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Chapter Text

The thought of a weekly supply of parfaits is what kept Gintoki stay sane throughout the evening.

Edo was taken over by a flu, resulting in a declining number of hostesses in Snack Smile. Otae had managed to convince (threaten) the Yorozuya into pretending to be cabaret girls for the evening.

"Come on Gin-san, it's not like you have anything better to do." Otae spoke with the sweetest smile on her face. If Gintoki didn't know better, he would have almost been fooled.

"You don't even work there anymore." He said in a last ditch effort to get out of work.

"Yes, but the girls begged for my help and it's not like I can say no to them." Otae sighed. "It will pay you well, you know. Our manager is getting a little desperate."

Gintoki scoffed. "If you think money is the only incentive I need, you'll be extremely wrong."

"So you won't do it?"

"Of course I will, I need the cash." He said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

And so, here he was, dressed as Paako, flirting with men, trying to empty their wallets, convincing them to buy more expensive food and drinks.

Of course, as usual, there was extreme commotion in the bar. Gintoki had already gotten used to it, given the nature of most of his acquaintances but that couldn't be said of the unfortunate guests who were gracing the place with their presence,

"I need more Koronamin C!" Kagura yelled from the opposite table.

"Kagura-chan you're supposed to order drinks for the customers, not just for yourself!" Shinpachi yelled. "I'm pretty sure he asked for a Dom Peri!"

"Hahh? What's the point of a ordering a Dom Peri??! I can't drink that! Pattsuan ,do you want to get arrested for trying to make a minor drink alcohol?"

"IT'S NOT FOR YOU!! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SERVE THEM!!"

Before Gintoki could stop their arguing (or probably make it worse), Otae walks up to them, wearing her familiar customer service smile.

What seems to be the problem? She asked sweetly, although there was a terrifying undertone to it.

Shinpachi could feel the sweat drip down from his forehead.

"It...it's nothing...we're just.."

"There's already a decrease in customers because of the flu...I can't let you guys scare away more of them." Otae spoke, the disappointment evident in her voice.

"We're sorry." Shinpachi said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Look what you've done now Pattsuan. You've made Anego angry."

"It's your fault!!" He glared at the yato, who ignored him.

"I just wish for this flu epidemic to get over. Too many people are getting sick" Otae lamented, sitting on one of the nearby seats, opening a bottle of DomPeri.

𝘖𝘪𝘪 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦? 𝘈𝘳𝘦𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵?

"Don't worry Otae-san!!! I'll take care of you if you ever fall ill! I have great immunity so I rarely get sick!" Kondo exclaimed, crawling out from under the table.

"You're already sick in the head, you damn gorilla!! Otae yelled as she punched him which sent him flying across the room. Gintoki could hear the sound of multiple glasses and a wooden table breaking. Really, this establishment would go under faster than the speed of light if this continued. The loss from the lack of a few sick hostesses was nothing compared to this.

"Otae-san!!!" Kondo's whine almost masked the sound of more people entering the club. "I knew you would be here, Kondo-san." A monotonous, bored voice spoke.

Gintoki grimaced. The voice was a little too familiar for his liking.

"Sougo! Why are you here?" The gorilla's voice was laced with surprise.

If the brat was here, then that would mean...

"That's what we should be asking you, Kondo-san" a gruff voice spoke. "Please don't leave your work to your subordinates just for you to do your disgusting activities."

Yep, as Gintoki had expected, Hijikata was there, eyebrows scrunched in annoyance. Did he not have any other expression? Was his face set in a permanent scowl?. This day could not get any worse.

"Toshi! Don't call it 'disgusting activities'. I'm protecting Otae-san from creepy men that might be here in this club."

"You're the creepiest one, gorilla." Gintoki spoke up, rolling his eyes, finally ignoring his guest and partaking in the hubbub. He turned to Hijikata, "For someone who is always threatening to arrest people for obstructing your work, you surely do love obstructing other people's work, Oogushi-kun"

"Huh?! I'm just here to pick up Kondo-san. Who is obstructing what?" Hijikata said, irritated.

"Using taxpayers money to enjoy yourself in a cabaret club. That's not very nice, Hijikata-kun." He didn't know why he always had to start shit with the nicotine addict, but he couldn't stop himself. It was kind of fun to see Hijikata all riled up and he, for some reason knew exactly what buttons to press.

"Who is going to enjoy themselves in a club where instead of women there is just your ugly mug in a wig and a dress?"

"Ugly? For your information, I brought in the most sales today! Apologize to Paako right now!!" He was lying but Hijikata didn't have to know that.

"Who the fuck is Paako?!"

"Now, now Toshi, let's not start a fight. Otae-san already has a lot on her plate. Why don't we help her out for a little while?" Kondo said, trying to diffuse the situation.

Hijikata huffed in impatience. It was apparent that he wanted to go back to the Shinsengumi barracks and complete the pending paperwork that was definitely waiting for him at his desk. But it's not like he could say no to Kondo's pleading face.

He sighed.

"Fine...just for a while."

A loud scream from across the room interrupted their conversation. "You good-for-nothing sadist! How could you put Tabasco sauce into my Koronomin C?! I'm gonna KILL YOU!!" Kagura's voice echoed as she lunged towards Sougo, who nonchalantly dodged her blows. Without their knowing, the young ones had started to create havoc in the place yet again.

"Kagura-chan! Okita-san! Please keep it down, just for today!" Shinpachi pleaded. "Gin-san..please stop them."

Gintoki sighed and walked towards the kids. This was going to be a long night. From the corner of his eye, he could see that Hijikata shared the same sentiments. The raven head rubbed his forehead and let out a deep sigh. Just as he turned towards Kondo to reprimand him further, he was approached by a pretty hostess.

"Hijikata-san! You're gonna join us today?" She spoke to him him with a coy smile.

"Ahh I'm glad I didn't go down with flu...it's so rare to see you here." Another pretty woman with blonde hair spoke. Why were all the women surrounding him like moth drawn to a flame? If only they knew of his personality, they wouldn't be so enamored with him. Gintoki grumbled to himself. It somehow irritated him to no end that Hijikata was popular among the ladies. It wasn't a new fact for him, but seeing it in action was extremely unpleasant. After breaking up the kids' fight, he went back to the customer he was serving. From where he was sitting, he could see that one of the girls had placed her hand on Hijikata's arm.

"Let me lead you to the table" She gently whisked him away. Gintoki couldn't help but huff in annoyance.

Cabaret clubs were not really Hijikata's thing. He didn't like being the center of attention. And although the women were all pretty, they'd all wrinkle their noses in disgust when Hijikata pulls out his Mayo bottle which immediately put him off.

If only they could understand the appeal of the greatest condiment in the world.

His eyes inadvertently strayed towards Gintoki. The latter was currently pouring a glass of Dom Peri for the customer with a fake smile plastered to his face.

Despite what he had said earlier, objectively speaking, Gintoki looked very pretty in his dressy yukata and the little ponytails. He was probably one of the prettiest girls in the club right now with his light eyeshadow and oh so lightly smeared lipstick.

Hijkata mentally cursed himself. He wanted to commit seppuku at the very thought. Since when did he think of the Yorozuya as 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺?

He reached for his cigarette pack. He was trying to quit, but he needed the nicotine right now. Toxins flush out toxins, right? So to counteract the extreme toxicity of the thought of finding Yorozuya pretty and maybe being slightly jealous at how touchy he was being with that nameless man (wait, where did that come from?) he needed something extra strong. Maybe he should smoke the entire packet in one night.

Gintoki's cheek muscles hurt from all the fake smiling. He could not wait to go home and sleep. Maybe tomorrow, he'd go to the store and buy JUMP. And treat himself to a strawberry parfait. And go to the pachinko parlour in the evening.

His daydreams were rudely interrupted by a loud giggle from the opposite table. It was a pretty blonde woman sitting right beside Hijikata.

This was getting ridiculous. What did all these women even see in him? He was just a chain-smoking, mayo addicted freak with anger issues. Of course, Gintoki could admit that Hijikata was easy on the eyes. As the main character, he was obviously the hottest person around. But Hijikata was a close second, with his deep set dark blue eyes and straight black hair (of which Gintoki was not jealous. Not at all. Not even a little bit. Everyone knows that the main character is supposed to have a distinct outline. His wavy hair is essential to his character.)

And he did look good in the Shinsengumi uniform.

Gintoki didn't realize that he was staring at Hijikata. Their eyes met. Hijikata immediately looked away, which somehow irritated Gintoki.

"What, can't even look me in the eye? Don't get too cocky, just because you're getting some attention." He mumbled under his breath.

"Paakooo did you say something?" The customer asked, his words slurring. He fell back into the sofa and started snoring.

"What a pain in the ass." Otae walked up to them, face contorted in disgust at the sight of the plastered customer.

"Gin-san, thank you for today. We're gonna close up soon so you can go change now."

"Finally. I was about to die here." Gintoki grumbled as he went towards the changing room. The night was more taxing than he had expected it to be.

Hijikata wanted to leave the place as soon as possible. Kondo was lying on the floor, drunk, after spending almost all of his life savings on Dom Peri in order to impress Otae. He wondered if Sougo would help him in carrying their superior back to the barracks. He probably wouldn't.

"Hijikata-san, are you listening to what I'm saying?"

"I'm sorry. I'm feeling a little unwell, so I'm gonna go out to get some air." Hijikata excused himself hastily.

As soon as he reached far away from the crowd, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oogushi-kun. What are you doing here?"

Hijikata winced. Gintoki was the worst person he could meet right now.

"Yorozuya. You changed your clothes?"

"Well, this is right outside the changing room after all. Aren't you here for a little rendezvous with one of the ladies from earlier? The blonde one perhaps?"

Gintoki's tone was indifferent, but there was something off about his expression.

"Don't you ever stop talking nonsense?"

Gintoki put his hand under his chin and pretended to think about it.

"No, not really."

"You're infuriating."

"Atleast I'm not a tax thief like you."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Oh, do you prefer 'government lapdogs' more?"

Hijikata pulled the collar of Gintoki's shirt. "Atleast I have an actual job and am not an unemployed bum like you!"

Gintoki grabbed Hijikata's jacket, pulling him close. "I'd rather die than do your job of robbing innocent taxpayers."

"You would rather die than do ANY job, you lazy piece of shit!!"

Gintoki pushed Hijikata away forcefully. At the same time Hijikata tightened his grip on Gintoki's collar and smashed their foreheads together, which resulted in both of them losing their balance. They toppled down onto the floor. Hijikata closed his eyes, bracing himself for the impact, but found that Gintoki's palm had cushioned his head from the fall.

He opened his eyes to meet Gintoki's red ones and realised three things.

1) His hips took the impact of the fall and it hurt.

2) Gintoki has really pretty eyes. He had known this fact for a long while, but the proximity helped him appreciate the fact more.

3) The (arguably) most important thing Hijikata realised was one that he did not want to acknowledge at all. That the softness that Hijikata could feel on his lips were actually Gintoki's own.

The two men stared at each other, not daring to move.

.

.

Gintoki could not believe the current turn of events. He waited for Hijikata to punch him and push him off. Instead, the other man just laid there below him, looking at him with wide eyes, blushing softly.

He blamed his next action on the amount of Dom Peri he drank that night. Half out of instinct and half out of curiosity, he licked the Vice Chief's lips.

That seemed to pull Hijikata out of his reverie. He pushed Gintoki aside and sprawled on his feet, struggling to stand.

"Wha-what do you think you-you're d-doing?"

"You pulled me towards yourself! This is all your fault!" Gintoki said, evading Hijkata's question.

"Why did you li-lick my-" Hijikata faltered, his mind not supplying him with words.

Gintoki knew he'd have to say something or he would definitely get punched.

