A typical Edo spring day, the ground was pink with a carpet of Sakura blossom. The air was clear and crisp, the sky a vibrant blue and cloudless. The verges beside the river flowed green into the river edge and cast a verdant reflection in the water. A quaint wooden boat with a canopy drifted by peacefully, barely making a sound as it passed. Hijikata dragged smoke from his cigarette and took a moment to watch it pool in the air before him. He ambled along beside Kondo who had invited him to walk back from the main headquarters after their meeting with Matsudaira. They could have used a police car, but on a day like this, it would be a waste to miss out on the fresh air. Trailing on the riverside path, Kondo swigged on his isotonic drink, gasping with satisfaction after he swallowed.
"Spring really is the best," he murmured happily, "don't you think?"
Hijikata didn't respond, pulling another thread of smoke from his cigarette and feeling his nerves calm.
"There's nothing better to clear your head than a riverside walk in spring."
"I'd prefer there to be less couples," Hijikata sniffed, glowering at yet another pair bumbling in the opposite direction, arms tangled up in each other, fingers knotted into one.
"Jealousy is not a good look, Tosshi," Kondo laughed, a bellow of a laugh. Hijikata's cheeks blushed slightly.
"Mm not jealous."
"Springtime is for couples. Wintertime makes you envious of families, cuddled up warm in blankets, making snowmen and drinking hot wine. Summertime is for rich people, showing off their convertible vehicles and air-conditioning units, which they don't even need because they're staying in five-star hotels abroad. Autumntime is the season of us lonely souls. That's the time of year you want a lonesome stroll, perhaps with a dog. Lengthy walks amongst the crunching leaves. Practising your sword strokes in the early dusk air. All those sorts of things." He took another swig of his drink and sighed. "Yeah, spring is nice, but Autumn is for us lonely folk."
"Don't lump me in with you," Hijikata grunted in response, averting his eyes towards the skyscrapers on his left.
"Isn't it about time you settled down, Tosshi? Find a nice girl to spend the rest of your life with?" Said Tosshi winced and tried to hide his expression. As great as Kondo had gotten at reading Hijikata like a book, there was one secret the man had failed to unveil. The most painful one, at times. Particularly in springtime.
"Not in this job," he replied rubbed the back of his neck, awkwardly.
"In this job it's even more important!" Kondo disagreed. "It's the dangerous jobs where you want someone waiting for you when you return. A nice wife to nurse your wounds." Hijikata chewed his lip and sought anything in the area to distract the conversation. He noticed two familiar figures standing on the bridge that crossed the narrow river, both tossing something from a bag at a swarm of eager ducks paddling below in the waters.
"Yorozuya!" Hijikata pointed. "Or, most of it." He noticed that Gintoki was not there.
They continued the stroll and once they were close by, Hijikata realised the two kids were feeding the ducks from a bag of seeds. A rather wholesome activity for the yorozuya. He would have rather seen them capturing ducks, wrapping them in small coats and fitting wellington boots over their webbed feet; that would have been a more natural sight. This was far too normal.
"Oh, Shinpachi," Kindou tilted his head slightly. "It's just you and the girl today, is it?"
"Do I not have a name to you, old man?" Kagura delivered a body blow to Kondo's stomach that left him doubled over. "Do I not deserve a good morning? Oh ya, oh ya, dearest these youngsters are so impolite these days. Mammy will teach them a lesson in manners." She whacked him again and Kondo doubled over, spitting something suspiciously red in colour.
"We've got a repair man in to look at the switchboard, so Gin-san is staying home today," Shinpachi explained. "We're out on a job."
"A repair person, Shinpachi, maybe mammy should teach you some manners as well."
"Very modern of you, Kagura, but his name is Henry."
"Henry might have a chest – men can have boobs, too."
"Well anyhow, we've got a repair-Henry over today and Gin-san is staying home to let him in."
"Repair Henry is probably an electrician. Oi, will he be alright?" Hijikata frowned.
"Gin-san?"
"No, the repair man. Gintoki is always taking advantage of visitors for his own amusement. I feel sorry for the repair guy. He doesn't get paid enough to deal with that permy-headed windup merchant."
"To be fair, that's right. Remember the carpenters we had over, Kagura?" As the memories returned, Shinpachi nodded thoughtfully but soon dismissed the concern, returning to casting seeds into the air.
"He did seem bored before we left," Kagura agreed, "Maybe I should have stayed back. Gin-san's fun when he teases people."
"You're the worst of the pair," Hijikata muttered under his breath and flinched when Kagura flicked her eyes to glance his way. She didn't react so he assumed she hadn't heard.
"Aren't you supposed to be the Yorozuya?" Kondo asked, laughing his signature laugh despite there being no obvious joke. "Do you do any job but an electrician?"
"Gin-san isn't allowed to meddle with the electricity. Not after last time," Shinpachi shuddered.
Hijikata decided he didn't want to know what had gone down 'last time' and asked something else he was curious about. "What possible job could you two be on anyway? Why are you feeding ducks?"
"One of them ate an old lady's engagement ring. We're feeding them so that they poop it out faster." Kagura explained, throwing another fistful of seeds into the river, which by now was swarming with ducks. Even pigeons and doves were settling on the riverbank jealously.
