Chapter Text
DAY SIX: GINTOKI’S BIRTHDAY
“Oi, you’re drunk.”
“Ha? I’m not drunk!!” Gintoki slurs. “You are! Y—,” A hiccup. “—ou sexy straight-haired bastard!!” Gintoki pouts, pinching his husband’s cheek.
Hijikata clicks his tongue and swats the other man’s hand.
Sakata Gintoki and Hijikata Toshiro are both at the yorozuya apartment. It’s October 9, Friday, and they both decided to spend their night drinking in the privacy of their little home. Kagura excused herself saying she wanted to spend time with the older Shimura sister, but they all knew she was just avoiding all the homo-ness bound to happen here.
“You know,” Gintoki slurs again. “I love you sooooo much!” He says, grabbing Hijikata’s shoulders and shaking him languidly.
“Oi! You’re drunk!! Let go of me!”
“But Toshiroooo, gimme a kiss!!” The silver-haired samurai whines, pushing his face closer to the other man, lips puckered. Hijikata slaps his palm on Gintoki’s mouth and pushes him away.
Gintoki licks it.
“Ugh! You’re so gross! Let go of me!” The darker haired samurai uses both hands to push at his lover’s chest and successfully stands up. Gintoki falls over theatrically on his back and lies on the floor.
Hijikata doesn’t know how much sake they’ve both had to drink but he knows he has to stay sober enough at least until midnight. He wants to be the first one to greet the perm-headed lazyass. He sighs.
It’s been 5 months since they got married and about 2 years of on-and-off dating. The two samurai could be so similar yet so different at the same time, but that’s what made them work the way they did.
When they first got together, it was so awkward they called it quits a few weeks after.
Given that they’d known each other for years, it didn’t come as a surprise when they both had no idea what to do. The sex was amazing, but any other acts of affection didn’t come to them so simply. Hijikata refused any form of public displays of affection and Gintoki took it as him being rejected.
Constantly.
It felt like nothing had changed except for the fact that they had a little extra exercise at night, and people addressed them as a couple.
When Gintoki stopped making his advances, Hijikata took it as him being unwanted and the two broke up.
A few months later, they became fuck buddies.
A year later, Gintoki finally told Hijikata that he was in love with him.
And now, they’re married. The two bullheaded samurai have butted heads long enough to know that maybe they really are each other’s future.
Hijikata makes his way to the kitchen to get a glass of water. He takes a cup from the rack and fills it up halfway through then takes a sip. As he drinks, he takes a glance at their fridge.
Ever since they got married Gintoki decided to move all of his photos from behind the “Mind Your Sugar Levels” sign board and stick them on the fridge. It’s a little cramped, but it does the trick.
Hijikata lips quirk up when his eyes settle on the photo at the center. It was taken a month after their wedding.
They didn’t have a big wedding, the two of them just went to court and submitted their papers. The rings actually came a few weeks later and Hijikata was still living at the Shinsengumi barracks. When the kids found out that the two wed themselves without telling anyone, they rounded up everyone they knew and threw a party.
It was absolute chaos, but they wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Filling up the cup again, Hijikata makes his way back to the living room where his stupid permhead is still lying on the floor.
“What are you doing?” Hijikata says as he sits beside the silver-haired man. Gintoki is leisurely scrolling through the officer’s phone.
“Where are our pictures?”
“What?”
“Pictures. Where are they?” Gintoki says, glancing at the mayora before staring back at the screen and scrolling once again.
“You’re already looking at them, you stupid perm.” Hijikata responds, glancing at the screen.
“No,” Gintoki pouts. “I meant pictures of us!” He continues, still scrolling through the other man’s camera roll. “You have more pictures of Mayorin than of me!”
“That’s because Mayorin is cuter.” Hijikata responds with practiced ease. He hands over the glass of water to Gintoki and the other man sits up and takes it with thanks.
“I just realized that we don’t have any pictures together,” Gintoki then says, clearly sobering up. He sets the cup down on the table.
“What are you talking about? We have a crapload on the fridge.”
“Nooooo!!” Gintoki whines, falling back on the floor flailing. He rolls on his side to stare up at Hijikata from the floor. “I mean pictures of us !” He gestures wildly between them. “JUST US! You and me!”
It takes a moment for the vice-commander to register his lover’s words before he subsequently turns a subtle shade of pink.
“W-We already have a lot of pictures together. Does it matter if there are other people in it?” He stammers.
“Of course it does! I’m married to you and I don’t even have any proof that you like me as me and not me with other people! It’s like you married me just to get some main-protagonist-privilege or something!” Gintoki rambles. “Besides, what kind of couple doesn’t have annoyingly cute selfies with each other?”
