Not Everyone Will Believe That a Lazy Samurai Can Change His Ways

Carefully Kagura pulled out her purchase from the other day, making sure not to make too much noise that would alert Gintoki to what she was doing, when the garment was fully out of the bag she smiled as she admired it. With some assistance from Hinowa, she had scoured the vendors of Yoshiwara looking for something that would assist her in her plan, and found exactly what she was looking for. The garment was a lovely piece of lingerie; it was shamrock green silk across the bust and black sheer material below that would probably only go down to the tops of her thighs. There were two thin black straps that supposedly would hold everything up on her but she was a little skeptical, and she was equally as unsure about the matching thong that came with the outfit, neither aspect seemed all that sturdy. With a sigh she changed out of her usual attire and slipped the thong on first and was surprised to find that it did not break once it wrapped around her. Next she put on the nightie and was again pleased to discover that it would not snap off immediately.

Kagura took a moment to admire herself in the bathroom mirror, she hardly looked like a young child anymore and she hoped Gintoki would agree, if not then her plan could not commence. She still wanted to have a baby with him, one that would be the perfect blend of them both, and now that they were engaged she saw nothing wrong with hurrying to the next milestone. Spinning around a little she yet again imagined what she would look like pregnant, remembering vaguely what other Yato women looked like, and decided that she would probably look a lot better than Tae.

"Kagura!" called Gintoki from the other room. "Are you coming to bed or not? It's freezing in here."

"Just a second!" she shouted back as she hurriedly put the bag in the trash and put on the engagement ring Gintoki had given her a little over a week ago. It thrilled her to see it sitting on her finger, knowing that the person who gave it to her was the one she loved above all others in this world. Checking one last time in the mirror that she looked sexy, she turned off the lights and opened the door, not wanting him to see her just yet as she walked into the bedroom.

"Took you long enough," grumbled Gintoki as he sat up, watching for her to appear from the shadows. "I was about to—Ka-Ka-Kagura?!"

The young Yato stopped when she heard him say her name, wondering if her appearance was now too risqué for his liking. On the contrary, Gintoki was incredibly pleased but just taken aback that she had dressed like this, he had never seen her wear something so very sexy in the entire time they had been together. The skimpy outfit showed off her beautiful, womanly body perfectly; the low cut top was filled to the brim with her breasts and was spilling over at the top, through the sheer material he could see her curves highlighted by the moonlight, and the shortness of the nightie made her legs seem impossibly long. If anything was upsetting him, it was that she had not worn something like this sooner.

"Do you not like it?" she asked nervously, taking his silence to mean that he hated her outfit.

Gintoki was broken from his trance at her words and immediately shook his head. "No, no, no," he said quickly as he stood up and walked over to her. "I love it." It took all of his restraint not to rip the garment to pieces and take her right then and there. "You look beautiful, Kagura," he whispered reverently as he drank in her appearance. 'And to think I get to sleep beside this woman every night for the rest of my life!' he thought excitedly as he reached out and tugged on one of the straps.

Kagura giggled and playfully swatted his hand away. "They're stronger than they look, I know," she said with a smile and she reached out to touch his face, letting her fingertips brush gently across his skin as she traced his jawline. She had no idea what she had done to deserve a man like Gintoki, but she was glad she had done it, no matter the consequences.

"What made you want to dress like this?" asked Gintoki as he pulled at another part of the outfit, determined to find its weakest point. When Kagura did not answer right away, he looked up and saw her biting her lower lip and looking away from him, almost like she was embarrassed to tell him the reason.

"I . . . can't tell you," she mumbled and he frowned, she was up to something.

Gintoki was suspicious now, Kagura never hid anything from him unless she was up to something devious, and given her attire it was very unlikely she was up to anything that might get him killed. Although, she could just be using her outfit to seduce him before strangling him. "Kagura, you know you can tell me anything," he said cautiously, unsure of whether she was actually plotting to kill him or not. "Now, tell me why you bought this outfit."

