwhile, Otae was still there leaning on the gate. She was trying hard to hold back her tears of frustration and anger. She gripped her fists tighter. But a persistent sob escaped from her lips. She placed an arm over her eyes and rubbed them vigorously. 'How dare he? Just because he's ranked number 1 doesn't mean he could be as brutally frank and insulting like that. He didn't even consider how I would feel? Gin-san baka!' Then her face went bleak and she said, 'Well I guess he was right. I'm trying too hard to be an interesting character but actually, I'm just forgettable and unlikable because of those flaws he mentioned.'
She walked towards the dojo with a heavy heart. It dawned on her that Gintoki really saw her as an annoying character.
At the Yorozuya headquarters...
Gintoki's conscience wouldn't let him sleep this off easily. It wasn't like he was the one who started it, he said to himself. She brought it upon herself. He admitted that he got irritated by how she let the character poll affect her that much to the point of being nonsensical. And what was up with that Tsukuyo and him getting together? Was she crazy? He would not hookup with a dangerous girl like that, perfect breasts or not. Was she actually jealous of Tsukuyo for getting an arc of her own and appearing in one volume? Well, she had the Kyubei arc, what more could she ask for?
'Tch...that woman is giving me a serious headache,' he said staring up the ceiling.
The next day was a slow day for the Yorozuyas. Kagura was helping Otose and Catherine cleanup the bar downstairs, while Shinpachi went back home to help out his sister on some grocery shopping. Gintoki was left at the headquarters, reading Jump comics as usual.
But he was having a hard time concentrating on the stories. He flipped at the pages of comics irritably.
"Argh! I can't even get past this one story, damn it," he shouted as he abruptly sat up on the couch. "Why do people have consciences? It's just so damn troublesome."
He got up and went to the fridge. He took a swig of his last box of strawberry milk and found that it was already way past its expiration date. "Uwa..that's nasty." He threw the box in the trash can and opened the fridge again. "It looks like I have to get some strawberry milk today. Well, it can't be helped."
He was really planning to get out and go to the Kudokan dojo to apologize to Otae. But he was a bit scared of what her reaction would be so he delayed going there as much as he could. He'd rather face off a herd of raging bulls than face the wrath of Otae. But what really worried him the most was her not reacting like she would normally do and just face him with a fake smile on her face. If that happens, he wouldn't know what to do. So he had to make amends quickly. And it looked like he would get the chance to do it, now that he had no choice but to go out. Maybe he'll eat something sweet first to calm his nerves, he thought. "Yeah, that would help a lot."
Meanwhile, Shinpachi and Otae were at the marketplace, doing some grocery shopping. It took Shinpachi almost an hour to get his sister out of the dojo for some reason. 'It felt like she doesn't want to go out at all,' he thought. 'She's been making too much fuss about doing the chores that needed to be done in the dojo first before doing the groceries.'
"Aneue, the laundry and the dishes can wait. We don't have food supplies. At this rate, we'll starve to death if we don't get something edible to eat," he said.
"Oh don't be so melodramatic, Shin-chan. It's just food, we can always have ramen delivered," Otae said, as she put away the dishes. "Besides, the chores are important, too. Our dojo may be rundown but we have to keep it clean and dignified."
Shinpachi knew that when his older sister gets into this mode, the grocery shopping won't be done anytime soon. He had to think of a very good reason to get her out the door.
"Um, Aneue, I checked the fridge earlier and we've got no more Bargain Dash left. Yup, not even a single cup. There's definitely no Bargain Dash in there. Zero, nada, zilch," he said nonchalantly. "I guess, you won't get to eat any Bargain Dash today..."
"What? Why didn't you say so? We should go out and get some and do the groceries too since we're out already," she said, suddenly all dressed up and ready to go.
Shinpachi silently thanked his lucky Bargain Dash that his plan worked.
Out in the marketplace...
Gintoki was walking towards the convenience store when he saw Shinpachi standing by its entrance. He hesitated in his steps. He knew Otae would be close by and he hadn't even rehearsed what he was going to say. He didn't want to screw up his apology. Not after he had said those harsh things to her last night. He felt the urgent need to do it right the first time as a painful twinge tugged at his heart. 'Damn guilt!' he muttered. He mustered all his courage, tried to looked casual and walked ahead.
"Yo pattsan," he called Shinpachi's attention.
"Ah Gin-san. So you've finally decided to get out of the house," Shinpachi said.
'Well yeah, we don't have any strawberry milk so I need to replenish our supply," he said, roving his eyes slyly to search for Otae's location.
"Don't talk like Kagura-chan and I drink strawberry milk. That's all for you. You're the only ichigo gyuunyuu guy around here," Shipanchi said.
"Um, I thought you were with your sister doing some grocery shopping," he asked casually and forgetting Shinpachi's comment.
"Yeah. Aneue is inside and getting her supply of Bargain Dash," Shinpachi said. "You'll see her on the frozen section oh-ing and ah-ing at the different Bargain Dash flavors much like a kid inside a candy store."
Gintoki decided to get both his apology and his shopping over with at the same time. The chance was hard to pass up. He could even volunteer to buy her a whole carton of Bargain Dash to add to his apology. So he thought up a plan - he would just casually walk up to her and say his apologies and offer to buy her the Bargain Dash she liked the most, then get his supply of strawberry milk and head on home. He liked it - it was plain, simple and straightforward. No need to get into another awkward situation with Otae especially when she might still be mad about his insults last night.
He stepped inside the convenience store. His eyes roamed the aisles but he knew where he was headed - the frozen section. It was where cold ichigo gyuunyuu were placed anyway. So he braced himself and walked purposefully towards the milk section while trying hard to look ahead. He opened a fridge and reached for some cartons of strawberry milk. He sneakily looked to his left where the ice cream section was and found there was nobody there.
He scratched his head and looked at the cashier's counter to see if there was somebody there. But it looked like Otae was nowhere to be found. He knotted his brows. 'What? I got so worked up for nothing..."
He hauled his strawberry milk to the counter and looked out where Shinpachi was. He saw the young man looked surprised, called out to someone and broke into a run.
"Do you want a bag for these?" the cashier asked.
"Huh?" he answered, obviously distracted.
"I said do you want a bag?" the cashier repeated.
"Ah yeah," he said and absently grabbed the bag from the cashier and hurriedly walked to the exit.
Outside, he saw no sign of Shinpachi or Otae anywhere. "That's suspicious," he muttered. He decided to go back to the Yorozuya HQ, feeling a bit disappointed for not meeting Otae there and getting his chance to apologize to her. It looked like he had no choice but to go to Kudokan dojo and properly apologize to her.
To be continued...
