A/N: When you're in a group of friends, and two of them get into an unrequited romantic relationship, THINGS ARE AWKWARD.
Chapter 10: No English teacher is the same. The commas prove it.
The entire night was a disaster for Kagura, Gintoki, Otae, and Sadaharu. They tried to find Hijikata and Shinpachi the entire night, but they didn't think to look into the fallen broom closet because it was silent and immobile. Hijikata was too shocked when he finally discovered that he was the one this entire time who Shinpachi had fallen for. Shinpachi expected the silence, but it did little too soften his disappoint. He was in love with Hijikata, and this silence was a far harsher, thorough rejection. Words may have at least bought about a weirder atmosphere to create a light, great awkwardness instead of this heavy, distant awkward one.
Eventually Sougo, Kondo, and some of the other shinsengumi officers were able to capture them when they found the courage. In a few hours, they found Hijikata and Shinpachi. They thought that last night could end in laughs, but then the moment Hijikata and Shinpachi stood out, their was an immediate shift in the air. It was so swift, yet obvious that even Kondou-san couldn't shift its awkwardness with his charming, idiotic smile. He tried but it was easily unwelcomed or dismissed by the unyielding mood.
._._._.
"Seriously you two. I told you that our plan wouldn't work." Otae lightly scolded them while she drank her tea next to Kondo, Sougo and Shinpachi.
Her little brother murmured, "I wouldn't be surprised that you were the one who planned it in the first place." He got off the porch to approach Gintoki and Kagura who were tied upside from a sturdy tree branch. Sadaharu was chained to the wall and his mouth had a muzzle on. "Seriously, you guys. Why did you attack the shinsengumi? I'm lucky that the damages to the place won't add to my hours." It was mostly because Kondo couldn't deny his sister's demand to not let that happen.
Kagura quickly defended herself, "We did it for you, aru! I overheard between you and Mino-chan that one of the shinsengumi pigs had your heart in their filthy claws! As a woman, it's my duty to protect the heart of my virgin megane!" The China dressed girl expected him to get mad at her, but Shinpachi just smiled.
"Is that the reason?" he said as if he was speaking to a child who didn't understand any better. "It's alright, Kagura-chan. There was nothing to worry about."
Nobody said a word to that. Not even Gintoki who just looked at him lazily from the corner of his eye. They all had no right to meddle when there was nothing to meddle in. Only Shinpachi could do anything.
The teen was too preoccupied in his thoughts and feelings to notice their discomfort. He left them to get to the rest of his work. He had already cleared it with Kondo that he wouldn't mind helping Yamazaki on his missions.
The two of them were assigned to stay at a cheap apartment together to spy on someone who could be conspiring with a group of radical jouishishis. Nothing new, but it was a threat to take seriously.
Shinpachi told him everything while he lied on the bed and the spy was taking his turn to watch on the target. Yamazaki summarized, "So you finally confessed to him, and the vice chief said nothing? That's not like him. I guess the shock must be from the fact that he's been trying to track down who you fell for."
"What?" Shinpachi asked softly. He was slowly coming out of his mild depression.
"I didn't tell you this because I didn't want you to be defensive around vice chief, but on the first month you worked for us, somehow Hijikata learned that you were in love with someone. He's been trying to find out who, and he just learned that it was him after three months of going in circles on this private investigation."
"What?!" Shinpachi abruptly sat up! He couldn't believe this! Hijikata knew that he was in love with someone! "Is that why he acted weird those other times?!"
"Other times?" Yamazaki was absent for a majority of the months, so he didn't know the whole story.
"Ah, nothing. Just...what am I supposed to take from his shock? Tell me honestly, Yamazaki-san. Do I even have the slightest chance?"
Yamazaki sighed. He took an anpan from his plastic bag, tore its plastic containment, and then took a resigned bite. "I can't give you a yes or no answer, but it's most likely that he will reject you. But...it's not because of you. Vice chief had went through many traumatizing and harsh events in his past. He was once in love with Captain Okita's older sister, Okita Mitsuba. I don't know the whole story, but what I do know is that she was also in love with him. Big sister* had raised Captain Okita on her own before meeting the commander and vice chief. She was an incredible woman who worked hard to take care of her little brother that she developed an illness. Despite that, she wanted to go to the city with us, but only if vice chief requited her love. But in the end, he didn't. I was not told why, but knowing the vice chief the way I do, I guess he didn't have enough confidence."