"Wont they shit it into the river?"
"I did suggest that would happen to Kagura," Shinpachi sighed.
"It's fine, once they're all fat, they won't be able to swim so they'll come ashore. That's when we pounce."
"Do you even know which duck it is?"
"The lady said a brown one."
"Oh, in fact, do you mind dropping something off for us?" Shinpachi reached into his kimono and pulled out an envelope. "I had to get some more cash out to pay the electrician. Could you drop this off at the shop? It's on your way back, right?"
"You're trusting us with an envelope of your cash?" Hijikata scoffed whilst Kondo was already reaching over to take possession of the envelope.
Shinpachi frowned, derisively. "You're police officers, aren't you?"
"Police-like," Hijikata corrected. "Shinsengumi."
"Anyway, Kondo-san will be looking to score some positive points with my sister because she caught him in her underwear drawer yesterday morning."
"I was looking for a pen to write her a letter!" Kondo protested, stuffing the envelope into his jacket.
"So, you'll do him a favour and drop in a nice word with your sister if he does this?"
"No, I'll promise not to tell the actual police about the actual crime he was committing by stalking and harassing my sister."
"I told you, I was looking for a pen!"
"In her room, Kondo-san!"
"That is a little sketchy," Hijikata agreed.
"Fairly creepy and very illegal."
"Oh," Shinpachi added, "speaking of harassment. If you catch Gin-san going too hard on the electrician, please find something to occupy him. Tell him the weather lady is on TV or something. I don't want the shop taking off into the sky again."
"Got it," Kondo gave him a thumbs up. "See ya, Yorozuya kids!"
They continued their stroll and began the short detour towards the Yorozuya shop. Approaching the end of the street, they could already tell something was amiss. The back of Hijikata's neck was tingling. Kondo gave him a look. Hijikata nodded, and they shuffled into a jog, hands on swords. There was a crowd outside the shop. Hands covered mouths, looking on in dismay. Parents grabbed their children and hurried onwards down the street; some schoolgirls were wavering like they were too intrigued to leave but too frightened to stay.
"Gintoki, calm it down," the voice of Otose boomed over the crowd as they drew near. "That's enough, Gintoki."
With a couple of sharp elbows, Hijikata broke through the crowd and found the sandy road was wet with dark splatters. Otose had a hand to her head where blood was dribbling down her temple, pooling in her eye socket causing her to squint. Catherine was stood in front of her, forming a protective barrier between Otose and the heap of limbs entangled on the floor.
"What's happening here?" Kondo was using his commander's voice, and it boomed with authority across the crowd. A few shuffled anxiously but continued to watch in shocked silence. Hijikata examined the bodies and realised he was looking at a bare-chested Gintoki pressing a blade into the neck of an unknown man on the floor. The man looked terrified. Gintoki's eyes blazed with rage – an anger he had never seen in the man before. He forced the side of the blade - of what looked like a kitchen knife - into the man's neck even harder, so that blood began to pool on its glimmering upper side. For some reason, Gintoki was only wearing his signature black trousers: no kimono, no shirt, no shoes. His hair was dripping wet, hanging long over his forehead but not quite long enough to shield those fiery red eyes from view. Gintoki looked ready to murder. There was a wolfish, predatory look in the way he bared his teeth.
"Gintoki," Otose repeated, calmly. "Let him go."
"That's enough, let's move on now," Kondo began to shepherd the crowd away from the scene now that he had established there was no threat. Or at least, the threat appeared only to be Gintoki.
"I-I'm sorry!" The mystery man whimpered, wriggling frightened under the forearm of Gintoki's that kept him pinned. The samurai's legs straddled the man's hips, locking him in position.
"Shut it," came the growl from Gintoki, a sound that came from deep within his chest. "I'm tempted to shut you up forever."
"Gintoki." Otose repeated, insistent now. She seemed on edge.
"Take that old woman to the hospital," Gintoki spat, probably to Catherine because who else would he be talking to?
"I'm not going anywhere until you gain some sense." Her face was crumpled slightly, likely in pain, though she was attempting to cover it. A few moments later, she grunted and appeared to lose her balance, dropping to one knee. Gintoki's focus shifted immediately and he removed the blade from the man's throat, turning in surprise to glance over. The fury in his expression lost some of its potency.
"Now!" He bellowed, and Catherine sprang into action to gather Otose into her arms and began hollering at the crowd for help. Otose was trying to explain that it was just a little blood loss, and she was just a little dizzy, but she was no longer being listened to. Meanwhile, the man pinned beneath Gintoki began to glance around in fear. His eyes flashed between the Shinsengumi and Gintoki, and back again. Once more, Hijikata's instincts warned him that something was about to happen. Something stupid. The man obviously felt like this was his chance; Gintoki wasn't looking in his direction, he was distracted.
