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Chapter Text

Hijikata doesn’t know how he ended up in front of the Yorozuya in the middle of the night.

Well, that’s a lie. He’d gotten jumped by some Joui rebels during his patrol, which isn’t such an uncommon occurrence when you’re the Shinsengumi vice-commander but it’s a bother, nonetheless. He was just about to call it in when he’d noticed his phone got broken in the fight.

So there he stood, in the middle of Edo, covered in blood, with no way to get himself a lift back home. Hijikata didn’t want the cops called on him and the Yorozuya- well the Yorozuya had been closer than the Shinsengumi barracks.

So here he was.

It’s late, and no one answers for a long while, and Hijikata is just about to mentally prepare for the embarrassment of getting the Shinsengumi called on him, when the door finally slides open.

The Yorozuya is only wearing his black pants and shirt and his hair’s even more of a mess than it usually is. He looks good, Hijikata notes absentmindedly, or he would, if it wasn’t for the dark circles underneath his eyes.

The man takes his time looking Hijikata up and down, expression unreadable, before he asks, sounding thoroughly uninterested, “You here to kill me?”

Hijikata almost turns around and leaves. But he knows Sougo would never let him live it down if someone called the Shinsengumi to arrest its own vice-commander, so he swallows his pride and answers, completely ignoring the Yorozuya’s question, “I need a change of clothes.”

The man in the doorway just raises his eyebrows and comments lamely, “You sure do.”

Hijikata feels like committing a felony, but he grits his teeth, and says, as calmly as he can manage, “From you, idiot.”

The Yorozuya gives him a blank stare, until Hijikata adds, reluctantly, ”I’ll pay for it.”

The door slides open a bit more, and the Yorozuya’s halfway to his living room before Hijikata realizes his request has been accepted. He takes his shoes off at the entrance and follows the silver haired man into the apartment all the way to the master bedroom, where the owner is already busy digging through his closet.

It’s strange, being here after dark, all alone with the Yorozuya. Hijikata’s only ever set foot into the common area, and even then only reluctantly and when both the kids were present. The TV next to the Yorozuya’s desk is showing some late-night program or other and the futon in the master bedroom is laid out, but doesn’t look like anyone’s used it in quite some time.

Hijikata’s fairly sure he knows what kind of night he interrupted. He doesn’t comment on it. It’s not like the Yorozuya’s sleeping habits are his business in any way.

The Yorozuya, who seems to own only one outfit, finally finds a clean set of clothes and gets back up. He turns around with a yukata in his hand and finally, embarrassingly late, Hijikata realizes the major flaw in his plan. It’s white, with a familiar pattern Hijikata, like most of Edo, knows all too well.

It’s too recognizable, but he’s also too far into all of this to back out now.

The Yorozuya hands him the yukata, seemingly completely oblivious to Hijikata’s inner turmoil, and says, “Kagura’s not home, so you can change in the living room.”

Hijikata turns to leave the bedroom and the Yorozuya adds, “If you get any blood on my furniture, you’re paying for that,” but without any heat. Hijikata briefly wonders how long it’s been since the silver haired man last slept before he closes the bedroom door in his face and leaves Hijikata alone to change.

If it was strange being alone with the Yorozuya it’s even more off-putting being in the usually very rowdy living room all alone in the middle of the night. Some woman on late-night TV tries to sell him some kitchen appliance or another as Hijikata quickly changes from his blood soaked Shinsengumi uniform into the familiar white and blue yukata.

Hijikata steals a plastic bag from the kitchen to put his uniform into, turns off the TV and puts whatever’s in his wallet on the table. Then he leaves.

He doesn’t say goodbye.

All the way to the Shinsengumi barracks he’s acutely aware of the Yorozuya’s yukata against him, how this will look to the others. Part of him hopes the man got some shut-eye.

When he finally reaches the barracks the guards give him a strange look, but don’t say anything, too afraid of his usually explosive temper. Hijikata’s glad. He’s had a long night and is looking forward to his own futon in his own room.

He doesn’t meet anyone on the way through the building, everyone either asleep or on patrol and by the time he reaches his room, Hijikata thinks his earlier worrying might have been unnecessary. 

He opens the door. Kondo and Sougo are there. Their eyes land on him.

Hijikata almost turns around and leaves again.

“Toshi!” Kondo exclaims, at the same time Hijikata questions, his voice icy, “What are you doing here?”

Hijikata is keenly aware of Sougo eyeing him up and down as Kondo answers, painfully awkward, “Well you were supposed to be back from patrol two hours ago.”

“Yes, Hijikata-san, we were worried for you,” Sougo drawls, with a smirk on his lips, and then, like the little bastard he is, he asks, “Where were you?”

Hijikata thinks he knows exactly what conclusion those two idiots landed on after seeing him in the Yorozuya’s yukata. Kondo avoids his eyes, seemingly embarrassed. Hijikata hopes he’s not going to try to give him the talk tomorrow.