There was a silence that Yamazaki looked away from the target out of worry, but then what he saw was not an even more depressed Shinpachi. Instead he saw a soft smile that made the spy's lips tingle as if they were kissed. "Thank you for telling me that, Yamazaki-san."
Dear Diary #110
I love Hijikata-san, but now I know that he already has someone in his heart. Someone beautiful, and the most deserving of him. It's strange to say, but I felt at peace knowing this, and I still do.
I selfishly want to be the center of the one I love's world, and Hijikata-san can't provide that for me. That is a deal breaker.
._._._.
At sunset, Gintoki, Sadaharu and Kagura were allowed to leave. However, Kagura remained close to the headquarters so she could face Sougo. The two met in the middle of the street. She had been leaning against a cement wall, and he was simply minding his own business while walking, but stopped once he noticed her.
She inquired, "Was it fun playing with their emotions? You took Shinpachi because you knew of his feelings for Toushi, and now you can't play with them anymore."
Sougo wasn't surprised that she had known as far as he did about Shinpachi's feeling for the mayo-idiot. Yet he playfully acted the bad guy. "What are you talking about? I just didn't want vice chief to start playing hooky like Kondou-san. Someone needs to give out the paychecks."
"..."
"..."
BASH!
The two stupidly strong people had just collided foot with sheathed sword. Kagura back flipped away, and now it was knuckles to knuckles. The two fought while Gintoki was sitting next to Kondo on the porch to drink some sake. They saw the cloud pillow of dust that came from a burst of a brawl.
"Geeze, kids these days don't know how to deal with themselves." The silver samurai complained while his pinkie dug at his ear.
Kondo laughed loudly! "It cannot be helped. Even if Sougo is at that age, he doesn't drink that often and prefers to be sober. But..." The commander looked over to the direction where he thought Hijikata could be in the shinsengumi building. He still felt that awkward tension from this morning. "I never thought I would ever feel this strain. I only felt it once, and to feel it again, I just hope that everything will go well between them."
Gintoki didn't say anything to that. He was also aware that Shinpachi had been in love for some time, but he didn't know who with. He will admit loudly that he was completely dumbfounded to figure out that it was Hijikata, but when he took a moment to calmly think, it made sense. Though he didn't like it. He didn't like the idea of giving Shinpachi away to another man. Even to a man like that smoking-mayo-addict.
When night rose, Kagura and Sougo were done fighting. The two of them were bloody and dirty, but they felt satisfied. The both of them just hated the awkward atmosphere that they needed to beat the hell out of something, and only the two of them were durable enough to withstand each other's blows.
They didn't say another word. Just like a meaningless one night stand, they got up and limped back home.
Gintoki drank his ass off with Kondo like he usually did, and that was it for the night.
Otae had decided to visit Kyuubei since she didn't feel like sleeping alone at her home. Also she needed something to destroy because she hated that her little brother's heat was broken! She could confront Hijikata, but she wanted Shinpachi to tell her the whole story first so she didn't disrupt anything from progressing for the better.
._._._.
"Shinpachi is in love with me."
Hijikata stopped his writing. He was using a lamp to write in his journal while he sucked in an extra cigarette of the day. He knew he needed to control his smoking habits, so he always counted his cigarettes and made sure he didn't smoke more than 15 of them a day. Right now was number 16, but he couldn't enjoy the taste. Instead he was annoyed and killed the fire.
He knew that Shinpachi was working for Yamazaki now, which gave them ample time to remain separated. It would be incredibly awkward if they worked and acted like nothing happened.
However, he was not happy with the arrangement. He needed to talk to him. He needed to make things clear because he didn't say a word before.
"I acted like a coward. I was dumbstruck by the confession, but I should've said something. I don't know how I feel about Shinpachi right now, but I do know right now that I don't want us to drift apart any more than now. He's still someone I care for."
With that written, he felt calmer. He stood up and went on his way to see Shinpachi. He only hoped that the teen won't hate him.
At the apartment, Yamazaki checked the time, and saw that it was Shinpachi's turn to watch. He sleepily got up and walked over to the bed where Shinpachi had fallen asleep. He accidentally bumped against the mattress and fell on the teen. Their foreheads collided.
