Diamond Perfume Day Part 2: Even Stars and Bananas Change, But That's Not a Bad Thing

"WHERE'S THE BOOZE?!" Empty bottles of sake went flying around the club room. Hostesses not daring to come closer just looked at each other in bewildered horror as they rolled over sake bottles and Dom Peri bottles over to a table where Otae looked only slightly unnerved.

Next to her, Tsukuyo was busy draining yet another Dom Peri bottle empty. Sarutobi and Kyubei were both slightly tipsy but looked in horror at Tsukuyo's non-stop drinking.

"WELL! WHERE'S THE SERVICE?!" Tsukuyo screeched as she saw the booze bottles but no hostesses approached her. "I see better service among senior citizens from Yoshiwara."

"Otae," Oryo wryly said as she came behind Otae, "I get that this is your day off, but you can't exactly barge in like your friend did and dry up our Dom Peri supplies."

"I know," Otae's exasperation was apparent. "I didn't expect her to barge in like this and come drink up the Dom Peri bottles. All because she ate one liquor-laced bonbon."

"My god," Kyubei looked at Tsukuyo finishing up another bottle. "She finished it in 8 seconds."

"Tsukuyo," Otae said annoyed as she counted the empty sake bottles and Dom Peri bottles, "I am glad that you're enjoying yourself, but I thought you said you had to go home. Besides," she whispered, "the boss will make me pay for more than 15 bottles, which we passed already…" "Hey!" Tsukuyo hiccuped. "I thought ya wanted to have some fun together, ya hypocrite! It's so dull here though! What happened to Snack Smile's top hostess service?"

"Well, that was before I accidentally boozed you up with that bonbon," Otae said sheepishly. "Besides, I wanted us to have fun sober, not acting like some old geezer."

"I swear that this exact same trope happened in Episode 204," Sarutobi leaned back on the chair. "Aw man. It's really boring partying without Gin-san here. I even miss that Yato brat too…"

"Really?" Tsukuyo hiccuped, but her eyes suddenly turned cold. "Why ya gotta go and mention that useless perm head? You gotta be more of a whiny bitch, Monkey-chan?"

"Really Monkey-chan?" Sarutobi sat up rigidly. "Is that the best you can do, Tsukki? Besides, what's wrong with saying I miss Gin-san? You know how everything is so dull without him-"

"SHUT UP!" Tsukuyo yelled, her tone suddenly having a bitter tone that caused tables around them to grow silent, both hostesses and customers edging away. Even Sarutobi couldn't help but stop speaking - Kyubei looked increasingly concerned at the situation unfolding.

"Gya gya gya!" Tsukuyo's red face looked even hotter. "Ya always been bitching and whining about this, about that! Acting like the biggest problem in ya life is no Gintoki for ya to harass him like a bitch in heat! Like ya the only one whose world revolves around him! Ya not special! I don't need to be reminded about that perm prick constantly, masochist monkey!"

Sarutobi said nothing, but her fists clenched and she started to shake violently. Tsukuyo was breathing hard, as if the rage she showed towards Sarutobi suddenly disappeared. She didn't look straight at Sarutobi who was starting to tear up and her head down.

Otae got up on her feet. "Tsukuyo! I think that's a bit too far. We all miss Gintoki and -"

Tsukuyo put up her palm to motion Otae to stop speaking.

"Otae," Tsukuyo said huskily, "Don't tell me the obvious. Please don't… at least not today." Her head was low-hanging but Otae thought she saw a little tear streak down Tsukuyo's chin.

"Ah'm leaving now," Tsukuyo coldly said and turned around, not looking anywhere, walking towards the exit. "Thanks for the drinks today, Otae."

"Tsukuyo, wait!" Otae protested but was ignored as Tsukuyo exited Snack Smile.

"FINE!" Sarutobi shouted in a husky voice, tears and snots running down her red face. "Who needs a stick in the mud like her, always taking her attitude out on us?! And I just said that I missed Gin-san! I didn't even say that I was going to take him for myself like I always do!"

The room got real quiet, with people around the Diamond Perfume table looking away or acting distracted. Even hostesses who were cleaning up the bottles stepped away for a moment.

Abruptly, Sarutobi went and walked away from the table, not caring to look around.

"Sarutobi!" Otae unsurely looked around- sure, she expected some tension today from stress. But, she didn't expect this full-out explosion to happen among Sarutobi and Tsukuyo. Otae exhaled. 'What the hell am I supposed to do with those two?' she thought the most in her mind. The last thing Diamond Perfume needed was for this day to go into cinders.

