Chapter 10: A pretty woman is pretty even in a police uniform

Gintoki was more than familiar to waking up with a hangover, his head pounding even without Shinpachi purposefully making a noise in the kitchen to make a point, but this time it felt particularly loud. Also, he felt somewhat squeezed, which was stupid, because his futon- Ah wait, he was on the sofa. Why was he on- Ah yes, he has been too tired and too lazy the previous night, to take out a spare futon and his was occupied.

He groaned weakly, remembering the unexpected, even if he considered the fact that he has gone out drinking with Sakamoto, conclusion of the night: finding a wounded, somewhat delirious friend on a rooftop. It must have taken them more than an hour to just get off the roof, he thought, lifting his hand to his hurting head. And then another to get home, avoiding the places where there could be police patrols. Zura better make up for it later.

The stab of guilt was instantaneous. If he hasn't been such an asshole, Zura would have gone directly to his place two nights ago and would be alright by now and making up for the trouble by preparing a breakfast.

'Gin-san, we're out of rice,' Shinpachi announced. Gintoki bit down on a groan and pretended to be asleep. 'Give it up, Gin-san, I know you're awake. You should be ashamed for yourself for coming back so drunk that you couldn't even make it to your bedroom. What kind of example are you giving to Kagura?' the righteous teenager asked sternly. Gintoki could imagine Shinpachi's disapproving expression. A cup was placed on the table, close to his head, with more force than necessary and this time Gintoki groaned, feeling the clunk reverberate through his head.

'Shinpachi, are you trying to kill Gin-san?' he whined pitifully. 'Gin-san has barely gotten any sleep this night and the sofa is very uncomfortable in fact. I think I should have slept on the floor instead, at least I would be able to straighten my legs out,' he added, blinking his eyes open and groaning at the bright light. 'Why are you here so early anyway?'

'It's not early anymore, Gin-san,' Shinpachi corrected him primly. 'If you have taken five more steps last night you would have been in the bedroom, Gin-san, were you really that drunk?' he asked while Gintoki lifted himself up into a sitting position, ignoring his protesting muscles. He looked up at Shinpachi and muttered that the bedroom was occupied, enjoying the thoroughly scandalised look on the boy's face.

'Ah, you brought me painkiller, Shinpachi, how kind of you,' he intoned, pretending to ignore Shinpachi's, for the moment mute, outrage. How he wished he could see what the teenager was thinking!

'Did somebody say we're out of rice?' Kagura asked. Gintoki remembered her waking up during the night, staring at him and Sakamoto carrying Katsura to the bedroom and then going back to sleep. He wondered, as she appeared in his field of vision, yawning, whether she remembered it.

'Gin-san,' Shinpachi state his name sternly. 'What has happened last night?' he asked, looking like he knew he was going to regret it. It occurred to Gintoki that this was a perfect opportunity to tease the kid a bit. He deserved some fun, didn't he? And Zura deserved, for being a brainless idiot who didn't understand anything, to be mortified if he happened to be awake and hear what Gintoki would say.

'Gin-chan and Sakamoto brought somebody to have fun with,' Kagura said flatly before Gintoki had the time to decide what he should say. Both he and Shinpachi choked on air at her statement. Admittedly, Gintoki thought, once he got over the shock, her words worked as well. 'The screaming and arguing kept me awake for an hour at least,' she complained, picking her nose. Shinpachi turned an incredulous gaze towards Gintoki.

'Adults have their needs, Shinpachi,' he said, as flatly as he could, keeping his face very carefully blank. Shinpachi's eyes have grown larger than his glasses. 'Now since my guest is thoroughly exhausted, could you keep it down?' Gintoki asked. Shinpachi's pale face burned with a violent blush. Gintoki would love to see his thoughts right then.

The doorbell rang.

'I'll take it,' Shinpachi whispered and fled. Gintoki and Kagura exchanged wide, malicious smirks. Truly, riling up Shinpachi was too easy and too much fun. And with any luck, Katsura was asleep and Gintoki wouldn't get a lecture on what he should and should not teach teenaged girls. Now how could they continue this farce?

'Gin-san, there is a police officer to see you,' Shinpachi called and all thoughts of teasing the boy scattered from his mind like fish when you threw a rock into their pond. He saw Kagura straighten slightly and allowed himself a spark of hope that she'd know to keep her mouth shut. They both turned as two sets of footsteps neared the living room, Shinpachi leading. 'I'm going to report you for improper behaviour,' Shinpachi added and Gintoki swore his heart stopped for a moment.