"Ow! What the hell!" Shinpachi yelled after being rudely awakened.
"Sorry! I slipped!" Yamazaki apologized. He got on his hands and knees on top of him.
The shoji doors were slid opened. "Oi, Yamazaki. Shi-" Hijikata stopped when he saw the positions the two males were in. Both of them were wearing yukatas sloppily, so their chests were exposed, and also, their faces were red with messy hair.
All three of them were aware of the type of misunderstanding this could lead to. Yamazaki tried to say something, but he was vehemently kicked on the face with a powerful enough blow to clash against a wall.
"Yamazaki-san! Hijikata-san, that was too much! Even for you!"
"Sorry. It was on instinct because if the two of you were doing what I thought you were doing, then I would have the two of you commit seppuku right now." The man growled ominously. And then asked Yamazaki, "You're fine right?"
The oldest samurai held his pained face with more bumps than usual. "Uh, yeah. It'll only be a bruise that will need some ice."
"I'll go get you some!" Shinpachi fixed his yukata while he walked out in haste. Hijikata followed him after telling him to continue doing a good job.
Yamazaki sighed. He was wide awake, so he went back to work.
Shinpachi was more worried about Yamazaki than he was about being alone with Hijikata on the streets. The yorozuya was a few minutes away, so that old bartender hag could provide some ice or an ice pack. Hijikata was well aware that he was almost being ignored, which would've pissed him off, but he liked this side of Shinpachi. The side that cares openly, even if it labeled him as a fool. The teen just did it because it felt right.
After getting the ice, the two walked back, but a little faster since the ice melts on the way. When they reached there, Shinpachi made sure Yamazaki was comfortable while placing the ice on his swollen forehead. The exchange between the two plain guys were so simple and sweet that Hijikata felt bored and slightly jealous by it, but he only thought that he felt subtracted from the moment.
When that was over, Shinpachi pulled the smoker out of the room. "Hijikata-san, I need to talk to you."
"About last night?" Hijikata acted a bit slow in the moment. He came here for that reason alone, but he came without a real plan in mind. Yet, he didn't mind that Shinpachi was taking the lead.
The otaku nodded. "I don't want to sound like someone who looks down on you, or is bitter against you. I understand that you don't believe in love nor want to be in that sort of relationship with me. I just had to tell you, so we can remain friends."
"Remain friends?"
Shinpachi hurriedly explained before the man could make any assumptions. "These last three months, I've been trying to avoid you and treated you awfully just to save myself from falling for you, but in the same time, I made you feel guilty and confused. Now that you know how I feel, I want you to also know that when you give me your answer, I won't be mad or hurt. I just don't want there to be any secrets like this getting in between us, and I want to remain friends, so when you come over, I can serve you and maybe even your special someone mayonnaise tea with my special someone."
Hijikata always saw Shinpachi as a mature, young man, and once again he saw that maturity. He understood what Shinpachi was saying, and he, despite a pestering feeling and thought inside him, complied. "I would like that."
The next day, Kondo and Sougo noticed the change of atmosphere between Hijikata and Shinpachi. It wasn't the same atmosphere before the awkward cloud, but it was close nonetheless, so they accepted it and moved on with them. Kondo continued to annoy the hell out of Shinpachi with him stalking his sister, and Sougo injuring Hijikata at whatever chance he felt like taking. Yamazaki continued his job as a spy, having already known that Shinpachi working with him wouldn't have lasted at all.
On the night before Shinpachi's day off, the teen went home for the night. Otae was working, so he was all alone at the house. He took out his diary and wrote.
Hijikata-san and I patched things up between us. Now I feel both relieved and as if I had betrayed myself. I am fine with being friends, but even though we talked things through, I still have these feelings. I only hope that these feelings will pass away as if they were nothing more than an embarrassing memory, and not a painful experience.
While he wrote away, Hijikata was doing the same at his room. He hadn't had the time to write in his journal since work piled up and he didn't know what to write about without feeling tremendously awkward about it.