“I ran into some trouble on patrol,” he answers, finally, and Sougo, the little shit, just raises his eyebrows. “Is that why you’re wearing the boss’s clothes?”

Kondo gets up suddenly, explosively, and tugs on Sougo’s arm, violently enough to pull him up as well. “Toshi doesn’t have to explain anything to us!” he exclaims, probably loud enough for all of the barracks to hear, and sprints out of the room with Sougo in tow.

Hijikata sighs heavily. It’s going to be a long week.

He sends Yamazaki to pick up the Joui rebels that ambushed him earlier that night and the man gives him a strange look the entire time Hijikata gives him his assignment, clearly more focused on his attire.

He doesn't comment on it, though, and Hijikata's almost thankful for the small courtesy.

When Hijikata finally gets to lay down to sleep he can't help but think he should have just let himself get arrested and dealt with that embarrassment.

The rumors around the Shinsengumi barracks follow him for weeks.

Chapter Text

Hijikata usually tries to avoid Yoshiwara. It’s the Yorozuya’s territory, for one, and even if it wasn’t, Hijikata hears they have a more than capable police force down there and don’t need the Shinsengumi’s help.

But there was a Joui sighting reported. And Hijikata is nothing if not committed to his job. So here he is.

It’s barely an hour before he runs into the Yorozuya, because of course the man’s there on a job the one time Hijikata makes the trip to the underground city.

They meet in some back alley, Hijikata trying to follow a Joui rebel and Gintoki doing god knows what, when the silver haired man catches sight of him and grins, in that annoying way of his.

Hijikata, against his will, notes that the bags beneath the samurai’s eyes are still there. He’s decidedly not worried.

“My, my, is this what cops do with all those taxes they steal?” he asks, full of shit, and Hijikata tries to be the bigger man for once, tries to ignore him and walk past so he doesn’t lose the track but at the last moment, the Yorozuya reaches out and catches him by the arm.

It kind of escalates from there, as it always does, when they meet.

Hijikata’s already in a bad mood, just because he’s in Yoshiwara, and he’s not entirely over the glances he still gets in the Shinsengumi barracks, so naturally he gives up on being the bigger man instantly.

He shoves the Yorozuya against the wall.

The man exclaims, “What the fuck, tax thief,” and out of the corner of his eye Hijikata can just see the man he was shadowing glance in their direction, before he turns a corner.

Hijikata moves to follow on instinct, his first priority being his job, as always, but forgets the Yorozuya still has a hand clasped around his arm so he gets pulled back almost instantly.

Which is how he ends up wrestling a fully grown man in a back alley of the red-light district.

Hijikata would like to say this is one of his lower moments in life, but just the day before Sougo, the brat, had made an innuendo involving the Yorozuya and Hijikata had blushed, so this doesn’t even make it anywhere close to his list of Things I Drink To Forget.

They fight for a few minutes in the tight quarters of the alleyway, shoving at each other like they’re kids in a schoolyard, neither of them completely sure of the reason for this scuffle, until the Yorozuya lands a solid kick against Hijikata’s knee and his legs give out.

Hijikata is about to leap up and try to hit the man square in his nose, because if the Yorozuya fights dirty then Hijikata doesn’t see why he himself shouldn’t, when there’s a shout of “Gin-san!” at the entrance to the alley and that’s all the warning both of them get before a light haired child, accompanied by a blonde woman with a scar, turn to corner.

Their eyes land on the scene in front of them, Hijikata on his knees in front of the Yorozuya, in a back alley in Yoshiwara, both of them out of breath. With horror Hijikata realizes that at some point in the scuffle, the Yorozuya’s belt got undone.

For a second, there’s complete silence as Hijikata and the Yorozuya turn to stare at the intruders, too shocked to shift out of their incriminating position.

The woman, first to react, clasps a hand over the young boy’s eyes and shrieks, “What are you showing to Seita?!” her face beet red. That’s all the warning Hijikata gets before there are Kunai rushing in his direction and he’s too caught up with dodging to try to explain himself.

This must be the famed Courtesan of Death, then. Isn’t that just Hijikata’s luck.

The Yorozuya exclaims, “This isn’t what it looks like!” and when Hijikata turns to look at him, there’s a Kunai stuck in his head. It would be comical, if Hijikata wasn’t under the threat of the same fate.

When Hijikata finally manages to get back on his feet he steals a glance at the woman with the scar. She’s calmed down enough to at least stop throwing weapons at him, but her face is still an unhealthy color of red, and her hand is still blocking the child’s vision. She clearly doesn’t believe the Yorozuya.

Considering everything he’s heard about her, Hijikata’s just happy she’s willing to listen.

The kid grabs at her hand and tries to pull it away, but the Courtesan of Death is clearly a lot stronger than him. Hijikata would wager he’d struggle as well. “What’s going on?” he whines.

The woman doesn’t even try to hide her distaste for both him and the Yorozuya when she answers, “Something you’re too young to see.”

“He lives in Yoshiwara,” the Yorozuya, who apparently doesn’t treasure his life very much, comments unhelpfully, and the woman raises her hand threateningly. With dread, Hijikata notes she’s holding more Kunai. He wonders, absentmindedly, where she keeps them.

