~Gintoki's pov~
"Welcome home, Kagura-chan." I greeted her, despite my awkward position on Arthur.
She got angry and started freaking out. "WHAT IS THIS FUCKERY?" she screamed out.
"WHAT FUCKERY? WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU LEARNING THIS STUFF!" I shouted back.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? YAOI? ARE YOU TRYING TO MAKE YOU GUYS MY OTP, RIGHT! IS THAT RIGHT? HUH!"
"YAOI? OTP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO YELLING ABOUT?" Shinpachi shouted than the rest of us. "I THOUGHT THERE WAS NONE OF THAT HERE?"
"Relax, Shinpachi-kun!" I said to him. "This is merely fan service! Every anime has one."
"THIS IS NOT ANIME, IT'S A FANFIC! THERE'S A DIFFERENCE!"
"We're just anime put into a fic. Relax, Shinpachi."

I felt a really hard push and nearly stumbled backwards. I looked over and saw that Arthur was glaring at me. He got up off the table and brushed himself off. Grumbling, he added: "Yaoi, fan service. Hmph. If I wanted to be in a Yaoi, you wouldn't be my first choice."
"Maybe if you're drunk."
Silence. And, then the whole place rang with a loud slap. Arthur was sitting down drinking his tea again. While I... Huh? My face feels kinda warm. Ow! It hurts to poke it.
Shinpachi just stared. "Gin-san, you need to quit touching it. Even though, you did deserve it."
"Oi!" a familiar voice rang out. "Odd Jobs, you in?"
Turns out it was just Hijikata of the Shinsengumi. What a surprise. I wonder what he wants.
"Rude," Arthur spoke up. "At least knock before you enter."
Hijikata looked his direction then at me. He did this a couple times before speaking up again.
"Hmph," he smirked. "Didn't think you'd go for someone like this; just what we would expect from some like you."
"Look, if you only came here to insult me, you can just leave." I told him a bit agitated.
"I do have a bit of information for you that I'm willing to let you in on."
He walked in and sat down without any consent whatsoever. But, what can you do with the Demon Vice Captain of the Shinsengumi. What an idiot.
"Have you heard of the 'pages of despair'?" he asked.
"'Pages of Despair'... I'm not sure what you mean."
"A maroon-colored book with gold pages. It had a gold serpent labeled at both ends of the book. Any way, it's an old book dating back to the 18th Century. I hear it carries a curse." Hijikata explained.
"A... Curse?" Shinpachi echoed.
I slowly turned my gaze towards Arthur to make sure he was listening; and I understanding. I noticed that he wasn't even paying attention nor was he even in the room. It was like, he disappeared or something. I turned my attention back to the Vice Captain, seeing as how he didn't notice, continued on with his explanation.
"Rumors say the person holding it makes a contract to the death. It wields a mysterious power that only the user could unlock. No one knows what's in the book. But, it could only be read if the user really wishes to use it. I hear it was hidden in an old, rundown shack. When we went to check it out, there was nothing but dust and an old skeleton; it was pretty diminished with sand we couldn't make out what the person was. And it seems as if someone had already been there. We noticed a bit and saw giant foot prints that led us here."
"And you think we're behind it?" I laughed. Arthur had explained to me it was him that got into that place and he and Sadaharu were behind it and that he took that book. There was no way I could ever rat him out. Even of my own life was depending on it. I had to get him home. No matter what happens.
"That's a laugh, Sadaharu was probably wandering around some place! Y-You know how dogs are!"
"H-Hey, your brow is sweating." he said.
"What!" I laughed. "Wh-what sweat? Th-That was from splashing my face with tea! Yeah!"
"Tea? Your face should be burned by then."
"ANYWAYS, it was nice seeing you, Hijikata- kun! Have a nice day!" I said as I was pushing him out the door. "Tell your friends about us! Bye!"
Slamming the door shut, I went back on the couch to finish reading my JUMP. It stayed silent for a few minutes until Shinpachi had spoken up again.
"What was that all about, Gin-san?" Shinpachi blinked.
"No clue," I turned a page of the JUMP, being at least halfway through. "But, I don't see what this has to do with us."

It was already sunset by the time shops and restaurants were closing. Otose usually opens up her snack bar at this hour.
"Well, I'll be going now. Goodbye, Gin-san, Kagura-chan."
"Goodnight, Shinpachi." Kagura and I greeted.
"Hey, where has Arthur-san been, any way?"
"Not sure. He left when Hijikata showed up."
"Now that you mention it, is Arthur-san afraid of Hijikata-san?"
"Hmm, I doubt it. He probably doesn't want to see him since he put him behind bars."
"That does make sense. Well, tell him good night when he comes back." And with that, Shinpachi left.
"Where did he go, anyhow. And how DID he leave?" I scratched my head and looked around for him.

