This story is a little gin x shin fluffy/shounen-ai piece I whipped up in my free time :D I hope you enjoy it :D

WARNINGS:

Shounen-ai/fluff
Strong language
One-shot (nothing else on this after this ^_^)

Do You Know How To Kiss?

It was as if he were walking through some kind of beautiful dream. The sky seemed that extra bit bluer, the sun just a fraction warmer, even in the autumn weather. And of course…he couldn't stop smiling. Shinpachi Shimura hadn't had much luck with love; being a small weedy otaku, this pleasure had eluded him for most of his teenage life. This however didn't matter now - he would be 18 soon. His height hadn't increased much, but his skill had, and he had matured. However; not having much luck with love also meant that he didn't have much, neigh any experience of it either.

It was the night before the long awaited 'second date' of his and his (hopeful) new lover. The first had gone well, but nothing much had been gained from the experience - they were both too shy to do anything except hold hands.

"See Shinpachi? This why you gotta be 'forceful'." the silver haired youth sitting across from him declared, idly picking his nose. Shinpachi stared at the young man in awe.

"Did I say anything? Don't just spout out useless advice you half-wit…", while he had certainly matured - Gintoki had certainly not.

"Shut it. It's not useless - you're never forceful, so you probably weren't forceful; so it didn't go well right?" he retorted, his glazed expression staring straight ahead. Shinpachi sighed. It's true that nothing of great significance happened, but he was grateful it had even occurred! He would never admit that to Gintoki though.

"Like I said, did I say anything? It went fine!" thinking it over… "Besides - since when did you become the 'Dating Guru'? I've never seen you with a woman." He paused to see what the reaction was - but the young samurai was merely inspecting what he had been digging out of his nose for the past few minutes.

'Please don't do that, it's extremely unhygienic and disgusting…'

"I've been around," he uttered finally, flicking the booger into the depths of the room.

'You don't sound cool you know - you're so disgusting, no one would go out with you!'

"Well…more than you anyway." he added deliberately, a smirk blooming on his lips. Shinpachi frowned slightly, annoyed at how insensitive his peer was being. It was then that the seemingly petrified young man bolted upright and stretched, yawning loudly.

"So - planning to run to any bases tonight? Or are you just going to hang around in the batting cages a bit longer?" Shinpachi glared at him.

"You think that was witty, don't you?" Gintoki nodded unashamedly and threw himself down beside him, causing the sofa to bounce a little. Shinpachi sighed once more, readying himself to leave the degenerate by himself.

"What do you care?" he uttered quietly as he slowly rose from his seat.

"Hey hey…don't treat me like I'm just some punk." a stern, more serious voice boomed. Shinpachi was taken aback and stared at the silver haired young man, who was sitting with an ambiguous expression. "I'm your friend - you can talk to me. You shouldn't treat me like I don't care-"

He looked up.

"That hurts."

Shinpachi swallowed hard. Those eyes…burned like a thousand crimson fires. Sitting back down, he lowered his head and swallowed again.

"S-Sorry…I know you're my friend. That was rude of me." he was surprised when he heard a snort from the youth beside him and turned - to see him with his arms behind his head, eyes closed and smiling.

"Yeah, it sure was rude of you."

'Damn you Gin! You're the only person I know who can make the person you're supposed to be comforting feel bad!'

"But…on a more serious note," Gintoki mused, opening his eyes briefly "Do you know how to kiss a girl?"

Shinpachi wanted to scream, 'Of course! I'm not completely pathetic you know! I've kissed before!' but unfortunately, his lips remained tightly sealed as he pushed up his glasses nervously. Gulping, he formed a sentence in his mind he hoped would satisfy the annoying samurai's curiousness.

"Is it any of your business? I don't see you confessing any of your experiences to me, so why should I tell you?"

"Ah, so no then."

"How did you reach that conclusion!?" he shouted. He knew there was no point in getting angry at Gintoki - it never bothered or changed him in the least.