"Tae-chan," Otae felt Kyubei put her hand on her left shoulder and looked at Kyubei who looked calmly towards the exit. "You go try to make Sarutobi-dono feel better. I'll try to talk with Tsukuyo. It will be a shame for Diamond Perfume Day to end like this after all."

"You think Tsukuyo will talk with you?" Otae concernedly looked towards the exit doors.

"Not really," Kyubei said. "But I think she'll still need someone to be with her."

Tsukuyo walked moodily towards Yoshiwara, ignoring everything around her. She knew that she went too far in lashing out at Sarutobi, but she didn't feel like going back right now. After all, it was something trivial - it's not as if the two couldn't live on without Gintoki.

How could it be so different without Gintoki, though? Tsukuyo didn't care, she shouldn't care - so why is she thinking about Gintoki? Why is she so upset just hearing his name?

Tsukuyo slowed and then leaned on a telephone pole under an unlit light. Her head felt a little heavy from the liquor and her skin was starting to bother her again from the sunburn. But, she needed to go back home - she will never stay away from Yoshiwara overnight if she can help it. One breath, two breaths, then exhale. Yet, Tsukuyo's head felt heavy and clouded.

"Tsukuyo-dono?" A voice made Tsukuyo turn her head to the right to see Kyubei walking towards her, her face looking relieved, concerned, and contemplative all at once. Tsukuyo groaned to herself, though she nodded her head to acknowledge Kyubei's presence.

Tsukuyo: "I know I was too much with Sarutobi. I will apologize when I see her later."

"I'm not here about Sarutobi," Kyubei gently said as she came right next to Tsukuyo by the light pole. "Tae-chan is with Sarutobi. I just want to walk with you to Yoshiwara."

"Otae is not making ya do this, is she?" Tsukuyo skeptically asked, looking at Kyubei.

"Nope," Kyubei couldn't help but snort lightly. "I came here because I wanted to … We never spent time by ourselves since the Liberation War after all. Mind if I tag along a little bit?"

Tsukuyo looked Kyubei over as if she doubted the reason, but then shrugged and got up. Her face seemed ashen in spite of her sunburn. "Well, if ya insist…"

For a few minutes, the two walked together towards Yoshiwara. The sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows over the city. A strange silence loomed over, which Tsukuyo welcomed.

…

"Is the sunburn still bothering you?" Kyubei asked matter-of-factly, seeing Tsukuyo's skin still red as a tomato and Tsukuyo occasionally cringing subtly when her clothes rubbed on her skin.

"I will live. Ya know that I faced worse things than a little sunburn," Tsukuyo forced a slight smile.

"Yeah, that is true. My bad for underestimating the Courtesan of Death," Kyubei said in a tone that made her joking clear to Tsukuyo, who obliged Kyubei with a light chuckle.

"The future head of the Yagyuu Clan using sarcasm? Guess Yoshiwara's charm is finally starting to rub off on ya," Tsukuyo retorted, with Kyubei giving a short laugh in response.

"Guess you're right about that," Kyubei smiled as she looked at the sun sinking into the ground in front of them, with red and orange yielding to blue and black. A few lights began to turn on. Kyubei looked behind and up at the increasingly darker sky. It seemed to her that the stars were showing up a little earlier than usual before she refocused on Tsukuyo looking ahead.

"You know," Kyubei said seriously, prompting Tsukuyo's attention. "It was really nice to have you join today, Tsukuyo-dono. I really mean that." Tsukuyo looked curiously at Kyubei.

"Even after all my time with Tae-chan, there's times when I still feel I have to be the Head of the Yagyuu clan Yagyuu Kyubei and not Diamond Perfume Kyubei." Kyubei sighed as she thought about her past. "But, when you join us, it's easier for me to feel like I'm not failing my family by acting like a girl, trying stupid Goth Lolita kimonos or going to a pancake house. Even when you didn't feel comfortable, the fact that you played along with us - I really appreciate it. A lot."

As Kyubei looked at Tsukuyo, her smile was warm and genuine.

Tsukuyo, taken back by Kyubei opening up, stammered. "Nah, it was nothing. If anything, thank Hinowa for telling me to join ya guys today - "

Kyubei shook her head softly. "But, ya still could have said no and not come along. After all, you and Yoshiwara are basically inseparable. I know that much, Tsukuyo-dono."

Tsukuyo took out her kiseru and started to light it, seeming to concede that point.

"Well, I belong to Yoshiwara for as long as I can remember. Even with everything that happened over the past year or so, my heart belongs to it, to the women in it, to Hinowa and Seita. And I don't mind it that way. I'm not sure it really has room for one more anyway."