Why did he lick Hijikata's lips anyways?

"It's 'cause your lips were all dry. Maybe you should stop smoking so much Hijikata-kun"

Hijikata looked at him, affronted. "I quit!"

"Stop lying. I literally saw you smoking back there. "

"That was because-"

'𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨?'

Yeah there was no way Hijikata could say that.

"Mayora, you need to stop smoking. Women do not find crusty lips attractive."

"THEY'RE NOT CRUSTY, STOP LYING."

Gintoki smirked. This is the Hijikata that he's used to. Not the stammering, blushing...𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦 Hijikata he witnessed earlier. Before he could say anything else, they were interrupted by a loud wail.

"Toshiii ahh I finally found you! Otae-san said that this place is closing..so we'll have to leave." Kondo hiccoughed. "Ah Yorozuya-san, you were here too? I hope you guys weren't fighting."

Hijikata could feel his face heat up. "What are you talking about, Kondo-san?"

"Both of you are really similar, you know? And I know Toshi, that you really respect him. You guys would make really good friends." Kondo spoke with a lilt to his voice.

"You're drunk. Come on we're leaving." Hijikata grabbed Kondo's arm and led him to the exit without sparing a glance at Gintoki. His face was flaming.

'Why did Kondo-san have to spew all that bullshit?" He muttered to himself.

Hijikata wasn't sure how he was supposed to face Gintoki the next time he met him. He could still feel the ghost of Gintoki's lips, the sensation of his tongue on his lips.
"Maybe I should commit seppuku."

"I agree Hijikata-san, you definitely should." A monotonous voice spoke beside him.

"Shut up, Sougo."

Gintoki could not sleep. At all. Which was a shame because he was daydreaming about sleeping the entire day. Damn Hijikata and his stupid soft lips. There was something definitely wrong with him. This was Hijikata he's talking about. The stupid Mayo obsessed freak. The demonic Vice Chief. The kiss was nothing but an accident. He should forget about it and should definitely not be playing the moment on replay in his mind. Maybe he should count sheep and will for sleep to come.

'𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱...𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱...𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱....𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱....𝘧𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱....𝘴𝘪𝘹 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱....𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱...𝘦𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵..𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱...𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘦𝘱....𝘵𝘦𝘯...𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴.. 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢'𝘴....'

Goddammit.

He could see Heidi dragging him down the cliff with a somewhat sadistic grin on her face.

He was fucked.

Chapter Text

Hijikata was having a terrible morning. He woke up in a grouchy mood and no amount of death threats he threw at Yamazaki improved his countenance. He also had a huge backlog of work as he could not concentrate at all after returning from Snack Smile. And to top it all off, his patrol route today was near Kabuki district.

He hoped against hope that he wouldn't meet a certain man with a perm head. He wasn't ready to face him yet.

The patrol was mostly uneventful, barring the two assassination attempts from Sougo. They walked alongside the river, almost reaching the Shinsengumi barracks. Hijikata let out a sigh of relief. No sign of annoying permheads anywhere. Luck was on his side today, just when he needed it to be. All his thankfulness was met with an familiar voice.

"Oi Kagura stop dawdling! We need to find that damn worm before sunset."

"Gin-chan, you have done nothing but dawdle the whole day!"

Hijikata stiffened. He had almost finished his patrol. Why did he have to meet them 𝘯𝘰𝘸 out of all time. Cursing his luck, he turned around stiffly to avoid the bane of his existence.

"Hijikata-san, what are you doing?" Sougo asked him.

Crap, he had forgotten about the gremlin he was patrolling with. Hijikata needed to come up with something fast. Sougo was unfairly perceptive when it came to harassing him. If he finds out that he was avoiding Gintoki, it would be over for him.

"I...forgot my volleyball." Hijikata reveled in his ability to think quickly. What a perfect excuse, not even Sougo can procure a volleyball from nowhere, it's too random-

"Here you go, Hijikata-san." Sougo said, holding a familiar blue and yellow ball.

"Where the fuck did you even get that from?" He eyed the ball suspiciously, wondering if it would blow up.

"Huh? Isn't it obvious? I got it from my four dimensional pocket."

"Sougomon? Are you Sougomon? Do you have an anywhere door?"

"Why do you want that? Are you avoiding Danna?"

Hijikata could feel the sweat go back into his pores. Damn Sougo and his telepathic abilities!

"Avoiding him? Why would I avoid him. I'm the Vice Chief of Shinsengumi, not some coward. I'm not avoiding him." Maybe he should shut up before it looked like he was overcompensating.

Sougo smiled with malicious intent. "So why are you avoiding him?"

"That's literally the opposite of what I said!"

His loud voice caused the Yorozuya trio to notice them. Gintoki stopped his argument with Kagura midway and looked at him with a somewhat forced indifferent expression on his face. Can Hijikata use anime mechanics to transport anywhere else? Please?

"Hijikata-san! Okita-san! Good evening." Shinpachi greeted them with a smile. "Have you guys seen a giant worm around here?"

Hijikata looked at him in confusion. A multitude of questions were running through his mind. Why were they looking for a worm? How was he supposed to act in front of Gintoki? Does Sougo really have a 4D pocket? That would explain how he is able to randomly pull a bazooka out of thin air all the time. Should he pretend to have amnesia so that they don't talk to him further?

He settled on asking a simple "What?"

"Baka Ouji lost one of his pets again. And his weird goblin companion asked us to find it." China spoke up, her explanation lacking as usual.

"It's Hata Ouji, Kagura-chan." Shinpachi said, exasperated. This was probably not the first time he was saying this and it definitely won't be the last. Honestly, the boy should be awarded a medal of some sorts for putting up with both China and Gintoki at the same time.

"I see a giant worm right in front of me." Sougo said, pointing at Kagura. Maybe Hijikata should get an award too.

"Watch your words, you runt!" Kagura yelled, smacking Sougo with her umbrella. Sougo drew his sword in retaliation. "You're the only runt here!"

"There's no use asking them, Pattsuan. You can't expect help from thieves." Gintoki said, picking his ear.

Hijikata was in no mood for this. "Come on Sougo, we're leaving."

"Ignoring citizens in need of assistance, is this why the government pays you?"

"You stupid permhead, you're the one who said that you don't need our help."

"Why are you bringing my hair into this? And why are you carrying a volleyball? Don't think you can be as popular as Kageyama just because you have similar V shaped bangs!"

Hijikata grabbed Gintoki's yukata and pulled him close purely out of habit. How was it possible for one person to be so infuriating? "Stop talking nonsense!"

Gintoki grabbed Hijikata's collar in return. "You started it!"

"I literally did not!" Hijikata yanked on the yukata a bit more, their foreheads now touching. This was the usual for them. What was not usual however was his eyes inadvertently went towards the latter's lips. The lips that were on his less than twenty-four hours ago. Gintoki followed his line of sight. Hijikata licked his lips unconsciously.

"Hijikata-kun...you.." Gintoki raised his eyes to meet Hijikata's. Hijikata could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He could feel himself drawing closer to the other man. Gintoki's hand which was clenched tightly around Hijikata's collar, slowly found it's way towards the back of the Vice Chief's neck.

"GIN-SAN!!!" Shinpachi's loud voice pulled them both out of their trance. "I found it! I found the worm. Baka- I mean Hata Ouji has such troublesome pets! Just look at the size of it!"

"Pattsuan...you were about to say Baka Ouji, weren't you?" Kagura asked, her tone playfully condescending.

Gintoki and Hijikata let go of each other hastily.

"I..I'll go a-and do some actual w-work, unlike you" Gintoki stammered and left. "Why the fuck is the worm the size of a baby elephant?!"

Hijkata stayed still at the spot. What was wrong with him? Just now...he almost...almost....

"Hijikata-san? Earth to Hijikata-san!" he heard Sougo say.

"Ah..sorry. You can go back first. I'll be there in a while." He managed to say.

Sougo raised his eyebrows but did not push the subject further. "I hope you die on your way back, Hijikata-san."

Hijikata took a long drag from his cigarette The nicotine, for once was not enough for his nerves. He needed a drink. He had first thought of going to the izakaya he frequents, but the chances of running into 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 fool there was too high. There's no way Hijikata would risk it.

And so he ended up in a small amanto owned bar, a little far away from the Kabuki district. The bar was a little too crowded for his liking, but it was cozy. He quickly placed his order and sat on the stool. Hijikata sighed as he recalled the happenings of the past few hours. Why did Gintoki get to mess with his head all the time? The stupid permhead managed to pull everyone into his orbit, and it seemed like Hijikata was no exception. Although he would never admit it to Gintoki, he did respect him a lot. He understood why people were drawn to him.

But lately...more than respect or admiration...there was this other emotion that welled up whenever Hijikata thinks about Gintoki and for the life of him, he cannot figure out what it is.

Or maybe he has figured it out, but he dare not admit it to himself.

"Here are your orders!" The server put two bottles of sake and two bowls of rice topped with mayonnaise and red bean paste respectively on the table.

Hijikata could feel his soul fly out of his body (not literally...his poor soul would not survive another soul switch arc). There's only one person in the world who would eat that disgusting cat food. He was so absorbed in his musings that he hadn't noticed someone else sit beside him.

"Oi oi oi...are you stalking me, Oogushi-kun?" Gintoki said, looking slightly irritated and surprised to see him.

"That's what I should be asking you! What are you doing here? Did you follow me?" Hijikata yelled. Honestly...he was here first! Why can't Gintoki leave him alone for a single second?

"I can't believe it. I choose a random bar to avoid you and here you are."

"Am I supposed to believe that you just randomly chose a bar and it just happened to be the one where I had decided to go?"

"I don't care what you believe. It's the truth!"

"Something is definitely fishy." Hijikata looked at Gintoki with narrowed eyes.

"Ah...that's probably me." A fish headed Amanto sitting beside Hijikata spoke sheepishly. Both men turned around to look at him. After a moment of awkward silence Gintoki sniggered. Hijikata couldn't help but join in.

"Ah... this is somehow nostalgic, isn't it?" Gintoki said, wiping the tears from his eyes.

Hijikata blushed slightly, remembering the encounter they had before he had to leave Edo. Them, sitting next to each other, eating each other's food and laughing at the most mundane things. "Did you finish the sake that I left you?"

Gintoki turned to look at Hijikata properly. "No."

"That's surprising. I thought you would have finished it all in a day."

Gintoki stayed silent. "No...I didn't finish it" A short silence enveloped the two. "I...wanted to share the drink with you." He finally mumbled.

Hijikata could feel his face heat up.

"Oh." He said dumbly, unsure of what else to say. The unnamed emotion was back in full force to punch him in the gut.

"I mean, I did have some of it. It's really good quality. Must be nice to spend taxpayers money on expensive sake." Hijikata could feel that this was Gintoki's desperate effort to bring back their usual banter, the one they had gotten so used to,so naturally he rose to the bait.

"Here you go again with that bullshit."

"Spewing bullshit is my character-defining trait, Hijikata-kun."

"Like your permhead? Or your nose picking habit? Or the way you blow all your money on pachinko?"

Gintoki grinned. "Yes! Exactly...I'm glad you understand it."

Hijikata shook his head and he drank his sake. "You're insufferable."

"I could say the same thing about you, Vice-Chief." Gintoki said, pouring his drink into his cup.

Hijikata was drunk. There would be no other scenario where the Vice Commander of Shinsengumi would be a public menace, but now, here he was, his hand gripping Gintoki's collar, yelling obscenities at the other man.

"You stupid sugar freak!! Do you always have to be this annoying?!"

Hijikata does not know why they started fighting and who started it, but he does not care. Fighting with Gintoki was familiar territory, one that Hijikata knew as well as the back of his hand.

