"Hmm...so we have a few days until the festival..." Gintoki mumbled to himself before letting out a weary sigh.
"What's the matter Gin-san?" Hinowa innocently asked as she gathered up the empty bowls from their breakfast and handed them off to Gintoki.
"Uh nothing...just wondering what to do for that summer festival coming up." He hesitantly explained as he brought them over to the sink to wash up.
"Are you sure? You sound as if you're brooding over something." Hinowa said with a concerned look.
Gintoki remained silent as he washed the dishes with washing liquid and a sponge. His eyes were glued to the dishes but his mind seemed to be absent. He didn't even notice his chest puffing out more than usual as well as his heart beat faster, nor did he notice Hinowa wheel up closer to him.
"When you go quiet like that, it makes me a little worried Gin-san. Are you sure everything's ok?" She softly asked again, placing a delicate hand on his wrist.
Gintoki jolted slightly at that moment as his head snapped in her direction. "Wha-! No I'm fine, seriously. There's absolutely nothing to worry about. Mm-mm. Nothing..." He repeated awkwardly, his eyes wondering all over the place as he let out a half hearted chuckle before turning back to the sink. Naturally, Hinowa put on her usual passive smile, but she knew full well that something was up.
"Gin-san. Your eyes are letting on more than you think. But it's ok if you don't want to tell me. I'm just a little worried that you're acting out of character." She calmly reassured.
"There's no fooling you is there...?" He sighed in defeat with a smile. "Just gimme a minute."
Without another word Hinowa returned to the living room to let him finish cleaning up. She didn't have to wait long as he came in shortly after and sat down next to her, taking in a good lungful of air before looking Hinowa in the eyes.
"I take it has something to do with Tsukuyo?" She politely asked.
"She uh...paid a visit to my room last night." Gintoki confessed, massaging his neck to mask his awkwardness.
"Oh?" Hinowa blinked in surprise as an excited smile quickly grew on her face. "Did you do any-"
"No. We just read for a while." Gintoki bluntly said, unamused by her insinuation. Her smile faded slightly, but still kept up at the mere thought of Tsukuyo visiting another man's room. She did lift an eyebrow at the idea of them simply reading though.
"And that was it...?" She asked with a hint of suspicion.
"Yeah. So don't get any funny ideas about us. We're not doing anything." He warned, still massaging his neck.
Hinowa examined his body language for quite some time. Clearly there was something more to his behaviour.
"I understand. But still, I'm surprised Tsukuyo would even make that step in the first place. So...why is it that you looked so...how do I put it, disoriented earlier? Surely something else must have gone on, otherwise you wouldn't have acted like that." She theorised, a more gleeful smile forming on her mouth.
Hinowa's gaze was beginning to cast a shadow over Gintoki. The longer her poker face smile was cast at him, the more he wanted to crack.
"You're in love with her aren't you?" She slyly asked.
"Wha-! No!" He exclaimed repulsively. "As if I'd get together with her! Just because she hugged me doesn't mean-"
His sentence came to an abrupt pause. Hinowa's expression changed to one of surprise, as did Gintoki's, though his was more so out of sheer horror over what he just said. A heavy, awkward silence filtered into the room. The only other sound that could be heard was Gintoki's chest thumping out of anxiety and adrenaline. His face was hidden in his hair as he looked down in shame, quietly gritting his teeth and kicking himself for letting slip the events of the previous night.
"Is that why you've been so occupied about the festival?" Hinowa delicately asked, her face still unchanged.
He kept his mouth shut. He didn't want to say anymore in case Hinowa ribbed him more, only sheepishly turning his head to the side. But from the tone of her voice, her reaction seemed genuinely surprised. It was worth a gamble to confess what had happened.
"Something like that..." He mumbled, somewhat hoping she wouldn't tease him. Unsurprisingly, a small giggle came out from Hinowa's mouth.
"Please don't..." He whispered shamefully.
"I won't. I promise." Hinowa shook her head affirmatively. "So...how do you feel about it?"
Gintoki moved his head up slightly, taken off guard by the question. "What do you mean?"
"Do you feel giddy about it? Conflicted? Indifferent perhaps?"