"Hah! That's easy - if you did know, then you'd have said, 'Of course! I'm not completely pathetic you know! I've kissed before!'. That's how teenagers are y'know?"

"Hey, aren't you barely out of your teens yourself?" Shinpachi mused, clenching and unclenching his fist. Gintoki seemed to regard this question carefully, then sat forward in his seat.

"Perhaps, but I'm nonchalant." he said casually, pointing a finger at himself.

'You're annoying, that's what you are…'

It was then that Shinpachi noticed the half-formed smile on the silver haired youth's lips, a delicate, almost shy expression. His eyes seemed softer, and his body language more relaxed than it was previously. His clenched fist relaxed for the first time in the conversation.

"Hey…you really like this young lady right?" Shinpachi nodded gingerly, wondering what was going on inside the young man's mind "Well then…I'm sure you don't want to come off as some sort of uptight otaku-" he turned to face him.

"Even though, you are one." Shinpachi gritted his teeth.

"Your point Gin? Your point?" that shy, gentle expression flashed on his face once more, before his features roughened into a serious one.

"I can teach you." Shinpachi chuckled a little, then stopped when the samurai's expression didn't waver. He was being serious.

"O-Oh? And how do you propose to do that?" Shinpachi jerked backwards as suddenly found Gintoki's face worryingly close to his own. Gintoki smiled softly and wrapped his arm around Shinpachi quickly, so he couldn't move.

"Why…practical-lessons…of course." the soft smile suddenly became devilish as Shinpachi tried to squirm out of his grip, but the older samurai was far too strong. He screamed inside his mind, 'This is dangerous!' - but it was then that Gintoki let go of him, laughing heartily as Shinpachi continued travelling and landed on the floor.

"You're too easy! You know that? Way too easy!" he managed through the snickering, Shinpachi merely lay on the floor staring at the ceiling, listening to Gintoki half-choking with laughter. When he had finally settled down, he found Gintoki staring at him over the edge of the sofa with a childish expression of satisfaction.

"Har har har…you really brought the house down Gin. Bastard." the latter almost completely silent.

"I could you know - I wouldn't object if you wanted to try out your kissing techniques on me."

"What?! Who does that huh?! Are you secretly homosexual or something?! Well you're pretty damn good at pretending; you read so much porn you're practically anaemic!!" it had been a long time since Shinpachi had snapped like that - he actually felt better for it. Gintoki hadn't been so insufferable for a while. Perhaps he was getting more mature.

"Hey hey, don't ridicule my reading material." he said feigning sheepishness, pulling Shinpachi up from the floor, "Anyway - I really will you know? You're a friend, and I can totally understand if you need me for such purposes." he said, with sincerity it seemed.

"You're not just teasing me are you? I'll kick you in the balls if you're teasing me." Shinpachi said flatly. Gintoki just smiled gently and placed his hand on Shinpachi's shoulder.

"We're friends aren't we? How much have we been through together? If there's anything you should know by now…" he closed his eyes and tightened his grip on the younger man's shoulder.

"It's that I would happy give my life, if it would spare yours."

Shinpachi felt a sharp pang of emotion rocket through his body as Gintoki's eyes focused on his. Those eyes…those eyes aren't lying. This sad excuse of a person, was a truly noble and wholesome man.

"So something so insignificant as testing kisses doesn't bother me. In fact, I almost feel obliged; because I know deep down, if I was in your position,"

This man…this man with his pure soul,

"Would do the same for me."

Wasn't teasing.

"Gin…I…" Shinpachi reached for Gintoki's hand, but he quickly removed it from his shoulder and cleared his throat, sitting down on the sofa.

"Yeah yeah, I know," he said scratching his head "Shall we get on with it? Kagura will be back from walking Sadaharu soon." Gintoki was right - Sadaharu's walk usually took about an hour and a half, and half of that was already spent. Shinpachi took his position on the sofa and faced Gintoki, trying to pretend he was facing his lovely Momo, and not a curly dead-beat. It didn't work out well - it was either her face with his hair or his face with her hair…either way it was frightening, so he stopped trying.