Then, finally, his survival instinct kicks in.

“He kicked me in the knee,” Hijikata explains, rushed, and runs away because apparently, he’s a coward.

Mentally, he tries to justify that it’s actually because he’s already wasted enough time here and is worried he’s never going to find the Joui hideout now, but the Yorozuya seems to see right through him as he yells “Coward!” at Hijikata’s retreating back.

Hijikata’s surprised when the woman doesn’t move to stop him, but he doesn’t ponder it.

He’s heard enough about the Hykka and the Courtesan of Death to have developed a healthy sense of respect for them. There’s a reason the Shinsengumi isn’t usually active in Yoshiwara.

Hijikata has the sneaking suspicion they won’t be active around these parts in the future either.

He catches one last look at the woman. The Yorozuya behind him is stammering through an explanation and there’s very clear doubt on her face before Hijikata turns the corner the Joui rebel had turned earlier.

Hijikata doesn’t think about the rumors he’s heard about the Yorozuya and the scarred woman. He doesn’t think about how desperate Gintoki seemed to clear up this situation in her eyes. He doesn’t.

He just hopes the Courtesan of Death isn’t as prone to gossip as the Shinsengumi are.

Chapter Text

Hijikata is in the Yorozuya living room, which is probably his first mistake.

Kondo had told him to hire the Yorozuya for Shinsengumi business, which was already embarrassing enough, but to add insult to injury, Kondo had winked at him as Hijikata got up to leave.

Hijikata knows nothing good can come from visiting the Yorozuya, but he’s the Shinsengumi vice-commander, and when his chief gives him an order, he follows it.

So now, however reluctantly, he’s in the Yorozuya living room.

The man himself had seemed rather surprised when he saw Hijikata in front of his door, but, through some grace of god, didn’t comment on it, just made a snide remark about how incompetent cops must be these days. Hijikata had grit his teeth, left his shoes at the entrance, and followed the man into the main area.

The kids don’t seem to be around, and for a second Hijikata is reminded of that night weeks ago. The TV is off now and the Yorozuya is wearing his full outfit, yukata half off in what Hijikata suspects is a very conscious display of nonchalance, but the bags beneath his eyes are still there. Hijikata can’t remember when he’s last seen the Yorozuya without them. He’s not worried.

Hijikata thinks, briefly, about the white yukata neatly folded in his own closet. Some blood had gotten on it, and Hijikata had left enough money to pay for it anyway, so he’d never actually returned it. For some reason even Hijikata can’t name, he hadn’t thrown it away either.

For a second they both stand in awkward silence.

Then Hijikata explains the situation. Kondo wants the Yorozuya to go undercover as a Joui. Yamazaki’s already pretty well known in Joui circles and while they’re all almost embarrassingly easy to fool, Kondo had thought maybe it was time for an actual Joui to do their dirty work for once.

Or that’s what he’d told Hijikata. Hijikata himself would bet his entire supply of cigarettes he was just looking for an excuse to send his vice-commander to the Yorozuya. He doesn’t tell the other man about that, though.

When Hijikata’s done with his explanation the Yorozuya looks at him, bored, and says, “I’m not a Joui, though.”

Hijikata just raises his eyebrows in clear disbelief. “You’re literally known as the Shiroyasha.”

“I was,” the other man admits, “like ten years ago. I’m an upstanding citizen now.”

Hijikata almost laughs. “Katsura probably spends more time here than he does in his actual hideout,” he says instead, deadpan.

“How is that guy annoying me my fault?” Gintoki asks, clearly getting agitated, and Hijikata’s been through this spiel often enough to know where it leads.

“We both know you probably break three laws before breakfast alone,” he answers, because he’s tired of this and then pleads, “Just do it, Yorozuya.”

His attempt at defusing the situation doesn’t work.

The Yorozuya exclaims, “Oi!” and takes a step towards Hijikata, presumably to grab his collar or something of the kind, considering how easy he is to provoke, but at the last second he trips over his own feet and comes crashing right into Hijikata’s arms.

Hijikata, too surprised by this turn of events, loses balance and together they go tumbling onto one of the couches in the room. The Yorozuya’s spread over him, arms on either side of Hijikata’s head, legs on either side of his waist and for a second, they just stare at each other, completely dumbfounded.

Then, in what Hijikata will admit wasn’t a particularly thought out move, he knees the Yorozuya right in the crotch.

The Yorozuya immediately bends over in pain, forehead connecting with the couch next to Hijikata’s head, and groans, low, right into his ear.

Hijikata, against his will, blushes.

Suddenly, the door to the living room opens.

Katsura makes it all the way to, “Gintoki, are you ready to finally rise against the bakufu-“ before he fully takes in the scene in front of him.

Upon his earlier statement being proven right, Hijikata turns a self-satisfied look towards the Yorozuya, who’s still bent over, making a pained little sound, before he realizes how this must look.

