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“Kondou-san, I’m heading home for today.” Hijikata announced as he slung his briefcase over his shoulder.
Kondou lifted his head, eyes wide in disbelief as he stared at him for a few seconds. Then, his whole face brightened, lips curving into a huge smile, shooting off his seat. “Oh, so you finally decided to take my advice on going home early and not exhaust yourself again with overtime hours!” Kondou hastily made his way towards him and clapped him hard on his shoulder. “I’m so proud of you, Toshi!”
Hijikata tried for a smile, but it came off more like a grimace. “Yeah, considering it’s Friday, I thought I’d take it easy for once.”
He didn’t really have any plans on going home and spending the night in, but this was important and he couldn’t postpone in for another day. The sooner it was done, the better.
A lot was at stake.
He heard a snort and his eye twitched as he turned around and saw Sougo, leaning back on his seat, feet planted onto the desk with a wide grin adorning his face. “Hijikata-san not doing overtime hours? Unheard of. Reveal yourself, impostor, before I stab you to death for daring to impersonate our sweet Toshi.”
Oi! Who the fuck are you calling Toshi?!
Hijikata’s heart skipped a beat at the implication, but maintained his composure, meeting Sougo’s piercing gaze head-on with narrowed eyes. “Oi, Sougo, get your feet off the desk.”
He nudged Sougo’s legs with his knee but was only ignored and met with a vicious smirk. He pressed his lips into a thin line, but eventually relented, backing down. Nothing good would come out of fighting with Sougo right now, as Hijikata was certain that the younger only wanted to get a rise out of him and make him confirm his lies to Kondou.
Thankfully, neither Sougo nor Kondou had caught wind of his personal investigation on the drug case his unit was assigned to for the past few weeks. This case had been on his priority list for such a long time, more than it would normally take to locate the seller of the exchange, but for some reason, they were always one step behind and that irritated Hijikata to no end.
He only hoped that tonight, this new information, he was about to shed light on, would be enough to aid them in gaining information about the seller, or even better, capturing them at last.
He turned around and started heading towards the exit in the front of the building, whilst waving his hand without turning to look. “Have a good night.”
Hijikata lifted his hand, checking the digital watch on his wrist.
01:37am
Almost four hours had passed since the time he had left from the police station and he was currently walking carefully through an abandoned warehouse. He had picked up this warehouse’s address information from an ex-drug dealer that knew his way around in the underworld. With only a slight bribe, Hijikata had managed to get this out of him.
He scoffed at the memory of it. Some people were so easily persuaded, especially when it came to money. It disgusted him to no end, the fact that people forgot all about morals when faced with some stacks of cash, but he couldn’t deny that this feat had facilitated many of his previous cases towards success.
Suddenly, he heard a loud creaking sound coming from behind him. As he whirled around, he noticed that an old rusty door was being pushed open. Swiftly and silently, he moved behind a large crate, blending in with the shadows.
He quietly observed as about a dozen people filled one side of the huge, empty space in the center of the warehouse. Hijikata took a moment to inspect each face closely, but all were, unfortunately, unfamiliar to him.
Not that it really mattered, as they would all soon be behind bars.
They seemed like they were waiting for something or someone. He remained in his position, covered behind the crate. If his source was actually telling the truth, Hijikata was about to solve this annoying case that has been on his ass for weeks now.
Seconds turned into minutes and, soon, into hours. He checked his watch again and realized that almost two hours had passed since he had arrived and there was still no sign of the second party.
“Who the fuck do they think they are, makin’ us wait for two goddamn fuckin’ hours?! That’s it, I’ve had it with those assholes, thinkin’ they can do whatever—“
“You know, that isn’t such a kind thing to say behind our backs. I wonder what Gin-chan would think… I don’t think he’d be very pleased.”
A few gasps followed after the feminine, childlike voice was heard. Hijikata frowned and shifted to the other side of the crater, observing the two figures that were slowly walking towards the center.
One was a petite, vermilion-haired girl holding an umbrella, whilst the other was a boy with glasses dressed in a white-blue keikogi.