Kagura remained silent for a few moments before she finally screwed up the courage and just blurted out, "I want to make a baby with you!"

The next thing Gintoki knew, he was looking up at Kagura who had a very worried look on her face as she gently slapped his cheek, or as gently as a Yato could. "Stop slapping me, I'm awake!" he shouted and she immediately stopped though she did not let go of him. "Why am I on the floor?"

"Don't you remember?" asked Kagura as she brushed some hair out of his face. "You fainted after I said I wanted to make a baby with you."

He felt faint again but he managed to stay conscious this time, of all the reasons Kagura could have had for trying to look sexy, she had to say one of the few that he did not want to hear just yet or ever, if he was being honest. He knew he was not father material, sure he had babysat a baby everyone thought was his, but that was different; he knew he would be returning it to its rightful family. If he and Kagura had one of their own, there was no way he could return it to be someone else's problem. Then again, had he not envisioned having a family with Kagura a week ago? What was stopping him now? Maybe the fact they were not married yet and they had just gotten engaged a week ago.

"Kagura, I think we need to talk about this," he said gently as he sat up and looked at her, he could already tell she was getting ready to defend her position by the frown on her face, but he hardly wanted this to be a confrontation. "You know I love you, right?" She nodded. "And you know I'd do almost anything to make you happy, yes?" Again she nodded. "And I know you'd do the same for me, so listen carefully when I say that having a baby right now would be a very, very, bad idea."

Kagura turned a bright shade of red and was about to yell at him when he clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Calm down," he said sternly. "And listen, we just got engaged and we have a wedding to plan, throwing a baby into the mix just wouldn't work out well for anyone and we'd be being incredibly unfair to it because we couldn't give it all the attention it would need. I'm not saying I don't want a child with you, just not right now."

Kagura calmed considerably and Gintoki removed his hand from her mouth, now trusting that she would not yell at him. "So you do want to have a baby with me?" she asked hopefully and he rolled his eyes.

"Is that all you got out of what I just said?" asked Gintoki slightly irritated before Kagura threw herself on his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck.

"No, I understand," she said shyly. "I don't know, I guess it was a stupid idea, after all we aren't even married yet . . . and, I don't know . . . I suppose I just wanted to get to the next step sooner rather than later. I'm sorry, Gin."

Gintoki sighed heavily before wrapping his arms around Kagura's barely covered torso, a playful smile on his lips as he buried his face against her neck. "What am I going to do with you, Kagura?"

Kagura smiled mischievously, her fingers dancing lightly on his neck. "You could make love to me, if you wanted."

"Oh, I want to," replied Gintoki and he bit her neck, eliciting a small gasp from the Yato that was quickly followed by a moan. He was rewarded for his actions by her fingers digging into the base of his neck and he growled; it was going to be one of those nights.

He raised his head from the crook of her neck then claimed her lips in a burning kiss that shot fire through his body, her hands dancing across his clothed shoulders did little to quell the raging inferno instead she fed it. Gintoki felt her tugging at his nightshirt as he pulled on her nightie, both fighting to have the other free of the offending garment though in their lust addled haze they were careful not to rip anything. They would have to wear these again at some point.

Kagura assisted Gintoki in taking off her lingerie after she had forcibly removed his shirt from his muscled torso; she stole a moment to admire what contours she could see from her position and felt a rush of heat spread throughout her body. She loved seeing his body bare of any clothes, it revealed more about his warrior status than any battle ever could. His impressive physique notwithstanding, Gintoki had several scars decorating his flesh, each a testament to some battle or mission he had endured at some point. A few of them she recognized from when they had fought various villains together, some he had proudly shown off to anyone who would care to listen, but there were many he refused to talk about. One in particular was a very deep scar running down his back and when she had asked him how he got it, a dark shadow had crossed his eyes and he said nothing. She knew then that there would be some things about Gintoki even she would not be privileged enough to know. All she could do was chase away the demons that still haunted him.

