Archive of Our Own

Sakata Gintoki and Hijikata Toshirou annoy the shit out of each other. It’s a known fact that if the two run into each other then it’s a race to rile the other person up the most. That is until it ends in a friendly scuffle, a lot of shouting, and/or them getting kicked out of the bar that they’d chosen to meet at on that particular night.

Let’s just say there aren’t many bars left in Edo that they can actually set foot in.

This is why when they both gathered their closest family, (Kagura, Shinpachi, and the old hag on Gintoki’s side and Kondo, Sougo and Yamazaki on Hijikata’s) the furthest thing from most of their minds was the announcement of a relationship. And not just a relationship - a relationship that had been going on for months . Ten to be exact. Amongst the mouths that were gaping like a school of fish, Yamazaki is the only one who’s able to mutter out the words “congratulations”. Why? Because he had been the unfortunate victim of seeing some…compromising scenes, and had been sworn to secrecy through being threatened with seppuku no less than 1000 times. There hasn’t been a moment since that day that Yamazaki hasn’t cursed his robot eyes and…ears? Do robots even have ears?

But anyway, Yamazaki feels a wave of relief that he isn’t burdened by this secret anymore whereas the other five sit there in varying degrees of disbelief. Kondo’s bawling his eyes out, whimpering something about how he’s happy for Toshi but how could he have possibly kept that secret from him , his very best friend for so long? Otose simply lights up a cigarette while making eye-contact with Hijikata (who’s trying his best not to hungrily eye the cigarette), lets out a rather long breath of disbelief and says, “Good luck, you’re gonna need it.” A rather indignant squawk escapes Gintoki at that. 

Sougo’s frowning. How could he have missed this? Sure, he always knew that the two were gay gay for each other, but he’d always figured they’d be too dumb to do anything about it. And he can’t say that it wasn’t fun to watch them act like idiots around each other, let alone the fact that after their run-ins Hijikata would always be a slightly easier assassination target. Sougo had thought it had been because of his pathetic pining, but they had already been together? What the fuck? For the first time in his life, Sougo’s considering one of the 100’s of “commit seppuku” orders he’d received from Hijikata. He quickly dismisses it though, since an idiot in love will surely be even easier to target. Oh he could even get danna more involved in his plans now! A small smirk slowly overtakes his face and in his periphery he can see Hijikata’s face pale.

Speaking of Hijikata, he’s currently getting his ear blown off by an extremely annoyed Kagura who’s complaining about how she’s “had to starve all this time while Gin-san has gone and gotten himself a sugar daddy. Buying 200 packs of sukonbu and a month's worth of deluxe dog food is a start to making it up to me, yes?” Hijikata just nods along since now isn’t the right time to argue. Not when she’s in dick-punching distance. And last but not least, there’s Shinpachi who’s currently staring at Gintoki as if he’d grown two heads. His hair wasn’t even that messy today! Gintoki watches as the boy slowly goes through events in his head; a forgotten lighter on the sofa that Gintoki had said was a client’s, a stray sock in the laundry that Gintoki had said was a client’s, an empty bottle of mayonnaise in the trash that Gintoki had said- HOLY FUCK. How could he have been so stupid? Yorozuya doesn’t get clients! They’re lucky if they see one every 6 months! And why the hell would they have left a sock there?! How the fuck had he believed those blatant lies! Shinpachi groans and buries his head in his hands, only looking up to glare at Gintoki when he hears the older man start chuckling.

“Oi oi as much as I would love to sit here and watch you all realizing that you got out-played by Gin-san here, I have a date with Hijikata-kun. So see ya losers later!” he says, hauling Hijikata up by the hand and away from Kagura who has started rambling about a house extension. Hijikata reflexively goes to snatch his hand away from Gintoki’s, but with a start realizes that he doesn’t have to do that anymore. Well, not in front of this bunch of morons anyway. He relaxes into it and can see Gintoki grinning out of the corner of his eye. Hmmm, he can’t have Gintoki getting too smug now can he? So with as much strength as he can muster he squeezes Gintoki’s hand as tightly as he can. He hears Gintoki huff out a breath of laughter before he squeezes his hand back just as hard and it quickly turns into a competition as to who will wimp out first.

Oh Hijikata has no intention of losing this one - especially since the winner will more than likely get to choose the popcorn topping and he’s so very tired of Gintoki’s favorite of strawberry syrup, chocolate sauce, more strawberry syrup, butterscotch sauce, topped with even more strawberry syrup. It’s a truly disgusting mix and Hijikata’s strength falters for a second just thinking about it.

“Ahem, Toshi.”

Hijikata’s thoughts about the mountain of sugar halt immediately at the sight of his commander standing in front of him. It just shows how bad it is when he didn’t even notice the man’s approach. He quickly drops Gintoki’s hand who fist pumps in triumph, saying something about how there’s a new marshmallow sauce that he’s been dying to try, but his words barely register in Hijikata’s ears as he looks at a rather serious Kondo-san.

“Kondo-san, how may I help?” Hijikata gulps nervously. At Kondo’s continuing staring in silence he feels sweat start to gather on his forehead and feels the great need to say something. Anything! “If it’s about the reason why I didn’t tell you earlier, it’s just that well, myself and Gin- Yoro- Gintoki were taking it slow to begin with. With everything that happened we didn’t want too much change at once and I thought about telling you every day but it was just a lot of pressure and I wanted to make sure that we were going to work out for the rest of our lives and-” Kondo holds up a hand, silencing Hijikata instantly.

“Toshi.”

“Yes, Kondo-san?”

“Are you happy?”

Hijikata glances over at Gintoki, whose sudden interest in the floor is quite something, and he lets out a deep breath.

“For some unknown reason I’m extremely happy, Kondo-san.” Hijikata watches for a moment as his commander’s face breaks out into a wide grin before he’s engulfed in a pair of gorilla arms.

“Then I’m happy for you Toshi! As long as you let me be your best man at your wedding then your betrayal is all but forgotten!”

Hijikata splutters as Gintoki chokes on his own spit.

“Wed-wedding? Kondo-san we’ve only been together 10 months. Not nearly enough time to be thinking about a wedding!” It doesn’t matter that both himself and Gintoki know that the other is it for them. A wedding is just a bit too…formal. They need to at least wait until the year mark! “When- I mean if we get married then you will be the best man, Kondo-san.” Hijikata coughs, hiding his blush behind his hand when he feels Gintoki’s hand wrap around his own again- much gentler this time and with his thumb stroking the back of his hand.

Kondo beams in response to this. “Excellent! Now go enjoy your date Toshi! Don’t worry about us, I’m sure we’ve got a lot to talk about here,” he waggles his eyebrows. 

Hijikata straightens back up. “Right, uh yes. Thanks for coming, everyone. Goodbye.” And this time it’s him who’s hauling Gintoki out by the hand as the room descends into chaos behind them. They’ve only gotten about halfway down the corridor before Gintoki yanks him back and pulls him into an abandoned room, slamming the door shut. They look into each other’s eyes for a brief moment before they both burst out laughing.

“That went surprisingly well, huh?” Gintoki says.

“For once, yes. Sougo was so shocked he didn’t even bring his bazooka out which must be a first for him.”

“So now you’ll stop being such a nervous wreck when we bump into them while we’re together? Honestly, you’d suck at undercover missions. Your face is an open book and it’s only because our families are morons that they never figured it out!”

“Shut it! You’re the one who pushed me into the trash, not one, not two, but three times when we saw your kids walking down the street! I can’t believe I didn’t break up with you after the first time, let alone the third!” Hijikata huffs.

Gintoki stays silent, eyes searching Hijikata’s face as his hands felt for the other’s, gripping softly when he finds them. “Soooo… ‘when’, huh?” Gintoki smirks, delighting in the way that Hijikata’s face quickly reddens.

Hijikata headbutts Gintoki’s shoulder lightly, “Shut up! You already knew it anyway so don’t start acting all smug now! In fact I seem to recall a certain drunken rambling - something along the lines of ‘When we get married, whose surname are we gonna take, Hijikata-kuuuuuun?’. Or am I mistaken, hm?”

Gintoki doesn’t like how the tables have turned on him so he does the most effective thing he knows: he shuts Hijikata up by kissing him. It’s not gentle, but it’s not rough either. It’s soft, but harsh enough to let all their emotions shine through. He smiles into the kiss as Hijikata pulls him closer, wrapping his arms around his neck as Gintoki wraps his around Hijikata’s waist. They stand there together for a few minutes simply enjoying each other’s presence before Gintoki reluctantly pulls back.

“As much as I would love to continue, we have a movie to catch.”

Hijikata scoffs, “Knowing you, you’ll want to continue this at the back of the theater anyway.”

“Oh you know me so well, Toshirou! Anyone would think that you love me or something!” Gintoki beams as Hijikata rolls his eyes. “Well, shall we?” he asks, extending his hand out to Hijikata again who quickly takes it. As they quietly exit the room and start walking down the corridor Hijikata can feel the gentle rubbing of Gintoki’s thumb on the back of his hand again, causing him to pause.

“Is your hand alright, by the way?

“Psshhh as if a weak mayora like you could do any damage to the mighty Gin-san’s hand. It’s fine, don’t worry. Yours?”

“Same here, weak sugar-freak.”

“Well this so-called weak sugar-freak is about to try out the new popcorn sauces! And that means that you’ll get a second-hand taste, aren’t you lucky Hijikata-kun?” Gintoki winks.

Hijikata groans.

