A.N. So here's my first Gintama story! I haven't written an anime fic in a long time, but I recently started watching Gintama from episode 1 and I'm absolutely hooked. I'm almost done with it (I don't know what I'll do after). I thought of this story after I saw a picture of Takasugi with his katana on Hijikata's neck and I just had to type this out and see where it went. (If anyone's following my other stories, fear not, I'm not abandoning them, I've simply hit a bad case of writer's block for the two of them). Anyways, hope you like it! And I'd love to read what you think or any suggestions you may have, so please review :)

Disclaimer: Gintama and all its characters are property of Sorachi-sensei!

PS: I hope no one is too out of character, please let me know if they are.

"You seem amused, I dare say."

"If you say so, then I must be."

"Could I ask what the reason for your amusement is?"

"...It's funny. How a wild beast will shackle itself to the chains of domesticity, for the sake of weaker dogs. A beast become guardian."

"You're not talking of Sakata Gintoki."

"No...not him. Although the two of them are actually very similar."

"Hmm. You appear to have an interest in this guard dog, I dare say."

"Sometimes, the best way to lure an animal in is by taking another of the same species. Subdued beasts like them are protective of their own kind, whether they like to admit it or not. Besides, it will be fun."

"I imagine it will."

Gintoki sauntered down the streets of Kabuki District, red eyes buried in the pages of the newest JUMP, mumbling to himself as he read the new chapter of Bleach. "Tch. Honestly, Ichigo-kun, taking so long to get your powers back…Gin-san's getting impatient, you know?" He squinted as the light became worse with the coming of the night, and eventually gave up with a sigh, closing his beloved manga and securing it safely inside his kimono.

As he finally looked up, his dead fish eyes glanced around lazily and eventually took notice that he wasn't in his district anymore. Ruffling his hair with a yawn, he turned around to start making his way back, only to see a bunch of familiar faces discussing something at the end of the street. Making his way over to them, he recognized a certain annoying Mayora, the stalker Gorilla, that S-brat and…was it Jimmy? Ah. Yes. He was pretty sure it was Jimmy.

"Vice-Commander, you really shouldn't patrol for another night, I can do it." Gintoki raised an eyebrow, so Oogoshi-kun wanted to overwork himself again? So let him. Bunch of tax robbers that they were, least they could do was stay up and patrol the city.

"Yamazaki's right, Toushi. You've been working yourself too hard, lately. Get some rest." Ah, there was Gorilla's ever-concerned tone when it came to his beloved Toushi. Gintoki was actually surprised he wasn't around Shinpachi's dojo for his nightly stalk-rounds. He watched as the Commander placed a heavy hand on Hijikata's shoulder, "I'll take over for you, I was going to go out anyway."

Ah. He really was going to stalk Otae again. Stupid Gorilla.

"You mean you're gonna go stalk that girl again." Hijikata muttered, eyebrow ticking in obvious annoyance. "I'm telling you, I'm fine. Just feel like patrolling tonight, is all."

"Oh. Hijikata-san," enter the King of the sadists, "Could it be that you can't sleep? I have a really good cure for that. Here, just drink the whole bottle and you'll go into a dreamless sleep (die)." The bottle that he had in his hands had an overwhelming aura of death all around it. And had he said die? Gin was pretty sure he'd heard him say die.

"Your personality's rotten to the core." The demon Vice-Commander growled, suppressed anger much more obvious in his voice. But as he got closer (seemingly unnoticed, and what does that say about the dogs of the Shogun?), Gintoki took on the odd sound of the Mayora's voice. He didn't sound as violent as he usually did. Normally he would have pounded Jimmy to the ground and snarled some colorful threat to Okita. He actually sounded tired. Huh.

"My, my," he finally made himself known, slightly disappointed when only Gorilla and Jimmy jumped in surprise, "What could a bunch of tax robbers be planning to do at this time of the night? I'm getting kinda scared, oi. I should hide my savings."

Hijikata eyed him with his usual cool glare, only this time the death vibes were seriously diminished by the dark rings under his eyes. They were right. He looked like shit. "What savings? I'm willing to bet you just spent what little you had on JUMP or those parfaits of yours."

"Huh? You have something to say about chocolate parfaits, shitty Mayora?" he glared back, glad to see that at least their banter could go on as usual. No. Wait. He wasn't happy. The guy was a bastard.