Gintoki finally managed to pull off the nightie and was greeted by Kagura's milky skin and glorious breasts. He stared greedily at them before cupping one in his hand and squeezing roughly, he smiled wickedly when he heard Kagura moan before leaning down and taking the pink nipple in his mouth. His tongue swirled around the sensitive skin as he worked it to a peak before switching to lavish the other one with his talented tongue, very aware of Kagura's nails digging into his back, likely adding to the collection of marks she had started. He moaned when she started to drag her fingers across, causing him to release her nipple, they looked up at each other their eyes darkened with lust. They knew what they wanted, how they wanted it; it was just a matter of getting there.

Kagura pulled herself away from Gintoki and stood up, her naked body brazenly on display for him as he stood up as well, though he was struggling to remove his pants and boxers fast enough. His erection was impeding the progress, catching the waistbands of both as he went to remove them, but eventually they too were on the ground with the rest of their clothes. For a moment they stared at each other, drinking in each other's naked forms for the countless time, then they made a move simultaneously; Gintoki stepped forward just as Kagura did, their lips collided together in a mess of arms. They were searching, reaching, pulling each other closer as their hands and lips moved across flesh. Time did not exist in their thick haze of lust, only the feel of skin, the smell of sweat and adrenaline, the sounds of passion.

Gintoki managed to form enough of a thought to bend down suitably to get Kagura's legs hooked around his waist, then with her wrapped around him like a vine he pressed her back against the nearest wall. With Kagura secured, Gintoki moved his hand to his manhood and rubbed it against her dripping core, the heat almost suffocating as he slid it in up to the hilt. This was not the first time they had decided to forgo the futon in favor of a more solid surface, though even when they were on the futon, they moved around too much to stay there.

He began moving, his hands under her thighs as he guided his cock in and out of her, Kagura's moans echoed in his ears as he tried not to lose himself in the act too quickly; usually he tried to get her closer to climax before he let loose, knowing when he did he would not pay any attention to her needs above his own. Besides he enjoyed letting go when she was at the peak of her passion, that was really when she did not mind him digging his fingers or clamping down with his teeth into her tender skin. When it first happened he had been terrified that he had hurt her against her wishes, but then she surprised him by telling him that his teeth and nails felt better than she thought. Who knew she liked sex as rough as he did?

"G-Gintoki," she moaned loudly, and even above his own groans he heard her clear as day. She was getting close, he could tell, so he pulled away and looked at her, burning the image into his memory; her white skin was flushed, breasts bouncing with each of his thrusts, sweat glistened on her face and skin as she contorted her beautiful face into a look of intense pleasure. Her eyes were snapped shut but he hardly cared, he knew what they looked like and that was enough for him. He held on tighter to her thighs and started slamming into her, his head now against the crook of her neck as he tried to maintain his balance while thrusting, which was not as easy as he once thought. Kagura's moans intensified as did his own, the sounds mingling together into a familiar song, and then Kagura cried out as she clamped down on Gintoki, wrapping him in fire and pleasure. That was enough to push him over, with a few more frenzied thrusts, he spilled himself inside of her. Gintoki froze for a moment, he had not intended to do that, he had planned on pulling out at the last second and releasing on his clothes like he normally did. For some reason he had not and instead spilled in Kagura, and strangely enough he did not regret it, he was just surprised.

"Gin," said Kagura breathlessly, her voice bringing him back to the moment. "Gin, that was incredible."

"Isn't it always?" asked Gintoki with a wicked smile.

Kagura nodded, shaking some of her sweat-drenched hair free. "Of course. So are you ready for round two yet?"

Gintoki practically growled his response but managed to turn it into words. "You're insatiable, Kagura."

"You love it," replied Kagura with a smirk before biting his pulse point, making his cock twitch inside her. She was right he did love it.

