TITLE: Sakura Dance: In All Lifetime, I Will Find You

PAIRING: Gintoki Sakata X Tae Shimura

GENRE: Romance/ Comedy

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gintama. Sorachi ''Gorilla-sensei'' Hideaki owns this awesome story. (ง ͠ ͠° ل͜ °)ง

NOTE: Apologies in advance. Grammatical errors and OOCness ahead.

A/N: It's been so long since I last updated and I apologize. T_T We were busy doing content for GinTae Week last October 23 through 29.

I'll try to update as soon as I can. Thank you for reading this work! ^.^

No one dared to blink. The noises in the classroom, the things that surrounded them, all of those have been forgotten because of one focus– each other's face. Shimura Tae was the first one to blink. Hijikata Toushiro then pulled away. He looked from left to right before turning his back at her.

"W-What the hell was that?! You should've warned me!" he chided, but it was more of a question to her. Her classmate's voice was faulty and if he twisted around, for sure, she would find out about his colored cheeks.

Refusing to face the other person, Tae wasn't the only one whose mind danced frantically, like an amateur performer unaware of the cues. They stood in silence, and, after a long moment of hesitation, proceeded to start talking again. But they immediately halted when they both realized they opened their mouth concurrently. Silence, once again, impregnated the air. Both students' head were turned to one side, hiding their embarrassment. Hijikata would be damned if he won't be able to recover quickly. This kind of awkwardness shouldn't exist between them, so he asked Tae if he could go first.

He cleared his throat. "I hate sticking my nose into someone's affair but next time, try to be more subtle."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me," his metallic blue eyes found her big brown ones as he curled his lips in disdain. "I saw you and that perm Teacher last night. If you have that kind of relationship with him, you shouldn't flaunt it here. This isn't the place for things like that. I know you're perfectly aware of the rule within this parameter… Kaichou."

She would've taken it as a plain piece of advice if not for his tone. The Brunette squinted up at him to meet his gaze, and took note of the emphasis on his last words. "So, the Vice Chairman of the Discipline Committee could use sarcasm, too," she directed a menacing smile at him and folded her arms across her chest. "What a great student model you are, honorable Hijikata Toushiro-san. I can't imagine you doing something that will ruin your image as the Respectable. Vice. Chairman. You won't even dare to gamble, or drink, or smoke, would you? Or… oh," she momentarily wavered when the male unceremoniously seized her arm. It was her turn to sneer. "… Bull's eye?"

Based on the shift of his expression, it was definitely a bull's eye. "What did you say?"

"Don't play dumb with me," she retorted back his early phrase.

And that provoked Hijikata even more. His thick eyebrows became almost connected, his jaw clenched, his sharp eyes turned more piercing when he shot a glare at her. He looked down at his hand that was clutching her arm before pulling her towards him, not minding the proximity of their bodies all of a sudden.

"How in the world did you find out? Who told you?" he nearly had an angry tone.

"I won't find out if you had brushed your teeth."

She could swear she heard some metals clanked from a not so faraway room right after she spoke. The Brunette witnessed how the Vice President's eyes slowly widened at the, probably, silliness of how she found out about his rather darkest secret. It was anti-climactic, maybe that was what was on his mind. Maybe he was thinking, she'd been involved in some investigation or that some traitor from his group sent her information to ruin his image.

"Were you thinking that Okita-san told me about it?"

He didn't affirm but his red cheeks were more than enough of an answer. She thought, it was adorable. She nearly giggled when he brought his face farther away from her. The male turned self-conscious all of a sudden.

"This will be our little secret from now on?" Tae's voice came soft once his grip loosen, and not long after, he finally let go of her arm.

"Nah. Spread that nonsense if you like, no one cares."

She couldn't help but grin. "Since Hijikata-kun's not telling anyone about what he saw last night, I'll keep his secret, too."

More than anything else that she told him, this was what made him snap. "What Hijikata-kun are you babbling about, bastard?! Don't act familiar with me! If Kondo-san heard of this─"

"─he'd get jealous?"

"Like hell he would! There's nothing to be jealous of! If there's someone he should watch out for, it's—" as if realizing his mistake, Hijikata paused and straightened his back. He threw glances from left to right before clearing his throat. "… 'none of my damn business. BUT DON'T ACT FAMILIAR WITH ME!

While he went on with his rant, she stilled her grin, and every time he flamed at her, she'd tease him further. Hijikata and Tae weren't that close, they weren't strangers either. Just classmates and seatmates with a decent association. But 'til this day, added their "little secrets," it seemed she just gained a deeper connection with him. A deeper connection that when he looked her in the eye again, a nostalgic sensation enveloped her heart. It was weird.

It felt like she'd known him from hundred of years ago.

When the bell rang, students quickly sprinted back to their respective classrooms. Afraid that once the teachers caught them late, a consequence would be bestowed upon them. Gintama High faculty wasn't the kindest in the whole Shinjuku. Most of them had their own quirks, unpredictability, and over all sadistic qualities. Teachers' odd personalities made the students question how the hell did they pass the test to become instructors or were the administrators of the school taking their hiring process seriously?

If someone would pass by the hallway in front of 3-Z class, one would hear the withering mumbles and heavy sighs from the senior students, as they rearranged their seats for the nth time. Once the break was over, when their Homeroom Teacher Ginpachi entered the room, the first thing he asked of them was to jumble their seating arrangement. It continued on up 'til now thirty minutes later. Beside her, Hijikata Toushirou was already tapping his fingers on his desk. She was sure that the behavior of their teacher was already getting on his nerves.

Even though the Raven head was part of the Disciplinary Committee (or Shinsengumi, as they rebranded, and now, what people called it), he was notorious for his rigid regulations and its consequences for not following. No one wanted to make him or see him seething with anger because gods know what he was capable of doing. His temper alone, earned him the title "Demonic Fukucho". Most often than not, he was involved in heated discussions, specifically with those whose views went against the Shinsengumi's 45 Codes of Conduct.

Or better yet, if someone with the nerve of steel really wanted to tick the Vice President off, just simply be a perm, white haired teacher with a pair of dead fish eyes. That was his pet peeve.

"What's with the sudden change of arrangement, Sensei? You testing something?"

All the heads in the classroom were now directed toward Hijikata's seat. He was the first one to speak after their more than half an hour compliance with the teacher. Ginpachi just raised his brow, and like what he always did, leaned his back against the wall with exasperation written all over his face.

There was always a Hijikata vs Sakata-sensei feud, at least twice or thrice a week. Like now, a low pressure area was forming between them. Once it started, the classroom would fall silent, and anticipate the exchange. Usually, the Class President was the one who gets in between to nullify the upcoming clash, but this time, their pink head classmate with the name Almighty Butt Cheeks, stomped her feet and stood in the center of the four-cornered room.

She almost rolled her eyes as she spoke. "Y'all wanna stop 'tis madness? Piece 'a cake."

Almighty grabbed the unsuspecting Tae and dragged her to the chair between her younger brother and Kagura. She bowed her head right after the Brunette had settled and told everyone, "thank me later." All the students were open-mouthed, all eyes followed Almighty's movements, as the rosy head resumed her seat.

Tae was speechless. Gossips were coming for sure.

銀魂
To be continued