Your Friends Are Never Quite the Same When They Come Home From Camp

The mental institution was far more imposing than either Gintoki or Kagura had suspected it to be, and as they stood outside they both briefly considered running back to the safety of their home. The only flaw in that plan was they promised Tae they would take some sense into Shinpachi in order to get him to come home; Tae had requested he be discharged once he showed signs of improvement but Shinpachi had refused to come back. Neither of them wanted to upset Tae, especially now that she seemed even more volatile with her pregnancy.

"Remember, Kagura," said Gintoki as they carefully entered the hospital, Kagura clutching onto his hand for dear life, "don't speak to anyone who seems like they have some authority here. Two minutes talking with you and I'll be back here trying to bribe the doctors to release you, besides, how would it look to the neighbors that I'm marrying someone who spent some time in a nut house, eh?"

Kagura rolled her eyes. "They probably wouldn't bat an eye, perm-head. And what about you, huh? The way you talk and act it's a wonder you weren't locked away sooner."

Gintoki gently stroked her fingers. "Would you bust me out if I did get locked up here?"

"Of course," said Kagura sweetly. "They haven't come up with a means of stopping a pissed off Yato woman."

"I suppose I'll take some comfort in that," sighed Gintoki as they approached the front desk where an elderly woman was typing at a computer. "Excuse me, which way is Shinpachi Shimura's room?"

The old woman looked up and smiled politely. "Well, isn't that sweet? The only people whom have been to see him was that gorilla couple who brought him in."

"Gorilla couple?" asked Gintoki and Kagura in unison but then realized exactly whom she meant; it was all they could do not to fall down laughing.

"Yes," said the old woman. "The female said she was Mr. Shimura's sister but I could see no resemblance, still I let her see him, after all that sweet boy needed some company, he was so upset when that pop star announced she was pregnant by the Shogun's nephew. I felt so terrible for him."

"Oh yes, terrible," said Gintoki, a shit eating grin stretching across his lips though he was fighting against it.

"Poor boy," reiterated Kagura who was holding her sides against the laughter bubbling up, a task she was finding harder and harder to do. "So where is his room?"

"On the second floor, third on the left," said the womanly cheerily. "Please tell him that I'll have some fresh avocado rolls ready for his dinner."

Gintoki nodded, no longer trusting his voice, he reached over and grabbed Kagura's wrist, pulling her towards the nearest elevator before either of them could the situation worse for themselves or Shinpachi. Once they were safely in the confines of the elevator, they both burst out laughing, the sound echoing off the metal walls as they gripped the hand railing to keep on their feet. They could barely breathe by the time the doors opened again, somehow they managed to get out without stumbling though they still were laughing as they walked the few feet to Shinpachi's room. Kagura was the first to recover and she tapped Gintoki on the shoulder.

"We need . . . we need to sober up," she wheezed. "Shinpachi . . . Shinpachi won't like us laughing at Big Sis."

"Okay, okay," agreed Gintoki between giggles. "I'll stop, I promise."

They gave themselves a few more minutes to regain their composure before putting the calmest faces they could manage and entering Shinpachi's room. The room itself was not that interesting, three simple white walls with one wall made entirely of windows, a bathroom to the right and closet to the left, a few chairs and a table along with a wardrobe in the corner with a bed placed on the right wall. Looking around, they saw Shinpachi lying on his bed, looking right back at them.

"Hey Shinpachi," said Gintoki with a nervous sort of laugh. "It's great to see you."

"Yeah, it's so nice to see you," said Kagura, looking to Gintoki for guidance in this situation. "You haven't really changed much since we last saw you."

Together they walked over to the bed, sitting down in the chairs closest to him, unsure of how to proceed from here. Neither one of them heard the door to the bathroom open, too absorbed in silently consoling their friend, if they had they would have seen how different their friend really was.

"Hey!" shouted Shinpachi happily. "I can't believe you two are here, what have you been up to?"

"We're getting married, Shinpachi," said Kagura with a small smile, showing up her left hand for emphasis. "We came to invite you to our engagement party in a couple of days, that is, if you discharge yourself from this place first."