To his surprise, however, Hijikata didn't rise to the bait and merely lit up another cigarette. "Whatever." Turning to his Commander, he said, "I'll be back later." And with that he turned around and walked away with his hands in his pockets, making a right on the first street he found and disappearing from view while Kondo still attempted to call him back. And was it just Gin-san, or was he actually staggering a little? Just how long had the idiot gone without sleep?

"Toushi. Toushi! Oi, come back, Toushi!" and queue the melodramatic yell, "TOUSHIIII!" But of course, the demon Vice-Commander didn't come back, and the miserable Commander was left crying on his knees, arm outstretched towards the missing Hijikata. Honestly, the gorilla yelled too much.

Gintoki stared after Hijikata. Not that he cared that much about the guy, but over time he'd come to respect him as a man with a mind similar to his own. Without intending to, their rivalry had moved to a competitive comradeship that he actually found himself enjoying sometimes.

"Danna," he turned to look at Okita, eyes inexpressive as always, "Why are you still out so late? This isn't where you usually are around this time."

"Mah, mah, Okita-kun, I'm going to start thinking you're stalking me. Don't say scary stuff like that." He replied, his voice a lazy monotone. "Anyway, what's up with Mayo?"

"The Vice-Commander has been like this for a couple weeks now. He's ordered me to stay out of my investigations regarding Takasugi's Joui and to focus on finding Katsura's group. He says Takasugi won't be a problem for a while." Gintoki frowned slightly; Takasugi was never not a problem. Hijikata had obviously found something.

"I'm sure Toushi knows what he's doing. He's gotten restless like this before, he'll work it out until he's ready to rest." The Gorilla assured him, and Gintoki wondered if he really didn't know his Vice-Commander's intentions. Glancing at Okita, he knew the young Captain had noticed as well, but had for some reason decided not to get involved. Maybe he and the Mayora had reached an understanding with whatever he'd found out. He figured it had something to do with the last attempt against Kondo's life, since keeping the Commander safe was the only thing they seemed to agree on.

"Oogoshi-kun is a big boy. He can take care of himself." He stretched, "Well, I've got kids and a dog to feed. Thanks for your hard work." Gin drawled, nodding at the three Shinsengumi, "Okita-kun, Gorilla, Jimmy." With that, he started walking back home, feeling the annoyed looks of Kondo and Yamazaki, as well as the knowing eyes of Okita behind his back. Not like he was actually going to do anything at the moment. He genuinely planned on going home, drinking his beloved strawberry milk and getting some sleep. Whether the idiot had chosen to take the same street he'd planned on taking had nothing to do with him.

Gin only hoped the Mayora knew what he was doing. If he had to go save him, he'd be annoyed. He really ought to start making them pay for all the troublesome work they made him do, honestly.

He glanced up at the sky.

It looked like it was going to rain soon.

Catching up to the Mayora didn't take that long, the man wasn't walking particularly fast – if anything he seemed too tired to be taking a walk at all. Kids these days…they never know when to call it quits. So stubborn.

"Isn't it time for good boys to go to bed, Oogoshi-kun?" he drawled lazily, walking beside Hijikata.

"The fuck is Oogoshi-kun?" he snapped back, although without much bite at all, to Gin's disappointment. He was actually starting to worry. This wasn't like the Mayora at all.

"Oi, oi…you really don't look so good." He frowned, "What, you run out of mayonnaise, Hijikata-kun? We both know how you get when you don't get your deadly condiment." He admonished, hoping the Vice-Commander would at least snap in embarrassment or annoyance.

"Shut up, asshole. It's none of your business." And that would have been an okay response if the stupid idiot had actually sounded pissed. But he just sounded tired, damn it! And now it was Gin-san who was starting to get annoyed. If he was so freaking tired, he should just go to bed already. Honestly.

"Jimmy mentioned something about Takasugi taking a vacation. What a joke. That guy doesn't take a moment's rest." Gin mentioned offhandedly. It was apparent that Hijikata wouldn't answer unless he addressed the question directly. As expected, he felt the Mayora tense beside him. Gintoki looked at him, eyes slightly serious. "I hope you weren't planning on doing anything stupid. It would be a pain in the ass to have to risk my valuable life for a bunch of tax robbers again."