If Shinpachi said something about the bedroom-

'Good morning, Odd Jobs,' greeted the police officer politely, as soon as she came into view and Gintoki breathed a sigh of relief that has not gone unnoticed by her. She looked around carefully, eyes stopping briefly on the blanket bundled up on the sofa next to Gintoki and then on the closed door to the bedroom, before focusing on his face with a small frown.

'Officer Karma, good morning,' he greeted her back, stretching comfortably on the sofa. Shinpachi looked from the officer to him, curious. 'To what do I owe the pleasure of seeing you in my humble abode?'

'Did you come to ask Gin-chan's hand in marriage after all?' Kagura asked before Karma had the time to open her mouth to answer Gintoki. Shinpachi hissed her name furiously, although he seemed to be catching on to the fact that he was the only one to not know the Shinsengumi officer who smiled at Kagura amiably and, blushing ever so faintly, assured her that she was not interested in Gintoki's hand at all.

'Ah, that's because you don't know what those hands can do,' Gintoki commented, putting up his hands and wriggling his fingers. Alma blushed bright red. Shinpachi chocked and spluttered. Kagura agreed and Gintoki threw the TVs remote at her.

'I came to tell you that the Shinsengumi might pass at random times here, as a part of their patrol routine,' the officer said softly. The cheerful mood evaporated. Gintoki narrowed his eyes at her. She glanced towards Shinpachi and then back at Gintoki, the question clear in her expression: can I trust him? Gintoki nodded minutely.

'I apologize for the inconvenience, but your place has been listed as a possible hideout for Katsura and is, among others, on the list of places the commander wants the Shinsengumi to check regularly. There might be somebody coming as often as every day, but we have no observers to spare to permanently keep an eye on the Odd Jobs,' she added. Gintoki didn't need the meaningful look she gave him to understand the purpose of that information.

'Wait, why are you-' Shinpachi started and trailed off.

'I will put myself on those patrols as often as I can, but it would place everybody at risk if I never sent anybody else this way,' Karma added. Gintoki nodded. Behind the officer, he saw understanding clear Shinpachi's expression, swiftly followed by surprise. Kagura huffed something about annoying tax thieves having nothing better to do. Karma smiled, but it faded before she spoke again. 'Will you let Katsura know? Is he alright?' she asked, worry clear in her tone.

'You can tell him yourself,' Gintoki replied gruffly, pointing towards the bedroom door. 'If he's awake that is, you guys did a number on him last time and the idiot chose to bleed on his own rather than coming for help,' he added with distaste. Karma looked horrified and, with only a quick bow of acknowledgement, rushed to the bedroom, closing the door behind her. Gintoki looked at it, raising an eyebrow: it was slightly more enthusiastic than he has expected.

'Gin-san- What-' Shinpachi started uncertainly. They both watched Kagura go and press her ear to the door, snickering quietly. 'It's Mister Katsura in the bedroom, right? Why did you make it sound like there was something lewd going on?' he asked after a long moment. At the door, Kagura was narrowing her eyes.

'I need to take my pleasure where I can, don't I?' he asked back, turning to smile at the teenager, who glared at him. However, before anything else could be said, the doorbell rang again. Gintoki scowled darkly at the door.

'What if it's more Shinsengumi?' Kagura hissed urgently. She hasn't even had the decency to move away from the door to the bedroom, to pretend that she hasn't been eavesdropping. The doorbell rang again.

'Kintoki, we brought a brunch,' laughed an annoying voice on the other side and Gintoki let out the breath he hasn't realized he was holding. Shinpachi laughed nervously.

'It's only Mister Sakamoto,' he said and went to open the door when nobody else moved. Gintoki slumped on the sofa, rubbing his eyes tiredly. It was bad karma for letting Sakamoto talk him into getting drunk the evening before, he thought. The painkiller he has taken hasn't quite started working yet. Sakamoto's laughter, once the man was let in, reverberated in his skull and only his sense of pride kept him from groaning miserably.

Also, he wanted to go back to sleep, he thought, yawning. Only idiots could be lively this early during the day, but he was surrounded by idiots it seemed and in a matter of minutes, the whole of his low table was literally covered with various food products. Has he fallen asleep for real? This could not have happened in an eye-blink, could it?