"Aaaah, I rejected Shinpachi in the end, and yet my heart and my mind are restless. My cigarettes and bottles of mayonnaise does nothing to help me. Do I feel this way because I feel guilty for hurting Shinpachi? But I shouldn't date him out of pity. A part of me wants to end his community hours so we can give each other space to move on from this awkwardness. No matter what, I don't want our friendship to be jeopardized."
The both of them sighed.
._._._.
"Eh? Fishing?" Shinpachi rose an eyebrow at the sudden invitation from both Gintoki and Kagura. He was currently sitting at the yorozuya sipping his tea after doing the chores.
"Yeah," Gintoki was sitting at his office chair facing the window. He spoke with an exhausted voice as if the task was too bothersome. "An old man came in and told us that his boys got sick by some really bad sushi that they ate at a host club. They were showing off their skills to the women, and one of them had forced them to eat one she made. Something about burnt eggs..."
Shinpachi didn't have to ask what host club or which hostess.
"How about it Shinpachi?!" Kagura asked excitedly. "We're not bringing the madao with us, so we're definitely gonna get a catch! They promise us free sushi, aru!"
"Free sushi? That sounds nice. Is our employer expecting us soon?"
"In an hour, so you better get everything ready, Patsuan. Kagura and I already did a lot of work while you were gone." He yawned and decided to take a short nap.
"Yes, yes." Shinpachi went to get everything that was necessary for a fishing trip. The equipment will be provided, but it's good to bring their own snacks and sunscreen.
When he exit the room, Kagura and Gintoki stared at the door that their megane closed behind him. They looked at each other, and then Gintoki looked away to continue his nap.
Kagura looked down at her tapping feet. "Hey, Gin-chan."
"Mmm?"
"Will Shinpachi be okay?"
"What are you talking about? Is he sick?"
"You know what I mean! Shinpachi is acting okay right in front of us, but what if he's thinking dark, depressing thoughts like all those rejected boys I see in yaoi!"
Gintoki said nothing to the yaoi part. He instead replied, "You forget that Patsuan had been rejected before, and he even had his heart fooled many times. He can take care of himself."
"But this is different! It's with someone we know." Kagura hated the awkwardness that was building in her. Things would feel better if she could just hate the person Shinpachi fell for, but that only built up more awkwardness. She couldn't bring herself to hate someone she knew was not really a bad guy.
"Shinpachi already knew he was going to be rejected." Gintoki told her as a matter of fact. "We all know the type of man that guy is. Shinpachi must've confessed because he couldn't stand lying to him or himself." The samurai remembered the night he found Shinpachi crying because of an argument he had with Hijikata. He could tell that Shinpachi did the right thing by confessing, otherwise, he would be alone in the pain and anxiety he felt.
Kagura knew all that. She just wanted to hear it. She hugged Sadaharu who was sleeping on the floor. They waited until it was time to leave.
._._._.
"A monster in the water?" Hijikata stared at his commander with a dull stare of confusion.
Kondo nodded, "They thought that it was a normal beast like a shark or a whale toppling over boats and ships, but then one of the ships was able to be recovered and security camera footage from that ship showed that the ship was not destroyed by a mindless beast but an amanto that must've crash landed in the sea."
"But Kondou-san," Sougo told him, "The shinsengumi don't swim."
"We were put in charge of putting this monster away. The government had already provided expert divers who can take down the beast, but if it were to get on our boat, we shinsengumi will be prepared to take it down. Any further questions?"
His two subordinates and dear friends looked at each and then at him. No further questions.
._._._.
"Shin-chan!"
"Minoru-san?!" The megane swordsman was hugged by his childhood friend. "What are you doing here?!"
"My uncle was the one who hired you guys, and he's forcing me to go fishing to make up for the lack of men, so I figured that I'd have him hire you three, so I won't be bored!" The choreographer told him. Apparently anyone could fish for his uncle.
"What happened to Bigridio-kun?"
"Ah, my boyfriend had to head home for a while. Something about his sister going through a divorce, and apparently its a custom for the older brother to fight a battle with her soon-to-be-ex husband to establish honor upon his family."
That sounded cool, but why the older brother? Shinpachi didn't bother to inquire. Instead he just welcomed Minoru to his free time, and the four of them went on the boat. Apparently, Minoru knew how to drive one.
When they were at the right position, Shinpachi found himself at one corner sitting next to Minoru while the other two were at the farthest opposite corner.