"Right back at you, Mayora! You make my blood pressure rise everytime I see you! A main character can't be both diabetic AND hypertensive, you know?!!"

"Stop eating all those damn sweets then!"

"You should stop eating all that mayonnaise. Ever heard of cholesterol? What do you even like about that disgusting stuff?"

"DON'T INSULT MAYONNAISE!" Hijikata punched Gintoki in the face. Gintoki retaliated with a punch of his own. Hearing the scuffle escalate, the owner of the bar stepped in between the two men.

"I need both of you to leave the premises right now. You're disturbing the other customers."

And so, both Hijikata and Gintoki were thrown out of the bar.

"This is all your fault" Hijikata grumbled.

"You hit me first! This is police brutality, I'm going to report you!"

"Shut up!"

"That was such a lame comeback, even by your standards."

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "Get lost!"

"What, do you think you have the power of the geass? I'm not gonna do what you say, Oogushi-kun."

"Whatever."

Both of them fell into silence, running out of stupid arguments to spew.

"Hijikata-kun?" Gintoki piped up, after a while just when the quiet between them was getting a tad suffocating.

"What?"

"Wanna go and drink that sake you left me?"

Hijikata blamed it on the alcohol in his system. He would have never agreed if he was sober. Or maybe he would have. He's not so sure anymore.

"Okay."

Chapter Text

The old lady at the izakaya was delighted to see Hijikata and Gintoki.

"It's been so long since both of you have come here together!" She said happily as she went inside to bring out their order.

Hijikata and Gintoki sat in silence. Gintoki cursed his impulsive action of asking Hijikata to join him for a drink. It's not like they haven't shared a drink, whether it was inadvertently because of their preference aligning or in very rare cases, intentionally. And yet Gintoki had never felt this awkward, sitting next to the demon Vice Chief. He ached to have a physical brawl with him, to experience some semblance of familiarity.

He was used to Hijkata's anger, his scrunched up eyebrows, his lips permanently forming a scowl. What he was not used to was Hijikata lying all pliant under him, 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, as Gintoki's lips were on his, him pulling Gintoki closer as the silver haired man's hand snaked around his neck instead of pushing him away and punching him as usual.

Gintoki was itching to pick a fight with Hijikata, to feel the pain of the man's punch that he had grown so accustomed to, to do anything that will break this heavy atmosphere.

"Are you sure you can handle more drinking? You look like you're going to pass out."

Hijikata scowled, taking the bait yet again. "I'm not a lightweight like you."

"Who are you calling a lightweight? I can definitely drink more than you." Gintoki smirked. This was it. This was what he wanted. Petty arguments with all bark and no bite, a perfect summary of the relationship between him and Hijikata.

"I'm pretty sure I won the drinking contest we had last time."

"Stop lying, Oogushi-kun, we both got blackout drunk and had no recollection of what happened."

"Wanna have a drinking competition today?"

"Don't come crying to me when you lose!"

"You're the one who is gonna lose, you idiot!"

"You're on!" Gintoki took the bottle of sake and poured it into his and Hijikata's cup.

The old lady smiled from behind the counter. She was very used to the shenanigans of the two customers, their hollering almost part of her daily routine. They were her husband's favorite patrons, he always used to say how both of them made the bar more lively and fun.

Hijikata hiccoughed, his face completely red from all the drinking.

"You...bastard" he slurred. "Do you give up?"

"There's no way in hell I would"

"How will we...decide the winner then?"

Both the men were outside, Gintoki leaning against a telephone pole, while Hijikata fumbled, trying to buy a cigarette from the vending machine. The old lady had finally pushed them out, insisting that it was too late and she needed to close the bar for the day.

"I definitely am more sober than you, so I guess I am the winner." Gintoki said, stumbling, as he faced Hijikata.

"You're not more sober than me. You tripped on absolutely nothing just a few seconds ago!" Hijikata said, affronted, as he lit up a cigarette.

"For someone who said he has quit, you surely do smoke a lot." Gintoki said, raising his eyebrows.

"Shut up, this is all your fault."

"You keep blaming poor old Gin-san for all your bad habits. You really should stop projecting"

Hijkata was tired of Gintoki's stupid arguments. He was tired of feeling confused, of his heart betraying his mind when it came to this idiot. He did the only thing he knew, when it came to a certain silver haired protagonist, especially when he couldn't battle him with words anymore. He punched Gintoki on the face with all his might.

Gintoki relinquished in the feeling. This was what he wanted since both of them had sat down to drink. A good old fist fight. He punched Hijkata back with equal rigor.

"Your anger issues keep getting worse day by day, Mayora."

"YOU are the cause of my anger issues, Yorozuya." Hijikata said as he kicked Gintoki swiftly on his ankle, causing the other man to lose his balance. Gintoki deftly held on to Hijikata's waist to avoid falling face first into the pavement, causing both of them to stumble down.

"You idiot!" Hijikata said, wincing, as he realised that he had a split lip. He gingerly touched his wound and glowered at Gintoki as he sat down properly and propped his body against the wall

Gintoki pressed on to his cheek, which was slightly swollen due to the scuffle. He felt the steely blue eyes glare at him as he seated himself in the opposite wall of the alleyway they had found themselves in and somehow, he found solace in that expression that he knew all too well. His eyes strayed towards the bloodied lips of the other man. Maybe he wasn't as sober as he claimed to be.

"You're really unfair, Hijikata-kun."

The Demon Vice-Chief's scowl deepened.

"What are you talking about?"

"First, you invade my space by always being present at 𝘮𝘺 favorite spots. That wasn't enough for you, so then you start invading my thoughts. And then, you have the nerve to also invade my dreams."

Hijikata's eyes widened. A slow blush spread throughout his face.

Gintoki cursed inwardly. "Stop that! Stop looking at me like that! You're so confusing...one moment, you glare at me like you want to kill me and the other moment, you look at me with that blush and I have no idea what to do with it. Why can't things ever be straight forward with you?" He rambled on, his alcohol induced brain supplying him with words he would have never said otherwise.

"I'm the one who is confusing?!" Hijikata whispered, sounding slightly outraged."Did you know, Yorozuya, that I was searching for you the whole time you were gone?

Gintoki looked at him with surprise, not expecting the conversation to flow in this direction.

"When I had to leave Edo, I left you with a promise that I'll be back. You, on the other hand, simply disappeared for two years with no explanation! Not even a simple goodbye." Hijikata said, his voice breaking slightly.

"What explanation could I have possibly given?" Gintoki said, his tone bitter. "Hey guys, remember the man who endangered all your lives and wants to destroy the planet? I actually want to save him for my own selfish reasons. Please understand and co-operate with me, tee-hee!!! His voice cracked ever so slightly. "How could I ever ask that of them?"

"Don't you get it? People here love you so much, that they would have understood you, followed you to the ends of the Earth, if you have just told them. Especially those two brats." Hijikata said, exasperated.

Really, how did this idiot not understand? The way his light draws people to him like moths to a flame? The gentle silver glow that basks people in comfort? The way he somehow managed to grow a bud in Hijikata's thorny path without him knowing?

Gintoki just looked at him with the same shell shocked expression from before.

"Thank you." He finally said, after a short silence. Hijikata looked up at him, unsure of where the conversation was going. "For trying to look for me when I left. For protecting Shinpachi and Kagura when I wasn't there.

Hijikata clicked his tongue, slightly uncomfortable. "I don't like to be indebted to anyone."

"You didn't owe me anything, anyways."

Both of them fell into a silence that shrouded them in minor uneasiness.

"The alcohol surely makes you honest, doesn't it?" Gintoki stood up, dusting off his pants, offering Hijikata his hand. Hijikata stared at his hand with distrust, but accepted his help begrudgingly, stuffing out his cigarette.

"What do you mean?" He asked gruffly.

"You're like...the textbook definition of a tsundere. There's no way you would have said all of that sober."

"Who are you calling a tsundere?! Why are you acting like you didn't go off on a drunken rant just two minutes ago?"

Gintoki didn't let go of Hijikata's hand and instead tightened his own around it. Sweat dripped down his forehead from both, the heat of the summer and the memory of his impulsive outburst.

"W-what are you talking about? hahaha.. I have no idea-"

Hijikata tugged his arm and pulled him closer. "What do we do in your dreams?"

"H-huh? W-what do you mean?" Gintoki gulped nervously.

Hijikata scowled."You said that I invade your thoughts and your dreams. I thought-" The blush spread from his cheeks to the tip of his ears.

"Actually, nevermind." He withdrew his hand from Gintoki's. The silver haired man grabbed Hijikata's forearm.

"You really want to know what we do in my dreams?" He whispered, his fiery red eyes zeroing into blue ones. He doesn't know if his sudden burst of courage was because of the alcohol in his system, Hijikata's blushing face, or his admission that he had been looking for him when he was gone. Gintoki had always known that, he had heard all of it from Shinpachi and Kagura themselves, but to hear it directly from the Vice-Commander, it had his heart racing.

Hijikata, suprised by the bold move, looked to the side, feeling a little embarrassed.

"It starts with us arguing." Gintoki said, pulling the other man closer to him.

"I changed my mind, I don't want to know anymore."

"Then I push you into a deserted alleyway, similar to the one we are in now." Gintoki continued, pushing Hijikata against the wall, placing his palm right beside his head, caging him with his body. He leans in to whisper directly into Hijikata's ears, his hands caressing his chest, making its way to the other man's face.

"I gently hold your chin and make you face me."

Gintoki's movements were slow and deliberate, his eyes conveying to Hijikata that he can push him away anytime he wants. Gintoki was waiting for the raven head to push him off, curse him, punch his other cheek.

Instead, Hijikata's eyes fluttered close. "And then?" He asks in a raspy voice.

That was all the invitation Gintoki needed to press his lips against Hijikata's. He could taste the copper from the blood on the Vice Chief's lips. Hijikata snaked his hands into the back of Gintoki's head and pulled, gently at first, and then tugged on it hard. He couldn't help but gasp as Gintoki bit his lower lip.

The world could be ending and Hijikata wouldn't care. He wanted Gintoki to never stop, he felt like he would die if they kept on going. His whole body felt like it had caught fire, his heartbeat ringing in his ears so loud, that he almost couldn't hear Gintoki's soft groans.They were so stupid to not do this from the start.

Gintoki wreathed his hand over Hijikata's waist, pulling him close, pressing his knee between the officer's legs, which elicited a soft moan from Hijikata. Gintoki didn't even know that the uptight demon Vice Chief was capable of sounding like that. He could feel his head getting dizzy from the smell of smoke and the taste of Hijikata's mouth.

All the fights, the banter, the threats, the arguments, all of it was for this single moment. For Gintoki to feel the Vice Chief trembling under him. For Hijikata to relish Gintoki's soft lips against his own as his hands were buried in that oh-so-fluffy silver hair.

They broke off, gasping for air, not daring to move at all.

Gintoki had always known that the poster boy of the Shinsengumi was a certified ikemen, but seeing his face upclose, with his swollen lips and faint blush, the realisation hit him like a ton of bricks.

"Do you want to...uh..come back to my place?"

"W-what.?" Hijikata stuttered. "Uh..-"

"Don't get the wrong idea! You're drunk! And it will be dangerous to roam around at night.." Gintoki mentally slapped himself. Did he really say that it would be dangerous to roam around at night to the Vice-Commander of Shinsengumi, one of the strongest man in Kabuki-cho? That had to be one of the lamest excuse ever.

"The barracks are far away from here." Hijikata said in a matter of fact manner.

Gintoki could feel his heart fluttering. Did Gintama change its genre? Is it now a shoujo manga? Will there be roses in the background and a 𝘥𝘰𝘬𝘪-𝘥𝘰𝘬𝘪 sound effect? He could also feel his stomach churning.

Ah...wait.