A pause.
Gintoki’s eyes light up and he grabs the phone again. The perm switches to the Camera app and aims at his husband.
“OI! Stop that!!” Hijikata yells, cheeks turning red. His hands fly up to cover his face and the phone.
“Come on, Oogushi-kun!! I just want a picture!” Gintoki goads. The loud consecutive clicking of the phone camera echoing in the room.
“Stop it!!”
“No!”
They tussle on the floor for a bit before Gintoki successfully pins Hijikata down on the floor, one hand holding up both of his lover’s arms above his head.
“You look good like this,” The silver perm says, licking his lips. They’re both panting now, cheeks flushed red. He aims the camera at the other man.
Hijikata looks away, brows furrowing, his blush creeping down his neck. “Please, don’t.”
And Gintoki doesn’t. He gently sets the phone back down on the floor and uses his free hand to cup Hijikata’s cheek, forcing him to look him in the eye.
“Why don’t you want pictures with me?”
Hijikata tries to avert his gaze, but Gintoki’s wine red eyes stare at him imploringly. He can’t look away.
“I-I just don’t like having my picture taken.”
“Why?”
“I-it’s just really uncomfortable,” He answers. It’s not that he doesn’t like pictures with him in it. It’s just that he doesn’t like being at the center of it. He prefers not being the subject of attention, he explains.
Gintoki purses his lips in thought. A breath, then he gives Hijikata a soft smile and pecks him on the lips.
“Okay, you win,” Gintoki surrenders. Letting go of Hijikata’s arms and pulling him up by the armpits. He fills up a cup of sake and hands it over to his lover before filling himself another and taking a swig. He fills it up again.
Hijikata feels a pang in his chest. Guilt maybe? He gulps down whatever is in his cup and sets it on the table.
“Are you mad or something?” Hijikata says tentatively.
Gintoki looks at him mid-sip. He sets the cup down too. “When you love a person,” He starts, “...that means you also love the dirty stuff about them,” he continues, picking at his nose.
“Shouldn’t I be the one saying that to you?” Hijikata responds, nose wrinkling in disgust.
“Nope,” Gintoki wipes his finger under the table and props his head on his hand. “It means I love you even if you’re a disgusting Mayo-obsessed tsundere.”
“W-who are you calling a tsundere, you shameless old fart?! And don’t insult mayonnaise!!”
“See??” Gintoki laughs, but his smile is soft. “And I’m not old! My hair is SILVER not white!!” He argues, but scooches closer to the other man. The silver haired man grabs his lover’s face and pecks him on both cheeks. “I love you.”
“I know.”
“Do you really?”
Hijikata’s eyes widen a fraction and he turns his face to look at Gintoki. The other man was smiling at him but it didn’t reach his eyes. His eyes told a different story.
“You’re drunk,” Hijikata says. “We’re married, you stupid perm. You should already know the answer to that,” He responds in a huff.
Hijikata then fills up two cups of sake and turns to face his husband. He passes one cup to Gintoki, and takes one for himself. The Mayora fiddles with his cup first, trying to articulate with his mouth what his heart already knows.
Gintoki is just patiently waiting for him to say whatever is on his mind.
“If you drink that,” Hijikata starts, “it means you really love me.”
Gintoki immediately takes a swig and empties his entire cup, he keeps eye contact as much as he could. Hijikata watches, ears burning hot, as the other man slams his cup on the table.
“If you drink that,” Gintoki responds, gesturing to Hijikata’s cup, “it means you love me more than Mayorin.”
The darker haired man stops and glares at his lover. “You asshole,” He says, before emptying his cup as well. Gintoki just smirks and fills their cups again.
“If you drink this, it means you don’t regret marrying me,” Gintoki says, passing the cup.
“Why would you even think that, you stupid perm!”
“Drink it or put it on the table, Toshiro.”
Hijikata empties the cup and slams it on the table.
“Likewise, asshole,” He says then. Gintoki fiddles with his cup for a bit, but there’s a genuine smile gracing his lips.
“Why would you even think that, you stupid mayora!” He mockingly echoes, and empties his cup as well. He giggles when Hijikata tries to smack him on the head but misses.
They fill up their cups again. And again. And again. At some point Hijikata gets fed up with the dares, pushes past Gintoki’s arms, and settles himself on the other man’s lap, more than a little tipsy.
“I love you so much,” Gintoki says, cheeks flushed from the alcohol. He cups his lover’s face in his hands and Hijikata closes the distance between them, kissing him fully on the mouth. They stay there for a while, Hijikata on Gintoki’s lap, languidly making out for who knows how long.