~England's pov~
"Hey!" I know that voice. "Odd jobs, you in?"
Damn. That officer again. Can't he learn how to knock? People around here are so uncivilized. I walked up to him irritatingly and said, "Rude. At least knock before you enter."

He looked at Gintoki, looking him over then looked over at me. He did this a couple times before speaking up again.
"Hmph," he smirked. "Didn't think you'd go for someone like this. Just what we would expect from some like you."
I was taken aback. How rude! I would never want to be interested in that git even if he was the last ma-even if my life depended on it! I swear I had the urge to hit him, but I made sure to keep my cool to avoid going back to that jail cell. Oooh...
"Look, if you only came here to insult me, you can just leave." I heard Gintoki say a bit defensively.
"I do have a bit of information for you that I'm willing to let you in on."
The Demon Vice Chief walked past me and sat down. He didn't wait to be seated on account of how this was obviously pretty serious. I watched him along with the others. The least I could do was hear him out.
He made eye contact with Gintoki and asked him: "Have you heard of the 'pages of despair'?"
"'Pages of Despair'... I'm not sure what you mean." I heard Gintoki answer.
"A maroon-colored book with gold pages. It had a gold serpent labeled at both ends of the book."
I gasped silently to myself, sneaking the book out to take a peek. Bloody hell! I felt a shiver go down my spine; the book was exactly how he described it. It was almost scary...
"Any way, it's an old book dating back to the 18th Century. I hear it carries a curse." Hijikata continued.
I couldn't take it anymore. While they were distracted the I carried the book into my arms; put on my shoes and fled out the door quickly, but quietly.
"A... Curse?" I heard Shinpachi 's voice echo out from behind the doors. "Rumors say the person holding it makes a contract to the death. It wields a mysterious power that only the user could unlock. No one knows what's in the book. But, it could only be read if the user really wishes to use it..." I couldn't bear to hear anymore. It was too much to take.
I needed some place to think. I looked around for some kind of salvation... Anything to get me away from here.
I walked away from the door and decided to head for the roof. I had been up there for God-knows-how long and ended up falling asleep under the Kabukichou sunlight.
I was then woken up by a slam of the door. I looked around and noticed hat it was already sunset. How long was I up here? Then, I heard:
"...Well, tell him good night when he comes back."
Shinpachi? How long was I up here? "Arthur-kun!" I heard Gintoki calling. "Arthur-kun, the Demon vice Chief didn't make you shit yourself now, did he?"
The nerve of him! I sat up abruptly and shouted. "There was no way he could scare me! That hard-headed bloody git! Get your facts straight before saying that, you wanker!"
I had blushes a bright red and noticed a few passersby looking me over and some had actually stopped and looked at me. I just smiled and waved at them and just like that, they just went off and continued with their business as if nothing happened. Strange things must happen here often, that's why they didn't seem to mind it. I had heard the door close and hear footsteps. It must've been Gintoki. I took out the book and made it seem like I was occupied, staring contented at the pages. I still couldn't read it, though.
"Oi!" I heard him call out. He had climbed up the roof, a cherry Popsicle in his mouth. "So this is where you've been hiding. How long have you been up here?" He made his way and sat next to me. He held up a white plastic by my neck. I suddenly jumped, startled by the sudden chill. "The bloody hell are you doing?"
I wiped the cold from my neck and looked at him.
"Popsicle?"
"Uhmmm... You can have it."
"I insist." he said, pushing it to my cheek this time.
I sighed exasperatingly, "You're not gonna make this easy for me, are you?"
He shook his head. "Nope," he said, "Besides, I'm already up here and those were the only two left in the box."
Sighing, I eventually gave in and took it from him. I opened the plastic and stared at the popsicle and blinked. I was surprised they had this in the future... It was a red, white and blue. The frozen treat was described in that order; from top to bottom. Quite frankly, it made me miss home a little bit. I wondered when I was going back.
I felt a light nudge on my shoulder and looked at Gintoki. He sighed and looked back at me. "You know, that won't stay frozen for long."
I looked back at the Popsicle "Hmm... Yes, thank you." I knew popsicles melt or have I actually eaten them. They didn't taste as bad as I had imagined. We sat there in silence, eating until Gintoki had spoken up. "What are doing up here, anyway?"
I was half way finished when he had asked me that. "I needed to be alone for a bit."
"Took you long enough to make yourself known to us. Shinpachi was looking for you."
"He was? I didn't know. I feel asleep up here."
"Sleeping on the roof. How does that feel, anyway?" he wondered. "It gets pretty hot up here. I'm surprised you didn't burn to a crisp up here."
"For your information, it wasn't 300 degrees out here." I told him.
"Quite the contrary, I happen to think you can't take the heat?"
"It's crazy hot out here during the summer, that's for sure."

"Now, that I can relate to." I agreed matter-of-factly.