*****

Now, just because they’re together and finally told their families doesn’t mean that they won’t continue being menaces to one another. Case in point: right now Hijikata has been holed up in his room doing paperwork for the last god knows how many hours and Gintoki has simply had enough. He’d received an apologetic phone call earlier that night from Hijikata saying that he wouldn’t be able to make it tonight, and well, that just wouldn’t do. When Gintoki arrives at the barracks with a horrid Hijikata special wrapped up all neatly in a bag, because he just knows that the bastard probably hasn’t eaten anything in hours, he’s a little horrified to see - well maybe horrified to not see would be a better way to phrase it because Hijikata’s room is thick with smoke. Gintoki waves his hand in front of his face and can barely see it for fucks sake!

“Hijikata-kun! Ooooh Toshirou, honey! Look what your lovely Gin-san has brought you! Aren’t I just ama-” he breaks off as he starts coughing. He’d pretty much gotten used to being around smoke by now, but this was extreme! “Oi Toshirou, are you trying to kill me?! I already get enough smoke exposure from sticking my tongue down your throat!” He hears a sigh from somewhere within the room.

“What do you want, bastard? I told you I was busy tonight. And I told you to stop making disgusting comments when people are around, didn’t I?”

Oh so the workaholic was in an even fouler mood than usual eh? That’s fine, it’s not the first time it’s happened, and Gin-san had definitely matured emotionally throughout their relationship. Enough to make this rough night easier on Hijikata at least. Maybe.

“Oi don’t be such a sour-faced prissy bastard! At least I assume you’ve got that look on your face because I. Can’t. Fucking. See. A. Thing. Now don’t get me wrong, not being able to see your face is a good thing 9/10 times, but I want to see how grateful you are when I present you with your dog food today. And watch you say the words ‘Oh Gintoki-sama how kind of you! You really are the most thoughtful boyfriend around, I’m so lucky to have you!’” The smoke has started to clear since Gintoki hasn’t shut the door yet, and he’s a little pissed to see that the other man hasn’t even turned around to greet him- is just still sat at his desk with an overflowing ashtray beside him and posture that he’d tell others to commit seppuku for.

“Hey fucker! I’m talking to you!” No response. “Oogushi-kun!” Still nothing. Fine. If that’s how he wants to be then so be it. Gintoki closes the door, leaving a crack to help dissipate the smoke some more, and tiptoes his way over to Hijikata who’s currently got three cigarettes in his mouth and is frowning at what looks like the words “anpan x Tama” written over and over on a sheet - no, five sheets - of paper. Ok, maybe Gintoki can see why Hijikata’s temper is a little short tonight, but he doesn’t have to take it out on him!

Quietly setting the bag down, he kneels behind Hijikata who hasn’t even noticed his presence. Gintoki tsks. Leaving his back wide-open? Shameful. Although Gintoki thinks that it may just be him and a handful of others that he trusts his back to. He smiles at the thought. But now isn’t the time to think about that - he has a job to do.

Taking a deep breath, he rests his head on Hijikata’s shoulder who flinches, spilling ink all over an anpan report. “Hijikata-kun, I’m bored. Hijikata-kun I’m bored. Toshirou, I’m super bored.” He pokes his fingers into Hijikata’s side with each sentence. “Toshirou I came all this way to see you so you can at least talk to me for 5 minutes. Hijikata-kuuuuuuun. Toshi! Toshiiiiii!” He feels Hijikata’s shoulders tense at the nickname and when Hijikata stubs out those three cigarettes he knows he’s won.

Hijikata whirls around, wincing a bit at the sudden movement. “Bastard, don’t call me that! Toshirou is fine but not Toshi - you know only Kondo-san calls me that!”

“And Kagura.”

“Only because she wouldn’t fucking stop and now it’s only gotten worse since we told her we’re together! It’s ‘Toshi go buy me some food’ this, ‘Toshi I want that plushie’ that. I’m not made of money you know!”

“But you buy it for her anyway.”

“But I fucking buy it for her anyway, yes!

“You’re a big fucking softie, you know that”? Gintoki smiles.

“Whatever,” Hijikata grumbles in response.

“And now that you’ve stopped working, you can eat something. I’d bet my life savings that you haven’t had anything to eat today, have you?”

“You actually need to have money to make a bet, you know?”

“Well I suppose if I don’t have any money then this dog food next to me isn’t real? Such a shame too as it has extra extra mayonnaise on it.” Now that gets Hijikata’s attention - he peers curiously at the bag next to Gintoki before reaching out to snatch it. Gintoki’s faster though.

“Ah ah ah, you only get this if you promise to take a break.” Hijikata opens his mouth to complain but Gintoki carries on. “Nope! I’m not asking for long, just a short break and then you can go back to your tax-thieving.” Hijikata studies Gintoki’s face for a moment and, seeing he’s serious, lets out a long sigh.

“Fine. But no longer than 30 minutes. I need to get this done tonight.”

“Great! Now let Gin-san feed you too!”

“What the fuck! No way! Fuck off!” Hijikata yells, grabbing the bowl from Gintoki and shoving him away in one smooth movement.

“Tch, I knew that was pushing it.” Gintoki mumbles. Seeing Gintoki’s disappointed look and knowing that he’s gone far out of his way for Hijikata tonight makes guilt stir in his stomach. He sets the bowl down on his desk after clearing some of Yamazaki’s ‘reports’ and pats his legs. Gintoki stares at him, clearly wondering what the catch is.

“Come on. The offer won’t be open for much longer so you better take it, moron.” Hijikata says, averting his eyes as a blush creeps up his cheeks.

Gintoki grins, crawling over to Hijikata’s lap and plopping his head down onto it (rather unceremoniously) causing a small grunt to escape the other man.

“Bastard.” Hijikata mutters. However, the hand that has already settled in Gintoki’s hair is telling a rather different story. They sit there in silence, Hijikata demolishing his meal - oh, Gintoki was definitely right about him not eating today - and Gintoki content with his hair being petted. The silence stretches until Hijikata lets out a satisfied sigh, placing his bowl on the floor.

“I- uh… thanks, Gintoki.” Gintoki eyes crack open at this, having fallen shut due to Hijikata’s gentle hand.

“Anytime tax-thief. Just know that I wasn’t taking no for an answer today, and that will always be the case.”

Hijikata groans, “Oh I know, don’t worry. Your annoying ass would have continued on all night if I hadn’t stopped you.”

“Speaking of asses, we still have about 15 minutes left of your break so you wanna get some of this ass right here?” Gintoki smirks, rolling over and pushing his ass up in the air.

“God, do you have to be so crude all the time?”

“Yes. It’s one of my character traits, Toshirou. Really now, I’m almost offended that you haven’t noticed.”

“What’s that saying? Blinded by love or something?” Hijikata dodges a light punch to his shoulder and grips the offending hand. “Anyway, I’m way too tired for a piece of the ass’s ass, but we can do something a little more…mild…” Hijikata trails off, pink dusting the whole of his face. Gintoki smiles softly - eleven months and he was still just as big of a tsundere as when they began this relationship.

“Oh?” Gintoki pushes himself fully, straddling Hijikata’s lap. “Your wish is my command Mr. Demon Vice-Commander.”

And when Hijikata finally goes back to his work nearly an hour after his break started, he finds that it’s a whole lot easier with a silver perm softly snoring by his side.

*****

Two hours later Gintoki wakes up slightly disoriented, but comfortable. And warm . As he blearily blinks away the sleep still clinging to his eyes, he spies a familiar black jacket settled across his torso, with the owner of said black jacket still diligently working away at his desk.

“About time you woke up, sleeping ‘not-so-beauty’.”

“You’re really going to say that when on numerous occasions you’ve complimented my body?” Gintoki retorts. “I can quote some of them if you like.”

“NO!” Hijikata shouts, before remembering how late it is and lowering his volume, “No there’s no need to do that.”

“Hmmmm I’m not so sure. I think one time when we were on about round 3 you started saying something about how my “perfect fucking body was made for you, and the scar on my left shoulder has marked me as yours for life and-” He doesn’t get to continue as Hijikata starts launching balled up paper at him (probably Jimmy-kun’s reports).

“I. SAID. NO! Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” Hijikata yells, throwing another ball between every word. Gintoki giggles as he rolls to the far side of the room - it didn’t help much though since Hijikata is scarily accurate when he’s mad. As the 7th(?) ball bounces off his head (and seriously just how much of Jimmy-kun’s report was trash?) he holds up his hands in defeat.

“Ok ok I’ll stop! I surrender!”

Hijikata stops mid-throw, his arm already wound up and ready to release, and eyes him suspiciously.

“You’ll stop?”

“Yes! I would hate for this ‘body that has no right looking so fucking good with the amount of sugar you eat’ to be damaged.”

The next paper ball to his face was worth it. The spare ashtray however? Not so much.

After Hijikata has finally run out of projectiles, he settles back down at his desk, breathing slightly heavier and definitely ignoring Gintoki.

“Oi Hijikata don’t sulk now. I’ll compliment your body too if you like. Gin-san’s a generous lover like that.”

“Don’t call yourself that. It’s gross.”

“Ehhhh? Would you prefer ‘love of your life’? If you say so Hijikata-kun, I’m never one to deny the love of my life’s requests!”

“You refused to come round one day because there was a cockroach by your front door.”

“Ok but that was a special circumstance! Did you want me to die!?”

“I asked you once to make sure that you had food for a hotpot in the house and you ‘forgot’ because Ketsuno Ana had made a special appearance on a talk show. I even said I’d pay.”

“I had to make sure that there were no prophecies that the world was going to end or something!”