“Please, refrain from using such vulgar vocabulary when referring to us. I assure you Gin-san won’t hesitate to take action against any disposable idiots like yourselves.” The boy in the keikogi informed, his voice steady, yet firm.
He kept his eyes glued on the two of them, hoping to understand why they looked so familiar to him. He felt as if their names were at the tip of his tongue, yet something was physically restraining him from doing so. The girl and the boy had mentioned someone named ‘Gin’, and, according to their choice of words, seemed like he was their boss—
And then, it clicked. The characteristic umbrella and white-blue keikogi were blaring signs. How did he not make the connection earlier?
Well... the few times Hijikata had come across Sakata Gintoki, he doubted he had ever seen with his own eyes Sakata Gintoki’s two underbosses. He had only heard of them from rumors. Gintoki had made sure not to involve him any more than necessary.
Gintoki.
He narrowed his eyes into slits at the name, clenching his jaw in distaste. From the moment they met, that man had caused nothing but trouble for Hijikata. The one time -the one fucking time- he had considered going to the red-light district to let some tension loose after an operation had gone wrong five months ago, of course he had to come across that egoistical, good-for-nothing, mafia boss.
A mafia boss, of all things.
Unfortunately, he had no idea of such a thing at the time and had chosen to spend the night with said man. The next morning, from a sudden slip-up of an underling that came to meet Gintoki, everything went to hell.
From that moment, Hijikata had vowed to bring that man down and put him behind bars no matter what. Yet whenever he seemed to get close, that slight hope was always stripped away from him and left him again at point zero, every goddamn time.
This game of mouse and cat had been going on for the entirety of these past five months, but finally, finally, he was one step ahead. This time, he would make sure to put an end to it all, right here, right now.
As the two parties were still conversing in front of him, having no idea of his presence, he pulled out his phone and sent a few messages to the private chat he had with Kondou. As quickly as possible, he notified the man of the situation and demanded for back-up as soon as possible.
He knew that it was late, almost four in the morning, but could trust Kondou to make a quick evaluation of the text and send the needed back-up. Now, the only thing he needed to do was wait.
As Hijikata was about to place his phone inside his pocket, his wrist was caught in a tight grip, his arm yanked behind his back painfully.
He gritted his teeth as he heard a snicker from behind him. “Oh, what do we have here? A lost puppy?”
He glanced over his shoulder and was met with the vermillion-haired girl’s wide, mocking grin. He frowned up at her, but remained silent. Quickly scanning his surroundings, he noticed that the other boy, that was accompanying the girl, was standing beside them, staring down at him with a glint of curiosity in his eyes.
“So, how much of that did you hear?” The girl questioned, but her firm tone revealed that it was more of a demand than a question.
Hijikata cursed internally for getting carried away and not paying attention to his surroundings. Even a split second, in which he got blinded by the fact that he finally had them right where he wanted them, was enough to ruin it all. But he had managed to inform Kondou, so even if his phone was destroyed, the messages wouldn’t be able to disappear. Now he only needed time, he needed to distract them long enough for the back-up to arrive.
Now that I think about it, I probably should have texted Yamazaki.
His phone was suddenly wrenched away from his hand and passed onto the boy with glasses. After a few seconds, the boy cursed and dropped the phone on the ground, stomping on it and, effectively, breaking it.
“He already called for back-up, they are probably on their way here as we speak. We have to leave, now.”
“What?!” the girl turned her attention back to him, frowning as he flashed at her a smirk.
Eat shit, you china-looking girl!
A cruel grin stretched on the girl’s face. “Patsuan, can I kill him?” He let out a pained grunt as she placed the heel of her foot flat on his back and started pulling roughly at his arms.
“Don’t ask if you’re gonna do it either way!” The boy snapped and lightly hit the girl on her head, effectively making her relent on her hold. “However, something tells me that if we actually kill him, Gin-san would be very displeased.”
His eyes widened for a fraction, but before he could school his face back into a state of indifference, the boy noticed his reaction and flashed him a sweet smile, although the glint of amusement was obvious in the boy’s eyes. “Did you think we wouldn’t know who you are, Hijikata-san? Gin-san may seem childish, but he takes his business quite seriously, you know?”
