AN;; Sorry about the delay! Ch.4 will be up within a week!

CH. 3

Tsukuyo was pissed, and that was an understatement. She wasn't much of a morning person, but that was hardly the problem at the moment, oh no. But her anger was probably due to her current situation, in which she was clinging to her neighbor as if her life had depended on it. Tsukuyo had never been on a motorcycle before, they had always seemed too loud and pointless to her. But the permy man she was holding onto seemed to thing differently. Not that she was judging him, everyone likes different things, right? Her biggest problem was that the man drove like a madman. The bike had come to a stop at a stoplight, and Tsukuyo took the chance to yell at the man in front of her, "what the hell do you thing 'yer doing?" to which Gintoki nonchalantly replied back "driving, what else?" If she could rub her temples at the moment, she would. But right now she was too afraid of falling, so she dared not let go.

After what seemed like an eternity but was really just a few minutes, the two had arrived in the middle of a small town. Gintoki had parked his motorcycle in a parking lot at the far end of the small town, and was now leading Tsukuyo down a sidewalk along the main road.

She heard Gintoki giving his tour-guide descriptions of each building they past, but she wasn't really listening as she was more aimlessly following him, taking in the sights of the new city. She turned to look at the man she was following and took in his appearance. She had not been this close to him before today, and she was just noticing simple things about him. Like how broad his shoulders were, or how his shockingly white hair curled in every which way, more so than she had originally thought, or how bright his crimson eyes were. Wait, eyes? The hell? Gintoki had stopped his rambling and was looking at her, and Tsukuyo cursed to herself as she realized that she was indeed staring at the man.

Shit, how long have I been staring at him… Tsukuyo shook her head and quickly glanced around, desperately looking for something to point out. Low and behold, the angels were singing above, as she spotted a plant store across the street. "w-what's that? Over there?" Tsukuyo tried to stay calm but ended up stuttering like a middle school girl, her finger jabbing at the air in the direction of said plant store. Gintoki seemed to shrug off her suddenly weird behavior and shifted his gaze across the street.

There was a small old looking store at the corner of the street opposite them. Gintoki blinked a few times before he glanced back to Tsukuyo, who was a nervous wreck. Closing his eyes and scratching the back of his head, Gintoki sighed and walked towards the crosswalk. Tsukuyo caught up to him and walked beside him, her eyes glued to the ground and not daring to look at the man. Crossing the street, Tsukuyo's eyes lit up as she got closer to the building. It was small but comforting and looked pretty old. Walking into the building, it seemed to be much larger than the outside made it to be, and the smell of plants was almost overwhelming.

Gintoki watched as Tsukuyo glanced over everything the store had to offer, but what surprised Gintoki the most about this whole situation was the actual genuine smile on Tsukuyo's face. Tsukuyo turned to glance back at her neighbor, only to find the man staring at her. Flustered, Gintoki quickly shook his head and walked past her, not looking at her. He walked to the back of the store where an old woman was sitting behind a counter.

Tsukuyo watched him and heard them talking, but couldn't make out their conversation and decided to let it be for now. She went back to looking around and occasionally picking up a few pots. Truth be told, Tsukuyo loved flowers and anything associated with them. Their small but extravagant designs and simple beauty amazed her and she loved placing them in and around her home, and she had yet to do so around her new home. She made a mental note to come back and pick out a few to take home some other day.

Gintoki's voice made her jump and she looked up to see him standing a little too close her. Tsukuyo took a step back and waited for the man to say something, but Gintoki only shoved a piece of paper into her hands without a word. Confused, Tsukuyo read the paper and was surprised to say the least.

Gintoki had handed her a job application to the store, and when she looked up to him he was staring at something on the other side of the store, but muttered "You were gonna look for a job, right? Why not try here." Tsukuyo glanced to the back of the store where the old woman was sitting behind the counter.

The lady only winked at her and went back her work, and Tsukuyo turned back to Gintoki. Said man was already half way out the door, and she hurried to catch up to him. She folded the paper and put it into her purse before she caught up to is side. Gintoki didn't say anything, and didn't even offer a glance at her, and just kept walking down the street.

Tsukuyo looked at the sky. Dark clouds had covered the sky and she could feel an occasional sprinkle of rain on her face. She gasped when she bumped into Gintoki, she wasn't watching where she was going and hadn't seen him stop at the crosswalk. The taller man looked over at her with a small smirk on his face, "You've gotta be careful in the city, 'ya know? There are lots of cars 'n things around here."

Tsukuyo rolled her eyes, and she was biting back a harsh comment but decided against it, seeing as how he had just potentially gotten her a new job. She sighed, looking out across the street and the passing cars. The crosswalk sigh light up, and she followed Gintoki across the street and continued their quiet- and quick- tour around the town.

Tsukuyo cursed under her breath. In the beginning, the whole walking around town thing seemed like a good idea- and even maybe a little fun, though she wouldn't admit it. Though as a sprinkle turned into a heavy storm, she quickly rethought this outing as anything but 'fun'.

And so the young woman was stuck with her asshole of a neighbor in a small coffee shop, soaking wet from being caught in the rain and completely and utterly pissed at not only herself but at the taller man next to her who only seemed to be smiling and laughing to himself.

It would be fine if the man had a normal car, Tsukuyo thought, but no. He wasn't a normal man to begin with, as she had earlier suspected. He had to have a motorcycle and drive like he was in the apocalypse. She slowly rubbed her temples at the thought.

Being a young woman around the age of 25, one would think that getting caught in the rain would be exciting and fun, especially with a handsome man by your side. But as Tsukuyo quickly figured out, it was actually hell.