“I once-”

“Alright I get it!” Gintoki lowers his voice, “But anyway, I was talking more about the nighttime kind of requests.” The blush on the back of Hijikata’s neck is delicious . Seeing that Hijikata has no retort, he decides to be the bigger person for a change and switches topic. “When are you going to be done anyway? I wanna sleep. The kids are away so I figured I’d sleep here again.”

“Well if someone stops interrupting me, I should be done in an hour or so. And you just woke up from a nap! How are you already tired again?!”

“It’s tiresome being so charming all the time. You wouldn’t know.” That earns him a dirty sock thrown at his face. Again, worth it.

“Hijikata-kun I’m bored.”

“We’ve had this conversation today already. I’m nearly done. I’m sure your childish brain can find something to amuse yourself with for a little.”

Gintoki flops down onto the floor dramatically, eyeing the room around him. Seeing the paper balls strewn everywhere and the wastebasket next to Hijikata he forms a plan.

“Hey Toshirou-kun, if I get more than half these paper balls in the bin, you have to buy me a prize.”

“What?” Hijikata turns and faces him, silently gauging the distance between Gintoki and the bin. A confident grin appears on his face, “And what do I get when you inevitably lose?”

“My eternal love and devotion.” Gintoki deadpans.

Hijikata blushes but doesn’t falter, “I already have that, I want something else.”

Now it’s Gintoki’s turn to blush. “Shitty cop just saying stuff like that out of the blue. Fine. I’ll eat a bowl of your dog food special.” Hijikata’s eyes light up at this and Gintoki wonders briefly if he’s made a mistake.

“Make it three and you’re on.”

“THREE? No way!”

Hijikata hums, “Guess you already knew you were going to lose then.” He smirks, the demon part of himself glinting in his eyes, “Oh well. Looks like that signed Ketsuno Ana photocard you’ve been eyeing will forever remain unclaimed since no-one else would even think of purchasing it.”

“What? How did you know about that? Fine! Three bowls - it’s a deal!” He crawls over to Hijikata, spitting in his hand and holding it out to shake. Hijikata simply eyes his hand with disgust, looking like he’s never questioned the decisions that have led him to this moment more. He gingerly takes the finger that is covered the least in spit and shakes it.

“Come on Hijikata, we’ve exchanged spit so many times now that my DNA is probably in your body! You can’t be grossed out by this!” Hijikata grimaces before pulling his own hand back, spitting a generous amount of nicotine-laced saliva onto it and gripping Gintoki’s hand tightly, giving it an extra-hard squeeze just for good measure.

“It’s a deal, bastard.”

Five minutes later, after a short trip to the bathroom to wash their hands because ok, the spit thing was actually kinda gross, Hijikata is sat back at his desk frowning over a report and Gintoki has his ammunition piled up next to him. There are 27 in total, meaning he needs 14 to win. Apart from the occasional shuffling of paper or scratch of Hijikata’s pen it’s so silent in the room that you could hear a pin drop.

This is serious business.

Gintoki picks up the first ball, carefully gauging its weight and mentally tracking its trajectory. He takes a deep breath, eyes his target and winds his arm up.

And promptly throws it as hard as he can at the back of Hijikata’s head who whirls around instantly, his frown lines 10x more pronounced than usual.

“Ow! Bastard! What was that?!”

“Oops sorry! It was a warm-up shot!” Gintoki says, feigning innocence.

Hijikata continues glaring at him before figuring it’s not worth it and turns back to his work.

“That’s one less shot for you so I hope it was worth it,” Hijikata grumbles. Gintoki chuckles before his eyes sharpen. Alright, it’s time to get serious...

...25 shots later and the score currently being 13-13, Gintoki is really questioning if it was worth it. After mulling it over for a second however, he decides it definitely was.

Hijikata, having finished his work quicker than he expected, is currently leaning against the back of his desk lazily smoking a cigarette and waiting for Gintoki to take his last shot. He’s watched Gintoki for the last 5 minutes examine every inch of the ball, toss it up and down in his hand no less than 50 times, and even do 20 squats for some reason?

“If you don’t hurry up I’ll void the result for time wasting.”

“Shush Oogushi-kun. I’m concentrating.”

“Whatever.”

Ok. Here goes nothing. This is it. This is what he, as a main character, has trained for his whole life. He inhales deeply, winding his arm up. Exhaling, he releases it. They both watch intensely as the ball sails through the air. It’s perfect! He’s got this in the bag! Gin-san wasn’t a main character for no reason - he knows how to perform under pressure! In more ways than one.

They both watch as the ball falls lower on its course to Gintoki’s certain victory. He already has his fists raised in triumph.

They both watch as the ball hits the nearest rim. They both watch as the ball bounces up and onto the back rim.

They both watch as the ball falls...

...and falls...

...behind the bin.

“YES!” Hijikata yells, jumping up at the same time as Gintoki falls to his knees and screams “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

“Unlucky permhead, better luck next time.” Hijikata grins, holding out his hand to shake.

Gintoki slaps his hand away. “Your dirty smoke ruined its trajectory! I demand a re-do!”

“Environmental factors come into play in many things. It’s your fault for not taking it into account.”

“BASTARD!” Gintoki screeches, launching himself at the smug cop who just about has time to dodge.

“GET BACK HERE!” Gintoki lunges again, snarling in triumph when he manages to catch the fleeing Hijikata, causing them both to tumble to the ground. He’s about to (gently) throttle the guy when Hijikata’s door slides open and a bazooka rudely announces its presence. The two push each other apart, barely managing to escape the sudden blast. And just as quickly as it came it’s gone with the door slamming shut and the two left there in stunned silence.

“So uh…time for bed?” Gintoki asks meekly.

“Yes. Bed - that sounds like a good idea.” Hijikata replies shakily.

The two quickly get ready, Gintoki wearing his strawberry pajamas that Hijikata unexpectedly shoved in his face one night after they’d been dating a couple months, and Hijikata wearing his mayonnaise ones. Hijikata pulls his futon out, carefully avoiding the smoking floor and watches with a fond smile as Gintoki doesn’t hesitate in diving into it. Sensing the other’s stare, Gintoki rolls over to face the still-standing man, and gestures for him to join him by lifting the covers up and patting the space beside him.

And Hijikata is never one to refuse an offer like that.

He slides in next to Gintoki, burying his face in the other man’s large chest and finds himself drifting off to sleep almost immediately. Before he does though, he quickly stretches up, giving Gintoki a chaste peck on the lips mumbling “thank you,” against them. He’s asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow again and it leaves a blushing Gintoki lost for words for once. He clutches Toshirou closer to him and quickly falls into a peaceful slumber himself.

A couple of days later, after an unexpected lunchtime visit from Hijikata, he finds the Ketsuno Ana photocard on his desk along with a note saying “I’m not letting you off those three Hijikata specials. Get ready.”

Gintoki doesn’t even gag at the thought.

“Alright bastard, where is she?”

“Hm?” mumbles Hijikata tiredly, “Where is who, exactly?”

“You fucking know who! WHERE IS SHE TOSHIROU?!”

“Gintoki, I have no idea who you’re talking about,” Hijikata deadpans. Ohhh the dirty cop may be playing dumb but Gintoki is an expert in one Hijikata Toshirou by now, and he swears he can hear a smirk in Hijikata’s voice.

“Toshirou I swear I will fucking jump on the next train heading to where you are just to burn 20 bottles of mayonnaise in front of you if YOU DON’T TELL ME WHERE THE FUCK SHE IS RIGHT NOW.”

“Do you even remember where I am? I know I told you no less than three times but I doubt it sunk into that sugar-rotted brain of yours.” Alright now Gintoki’s certain that the smug mayora is smirking down the phone right now. Prick.

“Well…no. But I’m sure I can weasel it out of one of your subordinates! They like me ya know! Unlike you.”

“I’m pretty sure that their fear of me outweighs any positive feelings towards you.” Hijikata muses.

“I’ll ask Souchirou-kun then. You know he’s been trying to recruit me to help with his assassination plans?”

Hijikata snorts. “That sounds like him.” A pause. “...you said no, right?”

“I did. But my mind can easily be changed if you don’t reveal her location. Right. Now.”

“Sometimes I think you love her more than me.”

“What a stupid statement. Of course I do.”

“Now I’m definitely not telling you where she is.”

“SO YOU DID HIDE HER! OOGUSHI-KUN YOU’RE THE FUCKING WORST! First you go away on a training retreat, and if that wasn’t enough you then go and hide my limited edition Ketsuno Ana figure who I was planning on cudd-,” he coughs in an attempt to cover up his slip, “playfully fighting with instead! Does your cruelty know no bounds!?” Gintoki yells dramatically.

“So you’re telling me that you were going to ‘playfully fight’ with one of your most treasured possessions?”

“Yes?”

“God you’re stupid. You didn’t cut yourself off quickly enough before the word cuddling slipped out.” Hijikata laughs.

“ARGHHH SHUT UP TAX-THIEF! I've obviously caught some of your stupid germs! Disgusting!” Gintoki pauses for a moment, thinking, “And doesn’t this count as theft too? Or like tampering with someone’s property? Arrest yourself Hijikata-kun! I want to hear those handcuffs right now! Honestly, the cops are all dirty nowadays,” Gintoki says, shaking his head in disappointment as if Hijikata could see him.

