Chapter 2: This is why people say you shouldn't overthink things too much—Does it still matter in the end? No, let's just make things simple.
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He sneaked another glance towards her, as they made their way through the streets of Kabuki-cho. For some reason, he felt chilly for no reason.
The night was still early, there were still a few bars and shops that were still open. And there were still people walking about, minding their own business. Yet right now, Gintoki felt uncomfortable. As if there was a wall of heavy air surrounding the two of them, making it unbearable to withstand.
Should I say something? he wondered. His thoughts replayed back on the conversation he had with Sougo. Did Otae came looking for him because she liked him? It couldn't be that, could it? That's ridiculous. How could Otae be liking him of all people? That would be as ridiculous as her finally accepting and liking Kondou. No matter what pressure Hijikata... or the rest of the Shinsengumi would have thrown at her, there was no way she would start having feelings towards that gorilla stalker. That, would be laughable...
Gintoki frowned. Wait, what was he doing right now? Was he trying to convince herself that the possibility that Otae could ever like him as a man was close to nil? Was he trying to convince himself that Otae did not have feelings towards him? Why was this line of thinking making it seem that he actually HOPED that Otae DID like him? No, no...! There's no way that HE actually liked that violent, flat-chested woma—
Well, to be fair... Otae's a pretty lady. Any decent man with a functional joystick down there would be crazy to NOT like her in any way. If not because of that springboard flat—I mean, her boorish temper and complete lack of cooking skill, he would have happily—No, screw that! Even if Otae was not such a violent woman he couldn't possibly even dream to have her as his. It wasn't as if he had anything on him that would justify him being together with her. Someone like him...
... wait! Why on earth was he even thinking about this now? This is all because of that damn Sougo! He was overthinking this, yes he was! Otae probably only came looking for him because she needed to tell him about the kids. Yes, that should be it!
"Err... umm..."
He glanced towards her again as Otae stared back at him. Without thinking, Gintoki looked away.
"Ah! I guess it was quite late right now...umm, I guess I better get back home. Aha-ha... I better go. Kagura must be wondering where I—"
Just when he thought he could finally escape... Gintoki felt a tug on his sleeve.
"Did you forget already? I mentioned earlier that I told the kids to head to the dojo..."
Ahh... yeah, he forgot that. Totally slipped from his mind.
Gintoki cautiously scanned the area around him. This is bad, people were starting to stare at them! How did this scene look from their point of view? And Otae was being very quiet behind him. Would he dare to look? What was going on inside her head? Come to think, since the incident at the Yagyu residence he hasn't seen or talked to Otae until this day of gorilla wedding. Was she mad at him? But she hasn't even landed any hit on him today—but then it won't make sense. I mean, it's not just a few hours ago that she has happily crashed a gorilla wedding full of gorillas and running around happily as chaos exploded around them. Was she having a mood swing right now? After such high excitement, would she start plunging into another furious explosion of rage? After Kondo... would she direct her attention towards him now? Should he...
"... were you still angry at me, Gin-san?"
Gintoki slowly turned around.
"Eh?"
xxx
Otae felt her cheeks getting warmer. There, she said it aloud. Although... she started regretting her actions as she could feel that they're now attracting the attentions of the people still out on the street at this time. Not just Gin, who was staring back at her right now.
Oh no, she was afraid to turn around. And was she hearing things? She thought she could hear whispers behind her. What should she do? Wha–
As if aware of her concerns, Gintoki grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the streets without a word.
xxx
"What do you mean?"
The question popped up suddenly as Otae was taken aback. "Oh... what?" As she raised her head towards Gin, she finally noticed that they've finally left the busier part of Kabuki-cho.
"I'm asking you about what do you mean about me still being mad at you?"
That caught her off guard. She glanced up to see Gintoki scratching his head before pausing, looking as if he just realised something. Gintoki turned towards her. "Are you saying–Were you avoiding me these few days... because you think I'm still mad at you?"
Otae felt her cheeks getting warm. "Ah! What're you talking about, Gin-sa–" she started to say as both of their eyes made contact. Otae hung her head low. "Well actually... yes, you're right. I'm sorry."
She could hear Gintoki sighing loudly.
"Silly girl, I thought I already made it clear to you last time that I'm not blaming anyone for that incident. Then why would I even stay mad at anyone? Or at you?"