His childhood friend informed him, "I've been told about what happened by Kagura-chan. She was worried about you, and thought since I have experience with being gay, that I could help you."
"You don't need to." Shinpachi was a tiny bit peeved by Kagura talking about him, but he knew he needed help.
"I totally want to do this." His friend reassured him. "So you got rejected by a close friend, and now everyone feels awkward, right?"
"Uh...yeah."
"Can't be helped. Falling for a friend within your circle of closest friends is practically taboo because when you do, and it does not go right, everyone will be forced to pick a side."
"Why would they be forced to pick a side?"
"It's how people are. But in your case, nobody has to since he rejected you gently, but that just makes everything more awkward. Your friends want you to feel better Shinpachi, and it's usually done by hating or helping you forget the guy who rejected you."
That was true. Kagura, Gintoki and his sister still hated that cat-girl who stole both his heart and his money. There was also the case of helping him forget other girls who have broken his heart. But this was Hijikata. He can't hate or forget him.
"But I can see you can do neither of those things." Minoru continued, "So what else can you do but live with the fact that you've been rejected and hurt by this guy. Nothing heals it except time."
"Time? I just have to wait for these feelings to go away?"
"Not exactly. Let me give you a reality check. You will always have these feelings for that police guy. You will always be reminded that he doesn't want to be with you. And you will always feel this dull ache, or this 'what if' feeling whenever you see him. Even when you date someone else, you will continue to feel that. Maybe not as strongly as now, but it's annoyingly still there."
"Have you felt that way, Minoru-san?"
"Not at all! But that's because I never fell for a close friend, but I know others who have, and them meeting will always be awkward. I swear that whenever I see those type of people together, I can feel the awkwardness since I know the situation. But after a while of spending time with them, it doesn't matter."
"What do you mean that it doesn't matter?"
"'It doesn't matter' as in the awkwardness is accepted that it becomes not awkward anymore. At some point while you spend time with this police guy, you will begin to accept the hurt and mostly forget the 'what ifs'. I would give you the advice to avoid him for awhile to get your feelings in check, but work is work. Maybe right now, you should just enjoy yourself. Be glad that you and that other guy are apart for while."
Shinpachi sank in the information that he was given. He should enjoy the time he's spending away from Hijikata. If he just learned to full accept his pain and don't look for more from him, then he can shrink away this awkwardness between them, and everyone didn't have to walk on eggshells around him.
After almost half an hour of just fishing, Shinpachi thought he was getting the hang of enjoying his time away from his problem. He was enjoying his time with talking to Minoru. Kagura was complaining about her boredom that she decided to take a swim. Gintoki was sleeping.
It began to feel like a real vacation, but then the boat shook. "What was that?" Shinpachi inquired. Something big had just grazed against the bottom of the boat. It even woke Gintoki from his nap.
Minoru checked the radar. His eyes widened and he ran back out. "Kagura! Get out of the water!"
"Huh?" The amanto didn't understand what the problem was until she was dragged down in the water.
"Gin-san!" Shinpachi cried out to the man who had his sword with him. Gintoki didn't hesitate to leap into the water.
The boat shook again. "What is that?"
"I don't know!" Minoru replied tried to hand onto the door frame of the boat's cabin.
Suddenly a hand grabbed onto the side of the boat. Shinpachi immediately had his sword in his hand and pushed Minoru into the cabin for protection. What came out of the water had the body shape of a man, but the head and scales of a fish with sharp teeth. The sharp fins on his forearms was extended, and with one swift arm movement, it sliced the chairs next to it in half.
Shinpachi felt fortunate that he bought a bladed steel because this was obviously a fight where he had more of a chance being killed. Especially when a second one came on board.
Heading there way, a ship filled with the shinsengumi and expert divers were ready to find the monsters.
Hijikata was just taking a smoke while the others waited to reach their destination. They didn't expect anything serious to happen until one of the men who were watching the radars yelled, "Commander, there's a fishing boat at our location!"
"What?" Kondo took out a pair of binoculars and looked out the window to see a green fishing boat and three mean-looking amantos on board. "It looks like a fishing boat had been hijacked by the ones we're looking to arrest... Huh? Eh?" He took a closer look when he saw someone charge at them. "I-Is that?...Shinpachi?!"