“What are you blabbering about now?” Gintoki can hear the man pinching the bridge of his nose. “It’s no different than usual from when I’ve tidied up around the house and you complain that you can’t find things. I know you’ve made a game out of it! Why do you think that some things are extra difficult to find? Because I know you enjoy hunting for them, moron. Because you’re a child like that and I’m stupid for indulging you,” he sighs. “So anyway, this time I decided to raise the stakes just a little bit. I had to do something to annoy you since I’m not going to be around for a few weeks.”

Oh that bastard was in for it when he gets back! Gintoki had a nice date night planned and everything, but now he’s gonna take his Ketsuno Ana figure instead just to spite him. IF HE CAN FUCKING FIND HER THAT IS!

“Toshiroooouuuu! At least give me a hint then,” he whines. “I’ve been looking for hours already and have already depleted my strawberry milk stash!”

“And why exactly would I do that? What benefit do I get?”

“I’ll send you a dick pic.” Gintoki responds immediately, laughing when Hijikata starts sputtering on the other end of the line. “No? That’s not enough for you? My-my, since when was Toshirou-kun so forward? Hmmmm I’ve never done it but I suppose we can try phone sex for you? Let me just go get comfy on the futon.”

“Shut the fuck up, permhead! I don’t want- I don’t want phone sex!” Hijikata croaks, causing Gintoki to cackle even louder.

“You’re not the only one who misses irritating the other, stupid v-shaped bangs! Two can play at this game!”

“God, you’re the worst.” Hijikata snarks, but Gintoki can hear the smile in his voice. Like he said - he’s an expert now.

“Ok so now give me a hint.”

“Fine! Only because I know you won’t stop pestering me: she’s somewhere you’d never look.”

“I know that dipshit, or I would have found her already!” Gintoki yells. “Oi Toshirou, that’s a shit hint. I demand another!”

“Sorry, crrkkkk, you’re breaking up, crrkk. Looks like you’ll have to wait for your next hint. Crrkkkk. Speak later this week, bye Gintoki. Crrrk.” There’s a slight pause in the frankly terrible impression of a phone breaking up. “Love you crrrkkkkkkkk.” The call drops before Gintoki can even respond. Oh the little fucker Gintoki thinks to himself, smiling despite himself.

“Oi Gin-chan, are you constipated? Your face is creepy, yes?” Kagura questions. Gintoki nearly jumps out of his chair at the voice that suddenly appeared in his left ear. For someone who has no qualms about waking up half the neighborhood when she’s hungry, Kagura sure can be a sneaky one when she tries.

“Kagura, hi, I thought you’d already left! Why the fuck are you still here?” he responds, pointedly ignoring her questions and trying to get his heart rate back under control.

She shrugs, “I wanted to talk to Toshi but you were being disgusting with him so I went and threw up in the toilet instead.” Great. No doubt she missed so that’s another thing to clean.

“I was not being disgusting!” Kagura raises her eyebrows as if she thinks he’s stupid. He does. But maybe she has a point this time. “Ok maybe a little. Anyway, there’s something important we should discuss.” Kagura perks up at this - she was always one for gossip. Gintoki stares at her with all the seriousness he can muster. “If you were to hide my limited edition Ketsuno Ana figure from me in a place I’d never look, where would you hide it?”

“You’re pathetic Gin-chan,” she answers instantly before mulling his question over for a second. “I would say the cleaning supplies. Shinpachi and Toshi do all the cleaning around here, yes? Your lazy bum probably can’t tell the difference between a mop and a vacuum.”

“That’s not tr-”

“You know it’s true, Gin-chan. I’m bored now so I’m leaving. I’ll say hi to the Princess for you. Have fun with your weird little game you’re playing with Toshi. I hope he wins. Smell ya later!” Gintoki can’t even think of a comeback before she’s slamming the door shut. Great. Now the old hag will be mad at him too. As if his day could get any worse.

“A place where I’d never look, eh?” Gintoki mumbles to himself. He has to say that Kagura’s suggestion wasn’t too far off the mark considering he’s already looked there himself. Don’t judge him ok? And he definitely knows the difference between a mop and a hoover! Argh whatever! He’ll sleep on it and the answer will surely come to him in some Hijikata filled dream. Preferably involving sex. And then he’ll get to rub it in the smug bastard’s face during their next phone call after rubbing one out himself. Tomorrow. Tomorrow he’ll find her and Hijikata will be one day closer to coming home.

*****

It had been four days and there was no sign of her. FOUR! DAYS! Fuck. FUCK! His house is small! Why the fuck can’t he find her?! And to make matters worse Hijikata had sent him a text the next morning after his, tragically, dreamless sleep saying that he wouldn’t have any signal for the next few days. That hasn’t stopped Gintoki from bombarding him with texts though, but he won’t lie and say he’s a little bit saddened at none of them being delivered.

He’s moping around on his couch after exhausting the restock of his strawberry milk supply that was meant to last at least another three days when his phone rings. His eyes light up as he sees ‘Dumb mayora’ on the call screen and he flips his phone open, ready to be one step closer to his love again. Oh how he misses her terribly.

“Did you take her with you?

“Hello to you, too.”

“I said, did you take her with you?”

“Fuck no. Why would I want a figure of the fucking weather girl ?”

“Ok one; fuck you, she’s more than the weather girl. Two; why the fuck wouldn’t you want her perfect face with you at all times? And three; to fuck with me.”

“I’m pretty sure she is just the weather girl, although I did see her reporting on the traffic the other day so I guess you could claim to be right on that point. That makes a change-”

“So you haven’t taken her with you?”

“No. As much as I don’t understand your creepy obsession, there would be a chance that it would get lost or broken and I wouldn’t want to risk that.”

“I see. At least you have enough common sense to see when something is truly valuable.”

Hijikata snorts, “I take it from your despondent tone and the 53 texts you sent me that you still haven’t found it? What a shame.”

“Fucking obviously! Give me another hint.”

“Only if you say please.”

“Ugh. Fine.” Gintoki clears his throat, “Oh please Toshirou-san, love of my life, the sweetest demon there is, oh please may I have another hint?”

“You- fuck you.” Oh Gintoki’s sure that Hijikata’s as red as a tomato right now and he really fucking wishes that he could see it.

“Well? I said please Toshirou-kun,” he says sweetly.

“Sure, whatever, if it gets you to never say shit like that again. Here: the other day when we were talking on the phone you mentioned something which meant that you were extremely close to her. Scorching in fact. That’s it.”

Gintoki thinks back on the phone call for a second. He can remember a lot of shouting, the smugness evident in Hijikata’s voice that turned to embarrassment at the mention of phone sex.

Wait.

Phone sex. Aha- the futon! The futon that he never bothers properly putting away! Ohhhh he’s nailed it!

“Oh Hijikata-kun you’ve given the game away too easily,” Gintoki says smugly, already walking to the bedroom.

“Have I now? I wouldn’t be so sure, Gintoki.”

Gintoki puts the phone on speaker and starts ripping everything out of the wardrobe.

“You’ll. See.” he pants, lifting a box of Hijikata’s belongings fully and chucking it haphazardly on the floor. At the sight of the near-empty wardrobe he can almost taste victory. Hijikata is strangely quiet on the other end.

“There! Now any second now you’ll be hearing of Gin-san’s victory!”

“Mhm. I’m waiting.”

Gintoki throws the last of the boxes out, ready to see a beautiful face peeking out at him from one of the shelves but there’s nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.

“What the fuck?” he exhales.

“Hmmm what was that? I didn’t quite catch that. Honestly, I thought you’d be more excited to be reunited with your love or…could it be? Oh no, Gintoki. Was it the wrong place after all? Oh that’s such a shame.”

“How is that possible? Did you lie about the second hint!?” Gintoki yells, frantically searching every inch of the wardrobe. Nope, it’s definitely empty.

“I’m a cop. And despite what you claim, not a dirty one so I’d never lie. Well, not much anyway.”

“I don’t believe you, Mr. Dirty Cop.”

“Whether you believe me or not is up to you, but I’m so terribly sorry that your confidence was misplaced. It was rather amusing to hear though.” Gintoki only grumbles in response. “Anway, I have to go soon since the last part of the training starts tomorrow. But before I go, you and the kids are doing alright, yeah?” he asks sincerely.

“We’re fine, don’t worry Mother.” Gintoki replies, obviously still sulking.

Hijikata chuckles, “Good. That’s good. Alright, I highly doubt I’ll be reachable for the next few days again, but if I get the chance I’ll call if that’s alright with you?”

“Stupid mayora, of course it’s fine.” he mutters.

“Ok speak soon, Gintoki. Good luck hunting again!” Hijikata laughs.

“Speak soon, Toshirou. Don’t let the sadist kill you before I find her.”

“Pshh as if that brat could ever actually kill me. See ya.” Hijikata hangs up and Gintoki’s once again left to his own thoughts. It’s quiet in the house with Kagura staying round the Shimura’s and the bar below being closed for the night. The brief phone call with Toshirou was a much-needed break from the silence, even if all the bastard did was make fun of him.

Oh fuck he misses him. It’s fine- there’s only a week left and then Gintoki will be the one making fun of him when he finds the figure. Ha! He can’t wait. But for now, he spots a spare yukata that Hijikata brought over and he finds himself grabbing and stuffing it under the covers of the futon, ready for when he goes to bed tonight. The lingering smell of smoke on the garment will help him pretend that there’s a warm body next to him.