Otae bit his lips. "You might say that Gin-san... it doesn't change the fact that my actions caused so much trouble for everyone. And you. I–"
Gintoki chuckled. For some reason, the sound he made caused her heart to skip a bit.
"That... you certainly got the blame all right. Because of you, that Mayo-demon became a mummy, Sougo, Kagura, Shinpachi and even me had gotten hurt." Otae flinched as Gintoki made a point to remind her about him getting hurt as well. She thought back on the last battle where Gintoki fought alongside Shinpachi against Kyuubei and her grandfather. Just recalling that memory made her feel guilty again.
"But haven't you done enough to make up for it?" Otae jumped as she glanced back at him to see Gintoki smiling towards her. "You returning home made the kids happy... and you saving that Gorilla made those Shinsengumi guys happy to get their leader back. That should be enough, isn't it?"
That smile made her heart fluttered again, but then she had to remember Gintoki's face right after they concluded the fight that time. Gintoki's face at that time was devoid of emotions, unlike the others who started expressing delights at Shinpachi's last attack. It was so unbearable that she didn't dare to look at him directly in the eye. Gintoki back then had certainly appeared unamused. Even when he already said that time that there was no need for an apology, she still felt that...
"No, there's still one more person that I need to–" Otae started to say as Gin cut her off.
"Oi, oi... don't you start telling me that you felt guilty towards me. I told you before that I didn't come to get you back because of any other personal reasons, so don't think too much about that." Gintoki glanced at her. "Besides, it's not like the two of us made any promises to each other. Not like how you made a promise to that friend of yours. There was never anything of that sort between us... so it's not like you're betraying me or whatever. You don't have to keep being troubled..."
Otae felt her heart drop at those words. "Yes... I guess you're right about that..."
xxx
"But Gin-san, even if you say that... it still doesn't change the fact that what I did, hurt you. I mean..."
"Hey what–" Gin paused as he saw Otae's struggling face. He turned away. "Otae-san... you can't just suddenly say now that you..."
He sighed, before chuckling softly. "It's not as if we could be a good match. And Shinpachi wouldn't have approved of it anyway."
Gintoki shrugged. "Did you know what he said to me before, at the possibility of you having someone that you'd marry? He went 'No, she doesn't have one. I can't allow it!' I don't think he'd like it even better if we actually end up together. Wait... was there a time when I actually heard him screaming that he didn't want me as a brother-in-law? Or did I just imagined it?"
Otae snorted. Finally. All these tensions had started to get to him if he had to be honest. About time someone started to break away from all of this seriousness!
"That does sound like how Shinpachi would react. But Gin-san, would you believe it if I did say that I liked you a lot?"
Gintoki immediately turned to stare at her to see if she was trying to make fun of him. But no, Otae didn't look as if she was about to prank him or anything. She looked... earnest somehow. He hastily shook his head.
"Hah!" he started to say. "Well... I wouldn't be surprised, to be honest. That's what you'd expect, being a popular character. And I'm the main character in this after all." Out of habit, Gintoki started to pick on his nose before stopping himself. He turned to glance towards her.
"But are you going to be fine, Otae-san? At this rate, you might end up getting way too out of character. I was expecting that you'd start hitting me any moment now for even starting this kind of conversation and in this kind of mood–"
"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT GIN–" Otae paused just as she was about to slap Gin very hard. Instead, she just gave him a light tap on the back as Gintoki let out a small gasp. Otae finally smiled.
"How could you say that... Gin-san? How could I beat up someone who was badly hurt as you? It's only been several days since, but you haven't recovered yet from your injuries... have you?"
Gintoki rolled his eyes at her. "Heh! If I remember right, you have NO problem beating me up while I was gravely hurt. Like that time after that Nizou slashed me with that monster sword–" he stopped himself before placing his hand on his chest. Gintoki shrugged. "–but yeah, have to admit that I still find it hard to even laugh loudly right now. It's not just because of the earlier gorilla business... that old fart from that Yagyuu household really wasn't going easy on me. But then again, my fault for placing that small plate over my chest of all places..."
GURURURURUUU...
Otae was about to speak when an odd sound suddenly came out. She blinked before noticing that in the faint light of a street light nearby, that Gintoki's cheeks have started to turn red. She chuckled.