The next morning found Gintoki and Kagura laying haphazardly on their futon, their bodies barely covered by the blanket Gintoki had thrown over them the night before after what must have been hours after their first round. Gintoki was the first of the pair to wake, blinking his eyes rapidly as he adjusted to the change in light. He sighed contentedly as he looked out of the window, the angle allowing him an unobstructed view of the bright blue sky just outside his home. Beside him he heard Kagura stirring though he could tell she was not entirely awake yet, just in the beginning stages, as much as he wanted to wake her he had learned the hard way that doing such a thing was often a bad idea. He had the scar to prove it too.

Turning over he did allow himself to partake in the view of Kagura's nakedness, knowing she would not care to see him staring at her when she did wake up. His favorite light on her was still moonlight but sunlight was not bad either, it allowed him to see some things the night hid, for instance that like him her skin was adorned with scars. Gintoki was sure no one else but he knew they were there, as most of them were on her torso and legs, two places only he was privileged enough to see. According to Kagura, despite her impressive healing abilities, there were some times when an injury was too much that it did scar. Some scars he knew without asking how they came to be on her body like the one on her abdomen as from when she had been shot at close range by Takasugi's maniac girlfriend. There was another she had sustained from fighting her brother Kamui's Yato friend while in Yoshiwara, but it was small and grazed her upper thigh. Numerous others could be found if he looked hard enough, but he did not care to, it pained him too much.

Some of the scars had been the result of her own carelessness, but a majority was because she had defended him or was thrown into a situation by him. Every scar that was there because of him he could not look at without his heart hurting a little, guilt having permanently lodged itself there with each mark. He knew he could never take them back and that she did not regret them, but he swore long ago he would not cause another scar to etch itself into her skin, and so far he had been successful. The only injuries that were his fault now were the love bites and bruises that dotted across her body. Under his gaze, she began to wake up fully; her blue eyes found his Bordeaux and he smiled.

"Good morning, sunshine," he said before brushing some hair out of her face.

Kagura smiled back, leaning into his touch. "Good morning to you too," she said, her voice a cross between sleep and awake. "Do we have anything to do today?"

"Well," started Gintoki when there was a loud pounding on the door. He frowned as he quickly reached for his strawberry patterned boxers and green pajama bottoms, he already had an idea of who it was at his door, and while he intended to take care of this he had thought of doing it later.

"I know you're in there, lazy ass!" shouted Otose as she pounded on the door. "I was nice to you last month, but I want my rent! You promised, you good-for-nothing lay-about!"

Gintoki made a small gesture to Kagura to stay put while he put on his clothes and then went over to his pants from the day before, extracting his wallet and pulling out a majority of the money. He winked at Kagura before heading out of the room.

"Keep your shirt on, granny!" he called back in response to Otose's knocking. "God knows the neighborhood doesn't deserve to go blind from that sight!" He opened the door and found Otose standing on his doorstep, her trusty cigarette dangling from her two fingers and a scowl on her face as she eyed him suspiciously. He held up the wad of money, which made her brown eyes widen. "Here, this month's rent plus a little extra."

Otose took the money from him and started counting it, only to find that he was telling the truth. "What's this about?" she asked him as she tucked the money into her black kimono. "And why did you include extra money?"

"I want to buy this place from you," he stated rather bluntly. "Kagura and I are getting married, and we need a house. We know this area and like being where we are, so I thought it best to buy this place, the money from the purchase would be more dependable than counting on rent from me. Are we in agreement?"

"Who are you and what the hell have you done with Gintoki?!" demanded Otose and she started pulling on his hair. "Are you that Kintoki again? He's the only one of you two who paid rent and was even remotely responsible!"

Gintoki tried to pull his hair away from Otose's claws. "Ow! Quit it, you old hag! My hair's bad enough without you pulling on it!" When Otose released him he looked back at her. "If I'm to be Kagura's husband, I need to start acting a little responsible, otherwise my family will be out on the streets. So do we have a deal or not?"

Otose looked at him like he was a stranger to her, but at the same time there was pride shining in her eyes, she could tell he was serious about being more responsible. "We have a deal, so long as you use the money you just gave me as the first installment towards buying Yorozuya, and you get Kagura to agree to work in my snack shop."