His knee’s still on the Yorozuya’s crotch. A drawn out whimper comes from the Yorozuya himself, who seems to be more invested in his balls than his childhood friends image of him.

Katsura screeches.

“You would betray our cause like this Gintoki?” he exclaims, shocked, just as Hijikata finally does the appropriate thing and pushes the Yorozuya off him, down on the floor.

The man groans in pain and now that he doesn’t have to support his weight anymore his hands instantly fly towards his crotch. Hijikata would feel guilty, if he wasn’t so focused on Katsura.

“Or are you seducing him for our cause?” Katsura stage-whispers now, completely ignoring both Hijikata and the Yorozuya, who’s still on the floor, making a low hissing noise and not even attempting to get back on his feet.

Finally, Hijikata stands up. His blood feels like it’s boiling, he can practically feel the heat radiating off his face. He’s angry at this entire situation, and at himself for getting so wound up about the Yorozuya and quite frankly at the universe itself. So he does the rational thing, and shifts all of that rage to Katsura.

He draws his sword, slowly, threateningly, and Katsura, who doesn’t seem to be paying him any attention even though he must look absolutely murderous, mumbles something about how he admires Gintoki’s dedication to the cause.

The man in question is still on the floor, periodically making low noises. His eyes are screwed shut. His face is a little bit red. Apparently Hijikata had hit him harder than intended.

Hijikata resists the urge to feel guilty and instead follows the terrorist’s example by ignoring the silver samurai completely in favor of yelling, “Katsura!” and going to attack.

That night he tells Kondo that his undercover Yorozuya plan won’t be happening.

Sougo, who’s also there for some reason, and who Hijikata is convinced is the reason Kondo even came up with the plan to begin with, just grins, in that evil way of his.

Hijikata, not for the first time, considers quitting.

Chapter Text

“Where are the kids?” Hijikata asks conversationally, and the Yorozuya gives him a strange look, somewhere between surprised and suspicious, like he wasn’t expecting Hijikata to initiate conversation. Hijikata can’t blame him.

They’re in a cabaret club, specifically the one glasses’ sister works at and because of a rather strange turn of events they’re running security right now, dressed in frankly ridiculous suits.

Originally Hijikata had come here to keep an eye on Kondo, but at some point in the evening the Yorozuya had showed up, so Hijikata had gotten a little sidetracked. The man in question must be spending more time at this club than Kondo at this point, not that Hijikata’s keeping tabs.

At some point the gorilla woman had chased Kondo out of the bar and never come back, and just as Hijikata himself was about to leave, either to check up on Kondo or to get some sleep on one of his rare nights off, his path had been blocked by a bunch of cabaret girls, smiling ever so sweetly.

They’d had big eyes when they’d asked him to stay, and Hijikata was halfway through his refusal, when the Yorozuya’s hand had landed on his shoulder, heavy, and kept him there.

Turns out the Gorilla woman functions as somewhat of a bouncer, next to her cabaret girl duties, and now that she was gone the girls felt unprotected. Why they turned to him and the Yorozuya with this is still a mystery to Hijikata but the Yorozuya had accepted as soon as there was mention of payment and Hijikata had felt guilty enough on behalf of Kondo to get roped into this as well.

The club’s not big enough to run patrols, so now they’re standing in a quiet corner close to the employee area, from which they can see every booth in the club.

“It’s like 3 AM,” the Yorozuya answers finally, “they’re at Otae’s. Hopefully asleep.”

He’s casually leaning up against the wall next to Hijikata wearing a white suit. His eyes are hooded as he observes the ongoings in the club and paired with the red mood lighting all around them, Hijikata can’t stop himself from thinking he looks good like this.

Hijikata would never admit it out loud, but the issue’s been weighing on his mind, and he feels like the Yorozuya owes him for this entire bouncer job, so he asks, “Something wrong? I didn’t seen China around yours the last time I was there.”

The Yorozuya gives him a long look, searching. For what Hijikata doesn’t know. “She’s over there a lot these days,” the Yorozuya admits and then, tilting his head back enough it hits the wall and looking at the ceiling, defeated, he adds, “She’s trying to give me space.”

Hijikata can’t help but raise his eyebrows at that. Thankfully he doesn’t need to ask.

The Yorozuya closes his eyes, briefly, before he explains, “She wants me to bring someone home.” Hijikata snorts.

The other man gives Hijikata a wry look out of the corner of his eyes, and Hijikata can’t help but notice the Yorozuya’s gaze lingering on his lips a second too long before he reaches out his hand.

Instinctively, Hijikata is on high alert, ready to draw his sword, but then the Yorozuya’s fingers reach the cigarette hanging from Hijikata’s lips, and steal it.

In the most surprising turn of events yet, the Yorozuya takes a long drag, his eyes closed appreciatively. “Can’t do this when they’re around,” he mumbles, seemingly to himself.

Hijikata does his best not to stare at the Yorozuya’s mouth as he takes another drag. He fails miserably.

“She thinks I’m lonely,” the Yorozuya spits out, and Hijikata can’t help himself. He laughs.

