Chapter 3 – Silly

Chirping birds and fresh food's smell is something soothing for most people to start a day. For some it will be perfect with a cup of coffee or tea. Well in Gintoki's point of view, a perfect morning is when he could smack down the alarm clock without getting up and start his round 2 of more sleeping and rolling around the bed.

But that perfect morning is not today.

As much as he wanted to fall asleep again, he can't. Not when Takasugi is lying beside him and holding his waist close. Gintoki shrieks, squirms, and wiggling his body side to side and slip out from the bed. His deep sleep made the silver samurai forgot about the other man's existence.

'I -I totally forgot about him!' Gintoki glanced at the clock, it is still 7 am. Shinpachi usually visit at this hour, waking Gintoki up with frying pan or broom. Instead of finding the glasses-bearing-teenager barging into the room, the silver haired founds a human shaped shadow in front of his door. It's a bit dusky, but Gintoki can see the fair quivers from the shadow. Without thinking any further, he opened the door.

There standing Shinpachi with face as red as tomato. His eyes become cat eye like and he's stuttering, "Gi-Gin-san, good morning."

"What are you doing?" Gintoki said flat with deadpan eye. Shinpachi gulped.

"I thought I've to wake you up, but since Takasugi-san also here... uh-oh..." Shinpachi glanced back and forth, he's too embarrassed to say it. He is pointing out at Gintoki's exposed chest, there's some red mark (from Takasugi's bad habit of hugging him and made few red pressure marks here and there.)

"Eh? Shinpachi-kun, these aren't..." Gintoki said, trying to get Shinpachi disembark the train of thought there.

"Gin-san, I understand. I mean... I don't want to see the aftermath."

"No! No! No! We're not doing anything, Shinpachi! Don't let adults imaginary tainted your virtue!" Gintoki screamed, shaking the teenager's shoulder.

"No, being in this series pretty much has removed away my virtue." Shinpachi said unfazed, calmed down the man. "But Takasugi-san is a nice person... and I thought it will be rude of me to—"

"N-nice person?" Gintoki muttered in disbelief. Forgot about the memory changing ability from Kintoki, the machine Gengai's invented has freaking brain washing and personality changing ability. The Takasugi Shinsuke he knows has a personality far from your generic nice person. Takasugi was sarcastic, annoying with his prideful laugh, strong and a good fighter, it doesn't necessarily means he is evil—yes, he is but he had his reasons. He may be affected from the memory changes, but Gintoki didn't think it would changes the other's memory about one's personality too.

It's like a domino. When Gintoki create new 'fact' with his wish, it changed the turn of story entirely by adding another new lies here and there. 'I should ask the old man.' Gintoki thought.

"Well, it is bit vague on my part, but I'm sure he is a nice person." Gintoki notices how the teenager a bit unsure of his own word, but then Shinpachi brought up a pack of icy cold Yakult up. "He's giving us this, so he must be a nice person."

"No, it has nothing to do with personality change! He is a Yakult Halloween's mascot to begin with! He just doing his missionary work by spreading the product!" Gintoki yelled.

"He isn't a salesman though!" Shinpachi shout back like their usual comedy routine. Gintoki shook his head to clear his thoughts. He remembered how Kagura act so friendly and is already in first name basis with Takasugi and seeing how Shinpachi calls him as a nice person give chills to his nape. Shinpachi shrugged his shoulder and smiled, "Gin-san! Now that you've raised earlier than usual, get dressed and work!" He nags.

"Also, Takasugi-san, good morning." Shinpachi nods a bit and left the corridor, walking to wake up another person in the house.

"Oh ...good morning." Takasugi rises up, blinking his eyes thrice. He looks straight at Gintoki "...Was that the glasses boy?"

"Huh? You didn't remember his name?"

"Uh-oh, I just remember you called him Shinpachi... Somewhere..." Takasugi can feel his head going round and round. Memories seems scattered around, blurry. In a midst of battle, there's that red head girl and the glasses boy alongside Gintoki... Where is your sword pointing at? Who have you been fighting—

"Oi, Takasugi! Are you listening?" Gintoki shook his shoulder.

"Yeah, what is it?" Takasugi scratches his head, scowling.

"I need to go to Gengai's place for a bit, but don't go around to much okay?" Gintoki said while changing his clothes. He's worrying about the effect of letting Takasugi interacting freely. Memories and bonds are things that should have taken care of tenderly. Gintoki knows what kind of man Takasugi Shinsuke is—no matter what will happens, someday their swords will clash against each other again.

"What with you treating me like some kid? Anyway, I could do you a favor if you're really busy today." Takasugi redoing his bandage, covering the left cripled eye.

"What do you mean?" Gintoki's brows raised. Creeping from his sides are ominous vibes. Dark, dark ominous vibes.

"I can handle today's work." Takasugi replied nonchalantly.

"What work?"

"? The Odd jobs, of course."

"Eh."

At that sheer moment, Gintoki knows for sure he can't let this man stray on the road of Edo alone.