*****

Gintoki’s on the verge of giving up. Hijikata will be back tomorrow and there’s absolutely no sign of Ketsuno Ana. And true to his word, Hijikata has been unreachable too, which has one; meant that he misses the bastard even more now and two, more importantly; he hasn’t been able to get another hint! I mean what kind of shitty game-maker only gives two hints! Gintoki sighs heavily as he plops down onto his desk chair, opening the bottom drawer and fishing around for something. He lets out a small shout of triumph as his hand closes around the pack of Mayoboros that Hijikata had left him one day after a rather embarrassing incident where, after returning early from a trip, Hijikata had caught Gintoki sniffing his spare yukata like a man possessed. It was very much in the same vein as Gintoki’s been doing the past few nights now if he’s honest. But Hijikata doesn’t need to know that.

Gintoki smiles fondly as he remembers when Hijikata had excitedly told him that he’d also left a bottle of mayonnaise in the fridge for him. Said bottle in the fridge, however, has remained untouched to this day. Much to Hijikata’s dismay. If he’s truly honest with himself, Gintoki’s almost tempted to crack it open. Simply because Hijikata would never expect it.

…hang on a second…

…no way…

…the mayo bottle in the fridge has remained untouched to this day.

No. Fucking. Way. Gintoki’s thought’s are whirling round his head, thinking back to the two hints that Hijikata gave. 

“She’s somewhere you’d never look.” and “The other day when we were talking on the phone you mentioned something which meant that you were extremely close to her. Scorching in fact.”

Well he just mentioned the fact that Hijikata would never actually expect him to eat the mayonnaise he so lovingly left for him. And come to think of it, didn’t he mention something about strawberry milk in the first phone call?

Gintoki launches himself off the chair, sprinting into the kitchen. He rips open the fridge door, pulling everything out haphazardly (except his second restock of strawberry milk which gets gently placed on the counter). Aha! There - the bottle of mayonnaise that Hijikata always leaves him. This is crazy right? There’s no way…right? With hands shaking mildly from anticipation Gintoki grabs the shitty bottle.

Oh shit.

That’s not how much a mayonnaise bottle usually weighs! And he should know since he’s an expert by now with the amount he’s bought Hijikata.

He carefully turns the bottle around and no fucking way . The whole back of the bottle has been cut away, and standing in the middle of it is his beautiful Ketsuno Ana figure in all her glory. He examines the bottle closer and IS THAT A FAKE LABEL? The fucker actually has gone and made a fake label to make the bottle still look like it’s full! What the fuck? How long had he been planning this? The fucking effort Hijikata went through just to annoy Gintoki while he’s gone. What an absolute idiot! Haha… a complete moron… haha….the stupidest…man. The smile that breaks out as he realizes that yes, this was primarily done to annoy him but it was also meant as a distraction from Hijikata being away, is slightly watery. He’ll take that fact to his grave though. Two more days feels like an awfully long time now.

After regaining his composure, Gintoki quickly snaps a picture of himself and his love, sending it to Hijikata with the caption “HA! TRY HARDER NEXT TIME, LOSER.” before he finds himself heading back to the desk that started his epiphany. He grabs the pack of cigarettes from the still-open drawer, shaking one out and lighting it with a strawberry lighter that Hijikata got him as a gift one day. He’s lost in thought when he feels his phone buzz in his pocket. Nearly dropping it in his haste to see Hijikata’s reply, another smile overtakes his face as he sees the man’s response: a picture of an exhausted looking Hijikata doing a thumbs-up and eating the pack of strawberry sweets Gintoki smuggled into his bag for him. 

You see, Gintoki isn’t the only one who misses the other when he’s away, and after Gintoki caught Hijikata trying to sneak his strawberry milk into his luggage (and after making fun of him no less than ten minutes), Gintoki had quickly popped to the shops and bought his favorite type of sweet. He’d presented it to the other man with a wink that said “now we’re even” and the cop had blushed something fierce. 

After staring at the quite frankly adorable (and don’t let Hijikata catch you saying that about him or else it’s seppuku for you) picture, Gintoki reads the caption: “Congratulations shitty perm. Don’t complain when you can’t find her next time. See you soon.” He snickers, sending back a simple “Can’t wait.” before stubbing the cigarette out, placing Ketsuno Ana back in her rightful spot on his desk and heading to bed. After all, the sooner he sleeps, the sooner Toshirou will be back.

For all that he misses Hijikata when he’s gone, when he wakes up again freezing cold and with no cover to be seen, he wonders why exactly he longs for the bastard. Said bastard is softly snoring next to him, quite happily cocooned in Gintoki’s duvet. Even the frown lines have softened on his forehead as if even in his sleep he knows that he’s being a pain to Gintoki.

Gintoki does not find that adorable.

…ok maybe just a little bit. The fact that they can let their guards down for once in their lives when they’re around each other is something that they both treasure. It’s something they never thought they would have and now, knowing that someone will always have their back, even when they sleep? Well let’s just say they can never be without it now.

Anyway, now isn’t the time to get soppy. Gintoki is cold! He’s pretty much an ice block at this point and he’s sure that if anybody were to break in right now he wouldn’t even be able to grip his bokken with how fucking numb his fingers are.

“Oi. Shitty cop. Give me my duvet back.” Gintoki whispers quietly into the other man’s ear.

No response.

“Toshirou, sweetie, Gin-san is cold, give me the duvet.”

No response except for a slight twitch of the nose.

Well then. For someone who usually wakes up if someone were to sneeze in the vicinity of his room, it’s a fucking miracle he hasn’t waken up yet. Or he’s faking it. Hijikata’s left eye blinks slightly.

Definitely faking it. Fuck. Him.

“Just remember, you brought this on yourself~,” Gintoki sings, before ripping the cover away from Hijikata and sticking his hands down the front of Hijikata’s pajamas, wrapping his legs around him and planting his icy feet on the man’s legs.

“HOOOOLY SHIT!” Hijikata yelps, desperately trying to escape Gintoki’s clutches but the man has him in a death grip.

“Hmmm? Something the matter, Hijikata-kun?” Gintoki asks sweetly. He mock gasps, “Or- could it be that you don’t want cuddles from me anymore? I can’t believe we’ve reached this stage already. I’m offended,” he sighs, sniffing for added effect.

“Let me go shitty perm! You’re fucking freezing!”

“And who’s fault is that!? There’s you sleeping soundly like a baby while poor Gin-san’s balls have shriveled up to the size of a raisin! And I know you like Gin-san’s balls. Ah ah ah don’t lie!” he adds after Hijikata opens his mouth to argue.

“Just! Let! Me! Go! I’ll give you the covers back I swear.” Gintoki eyes the back of the man’s head suspiciously before loosening his grip just a touch.

It was a fucking trap. He should know better than to trust a cop.

No sooner than Gintoki’s fingertips loosened their pressure, Hijikata twists, ripping himself out of Gintoki’s hold. The next thing he knows he’s being kicked backwards and out of his futon while the bastard mayora wraps himself up even tighter in the duvet. They’re facing each other now and even in the dim moonlight he can make out the self-satisfied grin on the other’s face. Why does he love this annoying prick again? Although he supposes that it’s a two-way street.

“Toshirou, what the fuck?” Gintoki asks from the bitter floor.

A loud and quite frankly obnoxious snore is his answer.

“Toshirou do you reaaaaaally want to start this?”

Another snore.

“Fine. Have it your way,” he states, jumping onto the burrito in front of him elbow first. He hears all the air escape Hijikata’s lungs as the man starts spluttering from his soon-to-be grave.

“Hmmm what’s that Toshirou-kun? I can’t hear you, would you care to repeat that?” he says, while pressing down Hijikata’s chest even more.

“Get-” he coughs, “off me,” a raspy intake a breath, “you big fucking lump.” Gintoki grins and pretends to make himself comfortable, pressing as much weight down on Hijikata as he can.

An arm shoots out from the cover and Gintoki’s smirks, ready for Hijikata to concede defeat. They have a system in place where if you tap the other’s temple three times the other lets up no matter what. It was put in place after Hijikata lost consciousness during one of their friendly scuffles one day. Needless to say that after many mayonnaise bottles and packs of mayoboro that were gifted in apology, they talked it out and came up with that system.

Them? Talking about something? Crazy right?

Anyway, Gintoki’s ready for those three taps. Ready for Hijikata to lose once again like the loser he is. So when instead of a light tap to his temple, he’s hit with a flailing fist in his ribs instead, consider him slightly shocked. Now it’s his turn to wheeze as the air escapes his lungs, and Hijikata takes that opportunity to flip them over - and somehow the covers are still draped over Hijikata’s shoulders. Hijikata pins down Gintoki’s arms as he straddles him and even in his slightly disoriented state, something twitches down below. Hijikata notices because the bastard notices everything and he quirks an unimpressed eyebrow at Gintoki.

“Really? Now? Are you not satisfied with the two rounds from last night or something?”

“Listen, it’s not my fault! I’m a young man, and you should be grateful little Gin-san is so interested in you!” He lowers his voice, “And you should see yourself right now, Hijikata-kun. Flustered, a little bit sweaty, panting, pinning me down. It’s quite the pretty picture. I wouldn’t mind wrecking it right now.” Hijikata flushes, mouth gaping like a fish as loosens his hold.

Too easy.

With a war cry Gintoki flips them back over again, Hijikata’s head hitting the pillow with a thud. The glazed over look he has makes Gintoki forget about all the events prior as thoughts about how he would indeed like to wreck the man underneath him fill his mind. Their eyes meet and Hijikata gulps, seeing the sharp - almost predatory look - in Gintoki’s eyes.