The Yorozuya turns towards him fully, then, startled, with big eyes, and Hijikata takes the chance the other man’s momentary distraction offers and steals his own cigarette back. “and are you?” he asks, teasing, before he takes a drag.

Gintoki doesn’t react, only stares at him for a second, apparently not following, so Hijikata clarifies, “Are you lonely?”

The other man, still staring at Hijikata as if he’s seeing him for the first time, opens his mouth, finally, but is interrupted by one of the girls a couple of tables over shrieking.

They had gotten so caught up in their banter they forgot their job. There’s a fraction of a second where the Yorozuya meets his eyes, heavy with something Hijikata can’t name, before he pushes himself up from his leaning position and they’re both running towards the booth.

A man is harassing one of the girls. He’s tall, with messy hair and a loud laugh, and he tries to hug one of the cabaret girls, Oryo or something, if Hijikata remembers correctly. She’s clearly against the notion, trying to push him away with all her might.

Hijikata just notices the Yorozuya’s face turning sour with some kind of recognition, but it’s too late, Hijikata’s already got his hand around the man’s wrist, forcibly pulling him away from the girl, who looks thankful.

Finally the man turns towards him. He’s wearing dark glasses and doesn’t stop smiling, even as Hijikata says, threateningly, “Don’t touch her.”

The man ignores him, instead looking around them, searching for what Hijikata doesn’t know, until his eyes land on the Yorozuya.

“Ah Kintoki!” he exclaims, excitedly, and only laughs when the Yorozuya answers in his usual annoyed tone of voice, “It’s Gintoki.”

The Yorozuya looks like he’s about to tell the man to get lost, when he finally turns his gaze back towards Hijikata. “This your boy?” he asks, conversationally, and Hijikata chokes on nothing. He’s vaguely aware of the girls in the background giggling.

Even the Yorozuya seems caught off guard, as he exclaims, “My what?” but the man just laughs loudly.

He explains, “Zura already told me everything,” and then for good measure he adds, “Come on, Kintoki, I know you quite like the fellas, but this is a cabaret club!”

Hijikata decidedly does not dwell on that information.

Finally, he adresses Hijikata, whose hand is still clenched around the loud man’s wrist. He must look absolutely dumbstruck right now. “You gotta let us single folk enjoy our fun,” the man says with a wink, completely ignoring the Yorozuya’s exclamation of It’s Gintoki, as though that’s the most upsetting part of the man’s statement.

Hijikata’s about to throw the man out himself when a light-haired woman, who Hijikata hadn’t even noticed approach, hits the man over the head, hard enough for him to land on the floor and not get up for a second.

All eyes turn to her, looking completely unapologetic, as people in dark clothing restrain the man with messy hair and drag him away, completely ignoring his shouts of, “Mutsuu!”

For a second Hijikata faces the ethical dilemma of being a policeman and hoping the man gets killed by the mob when the woman finally speaks, “And here I was wondering what important business our boss could possibly have in Edo.” She turns to the girl from earlier and says, “Sorry for him, we’ll pay for any damage he caused.”

The she bows a little and excuses herself.

Before she can make it through the door the Yorozuya yells after her, “You might wanna get your bosses eyes checked!” and when she turns around, confused, he adds, “He has delusions,” as though that explains anything.

And then she’s gone.

Everyone’s eyes are still on Hijikata and the Yorozuya.

The girl from earlier comes over to Hijikata and bows deeply, “Thank you so much!” she exclaims and when Hijikata tells her it’s alright, he was just doing his job she raises her head again. Her eyes flit between him and the Yorozuya for just a second, but Hijikata’s been in this situation enough these past few weeks to know exactly where her mind goes.

It’s almost a blessing when she doesn’t say anything, just turns a little bit red, and runs back to the other cabaret girls, who giggle when she joins them.

Hijikata can hear them gossip all night, and he avoids the Yorozuya as much as he can.

Whatever they’re paying him for this, it’s not enough.

Chapter Text

They’re both at the shop this time.

The old lady makes the Hijikata and the Gintoki Special respectively and looks so proud of herself Hijikata doesn’t have the heart to ruin her mood by antagonizing the Yorozuya.

For once, him and the Yorozuya seem to be on the same page, as they both eat in silence and then even get a drink together afterwards.

Hijikata would never admit it out loud but it’s nice, like this. The old lady pours his sake as the Yorozuya next to him whines about how fast his kids are growing or something.

Absently, Hijikata notices that he hasn’t felt this comfortable in his own skin in a long time. He’s more than familiar with all the responsibilities that come with being the Demon Vice Chief, used to all the expectations he has to meet, but a change of pace is sorely needed sometimes. In this little hole in the wall place next to the Yorozuya Hijikata just has to be himself, nothing more, nothing less.

He likes it more than he cares to admit.

“What if she gets a boyfriend?” the Yorozuya sobs into his drink next to him, completely ruining his thought process.

