Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The girl handling the reception counter stared at the amount of money inside the envelope she received as she gasped in disbelief.  

"Eh... isn't this a bit... too much?"

Kyuubei just shrugged at the girl. "It's okay. After all... it's partially my fault so hopefully, this can pay for all of the trouble I've caused."

The girl looked at her in puzzlement as Kyuubei glanced towards the hall.

"And anyway... I also wanted to see by myself."

She smiled as she watched Tae and the others trying to escape from the mobs of alien gorillas. Seriously, was this the kind of life that Tae-chan had chosen for herself?

But indeed... her place was over there after all!

"What are you doing there... spacing out? Kyuu-chan!"

Kyuubei snapped out of her reverie as Tae ran towards her, dragging her brother along as well as another young girl. She recalled the young girl being part of the group that stormed the Yagyu mansion, days earlier. If she remembered correctly, the young girl's name was Kagura.

"Here's not a place to loiter, Kyuu-chan! Run for it!" Tae cried again as she also joined them on their mad dash, almost on an impulse. After they managed to run a distance away, leaving the hotel far behind them; suddenly, Tae stopped in her tracks. Causing the rest to follow suit. Kyuubei glanced behind her to see no signs of the gorilla mob on their trail.

"Eh! In all that excitement... we left the others behind!" Kyuubei turned around to see Tae frantically looking around her to look for something. "Those guys! I thought they were right behind us earlier!"

"What—?" Kyuubei started to ask before Shinpachi walked up towards his sister.

"Ah... we shouldn't worry about them. They probably already reached the Shinsengumi Headquarters by now—", he retorted.

Ah, was Tae worrying about those Shinsengumi guys?

Kyuubei stepped back without thinking, as Kagura brushed her aside to join Shinpachi. "Then again..." The young girl gasped as if she had just remembered something. Kagura turned around in alarm before slapping Shinpachi's back very hard. "—oi! Gin-chan was also left behind! We forgot him... you idiot!"

Kyuubei just stared silently at them as the trio started fussing over each other. Shinpachi made a face at Kagura. "But Kagura-chan, Gin-san could just easily find his way back easily... don't be so clingy towards him—"

"But knowing Gin-chan, he'll get lonely by himself once he realises that we left him behind!"

Kyuubei snorted as the two started arguing with each other...

"Ah!"

Kyuubei turned her attention towards Tae as she noticed her friend looking slightly troubled. Just as she was about to ask what was bothering her, Tae suddenly grabbed her hand and placed a stack of keys into her palms. She blinked in surprise.

"Kyuu-chan! Can you take my brother and Kagura-chan to my house? I... had something I forgot to do. I'll see you back at the house, 'kay?!" said Tae as she made a turn and ran towards the opposite direction. Shinpachi called out to her as well, wondering what was wrong, but Tae did not pay attention to him as she ran towards the direction they had come from earlier.

Kyuubei sighed. What was it that Tae seemed to have forgotten that she needed to go back to that wedding hall? The thought of Tae confronting the gorilla mob by herself almost caused her to want to chase after Tae herself. But wait! She turned around to see Shinpachi and Kagura still arguing loudly.

That reminded her, didn't Kagura mention someone being left behind just now? Gin... Sakata Gintoki, was it?

She glanced back towards the empty road behind her. Did Tae go back to that place to find that man? Why else would she go back to that place other than that? To see that man called Kondou? No, that can't be it. Tae had told her about the man who had been so infatuated with her to the point of being a stalker, but she kept insisting that she didn't like the man. Crashing the wedding was just her way of paying a favour to the man... so Kondou Isao shouldn't be the reason for Tae to run after them. So... was it really for Sakata—?

"Everyone... was just trying to protect what they're trying to protect..."

That man... what was his relationship with Tae? That was the only question that she didn't dare to ask Tae, not that she had any right to demand an explanation from her. She thought about Tae's crying face from before. Certainly, Tae's tears back then were partially a response to that man's words. Would there be a day when Tae could tell her what that man means to her? Would she be able to accept it, no matter what Tae's answer would mean to her? Kyuubei sighed to herself.

Perhaps, only time will tell.

She turned around towards Shinpachi and Kagura.

"Come on... Shinpachi, Kagura. Let's go home."

×××

He growled loudly as if trying to show his frustrations openly. Yet the other man showed no concern towards him. Or even cared about his discomfort.

Man... this is no fun.

"Yorozuya Boss, are you sure that you're fine with this?" Sougo spoke up, trying to catch the man's attention. When that didn't work, he started to kick his legs out.

The man let out a soft grunt.

"Don't start complaining now. You were the one asking me to carry you back to your Shinsengumi place—"

"I wasn't talking about this—"

"Ah? Then you were talking about what—?"

"About Big Sister—"

Immediately, Gintoki stopped paying attention to him as the man continued walking up towards the Shinsengumi headquarters. Sougo glanced up as he eyed the Vice-Chief and the Chief, who were walking several feet in front of them.

"Hmmm... and what did you wanna talk about that girl?" Gintoki started to speak to him again as Sougo perked up again. 

He started to grin before tightening his hold around Gintoki's neck. "I just can't agree with what Hijikata-san was saying earlier—"

Gintoki groaned loudly at him. "About what? What about the things that Mayora said that bothered you—wait, what did he even say that you can't stop thinking about?"