That's not the shoujo manga style of stomach churning...it's more like his gastrointestinal system punishing him for his bad drinking habits.

As Ginoki threw up, he promised to himself that he would never drink again. (Does he promise himself this everytime he drinks? Yes. Does he ever keep his promise? No.)

"I won our bet. I definitely handle drinks better than you." Hijikata smirked with self satisfaction as he pat Gintoki's back.

"This doesn't count, as I was in that Amanto bar way before you and was already on my third drink when you walked in. So technically I drank more than you." Gintoki argued.

Didn't think you're the type to be hung up on technicalities." Hijikata said, rolling his eyes.

Gintoki smirked as he flung his body onto Hijikata, who staggered from the sudden weight. He brought up his hands to push off the 70kg baggage.

"And what do you think you're doing?" He asked brusquely.

The Yorozuya boss looked at Hijikata with his best attempt at a puppy dog face.

"Since I'm so drunk, I need you to maintain my balance. Won't you help me?"

Hijikata blushed as he looked away. That damn bastard's eyes do sparkle when it's a close up. He definitely did NOT think that Gintoki looked a little cute. Nope. Not at all.

"Whatever" He said gruffly.

The two men stumbled into the Yorozuya apartment. Gintoki flung his boots onto the porch while Hijikata carefully arranged his shoes in the corner. The big mutt who was sleeping in the corridor, waiting for Gintoki, blearily opened his eyes, noticed the both of them and quietly went inside the living room.

"Wow, I've never seen Sadaharu behave like that. He should have chomped on your face by now."

Hijikata thanked the gods for the dog's weirdly affable behavior. He already had Gintoki's spit on his face (his lips to be exact, but Hijikata felt like he would combust if he thinks too much about it) he couldn't bear Sadaharu's on top of that.

"What about China?"

"She's sound asleep. Not even an earthquake can wake her."

Hijikata chuckled quietly.

"I bet." He said, somewhat fondly.

Gintoki could feel a physical ache in his heart. Why was this stupid Mayora making him feel this way?

"Uh... you can drink water from the kitchen if you want, I'll bring out the futon after I take a bath and change." He said, suddenly feeling sober.

Hijikata looked at him with slight surprise as if he didn't expect Gintoki to actually be a good host.

"I..don't have anything to change into." He said, his face flushing a little.

"Oh. Right. I'll give you one of my yukatas, if that's okay?" Gintoki had no idea why on Earth he was being so formal, especially with the Demon Vice-Chief. He felt a little nervous, now that the realisation of Hijikata being in his room dawned on him.

"Yeah, that'll do."

And so Gintoki pulled one of his signature yukata and threw it towards Hijikata and went to wash his face and change into his nightsuit. All while wondering what his relationship with Hijikata at that moment was. His lips still tingled with the sensation of the other man's kiss. He could still feel his hair being tugged with fervor, the soft gasps of the ravenhead etched in his memory forever.

Hijikata put on Gintoki's yukata. It smelled of detergent and strawberries. He may or may not have inhaled the scent of the cloth. In a way, wearing the Yorozuya's yukata made him feel like the other's arms were around him.

Hijikata cringed at his own train of thoughts. Who is he, a lovesick teenager? Before he could beat himself up for his thoughts that were straying further and further away from rationality, he heard Gintoki enter the room.

Gintoki almost wanted to gift Hijikata his yukata. The mayo freak looked stupidly good in it, the obi loosely fastened around his waist, his slightly tanned chest on display in all its defined glory.

He is a fool, an absolute idiot. Why did he bring Hijikata to his house? At that particular moment...he simply didn't want to part with the mayora so soon. But now, looking at Hijikata standing awkward, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve, Gintoki isn't sure what he should do.

"Do you only have one futon?" Hijikata said, raising his eyebrows.

"Well....yes. It's not like I have a sleepover with someone on the daily. Kagura sleeps in the closet so she doesn't need a futon."

"You need to figure out a better place for her to live in. The closet is not a good place for a growing woman. The next thing you know, she'll have a scar on her forehead, and a half giant will take her away to a magic school where she becomes the chosen one to defeat the evil wizard."

"Haha... very funny." Gintoki rolled his eyes. "Anyways, you can sleep on the futon, I'll take the couch."

"No. I'll take the couch."

"Are you sure you want to, Hijikata-kun? I'm pretty sure I dropped my glass of strawberry milk there this afternoon. That's also where I wipe my nose, by the way."

"Remind me to never sit on your couch."

"I'm just joking...half joking, atleast. I'll sleep on the sofa, I'm anyways used to sleeping there. That's where I take my afternoon naps. And my morning naps. And evening naps."

"Do you just take naps for the whole day?!"

"Of course not! I also read JUMP, eat parfaits and go to the panchiko parlour!"

Hijikata rolled his eyes, tired of Gintoki's stupid comebacks. He didn't want to sleep on the couch (on which he could now see suspicious stains) but it didn't feel right to make Gintoki sleep on it either, considering that it was him who was intruding.

Gintoki, who had started walking towards the sofa, was startled as he felt Hijikata grab his wrists.

"Oi oi Hijikata-kun, what are you doing. Are you suggesting that we share the same futon?" Gintoki said wiggling his eyebrows. Nothing beats riling Hijikata up.

The words that came out of Hijikata's mouth was so soft, all Gintoki could make out was a broken "-wouldn't mind"

Hello, who kidnapped the Demon Vice-Commander of Shinsengumi that replaced him with this clone?! All Gintoki could do was watch the tomato faced Hijikata with his mouth agape.

"What?" He finally intelligently warbled out.

"I mean...Before the Shinsengumi was formed, all of us had to sleep in the same room, so it's not like I haven't shared a futon with someone...although it's definitely been too long.." The ravenhead rambled on.

Gintoki felt a shot of jealousy spike through him which he quickly squashed.

"Okay. Let's uh...go to sleep then."

Gintoki was sure Hijikata could hear how fast his heart was beating. He could feel the warmth seep from the other side of the futon. What was wrong with him? Out of all the people in Edo, it had to be Hijikata? The memory of the alleyway still lingered in his mind.

Gintoki turned around, just to take a small peek at him. He felt a chill down his spine when his eyes met with the arctic blue eyes of the other man.

Hijikata had been unconsciously staring at Gintoki's v̶e̶r̶y̶-w̶e̶l̶l̶-d̶e̶f̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ back, the very same that Hijikata had been chasing after for so long. It looked so reliable, as if it could carry the weight of the world without falling.

Hijikata almost jumped out of the futon when Gintoki turned so suddenly, facing him.They were so close, he could hear the other's breaths. Gintoki cupped his cheeks inching closer and Hijikata could feel his eyes close instinctively.

He waited, with bated breath for the other man to close the miniscule distance between them.

Instead he felt a tickling sensation on his neck. He opened his eyes to see that the curly head had passed out, his lips grazing Hijikata's jugular ever so softly.

Hijikata took a deep breath, bringing his fingers to his lips. He wondered if Gintoki would pass all of tonight as a drunken mistake. For a short while, the man who was loved by the entire district, the one who was always surrounded by people was his, and his alone. The thought gave him an unexpected thrill.

Hijikata couldn't help but lament the fact that when the sun rises, his short lived dream would vanish, like it never existed. When did his feelings for the Yorozuya evolve to this stage?

Hijikata could feel his own eyes get heavy. He soon drifted off to a dreamless sleep, holding onto Gintoki, just a little closer.

Chapter Text

Gintoki woke up to the sight of a pair of glasses standing over him, the face of the glasses-stand contorted in annoyance.

"Gin-san, how many times do I have to call you before you finally wake up?"

The familiar nagging voice elicited a groan from him.

"It's too early in the morning for this."

"It's almost noon! You went out drinking again yesterday, didn't you?"

Gintoki rubs his eyes blearily. His head hurted, partly from his hangover, partly from the nagging.

Yesterday.....

Hijikata!

He sat up with a start and looked around. A broken justaway alarm clock was lying in the corner of the room. The Demon Vice Commander was nowhere to be seen. Was yesterday a dream as well? It felt too real for that. A cloud of disappointment sets in Gintoki's heart.

That's when he notices it. His yukata, kept near his futon, folded neatly. He quickly grabs it and sniffs it. He could smell the slight scent of smoke. Yesterday wasn't a dream at all! Hijikata was here, sleeping beside him, wearing his yukata and-

"Gin-san...what are you doing?" Shinpachi looks at him with an expression that could only be described as fifty percent concern and fifty percent disgust.

"Uh...just checking if this yukata needs to be washed."

The sentient glasses sighed. "Just get up and have breakfast."

"What's for breakfast?"

"It's Kagura-chan's day to cook, so it's probably egg-on-rice."

"Not again!" Gintoki whined.

"Well, Aneue made breakfast for me back at the dojo...you have no idea how difficult it was to escape." Shinpachi cowered. "I'd take anything over that."

Gintoki shuddered as he thought about the infamous black matter that is Shimura Tae's cooking. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small piece of paper jutting out of the yukata that Hijikata had worn.

"You better be out in fifteen minutes!" Shinpachi huffed and left Gintoki on his own to join Kagura.

Gintoki quickly grabbed the piece of paper, only to see one single word written on it.

"Work."

Gintoki couldn't help but let out a snort. He had always known that Hijikata was bad at writing letters and memos weren't an exception. He could practically see Hijikata struggling to think about what he could write before writing that single word and leaving.

His gleeful demeanor was rudely interrupted by a knock on the door. He deftly ran to hide under the table.

"Oi Kagura, if it's Tama or the old hag asking for rent, tell them that Gin-san is not home. He's uh..gone to the dentist."

"Gin-san, nobody will believe that you would go to the dentist alone without death threats or coaxing." Shinpachi said rolling his eyes. "It's your fault for spending all your money on sake."

Kagura slid open the door to reveal that the visitor was not Tama or Otose but rather a long haired man with delicate features and his penguin/duck/alien pet.

"Leader! It's been so long since we've met! Is Gintoki-kun here?" The infamous Joi terrorist made his way into the living room.

Gintoki crawled out from under the table.

"Zura...it's you. I almost thought it was someone important." He said in a bored voice.

"It's not Zura, it's Katsura!" Katsura retorted as he sat on the couch.

"So? Why are you here?" Gintoki asked, picking his nose.

"To congratulate you, of course!" Katsura beamed. "You finally came around and joined us."

'𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴!' Elizabeth held up his sign board.

Gintoki could feel a migraine on its way.

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

"The fight against the government is not an easy one, but with your integrity, our goals would be attained with ease."

Gintoki wondered how the star scholarship student ended up like this.

"Stop being vague and tell me what's all this about."

"I'm not vague, I'm Katsura."

"Get out of my house."

"Gintoki, there's no need to be so shy. I'm talking about how you got the Vice Commander of the Shinsengumi to your abode yesterday."

Gintoki froze on the spot.

"How..d-did you-"

"I have spies all over the district! We can't let the brains of Shinsengumi out of our sight like that."

"Toshi was here?" Kagura asked excitedly.

Gintoki could almost hear Hijikata's affronted 'who are you calling Toshi?'

"You've come up with such a master plan! Seducing the Vice-Chief of Shinsengumi. I could have never thought of it. Now we won't have to deploy spies to stalk him and you can find out classified information from the Shinsengumi." Katsura wiped a tear from his eye. "I always knew you would come back to us."

Gintoki restrained himself from punching the stupid man. "What the fuck are you talking about?!" He asked for the second time. "I thought you left all this nonsense since the whole Donald Zuramp fiasco."

"I'm a true patriot! I will rebel until I reform this country. Sure, the bakufu may be better than before, but it's not perfect! We cannot let our guard down." Katsura said, in an annoyingly condescending voice.