Hijikata could not care less about whether China starts dating or not, as long as she stops with the property damage she causes any time her and Sougo run into each other, but the old woman seems to see it differently, listening to the Yorozuya’s trouble intently.

“It’s always sad to see your children grow,” she sympathizes, “she’s just becoming a woman.”

It must have been the wrong thing to say.

“I don’t want her to become a woman!”, the Yorozuya exclaims like a petulant child. He’s already had a few drinks too many, but, admittedly, so has Hijikata, which is why he finally butts in with, “It’s not like anybody will want China anyway.”

They both turn towards him. The old lady looks disappointed and for a second the Yorozuya looks like he’s going to hit Hijikata, always so protective of the kids, but then, in his drunken haze, he seems to mull it over.

“You know what,” he admits, the words coming out a little bit slurred, “you’re right.”

The old shop owner still seems a little disappointed, even when Gintoki exclaims, triumphantly, “No one will want that little glutton!” as if it’s the answer to all his problems.

There’s a silence as the Yorozuya chugs the rest of his drink to celebrate how undesirable his kid truly is and oddly, Hijikata feels the need to laugh at how ridiculous he is.

The old woman must be on the same wavelength as him there and starts to chuckle. “I wish my late husband could have seen you two like this,” she says, with a big smile.

Gintoki, done with his drink, puts the empty glass down and she instantly gets to work refilling it. “What do you mean?” he asks, apparently just as confused as Hijikata himself.

“Well,” the owner starts, “you always used to fight when you came around here, so it’s nice to see you two getting on.”

The Yorozuya tilts his head a little and opens his mouth, as if he’s about to interject, probably to bring up the fact that they don’t get on, or that they were literally involved in a fistfight earlier today, but seems to decide against it.

The old lady’s had enough trouble with the two of them. Better to let her believe what she wants.

It’s a nice thought, or at least it would be, if the owner didn’t use this opportunity to deliver the finishing blow, “He was just always looking forward to when you two would realize your feelings for each other.”

Hijikata’s mouth falls open.

The old lady, who seems completely oblivious to the fact that Hijikata feels like she just punched him in the gut, continues, “I think he would be very happy if he could see you now.”

Hijikata finally manages to speak. “Our feelings-“ he repeats, flabbergasted.

“For each other,” the Yorozuya finishes lamely.

“Well yes,” the owner replies, chipper. “You two were always so obvious about it! We almost couldn’t believe you hadn’t figured it out yet.”

Hijikata wonders, just for a second, if he’s gone insane.

Him and the Yorozuya make eye contact as the old woman goes on talking about what her late husband, the little traitor, had apparently always said about them. Hijikata feels a little bit more of his sanity disappear when he notices that there’s a slight red tint on the Yorozuya’s cheeks. To make everything worse, he can’t help but think it suits him.

They both dare each other, without words, to be the one to destroy the owner’s little delusion.

Apparently, neither the fabled Shiroyashsa, nor the feared Demon Vice Chief have it in them to break the truth to her.

“Right,” they both answer as one when the owner turns back to them with a big smile.

She chuckles. “You don’t have to be so awkward about it!” she exclaims as she refills Hijikata’s glass. “Getting together is completely natural!”

“Right,” the Yorozuya drawls, while Hijikata instantly starts to down his drink. “Can’t get enough of this guy,” he adds, completely deadpan.

Hijikata chokes. The owner just laughs a little and hands him a tissue.

Then, in an obvious attempt to change the subject, she completely ignores Hijikata’s pained coughing and addresses Gintoki, “Do tell me more about the children. They’re both fine, I take it?”

The Yorozuya looks at Hijikata out of the corner of his eyes and hesitates, just a little, before he starts to awkwardly talk about how the glasses kid seems to be going through puberty, but gets into it surprisingly quickly, considering how flabbergasted he was just a second ago.

Hijikata tries to listen, he does, but he can’t stop thinking about what the old woman had said.

When they both make their way out of the little restaurant hours later, leaning heavily on each other, Hijikata catches the woman’s soft little smile directed at them even through his drunken haze.

That night he lies awake in his futon for a long time.

Chapter Text

Hijikata, who apparently hasn’t learned a single thing in these past few weeks, is back in front of the Yorozuya apartment again.

Gintoki had asked him to come by when they met, coincidentally, earlier today in the streets of Kabuki-Cho.

He was on patrol with Sougo, of course, when the Yorozuya boss had come over, nonchalant as always, and said, “You still owe me for that Joui business, come by later to pay off your debt, tax thief.”

Sougo, little bastard that he is, had turned to Hijikata with his big, shit-eating grin and said, “I thought that fell through, Hijikata-san.”

“It did,” Hijikata had answered, “I don’t remember owing you shit.”

The Yorozuya had turned his blank stare to Sougo and said, “Don’t interrupt when the grownups are talking, Soichiro-kun,” and then he’d turned to Hijikata, completely ignoring Sougo’s input of It’s Sougo and added, “You owe me. Come by later.”