"You're getting married?!" exclaimed Shinpachi when he saw Kagura's ring shining on her finger. "Of course I'll be there! I was going to leave here soon, but now I have even more of a reason to leave!"

"Oh Shinpachi, that's excellent news!" gushed Kagura as she leaned over and patted his pillow, leaving Shinpachi confused, confused that is until he saw what she was actually addressing.

"Those are my glasses, you idiots!" he shouted angrily, storming over to the bed and snatching his glasses up from the pillow and practically breaking them as he shoved them back on his face. "I hate it when you two do that to me! I am a person with or without my glasses."

Neither Kagura nor Gintoki was listening to him as he rambled, they were too caught up in how different he looked since the last time they saw him. These last six months in seclusion had really transformed him; his face was much more chiseled than they remembered, more mature and to a certain degree handsome, his body leaner and more adult despite the fact he was almost twenty-two, and his hair went past his ears. Overall he was much, much different than when they saw him six months ago, which had ironically been about the same time Kagura and Gintoki had started their relationship.

"Wow!" exclaimed Kagura, jumping up and embracing her friend, not noticing him wince sharply. "Shinpachi, you look so grown up now! It's great to see you, we've missed you so much."

Shinpachi grinned sheepishly as he returned Kagura's enthusiastic embrace though without the same strength, he looked over her at Gintoki who was beaming proudly. "I can't believe you two are getting married! I didn't even know you were dating."

"We've been seeing each other since your exile," replied Gintoki with a shrug. "I just recently came to my senses that I wouldn't be anything without Kagura and she would be lost in this world without me. So we decided to get hitched."

Kagura released Shinpachi and turned to face Gintoki. "You make it sound so unromantic, Gin! I mean, the other day you were telling my father in public how much I meant to you and how much I changed your life for the better, why can't you do that with Shinpachi?"

Gintoki rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Well, I can't be shown going completely soft, it'd ruin the story completely. Anyway, back to the point of all this. Shinpachi, are you finally over this whole pregnant-sister-and-pregnant-pop-idol crisis and ready to come back home?"

Shinpachi nodded happily. "Absolutely, I'm so ready to get home and prepare for my nephew's arrival. I've missed everyone, especially you two."

"We've missed having you around too, Shinpachi," said Gintoki as he came over and patted him soundly on the shoulder. "It's been almost hell not having a Straight Man around, I mean I had to go ring shopping with Hasegawa."

"I'll be out of here by tomorrow," said Shinpachi with a big smile. "I just wanted one more day with decent cooking, although from what Kondo told me, he's been doing most of the cooking since Tae's too big to do much of anything now."

"Is there really only one in there?" asked Gintoki as Kagura giggled. "I swear she's mean enough for three little gorillas to be swimming around in there."

"Then gods help us if she ever gets pregnant with more than one," said Shinpachi with a shudder and the other two Yorozuya burst out laughing. "How long are you two staying? I mean, should I have food called in for you?"

Kagura shook her head. "No, we should be going soon. We start work in a little while."

Shinpachi's eyes went as wide as saucers. "What?! You two are working now? When they hell did this happen? It seems so unlike you to be working, what is this author doing to you two?"

"Kagura's working at granny's snack shop," said Gintoki, putting an arm around Kagura's waist. "And I have a few odd jobs lined up for the afternoon, when that's done we'll be having dinner with Hage, he's in town for a few weeks, and will be here for the wedding miraculously enough."

Kagura punched him in the stomach. "You said we were going to plan the wedding so Papi could be here! Stop making it sound like getting married to me is such a pain in the ass."

Gintoki was doubled over but still standing as he looked up and smiled fondly at Kagura. "You would know, wouldn't you? Considering you are a pain in the ass."

Shinpachi watched as Kagura and Gintoki began squabbling, the familiarity of the scene bringing him great comfort at least until they started to grow louder and louder, insults flinging left and right. 'Maybe I'll stay here an extra couple of days.'