"Why should she work for you?" he asked suspiciously. "She'll be too busy cooking and cleaning to have a career."

"Other than to have a stable source of income?" she asked with a sigh and he nodded. "Well, it would be a way to see you both, plus it would be incredibly irresponsible of me to let that girl go on in life depending on you to support her. You might say you're changing, but it still wouldn't hurt for Kagura to have a job just in case you fall through."

"Your confidence in me is overwhelming," muttered Gintoki, which earned him a slap on the head from Otose.

"I'll believe it when I see it, lazy ass," she snapped before taking a drag from her cigarette. "Now do we have a deal or should I up the price of rent?"

"We have a deal," said Gintoki, extending out his hand which Otose shook. "So how long do you think it'll be before I can call this dump my home?"

Otose looked around at the small building and shrugged. "Once I get it appraised, I'll let you know. In the meantime though, keep making payments; you'll probably have it in your name in no time. Then this dump will be your headache."

Gintoki grinned before he pulled Otose into a quick hug. "Thanks, granny, this means a lot to me. I'll tell Kagura today to talk to you about working in the snack house, then we can plan a party."

"What kind of a party?" asked Otose curiously as Gintoki released her.

"One where I can drink for free and Kagura can have people stand around her and admire the engagement ring I gave her," said Gintoki simply. "She deserves a lot and I plan to give her as much as I can, so start inviting everyone we know to your snack shop for a party in a couple of days."

"I'll see what I can do, but you'd better help pay for the alcohol!" she said sternly though she could not prevent the small smile that crossed her lips, then she turned away, still slightly in awe of the way Gintoki was now behaving. She wondered how long he would be able to keep it up before slipping back into his old ways.

Gintoki closed the door and sighed heavily, then turned around only to see Kagura standing in front of him with nothing but his night shirt on. "Geez, Kagura!" he said somewhat fearfully. "Don't sneak up on a man like that!"

"Did you mean what you said?" she asked, her head tilted a little as she looked at him.

"Mean what?" he asked as he rubbed where Otose had dug her nails into his head while walking towards the kitchen, deciding now would be a good time to find something for breakfast.

"Mean that you're going to act more responsible," she said as she pushed herself up onto the counter, sitting with her ankles crossed as Gintoki stuck his head in the fridge.

Gintoki took a moment before answering. "Yeah, I mean it. Why? Do you think I'll fail at it like the old hag does?" He found the carton of strawberry milk he was looking for; he grabbed it then pulled his head out of the fridge.

Kagura shook her head. "No, it's just surprising to hear you say something like that, Gin. You haven't been in the past, so I don't understand how just getting married to me would change that in you."

"Well," said Gintoki slowly, considering his response carefully. "You see, Kagura, when a man and woman agree to get hitched certain things change in both of them. The woman gets pickier about cleanliness and cooking, then lets herself go after having children because she knows her husband can't afford to leave her no matter how ugly she gets. That last part probably won't happen to you, but the other two might. For men, they finally decide to grow up; no more gambling, no more late drunk nights, and no more casual flings with girls he doesn't know." Kagura gave him an ugly look but he waved it off. "I didn't say I did that last one, I was just using it as an example of growing up. Anyway, men change more than women, they realize that they need to provide a house and find an income to take care of their new family. That's what's happening to me, I'm trying to get us a decent house to live in that's our own and then I'll be looking for a more stable job. I might end up doing more odd jobs than before, just because that's all I'm qualified for, but I'll take them more seriously."

Kagura nodded and remained silent for a few moments before speaking again. "Gintoki, would you rather not marry me so you wouldn't change?"

Gintoki sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. "You idiot, I never said that. I don't mind the changes, sure it's scary but I've dealt with scarier things than this. Besides, I don't want you to end up married to someone else because I'm the one you're meant to be with, and if being with you means changing then I'll live with that."

"You're such a romantic, Gin," teased Kagura, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Only for you," he said, walking over to her and kissing her softly. "Did you hear the part about you having a job at the snack shop?"