"Even for someone like Gintoki-dono?"

Tsukuyo stopped in her tracks, and Kyubei stopped with her. Her face looked stone hard, but her hands began to slightly shake as she put the kiseru in her mouth.

Kyubei said softly: "After all, that man somehow ends up in all of our hearts."

Tsukuyo froze - she remembered saying the same sentiment a long time ago to her friend Hotaru: "At some point, he ends up in everyone's hearts. He's that sorta shitty man."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tsukuyo exhaled out as she breathed out her smoke. "I'm not like Sarutobi who needs a perm head to keep her busy with Yandere schemes. Besides, I'm sure that that man's heart has no room for me in it anyway."

"No. Not Gintoki-dono." Kyubei shook her head and spoke softly. "He won't forget any of us."

"That's what ya think?" Tsukuyo's voice took on a bitter tone, trying to suppress the ache suddenly springing from within her heart. "That lackadaisical perm head is too lazy and self-absorbed to think about anything other than pachinko or sugar. He sees how selfish he can get! The stupid schemes that he does, moving without us! Always doing his own thing! Not caring about how we feel with him gone, thinking he could bail and things can stay the same"

Kyubei kept quiet, but her eyes looked sympathetically at Tsukuyo.

"That man is too wild to belong to anyone! Why else would he just leave like that?!" Tsukuyo clenched the kiseru in her hand tightly. "NOT EVEN ONE WORD OF WARNING!?"

Tsukuyo tried deep breaths, but it was too late to stop a tear from brimming in her eyes.

"He didn't even say goodbye to us … to … me…."

Tsukuyo tried to wipe away the tear in her eyes, but another two replaced it.

"Did he think I would have tried to stop him?" Tsukuyo felt hot tears on her stinging skin as she spoke, to who even she didn't know. "He knows that I wouldn't have done that - he knows how I am with Yoshiwara, what I'd do for it. I would understand why he would leave if he told us why. If he even sent a note saying goodbye, I would have understood just fine."

"Of course … I can see how little we all mattered when he left us without a word."

Tsukuyo crouched down and hugged her legs, not bothering to stop the tears from streaking down. Of course, she knew that none of that is really true, that she shouldn't be acting like a little girl pouting after a tantrum. From what Shinpachi told Diamond Perfume shortly after Gintoki and Kagura left, they didn't want to leave seeing everyone's sad faces.

But it still didn't take away the fact that Tsukuyo felt hurt. That she missed Gintoki. That she didn't get some sign of special treatment from Gintoki. Not even a word.

Kyubei stood for a split second before crouching down, looking alternatively at a now bright North Star and Tsukuyo who in spite of herself continued to crouch like a child.

"..." Kyubei let out a hollow exhale. "Tsukuyo-dono, do you remember that I told you that Tae-chan and I met when we were young, yes?"

Tsukuyo's head turned counterclockwise to stare puzzledly at Kyubei, who was staring at the ground just sketching random marks on the ground with her finger.

"Yeah. I remember. Ya were the Yagyuu future head when Otae met ya, and ya wanted to marry her to protect her. And?" Tsukuyo couldn't understand what point Kyubei was trying to make.

Kyubei continued. "Before that, I left home to train for some years. To walk my own path."

She sighed. "I left without a single word to Tae-chan. Not even a letter to her."

Tsukuyo eyed Kyubei, her face seeming to register what the latter was trying to do. She exhaled tiredly. "Kyubei, I appreciate the sentiment, but ya case is different…."

Kyubei shrugged in concedement. "Sure, but when Gintoki-dono left, even though it was a little surprising not getting a farewell, did you know what I thought, Tsukuyo-dono?"

Tsukuyo shook her head, not seeming to understand what Kyubei was trying to say.

"I actually thought, 'So even Gintoki-dono still has fights to finish on his own.'"

A peevishness grew within Tsukuyo, though she dared not dismiss Kyubei outright. "And?"

Kyubei, sensing that Tsukuyo was feeling irked, tried to get to her point. "When I left Tae-chan without a word, it was because I didn't want to keep relying on her for strength - to not weigh her down when she already had so much on her plate. But…"

Kyubei looked straight at Tsukuyo. "I missed her every day I was gone from home. Even as I trained, at least one thought was, 'I miss Tae-chan. I can't wait to see her again.'"

"Knowing Gintoki-dono, it's more than likely that it's the same for him when it comes to you. Even where he is now, doing what he has to do … I believe that he thinks of you at least once."

