Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama, that honor belongs to the Gorilla author AKA Sorachi Hideaki.
A/N: I decided to type more of this story since at least one person expressed interest in this. I hope you all like the second chapter and I'm trying to make the chapters a bit longer. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
As they all approach the dojo, Kagura notices something different.
"Shinpachi, what happened to the dojo?" she exclaimed in confusion.
"Well," Shinpachi explains, "the dojo couldn't really be brought back so Ane-ue figured a tea shop could work better. Oh, she also-"
"Shin-chan! Kagura-chan! Welcome and don't worry, tea's on the house!" Otae cried happily.
As Kagura and Otae embraced, Kondou shouted from inside, "Otae-chan, why'd you run outside?"
Kagura's face was blank until she recognized that her Anego-chan hadn't punched the Gorilla even once did it hit her: something had changed.
"Anego-chan, you haven't hit the Gorilla," she stated.
Otae giggled as she answered, "Well, only when he angers me. He's good most of the time."
She was trying to piece it together when Kondou blurted out, "Otae-chan is my wife now, since a year and a half ago."
Kagura's face was blank and her eye twitching as he brain processed the news.
"Ah, Gorilla, stop! Kagura didn't know and you just blurted it out! Geez, do you know anything about timing baka?!" Gin shouted.
Just as Kondou was going to reply, both him and Gin were hit, Gin by Otae and Kondou by Kagura.
"Ahh! Why me too?" Gin screamed as Kagura beat on Kondou.
She glared at him as she said, "I was going to hit him before Kagura so I'm hitting you instead!"
"Great reasoning, Otae! Now stop!" Gin angrily shouted after he sweatdropped.
"Stop!" Shinpachi shouted, "We're in public!"
Suddenly, Okita and Hijikata came out of the shop.
"Ah, I figured you did something stupid, Kondou-san," Hijikata said after he sighed heavily.
"Oh, China-girl is back? I thought I heard her," Okita commented so casually.
Kagura's head whipped up as she heard her arch-rival's voice. Okita stared for a second as he stuttered, "Ch-China-girl? Huh?"
She rolled her eyes as she said, "What the hell are you staring at? I'll kick your ass, super sadist!"
He chuckled and replied, "Oh, it is China-girl."
Kagura glared as she stood back up and brushed herself off. Hijikata got Kondou up and said, "We should get back to work, Nee-san. Sayonara!"
Kondou kissed Otae on the cheek before he left with Hijikata.
"Oi, Sougo! Come on!" he shouted as he began to walk away.
"Fine, I'm coming, Hijikata-san! Next time, China-girl!" Okita stated as he left.
Kagura rolled her eyes before they went into the tea shop.
After Otae seated them in the tea shop, Umibozou commented on the scene, "I don't like the way he lookedat my Kagura-chan."
Even though he seemed calm, her Papi was near exploding with a tense vein before Okita left.
Shinpachi rationalized, "He was just surprised, she looks a lot different from the last time we saw her."
"Duh, Shinpachi. You didn't get glomped by this one," Gin said as he pointed at Kagura.
Kagura stuck out her tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes as he added sugar to his tea, then began to drink it. They all sighed collectively before settling down to frink their tea.
"Well, I need to get back to work but I'll see you all later," Otae said as she hugged Kagura before she left.
Once they all finished their tea, Umibozou announced, "I'm going to explore so you can go catch up with these two, Kagura. We'll meet up later at the Yorozuya, okay?"
Kagura grinned and hugged him as she whispered in his ear, "Arigato, Papi!"
She kissed him on the cheek before he left, with a smile on his face.
"So, where to?" Kagura inquired.
Gin thought about it before answering, "Babaa hasn't seen you yet, let's go there!"
They all smiled as they headed back to the Yorozuya first. On the way, they met Katsura, Elizabeth, Ikumatsu, Hasegawa-san, Saigou, Hedoro and many more.
"Leader! You're back and very grown up!" Katsura exclaimed as they hugged.
When the hug went on a bit long for both Ikumatsu and Gin's liking, Katsura got bopped on the head by Gin and his wife.
"Wife? Is everyone getting married when I'm away?" Kagura pouted.
"It wasn't even a year since yet anyways, Kagura!" Shinpachi explained.
"Well, we got to get going, Zura! Later!" Gin and Kagura say as they leave.
"Bye Katsura-san!" Shinpachi said as he follows those two.
"Kagura! You're so different! How have you been?" Hasegawa-san asks.
"How has the Madao been?" she asks jokingly.