'How is the sleeping princess doing?' Sakamoto asked far too cheerfully for a man who has had as many cups of sake as Gintoki had.

'It's not sleeping princess, it's Katsura,' said a faint but irritated voice from the bedroom. A small giggle followed, stopping whatever Sakamoto wanted to say from coming out of his open mouth as he turned to Gintoki for explanation.

'He's awake,' Gintoki said, even though he knew that was not Sakamoto's question. 'And the other one is Zura's fangirl,' he added. Disappointingly there was no reaction from the bedroom, so he called out: 'Oi, fangirl, there's enough food for everybody, let the wig-head rest.'

He heard the door slide open and he saw Sakamoto and Mutsu looking up curiously from where they were sitting, opposite to Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi. He saw them freeze and realized that Karma was wearing her uniform. He muttered that it was apparently alright and Sakamoto looked unconvinced.

'Is it alright to bring some food to the bedroom?' Karma asked, walking up to the table and kneeling at one side. Gintoki waved his hand in a gesture that could mean just about anything and she took it as agreement. She took a plate and looked at all the gathered food, hesitating what to take.

'Zura likes onigiri,' Sakamoto told her in a stage whisper. Karma looked at him and then carefully chose three onigiri to put on the plate. Gintoki propped his elbow on his knee and his chin on his hand, watching. Karma put some fruits on the plate as well and, after another prompt from Sakamoto, two sticks of mitarashi dango. She completed the meal by a cup of green tea and gracefully got up to take it to the bedroom. Sakamoto looked at Gintoki, eyebrow raised in question. Gintoki shrugged.

'Fangirl,' he muttered. Sakamoto's face brightened with a wide smile. Gintoki snorted and busied himself by taking some food before Kagura could inhale everything. With the corner of his eye, he saw Sakamoto take another bowl and fill it with rice.

'Miss Fangirl,' he called out. Gintoki rolled his eyes. 'Why don't you join us, Miss Fangirl? A meal in the company of pretty women always tastes better,' Sakamoto added. When nothing happened for a while, Sakamoto pouted childishly and called out again, adding that he was getting jealous Zura had all her attention. Surprisingly, Karma didn't seem upset when he returned from the bedroom moments later, closing the door after herself.

'My name is Alma,' she said neutrally, sitting on the sofa next to Sakamoto, when the latter patted it invitingly.

'It's a pleasure to meet you, Alma, my name is Tatsuma and this is Mutsu,' the merchant replied brightly, handing Alma the bowl of rice, "accidentally" making their fingers brush. Gintoki rolled his eyes again, but Alma seemed to not notice. 'Kintoki never mentioned he knew a charming woman like you,' Sakamoto continued. Alma looked at Gintoki with a small frown.

'Gintoki, damn it,' he hissed. 'My name is Gintoki you idiot.'

Sakamoto laughed. Mutsu rolled her eyes and went back to eating, stealing curious glances towards Alma. Finally, Gintoki followed her gaze and noted that the officer looked even paler than usual and there were dark circles forming under her eyes. He frowned slightly: surely she hasn't been losing sleep over that raid the Shinsengumi have almost succeeded, has she? From the little Katsura has told him and Sakamoto the previous night, it was obvious that somebody has helped him escape and Gintoki didn't have to wonder long about who it was.

He shivered when Karma put a large portion of mayonnaise on her rice and then some more on the pickles. Was this how she has progressed so far in the Shinsengumi ranks? It seemed that he wasn't the only one wondering, because Kagura voiced his question, but the only reaction it got out of Karma was a brief, quiet laugh.

'Are you alright?' he asked finally, unable to stay quiet anymore. Karma looked up at him and he held her gaze. He could see she was considering her answer. After a moment she glanced at Sakamoto.

'You're the Tatsuma Sakamoto they used to call the Dragon of Katsurahama, aren't you?' she asked tonelessly. Gintoki blinked in surprise although he didn't know if it was at the question itself or that she has guessed as much. Sakamoto, who hasn't been expecting that, chocked on the piece of fish he had in his mouth. Mutsu hit him on the back.

'Yeah, he's that Sakamoto,' Gintoki muttered while the Dragon of Katsurahama was wheezing pathetically. 'Does that change anything?' he asked. Alma looked down at her food.