At this, Tsukuyo couldn't suppress a derisive pfft sound. "Ya really think that perm head would think that about any woman? From when I first met him to now, he was always the same. A shitty man who's always roaming from place to place in his heart. He can't make a woman happy like that … He'll never belong to anyone," Tsukuyo found herself saying as she slowly got up on her feet. "That's just the way it'll always be…"

Kyubei also got up with Tsukuyo but had a firm look on her face upon hearing the word 'belong.' "Do you think that a banana stays just a banana then? That it belongs to just one use?"

Tsukuyo gave a confused look towards Kyubei. "A what?"

Kyubei continued to earnestly speak. "It was something Tae-chan brought up one time with me. After all, bananas are used for many things - they don't belong to just one purpose."

She continued speaking when Tsukuyo said nothing though her face still looked muddled. "For example, you could eat bananas by themselves as snacks, befriend gorillas and monkeys, make banana bread, or even engage in Freudian analysis about penises-"

"I'm not so sure about the last part," Tsukuyo dryly retorted. "I think Otae is just telling you pseudoscience at that part. But what does this have to do with Gintoki, Kyubei?"

Kyubei hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Well, to be honest, I kinda thought it up about me and Tae-chan. I was so obsessed with Tae-chan that I thought the only way to have her with me was to make her my wife. But, I was wrong about that - even if she doesn't love me the way that I love her at the moment or that she didn't 'belong' to me, I realized one thing."

"What Tae-chan and I shared is different from what she shares with her friends at the Snack Smile, Shin-chan, Kagura-chan and Gintoki-dono, and just everyone else in general. Tae-chan didn't have to be with only me for our bond to be special. And she didn't have to be what I thought she had to be for us to be close, to stay together."

Tsukuyo listened politely despite her wanting not to listen to what seemed like a moral lecture.

"I don't think a person needs to 'belong' to another person for their relationship to matter, to be unique. I see that now about me and Tae-chan," Kyubei strongly concluded. "Tsukuyo-dono, with all true respect, I believe that is also the case with you and Gintoki-dono."

Tsukuyo's eyes widened from the unexpected analogy. "Me and Gintoki?"

Kyubei looked a little sheepish but didn't back off speaking. "I mean like you said, Gintoki-dono isn't bound to just one person, but he still gives his all for each and every one of us. He went out for Shin-chan and Kagura-chan, his landlord, Tae-chan and me, Sarutobi-dono, the Shogun, and you. But, he played different roles as Sakata Gintoki. A friend, a father figure, a mentor, a warrior, a protector … and I think for you, the role he will someday play is … partner."

Despite her sunburn, Tsukuyo felt slightly blush. "... Do ya … really think so?"

Kyubei earnestly nodded. "Just because I can't be with Tae-chan like I want should not mean that you can't be with Gintoki-dono like how you want. In fact," Kyubei leaned in and whispered to Tsukuyo's ear, "Between Sarutobi-dono and you, you have the better shot. Just make sure not to tell Sarutobi-dono I said that. I don't want to get on her bad side."

"Haha," Tsukuyo sardonically noted, with Kyubei grinning in return.

"I appreciate you listening to me, Tsukuyo-dono," Kyubei straightened her jacket, "I know that it may not be my place, but I think you shouldn't give up on hoping for Gintoki-dono. Not while he shows how much he cares for you."

Tsukuyo slowly nodded and stood still, leaving Kyubei unsure of what to do next.

That was until Tsukuyo went and suddenly hugged Kyubei to the latter's surprise.

"Thanks, Kyubei … I think I may need that …"

Kyubei, after getting over her shock, smiled and returned the hug. "No problem at all."

Tsukuyo wiped her eyes dry with her sleeves. "Now, I think I'll be fine going home. Let's go."

"Can we join too?" Tsukuyo turned her head to see Otae with a gentle smile and next to her was Sarutobi who was not crying anymore, though her face was still puffy and looked pouting.

Tsukuyo waited as the two walked over to join her and Kyubei. Otae looked calm but Sarutobi glanced at Tsukuyo before looking away with a hmph sound. Tsukuyo let out a deep sigh.

"Oi, Sarutobi," Tsukuyo said as Sarutobi still had her arms crossed and looked away. "... About what I said at the Snack Smile … I went too much … Sorry… I have no right to dictate how ya should feel about Gintoki…"

Sarutobi still looked away but her eyes softened and her scowl slowly vanished. Tsukuyo tried to think of other words but found none, so she wordlessly extended a hand towards Sarutobi.