Like hell, four-eyes! I doubt that piece of shit even knows what ‘serious business’ means!
He snorted, “And since when have I become a part of his ‘business’?”
“He speaks!” the girl exclaimed and the boy merely shook his head. “You are more involved than you actually think. Kagura-chan, knock him out, we don’t have much time left.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, four-eyes!”
“Just do it!”
Before he had any time to react or retaliate, sharp pain exploded from the back of his head, making him dizzy and sluggish. In a few seconds, he was out cold.
When Hijikata regained consciousness, he found himself in an unfamiliar, yet lavish room. He slowly sat up on the king-sized bed and regarded his surroundings. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought that he must have been still dreaming. The bedroom had a luxurious and impressive finishing, with the wall to his side completely open to the view of a beautiful backyard through sliding glass doors, the walls a dark, beige color, and the interior filled with rich wooden furniture.
He didn’t need any more hints to understand to whom this house belonged and that was more than enough reason to want to get out of here as soon as possible. Considering the warm orange and pink colors of the sky, it was probably late in the afternoon of the following day, meaning he was already missing for fifteen hours, give or take.
Sougo must be having the time of his life.
Hijikata slid off the bed and made his way towards the door, carefully turning the handle. It’s not like he expected it to be unlocked, but he wanted to test it just to be completely certain that his only way of escaping was through the sliding glass doors.
When he tried opening the glass doors, they didn’t budge an inch, confirming his suspicions of them being locked as well. He sighed and backed off, turning to inspect the room again. Once he spotted a wooden chair across the bed, positioned in front of a small desk, he hastily made his way towards it.
He didn’t want to alert anyone of his escape, but it seemed like this was the only remaining way to get out.
Taking the chair in his arms, he walked back to the glass doors. He took a deep breath and braced himself before swinging the chair with all of his strength and throwing it against the glass. He brought his arms up, covering his face from any stray glass shards. Then, without wasting any more time, he kicked the remaining shards of glass that were sticking out of the frame and stepped outside in the backyard.
“Now, where to go from here?” He glanced left and right, about to head towards a certain direction when a blood-curdling scream made him freeze.
“What the fuck happened here? Oh no, my precious Armani windows! What kind of monster would do this?!”
Hijikata went rigid at the familiar voice, yet kept his composure and slowly turned around, giving Gintoki a blank look.
“Who the fuck has Armani for their windows, dumbass?” he clamped his mouth shut, biting the inside of his cheek. I don’t have time to waste and play around with that idiot. He let out a sigh and tried again. “Anyway, if you would be so kind as to show me the exit and turn yourself in while at it, you’d be of great help. I’ll even give you a lollipop if you come quietly— isn’t that great, bastard? You get your lollipop, I get to have you behind bars, everyone’s happy.”
Suddenly, Gintoki turned his attention towards him, eyes gleaming with a dangerous glint. He felt a shiver run down his spine as a wide grin full of teeth slowly stretched on Gintoki’s face.
“Hi-ji-ka-ta-kun, you really shouldn’t have done that. If you had just waited like a good boy and asked me politely, I’d have opened all the windows in the world for you.” Gintoki purred and started to slowly advance on him.
That doesn’t even make sense, dumbass! And who the fuck are you calling a good boy?!
Immediately, his hand reached towards his katana at his hip, but his hands only gripped thin air. He clicked his tongue as he realized that his katana was nowhere in sight, having been taken by this silver-haired bastard. By no means was he incapable without his katana, but considering he was deep into unknown, enemy territory, it would be reassuring to know that at least his weapon was with him.
“I don’t know what you’re going on about, and frankly, I couldn’t care less.” He reached for his cigarettes in his front pocket and remembered that he didn’t have anything on him. “Listen here, dipshit, this is going to end one way and it’s with you behind bars. I’ll make sure you never see the light of day again.”
“Oh, c’mon, don’t be like that, Toshi, I just want to talk. I’m sure we can find another way for you to repay for my beloved Armani windows you just so brutally butchered without having to result in a fistfight, right?” Gintoki stopped a few meters away from him and tilted his head to the side, that shit-eating grin still evident on his face.