At that moment China and Glasses had started yelling at him from down the street and he’d mock-saluted and left. Sougo had looked at him weird all through the rest of the patrol. In his most worrying move yet, he hadn’t commented on it at all.

As embarrassing as it is, Hijikata came.

The door opens, and once again Gintoki is out of his yukata, only wearing the black shirt and pants. He looks good like that, Hijikata thinks, absentmindedly, before he notices that the man still has eye bags under his eyes.

“You came,” the Yorozuya says, lamely, like he wasn’t actually expecting him to and Hijikata, still annoyed at the embarrassment he had to go through this afternoon mumbles, “I did,” in a sour tone of voice.

The Yorozuya takes a second to eye him up and down (he’s wearing one of his own dark yukata, he didn’t want to be seen in his Shinsengumi uniform) before he backs away from the door to let Hijikata enter.

This time as Hijikata takes off his shoes at the entrance the Yorozuya doesn’t walk all the way to the living room without waiting for him, but instead observes him in silence.

As always, it’s a weird atmosphere, being in the Yorozuya apartment alone with Gintoki, so when Hijikata’s done with his shoes he instantly gets down to business.

“So why did you ask me to come by?” he asks, still in the doorway, and then adds, “Cause I sure as fuck don’t remember owing you shit,” for good measure.

The Yorozuya just snorts and starts to move towards the common area. “Oh you owe me alright,” he says, in that bored tone of his as Hijikata starts to follow.

“Can you maybe stop being a cryptic fuck before someone comes in and thinks you’re trying to fuck me again,” Hijikata snaps into the silence, because he’s had a shit week and Katsura still gives him dirty looks whenever the Shinsengumi come to bust one of his many hideouts.

Gintoki snorts and sits down, heavily, on one of the couches, and briefly, Hijikata wonders why he’s so goddamn tired all the time these days before the man in question ruins his train of thought.

“Well, to put it simply,” Gintoki says, nonchalantly, “I’m trying to fuck you.”

Hijikata thinks he might’ve had a stroke or something.

His ears turn red and with horror he realizes that the Yorozuya’s face is a little flushed. Hijikata got invited to a confession. Sougo’s going to have a field day.

“You-” Hijikata starts, but trails off. It’s all too much.

“I’ve got a thing,” the Yorozuya fills in for him, and then for good measure he adds, “for you.”

“Why?” Hijikata asks, emphatically.

Gintoki, who’s avoiding his eyes, Hijikata notices, horrified, laughs. “You’re hot,” he says, jokingly.

But then he turns to Hijikata fully, meeting his eyes for the first time since he entered the apartment earlier, and starts counting on his fingers, “You’re compassionate, you stand up for what you believe is right, you’re really fucking loyal.”

Hijikata wonders whether Gintoki’s asked himself Why before, if he noticed one day and couldn’t comprehend, so he made a list.

“One time you brought Kagura Sukonbu without being asked to,” Gintoki continues, and then in an obvious attempt to lighten the mood, remarks, “Honestly I’m pretty sure that’s the one that did it for me.”

“It’s fine if you don’t want this,” Gintoki reassures, when Hijikata doesn’t say anything for a long while, “I just felt like I should let you know.”

Instead of answering Gintoki’s unspoken question, Hijikata asks, “Is this why you haven’t been sleeping?”

“What?” the Yorozuya replies, clearly caught off-guard.

“You haven’t been sleeping, right?” Hijikata clarifies, “Is this why?”

The Yorozuya looks genuinely confused now. “I guess? What does this have to do with anything?”

“I was worried, asshole,” Hijikata snaps, “I thought you had like actual problems or something.”

Gintoki, dumbstruck, asks, “You were worried about me?” before he gets back on track. “So is this your way of letting me down gently, or am I missing something?”

Hijikata sighs heavily and admits, “It’s not.”

Gintoki looks at him with big, hopeful eyes, searching Hijikata’s face, and Hijikata realizes, suddenly, that he must have been nervous.

“You look really fucking good without the Yukata, you know that, right?” he mumbles, embarrassed, in an attempt to lighten the mood. Gintoki, apparently, doesn’t know, as he looks down at himself, surprised.

Hijikata, who hasn’t taken a seat since he came in, too wound up, takes a tentative first step towards Gintoki on the couch.

Gintoki’s eyes never leave him as Hijikata makes his way across the room. “So you-“ he mumbles, still disbelieving.

Hijikata finally comes to a stop right in front of him. “I got a thing for you too, yes,” he admits, sounding embarrassingly nervous.

Gintoki looks like he’s about to do what Hijikata did earlier, shut down and ask Why but it’s been a long day and Hijikata’s had enough of talking, so he takes a chance and bends down to kiss Gintoki.

The other man’s hands land at the back of Hijikata’s neck almost instantly, reassuring, and well, it’s nice, kissing Gintoki. The position is awkward, Hijikata bent over to reach him, unsure where to put his hands, but it’s so much better than Hijikata would’ve ever imagined.

Not that he ever let himself imagine.

When they part, there’s a flush on Gintoki’s face that suits him a bit too well, in Hijikata’s opinion.