“Does that sound like a good idea to you, Toshirou?” Gintoki whispers dangerously. Hijikata only nods in response. Their mouths clash violently, tongues intertwining, hands everywhere, feeling every bit of skin they can. Gintoki breaks away to latch a mark on Hijikata’s shoulder and he relishes in the groan that leaves Hijikata’s mouth. He quickly begins working his way down Hijikata’s chest. Oh boy is he going to ruin this delectable man tonight. He’s going to-

The door slams open and a pillow hits Gintoki in the ribs, right where Hijikata hit earlier, and he goes flying into the wall. Head first. Hijikata winces, looking at the crumpled Gintoki, too stunned for words, before slowly turning to meet his doom. Their doom.

“Will you two shut the fuck up? It was bad enough when you came back from wherever the fuck two disgusting old men like you go giggling like school kids, but now you’re interrupting my sleep too with your shitty play fighting? Disgusting. If you want to fight so bad, I’ll give you one right here, yes?” Hijikata shakes his head mutely. “That’s what I thought. Now, if I hear one more thing out of this room tonight I’ll crush both your kintamas . Capeesh?”

“Capeesh.”

“I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement. Goodnight Toshi. Goodnight Gin-chan.”

“Goodnight Kagura. Uh… sleep well.”

“Don’t push it, Toshi.” Kagura glares, slamming the door behind her. Hijikata lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. How careless of him, acting like a teenager when there’s a literal teenager in the house! Although he’s sure Gintoki said she was out for the night. Idiot. 

Oh. Speaking of Gintoki, he hears a groan from the lump that’s collapsed by the wall and he quickly scrambles over to check on him.

“Are we- ugh- are we going to live?” Gintoki groans.

“Barely. Here, take my hand.” Gintoki grips hold of Hijikata’s hand as he’s helped up. He manages to wobble over to the futon with Hijikata’s aid and collapses down on it with a groan which is, thankfully, muffled by the pillow. Hijikata fetches the cover that’s been thrown across the room and settles down behind Gintoki, making sure that he is covered enough. For now anyway.

Suddenly, he feels Gintoki shaking and for a brief second he worries that he hit his head a lot harder than he’d originally thought. Those worries are dispelled quickly, however, when he hears Gintoki chuckling softly.

“That was so stupid.”

Hijikata doesn’t try to fight the grin spreading over his face. “Psshhh. Tell me about it.” They both erupt into quiet giggles, reminiscent of the insult Kagura had thrown their way earlier.

“At least you’re warm now,” Hijikata snickers.

“Yeah, now I am! This is all your fault by the way, stupid nicotine addict!” Hijikata doesn’t even try to refute that fact, knowing that it’s true, so instead softly pets Gintoki’s hair in apology, being wary of the bump.

“Is it too late to send her back to her other dad?” sulks Gintoki, snuggling further back into Hijikata’s hold.

“You’d miss her too much.”

“Yeah,” he sighs. “Although so would you since you’d have one less person to spoil.”

“I have the right to remain silent. Now, shut up and get some sleep - I, like you, value my balls thank you very much.”

“Huh? Balls? Whatever, I’m too tired to ask. Goodnight Toshirou.”

“Goodnight Gintoki.” he replies, kissing the top of his head.

They’re out within minutes.

*****

Judging by the look that Kagura directs at him the next morning, all is not forgiven. Hijikata gulps nervously as even Sadaharu glares at him, and goes about his usual routine when he stays round Gintoki’s. He’s in the middle of heaping a larger-than-usual amount of mayonnaise into his coffee when all of a sudden Kagura is at his side. He jumps, cursing as a good amount of mayonnaise hits the floor. He looks at Sadaharu to clean it up, but the dog looks away in disgust. Like owner like dog, he muses.

“Toshi.”

“Kagura.”

“How are you going to make up for last night?”

Hijikata sighs and gulps down a large amount of coffee, wincing at the fact that there wasn’t enough mayonnaise in it. “What would you like me to do?” he questions.

Kagura’s eyes light up. “Cook for me Toshi, yes?”

“That’s it?” Hijikata asks in disbelief.

“Oh you’ve fucked up now, Hijikata-kun.” A voice from his side says as he feels arms snaking around him from behind and a chin resting on his shoulder. “Now she’ll milk you for all your worth.”

“Gin-chan’s right, Toshi. That was a rookie mistake,” Kagura grins sharply. “I don’t just want you to cook, I want a 5 course meal, including the good meat. And Sadaharu should have premium dog food for a month too, yes?”

Hijikata frowns, “Hang on a second, why am I the only one being punished here? The perm-head with shitty morning breath behind me was just as much at fault!”

Kagura cocks her head, looking at him as if he’s stupid. “Gin-chan is too poor for anything like that, but he will help you with the cooking. Isn’t that right Gin-chan?” she glares. Hijikata feels Gintoki gulp.

“Yes, Kagura-chan. Whatever you say.”

“Sweet! See you tomorrow then Toshi!” she says, already bounding out the door to no doubt cause trouble somewhere.

“Wa-wait! Tomorrow?!” Hijikata yells after her, but she’s already gone. Gintoki pats his back in comfort as he puts his head in his hands.

“Suppose you’d better go shopping huh, Hijikata-kun?” Hijikata levels him with a glare.

“I’m not going anywhere since I’ve got work today so you, Gintoki-kun, will be going to the shops for me.”

“But that’s not what Kagura said-”

“I don’t care what Kagura said! It’s bad enough I have to spend half my month’s wages on this meal now without having to miss a day’s work too!”

Gintoki huffs, sticking his lower lip out.

“Stop acting like a spoiled brat. Here,” Hijikata hands him his card, “use this. You know what Kagura likes best but,” he glares at Gintoki, “keep the receipt.”

Gintoki rolls his eyes in response. “Sure, sure whatever. Gosh the things I do for you tax-thieves eh? And you say I’m the spoiled one.”

“Whatever, I’m already late so I don’t have time to play along with your silly games. I’ll see you tomorrow night then?”

Gintoki nods, turning to head to the side as Hijkata purposely strides towards him before cupping his head and kissing his cheek.

“Later mayora, don’t go wasting my tax money today.” Gintoki grins.

“As if you even pay taxes.” Hijikata grins back, already half-way through the front door.

When the door shuts softly and Gintoki is alone, he can’t help his thoughts wander to how shitty it is that he has to wait nearly two days before he sees those dumb v-shaped bangs again. About how it would be nice to fall asleep next to him every night. Huh, interesting.

Those thoughts are quickly drowned out, however, by the realization that he has Hijikata’s card. And although Hijikata told him to keep the receipt, he didn’t tell him which receipt. Gintoki thinks that a parfait is in order to make up for the trauma of last night, and if the receipt accidentally gets chucked away then it’s just an honest mistake. Gintoki smirks to himself. Gin-san’s a genius sometimes.

The next day and half passes quickly and before he knows it, Gintoki is waiting for Hijikata to show up so they can start cooking for Kagura. He invited Shinpachi along too since it’s only fair that he gets something for doing most of the cleaning around the house. Of course the fucking cop is late though. He doesn’t dare set foot in the lounge where Kagura is getting more and more irate by the second with Shinpachi trying (and failing) to distract her. This meal is all she’s been going on about for the whole day, she even skipped lunch for it stating that she “wants her stomach to be as empty as possible for Toshi’s delicious meal” and Hijikata has the nerve to show up late?! Oh he’s in big trouble. As long as he isn’t in trouble that is. Well shit. Now he’s gone and gotten himself a bit worried about the stupid idiot.

He takes a deep breath. Hijikata can handle himself though. It’s one of the reasons Gintoki let himself fall for the man in the first place. Knowing that he doesn’t have to worry about the man’s capability to look after himself other than the occasional bout of overworking is something that he knows he needs in a partner. And Hijikata has proved that he’s capable time and time again.

But Hijikata is late.

And he’s never late.

Gintoki whips his phone out again to check for any calls or texts that he may have missed from the other man but again there’s nothing . A thin sheen of sweat starts to build on his brow as he checks the time again. He tries distracting himself by washing the vegetables for the third time but it only succeeds in making him more anxious when the man still hasn’t arrived after he’s finished. Where the fuck is he? He’s about to call the man for the fifth time when he hears the front door slide open and the tell-tale sound of boots being placed on the floor. Gintoki’s shoulders slump in relief and he focuses on breathing for a second. He’ll chew Hijikata out in a minute for being late but right now all he can feel is an overwhelming sense of relief.

“TOSHI! ABOUT FUCKING TI-” Kagura starts before cutting off.

“Hijikata-san! Are you ok?” exclaims Shinpachi.

Gintoki’s in the lounge before his mind has even registered his feet moving. He stares wide-eyed at Hijikata. Is it even Hijikata? The amount of red covering his skin makes it hard to tell and Gintoki sucks in a sharp intake of breath.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, don’t worry. Most of…this,” he picks at his stained uniform, “isn’t mine. We just had an unexpected run in with some terrorists today. I’m sorry I’m late.”

Kagura gapes at him in shock before regaining her composure. “I ‘spose it’s alright. Don’t make it a habit though, yes? Did you at least win?”

Hijikata grins with all teeth. “Oh we won alright. I’m sorry to delay even further, but is it ok if I shower and change first? I don’t think you’d want terrorist germs in your food.” 

Kagura gags while Shinpachi shakes his head. “Please go ahead Hijikata-san, we can wait. Thank you for still coming tonight.”

“Right, I’ll be quick then, thanks.” Hijikata gingerly makes his way to the bathroom, trying to make the least mess as possible. He passes Gintoki who has yet to say a word about his current state, not even a snarky comment. As Hijikata enters the bathroom, Gintoki enters behind him wordlessly, making the other man jump as he turns to shut the door.