'𝘏𝘦'𝘭𝘭 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘑𝘰𝘪 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭' read Elizabeth's sign.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Zura but you've got it all wrong. The stupid Mayora got too drunk yesterday and decided to crash my place."

"That doesn't sound like Hijikata-san." Shinpachi said.

Gintoki raised his eyebrows. "You're defending him?"

"He's just stating facts, Gin-chan. Toshi may be a stinky mayo freak but he's not a Madao like you."

"I'm also stating facts! He challenged me to a drinking contest, got shitfaced drunk and crashed my place!"

"Hijikata-san does seem to get a little stupid when he's with Gin-san" Shinpachi noted.

Gintoki wondered if the kids were going through their teenage rebellion phase.

"It's my fault again? He's really as dumb as bricks, it has nothing to do with me. If he is all that smart, why can't he catch the dumbest terrorist in Edo?" Gintoki fumed, pointing at Katsura.

"So you're not seducing Toshiro Hijikata?"

"NO!!!" Gintoki screeched. If anything, 𝘩𝘦 was the one being seduced by that bastard.

"What about the voilet haired girl outside your building muttering 'I can take it up my ass too, why does he have to be with him'?"

So Sarutobi had witnessed the happenings of last night. Not that there was anything to witness seeing how he had been cockblocked by his own drunken state. Gintoki wondered if he should jump off a cliff. Maybe he could throw Sarutobi off first.

"She's a creepy stalker who has clearly misunderstood the situation because of her rotting brain.Now if you're done, please let me have my breakfast in peace."

"Take this pamphlet with you, in case you change your mind." Katsura handed him a sheet of paper. "I know that you'll definitely come around someday. Come on Elizabeth let's go, our job here is done."

"You didn't even do anything!" Shinpachi said, exasperated.

Gintoki took a look at the pamphlet.

𝘛𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦? 𝘖𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥?

𝘛𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘪 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘴!

𝘏𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 5 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 5 𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘦𝘭𝘱!

"𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘑𝘰𝘪 𝘙𝘦𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘴 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦." 𝘌𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴 (𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴). 𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

"𝘐𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦." 𝘚𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳, 𝘒𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟𝘟

I̶t̶'s̶-n̶o̶t̶-K̶X̶X̶X̶X̶X̶ I̶t̶'s̶-K̶a̶t̶s̶u̶r̶a̶.

𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘴 𝘠𝘖𝘜 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢 𝘑𝘰𝘪 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘵-

He crumpled the paper and threw it as far as he could outside the window.

As he sat down to eat, he noticed that Kagura had eaten his share of breakfast as well.

"A growing girl needs the food, Gin-chan." Was her only defense.

Hungry and hungover, Gintoki laid on the sofa, reading the latest issue of JUMP. But for some reason he simply couldn't concentrate on the latest One Piece chapter. His mind kept being stuck on a certain stupid nicotine addicted mayo freak with V-bangs. His brain played out hundred different simulations of their next meeting. Gintoki had no idea how he was supposed to act when they do actually meet. Couldn't Hijikata have specified the nature of their relationship in the memo? He didn't have a lot of trouble writing a letter for Shinpachi in episode 127.Why did Gintoki get just one word? He deserved a way better note than that. Something in the lines of.....𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘎𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘬𝘪-𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘢. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦. 𝘓𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳.

Gintoki's daydreams about Hijikata wearing a collar were rudely interrupted by Kagura.

"Gin-chan, you're holding the magazine upside down. And stop smiling like that, it's creepy."

It's been three days without a word from Hijikata. Not that he missed the bastard or anything stupid like that. No, Gintoki simply felt a teeny bit jilted.

Wasn't it common knowledge that you would contact the person who you kissed the living daylights out of within atleast two days? Was Hijikata playing hard to get?

Gintoki did not know what to think. He realises that he's never actually been in a situation like this before. Maybe he should consult the shoujo manga that Kagura reads for more perspective.He ends up reading twenty three volumes of a series without getting any clues about his own situation, but gets kind of attached to the main leads. He may have cried during the confession under the fireworks scene.

Day 4 without Hijikata: Gintoki scoured the areas where the Mayora usually patrols. He visits the izakaya they frequent. He also takes a detour near the Shinsengumi barracks. No sign of the nicotine addict.

Day 5 without Hijikata: The Yorozuya get hired to smoke out a hornet's nest. The hornets turn out to be shapeshifting amantos. Of course since nothing can ever go normally with the Yorozuya, the prince hornet falls in love with Kagura. Something about her being the only girl who has dared to give him a roundhouse kick.Him and Gintoki end up having a sword fight and the hornet prince after losing, promises to leave the country to preserve his honor. After this tiring day, instead of going straight home to laze around, Gintoki finds himself near the Shinsengumi barracks again. No Hijikata.

As Gintoki sat in the (Hijikata-less) izakaya, a very unwelcome thought entered his mind.

What if Hijikata was purposefully avoiding him? It doesn't make sense for them to not run into each other in five days.

Unless. Hijikata regretted whatever happened between them and is now steering clear of Gintoki.

The thought hurts Gintoki more than he thought he would. He feels his heart constricting at the very idea that the kiss might have not meant anything to the officer.

Which brings him to think: What did that night mean to 𝘩𝘪𝘮? What does he want from Hijikata?

The kiss was...nice. He would definitely like to do it again. He really wants to do it again.

When did his feelings about Hijikata change so drastically?

Sure, he was pretty, Gintoki could admit that he was attracted to him. If it was just simple attraction, it would have been so easy to understand but a part of him knew that it was more than that.

He 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 Hijikata. In more than a just physical way. He wanted all of him.

The realisation made Gintoki want to wring his own neck. Why was he here drowning is all these 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 (blergh) while Hijikata was out there blissfully avoiding him?

He decided that he would no longer try to seek Hijikata out. He had some self respect after all!

Day 6 without Hijikata: Gintoki was moping around. Both Shinpachi and Kagura could sense that something was wrong.

"You look like a dead man, Gin-chan." Kagura said, to uplift his mood. "What kind of a shounen protagonist are you?"

Gintoki, of course took the bait. "I'm the greatest protagonist JUMP has ever seen. Did you know that I was the youngest candidate to clear the hunter exam? I then went ahead to become the king of pirates after which I acquired the One For All from All Might-"

"Don't plagiarise other works just because they're popular, Gin-san." Shinpachi said rolling his eyes, although his tsukkomi act lacked the usual bite.

Gintoki decided to hit the pachinko parlour with Hasegawa so that he doesn't worry the kids with his sulking.The money he made from defeating the hornet prince isn't gonna spend itself. It's a shame really that he'd have to pass the Shinsengumi kennel to search for his homeless friend. And after losing everything but his underwear, he visited the izakaya to soothe his soul.

Day 7 without Hijikata: Gintoki decided to indulge in a strawberry parfait. It had been too long since he had tasted the icy, sugary goodness. There's nothing like a good parfait to take your mind off of small, insignificant things. As he sat there, contended, basking in the glory of delightful taste of strawberries and ice-cream, the corner of his eye spotted a familiar black and gold outfit. It was only for a moment before it disappeared, but Gintoki was sure that he had definitely seen someone in the Shinsengumi uniform. His traitorous heart skipping a beat, his legs inadvertently carried him outside the cafe while his eyes desperately searched for the chainsmoker.

"Looking for someone, Danna?"

The familiar monotonous voice made Gintoki jump out of his skin. He maintained a nonchalant expression.

"No one in particular." Gintoki cleared his throat. "Long time no see, Souichiro-kun."

"Funny, because this is the seventh time I've seen you this week. You made quite a few detours around the Shinsengumi barracks, didn't you?" Sougo smirked.

Gintoki cursed internally. Whatever Sougo was planning didn't seem like it would be something good.

"Keeping an eye on me, Sofa-kun? Did your superior tell you to do that?"

"It's Sougo. Also, no. Hijikata-san isn't in the state to give orders to anyone for a while."

Gintoki could feel his pulse rising. "What do you mean?"

"A week ago, we got news of an illegal arms trade amongst the amanto. Hijikata-san raided their warehouse two days ago and almost died." Sougo clicked his tongue as if he was annoyed that the Vice Chief survived. "He got two broken ribs, a gunshot wound near his chest and another one in his leg and a broken arm."

Gintoki paled.

Stupid, stupid Mayora going to the raid alone and getting himself almost killed. How selfish could he be? The thought of Hijikata being hurt shattered Gintoki's very soul. Anger, hurt and despair swirled around his mind.He couldn't even think about what would have happened if Hijikata wasn't lucky enough to survive.

"Where is he now?" He asked, gritting his teeth.

"He was in the Oedo hospital for a while, but he got discharged so he's now in his room-"

Gintoki ran before Sougo could finish his sentence.

Chapter Text

Gintoki cursed internally as he felt sweat drip down from his forehead and the dull aching pain in his feet. Running all the way to the Shinsengumi barracks was probably not a good idea.

"Um..I'm sorry, but Hijikata-san has prohibited anyone from entering his room." A man whose eyes looked straight out of a 90s shoujo anime said. He looked vaguely familiar, but Gintoki for the life of him couldn't remember his name. He put on his best intimidating face.

"Look here Sparkly eyes-kun, I promise you, your darling Vice Commander will get more mad if you don't let me enter. He's expecting me. You'd seriously deny entry to one of his guests?"

"He didn't mention anything of that sort." The man replied, eyes flitting around nervously.

"It must have slipped his mind. Unless you're saying I'm lying?" Gintoki said, in the most menancing tone he could manage.

"Oh..no I wasn't implying any such thing..."

Gintoki walks past him and slams open the door to Hijikata's room. He finds Hijikata sitting on his desk on which there were towers of reports, his eyes concentrating on whatever was written in the paper he held in his hand. On hearing the commotion, he raised his head, locking eyes with Gintoki. His eyes widened with surprise.

"Y-yorozuya..? W-what are you-?"

"WHY WOULD YOU GO TO THE RAID ALONE?!" Gintoki screeched. He stormed into the room as Hijikata's face morphed from surprise to confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

Gintoki noticed that something was amiss. For someone who was supposedly so gravely hurt, Hijikata looked quite healthy. He wore his usual Shinsengumi uniform, and apart from his eyes looking a little tired, he looked fine.

"You- you're alright?? What about the broken ribs?" Gintoki faltered.

"Huh? Is this your way of threatening me?"

"No....you..went to the raid alone and got hurt...."

Hijikata's gaze softened a little. "Did you have a nightmare? It's the middle of the day, Yorozuya...you shouldn't have been sleeping."

"No! Souichiro-kun...he said...you had a gunshot wound and broken limbs..."

"Sougo?? You trusted Sougo and came running here?" Hijikata raised his eyebrows.

Gintoki swore to himself that he would kill that sadist son of a bitch the next time he sees him. He sat next to Hijikata, his shoulders just a few inches apart from the police officer's, feeling a little embarrassed at his earlier outburst. Fearing an air of awkwardness settling in, he hurriedly changed the subject.

"You're diligent as always, aren't you Hijikata-kun?" He said, pointing at all the paperwork on the latter's desk.

Hijikata gave Gintoki a pointed look at the sudden change of subject, but allowed it. "Yeah, it's been a little busy lately.We exposed an illegal arms deal and raided their warehouse." Hijikata smirked slightly. "All of Shinsengumi, together."

Gintoki gritted his teeth, his embarrassment from earlier turning into annoyance.

"What if I accidentally drop this ink bottle on all the reports you've worked so hard on?"

"I'll arrest you for obstruction of justice." Hijikata stated simply.

Gintoki snorted. "Tell me the truth, Defender-of-Justice-kun, your threats of arresting me are just a pretense to keep me near, aren't they?"

"Who the fuck would want to keep you near, you bastard?" Hijikata said, smashing his forehead against Gintoki's.