"Right then - you're sitting on a bench in the park right? The moon is out, the cherry blossom's are blooming and falling all around you; the sweet aroma of cotton candy can be smelt-"

"Gin…what are you rambling on about? It's autumn, if anything's falling all around us, it's leaves! And what's with the cotton candy?!" Shinpachi snapped. Gintoki scratched the back of his head.

"Ah…I haven't had my sugar fix so…"

"It doesn't matter! Can we just get on with it please?" Gintoki nodded and slouched slightly to make himself smaller. Shinpachi gulped and leaned in to meet Gintoki's face, so close now, that he could smell his sweet breath - not unpleasant, but he knew it would be something that only conformed to Gintoki. He yelped as he smashed his nose against the other man's and rubbed it gently; he hadn't really been paying attention.

"For the love of god man! Haven't you ever seen other people kissing?! Since when did they head-butt?!" screamed Gintoki, also rubbing his nose. "And another thing - not so freaking fast! You'll concuss the poor girl!" Shinpachi sighed, blushing.

"Well-! This…this is more difficult than it looks! I'm kissing you remember, not her!" Gintoki replied with a mocking grunt and snatched Shinpachi's glasses from his face.

"Right, I'll show you how it's done." taking Shinpachi's jaw gently in his hand, he upturned his face and smoothly kissed him. Shinpachi had no time to refuse - even though it seemed to happen in slow motion, the whole action was fast and effortless. Shinpachi closed his eyes as the kiss continued, he felt his rigid body relax as the silver haired man's soft, warm lips caressed his own. When Gintoki finally pulled away, Shinpachi let out a shuddering breath and slowly opened his eyes - he was greeted with a slightly more than amused Gintoki.

"That….that wasn't your first kiss…was it?" he managed to get out, through the snorting. Shinpachi blushed and turned his face away.

'How embarrassing! My first kiss and it's from this monkey! I'll just forget all about this tonight when I kiss Momo - that'll be my first proper kiss.'

Shinpachi felt nervous though - almost afraid. This was new and exciting, and he really didn't know what he was doing. The kiss was innocent enough though, there was no tongue; but even just the caress of his lips, and his soft hand gently stroking his face seemed to take away all his troubles. Shinpachi turned to face the older man as he cleared his throat; the amusement obviously leaving him.

"Anyway, back to the point - now you try doing that to me." Shinpachi fidgeted, he felt more nervous than before.

"How did…you do that? With your eyes closed I mean." he asked quietly. His cheeks were white hot now, but he didn't know what to do. Gintoki explained half heartedly how he had done it and kissed him once more, this time more tenderly; almost gingerly - his nose brushed Shinpachi's slightly and he grunted nervously as he pulled away.

"You know how to do it now right? So try it on me and I'll give you a mark out of 10." Shinpachi had half expected the older man's expression to be much like his own - but he was un phased and as calm as ever.

Shinpachi gulped hard as he wrapped his sweating palm around Gintoki's jaw, he shakily titled his head and tweaked the angle of his head so that their noses wouldn't collide this time. His breathes became gentle gasps as he felt Gintoki's breath on his lower lip. Gritting his teeth, he swayed and rested his head on Gintoki's shoulder, brushing his cheek as he slipped downwards.

"I…I'm sorry Gin…I just…" He felt ashamed that he couldn't do it, it almost felt like it was an insult to Gintoki. He was shocked when he felt Gintoki wrap his arms around him tightly and chuckle into his shoulder.

"I give you 10." Shinpachi tried to sit up, but Gintoki held him firmly in place. He felt oddly comforted and closed his eyes, relishing this rare opportunity of closeness.

"But…but why? I didn't even…"

"Shinpachi…you don't need me to teach you anything. This girl…she likes you for who you are - if I was to teach you how to be cool and a great kisser, I'm sure it'd put her off you."