'The traitor within Katsura's faction was my adopted brother,' she whispered so quietly that Gintoki almost didn't hear it. However, the moments the words were out, the silence that fell was so complete they all clearly heard what she said afterwards: 'Yesterday, during an interrogation, I discovered that all this time he was following Takasugi's orders.'

Oh.

At least that got rid of the mole, thought the cold and calloused part of Gintoki. There was no doubt what the Shinsengumi would do with a confirmed member of the Kiheitai and that cold part of Gintoki, where the White Demon slept, had no pity to spare on enemies. It was, however, the other part of him that dictated his outward reaction and he winced, meeting Sakamoto's eyes over the table.

Next to Sakamoto, Mutsu crossed her arms on her chest, an unhappy expression on her face clearly mirroring her sentiment towards Takasugi. Shinpachi fidgeted on Gintoki's left side, visibly uncomfortable with the sudden change of subject, even though he only understood half of what was going on, having been absent during Alma's previous visit. Even Kagura stopped eating, looking between Gintoki and the Shinsengumi officer, frowning more with each passing moment.

'Don't they say there's a black sheep in every family?' Sakamoto said finally, with forced cheerfulness. They all looked at him with surprise. 'Takachibi is ours, so if your brother is Takachibi's follower then it makes us cousins, right?' he added. Alma blinked twice and then laughed shortly. When she rubbed her eyes conspicuously, everybody pretended to not notice.

'Right. So you're not going to kick me out?' she asked, also forcing on a cheerful tone. Sakamoto laughed earnestly this time and pointed out that they had food enough for an army, giving Gintoki the perfect opportunity to interject that some of them were eating enough for an army and a half. And somehow the conversation around the table restarted.

And only a good, couple minutes later Gintoki realized that it sounded like Karma was more worried she'd be rejected by them than by the fact that her brother would most likely be beheaded. He didn't broach the topic, however, preferring to keep the atmosphere easy-going and pleasant. Instead, he helped Sakamoto in digging up as much information as they could from seemingly innocent conversation about each other's childhoods. They were doing pretty well when the doorbell shattered easy-going atmosphere.

For the third time that day, Shinpachi went to open and for the second time he called out that it was the Shinsengumi to talk with Gintoki, this time leading back two officers. Gintoki very carefully did not look at Karma and focused on appearing relaxed if a little bored.

'Officer Yamazaki and Hikari?' Alma spoke up, immediately grabbing the attention of the two officers. She sprang to her feet, blushing. 'I apologize for this, I-' she stopped, obviously unable to come up with excuse as to why she was having a meal in the Odd Jobs rather than working. Yamazaki looked at her, while the other one, named Hikari obviously, looked around with unmasked curiosity. Sakamoto laughed out.

'Please forgive her officers, I insisted she joins us when she came by,' he said cheerfully. 'You know, a meal tastes better when it's shared with pretty women. You can join us as well, Miss Hikari,' he added and laughed some more. The Shinsengumi officer didn't look impressed in the least.

'I'm sorry,' Gintoki interjected. 'I tried to tell him it's a bad idea, but this idiot doesn't know when to stop,' he explained. Sakamoto laughed some more and cheerfully agreed with Gintoki's words, repeating the invitation for Hikari to join the table.

'No, thank you,' the officer said icily, but her obvious dislike couldn't have affected Sakamoto any less. Yamazaki laughed shortly.

'It's ok, boss, we were just wondering why Karma wasn't coming back from the patrol,' he explained. Sakamoto laughed again and said that "karma always came back" before looking at Alma surprised and asking whether it was her family name. Gintoki hid his face in his hands and mumbled more apologies to the Shinsengumi, only making Yamazaki laugh some more. 'We're not going to bother you if we can get our officer back.'

'Of course, of course,' Gintoki replied. Sakamoto made a show of pouting and asking again whether they didn't want to stay for the meal, earning a slap on the back of his head from Mutsu. Hikari ignored him, while Alma apologized and said she really needed to get back to work. She all but ran away, breathlessly thanking Yamazaki over and over again.

'Really, Alma, it's not like you to let yourself be forced into something like that. Maybe you should have taken that day off, as the commander has suggested,' Hikari commented as they were putting on their shoes. Gintoki looked at her with dislike. There was something about that woman that grated on his nerves.