Later that same day, Kagura was getting ready for her first ever shift at the snack house, Otose had explained that her job was to bring the guests their food and drinks as well as be pleasant when interacting with them. She had made it abundantly clear that she was not to act like Tae did at the hostess place, no matter how inappropriate the guest she was not to hit them unless they made a physical move against her, which was a fair deal she supposed. Looking at her outfit she could hardly complain, it was a very pretty green kimono that had been Otose's when she was a young woman and matched well with her vermillion red hair and blue eyes.

"Kagura!" shouted Gintoki as he entered their bedroom. "Kagura, your shift starts soon, are you ready yet?"

"Just finished," she said happily, turning around to see him. "What do you think? Not a bad outfit, especially considering it was granny's a long time ago."

Gintoki smiled appreciatively at her appearance, he had yet to see her in something that was unflattering to her beauty, even when she dressed in men's clothes she still looked like a ravishing goddess. "You look great, but then again you could make a brown sack look fashionable so it's really a hollow compliment. Oh, Hage wants to know what time dinner's going to be, he apparently has a few errands to run and he still wants to make it in time to get a few bites of food before you devour it all."

"Dinner will be done after my shift is finished," replied Kagura with a slight pout. "What time do you think you'll be getting home today?"

Gintoki mulled the question over in his mind for a few moments. "Well, so long as Hinowa doesn't ask me to do anything to strenuous, I should be done around the same time you are. We'll have a proper family dinner tonight."

Kagura blushed. "The first of many, I hope."

"I think that can be arranged," said Gintoki, taking her in his arms. "So long as you from to pour my sake at the end of the day. Just the thought of working so much makes me want a drink."

"I think that can be arranged," replied Kagura, kissing him lightly on the lips, knowing what would happen if she kissed him with anymore passion. "Now we should get going, our jobs start really soon and you have to get to Yoshiwara on that rackety old scooter, you need all the time you need."

Gintoki rolled his eyes as they walked arm in arm out of the room. "That scooter is not as unreliable as that pet of yours, it at least doesn't stop for piss breaks every half mile."

"Whatever," sighed Kagura as they entered the living room where her father was reclining on the couch reading a book. "Papi, we're headed out now, do you want me to pick anything up while I'm out?"

Umibouzu looked up at them from his book and shook his head. "No, I should find everything I need while I run my errands, thank you, Kagura. You and the Punk should get to work, don't worry about an old man like me."

"Sounds good to me," said Gintoki, tugging Kagura's hand. "Come on, honey, let's get going."

"Bye, Papi!" called Kagura as she and Gintoki left the small home.

Umibouzu smiled contentedly as the door closed, there was nothing better than seeing the daughter he loved so much getting on so well in life with someone who loved her just as much or more than he did. He thought about the last time he saw Kagura that happy and the only time he could think of was when he allowed her stay on Earth with Gintoki, and that was so long ago it almost could allow him to forget the fact she was never happy on their home world. Kouka had died when Kagura was very young and Kamui had left not long after, leaving her to be raised by various families with him visiting every few months just to make sure she was doing well. No, he had never been able to give her the happy home she so rightfully deserved and had had snatched away from her at a young age; the only person whom had been able to do that was Gintoki. It started when she was a young girl and his companion, now it was continuing with her as a young woman and as his wife. 'He's a better man than I,' he thought as he turned the page.

Kagura waved good-bye to Gintoki and headed inside the snack shop, which despite the afternoon hour had a number of customers sitting in the various booths situated around the small shack. They smiled when they saw her and she smiled back, heading over to the bar where Otose was already waiting with a tray full of drinks, her cigarette clutched in her fingers.

"Get to work, monster," said Catherine from her position at the bar, a cigarette in her hand as well. "Don't think we're going to go easy on you just because it's your first day."

Kagura rolled her eyes as she took the tray from Otose. "Whatever, cat freak, I'm sure I'll do just fine today." She took the tray over to the group of customers that were without drinks and smiled as she handed them out, making the customary small talk that was expected of her. "Is there anything else I can get you?"

"How about some onigiri?" asked one of the men as he took a sip of his drink. "We're going to need something to wash down this swill."

"It'll take more than onigiri to do that," replied Kagura with a wink, making the men laugh loudly. "Hey granny, an order of onigiri for the men over at that second table."