Change of plans, katana be damned, Hijikata was about to shove his whole fist down this bastard’s throat.
“Who the fuck are you calling Toshi?! And it’s your fault for having fucking Armani for your windows in the first place, what did you expect me to—“ Hijikata bit his lower lip and averted his eyes, scowling at the ground.
What the fuck was he getting so worked up for? He didn’t have time to entertain this idiot, so why was he still here, arguing?
Is he trying to distract me from something?
“I can hear you overthinking from here, Hijikata-kun.”
His hands tightened into fists, jerking his head towards Gintoki. “Some of us are at least thinking in comparison to mindless idiots like you. Do you really think you can get away with this?”
His chest slightly heaved as he glared at Gintoki’s nonchalant and bored expression. For a few seconds, a pregnant silence fell over the two, with Hijikata on edge whilst Gintoki merely picked at his nose.
Hijikata gritted his teeth, simmering with anger. “Take this seriously, asshole! Do you understand the situation you’re in?!”
Gintoki cocked his head to the side, the tip of his lips curving upwards into a faint smirk. Suddenly, his whole demeanor had changed into something dangerous, eyes narrowed into slits, sharp and calculating, glued on Hijikata’s very being.
“I think you are the one that doesn’t understand the situation you’re in. While it’s true that I have committed many crimes, one of them being holding an officer of the law captive,” Gintoki nodded towards him, “you’re missing one tiny detail.”
Hijikata waited silently as Gintoki made a pause.
Just spit it out already! This isn’t some kind of movie, there’s no need for a dramatic pause!
“You don’t have any solid evidence on me, isn’t that right, vice-chief?”
He frowned, pursing his lips. What the fuck was this idiot going on about? Of course he had evidence, Hijikata was certain that he had informed Kondou fully on the situation.
“Even though everything you said was true, when your friends arrived at the warehouse, they found nothing but old and empty crates. They can’t exactly barge into our headquarters and start arresting us merely on baseless information from a lunatic police officer, can they?” Gintoki placed one hand on his hip and with the other swiped through his silver locks. “So, as you can see, I’m afraid you’ll have to remain here for the time being, as you already know too much, but don’t worry, we’ll have a great time together!”
Hijikata gaped at the man, his stomach dropping as a sense of dread started to suffocate him. This couldn’t be real, there was no way that this idiot had managed to outsmart him again.
Was this why he had managed to find information about this drug deal on his own? Was it actually all set up from the start, only to make him believe that he finally had the upper hand?
He was actually the one being toyed with all this time.
He knew that, if he somehow managed to find a way to communicate with his team and ask them to infiltrate the mafia’s headquarters, Kondou would follow without any second thought, but Hijikata couldn’t put them through such danger.
If he was being completely honest with himself, he had no idea where he even was supposed to be. There was no telling that this house was even part of the headquarters and, considering that sly bastard, he wouldn’t be brought to such an obvious and accessible location.
Was there really nothing he could do?
His shoulders sagged, hands falling at his sides. “Why? Why go through all this trouble and keep me here? You could have easily ordered for my execution and then whatever evidence I had against you would have died with me.” Hijikata lifted his head, locking eyes with Gintoki’s maroon ones. “What could you possibly gain out of this, you sick bastard?”
Gintoki continued to silently stare at him for a few seconds and then let out a heavy sigh, breaking eye contact and turning to gaze towards the darkening sky. “What could I possibly gain, huh?” A small smile formed on Gintoki’s lips, gaze softening.
“The reason is actually less ill-intended than whatever your little brain has probably presumed. I didn’t actually want to resort to this, but it’s the only way that you’d be willing to listen and not run away.” Gintoki turned his eyes back on him, something oddly…genuine swimming into those two maroon-like orbs.
He merely scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Last time I checked, you are the one who’s always running away, trying to escape your inevitable arrest.”
Gintoki shook his head. “That was a figure of speech, Hijikata-kun, didn’t they teach you that in school? Don’t tell me…” he let out a dramatic gasp, his mouth dropping in horror. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know,” the man’s lips curled upwards, his face scrunching into a mocking expression as he tried to hide it by placing a hand in front of his mouth.
