Author's Note: I am moving into college in about week and I can't tell you how excited I am. I'll be extremely busy with art school this and that so updates might be really sporadic and short from here on out but I've decided to post the long chapter now so everyone has more content before I leave. I hope it's good, haha?

Her stomach feels weird. And she knows it's not because she's eaten too much since they hardly have enough for two meals a day as is; so she comes to the conclusion she has eaten too little.

"Gin-chan, I want sukonbu."

The jobless man she calls out to turns away from the precious JUMP he's hoarding at the corner of the magazine stand.

"Haa?! We just ate dangos."

"But I still want more," she pouts.

"That sour-salty shit won't make you feel any fuller." Gin-chan is playing hard to get handing over his wallet.

Kagura rubs her tummy and grins less-than-innocently, "Anego said if you snack more, you eat less."

"That makes no sense. Also, stop listening to that gorilla lady talk-"

"Sukonbu." She holds out her hand with unwavering demand and the samurai unwillingly drops some change into her palm.

"Thanks Gin-chan!"

"Yeah, sure," he sighs defeatedly as he watches the little squirt run away happily with his money.

Otae visits them later that day holding a dish that used to be eggs in hand, accompanied with the serenest of smiles. Gintoki makes it out the fastest. He yells something about explosive diarrhea, grabs his JUMP and crash lands into the bathroom, unsubtly triple bolting the door. Shinpachi braves the blackened remains his sister has prepared and Kagura is caught halfway climbing out the kitchen window.

"A-Anego, I'm dieting and you can't eat carbs when you diet and-"

"That's fine," she smiles and she scrapes black matter into her bowl anyway. "Actually I came with an offer for you, Kagura-chan."

"Offer?"

"Well, a friend of mine runs a bar and needs some help after all his waitresses went down with tuberculosis."

"Oh! I can do that! I help the old lady downstairs all the time," Kagura chirps proudly.

"You mean, help eat all of her rice," Shinpachi sighs. The red-head elbows him sharply.

She puts a hand worryingly to her cheek. "The thing is, it's in the brothel district of town-"

"Aneue, Kagura is much too young to work there-"

"-but the pay is really high and I thought the Yorozuya could use not being broke."

"KAGURA WILL DO IT!" Gin shouts immediately from his safety in the bathroom.

"Oh, that's fantastic Gin-san! Will you be joining us for dinner soon?"

"Uh...nope. Bowels are still exploding. This gonna be a while," he says as he fakes an obvious groan of pain.

Shinpachi glances at Kagura before she turns to the bathroom door with a wickedly sweet smile. "I'll do it if Gin-chan comes out and eats with us."

KAGURA YOU LITTLE SHIT!

IF ONE OF US FALLS, WE ALL FALL TOGETHER. THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID GIN-CHAN UH HUH!

THAT'S RIGHT, GIN-SAN! WE'RE NOT GOING OUT ON THE FRONTLINES WITHOUT YOU!

Kagura and Shinpachi snicker insidiously together as they hear the flush of the toilet. Otae prepares another bowl of rice with a knowing smile.

"Another bomb?"

"Yes. This one was found outside a tourist center near the Terminal."

Hijikata rubs his brow with a sigh. "Which Joi terrorist group is it this time?"

Yamazaki shuffles some papers before continuing his report, "They're a surviving faction from a major Joi terrorist organization we arrested last year. They now go by the name of the Mazeda Company."

He reaches for the blueprints and documents as he lights his cigarette with his other hand. Hijikata glances through them briefly before noting, "These aren't ordinary bombs, they're alien technology. Where are these bastards getting it from?"

"I'm not sure, sir. We don't have much on the Mazeda Company since they've only appeared recently."

"New mission: Yamazaki, you keep an eye out on these Mazeda bastards and find out who they're associating with and-"

Hijikata tilts his head, narrowly dodging an arrow aimed at his skull.

"And...Sougo will be joining you on this mission as well."

"I think you're wrong Hijikata-san. All that hair must be getting in the way of your thinking, let me get rid of it for you."

Hijikata ducks against the swing of very sharp katana that belonged to a certain Shinsengumi First Officer. This would have been treason if it didn't happen on a daily basis.

"It also seems Sougo has volunteered to write the report for this mission."

"Hijikata you bastard!!"

It's while cleaning through his drawers, looking for his misplaced paycheck, that Gintoki unearths a crinkled letter. It looked relatively new, unopened, and had Kagura's named printed on the front. He raises the envelope to his face, briefly recalling how the baldy had told him to give this Kagura after he had left.

I'll hand it to her when she gets home, he thinks nonchalantly as he throws it atop his desk and continues searching for his missing payment.

Then he reconsiders. What if the badly had left some cash to Kagura in there? He knows it's pretty rude to open something not addressed to him but he deserves some compensation for feeding the brat for so long, right?

Before he knows it, he's already ripped the envelope apart. Disappointingly, Gintoki doesn't find any sort of cash. Instead, a piece of paper tumbles out along with a few packets of what looks to be small pills. He picks up the folded letter and reads, hoping that there may be a PIN to a savings account or something.

Dear Kagura,

It has been a long time since I was able to enjoy your birthday with you. I hope it was as worth it to you and it was for me.

This something I should have discussed with you in person before I left but, for a father, this is a pretty embarrassing topic to approach at all so I have decided to write you this letter instead.

You are about to enter an age of adulthood very soon, Kagura. You see, Yato women experience something known as a heat when they become fertile. It usually happens a week after their birthdays and will last for about 3 to 4 days. It's nothing bad, I promise. You'll just feel weak, and...erm...sensitive, that's all.

This event will happen to you very soon. This is something I don't want you to experience on a planet full of dirty, disgusting males that can take advantage of your weakened state, so I've included some pills for you. Take them on the days of your heat and it will help repress the effects of the heat on your body.

Take care, and stay safe Kagura.

PAPI

Gintoki blanches. He doesn't hear the ringing of his doorbell by Catherine, yelling about his rent. He doesn't see the shifting sunlight in his room as morning turned to late afternoon. He doesn't feel, doesn't do anything. He's completely stuck in his panic-stricken mind.

Oh shit, has it been a week, yet?! It can't have been a week right? I mean, Kagura turned 15, like, last Tuesday. And today is a... Wednesday. Shit, wait, it must have been last Wednesday or Thursday. There's no way it's been a week... Oh my god, it's been a week. Kagura could go into heat any time today! Wasn't she working at this bar or something, at the brothels...

Oh no, she's going to go into heat at the place where the lowest of men gather.

"Hey, Gin-san, I brought some noodles from this takeout place for dinner. It's reheatable so we can wait for Kagura-chan to get back from her job to eat because you know she'll get mad if we eat before her-"

Shinpachi stops when a wide-eyed and anxious Gin-san grabs his shoulders.

"We need to find Kagura! And your sister! Heat! She's going into heat! And-"

"Wait, my sister's going into heat?" Shinpachi shouts, confused and slightly offended.

"No, not that man-lady, it's Kagura!"

"Gin-san, what is going-" He doesn't get an answer. Gintoki roughly shoves the letter into his face before plopping down of the couch, head in hands, muttering worries one after another.

Shinpachi pales in horror as he reads. "Oh my god. Does Kagura-chan know?"

"Well, actually, I forgot about this letter until today, when I found it in the desk..."

"Gin-san, I can't believe you! Kagura-chan is in the worse place at the worst possible timing for the worse thing to happen."

"H-hey, we shouldn't panic, you know. As long as we get the pills to her, it should be fine. Now we just gotta find her and...and..."

"And hope it's not too late."