He turned his head to the side again. "I don't know...I wanna say I feel...conflicted."
"How so?"
Gintoki sighed as he lowered his head, not sure on what to say. "When she did that...I didn't care all that much. Now...I'm not so sure. I wanted her to hold tighter. It felt pretty relaxing and comfortable, yet I don't feel worthy of it either."
"I'm sure your feelings will come to you in due course Gin-san. Please don't put yourself down." She said reassuringly.
"She deserves someone better than me if she's gonna do that." He glumly stated.
"You don't know that yet Gin-san. Perhaps she was tired and wanted someone to rest with. I'm sure you are aware of the toll one goes through when they watch over the city. Isn't that why she visited your room in the first place?" She politely theorised.
Gintoki itched his head in contemplation before humming in agreement. She had a point, Tsukuyo did fall asleep on his shoulder after a while.
"I guess that's true..." He conceded.
"I think the best advice I can give is to let things play out and not worry about it too much. After all, love tends to come naturally." Hinowa explained.
"I told you I don't feel that way. Stop putting words in my mouth." Gintoki corrected with an irritated look.
"Don't feel that way yet." She winked, to which he rolled his eyes in annoyance. A single clap briefly echoed in the room.
"So, you were thinking about the summer festival because of Tsukuyo, am I correct?" Hinowa said, returning to the start of the conversation.
"Yeah..." He said, taken aback slightly by her sudden, bubbly attitude.
"Then why not give her a present? I'm sure she would appreciate it! I can help you choose one if you like!" She suggested.
Gintoki put a thoughtful hand to his chin. It did make sense, Hinowa has the closest bond with Tsukuyo given their long history together. "That's...not a bad idea. But what would she like? I wouldn't wanna get it wrong..."
"Jewellery and flowers are usually the common methods if I remember correctly, but it differs for each person. I'm sure she wouldn't mind either one though, especially if it comes from you Gin-san." She smiled.
Gintoki grumbled as he turned away and looked down at the floor. "It's just a thank you present, not a confession..."
"Mmmm, who knows, it may be both..." Hinowa slyly remarked with her eyes closed.
"Can you not?! It's not a confession! Sheesh, stop playing matchmaker!" He exclaimed as she giggled mischievously.
"What's this about playing matchmaker?"
Gintoki's jaw dropped in abject horror as the sound of light footsteps entered the room, as well as a certain blonde woman. Their eyes met at precisely the same time before her's met with Hinowa's, immediately breaking eye contact to look away as her face turned a faint tinge of pink.
"W-what were ya talking about Hinowa? I could hear ya pretty loudly from my room..."
He could see Hinowa's eyes gleefully widen, but there was a distinct flash of sinister intent in them too.
"Oh, perfect timing Tsukuyo, Gin-san and I were just thinking of going out for shopping today. Would you like to come?" She excitedly asked. Gintoki's head snapped in her direction, his face turning into a colour similar to that of his hair before turning back to Tsukuyo and rapidly shaking his head in a desperate plea to get her to refuse.
Please say no please say no please say no...!
Tsukuyo raised a suspicious eyebrow at Gintoki's antics, puzzled at how she had to interpret his face before looking to Hinowa's serene poker face.
"Um...I suppose so."
"Wonderful! We'll be off in a few minutes then!"
Gintoki buried his face in his hands, desperate to scream into the void that were his palms covering eyes.
You're a jerk Hinowa.
Gintoki felt as if he was having a terrible day. First he had blurted out the events of the previous night to Hinowa after breakfast, now she conjured up a situation to put him and Tsukuyo together for a matchmaking scheme. And the latter had no idea. Try as he might, it was nearly impossible to convince her that it was a trap set up specifically for them.
He couldn't afford to do anything that would arouse suspicion from Tsukuyo as the trio travelled through the bustling streets, especially when Hinowa was present. But he desperately wanted to vent his frustration at being strung along like a puppet, opting to simply give death stares at both ladies. Tsukuyo took notice of it and returned a glare of her own, disgruntled by Gintoki's surly demeanour.
"Is something wrong? It's gone awfully quiet." Hinowa happily interrupted.
"No, nothing's wrong, we just don't have anything to say..." Tsukuyo said with an underlying tone of displeasure.