"Yoro-," he barely had chance to stutter out a warning when the pinned man reached for a bottle of alcohol that had rolled from the bar entrance – which, taking a second to look in that direction appeared to be in absolute disarray – and began to swing it towards the man's head. Both men moved in a flash. There was a loud splintering of glass as the bottle shattered. Gintoki had spun round, flipped the knife, and struck the bottle with the point. He drove the blade through both the neck of the bottle and the hand grasped around it, pinning both into the road. The man shrieked, fresh blood pulsing out of the new hole in his hand where Gintoki's knife was firmly set.
"Stop him, Hijikata!" called Otose's voice from afar as she was finally bundled into the back of a cab. "Stop that idiot from doing something stupid!" The door slammed and the cab pulled away. Hijikata realised his blood was pounding through his ears, his heart slamming against his ribcage. This was unusual. Not only had he done nothing since arriving at the scene, but his heart was racing. His hands were clammy by his sides. He faced death fairly regularly and was always in high-stakes operations – he rarely felt even a slither of fear. Usually, he'd have snapped into action and have the two separated already. As Gintoki grinned sadistically down at the man screaming in pain beneath him, his hair dripping, back muscles rippling with the exertion as he dominated his prey under him with his mass … he realised this was not fear. And if he needed any further confirmation, the warmth in the pit of his belly and the blush to his cheeks gave him it.
"Oi," he grumbled, deciding the only way to get rid of the flutters in his stomach was to ignore them. He stalked towards the scene, holding Gintoki's eyes as they flashed to meet his. "What do we have going on here, hm? I can't tell who's the criminal."
There was a long pause. All the two did was hold eye contact for what felt like minutes, but Hijikata felt such a rush in his body. When a dribble of water ran down the valley between Gintoki's shoulder blades, he almost licked his lips. This was the secret he had kept hidden from Kondo for so long – from all the Shinsengumi. This fever running through his veins. He breathed out slowly, trying to gain control of himself but feeling a grin tug at his lips. This was so thrilling. This image – the fresh blood spattered on Gintoki's pale skin, matching the eyes that held his so unwaveringly, the blood on his cheek bone, on his collar bone, across the veins in his arms; the broad shoulders, and thick lats giving that wide back an unwholly wingspan; the narrow hips and the dip of the muscle that lined them rolling underneath his belt. Where he gripped the knife, the line of his forearm pulled taught against the muscle. What Hijikata would do to be the one on his back underneath him. He swallowed.
Gintoki's eyes had eased in the time Hijikata studied him. A calmness had taken over, replacing the animalistic wrath. Confident that his victim would no longer resist, he sat back onto his haunches and released the knife which stayed pinned into the floor.
"Yo, Mr Policeman. Come to take me away?"If only.
"We'll need to take statements."
"P-Please, h-help me," the man stammered his wide eyes never leaving the knife stuck in his palm. "P-p-please."
"Kondo-san," Hijikata said, simply, maintaining eye-contact with Gintoki. Kondo understood his meaning and knelt beside the figure on the floor. Finally, Gintoki stood up and faced Hijikata square on. His skin glistened where it was still damp.
"You look rearing for a fight," Gintoki something must have been in the shower when this incident began because clear water still dripped from everywhere. He must have dashed out in a rush.
"Says the man covered in blood."
"Is red your colour. Your eyes are swooning." He noticed that the man's chest was thumping pretty fast as well – he could see the taut skin throbbing across his chest. He took a second to thoroughly take in the view, lowering his eyes to Gintoki's bare feet and slowly dragging his searching eyes up the trouser legs, over the thick thighs, across the beltline, glancing over the abs and across the chest to meet Gintoki's eyes again. "Ohfuck," Gintoki muttered.
"Hey, wait," Kondo interrupted them both as he flustered over the victim. "No, I'm trying to help. Hey-!" There were a few grunts of a struggle and then the victim broke free, sprinting away down the street with crimson splashes leaving a trail in his wake.
"Hey, Gintoki," a voice called from the Yorozuya balcony. "You ran out in a hurry, but I've got another job this afternoon, so I need to leave." That must be the electrician.
"Yeah, yeah, thanks for the work," Gintoki replied without breaking eye contact with Hijikata. "Looks like I need my apartment empty anyway."
"I need paying! You can't add this to your tab again! You've long since ran out of favours."
Hijikata clicked his teeth and strode over to Kondo, reaching into the man's jacket to grab the envelope and then tossing it up to the man. He caught it. "Here, now you're free to go." The man muttered a confused, 'thanks' and scuttled down the staircase. "Kondo-san – why don't you head off after that guy. I'll clear things up here."
"Upstairs?" Gintoki tilted his head, clearly hoping his meaning would catch. Hijikata sucked in a breath.
"Upstairs," he confirmed. A glint flickered in Gintoki's eyes – he couldn't entirely read it, but he did know they were both on the same page.
"Get rid of the gorilla," the man murmured. "I've got a short temper today."
"Evidently. Kondo-san," Hijikata repeated.
"Yeah, yeah. I'll get after him now. You sure you'll handle this scene fine on your own? Want me to call back-up?"
Hijikata's tongue ran over his teeth and then he sucked in his bottom lip. "Don't call any back-up. I might be a while."
"You sure will." Gintoki smirked, spinning on his heel to head up the stairs.
AN: Thanks for reading!
No requests for concept art please - it spams my inbox and I know you haven't actually read the story!