The Vice-Commander smirked, closing his eyes as he lit up a new cigarette. "No one asked you to get involved." Blowing out a whiff of smoke, ice blue eyes stared in front of them, "Takasugi can't be trusted. He already tried to get rid of Kondo-san once; he's getting bolder." Glancing at Gin, the silver haired man could see a spark of amusement in those serious eyes, "Don't worry, sugar freak, you won't have to get your ass kicked tonight. I'm really just going for a walk."

Gin scoffed, "Tch. Who's worried, bastard? And besides, who're you trying to fool? You keep forgetting the I know how you think, Oogoshi-kun." His eyes turned serious, "If you really want to protect that gorilla, then be prepared. If they catch you unawares and tired like now, whatever efforts you've put on Gori-san's protection will be for nothing. So get some sleep, you idiot."

Hijikata eyed him for a few moments before looking away, letting out another breath of smoke. "You really are an annoying guy, Yorozuya. Giving speeches like you know what you're talking about."

Gintoki grinned, patting the demonic Vice-commander's shoulder, "Mah, mah…is that the way to treat your senpai, Hijikata-shi?" he teased.

That earned him a glare. Gin couldn't help it, thinking of the loser suffix the Mayora had used when he'd been cursed by that stupid katana…it was too good not to use for his own amusement. "Tch. Asshole." Glancing away, Hijikata didn't see Gin's hand until it was already ruffling his dark hair, and the cigarette fell from his mouth as he gaped at the man. "O-oi! What the hell!" he smacked the hand away, watching as the naturally perm-headed samurai turned on a different street and started walking away.

Lifting a hand as a final salute, Gin called back, the smile obvious in his voice, "Don't get lost."

Hijikata mumbled as the stupid silver-haired bastard disappeared into the night, fumbling for another cigarette and struggling with the suddenly uncooperative lighter. "What an annoying guy." The flame finally flickered to life, lighting up the tip of his cigarette, and Hijikata let out a breath before turning back towards the barracks.

Thunder echoed in the distance, and ice blue eyes looked up to the clouded sky as a light rain started pelting down on him. Allowing the rain to run down his face for a few moments, his eyes were clouded as he let his exhausted mind take over for a second.

Hijikata sighed, closing his eyes as his wet hair stuck to his face. Then he felt it. A dark presence behind him that made him tense immediately, eyes snapping open as he reached for his katana. His exhaustion made him slower than he would have liked, however, and he felt the blade of a sword on his neck, stopping him short of pulling out his own weapon. Staring in front of him, Hijikata stood cold and motionless even as he felt the katana draw a thin line of blood.

"Who are you?" he asked, voice like ice as he waited for his attacker to made himself known.

A bone-chilling chuckle brought a frown to his face, making him tense. "My, my…What's a mutt like you doing, wandering around alone at this time of the night?" a deep, amused voice whispered by his ear, "A pet dog without a leash…" he continued, and Hijikata felt dread form at the pit of his stomach. It couldn't be. His head was pulled back as a hand gripped his hair, and he tried to take a look at the bastard that caught him by surprise, "Or are you scarier than that, Vice-Commander?" the grin was obvious in the man's voice, and Hijikata's eyes widened as he took a glimpse of the man behind him, "Are you a guard dog? Watching out for the dogs of the Shinsengumi?"

Hijikata felt a spark of fear run through him. This was bad. Shit, he was in trouble now. Of all people to catch him on a day like this…Managing to keep his uneasiness hidden, he growled, "Takasugi," his eyes narrowed in a glare as they met the maniac eye of the man behind him, "Shinsuke."

The moon resurfaced from behind the clouds briefly, just long enough for Takasugi's visible eye to gleam with crazed amusement. "You should be more careful when you walk alone at night," Hijikata's jaw clenched as his head was pulled back further, "Vice-Commander of the Shinsengumi," he tensed, "Hijikata Toushiro."

Takasugi let go of his hair, only for Hijikata to feel the sting of a needle in his neck. Fighting to stay conscious, he barely noticed that Takasugi had already lowered his sword as he pushed himself away from him, turning to face him completely, hand still firmly clenched around his katana. "You…" he rasped, feeling his vision darken as he took a step forward in a last attempt to take on his enemy.

He was vaguely aware of falling to his knees, the purple and golden kimono in front of him the last thing he saw before everything turned black.