If you say so. It just seems to me that there's an awful lot of tension..." Hinowa said with a slight smirk. Gintoki rolled his eyes in disbelief on how on the nose the statement was.
"Ah here we are, this is the one!" Hinowa excitedly said. The trio stopped off in front of a storefront with several highly valuable items on display at the shop window. From diamond and ruby encrusted pendants and necklaces to intricately designed hairpins and earrings.
"Yay...a jewellery shop." Gintoki droned.
Hinowa was very much in a bubbly mood about it. The other two's reactions were mildly different. One was somewhat bemused whilst the other looked as if he was crying on the inside.
"Why are we at a jewellery shop? I don't have any use for them. They're not practical in any sense of the word." Tsukuyo commented as she gently blew out smoke from her pipe.
"Whaddya talking about? They're great for gifts, hell it can make or break a date with a woman." Gintoki noted. "Just because you don't have anyone to give you presents to, doesn't mean that jewellery ain't practical. And besides, they're not gonna slow you down."
"Excuse me, but I have no use for them, they're a waste of money!" She exclaimed in an offended tone.
"You're the same person with two kunais sitting in that messy bun-"
Gintoki's sentence was cut short when a kunai became stuck in his temple.
"They're practical. There's a difference ya damn idiot." She scowled.
"I just want you to relax a little bit Tsukuyo. You and Gin-san have been working hard watching over the city, you deserve a break." Hinowa said, unfazed by their antics as she handed Gintoki a tissue to wipe the blood trickling down the side of his head.
The pipe smoking Hyakka leader stepped closer to the window as she peered at some of the items on display with an unimpressed look. "When ya say I deserve a break, I thought it would be sitting down with a cup of tea, not going out shopping like an ordinary woman."
"And yet here you are, going along with it..." Gintoki remarked, which earned him a hard knuckle to his head from Tsukuyo. "I don't have anything else to do ya idiot. And ya don't look so excited ya self so don't rag on me for the same reason!"
"Ahaha, anyway, shall we look inside?" Hinowa politely said, cutting the argument short.
The door rung a distinct bell as they entered the shop. Inside were an abundance of glass display cases full of expensive rings, earrings and other classy accessories. It was fair to say that Gintoki was a little uninterested in the items in stock.
"Ah welcome! Please, take your time." Said the clerk from behind the counter. It wasn't a surprise that Hinowa was the only one properly invested in viewing some of the items they wanted to purchase
"Wow...so beautiful." He sarcastically remarked at some of the items, which was rewarded with a hard yank on the ears.
"Gintoki! Have some respect. Ya like the kid who don't give two shits about being in a history museum because it's boring." Tsukuyo quietly hissed.
"I don't give a shit because it's boring-ack can you not bonk me on the head like that?" He said as he nursed his aching head.
"I'll stop when ya quit acting like a damn heathen. Ya don't talk shit about other people's jobs, especially when ya in their building. She scowled. Gintoki couldn't do much except quietly grumble and fall in line.
A few uneventful minutes passed by. Hinowa was busily looking at some of the items on display while Tsukuyo did her best to look mildly interested. Gintoki on the other hand still remained completely dead on the inside as his eyes glanced over the jewellery without a care in the world. He barely had enough money in his pocket for one item, and even then it would have to be a cheap one.
"Oh, I just remembered I need to buy groceries for later." Hinowa suddenly said.
"Wha-by ya self? Why don't I come with ya?" Tsukuyo asked, taken off guard by her friend's unexpected announcement as a faint tinge of red slowly began to form on her cheeks.
"No no it's ok, I'll be fine on my own, you can help Gin-san choose an item." Hinowa politely declined.
"Wait what? What if you randomly get harassed for no reason and we're not there?" Gintoki chimed in, thinking on similar wavelengths. There was a mutual agreement that Hinowa needed someone to be with her in case something went wrong.
"Please relax, I'm going to be ok. I won't be too long." Hinowa reassured them with her trademark kind smile as she began to wheel herself out, with some assistance from the clerk behind the counter who had moved to open the door for her.
"W-wait! Ya can't leave me with-"
"Oi, you're seriously leaving me with-"
"Take your time and have fun!"