Kagura nodded as she pushed some hair out of her face. "I did, and I don't disagree with it but what do you think?"

Gintoki shrugged as he reached behind her for a glass. "More money doesn't hurt, and it's not too bad of a position. You can do it as often as you want, so long as you don't start turning into the old lady or Catherine."

"That won't ever happen," vowed Kagura. "I want to be your wife for a long time, and I know if I start acting like either of them you'll leave me for a younger woman."

Gintoki let out a loud laugh as he poured himself a glass of strawberry milk. "Kagura, I could never leave you for a younger woman, you're young enough for me."

"Dirty old man," retorted Kagura then she swiped the glass from him and drank its contents in a few gulps before handing him the glass as she jumped down and started walking away. "I'm going to take Sadaharu out for a walk, see you later."

He looked down at the empty glass and scowled, that had been the last of the milk. 'Guess I should go buy some more after work today,' he thought with a small groan.

Kagura sighed happily as she rode atop her beloved Sadaharu, her purple parasol expanded above her head to hide her sensitive skin from the light of the Sun. During her walk with Sadaharu, no less than fifteen people stopped her to congratulate her on her engagement to Gintoki, many of them saying they thought it was about time before offering a small contribution to the wedding. She was happy to know so many people cared when before she would have been suspicious of their intentions; her naivety had been taken advantage of before and after that she had been more than a little hostile towards people, even if she did not outwardly demonstrate it. To realize now that there were genuine and honest people living on Earth made her glad she had not left with her father all those years ago.

They were nearing home when Kagura saw a familiar shape standing on the balcony above Otose's shop, just outside the door to the Yorozuya. Even from her distance she could see the gleam from a pair of goggles and an umbrella at the person's side.

"Papi!" she exclaimed and urged Sadaharu to go faster, a smile stretching across her face as she drew nearer to her father. When they were near enough to the stairs, Kagura jumped down from Sadaharu's back and practically flew up the stairs, desperately wanting to see her father and hoping it was not Kamui in disguise. She saw the older Yato standing where she had seen him and without a doubt knew it was her father. "Papi!" she called again and this time her father turned around.

"Kagura!" cried Umibouzu and he opened his arms wide, his daughter running into his embrace without hesitation. He held her close to his chest and kissed the top of her head, it had been too long since they had last seen each other, the last time being when he and Gintoki had to save her from some alien bent on world destruction. She had barely been fourteen then and here she was, nearly nineteen and a beautiful young woman.

"I'm so happy to see you, Papi," she said against his shoulder. "I was starting to think you were never coming back."

Umibouzu chuckled warmly as he released her from his embrace. "What? Never see my beloved daughter again? The galaxy would have to be destroyed first before that ever happened."

Kagura smiled brightly. "I have something to tell you! Something really wonderful has happened!"

"You're getting married to a prince?" asked Umibouzu suspiciously, his grip on his umbrella tightening just a little.

"Something like that," she said with a laugh, not seeing his reaction. "Gintoki and I are getting married!"

If Umibouzu had not been holding onto his umbrella, he probably would have fallen over dead then and there. There was no way in hell that his baby girl, his only daughter, the apple of his eye was getting married to that good for nothing samurai, that man was hardly deserving of such a prize as Kagura. Well, if he wanted to marry his daughter, he would have to be subjected to the Yato tradition as the only way to prove he was worthy.

"Papi?" asked Kagura cautiously, she was wondering why her father had gone silent and still after she told him about her engagement.

Umibouzu said nothing in response, instead he turned around and leapt from the balcony, landing on the ground with a swirling dust cloud around him. He took off in a random direction but Kagura did not need a map to know that Gintoki's location would also be her father's, for a moment she kicked herself for just blurting out the news to her father though that could not be helped now. She then jumped off the balcony and started chasing after her father, rolling her eyes at how idiotic her family could be sometimes.

"Papi, you can't kill him! I love him!" she shouted as she jumped over a building, hoping she would reach Gintoki before her father.