He scowls a bit before replying, "Hatsu and I are doing well. I even have a decent job now."
Kagura is shocked as he tells her about managing finances now in Otae's tea shop.
"Wow, Madao isn't such a Madao now, huh?" Kagura exclaimed excitingly before noticing something else.
"Did you say..." she trailed off.
"Yes, I said Hatsu and I. We resolved things just six months ago actually," he proudly exclaimed.
They grinned as they left, waving. Next, they ran into Saigou.
"Oh, you're back! How are you Kagura? I hope you're as well as you look!" he joked a bit.
Kagura rolled her eyes as she said, "I might look a bit different but I can still kick ass! Papi and I have been busy hunting aliens!"
"Wow, that's great! Well, I have to get back to work! I'll see you guys around!" Saigou said as he left.
As they walked further, they passed Hedoro's shop. Surprisingly, Kagura waved at him and said, "Hi Hedoro! Can I have this flower?"
Gin and Shinpachi's jaws dropped as she converses so easily with him now.
"Yes, of course. How are you? Did you just get back?" he asked.
"This morning, thanks! I've been traveling with my Papi! We've been alien hunting but only bad ones who try to kill people, of course!" she answers happily.
"Oh, that's good then, see you around then!" Hedoro replied as he waved goodbye.
As they left to the snack bar, Gin and Shinpachi finally asked her, "How can you talk normally with him now?"
Kagura tilts her head to the side and is confused for a moment.
"Oh! I've seen way scarier aliens than that, he's a piece of caker!" she answered simply.
Their faces were blank as they're in disbelief. Just then, someone comes out of the shop and it's Tama!
"Tama! Hi!" Kagura shouts as she hugs her.
Tama is surprised but smiles and hugs Kagura back.
"How are you Kagura-sama? You look different but good!" Tama says pleasantly.
Kagura giggled, "Tama, I'm almost eighteen! I have to grow a bit!"
Both Gin and Shinpachi are surprised at the change in her but Gin is a bit more affected somehow. Tama welcomes them in and Otose and Catherine see Kagura.
Otose is shocked and Catherine says, "Is that really the pig-girl?"
Kagura smiles and says, "Make some rice and I'll show you!"
After the rice was cooked, Kagura ate every grain of rice she could manage and burped.
As she sat there, they all agreed, "Yeah, that's Kagura all right."
She continued to eat as Catherine taunted her, "So, did pig-girl gain weight?"
She rolled her eyes as she replied, "Only in the chest, unlike you."
Otose held Catherine back as she told them, "Stop fighting and Catherine, you started it so knock it off!"
She reluctantly backed off before mentioning, "No boyfriend? I just got married a couple of weeks ago."
Kagura was shocked as she said, "Someone wanted a middle-age cat lady?"
Pissed off, Catherine said, "I am not a cat lady, I'm an Amanto! There is a difference, brat!"
"Whatever, who cares? I'll get a boyfriend when I want one," she said in defiance.
Otose sighed as she said, "I guess not much has changed here, huh?"
Gin chuckled and replied, "Not much."
"Yeah, same old, same old," Shinpachi said with a smile.
After that, they wandered around and ended up running into Hijikata and Okita again.
"Oh China-girl huh?" Okita teased.
"Super sadist?" Kagura said with a glare as she stuck her tongue out at him.
Hijikata rolled his eyes as he said, "Stop the flirting, we have to work unlike you guys."
Both glared with the heat of hell as he said flirting.
"Never with him/her!" they both shouted with fervor.
The three of them were surprised but laughed at them anyways.
"You two were really in sync, huh Gin-san?" Shinpachi teased.
Gin scowled for a moment before he agreed too. Hijikata noticed the momentary scowl but said nothing.
"Yeah, Sougo, you were simultaneous! That was funny," he said as he puffed his cigarette.
Suddenly, a bazooka went off so close to Hijikata's head, that he barely moved in time.
"Sougo!" Hijikata cursed.
With a blank look on his face, Okita said, "Damn, you moved."
"Work, Sougo, now!" he yelled as he dragged Okita off.
Gin, Shinpachi and Kagura laughed until Shinpachi noticed the time.
"Oh, it's nearly dinner-time! Let's go home!" he shouted.
They hurried home and met Umibozou at the door.
"Kagura, Shinpachi, punk. Let's go in," he said as he stood there.
"It's Gin, not punk. Come on guys, chow time!" he stated as they all went in.
Once they all got inside, Gin and Shinpachi got started on dinner. Kagura fed Sadaharu as her Papi sat at the table.