'Gin…(although, I think the cool and great kisser was a bit egotistical wasn't it?)'

"You guys didn't do anything the first time round because you're both shy…she likes you because you're shy and clumsy - she is too. If you were suddenly confidant I think it would dishearten her. Be yourself Shinpachi - that's all you gotta do, you got it?"

"Gintoki…" Shinpachi reached up and held the back of the messy-haired samurai's head. It actually felt nice, his fingers glided through the soft curls and met with his warm head. Shinpachi smiled as Gintoki's head turned into his neck, causing some of his sliver curls to lick his cheeks. It ticked.

'He smells sweet…' Shinpachi observed absently as he nuzzled into Gintoki's shoulder. Gintoki obviously didn't object to this close bonding, so they sat there in each other's arms for a few minutes, before simultaneously releasing. Gintoki's rust coloured eyes focused on Shinpachi's for a moment and then he stood, walking away from him.

"I have some errands to run before nightfall - so I'll probably miss you going out." he turned and looked over his shoulder with a sincere smile on his face. "Good luck tonight, I hope you've found your special someone." before walking to the front entrance. Shinpachi's eyebrows knitted as he struggled to fight back the tears; forgiving everything else the annoying youth had done beforehand. He felt embarrassed about his feelings towards Gintoki, but accepted them for now.

"Gin…you really do care about people…don't you?" he said to himself as a single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Oh, and don't forget to take shit before you leave - that's the golden rule." Once the door was slid shut, Shinpachi was released from his stupefied state. He wiped his face hastily.

"WHAT THE HELL HAS THAT GOT TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!"

…

"Hey…wait a minute! You've still got my glasses!! HEY! GINTOKIIIII!!!"

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A lack of glasses hadn't hindered him much, but it irritated him that he couldn't see Momo in all of her beauty.

"Are you really alright Shin? I mean…without your glasses?" Momo asked in a concerned tone. Shinpachi smiled and took her hand.

"Yeah I'm fine! Everything's a little fuzzy round the edges, but I can see, so don't worry." he knew that his hand was sweating, but he felt that hers was also quite warm too so he felt better about it. It was almost time to go home - they had gotten something to eat and had sat in the park for awhile, so he figured it was a good time to call it a night.

As they approached Momo's home, her grip on his arm tightened a little, and a blush formed on her cute, round cheeks.

'She's…she's expecting it too! Gin! The stuff you taught me had better work you bastard!'

Shinpachi gulped as they approached the door - they both stood in silence for a moment, waiting for the other to make the first move. Shinpachi was around average height for his age, but Momo was tiny; and just as shy as he. Bravely, Shinpachi took both her hands and stepped forward, raising his eyes to be met with hers.

"Momo…I….had a wonderful time tonight with you…" he said, trying to keep his voice steady. Momo opened her mouth to say something, but it appeared she couldn't get the words out. Shinpachi smiled and leaned down, kissing her just as Gintoki had showed him. It was as effortless as his had been the first time, and Momo obviously appreciated the kiss the way he had Gintoki's, as she became less tense and her grasp of his hands tightened ever so slightly. As they pulled away, Shinpachi smiled as he saw how red her cheeks were. However…he couldn't help that feeling something was amiss. Of course, nothing was - everything had gone surprisingly smoothly for him. He thought that perhaps that was why he felt uneasy.

"Shin?" Shinpachi jerked a little in surprise and then smiled, easing Momo's worries.

As Shinpachi made his way home, he tried to think of a reason why it didn't seem…right. It felt like waiting for something for an astoundingly long time, just to find out it's not that great anyway.

'Such an…anti-climax! What's wrong with you Shinpachi?! You've waited your whole (albeit short) life for this! It was nice too…really nice…it wasn't bad so why do I feel so disappointed?! I don't understand myself sometimes….guess I'll just figure it out later…'

He suspected the worst, but decided to sleep on it nevertheless.

