"That's the one, wearing the straw hat. He's coming out of the shop."
"Ugh, couldn't we have picked a more interesting person to follow? This guy looks about as important as all the other people walking around here, and he looks like he needs a shower. I mean, his clothes look pretty drab, that hair looks like it needs to be stuffed down a drain..." Gintoki moaned.
"Ya one to talk, and quit running ya mouth before I stuff yer ass in a drain!" Tsukuyo hissed. "We've spent the last few days doing nothing but watching, and now we got a lead. That guy has a tattoo on his neck, which means he's our way in! We can't let this opportunity slip because of ya damn loud mouth!"
Gintoki seemed unusually put off by her surly behaviour. Then again, they were also hiding in an small alleyway not far from their suspect, so she had a reason to snap. But her outbursts had become somewhat concerning. She had become much more aggressive and stressed out since their discovery a few days ago.
Tsukuyo had spent the last few days working around the clock with the Hyakka rooting out and seizing the remaining explosives embedded in the city, on top of intercepting increasing amounts of drugs and explosives from coming in as well as keeping an eye out for any peculiar people of interest. So far, their luck was holding out, but the same could not be said for her state of mind. The fact that remaining explosives unaccounted for were still hidden in Yoshiwara only served to literally keep her up at night, hence her prickly demeanour to just about everyone, even Hinowa. And she couldn't afford to let news of this predicament leak out into the public eye and start a rumour factory of fear and anxiety either.
Seeing her being so stressed out and uptight made him worry for her health, and yet he wished he could do more to help beyond simple words and looking at her with sympathetic eyes.
"You gotta lighten up. I get that you're worried about everything going on-"
"Shut. Up." She harshly replied, forcefully flicking his temple as she kept her eyes fixated on their target. Gintoki nursed the sharp pain, silently noting that there was no sign of playfulness in her hit, but rather pure frustration and annoyance. It was best for him to keep his mouth shut.
They quietly observed their target, slowly ambling his way down the street further and further away amongst the crowd. Gintoki's eyes seemed notably distant, his mind was not so focused on their objective but on something else instead. He briefly turned to Tsukuyo, who's steely gaze remained constant. He couldn't help but worry for her.
"Come on, let's go." She ordered, emerging from the alleyway.
Gintoki gave a sceptical look at her as they moved onto the street. Nothing about their little scouting mission was normal. The way she was acting was understandable, but still not normal. He needed to do something to ease the tension built up in her body.
The pair walked along in silence, keeping their eye on their suspect as he walked up the road to the elevator. The large hat made him stand out a little easier, even more so when the number of people gradually dwindled as he got closer to the lift.
Following his trail was not particularly difficult. In fact it was a cakewalk. But the heavy atmosphere Gintoki felt between himself and Tsukuyo made the journey somewhat uneasy. Every time he glanced at her, her expression was that of a constant glare. Whenever he gravitated to her and brushed her arm by accident, she drifted further away, albeit with a slight blush, which at the very least suggested that she didn't hate him at the moment. He had the feeling that she was trying too hard to bear the burden herself. The responsibility of keeping an entire city and its citizens safe was something even he could not fathom doing for long, let alone doing it at a young age. Especially when he himself couldn't even protect those he considered dearest to him.
He still kept his mouth shut as the elevator went up to the surface, not daring to say anything which he knew would be completely ignored by her.
The elevator eventually pinged after a tense minute or two as the doors opened to the outside world. They quickly stepped out, scanning the street both ways to make sure their suspect hadn't slipped through their fingers. The sea of people walking through the streets on a cool autumn afternoon was not helping matters, but the unmistakable sign of a straw hat standing slightly above the heads of others was a good sign that they hadn't lost him yet.
"There he is. Act natural."
"Yeah yeah...I'm not a moron."
The two kept their distance from their target so as to avoid drawing attention to themselves. Of course, it was already difficult to do so when the streets up on the surface were filled with a substantially more diverse crowd.
It wasn't the seedy, rich, frivolous men and courtesans roaming the streets. There were people from all walks of life walking around. Families, young couples, workmen, even the odd homeless person or two and of course the occasional Amanto, the latter of whom Gintoki still held a degree of resentment against. There were none on the street that he had an irrational hatred for, not even back before he was thrown in prison, but one particular Amanto stood out amongst the others that he could never get out of his head. That same dark green skinned figure with a powerful frame and the voice of a conqueror. The same one who turned his world upside down. It wasn't fair of him to draw comparisons between that Amanto from back then to the ones roaming the streets in the present.
He kept his eyes forward, fixed on the hat slightly bobbing up and down ahead of them so he wouldn't be distracted by the lingering thought any longer. He took a quick glance towards Tsukuyo, and without so much as a thought, his hand lightly reached out and gently reeled her in, locking his fingers with hers.
"Wha-! H-how is this natural?!" She exclaimed, furiously blushing red.
"It'll be easier to get closer like this without drawing attention." He bluntly explained. Tsukuyo pouted in complete denial. She knew he was right, but he just had the choose the most ridiculous method of doing so. It was totally out of character for her to walk around in public acting lovey-dovey.