The fuck’s this disgusting face for?! Are you really proud of yourself for this?! What are you, a five-year-old?!
“Oi, do you wanna die?” he threatened, but Gintoki just waved his hand dismissively, making his blood boil.
“I thought I was being straightforward all these months, but it seems like even the great Hijikata Toshiro has flaws,” Gintoki let out a shaky chuckle, “That’s good to know.”
He tightened his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms. What the fuck is wrong with that asshole and his gross expression? His soft smile and eyes that betrayed relief? Relief?! Relief from what?! And what is he babbling on about, saying that it’s good to know that he has flaws, too. Even if he hates to admit it, he’s not perfect, so of course he’d have flaws.
There’s no point trying to understand him, he’s just so—
“Hey, Hijikata, have you really not figured it out yet?”
What’s there to figure out, shithead?! You’re making no sense!
“If you have anything to say, come out and say it!” he exploded, teeth set in a snarl.
Gintoki grumbled under his breath and buried his hand in his hair, tugging on it. This continued on for a few more minutes and Hijikata was about to ask if he wanted a moment for himself. Suddenly, Gintoki jerked his head upwards, making direct eye contact with him, a new-found glint of determination flashing in his eyes.
He stiffened as Gintoki slowly started approaching him, yet even though everything was yelling at him to back away, his legs remained planted on the ground, refusing to listen. His heart picked up pace, pounding against his ribcage as Gintoki paused barely at an arm’s length away, their bodies almost touching.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he accused, although his voice came out as a mere whisper, shaky.
“This is me coming clean.”
“Wh—“
Before he had any time to react, Gintoki leaned forward and gently pressed their lips together. Hijikata’s brain short-circuited, body rigid from the shock. Before he had any time to realize what had happened, Gintoki was pulling back, his cheeks dusted with a light pink color.
As his mind finally understood what had just happened, his eyes went round and felt his whole face heating up.
Oiiii! What the fuck was that, you fucker!? Why the fuck are you blushing like a teenage girl?! I’m gonna kill you!
Hijikata let out a shaky breath, fury thrumming through his veins. “Are you fucking mocking me, asshole?”
Gintoki’s eyes widened in alarm, “I’m— I’m being completely serious here! What the fuck do you think I did that for?”
“I don’t know, to get on my nerves?! Like always?!” he fumed.
Gintoki’s mouth dropped open, staring at him in disbelief for a few seconds. Hijikata felt his eye twitch and grabbed the other man by his collar, hauling him close.
“Say something before I bust your face in!” he yelled, shaking Gintoki.
“This isn’t so easy for me to say, you know? I’m struggling here, Hijikata-kun, struggling!” Gintoki protested, wrapping his hands around Hijikata’s wrists.
“Then struggle more!”
“That doesn’t help me in any way! And it makes no sense!”
“You make no sense!”
Gintoki sighed, withdrew his hands from Hijikata’s wrists, and instead placed them on either side of Hijikata’s face, muttering ‘okay, here goes nothing’ under his breath before continuing, “I…I think your eyes are…as pretty as the morning— morning sun. I want to…get lost in them and n-never wake up from this b-beautiful dream…”
They remained completely still for a few seconds, staring at each other as Hijikata still held onto his collar and Gintoki cupped his cheeks.
“Have you gone insane, dumbass?! What the fuck was that?! And my eyes are blue! Are you colorblind now, too?!” he raged, tightening his grip on the man’s collar.
Gintoki let out a whine, letting his hands fall away. “It was Kagura’s idea, okay? I was out of ideas and Kagura said that guys like you are the romantic type, so I tried writing you a poem!”
“You call that a poem? That was just a vomit of words! And why the fuck would you think that any of China’s advice is a good idea to follow?!” he hissed.
“I was desperate, okay?! I didn’t know how else to get through your thick skull that I’ve been in love with you for months!”
Hijikata blinked, “What?”
“What?”
He pushed Gintoki away roughly, his fingers tingling from where he had touched Gintoki’s collar. He glanced down and noticed that his hand was trembling. Why the fuck was he letting this get to him? It was obvious the bastard was just trying to get a rise out of him.