"Of all the timing..." Gintoki started to say, "...heh. Then again, I did have nothing but bananas today."
Otae shrugged as she stepped up to grab him by the arm. "So let's go home, there should be something more to eat at my place other than bananas. Well, at least I think I remembered telling Shinpachi and the others to prepare something at home..."
Gintoki snorted.
"Well, enough already with being too chummy with me... Otae-chan! It's weird seeing you act like this. Go back to being normal already, woman!" he exclaimed as Otae continued clinging to his arm.
xxx
"Wait!" Gintoki suddenly exclaimed in horror. "Earlier, you said that Shinpachi and Kagura alongside that Kyuubei were heading to your home, right?"
Otae shrugged offhandedly. "Yeah... why?"
Gintoki frowned.
"What are the odds that Kagura would end up finishing up all of the food in your house all on her own?" he mumbled aloud as Otae tried to brush it off.
"Ara... don't worry about it. Kyuu-chan and Shinpachi were at home too. So they should be able to keep her controlled–oops?" Without warning, Gintoki suddenly carried Otae in his arms as Otae could do nothing but grab on Gin's neck tightly. "Gin-san?"
Gintoki shrugged to himself before he started walking, still with Otae in his arms.
"Don't think too much over this. I'm just doing this because I want to start racing towards your family dojo right after this and having you lagging behind me would be a bother–" He rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore Otae softly teasing him. "Also, let us just remain the way we always have been with each other before. Regardless if you really do like me or just decide to choose me over that Gorilla Kondo or because you had no one else to choose to be with; I'll be here by your side if you want me too. As whatever... whoever you want me to be for you."
He shrugged again. "Also, I'm not doing this just because of you. Regardless if it's because I also liked you back or that I prefer you than some clingy M-woman that occasionally hides in the ceiling of my house or any other reasons besides that; if you want me to stay by your side I'll do that. Whether or not we actually go out together. Let's remain like this."
Otae sighed as she leaned closer to him. "I guess you're right. It's better for us to remain unattached like this."
"Besides... it would spare the both of us plenty of heartbreaks later on, no matter how we ended up later once Gintama ends."
Otae chuckled. "What an idiotic man you are, Gin-san. Though I think you're the one who will cause a lot more heartbreaks rather than me. Even then, we might still end up being together... would you still accept that fate if it happens?"
Gintoki glanced down towards her before grinning. "You're so not quite a cute girl yourself. Well, if that really happens to both of us in the future... I might as well accept my fate regardless. There are other worse fates after all, and ending up with you might not be too bad after all. Are you saying that you don't mind having me as your life partner? Honestly, I don't really mind much having you either–though I have to admit there might be some few itty bitty stuff that might be bad for me if I ever married you–so it can't be too bad. I mean I had a feeling that Miss Writer knew a bit more than I'm aware of at this point, so maybe ending up with you might not be such a bad idea."
"Perhaps," Otae started to say, "I have to admit I don't really have much of any other options, now that you mention it. When you consider all of the chapters or episodes we had so far to the point this fanfiction was based on, and yeah... I also felt that Miss Writer also knew that I don't really have that much option when it comes to love interests in this series. But I guess, I'll be fine if this was meant to be. Even if it meant that I have to put up with you constantly getting yourself hurt. Or seeing you getting involved with many more female characters that would inevitably fall for you."
He smirked. "Now that we already left that said, let's go home since I'm still starving."
Otae smiled. "Don't push yourself too much... didn't you say your chest still hurt earlier?"
"Don't you look down on me. FOR THE SAKE OF RICE!" Gintoki screamed as he started racing to reach the dojo in time.
Afterwords, because I felt that I need to put this here.
I manage to write up most of the stuff I planned for this chapter as I would have wanted to when I first started writing the first chapter. Well, it wasn't exactly like this... but close enough. But then ending the chapter was another hurdle but I hope people would be okay with this one that I come up with. Since even in the latter/recent chapters/episodes Otae did still appear to be most comfortable with Gin compared to any other characters. Like if she had to choose. Gintoki too actually, but I guess it does get tricky later on what with the addition of Kyuubei and Tsukuyo getting into the mix. Ah well, I still feel that the series still leans to this pair as the main ship. So there's that I guess.