"Fine, fine," grunted Otose then she looked at Tama. "Tama, get some onigiri for the rowdy bunch."

"Yes, Otose," said Tama, the robot then went into the backroom to make the dish. Given how she made the food, eating the ingredients then throwing up the dish on the floor, it was best that it was done out of the view of the customers.

Kagura went to the other table and collected the empty cups, making sure to collect the money the patrons had left on the table before returning to where Otose was standing around waiting at the bar. She handed her the money and nearly pushed Catherine over as she shoved the tray of dirty dishes to the Amanto, with a smile she accepted the plates of onigiri from Tama and went back to the table she had been serving earlier.

Otose smiled fondly as she put the money in the till. "Pay up, Catherine. She's been here five minutes and broken nothing and insulted no one."

Catherine snorted as she fished out a small bundle of bills. "It's still early, she could easily break something in the next few seconds."

"I highly doubt it," said Otose as she snatched the money away from her "daughter." "Now get to work washing those dishes."

"Since when do I wash dishes?" asked Catherine defiantly, half-heartedly glaring at Otose.

"Since Kagura did a better job as a hostess than you do," replied Otose with a thin smile, she then jerked her thumb in the direction of the sink, chuckling as Catherine grumbled angrily under her breath. She watched as Kagura flitted between the tables, chatting with the patrons and happily pouring them more sake from the pitcher on the table. The girl was doing a better job than she thought she was going to do originally, when she offered the position initially she had almost rescinded her offer in the same breath once she thought the idea through completely. Now she was glad she had not, Kagura was clearly in her element being a hostess, and thankfully she had not picked up any of Tae's hostess habits. Then again, the night was young.

Gintoki whistled as he hung up a banner over Hinowa's shop, advertising to everyone about some two-for-one special she had going that week, though he was curious as to what she was giving away he knew better than to ask. Seita was close at hand, handing him nails as Gintoki hammered the banner into the wood archway above the door. The young boy had grown a great deal these last few years, he was almost a man now or so he said, capable of being a bouncer at one of the clubs despite his young age rather than an errand boy, which is what he had told his mother when she asked him to work with Gintoki.

"Are you almost done?" asked Seita as he watched Gintoki work. "You've used over a dozen nails, that sign can't be that heavy."

Gintoki chuckled as he hammered in another nail. "Looks can be deceiving, Guiding Star of Yoshiwara, just look at you. No one would think that you were the reason Hinowa kept living in the prison Housen designed for her."

Seita frowned as he handed Gintoki another nail. "Stop calling me that, it makes me sound like some kind of courtesan. And how in the world does that flimsy paper banner need thirteen nails?!"

Hinowa then rolled up, a smile on her face as she looked at the banner. "It's perfect Gintoki, thank you! You did a great job hanging it up."

Gintoki grinned as he jumped down from the ladder, startling Seita. "It's the least I could do, now is there anything else you need?"

The Sun of Yoshiwara nodded. "Would you mind helping me distribute these flyers in town so everyone knows about the special? I'd ask Seita, but he has to get back to his station at the toy store."

Seita practically smacked himself in the head. "I forgot! Sorry, Mom."

"It's fine," said Hinowa, ruffling her son's hair. "Run along and get ready, don't forget to tell Tsukuyo that we need her tonight at the Cherry Blossom Palace. Some of those men are getting too rowdy for the girls' liking."

"I will!" he said happily, giving his mother a hug before running off to his room, nail box still in his hand.

Hinowa chuckled and Gintoki rolled his eyes before they started down the street, Hinowa handing him a large stack of flyers that he started handing out to people that walked past them on the way to who knew where. Several times he was stopped on the street, some people asking for more information about the event but some offered him their congratulations on his upcoming wedding to Kagura. This surprised him greatly since he was not aware that the news had reached this area yet.

"They're happy for you," said Hinowa after a courtesan gave him a small envelope of money as a wedding gift. "Though I'm sure most of them would rather be in Kagura's place."

'None of these women could take Kagura's place,' he thought happily as he put the money in his yukata. "That's understandable, many women here would want to be the wife of the Hero of Yoshiwara."