"So Kagura, happy to be back, huh?" Umibozou asked hesitantly.
Confused, Kagura replied, "Of course, Earth is my home! I love you Papi but I love Earth and my friends too! What's wrong, Papi?"
He sighed before saying, "I have another job that I have to leave as soon as possible for, Kagura. You want to stay here so I'll come back soon enough."
Kagura looked sad as she looked at him.
"How long?" she asked.
"I"m going to be back by Christmas, okay? I promise, my little Kagura-chan," he said as he hugged his daughter.
"Are you leaving soon?" she asked but was afraid of the answer.
"In the morning but I"ll write and try to send pictures okay? Be good," Umibozou told her.
Once the food was done, they all sat down to eat. As they ate, Umibozou told Gin and Shinpachi the news.
"Can I entrust her to you both again? I'll come back around Christmas," he told them.
"Of course we can. She's always welcome here, right brat?" Gin replied.
Shinpachi smiled and agreed, "She's always welcome here anf at the Shimura-Kondou house too."
Umibozou smiled as he said, "Arigato."
They continued eating and chatted about a variety of things as the hours passed. Once they finished eating, Shinpachi decided to head home.
"Bye Shinpachi! See ya tomorrow megane!" Kagura teasingly said as she hugged him.
Shinpachi just shook his head and said bye to Gin and Umibozou as well.
Kagura yawned as she said, "I'm going to sleep, I'm exhausted!"
"Me and Gin here are going to have some drinks first. Night, Kagura-chan!" Umibozou told his daughter.
As they left, Gin mentioned, "What if she's in my futon again? Are you going to hurt me?"
Umibozou sighed and replied, "I won't hurt you but I will glare at you. What's so great about your futon?"
"I asked her this morning. Something about she missed me and it was more comfortable. You know did I ever tell you about the night she had insomnia?" Gin remembered.
As he told Umibozou, they both snickered and outright laughed.
"That sure sounds like my Kagura-chan! And what did you do?" he asked after he laughed.
"I sure as hell didn't sleep until dawn, that brat!: Gin remembered fondly.
They sat in a stall drinking shouchu for an hour before Umibozou decided they should go to bed. They had traded funny stories back and forth until then.
"Did she really? She's never been able to cook?" Gin exclaimed in a roar of laughter.
"Well, in her defense, she was only six but...cooking is not her specialty," he joked.
Gin grinned and said, "In we go, I'll sleep on the couch. Go stay with Kagura tonight."
"Alright but I'm leaving early ok?" Umibozou explained.
Gin nodded as they came to the Yorozuya and went inside. Gin settled on the couch while Umibozou went into Gin's room. What he saw when he went in made him remember Kagura as a little girl. She was curled into Gin's futon and spread all over as she snored.
"Kagura?" he asked as he took the other futon and snuggled in to sleep.
She grabbed into him and hugged him as they both slept through the night. As they slept, Gin awoke in the early hours by a nightmare from the war.
Gin sighed as he muttered to himself, "Damn nightmare, t.v. then."
He decided to watch the shopping network for awhile until Umibozou came out at dawn.
"Hmm? What are you up so early for?" he asked Gin.
He sighed, "Old man, I couldn't sleep. Simple as that."
Umibozou scanned his face and said, "There's more to this. Tell me."
Gin looks at him and sighs, "Fine, I had another nightmare about the war, the Joui war."
"Do you have these often? Kagura never said-" Umibozou started to say.
"No one knows about these okay? Don't tell anyone please," Gin pleaded.
He looked at him and said, "OK, but I need to go. I got Kagura up long enough to say goodbye for now. Take care of my baby girl."
"I will, take care and come back," he told Umibozou.
He nodded at Gin, gathered his belongings and left for the terminal. Gin went to check on Kagura and opened the door to see her standing there.
"He left," Kagura said sadly.
Gin nodded as he saw Kagura cry. He hugged her as he wiped her tears.
"He'll be back, don't worry brat," Gin reassured her as he rubbed her back.
She sniffed and looked upset.
"Can you stay with me, Gin-chan? Please?" She asked desperately.
"Damn, you had to use the tears! You know samurai are weak to women's tears. Alright, let's go. Wait, did you hear us talking?" he asked.
She looked the other way and said, "Um, no."
"Ugh, I'm too tired. We'll talk at a decent hour okay?" he said as they went into his room.
They cuddled up in his futon and fell asleep until the afternoon.
Onto the third chapter!