“Jesus! What are you doing?! I have to be quick or else Kagura’s going to go on a starved rampage!”

Gintoki scours Hijikata’s body with his eyes looking for cuts, scrapes, anything. There’s just so much blood.

“Oi, Gintoki I’m fine.” However, Gintoki’s eyes don’t stop frantically checking over Hijikata’s body.

“Gintoki!” Hijikata says, cupping his head between his, thankfully, clean palms, “Gintoki, I’m fine. I promise.” That seems to snap Gintoki out of it who finally meets Hijikata’s worried eyes.

“You’re ok?” Gintoki breathes.

“I’m ok.”

Gintoki’s shoulders relax at that and he takes a few breaths to steady himself before gripping hold of Hijikata’s wrists tightly. “Then why didn’t you say you were going to be late, shitty cop! You got me…ugh…worrying over here!”

“I’m sorry, my phone got smashed during the confrontation, and I was already late and the barracks were in the opposite direction so I didn’t have time to go back there and change before coming here and,” he sighs, “it was a shitty day and all I could think about was getting here as quickly as I could. It’s all I wanted to do,” he confesses.

Gintoki smiles softly at that, releasing Hijikata’s wrists in favor of cupping the man’s head himself. “Well I’m glad you’re here and that you’re alright. And sorry for panicking a bit there…it was just a lot of blood. I know you can look after yourself.”

“You better, shitty perm. But thanks for worrying anyway, I’ll be sure to contact you no matter what if it happens again which, unfortunately, is more likely than not.”

“And I’ll do the same.” Gintoki presses a light kiss to the least bloody part of Hijikata’s forehead. “Now get in the shower because you fucking reek and Kagura’s stomach won’t hold out much longer. I’ll get started on cooking.”

Hijikata smiles, eyes crinkling slightly. “You better not fuck it all up in those 10 minutes.”

“No promises,” Gintoki winks as leaves the bathroom and promptly runs into two worried teenagers. “He’s fine, honestly. He wasn’t lying when he said the blood wasn’t his.” Both kids visibly relax at this.

“Well what the fuck are you still here for? Get cooking Gin-chan before I eat your secret chocolate stash! My sense of smell is heightened when I’m hungry and I will sniff it out in less than 30 minutes. That’s a threat, yes?”

Gintoki bolts into the kitchen.

*****

After what was quite possibly the best meal of Kagura’s life - the two disgusting old men are actually frighteningly capable when they work together- and with the four of them stuffed to the brim, Kagura decides that it’s time to bring out the board game. Suddenly, as if a fuse has been lit, the atmosphere in the room changes. Whereas before it was content, comfy; it’s now hostile and sharp. Eyes are darting between the four of them, suspicion lingering in every gaze - and that’s before the game has even begun!

Gintoki knows how this will go; Hijikata and Shinpachi will pretend to be playing individually and then try and hit Kagura and himself with a joint attack at the end. He knows this because it’s the exact same plan as what Kagura and Gintoki came up with themselves during one of their walks with Sadaharu. The same walks that have now become the perfect excuse to come up with plans of attack. Not just in the board game, but in other aspects too. Pulling pranks, avoiding chores, all that kind of stuff. Kagura and him have it all planned out.

However, Hijikata isn’t dumb. And neither is Shinpachi. Gintoki knows that they know about their secret tactic meetings, but do they know that Gintoki knows about Hijikata’s and Shinpachi’s meetings under the guise of Hijikata teaching him some sword techniques? Or do they know that he knows that they know that he knows? It’s a tricky one. And does Hijikata know that Gintoki knows that they know about their meetings too? Another tricky one.

If he’s honest, Gintoki doesn’t mind that some of his prank attempts are thwarted by the other two, or that he sometimes somewhere ends up with extra chores, because the way that Shinpachi has visibly started gaining confidence after his training sessions with Hijikata makes pride swell in his chest. And the walks with Kagura, as much as he loathes the actual walking part, have been…nice. It’s fun to put their scheming brains together and come up with ways to annoy the others. It’s something normal and Gintoki’s extremely grateful for all three of them. Although Gintoki is pretty sure that Kagura would have sided with her beloved Toshi if it weren’t for the fact that she felt sorry for him. And Sadaharu’s only neutral because of Kagura - if not he’d be on the chain-smoker’s side immediately! Gintoki’s the pity pick for fucks sake!

However, this isn’t fun and games. Oh no. This is war.

Hijikata lights a cigarette, Kagura sucks on a stick of sukonbu, Shinpachi glints in the light, and Gintoki sticks a finger in his ear as they gather around the table. Like he said, this is war. The pieces are set, thunder crackles overhead, and all four of them make a dive for the table...

...three hours later (listen, this was meant to be a one-shot and I’m at over 10k words already. Just imagine the most intense board game match of your life and intensify it by 5 times), Hijikata and Shinpachi are high-fiving each other and laughing at Kagura and Gintoki who are laying on the floor in defeat. How could this have happened? Gintoki was sure his plan was airtight. Was there a spy in the midst? He eyes Sadaharu suspiciously - no he would never betray Kagura, even if Hijikata is already his second favorite person.

“Better luck next time, losers.” Hijikata taunts.

“It was a good try, you two, but we saw that plan coming from a mile away.”

FUCK! That’s where it all went wrong! Gintoki didn’t know that they knew that he knew that they knew that he knew that they knew! How could he have overlooked this! Ohhh the ‘Magnificent Munchers’ will get their revenge on ‘Straight Men United’ next time. Just you wait!

“Ugh leave me to mope in peace,” Gintoki whines.

“Kagura-chan and I should be going anyway. Thank you for the meal Hijikata-san. It was delicious.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it. I would say ‘anytime’ but I feel like that may get abused,” he says, looking over to where Kagura is trying to look as innocent as possible.

“I would never, Toshi!” she says, batting her eyelids. She turns her attention to the still-moping Gintoki and prods him with his shoe. “Don’t worry Gin-chan, we’ll get them next time.”  

Hijikata escorts the two to the door since the owner of the home is still sulking. At least he’s sat up now as he watches the kids leave. Kagura is nearly at the door before she darts back in, throwing her hands around Hijikata’s waist. “Thanks for the food, Toshi! It was really great! You’ll have to cook more often for us, see ya!”

The door slides shut before Hijikata can even process what just happened. He turns around to see Gintoki wearing a shocked expression that surely matches his own.

Hijikata fumbles for words. “Did you see-”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t-”

“Yeah.”

“What just-”

“Toshirou, move in with me.” Gintoki blurts.

Hijikata didn’t think the day could throw any more surprises at him, and even Gintoki looks shocked by his words judging by the way he’s covering his mouth with his hands.

“W-what? You want me to move in? What”

Gintoki sighs. There’s no going back now - and seeing how Hijikata and the kids interacted tonight only solidified the thoughts that have been building in his mind. “You said it yourself, about how all you wanted to do was come back here tonight after a shitty day. And I’ve been thinking about how I…ugh… want to fall asleep next to you every night too.” He pauses, carefully thinking over his next words, “The kids obviously love you too, and I know you care about them. And I know we haven’t exactly discussed it before and I know there are logistical issues with you being some big shot tax-thief and all that but I’d just-” he knows he’s rambling but he needs to get it off his chest, “I’d just really love it if you get to come home here safe every day.” There, he’s said it. All he can do now is brace himself for the rejection that will surely come next. Hijikata’s job is extremely important to him, there’s no way he’d move into this little house with two kids and a dog and a nosey old granny, cat, and robot living underneath them.

Hijikata searches his face and it takes everything in Gintoki’s power not to look away from the scrutiny.

“You’re an idiot.”

“Oi! At least be kind when you reject me!”

Hijikata smiles, poking Gintoki’s chest, “You’re an idiot because you’d already decided on my decision. Yes, Gintoki. I’ll move in with you.”

“Huh?”

“Oh come on don’t make me repeat it. There’ll be some nights where I’ll have to stay at the barracks for bureaucratic reasons, but I’ll be sure to let you know those dates as soon as I do. That sound good to you?”

“HUH?!”

Hijikata laughs, the smile reaching his eyes in a way that Gintoki’s rarely seen before. “Now come on, we have the house to ourselves and I think some celebrating is in order wouldn’t you say?” he questions, already leaning in for what would be the first of many, many , kisses that night.

And that, Gintoki understands completely.

Hijikata moving in hasn’t changed much in their relationship at all. Except for the fact that there’s now more time to get on each other’s nerves. And boy do they take advantage of that. It starts in the mornings when Hijikata’s alarm goes off for work - Gintoki has somehow managed to smash 34 of them already. Not only that, but Gintoki clings to Hijikata in the mornings. Honestly, he puts Koalas to shame. And even in his sleepy state, Gintoki’s freakish strength has meant that Hijikata has been late for work on a number of occasions now. Sougo has delighted in ordering him to commit seppuku. But even with Gintoki acting like a limpet, Hijikata always makes sure that he kisses Gintoki’s forehead goodbye (or lips if Gintoki moves fast enough), and has a glass (or two) of strawberry milk waiting for Gintoki for when he eventually surfaces.

There is, shockingly, one benefit of Gintoki never getting up until late in the morning and that’s that he’s always still awake and waiting for Hijikata with freshly cooked food and a warm bath for when the workaholic cop gets home past midnight after yet another double shift. It’s those nights that Gintoki puts aside his usual teasing behavior, and Hijikata - too tired to do anything else - lets himself be taken care of. It’s something that they never discussed, and neither of them expected it when Hijikata moved in, but it came naturally to them.