"What?!" Hijikata felt his heart drop at that news. "Let me see!" He took the binoculars. He looked out to see Shinpachi fighting the monsters alone. He couldn't find the other two yorozuyas who should be with him! He then spotted someone coming out of the water. It was Kagura holding onto an unconscious Gintoki. Blood was flowing from her forehead that she couldn't open her other eye. With her Yato strength, she swam back to the boat in seconds, and threw Gintoki into it. She grabbed her umbrella and began to shoot at them, but it looks like they were bulletproof. So she went for the other way, and yelled, "HOME RUN!"
She was able to get one of them off, but then two more got on. It was an invasion!
"Kagura-chan! What happened to Gin-san?!" Shinpachi inquired when the two could finally get their backs together. Minoru had locked the cabin door so he wouldn't get involved in the fight.
"One of them choked him when he freed me from his grip down there. He needs CPR!"
"I know how. Can you give me cover?"
"I will!" She planted her foot and made three of them fly away before two more got on. She protected her boys while Shinpachi tried to revive the silver samurai to help them!
Hijikata quickly went to the controls, and turned on the ships speaker. "OI! YOU ASSHOLES BETTER GET OFF THAT SHIP! WE'RE THE ONES YOU SHOULD BE FACING!"
"Toushi!" Kagura yelled out, relieved to hear that the shinsengumi were on their way!
Sougo took a hold of the microphone. "Aah, but first can you get rid of that pig on that ship. Even if we save her, she's ungrateful and a noisy bitch, so do what you like with her."
"SHUT UP YOU SUPER SADIST!"
The monsters grinned at them and left the ship after they punched the ground which split the ship in half. Both sides sinkinging into the water.
Shinpachi panicked. "Minoru-san is still in there!" He swam to the other side, but the ship was sinking to fast. Luckily, Minoru was able to break the window open with a gun he found, and escape. "Minoru-san!"
"Shinpachi! Are you okay?"
"Yeah." He said weakly. His chest and arm had been cut by the monsters, and the salt water was eating at him.
"Shinpachi!" Kagura noticed him slowly stop trying to stay above water. She went to help him, but Gintoki got to him first. He woke up right before the ship broke in half.
"Oi! Stay awake Patsuan!" The man order him while smacking his face.
"I'm trying. Sorry." He said as he sucked in air. The pain was trying to take his strength away, but he forced himself to fight on so he wasn't a burden to the other two who were injured. Luckily the fishing boat had a rowboat that they could use.
The shinsengumi was able to take care of the monsters in the water because they were equipped with the necessary weapons to take them down with one shot, and had a large, and strong enough fishing net to capture them.
They were also able to take the rowboat aboard and treat everyone's wounds. Kagura was the only one with enough strength to not need a bed. Although one was provided, she wanted to settle a score with a certain sadist.
Hijikata made sure that Shinpachi was bandaged correctly.
"I already told you that I'm fine, Hijikata-san." The young samurai told him with a promising smile. "I'm impressed that you guys were able to apprehend these monsters so fast."
"It's only the start. There seems to be something like a beehive for these monsters that landed on Earth, but nothing to worry about yourself. The shinsengumi were used as test subjects to make sure this method was effective, and then the rest can be handled by another organization."
"That's terrible to hear, but I don't expect anything less from the demon vice chief himself."
Hijikata gave a small smile to that compliment. "It was a team effort." He told him modestly. "And considering your injuries, you won't be able to work for a few days since those fins might have secreted something, so it's best if the doctors checked on you. But because of that, you will have to work a few more days for the shinsengumi to make up for your community hours."
"That's alright. I like working at the shinsengumi, but not forever."
Hijikata understood that. "Oh, and don't worry. I'll clear it with the hospital to give you a single room so we can celebrate your birthday."
"Birthday?" Shinpachi thought about what day it was, and then realized that it was two more day until his birthday! He forgot that he was born on August! "Oh! I forgot! Will you come with a tux on?"
"A tux?" Hijikata didn't understand why.
"I came to your birthday in a wedding dress. It's only appropriate that you came to mine with a tux on." The megane joked.
Hijikata gave a small chuckle to that. "I don't remember making that sort of promise, but if you want me in a tux, I'll wear one."
"Great! Let's just hope that Sarutobi-san doesn't come by in a wedding gown!"