"Hah?! Are you kidding? A job from Shinsengumi?! Just yesterday's noon they called?!" Gintoki snapped as he getting dressed. Takasugi opened his obi ties and getting undressed also. Weirdly enough Gintoki doesn't seems to care the slightest about being naked in the same room even though he was going gaga over the thing yesterday, Takasugi shrugged at the thought. The purple haired man though, a bit fazed when he opened the dresser.

"You're lucky. I was just got home yesterday and got the-" He realizes that the clothes there are all Gintoki's size. Double checking, Takasugi puts on the slightly oversized Kimono on him. "Did you just throw away my usual clothes or something?"

"...Aaah", Gintoki is lost at words. Quickly he fabricates an excuse. "Ah yeah, you know? When there's cockroaches invasion? We had to evacuate all of contamination and stuff you know?" He coughs nervously and look at the kimono Takasugi changed into last night. Gintoki inspects the inside of the kimono and found out that it is actually Shinpachi's emergency sleepwear if he were to spent the night in Yorozuya. Before Takasugi can give any kind of retorts, Gintoki quickly said something, "W-well, probably your clothes is at the Shimura's household right now? They do exorcist and stuff so just wait a few days okay? You can wear my t-shirt or something for now."

Takasugi just blinked.

"Who the fuck is Shimura?"

'God bless, he doesn't know Shinpachi's full name...', Gintoki thought almost crying out of happiness.

"Well, I don't mind. Anyway your clothes..." Takasugi said softly as he changed into the white kimono without the undershirt Gintoki's wearing. "So you add color variation to it now? Back then you wear nothing but white or light colored palette", he said referring to the black undershirt and pants. Gintoki quite taken back at the comment he was given. Gintoki is looking away from Takasugi. The other man couldn't see anything but the subtle redness on Gintoki's ears.

"You once said to do that after all." Gintoki walks past Takasugi and left the bedroom, he don't know what kind of face he would make if he looks straight to Takasugi. Any kind of responds Takasugi gave him will make his resolve weaker. 'I decided to throw these all anyway. I don't need these bonds just to lose it agai–'

But then he felt the hand behind him grasped his.

"Yeah , I did." Takasugi smiled then chuckles as he goes. "Glad at least you remembered something like that."

As the purple haired walked him by to the dining room, Gintoki felt his heart has gone down to his knees. Dropped from an intense fall. Somewhat relieved and at the same time not. But he knows his heart is beating intense. Slouching down and resting his back against the wall.

"Silly." Gintoki sighed, asking himself a rhetorical question. "Why did I said that even..."

Gintoki could feel the cold sweats running from his neck down to his back. It's just the in front of his house, but he felt so nervous walking down the street with Takasugi (even more so when the man wear the same kimono pattern as his). "Ta-Takasugi-kun, on a second thought maybe you should be house sitting?"

"Dumbass, who do you think I am? Your wife?" Takasugi chuckles and lits the pot of his kiseru. Gintoki can't help but give another retorts to that. Their harmless bickering continues til they reached Gengai's store. Being wary as the situation is complicated right now, Gintoki tried to cover Takasugi's face when they reached the store. But the old man noticed them already behind the safety work mask.

"Ah, Gin boy and Takasugi too.." The old man greeted them as he lift the safety mask away.

"Gengai, it's been a while." Takasugi greets back.

"Yeah, since that time Gin and you stopped me.." Gengai's reply bothers Gintoki a bit. 'How far this lie got into such tiny little details?!' Impatient in dropping sweats, he cut the conversation's off.

"A-anyway, Gengai-san... Can I make a wish with that machine again?" Gintoki asked and laughed a little.

"Huh? You just using it yesterday, aren't ya? We have a deal, Gin Boy" "It's 500.000 Yen per wish from now on!" Gengai said confidently with an added smirk in the end. Money does run the world.

"Are you kidding me, Old man?!" Gintoki yelled, almost felt like crying when he heard that. 'I have to deal with this pain in the ass until I get that much money?! Yorozuya's cash is barely holding by even!' He screamed in his head, but without his knowing he got pushed already by Gengai.

"Now, now, you two young men can gain that very easily if you worked hard." The old man grinned, hiding the truth that he actually cancelled the idea to commercialized the service. But what an old man can do when a child is in a need. Of course though, he should make the kid learn the price of blunder. Slapping the demotivated perm head's back, Gengai said as they go. "Money is a simple price to pay, kiddo. I didn't know what you wanted now, but that machine is no toy. The payment was only to look if you're serious or not about this."

Gintoki couldn't give anything but a nod in reply. He lifts up his face and not turning back. Takasugi trails behind him after leaving his usual smirk to the old guy. Gengai yelled at the two, "And Takasugi, take care of that permhead!"

"Shut up!" The old man can heard Gintoki's voice from afar.

-to be continued-

Free Talk

Hello, IM VERY SORRY for being a lazy ass to finish this fic. My uni life + IRL in general is kind of killing me rn. A bit of disclaimer, English is not my first language and this isn't being proof read ;w; so I'm very sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes.

Feel free to hit me up on .com

I made few doodles off these fics idea there _(:'3 /i think idk if i uploaded it all

Anyway thanks for poking this fic and read it throughly, hope you'll leave a review ^^)/