Sarutobi didn't take the hand … instead, she went and hugged Tsukuyo, though her hands did land rather hard on Tsukuyo's back, causing her to wince. Otae and Kyubei looked surprised, as did Tsukuyo after her initial pain from her sunburnt back.

"Fine," Sarutobi pouted, "I'm forgiving you today only because it's Diamond Perfume Day … and because you're also missing Gin-san. I can't blame a woman for that."

Tsukuyo couldn't help but feel slightly moved by this uncharacteristic consideration Sarutobi is showing that she didn't lash out at Sarutobi aggravating her sunburns.

Sarutobi let go of the hug. "No more crying about Gin-san. Let's both work hard to protect this city so that when he comes home, we can say we did our best for him, ok?"

Tsukuyo, left speechless, nodded but her head shake indicated that she was a little amused.

"Sure," she said with a smile. "And when Gintoki comes back, we'll both make sure we stay with him on the same path again. You and I both, Sarutobi."

Tsukuyo began walking home with Sarutobi walking beside her - to be honest, she didn't register all of what the kunoichi was saying, but the tone was clear that they made up. Sure, the two would squabble but never would the two dare invalidate each other's feelings again.

At the back, Otae and Kyubei walked at a distance. Kyubei looked at Otae with a tentative OK hand sign, which Otae affirmed with a thumbs up.

"Man, Tsukuyo-nee!" Seita said as he sat cross legged on a bench. "How are you going to deal with tomorrow's shifts with sunburns like that?"

"Oi, don't underestimate the Chief of the Hyakka," Tsukuyo said with a confident smirk before she felt a cold, slimy sensation on her back. "I told ya, I'm fine, Hinowa!"

"Still, you can't be too careful with skin," Hinowa was rubbing more Aloe Vera on Tsukuyo's neck and upper back, with Tsukuyo sitting backwards on a chair after a cold shower that Hinowa insisted that Tsukuyo take. "I should have thought about the possibility that your skin would have been sensitive to the beach sun. Guess that we're both idiots, aren't we?"

"Maybe," Tsukuyo said softly. "But, I'm the bigger idiot for not keeping track of my own body."

"Did you still enjoy today, Tsukuyo-nee?" Seita asked. "In spite of everything?"

Tsukuyo seemed to reflect on the day for a moment, with Hinowa waiting patiently.

"I actually did."

It was night time. Tsukuyo, despite Hinowa and Seita insisting that she go to sleep right away, went outside and stood on the roof of a building. 'Just want to clear my head,' she said.

She watched as the stars faintly appeared despite the bright city lights underneath in the street. To her surprise they looked slightly different from before.

'Guess even stars can change …' Tsukuyo thought but to her surprise, not cynical as she went and leaned gently on her back to watch the stars. They seemed so beautiful.

'I hope that you're seeing this … Gintoki,' Tsukuyo thought as she closed her eyes gently, stretching out her arms with one hand open wide - hoping that wherever Gintoki is, he can feel a sense of peace and that he's wanting to come home as soon as he can.

The last thing she felt before taking a nap is the sensation of a hand gently holding hers, strong and warm … 'like Gintoki…'

EPILOGUE

Gintoki sighed as he leaned on a grassy hill after yet another day of investigation. Another Atlanta site without Shoyo there at all. How long will he have to keep this up?

He watched the stars pop up in the night sky, numerous and yet individually seeming to speak out to him. He thought about the many faces back home.

Shinpachi, Kagura, Sadaharu, Tama, and so many other people. He missed each and every one of them - hell, he even missed his hagfish landlord and Sa-chan, annoying as they were.

But then one face comes to his mind - a woman whose face is as beautiful as the soul she holds even with the scar and foul attitude she sometimes carries especially when she's drunk.

Gintoki couldn't help but laugh. Him, feeling fond for a woman like that? A man whose heart is so childish that it refuses to commit, to open up to another person? It's impossible.

But, Gintoki still finds himself thinking about Tsukuyo. Is she missing him back?

He stretched out his hands out wide on the hill.

It was then that he felt the presence of a hand holding his right hand.

Gintoki turned his head to see that his hand was empty-handed (heh). "Weird," he thought even as he continued to feel his right hand sense a hand holding his, small yet warm - delicate but firm … like Tsukuyo's hands.

'I must be going crazy,' the permed samurai concluded but he left it at that, a smile unknowingly growing on his face as if it was soothing him after a day of unmet hopes.

He closed his eyes below the stars, which seemed to glimmer unusually bright today.

'I wonder if that workaholic is seeing this … I sure hope you do…'

Gintoki slept as he admired the summer stars, with the last thing he felt for the night being that warm sensation of a hand holding his hand.