"Only you of all people would do something as outlandish as this! We'll stick out like a sore thumb if we keep this up!" She hissed.
He ignored her insults, casually scanning his surroundings to gauge the nearby pedestrians' interest now that they had 'coupled up'.
"And no one here gives a shit." He said unsurprisingly.
He leaned in closer to her ear with a somewhat cheeky grin and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Besides, I'm not the one who made the first move, and we've already done the deed so I don't know what you're so-"
Her face brightened up in sheer embarrassment even more at the sound of it, but she couldn't keep a sly smile forming from the corner of her mouth. Still, she turned her head away to keep it hidden from his gleeful view. "S-Shut up...! Don't say that!" I thought we agreed on keeping this professional...!"
"Then why are you smiling?"
Her smile quickly faded but her flush still blossomed like a tomato. Tsukuyo could feel her body burn up from the shit eating grin he flashed at her. She had been caught out. She hated it when that happened. She hated it whenever he played her like a fiddle.
"Don't act like you don't know what I mean." He devilishly grinned.
"...I fucking hate ya sometimes." She pouted, trying to ignore the fast pounding coming from her chest as they kept walking. It certainly didn't help that Gintoki had his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him, which only brightened up beet-red face even more.
She hadn't felt this physically close to him since that night, and yet every night after that she found herself yearning for his body as the days and weeks went by. She secretly wanted his arms to lovingly wrap around her again, the excitement of making love with him, to feel the joy of being free from the life she lived, but she also knew she could never have it again. And right as she felt her attraction to him wane, he suddenly does this. A part of her wanted to chastise him for doing it so publicly and move away, but her body wasn't listening. More and more of her wanted to get accustomed to his touch again. Almost melt into his entire body and let him envelop her like a warm blanket.
"I'm guessing you don't mind this plan judging by the fact you haven't stabbed me with one of your kunais yet." Gintoki said. She stayed silent, almost as if she wasn't listening.
"Hey, are you even listen-"
He cut his sentence short, feeling several fingers glide across his pants and lightly squeeze his backside. He immediately glanced at Tsukuyo, who's eyes were looking straight ahead. But the persistent redness on her cheeks and the fact that he could feel her hand resting behind him made it too easy for him to guess who did it.
"That was totally you wasn't it." He murmured, somewhat amused by what she did.
"W-well, we have to keep up the idea we're a thing, right?" She bashfully replied. "Ya said no one up here cares about what couples do after all..."
"So you're doing that to blend in or you just wanted to cop a feel?" He smirked.
"...Blending in of course." She mumbled in embarrassment. He could only chuckle in sheer disbelief. The shyness from her voice made her reasoning far less convincing.
"Whatever you say." A playful squeeze of her own butt unexpectedly forced a tangled yet sensual moan from her throat. But she didn't feel the urge to retaliate. Gintoki blinked in surprise at the sudden sound.
"Did you just-"
"N-nothing...let's just keep an eye on that guy." She dismissively said, her body secretly pining for him to do it again with her still bright red cheeks.
The walk was getting longer and longer by the minute. The crowds of people walking through the streets gradually began to thin out, making their job of keeping track of their suspect much more comfortable.
On the downside, the wind was starting to become more brisk and chilly, so Tsukuyo had little choice but to continue huddling near Gintoki's arm. Not that she minded to begin with, although she had to constantly remind herself that their 'act' was just that, an act. But the way she unconsciously leaned her head against his arm was indicative that her definition of an act was becoming increasingly blurred.
"Hey, don't get too comfy now." Gintoki softly reminded her with a smile.
"Wha-oh...right. Sorry. Still got a job." She said rather halfheartedly, taking her head off his arm. She glanced up at him with softened eyes, almost longing for him. And this time she didn't attempt to look the other way when he stared back at her with his equally soft expression. She couldn't help but blossom a bright red tint as she stayed fixated on him, as if she had fallen under a spell. Surprisingly Gintoki turned away rather quickly, grumbling slightly as he lightly ruffled his hair and doing his best not to show any signs of affection, which he very clearly failed at doing going by the faint tinge of pink forming on his face.
Seeing a rare reaction like that made him all the more endearing. She simply gave an affectionate smile before looking away, instinctively brushing some hair past her ear as she did so. Gintoki's eyes glanced upon it briefly before snapping straight ahead and clearing his throat to hide his fondness for it as his heartbeat drummed against his chest.
Their romantic game of cat and mouse meant that they just barely kept eyes on their target as he rounded a corner. The two quickened their pace slightly as they tailed their lead before he could slip away, stopping right around the corner. Gintoki peeked his head out, closely observing the straw hat man as well as a silver van parked nearby.
"Well well, we finally have something." He murmured, mildly amused that the long walk had payed off.
"We still have to get in the back some way." Tsukuyo noted, locking her eyes towards the rear end of the van.
Without hesitation she swiftly readied a kunai from under her sleeve and gently tossed it near their target, enough for it to rattle as it skidded along the ground in his direction.
"Hm...how strange." He softly mumbled to himself, almost as if he was mildly amused by the arrival of this random kunai, nonchalantly walking over to pick it up and inspect it.