"Even back then, when I returned to Edo, you arrested me, while wholeheartedly believing that I was innocent."

Hijikata looked away, blushing.

Gintoki can feel warmth blooming around his chest. He really wanted to kiss Hijikata. Kiss him breathless. Push him down, tear off his cravat and cage his body with his thighs, while his hands caressed every inch of him.

Does Hijikata know what effect he has on Gintoki? Does he want Gintoki with the same desperation?

"You are so cruel." Gintoki heard himself say. "For the past one week, I missed you so much that I thought that was going crazy. But here you are, unaffected, filing your reports or whatever it is that you tax thieves do."

Oops. He wasn't supposed to say all that. He has probably scared the officer away with his mindless rambling

Hijikata looked at Gintoki with an unreadable expression before finally saying in a voice so soft that it was almost a whisper, "not unaffected."

"Huh?" Gintoki said, unsure if he had heard correctly.

"I missed you too." Hijikata said, voice a little louder this time.

"Oh." Gintoki said, looking at him dumbly.

𝘖𝘩.

"Can't you....leave all this" Gintoki gestured at the mass of paperwork sitting atop Hijikata's desk "and join me for lunch..?" His voice a little hopeful.

"No. I-" Hijikata sighed. "I'll have to finish writing reports of the raid by today."

Gintoki deflated. He had genuinely believed that Hijikata would agree to go out with him.

"I'll be free in the evening. So I can...join you then? At the izakaya?"

It was honestly ridiculous how much impact Hijikata's words had on Gintoki's mood. He grinned. Hijikata couldn't help but smile back.

"Making me wait again, Hijikata-kun, I didn't think you would turn out to be such a player."

Hijikata rolled his eyes. Leave it to Gintoki to ruin the mood.

"Seriously, can't you leave all this useless paperwork to your subordinates?"

"I did. He came up with a report that was so useless that I had to rewrite it all." Hijikata said, thrusting a crumpled up paper at Gintoki.

Gintoki smoothed out the sheet.

𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕 𝘈𝘕𝘗𝘈𝘕-

"There's something seriously wrong with the Shinsengumi." Gintoki said, laughing while he crumpled up the paper back into a ball.

Hijikata stretched his arms. "Tell me about it."

The night was serene, stars scattered across the sky like spray painted silver. Gintoki walked towards the izakaya, humming to himself. As he entered, he noticed that Hijikata was already seated, smoking a cigarette. He was in his usual dark blue yukata, his face unusually relaxed. Gintoki couldnt help but feel that it was unfair for someone to be this beautiful.

"You're early. Couldn't hold in your excitement to meet Gin-san, could you?"

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "Shut it."

The lady behind the counter smiled at them and asked if they would have the usual.

"The usual, indeed." Gintoki said, nodding.

Sitting next to Hijikata, sharing his meals with him (not actually sharing, because Gintoki doesn't think he could stomach all that dog food ever again) was...kinda fun. Hijikata was surprisingly witty when he wanted to be. Gintoki enjoyed the other man's presence more than he had envisioned.He told him all about the shapeshifting hornets and his fight with the hornet prince.Hijikata laughed out loud when he heard that the prince tried to marry Kagura just because she kicked him in the face. "What is this, some badly written wattpad fic?" He said, chortling.

Gintoki looked at his laughing face in awe. Hijikata was beautiful like this. The worry lines of his forehead gone, eyes all crinkled up. Hijikata wiped a tear from his eye, his eyes meeting Gintoki's. The way his heart went haywire cannot be good for his health.

After the izakaya shut down, the both of them wandered around, unsure of what to do. Gintoki really wanted to hold the ravenhead's hand but his cowardice won the round, so instead he did the other thing that he really wanted to do. He asked Hijikata why he didn't contact him for the past week.

Hijikata's eyes widened, as if he hadn't been expecting Gintoki to ask that.

"I was busy with the raid and everything." He said, a little slowly, as if he was contemplating what to say. "And also... I was-" Hijikata stopped, his cheeks getting slightly flushed. He then took a deep breath and continued. "I was scared."

"Scared?" Gintoki never thought he would hear the Demon Vice-Chief out of all people admit to something like that.

Hijjkata let out a frustrated groan.

"The first time was an accident....and during the second time...we were drunk." He said, his voice trembling a little. "I guess...I was just afraid that you would say that it was a drunken mistake." Hijikata pointedly looked at the ground.

Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. That's what the officer was worried about? Gintoki wanted to smack some sense into him.

"You are such an idiot."

Hijikata looks up, offended. "Huh? I don't wanna hear that from you."

"I literally invited you to my house. The effects of alcohol were almost gone by then. We shared the same futon."

"Liar! You blacked out! Like hell the effects of the alcohol were gone."

"Why are you always hung up on irrelevant details, Oogushi-kun?"

"How's that irrelevant?! You-" Hijikata's retort was cut short as Gintoki pressed his lips against his. The kiss was short and sweet, just a peck on the lips,as Gintoki pulled back to stare into Hijikata's eyes.

"That wasn't an accident. Nor was it alcohol induced. I did it because I wanted to." He said, his hands cupping Hijikata's face.

Hijikata grabbed the back of Gintoki's neck and pulled him in for another kiss, a little less innocent than the previous one. He kissed Gintoki like he had been aching for it, like Gintoki's lips against his was the only thing keeping him steady. Gintoki could taste the mayonnaise that Hijikata had back in the izakaya, but he couldn't bring himself to care, not when Hijikata was kissing him like 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.

Hijikata brought his hand to the back of Gintoki's head, his fingers tangled in the messy silver locks and pulled lightly.

Gintoki smirked against his lips. "For someone who keeps insulting my hair, you surely do love to pull on it."

Hijikata looked up to him, dazed. "Shut up, Yorozuya."

Gintoki stepped back. Hijikata had to stop himself from whining at the loss of contact.

"You had your tongue down my throat not even a few seconds ago and you're still calling me that?"

Hijikata blushed and looked away. "What else do I call you?"

"Come on, Hijikata-kun, that should be obvious. Call me by my name."

Hijikata scowled. "You want me to call you Sakata?"

Gintoki pondered over it. "No, that somehow feels too formal. Call me by my first name."

Hijikata blushed even harder, the tip of his ears turning red.

"Gintoki." He said, his voice almost a whisper.

Gintoki cradled his cheek and kissed him gently on the lips. "Say it again."

"Gintoki." Hijikata repeated, his voice a little louder.

"Again." Gintoki demanded as he brought his lips to Hijikata's again.

Hijikata bit the other man's lower lip in irritation, but did not deny him. "Gintoki."

Gintoki smiled as he pulled Hijikata closer and kissed him deeply, his hands twisting the collar of his dark yukata.

When they pulled apart, both of them were slightly breathless. Gintoki drank in the view of Hijikata with his flushed face and swollen lips. "God Toshirou, you're so 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭."

Hijikata's breath hitched. He never thought hearing Gintoki say his name with his raspy voice would make him feel like his body was on fire but here he was. Gintoki looked so ethereal with the moonlight making his silver locks glow, his red eyes glimmering, focused completely on Hijikata.

He couldn't help but kiss him again. Gintoki fiddled with the obi of Hijikata's yukata, trying to untie it. Hijikata grabbed his hand in warning.

"Gintoki...." his voice trembled as Gintoki laid small kisses onto his neck. "I'd have to arrest you for public indecency."

Gintoki couldn't help but laugh. "Talking about arresting me again? You're really bad at hiding your kinks, aren't you Toshirou?" He whispered into Hijikata's ears, making the other man shiver.

"I'm serious, we can't do this here in the middle of the street." He whispered back.

Gintoki pulled back with reluctance. "Kagura is sleeping at Princess Soyo's place today." He said, his voice clearly stating the implication of his sentence.

Hijikata blushed. "Ah...right. I guess your house woud be much better than staying here in the streets." He managed to garble out.

Gintoki smirked as he grabbed Hijikata's hand. "By the way, I'm topping tonight."

"Who the hell are you to decide that all by yourself?" Hijikata said, affronted.

"Come on Toshiii...I'm open to switching but tonight I really want to XXXXX you while you XXXXX and are XXXXX into my futon." Gintoki whined, as he looked at Hijikata with a pout on his face.

"OI! STOP SAYING STUFF LIKE THAT! THIS IS NOT AN M-RATED FIC!!!"

"How about rock, paper, scissors to decide?"

Hijikata pondered over it. Rock, paper, scissors definitely seemed like the best way to come to an agreement.He had to hand it over to the idiot, sometimes he did come up with smart ideas.

"Deal."

Chapter Text

The bright light reflected off of the white walls, giving the room an almost ethereal appearance. Gintoki, Kagura and Shinpachi sat in the center with a solemn expression, all three of them having a tiny wooden stool in front of them on which a razor sharp short sword covered in white cloth was laid.

Gintoki cleared his throat and spoke first. "Uh..you guys were probably expecting the final chapter. The thing is, there happened to be a lot of unforseen circumstances that caused the delay of the sixth chapter."

"We're sorry for stomping on your expectations." Shinpachi said, eyes forlorn.

"The author is already used to disappointing people, stomping on expectations is like a daily occurance. " Kagura spoke up gruffly.

"Kagura-chan, that's not a nice thing to say." Shinpachi chided.

"This shitty author doesn't even know how to write a good story!! What good story doesn't have me as the main character? I've not been in the narrative for the past two chapters!"

Shinpachi nodded. "She really wanted to include a Yorozuya family moment in the fic but couldn't find the right place to fit us in."

"Which is one of the main reasons this chapter came into existence." Gintoki said, wiping his snot onto Kagura's back. Kagura smacked him on his head.

Shinpachi adjusted his glasses. "Honestly, I have no idea what the author is doing."

"Why don't you read the fic and give your opinion on how to make it better?" Kagura said, shoving the pages of manuscript towards Shinpachi. "An otaku like you must be knowledgeable on stuff like this."

"Ah I don't know if I'm qualified enough for that." Shinpachi said as he read the stack of papers quietly barring the occasional tongue clicking. After a moment of organising his thoughts, he went on a rant.

"The author wastes too many words on dialogue and not enough on setting the scene! Most of the jokes are unfunny. It's too fast paced, the chapter lengths are uneven and there are too many unnecessary descriptions of Hijikata-san blushing."

"Now, now Pattsuan, no need to be so harsh. In moments like this, you're just supposed to politely smile and say 'it's nice' and then trash them on your twitter private account." Gintoki said serenely, with an air of annoying condescension.

"You're only saying that because you got a lot of screentime." Kagura said, folding her arms.

"Does it count as 'screen' time if it's a fanfiction?" Shinpachi wondered out loud.

"You guys are just jealous." Gintoki said in an annoyingly chirpy tone. "This fanfic is obviously a romantic comedy where me and Toshirou are the main characters, so that means we're love interests. Of course we have a lot of screen time!"

"Gin-chan, aren't you guys more like the homosexual supporting cast here?"

"I'm NOT the supporting cast, homosexual or otherwise." Gintoki fired back.

"Oiiii can you guys stop saying things that will land us in trouble?! I don't think we will be able to win the plagiarism lawsuit this time." Shinpachi screeched.

"Anyways let's stop this now, I'm sure the readers are bored as well." Gintoki said, lazily picking on his ear.

"Again, we're sorry for this mess." Shinpachi said, bowing his head. "Thank you for reading this far."

"We hope you enjoy the final chapter." Gintoki said, putting a palm on Kagura's mouth, her muffled speech suspiciously sounding like '𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦!'

"Why did this chapter end with 'fin'? What is this, a french film?"

"Oi Pattsuan, you can't go around adding words after 'fin'. That's basic courtesy." Gintoki said, rolling his eyes as he dragged Shinpachi back to their residence.