------------------------

"Good morning Kagura." Kagura yawned as she sat down on the sofa, muttering good morning back. Rubbing her eyes, she stared in awe at the two young men opposite her. They could have been separated by a wall.

"Huh? What's wrong?" she asked sleepily as she munched into her breakfast. Shinpachi and Gintoki merely shrugged.

'What's up with the atmosphere in here?! Why wont that big jerk say anything to me?!'

"Ah, Shinpachi got his glasses back huh? Gin said that he'd taken them by mistake." she said casually trying to make conversation.

"Oh uh…yeah, they were on the table this morning." he muttered.

'What the hell's up with this guy?! He's making everything awkward! He's not even asking how my night went with Momo! What an asshole!'

Shinpachi could feel himself getting angry, but he simply dismissed it and tried to make conversation with Kagura, choosing to ignore Gin. However, this method didn't hold much ground - as Gin was completely silent from the moment he walked in -- subsequently till the moment he walked out.

"What a jerk…" Shinpachi said quietly. Kagura lifted her head from her bowl and stared at Shinpachi, who had an almost pained expression on his face.

"Huh? Did you two fight or something?" she asked sheepishly. Shinpachi smiled awkwardly and shook his head.

"No no, nothing like that…but…" he stopped and thought about what he was saying, and chose not to continue.

"Gin was acting very strange last night uh-huh? He kept talking about how much we've grown and getting all nostalgic and stuff." she paused to eat some rice "Then for some reason he got all and quiet and wouldn't speak anymore - just went to bed after that." she continued with a full mouth. Shinpachi regarded this information carefully.

'Could it be….no…surely he couldn't be….could he…?'

"Maybe he's jealous of you Shinpachi! You've got a girlfriend now and Gin's still a loser uh-huh!" She said with more happiness than seemed to be required. Shinpachi smiled weakly as Kagura went to the bathroom to get changed.

"….Hey…Sadaharu…" The huge dog lifted it's head from under the table to look at him. "Do you think Gin…is jealous of me?" Sadaharu didn't bark or give any indication of answering, but Shinpachi knew the answer.

"Kagura! I'm going out for awhile! I'll be back soon!"

'That jerk!' he thought as he ran towards the place he knew Gin would be 'Why is he being so childish! After everything we've been through!'

He skidded to a stop, gasping for breath as he reached his destination. A huge tree in a wide open space just outside the city stood solitary. Underneath, sure enough, was the man with the head of silver. Shinpachi tightened his fists as he walked over to the tree slowly. After he got close enough to be within earshot, he sat down, facing away from Gintoki.

"You're unbelievable you know that?" there was no response "To think…jealous of me. Me." he continued.

"Yeah, you're dead right." he said monotonously "I'm jealous of you. I'm a bastard aren't I?" Shinpachi shook his head.

"Hah...you…you liar…" he lowered his head "If you were jealous, you'd make it known with your comments and slander. You just sat there and didn't say anything." Gintoki remained silent and motionless.

"Gin…I'm your friend too. And because of that - I know something's really bothering you…and I think I know what it might be…" he turned his head, but not enough to look behind him "You're scared of loosing us…me…aren't you Gin?"

Gintoki shot up and turned to walk away, but he was caught sharply by the wrist. He tried to throw Shinpachi off, but he tightened his grip. Gintoki stood with his body facing away from him, still pulling to get away.

"Gin…you don't have to admit it or anything…I don't want to embarrass you. I…I just feel like there's something wrong here…and I just want to clarify something…will you support me? Gin…" Shinpachi sighed with relief when he felt the strong pull cease.

Gintoki turned his body to face Shinpachi's, but he still couldn't look him in the eye. He mumbled something incoherent and bowed his head even lower. Shinpachi swallowed and took a step towards him, loosening the tight grip on his wrist to a gentle, but firm grasp.

"I….I want you to kiss me." Gintoki's head shot up and he stared at him in utter awe. He opened his mouth a few times before any words would come.