Seeing their opportunity, the pair stealthily made their way to the back doors as the man hunched down to pick up the kunai, silently and hastily opening and closing the doors without a sound before they moved to the very back.
"You've gotta be nuts to-" Gintoki hissed before being suddenly cut off with a finger to his lips, compelling him to keep quiet.
Several nerve racking minutes went by as they remained dead silent. They could only hear their hearts thumping away with trepidation. Their breathes were completely silent, unsure whether Tsukuyo's distraction had bought them enough time to get inside without being detected. They couldn't afford to get caught, not when they had spent so much time trying to get a solid lead of their main suspect.
"Wait...ya hear that?" Tsukuyo whispered.
The low thump of a car door opening and slamming shut followed the sound of an engine grumbling to life seconds later almost immediately lifted a giant weight off their shoulders. But there was still a knot of anxiety that remained in their chests. They were in the blind from here, there had no idea of the route they were taking to get to their destination. They could only keep their fingers crossed that their unwitting taxi driver would take them there without suspecting he had uninvited passengers on board.
"We're safe...for now." Gintoki breathed out a sigh of relief, resting his back against the wall.
The ride was surprisingly smooth for a van, with the occasional small bump from time to time. Whenever Gintoki shuffled his feet on the floor however, it made an unusual rustling noise when his boots slid against it, perking up an eyebrow in suspicion.
"What's the matter? Can ya not make that damn sound?" Tsukuyo asked in slight annoyance. It was nearly pitch black and they couldn't see a thing.
"The floor's making this happen, not me...!" Gintoki hissed, blindly rummaging his hands all over the surrounding floor, which only made the noise louder until a small gasp cut through momentarily.
"That's my leg ya numbskull...!" Tsukuyo exclaimed, feeling his hand brush against her as he kept searching around.
He came to a stop when his hand glided over another surface. The velvety, almost blanket-like surface transitioned into that of cold steel. He slowly ran a finger along the former to what he thought was the very top. His hunch seemed correct as he pinched what he felt was a corner of a cover of some sort, slowly lifting it up until it abruptly stopped.
"Oi. You're sitting on the cover." Gintoki bluntly noted.
"What are ya talking about?" She asked, though the continuous tugging coming from underneath her was all that was needed to show her what he was doing.
"Get under. We'll stay in here until we arrive." Gintoki said as he slid under the cover. Tsukuyo followed suit, sliding under the veil and laying down on the cold floor, shuffling along a little bit until her forehead bumped into something similarly hard headed.
"Ow...!"
"S-sorry..."
They couldn't see each other in the pitch black, but the strong knot in their chests gave them the strong feeling that they were staring right into one another. Tsukuyo could feel herself inching closer, supported by Gintoki's arm gently pulling her in until she instinctively wrapped her arms around him. She couldn't help but feel a little awkward. After all, she was stuck in a moving van under a huge cover, and lying next to Gintoki no less.
"So...I guess we wait." She hesitantly said, unsure of where to start, given the strange circumstances they were in.
"Yep. We can fill the time by doing something else though." He plainly said, which made her face feel rather heated for some reason.
"Wha- ya mean to- We can't do that here...!" She exclaimed in disbelief. Was he crazy? Was he seriously suggesting they do that? In a moving van no less?
"What?" He innocently asked.
"I thought I said we were keeping things professional!" She hissed to Gintoki's surprise and slight amusement.
"The hell are you talking about? I was gonna say have a nap. It's gonna take a while isn't it?" He explained, almost trying to hold back his laughter.
"I...I thought ya meant-"
"You sure are horny today aren't ya?" He smirked. He couldn't see anything but he could tell from her speechlessness that she was embarrassed.
"F-fuck off! It's not my fault for thinking that way! Ya'd totally do something like that...!"
"I never said it though did I? You just let your mind fill in the blanks." He cheekily muttered, chortling as she soaked in that revelation, not caring that she was quietly thumping his chest in frustration.
"I fucking hate ya...damn beast."
"I'm sure you do." Gintoki sarcastically replied, delicately caressing her hair and bringing his forehead closer.
He rested his eyes, letting out a deep, almost fatigued sigh. Tsukuyo's body went rigid for a moment as his breath washed over her. She brought herself closer, enough for her forehead to rest against his, instinctively slipping her hand inside the gap of his zip up shirt as she felt the calm, steady pulse in his chest. Her face was heating up once again, but she didn't seem to mind as much now that they couldn't see anything. She idly slithered her hand up, delicately feeling the firm outline of his collarbone as it made its way to rest at his crown, gently massaging his scalp amidst his messy silver locks. She felt a degree of relaxation being in a position like this again, even more so when she was rewarded with his pleasurable hums and a closer embrace, almost encouraging her to carry on.
"Get some rest huh?" He softly mumbled. "We don't know how long it's gonna take, and we'll probably be in for a fight once we get there."
"Mmm..." She hummed in response, albeit somewhat hesitantly.
"We'll get it done in no time. It'll be like the other times we stopped those morons." He calmly reassured her.
"Mmhm...I hope so."