"Wait what?! She better not! It'll just make things awkward!"
Shinpachi lightly laughed. Then the two just smiled at each other.
"HOOOO!" Kagura threw Sougo at Hijikata and they landed on Shinpachi. She jumped on the sadist, and the two continued to brawl. Shinpachi screamed in agony, and Hijikata tried to beat them senseless!
Gintoki just slept through it all, complaining about the ssound.
._._._.
At the hospital, Shinpachi and Gintoki shared a room together since it was more convenient for friends to come over. The teen's birthday became a fun mess in the hospital where Katsura and Elizabeth showed up in disguises from the shinsengumi, but they were discovered. Otae bought a lot of poisonous burnt food that took the memories of more than half the hospital patients. Sarutobi came in as a nurse who ended up injuring Gintoki twice, and for some reason Kagura and her got into a cat fight which harmed the man thrice. When Otose came in, she was able to calm everyone down so they could properly celebrate for a moment. She bought some sake despite the hospital's orders.
"Are you well, Shimura-sama?" Tama politely inquired.
"Mm." The teen nodded. "The doctors said that the sea monsters did poison me, but miraculously, I'm immune unlike the other poor survivors."
"It's all in the Shimura bloodline! Many men in our line of family had shown to be far more resistant to diseases and such!" Otae proudly said!
Kondo nodded. "And someday, our children will-GUAGH!"
Kyuubei effectively knocked him out temporarily. She honorably said, "It must be due to your cooking, Otae-chan. They forge strong men with stronger wills."
"Thank you, Kyuu-chan." Otae was pleased, which made the tomboy samurai blush.
Shinpachi lowly muttered that Kyuubei wasn't wrong, but it's not as pleasant as she made it sound like.
And so everyone continued to celebrate until visiting hours were finally over.
Hijikata gave him a well-meaning smile before leaving.
Shinpachi found peace in that smile. Everything will go back to normal soon. And so he went dutifully asleep.
._._._.
"So he's the one?" A shivering, blue female inquired among a group of other amantos. They were currently looking at a video screen of Shinpachi sleeping. She spitefully commented, "He's ugly, weak, and a man. I told you what type of body I wanted! What about his sister?!"
"His sister meets your requirements, but not every one of them. Do you want to end up in your sorry state again?!" One of them shouted. "Besides, don't worry. We have a plan for this one. There's a reason why we sent the missiles cult and our fish subordinates to Earth after all."
And so after a week of being in the hospital, both Shinpachi and Gintoki were allowed to go home.
The teen enjoyed his last day off from work. He hadn't seen Hijikata for a week, and felt like he could face him tomorrow without trouble.
However at night, Shinpachi had a sudden feeling that something was not right. He felt eyes on him. He looked out of his window and saw no one. "Huh? Maybe it was one of those homeless people. Haah, I should go to sleep." He closed his window, and turned off the light.
BOOM!
A bomb dropped right into his home! It was a small bomb since its smoke only filled his home. Although it was loud enough for the whole Kabuki district and Shinsengumi headquarters to hear it.
"Shinpachi!" Otae screamed when she saw the smoke on her way home. She tried to get there soon, but a second bomb dropped.
Shinpachi was coughing. When the first bomb hit, he didn't feel any pain or changes. Nothing still happened, other than his body almost being choked from all the smoke, when the second one hit. But when the third one hit, he began to feel physically different. He got on his feet to run before a possible fourth one hit.
He was able to get out of his house, but he inhaled so much smoke that he felt faint.
"Shinpachi!" A man called out to him.
The teen looked out, and saw Hasegawa. He was the first one to reach him since he slept around the vicinity. "Hase-" Shinpachi got on his knees and placed his hand on his chest to feel his heart. He definitely felt his heart, but he also felt something soft and round. He looked under his kimono to see a pair of soft curves that shouldn't be in there. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
._._._.
A/N: Hijikata rejected Shinpachi! And he has to live with the consequences of his confession! But his friends are willing to help him out! Now who are these mysterious amantos who are targeting Shinpachi, and what just happened to him?
Expect some weirdness and angst (I think) in the following chapters!
*Yamazaki called her big sister since any woman related to a member of the shinsengumi through blood or marriage would be referred to as such to show respect.