Chapter Text

Gintoki tip toed quietly around the house, his eyes scanning his surroundings, making sure that the two brats were nowhere to be seen. It's not like they would expect Gintoki to be awake so early in the morning. He himself was a little taken aback. It's just ten in the morning and he's here, showered and fully dressed. He quickly puts on his boots and gently slides the door open.

"Gin-san...where do you think you're going?" He heard Shinpachi say, the glasses boy's menancing aura enveloping the entire hallway.

"It's obvious, isn't it? He's going to meet Toshi." Kagura emerges from the living room, picking her nose.

𝘈𝘩...𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘺𝘦

"Gin-san, you aren't thinking of ditching your work to go dawdle away, are you?" Shinpachi said, his glasses glinting in the old-school anime fashion.

"Haha of course not! Who do you think I am? I am off on official Yorozuya business."

Shinpachi narrowed his eyes. "What official business?"

"Does the official business involve the Shinsengumi kennel?" Kagura said wiggling her eyebrows.

"Oi Kagura! I did not raise you to be this perceptive!!" He revolted.

"So you are going to meet Hijikata-san!!" Shinpachi huffed, placing his hands on his hips.

"I'm just a lowly employee..I'm sure the president and the vice-president of Yorozuya can handle one day without Gin-san!"

"We handle the business everyday without you..shouldn't you do atleast some work around here?!!"

"Pattsuan, let him go...it's just been a few months since he's been together with Toshi, they're still in their honeymoon phase." Kagura said, shaking her head in an eerily similar way to the main character's best friend in Ladies Four. "Besides, he's only got his time to offer, he has nothing else going on for him"

"Oii I bring a lot more than time in the relationship." Gintoki retaliated,slightly offended. "Like these golden balls between my legs-"

"GET OUT!" Shinpachi pushed him out the door, blushing slightly.

Ahh really, this was too easy. Flustering the cherry boy really should have been his first move. Gintoki ran down the stairs before Shinpachi could change his mind.

"GIN-CHAN!! MAKE SURE YOU USE PROTECTION!! WE CANNOT AFFORD ANOTHER MOUTH TO FEED AROUND HERE!!" Kagura yelled after him, waving her arms wildly.

𝘖𝘪𝘪 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨??!

Gintoki parked his moped, a little further away from the Shinsengumi barracks, wanting to surprise Hijikata.

"Here to meet Hijikata-san, aren't you?." A bored voice drawled out.

Gintoki appraised the man in front of him with his usual dead fish eyes. The relationship between him and Sougo...was a little awkward to say the least. Before, he got along just fine with the first captain, their sadistic tendencies being a common point of bonding for both of them. Now, even though Sougo treated him pretty much, the same as before, Gintoki could notice a slight shift in his demeanor.

"What if I am?" He said, raising his eyebrows.

"He'd be happy to see you." Sougo said, his lips twisting in displeasure as if the thought of a happy Hijikata brought him extreme vexation. "He's...different now." He added, his voice cold.

The underlying message of Sougo's words dawned on Gintoki.

𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘔𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘢

"Sofa-kun, you already know that Hijikata is someone who remembers things for a long time. He stills talks about some unpaid debt to me. He keeps reminding me of unnecessary things like rent and paying my employees."

"Danna, I don't think those are unnecessary things."

Gintoki ignores the interruption. "He remembers people and his experiences with them and lets it change himself as a person. I'm sure he has punished himself for long enough. You, out of all people know that." He meets the little sadist's gaze, making the intentions of his words clear

𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵.

Sougo eyed him evenly before letting out a sigh. "If you find out about any of Hijikata-san's embarrassing habits, please let me know so that I can add that in the Hijikata blackmail folder."

"You have a blackmail folder on him?"

Sougo smirked. "If you want to know the contents, you'll have to pay me for it."

Damn Sougo and his money making schemes! "Soda-kun, can't you give me some information for a discounted rate?"

"It's Sougo." The little gremlin pretended to think about Gintoki's offer. "I'll consider exchanging information with you if you provide me with equally good stuff."

"Fine. It's a deal then."

"Also, Danna, if you ever dump Hijikata-san, I don't think he'll be able to recover from it. Then I'd have to take over his position." The usual brown eyes of the officer glinted red in the sunlight. "Having me as the Vice Chief will definitely be better for the nation." He said, his voice dripping with menance, his mind definitely running with evil ideas, most of them involving world domination. "So you should definitely think about that."

"Is this your weird version of 'if you break his heart, I'll kick your ass?'. Tell me Soba-kun, you actually do care about Hijikata, don't you?"

The face of the other man morphed from general boredness to disgust. "This is defamation of character. Please don't go around saying baseless things that will make me add you to my assassination list."

Gintoki quietly slid the door open to Hijikata's room to find the man, predictably slouched on his desk, his eyes scanning the report in front of him. The room smelled midly of tobacco and calone, a smell that was distinct to Hijikata. On hearing the door open, without looking up, he absentmindedly starts talking. "Yamazaki, didn't I tell you I don't want any visitors right now?".

"I'm sure you can make an exception for me, Hijikata-kun." Gintoki lazily drawled out.

Hijikata finally looked up from his mountain of paperwork to meet Gintoki's eyes.

"You're the first one on the list of people I don't want to enter my room right now." Hijikata said, eyebrows all scrunched up.

"I'm so happy to see you too."

Hijikata rolled his eyes. "I'm serious. I have too much work right now. I cannot afford to be distracted."

"So you admit I'm distracting?" Gintoki smirked. "Anyways don't worry, I'll not disturb you at all. Gin-san will quietly sit in the corner and read JUMP." He pulled out the latest issue from his yukata.

"Like hell you won't disturb me!" Hijikata grumbled.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘥?!

"Oi Hijikata-kun, you just insulted me in your mind, didn't you? I definitely saw a thought bubble."

"What thought bubble? This isn't a manga!!"

Gintoki pouted."Hey, Hijikata-kun, when will your 'dere' part come to play? You've only been so tsun-tsun to poor Gin-san" Hijikata was about to retort when the permhead interrupted him. "Ah but I guess you're pretty straightforward when we're XXXXXX and XXXXX."

"Go to hell, Yorozuya." Hijikata said, blushing slightly.

Gintoki took that as an invitation to enter. He quietly sat in the corner, flipping pages from his magazine.

Hijikata resumed his work. He eyed Gintoki with distrust. He was a hundred percent sure that he had not come simply to read his stupid comic and had other devious intentions. He had noticed the stupid permhead's zipper being way unzipped than normal, showing off his toned chest. It was definitely on purpose. This wasn't the first time Gintoki had pulled a stunt like this. He'd often slink into Hijikata's place, pretending to be there just to sit beside him quietly. And then he would start peppering Hijikata's neck with small kisses all the way upto his ear, and then he would bite his earlobe while his hands wandered around stealthily removing his clothes.

And Hijikata, well Hijikata should probably commit seppuku for not being able to restrain himself and reject Gintoki's advances.

He scribbled onto the reports, his concentration long gone. Gintoki laid there in the corner of the room, reading.

Anytime now. Gintoki would keep down the stupid comic and come crawling towards Hijikata.

Gintoki continued to read, occasionally picking his nose. Almost an hour passed with him lazily sprawled out, making no attempt to interrupt Hijikata.

Hijikata scribbled away in annoyance, stealing glances at Gintoki from the corner of his eyes.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥?

Hijikata loosened his cravat and removed his jacket. He could feel Gintoki's eyes on him. Finally, the bastard looked away from his stupid JUMP.

"Feeling hot, Toshirou?"

Hijikata replied with a non committal hum.

He stood up to stretch his arms and removed his vest. The feeling of Gintoki staring him made his blood heat up a little. He unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt and finally sat back down at his desk.

There. Now Gintoki will definitely make his move, that sleazy pervert.

Gintoki stared at Hijikata for a little while longer before returning to his magazine.

Hijikata balled his fists in annoyance. Before he could stop himself, he stood up and walked towards Gintoki

"What's wrong with you today?"

Gintoki set down his JUMP. "What do you mean?"

"Are you really here just to read that stupid comic? You could have done that in your own house."

"You were the one who said you didn't want to be disturbed!"

Hijikata grabbed his collar. "You suddenly want to listen to what I say?"

"Hijikata-kun, what do you want from me?"

Hijikata looked away, his grip on Gintoki loosening. He himself wasn't sure what it was that he wanted from Gintoki. Isn't it a good thing that Gintoki wasn't disturbing him? Doesn't he have to finish all the reports by tomorrow? Why does a teeny tiny part of him feel betrayed?

Gintoki placed his palm of Hijikata's face, making him meet his eyes.

"Was Toshirou sad that Gin-san wasn't paying him attention?" He smirked.

"Wha-? Don't get so cocky you-" Hijikata's words were interrupted by Gintoki.

"I could see you stealing glances at me the entire time." Gintoki's annoying smile widened. "You were waiting for me to make a move, weren't you?"

Hijikata could feel his entire face go red, embarrassment seeping in from being caught in the act.

"It was so cute seeing you trying to seduce me." Gintoki fiddled with Hijikata's shirt.

"You did it on purpose." Hijikata deadpanned, realising that he had played right into Gintoki's hand.

"Of course! Your desperation was so adorable and seeing you all red and embarrassed like this, it's what I came here for."

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥!

Embarrassment turning into anger, Hijikata pushed Gintoki onto the floor, his thighs pressing on either side of the other man's body, effectively entrapping him.

"Eh? Hijikata? Wha-" Hijikata pulled him into a kiss, biting sharply at his lower lip.

"Oww! What did you do that for?" Gintoki yelped in pain as Hijikata went further down, biting him in more places. Gintoki usually took the lead and Hijikata generally was happy to let him do so, but on the occasions when Hijikata took the initiative, he tended to be a little violent. And maybe Gintoki is a little bit masochistic for enjoying it thoroughly.

"Payback." Hijikata huffed.

"Toshirou...be a little more gentle, wouldn't you? I'll give you 300 yen.Think of Gin-san's poor ass-" Hijikata shut him up again with another kiss before he could finish his crass sentence.

Gintoki groaned as he massaged the small of his back which felt slightly sore. Hijikata wordlessly handed him a small hot water bag that he usually used to help with the frequent neck pain he gets due to him crouching down on his desk for long hours.

"Ah...Hijikata-kun, you really do live up to your reputation of being a demon." Gintoki whined, as he pressed the hot water bag onto his back.

"You brought it onto yourself!" Hijikata retorted, although he looked just a little bit guilty.

"Ahh it's okay. I love it when you take charge. This is all but a small price to pay in exchange to have to straddling me and-" Gintoki's ramblings were interrupted by Hijikata throwing his bokuto at him.

Gintoki chuckled. Hijikata was too adorable when he was embarrassed. He grabs his clothes froms the floor and starts to dress himself.

"Toshirou? You wanna come over to my place tonight? I've rented the My Neighbor Pedro sequel...I was thinking maybe we could watch it together?"

Hijikata hummed in agreement. "Now leave...I really have to finish these reports if I am to come over tonight."

Gintoki let out a dramatic gasp as he clutched his chest. "Telling me to leave as soon as you've had your way with me...are you really just dating me for my body?"

"GET OUT!!" Hijikata yelled before promptly adding, "I'll bring dinner for the kids tonight."

"Okay, okay!"

The Yorozuya boss smiled as he kissed Hijikata cheek and left the Shinsengumi headquarters, leaving behind a blushing Vice Chief.

Gintoki could taste the salt in his lips from all the tears that he had shed. This was a children's movie, goddammit! Why is he turning on the waterworks for My Neighbor Pedoro 2? But then he didn't expect that Pedro's parents would be killed right in front of him, after which he turns into a vigilante who fights against crime in the night and never resorts to killing anyone, no matter how evil they were. How is he not supposed to cry at that?