Hinowa nodded as she handed out another flyer. "Did the Hero of Yoshiwara like the gift his fiancée bought for him?"

Gintoki tried not to redden at the question, knowing full well what she was referring to. "He did, even though it was bought as a means of getting him to give something he was unwilling to part with."

"Yes, she told me her intention," said Hinowa lightly as she fanned herself. "I think it was rather sweet and romantic, if a little misguided. She thought having a baby would bring you two closer."

"I think we're close enough," laughed Gintoki nervously. "Anyway, how's Tsukuyo doing? I haven't seen much of her lately."

Hinowa shrugged. "Well enough, she still works late hours patrolling Yoshiwara, but is now taking a few hours off to unwind. She seems content with her life, even though not everything has worked out the way she wanted it to."

Gintoki said nothing, feeling the heavy weight of her eyes on him as they walked. Almost a year ago, Tsukuyo had approached him and declared her love for him, boldly asking him if he returned her feelings. He had informed her that he did not in fact reciprocate her affections, nor would he ever; he told her that she deserved someone who would love her the way she deserved and assured her that she would find that person. Despite having let her down gently, he knew Tsukuyo was still angry with him for his rejection and had been actively avoiding him whenever possible, like today for instance. He hoped that they would be able to move beyond this as he still considered Tsukuyo one of his closest friends and allies.

"She'll get over it," said Hinowa gently. "Eventually," she added as an after thought. "The heart wants what it wants, and the same can be said for you as well, Gintoki. You wanted to be with Kagura and your heart would accept no other, no matter what. I find it incredibly wonderful that the two of you love each other as much as you two do, it's refreshing to see such a gentle and innocent love flourishing like this."

"You make it sound like it's some fragile flower," remarked Gintoki as he crumbled up a flyer and threw it at a passerby who declined it, hitting him squarely in the head.

Hinowa laughed before responding. "All love is fragile at first, Gintoki, especially something like the love you and Kagura share. You must treat it as a treasured flower; keep it safe, pull away the weeds, give it what it needs and nurture it. Then the flower will bloom into something breathtaking."

Gintoki wanted to make a smart remark but thought better of it, after all she was only trying to be helpful and her advice was rather accurate. "Thank you, Hinowa."

The Sun of Yoshiwara gave him one of her truly sincere smiles and they pressed on, secretly she wondered how many weeds would try to hurt Gintoki and Kagura's flower.

Later that evening, Gintoki trudged up the stairs to his house exhausted from the day's work; after distributing those flyers, Hinowa had had him make some repairs to a number of the bars and pleasure palaces some of which required interesting ways of contorting his body so he could do the repair. After that he had to move some shipment boxes around the supply room of the toy store that were too big for Seita to do by himself. He could not complain too much, Hinowa had paid him rather handsomely for his assistance, plus a number of people in Yoshiwara had given him small envelopes of money as a way of congratulating him for his upcoming marriage. Overall, it was a fairly productive day.

He entered the house and took a deep breath, the smell of teriyaki meeting his nose and his stomach growled loudly. Quickly he took off his shoes and headed into the living room, he was a little surprised to see Umibouzu sitting on the couch petting Sadaharu, and mostly the surprise was due to the fact that every time he saw this man there was some kind of impending battle. Seeing him acting so domestic was a shock, plus he was not wearing his alien fighting gear, instead he was wearing an olive and white colored yukata and his baldhead was on display for everyone to see.

"Nice to see you, Punk," said Umibouzu as he scratched under Sadaharu's chin.

"You too, Hage," said Gintoki as he stretched out on the couch opposite Umibouzu. "Get your errands done?"

Umibouzu nodded. "I did. What about you? Did you do some actual work today?"

"I do work almost everyday, old man," snapped Gintoki, slightly insulted at the implication. "You're just not always around to notice."

"Sure you do," chuckled Umibouzu. "Hey Kagura, is dinner about ready?"

"Yes, Papi," came Kagura's voice from the kitchen. "Is Gin home or are you just arguing with yourself, you crazy old man?"