“I feel like I’m thirteen again,” Hijikata mumbles into the space between them, before he rests his forehead against the Yorozuya’s.

The Yorozuya just chuckles, apparently still shocked his confession was successful. “You get up to a lot of this when you were a kid then?” He asks, as he tangles his fingers in Hijikata’s hair.

Hijikata’s about to make a snide comment, when Gintoki tilts his head a little, kissing him again, and then a third time, for good measure.

“As much as I would love to continue this,” he says right against Hijikata’s lips, his voice low, and Hijikata can feel the man’s hand making it’s way down his chest. The touch is gone in the blink of an eye, Gintoki removing himself from Hijikata as much as possible, while still sat on the couch, and then he finishes, his voice loud, “Kagura and Shimpachi are eaves-dropping at the door.”

Hijikata barely has time to stand back up before the door opens to the two teenagers. They look entirely unapologetic.

“Gin-chan,” China whines, like the petulant child that she is, “how did you know?”

Gintoki leans back and spreads his arms out across the back of the sofa, all traces of his earlier nervousness gone in an instant, and says, “You two are a hundred years too early to eavesdrop on me.” He sounds strangely self-satisfied.

The kids turn to Hijikata as one. His back is rigid. He faces terrorists as part of his job description and somehow this is still the most nervous he’s been in a long time. He hears Gintoki chuckle. Hijikata gives him a dirty look.

“You like Gin-san?” the glasses kid asks, sincerely, and Hijikata sounds like a defeated man when he answers, “Yes.”

“Why?” they ask as one.

Gintoki’s smile leaves his face in an instant. “Oi,” he interjects, his voice almost shrill, “you two are supposed to be on Gin-chan’s side here”

Hijikata ignores him and admits, deadpan, “I have bad taste.”

The kids both nod, as if that’s a completely acceptable answer, and Gintoki shrieks something that sounds a lot like, “You’re all traitors!”

He gets soundly ignored.

“So, Hijikata-san, will you be staying longer?” the glasses kid asks, politely, as China next to him wiggles her eyebrows. Hijikata doesn’t think anyone’s ever actually given her the talk so he’s not entirely sure what she’s trying to reference.

He’s about to politely decline, when Gintoki, apparently already over his kids’ betrayal, chimes back up, “He’ll stay,” and the kids start beaming.

“I’ll make some tea,” the glasses kid excuses himself, and China follows him, probably to gossip.

Gintoki, still on the couch, sighs. “Growing up is the worst,” he mumbles, as he starts to get up. Hijikata doesn’t take a step back, even as Gintoki moves into his personal space. “I shouldn’t be into you getting on well with the kids,” he finishes, sounding incredibly tired.

Hijikata barley has time to laugh, genuinely, before Gintoki moves his hands back into Hijikata’s hair and closes the gap between them again, so softly it barely counts as a kiss, just a press of lips against lips.

“I’m sorry,” he says, when he pulls away and rests their foreheads against each other again, “they were supposed to stay at Otae’s tonight.”

“It’s fine,” Hijikata reassures, and then he raises his eyebrows. “You were planning on us being alone all night?”

Gintoki snorts. “Honestly, I was planning on getting piss drunk after you reject me,” he admits, entirely too honest.

Hijikata’s about to kiss him again, as some kind of reassurance that he’s here, and he didn’t reject him, when out of the corner of his eye, he notices a shadow at the sliding door that leads towards the kitchen.

“They’re listening in again,” he whispers against Gintoki’s lips, instead. The man in question closes his eyes, briefly, like a defeated man, and then presses one last kiss against the corner of Hijikata’s mouth before pulling away completely.

“Kids!” he exclaims, sounding completely beaten, and Hijikata can’t help but chuckle.

This time when the door opens, at least the glasses kid has the decency to look embarrassed. His cheeks are dusted with a soft pink as he offers Hijikata a steaming mug. China however, doesn’t seem to know the definition of shame.

“How did you know?” she asks, frowning, and the glasses kid, the little hypocrite, chastises her, even though he’d been eavesdropping just as much.

Gintoki looks at them, so incredibly fond, that Hijikata can’t even be annoyed at the interruption.

He stays a long time after that, getting interrogated by the kids and listening to their family banter, and after the kids finally go to bed, probably far too late, he stays a little bit longer still, just him and Gintoki in the Genkan.

It really is almost like they’re teenagers again, stealing kisses whenever they can and making promises of doing this again sometime, when they’re truly alone.

Hijikata holds Gintoki’s cheeks in his hands and presses a final kiss against his lips. “Get some sleep,” he says, instead of Goodbye and then he leaves, finally, as Gintoki stares at him, apparently still disbelieving that Hijikata’s worried for him.

Hijikata’s so caught up in everything that happened tonight that he’s halfway to the barracks before he realizes that Sougo definitely knows where he was these past few hours.

As he makes his way through the Shinsengumi barracks gate he can already hear the gossip.

The Demon Vice Chief considers, not for the first time, quitting.