He looked beside him, where Hijikata sat, eyes glued to the TV, face stained with tears. He notices Gintoki looking at him and quickly rubs his face.

They had ended up watching the movie alone. Shinpachi wanted to go back to the dojo since he didn't want his sister to be alone and Kagura had watched ten minutes of the movie before deeming it to be boring and heading into her closet to sleep.

"Are you actually crying? Over a kids movie?" Hijikata asks, voice a little hoarse.

𝘖𝘪! 𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬? 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴.

"O-of course not! I just got an eyelash stuck in my eye."

Hijikata nodded. "S-same. I have something in my eye too." He paused. "I have allergic rhinitis."

𝘊𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘏𝘪𝘫𝘪𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘢-𝘬𝘶𝘯...𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘳𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴?

Gintoki stood up to switch the television off. He wasn't particular sleepy, but he figured that Hijikata might want to sleep since he had work tomorrow.

At what time do you leave tomorrow?" He asked.

"Ah..tomorrow is my day off, so I'll be around for a while."

And just like that, Gintoki feels like he's on the moon. He feels positively giddy, like a schoolgirl with a crush. It's ridiculous, absolutely unbecoming for the main character of a shounen series but he can't help it. He wonders if Hijikata is doing this just so he can push Gintoki off of the number one position in the popularity poll and claim it for himself.

"Do you wanna walk around the streets for a little while?"

Hijikata shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not."

Both of them quietly exited the apartment, tiptoeing so as to not wake up the sleeping Kagura. As soon as they were out, Gintoki grabbed Hijikata's forearm.

"Wait I have a better idea...follow me." He lunged his body upwards, towards the roof and then held his hand out to pull Hijikata up, beside him.

"Oi, Gintoki what are you doing?" Hijikata half whispered.

"Just come up here!"

Surrendering to the whims of his stubborn partner, Hijikata grabbed Gintoki's hand and hoisted himself up to the roof.

"The weather is nice, and the sky's clear. It'll be a shame to miss this view." Gintoki sighed as he sat down on the cool tiles and motioned Hijikata to sit beside him. As soon as Hijikata sat down, Gintoki laid his head on his lap.

For a while, both of them sat in silence, enjoying the starry sky and the cool wind. Hijikata absentmindedly played with Gintoki's hair.

After a while, Gintoki spoke up. "This reminds me of my younger days. I used to stargaze with Tatsuma back then."

Hijikata hummed, tracing circles on the silver head's scalp.

"In a way, I guess it was our way to avoid facing what was front of us, the battlefield and the bloodshed. When we looked at the sky, I understood why he wanted to travel amidst the stars, despite having motion sickness."

Hijikata was unsure of what to say. It was rare for Gintoki to talk about his past. They were both similar in that aspect too. Although, apart from Kondo and Sougo, Gintoki was the one who knew the most about his thorny past.

"Ah Hijikata, what is up with me ending up always talking about myself when I'm with you?" Gintoki smiled forlornly. "I guess it's not something I can talk to the kids with."

"They wouldn't mind listening to you, you know? They adore you, god knows for what reason." Hijikata said, knowing the reason full well.

"I don't want to burden them...they've already faced so much. I want the children to remain as children for as long as possible." Gintoki said, plucking a stray eyelash from his face.

Hijikata stop playing with Gintoki's hair.

"I'm almost thirty. Although since we go by the Sazae-san aging system, our actual ages aren't really known." Hijikata said abruptly.

Gintoki looked at him with a confused expression. "O..kay..?"

"I've lived recklessly and I've lost a lot. There are a lot of things that I regret. But I want to keep moving forward."

Hijikata took a deep breath. "What I'm trying to say is that you can talk to me about whatever you want. And if you don't want to, I respect that too. It's not a burden to me."

Gintoki looked at him with an expression so soft that it made Hijikata's heart lurch.

"Toshirou, you're being so dere-dere tonight, it's almost OOC."

Hijikata's protests were interrupted as Gintoki pulled him down and pressed his lips with his own softly.

"The movie was so good wasn't it? I cannot wait for the sequel." He said after he pulled back.

Hijikata resumed lazily playing with Gintoki's hair. "It was really good. My favorite scene was when Pedro dreamt of his father rescuing him from that cave."

"Hah I saw you crying at that."

"You fucker, who was crying? I just got sand in my eye, that's all."

"Where did sand come from all of a sudden?"

"It's because you don't keep your place clean! There is definitely fungus growing on the edge of your bathroom sink!"

"That's just enoki-san!"

"What's enoki-san?! That's disgusting!"

"You're just deflecting from the topic, Hijikata-kun-"

As they were bickering, Gintoki's heart felt a little full and a little lighter than before. The man responsible for his paradoxical feelings looked ethereal under the starry sky. Gintoki wanted to hold on his warmth and never let go.

The smell of omelets that wafted from the kitchen was the only thing that pulled Gintoki from his slumber. Once his consciousness came into being, he could hear the clanging of utensils and familiar conversational voices from a distant. After stretching his body like a cat, he finally opened his eyed and made his way towards the noise, yawning. He was greeted with the sight of Hijikata and Shinpachi trying make what looked like omelets.

"Gin-chan you're finally awake!" Shinpachi spoke, as a greeting.

"Go take a shower and get dressed." Hijikata said curtly as he flipped the omelet, swearing when it broke in half.

Shinpachi laid out the table as Gintoki and Kagura looked at the food in front of them in awe.

Thank you for helping me with this." Hijikata patted Shinpachi on the back, a little awkwardly as they sat down to eat.

"Oh no, it's was the least I could do after you gave me those Otsu-chan concert tickets. Thank you for that again." Shinpachi positively gushed.

Hijikata cleared his throat, face flushing slightly. "No...that was just....I found them...it was on sale so.."

Kagura spared him the embarrassment of his inability to form a coherent sentence by letting out a satisfied groan.

"Toshi...this is so good! You should make breakfast for us everyday." Kagura happily helped herself to seconds. "Gin-chan is useless...all he can make is egg-on-rice."

"Oi Kagura, stop twisting the facts. YOU are the one who can only make egg-on-rice."

Kagura stuck out her tongue at Gintoki who turned to Hijikata and spoke in a dramatically loud whisper that could be heard by everyone at the table.

"Should we put her in a cardboard box labelled with a sign that says 'please take me home' and abandon her on the road.?"

Hijikata laughed softly as Kagura punched Gintoki's ribs. "As if you could ever do that." He said, as Gintoki clutched his side in pain. "Even a fool can tell how much you adore the kids." He paused. "And I am the brains of the Shinsengumi."

"Conceited, much?" Gintoki said, raising his eyebrows.

"It was on the character profile, I'm quoting it directly!"

"And was it your oh-so-amazing intellect that told you that I like my omelets sweet?" Gintoki said, taking a bite of the aforementioned sweet omelets.

"I didn't have to use my brains for that. Anyone who has watched five minutes of this anime can tell that you like your omelets sweet, you sugar freak."

"Better than being a mayo freak!"

"Can you guys please take your flirting elsewhere?" Shinpachi said, a little exasperated.

"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!" Both the men yelled in unison.

Shinpachi rolled his eyes and cleared the table. "I'm going to the dojo today. Aneue needs some help with the new recruits."

Gintoki hummed in acknowledgement. Shinpachi thanked Hijikata for the food and promptly left.

After eating to her hearts fill, Kagura let out a loud burp and announced that she was going to go take Sadaharu for a walk.

"Wait!" Hijikata abruptly yelled, making both Gintoki and Kagura turn towards him.

"Ah..before you go...I was patrolling and I saw this..I thought you might like it." He stuttered and shoved his hand towards Kagura, his fist tightly closed around what looked like a hairpin.

The hairpin had a little rabbit wearing a pink bow on it.

"TOSHI!" Kagura hugged the officer who awkwardly stood there, suprised by the sudden affectionate gesture.

"Gin-chan...we're not letting this one go. I don't think you can find a richer boyfriend anyways, so make sure you're a good trophy wife to Mayora!" She jumped happily. "I'm gonna go show this to Daigoro-kun and the others."

"Oi!! You are you calling a trophy wife?!" Gintoki protested, but Kagura was already gone.

Hijikata chuckled. "You have had too much influence on her." He looked at Gintoki with the corner of his eyes turned up, his face set in the softest expression Gintoki had ever seen on him.

And the realisation that dawned on Gintoki was so obvious, he marveled how it took him so long to understand.

He was in love with Hijikata Toshirou.

He loved him when he sees him try his best to take care of Shinpachi and Kagura. He loved him when he reacted so easily to Gintoki's teasing . He loved him when he always followed his own brand of justice. He loved him when he fought together with him, their moves so in synchronization they have no need for words.

He loved him. He loved him. He 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 him.

Hijikata nudged him slightly, concern evident on his face. "Oi! What's wrong?" He waved his hand in front of Gintoki's face.

'I'm fine' is what Gintoki wants to say. "I love you." Is what he ends up saying.

Hijikata's eyes widened as the weight of what Gintoki said dawns on him.

He didn't mishear him, did he? Gintoki actually just said..𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, didn't he?

Gintoki wondered if he should just pretend that he was joking. But now that he had come this far, he might as well take it up further.

"I've have loved you for quite a while now." Gintoki took a deep breath. "You don't have to say it back. I just thought that you should know." He went back to eating his omelets, like he didn't shake Hijikata's entire world right now.

Millions of thought raced through Hijikata's head.

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Did he love Gintoki? The answer came readily to him. Of course he did. The surity of it surprised Hijikata to his bones. Since when did he find himself falling for the silver head?

When Gintoki barged into his room and confessed that he missed him when he was busy with his work? 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. When he accidentally landed on top of Hijikata, his lips brushing his own? 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. When he realised how much the guy cared for everyone around him, often putting himself in harm's way to protect those he loved?𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. When the punched the Nobunobu on his behalf and got arrested for it?𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. When they were both standing on the roof and he revealed himself to be the Shiroyasha and then helped him defeat the Mimewarigumi? 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. When he cried watching my neighbor Pedro and turned around to find Gintoki mirroring his expression, with tears streaming down his face?

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘸.

He punched Gintoki on the shoulder which elicited an incredulous expression on the other man's face.

"What the fuck?"

"How could you beat me to it?!" Hijikata demanded, his eyebrows scrunched up.

"What?"

"How could you confess first when...when I've felt the same for way longer than you have?" Hijikata's voice increased in amplitude and had a slight tremble to it.

Gintoki's expression morphed into something hopeful. "You....what?"

"I've..." Hijikata faltered. The words that were right on the tip of his tongue failed to get out. The same words he couldn't bear to tell Mitsuba, even at the end, in the pretext of protecting her.

But Gintoki wasn't Mitsuba. He didn't need Hijikata's selfish protection. And Hijikata wasn't the immature and thorny eighteen year old from before.

He steadied his breath. "Me too....I..feel the same." Since way longer than I think I realise."

He wasn't able to voice out the words that he wanted to but for now, this was enough. Unable to bear Gintoki's burning gaze on him, Hijikata stood up and put the dishes in the sink. He heard Gintoki following him but he dare not look back.

Gintoki hugged Hijikata from behind and buried in face in the back of Hijikata's neck. He tightened his grip, his arms around the officer's waist, chest pressed against his back. Hijikata could feel the other man trembling slightly and he wondered if he was crying. Or maybe that was him. The warmth of Gintoki's body enveloped him and stayed even after he pulled back.

"Toshirou? Let's go out today. It's been a long time since I've sat and drank with you."

Hijikata smiled, as he finally turned around to face Gintoki.

"Sure."

As they washed the dishes together, Hijikata couldn't help but feel that maybe he had found something that was way more addicting than cigarettes or mayonnaise.