Gintoki laughed loudly. "No, this time he's actually talking to me. How was work at granny's place? You haven't turned into Catherine yet, have you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be cooking for you," she replied, stepping out of the kitchen with a large bowl of what looked like rice. "Get to the table and I'll go get the beef." She then placed the bowl on the table and headed back into the kitchen.

The two men looked at each other and shrugged before lugging themselves up from their respective couches, then sitting down in front of the table Kagura had set with bowls and cups, their chopsticks set neatly nearest them. They were both a little curious as to why Kagura had gone through all of the trouble of setting the table when it would have been simpler to just come out with the bowls already full of food and eat on the couch. Kagura then reentered with a pan of freshly made teriyaki beef, setting it down in front of them.

"Papi, please hand me your bowl," said Kagura sweetly, taking the bowl from Umibouzu then proceeding to fill it up with a generous helping of rice and beef then handing it back to him. She did the same thing with Gintoki's bowl before helping herself, she then poured her father and herself some water from the pitcher that was sitting on the table and she filled Gintoki's glass with some strawberry milk.

The two men shared a bewildered look as Kagura worked, both concerned about her seemingly submissive behavior that did not suit her character whatsoever.

"Kagura, are you all right?" asked Umibouzu, clearing his throat nervously. "You're acting a bit . . . strange."

"I'm fine, Papi," said Kagura with a small smile. "It's just . . . we haven't had a family dinner in so long, and I wanted it to be like when Mami cooked for us. I remember when she was able to, she would make dinner and have the table ready for when you and Kamui would return home from wherever you had been. She would bring the rice out first and everyone would be told to get to the table, then she would come out with the main dish, serving you first then Kamui then me then herself. She would pour the drinks and we would start eating." Kagura looked at the meal she had prepared. "I thought you would like it."

Umibouzu's face crinkled with the biggest smile Gintoki had ever seen gracing the old hunter's features, apparently what Kagura had done had touched the deepest corner of his heart. "I love it, Kagura," he said, leaning over and kissing the top of his daughter's head. "Now, let's eat, I'm half-starved."

"Finally we can agree on something," laughed Gintoki as he began eating, with almost the same ferocity as the two Yatos.

Kagura paused long enough between bites to ask her father a question that had been swimming around her brain all day. "Do you remember that day Kamui and I were convinced we could make miso soup from rain water?"

Umibouzu thought for a moment then laughed at the memory. "Yes! You two took that metal pot of your mother's outside while it rained and filled it with rocks, leaves, grass and whatever else you could get your hands on. Kamui called it 'flavoring' and you sat out in the rain with him for hours until that pot filled up with enough water. You then brought it back in and mixed it with your mom's soup spoon, thinking that would be enough and were so disappointed when nothing happened."

"I remember Kamui kicking the bucket and almost breaking his toe," laughed Kagura. "Mami thought it was pretty funny, you even made miso soup that very night!"

"Figures you'd remember the food," snickered Gintoki and Kagura pushed him playfully in the shoulder. "Sounds like you and Kamui had a fun time that day."

Kagura nodded somewhat weakly. "Yes, when he wasn't being a baka he was a lot of fun to play with. He taught me all the constellations in the sky, making up stories about them to help me go to sleep. I miss that." She shrugged slightly, like she was trying to roll a weight from her shoulders. "Have you heard anything about him, Papi?"

"No," replied Umibouzu after a moment. "Last I heard he was still with that pirate friend of the Punk's, that Takasugi guy. Other than that, it's been pretty quiet, which concerns me."

Gintoki could sense that the dinner was headed down a sad and dark path unless they pulled back now, and he really did not want to see Kagura upset further. "Don't worry about it, if he shows his face around here, we'll take care of it," said Gintoki airily as he pulled out several envelopes from his yukata. "Take a look at these, Kagura, gifts from people in Yoshiwara!"

Kagura's blue eyes lit up and she started tearing into one as she asked about his day helping Hinowa out, throwing in some comments about her day at the snack shop. Gintoki smiled contentedly as he opened an envelope, not missing the wink Umibouzu gave him, the old man understanding what he did and why. Gintoki nodded discreetly as he handed the money to Kagura for her to count, wondering how he would handle things if Kamui decided to come back for a "visit." He hoped he would not.