Hijikata has his hands buried in silvery white locks, pushing and pulling against the other as their kiss deepens. Gintoki begins to roam his hands over his lover’s body, one travels to stay firmly on the other’s neck and the other slowly hikes his lover’s yukata up his smooth thigh.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Hijikata pants, breaking away and burying his face in the crook of Gintoki’s neck. He kisses the skin right below his ear and Gintoki wraps his arms around the other man’s waist.
“Tell me you love me,” Gintoki responds. Hijikata cranes his neck to look at the other, but Gintoki hides his face under his bangs. A breath. “Say it, please.”
Hijikata’s eyes soften and he sits upright on his lover’s lap. The darker haired man uses one hand to push away silver bangs and the other to cup his lover’s cheek. He presses their foreheads together. “You’re drunk aren’t you? You should already know that.”
Gintoki frowns but Hijikata smiles cheekily at him. He kisses Gintoki’s nose first, then pecks him on the lips. He trails kisses from the side of his lover’s mouth and across his jaw until he reaches Gintoki’s ear and nips at the lobe.
A whisper.
“I love you too, you stupid permhead.”
He suddenly feels something semi-hard pressing against his stomach.
“What the hell, Gintoki!” Hijikata laughs heartily, pushing away from his husband, but Gintoki tightens his hold even more.
They’re both blushing now, looking into each other’s eyes. Gintoki pouts.
“Take responsibility, you stupid Mayora!”
When Hijikata wakes up, it’s already past midnight. The both of them are sprawled on their futon. He feels a numb pain around his waist when he shifts, evidence of their evening staining the sheets.
Ah, I have to do the laundry before Kagura comes home , he thinks.
He blindly searches for his phone to check for the time but ends up grabbing Gintoki’s. Oddly enough, the device was a gift from none other than Okita Sougo. The brat said he was fed up with his stupid vice commander griping that he couldn’t communicate with the perm.
He turns it on to check the time. It’s October 10, Saturday, 1:05am.
Thinking along the lines of his husband earlier, he enters the passcode to check the camera roll, but is greeted with a quote from some social media page the moment it unlocks.
“IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT SOMEONE FEARS LOSING, WATCH WHAT THEY PHOTOGRAPH.
Anonymous”
Hijikata frowns, So is this why he was so clingy? He thinks, but he opens Gintoki’s camera roll nonetheless. His eyes widen and a strong blush begins to develop on his cheeks and down his neck the more he scrolls through.
It’s full of stolen shots of Hijikata and the kids doing the most mundane of things, with multiple blurry shots for each scenario. There’s one of him eating dinner, mouth half open and arguing with Kagura. There are a few of him with the rest of the yorozuya just chilling and watching Ladies 4. There are park pictures from when they took Sadaharu for a walk together, and so much more.
The perm even kept photos of Hijikata just by himself. There were a few of him reading Magazine, some of him having a smoke, and a sizable amount of him sleeping.
“You’re like a stalker, stupid perm!” Hijikata whispers to himself. He scratches his neck and feels that pang in his chest again. He sighs and taps a little on the screen to check Gintoki’s albums. He opens the one labeled ‘Favorites’.
There are only 3 photos in it.
The first, a hasty blurry shot of the center photo on the fridge.
The second, a lovely photo of all of them outside of Otose’s snack bar that one time Kagura wanted a family photo.
And the third, a stolen shot of Hijikata Toshiro laughing. He doesn’t even remember when this photo took place or what made him laugh.
Hijikata feels like shit. A blushing piece of shit.
Stupid random quote on the internet! He complains and glances at the sleeping Gintoki now hugging the strawberry shaped pillow Shinpachi got him for Christmas last year, drool steadily dripping out of his mouth.
Hijikata scooches closer to him and puts his arm under his lover’s head.
“You should’ve just told me how important a stupid picture was to you, bastard,” He whispers, trying hard not to just headbutt the perm. Gintoki just mumbles in his sleep, head moving closer to the other’s arm. Hijikata takes a deep breath.
“You better be thankful it’s your birthday today, asshole,” he says before grabbing Gintoki’s phone again.
When Gintoki wakes up, it’s already late in the morning. He can hear Shinpachi and Kagura arguing outside and Hijikata’s deep voice barely audible from his room.
Gintoki yawns loudly and rubs his eyes. He blinks a few times before sitting up and pulling the blanket off of him. The birthday boy catches sight of his phone by his futon and as he turns it on to check the time, the door to his room slides open.
Gintoki’s eyes widen at the screen and he turns to face whoever opened the door.
“Happy Birthday, Gintoki.”