However, that doesn’t mean that on all the other days Gintoki isn’t a menace and that Hijikata doesn’t fall right into playing along too. Like today, for example.

“Gintoki, where the fuck are my glasses?”

Gintoki looks up from reading Jump on the couch, “How would I know, Toshirou? I’m not the one who wears them.”

“Yet,” Hijikata mutters under his breath. “I don’t know how with the amount of shitty Jump that you read.”

“Oi! I heard that! Jump is not shitty! You’re shitty! Your Magazine is shitty!”

“Magazine is not shitty you take that back right now!”

“Make me.” Gintoki smirks.

Hijikata seems to ponder this for a second, thinking of all the ways he’s rather creatively made the other man either take back his words, or at the very least, shut up. “No. I need my glasses for this report, Gintoki.”

“Well maybe you should have thought of that before you replaced my strawberry milk with,” Gintoki shudders, “low-fat strawberry milk!”

Hijikata shrugs, “It was an experiment to see if all the sugar had rotted your taste buds yet. I guess you passed this one. Now, please, where are my glasses? You know since Kagura is out, the sooner I finish my report the sooner we can move on to more…pleasurable activities.”

That makes Gintoki pause. Ah fuck. Why did the damn cop have to be so fucking sexy even when he wasn’t trying. It wasn’t fair!

“Well?”

“Tch. They’re in the bedroom somewhere. That’s all I’m saying!” he says, pouting and promptly going back to his superior Jump. Although he will admit that Magazine has grown on him, as Jump has on Toshirou. And as much as they insult each other for their tastes, they spend just as much time talking (or arguing) about the stories and characters in each of the books. They’ve even set aside time each week to sit quietly together and read. It’s so domestic that the kids fucking gagged when they found out about it.

But anyway, he digresses. The glasses. Hijikata storms by him and into the bedroom and Gintoki hears things getting tossed around. 

“Oi permhead! You’re not lying right? I can’t find them!”

“Look harder, blind mayora!” Gintoki chuckles as he hears a rather colorful array of curses and grumbles from the bedroom. Around two minutes later Gintoki hears a shout of triumph, and peeks from over the top of his book as Hijikata proudly strides back into the room, glasses in hand. Gintoki doesn’t know why he looks so smug, it took him nearly five minutes for fucks sake!

“Congratulations,” he deadpans, “I nearly died of old age before you found them.”

“As if you’ll die from old age. The diabetes will get you first.” Hijikata retorts, already sitting down at the desk. “And really? You put my glasses on Mayorin? I thought I told you to keep your hands off of him - I don’t want you dirtying him with your gross sugar-crusted hands,” he complains, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Hey! I was the one who bought him for you in the first place! And I thought it was only fair that he gets to see how ugly his owner is,” Gintoki smirks. “But Toshirou you sure talk a load of shit for someone who’s probably only got a quarter of a functioning lung left.”

“Better to have a quarter of a lung than a quarter of brain like yourself.”

Fucking rude! Gintoki’s had enough of the smarmy cops quips tonight so he gets up and walks over to the desk. 

Hijikata, a little surprised at the lack of a comeback, glances at him briefly. “What?”

“How long will you be?”

“Not long, about 20 minutes probably?”

“Perfect.” Gintoki smiles, pushing Hijikata away from the desk and clambering on top of his lap, facing him.

“Oi seriously, bastard? You’re heavy!”

“You were mean to me Toshirou-kun, repent for your sins by letting me rest here until you’re done with your tax-thieving paperwork.”

Hijikata frowns, and pulls back slightly to look at Gintoki who gazes innocently back at him. Hijikata rolls his eyes and Gintoki knows he’s won.

“Fine, just keep still and you can stay.” He says, shifting Gintoki slightly on his lap so they’re both more comfortable. Gintoki pecks him on the lips in response, and settles his head on the other man’s shoulder as Hijikata’s arms wrap around him. He honestly didn’t expect that Hijikata would allow it, but he’s pleasantly surprised at how comfortable he is now. And with the gentle movements of Hijikata’s arm as he writes, he finds himself drifting off to sleep.

The next thing he knows, he’s being woken up by hands running up and down his back as Hijikata slowly pushes himself away from the desk.

Sensing that Gintoki’s finally woken up, Hijikata stops his hand movements and brings both hands up to ruffle Gintoki’s hair. “Good morning.”

“Mmmmm. How long was I asleep for?”

“Only around 15 minutes.” Hijikata averts his eyes. “But I’m done with the paperwork now so…” And Gintoki doesn’t need to be told twice. He leaps off of Hijikata’s lap, snagging the other’s hand in the process, and all but drags him to the bedroom. He can hear Hijikata’s chuckles from behind him and he finds himself chuckling along. Right before they get to the bedroom, he whips around, pressing a quick but hard kiss to Toshirou’s lips who instantly melts into it. 

Breaking apart, Gintoki smirks, “Hey Toshirou?”

“What now?”

“Keep the glasses on.”

*****

It’s Christmas day at Yorozuya’s and Kagura is bouncing up and down waiting for Hijikata to come in from his morning smoke so that they can open presents. Shinpachi came over bright and early too, with permission from Otae of course. When Hijikata slides the door shut, Kagura all but races to push him inside quicker, causing the other two to laugh at Hijikata who nearly trips over not once, but twice due to the girl’s eagerness.

“Alright let’s get started!” Kagura whoops, already tearing into her first present. “A Sadaharu plush? Thank you Toshi!”

“Oi, how did you know that was from him, and not me?” Gintoki squawks.

“As if you could afford this Gin-chan.”

“She’s not wrong, Gin-san. And thank you very much for the Otsu figure, Toshirou-san.”

“Oiiii! I could have gotten that too!”

“You’re welcome Kagura, Shinpachi.”

“DON’T IGNORE GIN-SAN! IT’S CHRISTMAS! THE TIME FOR BEING NICE AND ALL THE SHIT!”

“Toshirou-san, why don’t you open a present next?” suggests Shinpachi.

“Alright.” He grabs the closest one to him - a small box - and tears open the packaging.

And promptly chucks the box of black hair dye at a guffawing Gintoki. Even the kids can’t help but giggle.

“I was only thinking of you!” Gintoki laughs, wiping a tear from his eye, “I know how devastated you were when you found those gray hairs!”

“That’s rich coming from someone with a whole head of gray hair.” Hijikata counters.

“Silver! My hair is silver!”

“Hmmm. I’m not so sure anymore. It seems to have lost its shine. What do you think guys?” he asks, turning to the kids.

“Definitely, Toshi.”

“I agree, Toshirou-san.”

Hijikata smirks at a spluttering Gintoki who glares back in response.

“Whatever. Don’t you brats forget who raised you just because we can afford the fancy meat now.”

And that’s the thing, they can afford the fancy meat now. Now it’s not everyday since Hijikata is a stickler for saving, but once a fortnight Hijikata splurges on food, Gintoki cooks (with everyone else chipping in), and they all have a family meal together. There’s a ceasefire with regards to any mischievous behavior for approximately two hours while they eat (or as much as a ceasefire that there can be with Kagura and food), and then it’s back to business as usual. Normally starting with the inevitable bubble fight as they clean and dry the dishes together

“Gin-chan, I said it’s your turn now.” Kagura says impatiently. Oops, he got a bit lost in his thoughts there. He rips open the nearest package to him in anticipation only to find…

…silver hair dye that promptly gets thrown in the direction of one Hijikata who is failing to stifle his laughter.

“Idiot. What a waste of money. You could have gotten like 10 cartons of strawberry milk instead.” Gintoki says, failing to suppress his own smile.

The present opening goes smoothly after that, Kagura gets a new kimono and some sukonbu which she seems the most pleased about. Sadaharu got a new leash and some toys which were promptly ignored in favor of the wrapping paper. Shinpachi gets a new bokken, styled like Lake Toya but with the kanji ‘obi’ written on it. Hijikata gets a new lighter, one that has both the Shinsengumi logo on and ‘Yorozuya’ engraved on. If he teared up slightly then it was a trick of the light. And finally, Gintoki gets a framed photo of the four of them that was taken at the snowman building competition - honestly, how they didn’t win with their Deluxe Neo Armstrong Cyclone Jet Armstrong Cannon is still a mystery (Gintoki thinks it’s rigged) - as well as 5 tickets to Ketsuno Ana’s upcoming meet and greet.

All in all, after a heartwarming meal of fried chicken and the kids being sent off to Shinpachi’s to celebrate there too, Gintoki can say, as soft as it sounds, that this was one of the best days he’s ever had. As he cuddles up to Toshirou on the sofa he tells him just that.

“Today was pretty great huh? We should do it every year.”

“Hmmm? Every year? Is that a proposal?”

Gintoki lifts his head from Hijikata’s shoulder, only to find the man already staring back at him. Gintoki takes a deep breath.

“I suppose it is, yeah. You want to spend Christmas with me, and I guess the kids, every year for the rest of our lives?”

Hijikata’s eyes turn shiny, and his mouth turns into a soft smile. “About fucking time. Of course I do.”

And if Gintoki’s eyes are a bit watery too as they share a tender kiss curled up under a blanket on the couch, then that’s for them to know, and them to know alone.

And just under five months later, on May 10th, Gintoki seals that promise formally. Only after Hijikata has asked well over 20 questions about where he got the money for the rings from though.

So yes, Sakata Gintoki and Hijikata Toshirou still annoy the absolute shit of each other on a daily basis, but would they change a thing? The rings on their left hands that glint in the light during every scuffle, every argument, every kiss, every moment, clearly tell you the answer: never.