"Wh-what?! Have you gone mad you little nutcase?! D-don't you have a girlfriend?!" he pointed his finger at him accusingly. "T-t-two-timer! I always knew you'd be a rotten egg! Oh yeah I totally saw it coming!" he screamed hysterically, but Shinpachi's serious expression did not waver. He calmed down.

"Shinpachi."

Gintoki gulped and stepped forward. Shinpachi closed his eyes as Gintoki held his face softly and pressed his soft lips against his. The same rush of emotion ran through him as it had the last time they kissed. It felt…natural. When Gintoki's tongue glided over his lower lip, he opened his eyes slightly and frowned in a confused manner.

"It's okay" Gintoki cooed as his thumb gently stroked Shinpachi's cheek, he moved his hand so that his mouth opened a little more and he leaned so that Shinpachi could feel his breath, "I'll do all the hard work." he uttered so softly it was almost inaudible.

Shinpachi was unable to respond though, as Gintoki gently slipped his tongue into his mouth and twirled it, encouraging Shinpachi to do the same. He was timid at first, but as Gintoki tilted his head to make the kiss deeper, he joined in, graciously. Shinpachi found his body doing things he didn't ask it to do - his arms began to move of their own free will. One wrapped itself around the arm than was slowly curling around his neck while the other grasped his shirt desperately, trying to find a vent for these strange new sensations. He gasped as he realised what Gintoki's free hand was doing. A fiendishly satisfied grin curled on Gintoki's face as he gently stroked the bare skin of Shinpachi's chest. However much he enjoyed hearing Shinpachi's mewling, he knew when it was time to stop and released him. Shinpachi wasn't expecting the sudden release, his body suddenly lost all strength and he fell to the ground - he would have fallen much harder if Gintoki hadn't been holding his arm. Once he had regained his composure, he stared up at the silver haired samurai innocently, blushing insanely.

"Did you clarify what you needed to?" Gintoki asked calmly, despite what had just happened. Shinpachi grabbed onto his arm, signalling him to pull him up.

"Yes…I'm afraid I did…" Gintoki yanked him to his feet and raised his eyebrows, continuing to stare off into the distance.

"Oh? And what would that be?" Gintoki said almost mockingly, as if he were speaking to a naughty child.

"Shut up Gin…you know very well what!" It was then that it dawned on him, and he stared wide-eyed at the curly-headed fiend. "You….you were enjoying it weren't you? Could it be that….you're BI-SEXUAL!?" Gintoki blinked nonchalantly at him and smiled softly.

"No…seems I just like you, Shin." he uttered softly, comfortingly as he placed his hand on Shinpachi's head and rubbed gently. "Anyway, what about you? You're toast buttered on both sides?" he asked freely, picking his ear with his free hand. Shinpachi thought about it, but he couldn't reach a definite conclusion.

"I don't know. It seems like I just like you too Gin." he said sheepishly, trying to avoid Gintoki's eye. He sighed heavily as Gintoki's hand left his head, returning to rest inside his open kimono.

'This guy…' Gintoki stopped to inspect what he had just dug out of his ear with morbid fascination.

'…how can I like this guy? There are plenty of good looking guys around, if I ever went that way…why….why this guy?!' Then he recalled what had drawn him to this man in the first place. The light that was buried deep within this man.

His shining silver soul.

Shinpachi smiled and decided he could forgive his horrible little habits because of the fact he was actually a remarkably kind and understanding person - once you saw through his many layers.

"Hey…should we be getting home now? Kagura will eat everything in the house if we're gone too long." Shinpachi smiled, glad that the awkwardness had passed, and Gintoki was back to his old self.

"Yeah…let's go home."

Sorry if the format is a bit confusing _ If you press the 3/4 or 1/2 on the page layouttab it might help ^_^

As always, reviews and comments are welcome and would make me very happy ^_^ I'm still working on the Hiji x Gin fict. so don't worry it's coming ^^

Hope you enjoy!