“At least try saying more believable lies.” He said, bring a hand over his mouth, the faint memory of warm lips upon his making him shiver.
“…lies?” Gintoki voiced out loud. “You still think I’m lying?”
He scoffed, throwing Gintoki an unimpressed look. “Of course you’re lying, what else could this be? I know we…slept together once five months ago, but that was a mistake.”
Gintoki lowered his gaze, silver locks falling over his eyes. “A mistake, huh…”
Hijikata felt his face heat up again as unwanted images from that cursed night filled his mind and awkwardly cleared his throat. “Yeah, a mistake. Now, spill out the real reason why I’m here, so we can be done with it.”
Suddenly, Gintoki closed the gap between them and grabbed him tightly by the shoulders. “You want the real reason? I’ll give you the real fucking reason— I’m in love with you, oblivious dickhead! I’ve been in love with you for months now, but just like now, you refuse to accept it! Do you really think I’m the type to lie about something like this?” Hijikata’s breath hitched as Gintoki leaned closer, their faces inches apart. “What are you so afraid of, Hijikata?”
He averted his eyes, glaring holes into Gintoki’s collarbone.
Was that even a fucking question? Of course Hijikata was scared. Scared of what this could mean, scared of what this could be, if he allowed it. He and Gintoki lived in two completely different worlds, not even a friendship could work between two people like them, much less whatever…this was.
So, whatever attraction he had felt for this egotistical idiot, he shoved it in deep, under thousands and thousands of layers. Because that was all there was to it, just plain attraction.
All of a sudden, he felt a hand gently guiding his head against a shoulder and another arm being wrapped around his waist.
“You know, for a police officer, you sure are doing a shitty job on masking your emotions. I could literally read all of your inner struggles just by looking into your eyes.” Gintoki whispered, his breath fanning over his ear, sending chills down his spine.
“Shut up.” he rasped, struggling against Gintoki’s hold, but the albino only gripped him tighter.
“Are you afraid what others will think of you if they see you in this vulnerable state?” Gintoki pressed on.
“Stop it,” he weakly protested.
“Or are you afraid that it’ll be true? That if you start believing my words, you’ll get your hopes up only to get them crushed, thinking that I lied to deceive you?”
“I’ll fucking kill you if you say any more.” He grumbled against Gintoki’s shoulder, clutching onto the man’s back tightly.
“Bullseye, huh?” Gintoki wondered out loud.
Hijikata gnashed his teeth and jerked his head back, glaring at Gintoki. “You’re so fucking insufferable! Who do you think you are, you piece of shit? You’re so fucking lucky, if only I had my katana, you’d be butchered to pieces before you could even realize it, you lazy, egotistical— wipe that disgusting smile off your face, it’s giving me the creeps!”
Gintoki’s smile widened into a grin, “Aw, now why would you say that, Hijikata-kun? Hearing such foul words from the person I love isn’t encouraging at all.”
He felt his face heat up again as Gintoki’s eyes narrowed, sparkling with a playful glint.
“As soon as I find something sharp, I swear to god, it’s going down your throat.” He stated.
“I’d rather have something else shoved down my throat.” Gintoki waggled his eyebrows, making a suggestive expression.
“You fucking—“
Before he could continue, he felt warm lips against his, pressing softly. He slightly leaned back, breaking the kiss. Peering into Gintoki’s eyes, he muttered a low ‘I hate you’ before surging in, connecting their lips again. He brought his hands up, letting them rest on the base of Gintoki’s neck and cocked his head to the side.
Hands snaked down from his shoulders to his waist, thumbs caressing his hips. He let out a sigh through his nose and allowed himself to get lost in the moment, pushing aside any of his fears and problems.
For now, he just wanted to savor and remember this moment of safety before reality stripped it away from him.
Eventually, they broke apart to catch their breaths, panting against each other. Gintoki leaned his forehead against his, and he slowly opened his eyes, gazing into Gintoki’s maroon ones.
“I still hate you, you know.” He confessed and Gintoki chuckled, a soft smile curving on his lips.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”