"Ya can't leave me with him!"
"You can't leave me with her!"
Their words fell on deaf ears as the sound of the tiny bell hovering at the top of the door signified Hinowa's departure. All that was left were two people who couldn't bare to stand next to each other in a sea of jewellery and glass cases. There was not much else to do for Gintoki besides shuffle closer to Tsukuyo and inspect some of the wares on sale.
"I can't believe you didn't say no..." He mumbled.
"Why? How was I supposed to know this would happen?"
"The fact that you didn't say no is the reason why this happened...! I fucking told you this would happen." Gintoki droned irritably.
"Ya didn't say anything! Ya just shook ya head like a moron so I had no clue what the hell ya wanted me to do!" Tsukuyo hit back.
"And now I'm stuck here with a stingy ass lady who has no interest in the place we're in, and virtually no money." He quipped.
"So ya mean to tell me ya actually interested in buying something here?" She replied, her voice raising louder and angrier.
"Of course I am! There's something I want to buy here!" He impulsively shouted.
Tsukuyo's angry eyes softened up slightly, confused by what he just said. A small silence echoed in the shop as the two stared at each other while the shop clerk quietly watched the exchange. Wait...seriously?"
"Yeah...of course." Gintoki said a little more quietly.
Tsukuyo's eyes narrowed in suspicion at Gintoki's sudden change in mood. "Why...? What's it for?"
"I uh, can't tell you." He simply replied.
She continued to eye him up like he had something to hide before sighing in resignation. She didn't want to continue asking and arguing in the shop. "I'll wait outside...good luck with whatever ya want to buy, not that ya can buy it anyway."
Tsukuyo left without another word, leaving Gintoki to groan as he put his palm to his forehead. "Way to bust my balls again...the jokes about me being a poor man is so overdone..."
"E-Excuse me sir, would you be interested in this hairpin? It's much less expensive than the other items we have on sale."
"You're not helping with it!" He yelled, to which the clerk awkwardly chuckled at. "Haha, my apologies sir..."
Gintoki's anger eventually began to simmer down as he buried his face in his hands and took a deep breath. "Sorry bout that, stress is getting to me. Can I look at that hairpin?"
The clerk took the item inside the glass display case and placed it on the counter. Once his hands were away from his eyes Gintoki was already intrigued by it.
It was made out of gold, with a notable crescent moon ornament on the end of it. On the surface it looks wasn't as impressive as the other wares on display, yet Gintoki's eyes remained glued to it for some reason.
"Are you considering buying this one?"
"Maybe..." He contemplated as he inspected the price tag. There was an instant, familiar feeling emanating from the hairpin, especially the crescent moon ornament.
"Am I right to assume that you're planning on gifting it to the lady with blonde hair?" The clerk asked.
"Is it normal for you to be so nosy about your customers?" Gintoki replied in a surly manner, slightly annoyed by his curiosity. "Answer's yes."
"I see...are you two perhaps related in some way?" He said rather curiously. Gintoki looked up at him with a puzzled, but slightly uncomfortable look. The clerk was relatively decent looking for someone roughly twenty years older than himself. Black hair that was tied in a short ponytail and wore a dark haori and hakama. But there was something about him that remained a slight thorn in Gintoki's head which he couldn't shake off. Nonetheless, he put it aside.
It's not like that." He said.
"Oh? I was under the impression that you and her were married. There was a similar energy to that of a married couple." The clerk replied.
"For goodness sake, we're not married, we just like to argue a lot. All I can say is she's a handful. I don't blame you though, you're not the first person to think of it like that." Gintoki sighed.
The clerk chuckled softly at Gintoki's comment. "I think she's a fine woman. It might be worth it to go after her."
He couldn't help but smile faintly, the first since the night before. "You really think so? A penniless, worthless, pathetic moron like me has a shot with someone who looks as good as the moonlight?"
"No harm in trying. If you don't try, you never know." The clerk said.
Gintoki thoughtfully gazed down at the golden hairpin's price tag again before looking at the piece itself. The clerk did have a point. It was definitely worth a shot. And it would help put his inner conflict about her to rest.
"I think I'll buy this. It's a nice little piece anyway."