He chuckled. "I was talking about the reason why Big Sis came over to help out. Hijikata said that it's because she did it out of love for—Boss, are you hearing me out here?" he asked before starting to poke Gintoki on their cheeks.

Silence again. He sighed. Why was it that almost every single one of his elders was this clueless about their love lives? It really annoyed him to see everyone acting as if they didn't deserve to have some kind of romantic relationship with the people that they obviously liked. 

Oh wait, not everyone... if we were to consider the Chief as well as some other people like him.

Sougo let out a loud sigh. "Well, if you ask me... I find it hard to think that it's true. Big sister definitely had fallen for someone... but I don't think it's the chief."

Gintoki suddenly laughed loudly.

"What makes you all the wiser? Are you the expert on love now? How'd you know who it was that person could've fallen for?"

Okita smirked. Haha. Playing the denial game, huh? We'll see about that. If Yorozuya Boss didn't want to say it themself, he might as well say it aloud FOR them!

"Of course I know! Even though I am no expert in love but I just knew it. Back then at the Yagyu place, once Big Sis saw us coming to save her—from that point on, she never averted her eyes away from a certain someone..."

"Doesn't mean that you know what she's thinking about—"

Sougo started kicking Gintoki again.

"I'm not finished! As I was saying... when we've finally reached her, I saw her face as she saw us fighting for her sake. When she saw Kondou-san coming, she was indeed surprised to see him coming for her, but that's it. She did still appear to be happy and tearful after seeing everyone coming to save her... and then turned to look at someone. Before crying out that she wanted to come home to everyone!"

Gintoki laughed nervously.

"What were you talking about—? Was it possible that you just imagined seeing it? It might just be her getting emotional seeing Shinpachi making a big fuss for her..."

"Boss... don't try to avoid the topic. You noticed it too, didn't you? About Big Sis, about who she really might have—"

"—Why on earth should I care? And how'd you know so much about it? And why bother telling me all of this—" Gintoki immediately cut his words off as if refusing to even hear him finishing that sentence. Okita tightened his hold around Gintoki's neck.

"—It's because I had an older sister too. I saw the same look on Big Sis that my sister has whenever she looks at the person she likes. So of course, I knew. When Big Sis saw you... fighting for her sake, she really looked as if she really wanted to go running back towards the person she really loved..."

"It's because she saw you coming to save her that Big Sis finally started to change her mind about everything..."

×××

Gintoki groaned as the young man he was carrying on his back started to brush their face on the side of his neck. Why did this kid suddenly start talking about things like love to him anyway? And it's not just about some random girl, it's about Otae!

He huffed at the boy. "What use of you telling me all about this? I'm not some guy who had riches or from a good background who could be of any appeal to someone like her. Otae-san's better off with someone else—hey, pay attention to what I'm talking about here! What're you snickering at?" Gintoki exclaimed as he turned his face to his side to give Okita some scolding.

Yet Okita was staring towards another direction, in front of them. Not even paying attention to him. Damn rude. As Gintoki turned his head to see what was it that caught Okita's attention, he almost cried aloud when his face collided with Hijikata's back. He growled.

"Hey what're you doing stopping sud-denly... in front of—?"

Gintoki suddenly found himself at a loss for words as Hijikata stepped aside to show him what it was that made him stop walking.

"Otae-san?" Kondou suddenly called out in a daze.

Otae just gave a nod as she slowly walked up towards them. Gintoki glanced towards Kondou as he noticed the hopeful look written all over the gorilla's face. And looking at Hijikata also did not help, as the man's presence still annoyed him. Even with the man's face all wrapped up like a mummy, he could sense a smirk coming from under that bandage. Okita started to laugh again as Gintoki turned his head towards the kid to frown at them.

Seriously... this was all a misunderstanding! Otae-san wouldn't—though as much as he would have liked it, he wouldn't want Otae to end up with Kondou of all people BUT to hope that, no—she wouldn't have liked HIM of all people. Okita was just playing with his mind... there's still that Hijikata to consider. And god knows what was it that went on inside that woman's head...

"I've been looking for you—"

Gintoki held his breath without thinking as Otae's voice broke into his inner monologue...

"—Gin-san."

Shit...

Gintoki blinked. No... his ears must have been playing tricks on him. But as he looked back towards the other two men beside him, and he saw the disappointed look on the gorilla and the Mayo mummy's stunned face. Therefore, he hasn't been hearing things right? But what would that mean? Would this situation ever make any sense to him now?

Another snicker broke his concentration as Gintoki turned his head towards Okita.

"See? I told you. I win," said the kid as they slowly slid down from Gintoki's back. "—and thanks for the piggyback ride. I think I can manage to head home by myself the rest of the way," said Okita again as the young man adjusted their hold on their crutch.

Gintoki was about to glare at them before another outburst from Otae gave him a start.

"Gin-san! What're you still bumbling over there? Kagura-chan, Shin-chan and Kyuu-chan were still waiting for us back at home!"

The Shinsengumi trio gave him an odd look as he felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Ye-yeah... err, what?" he stuttered as Otae came over towards him, taking his hand into hers and held it tightly before dragging him away.

With a short parting call, both of them left the three behind as Okita looked on towards them in satisfaction.

×××

Hijikata frowned as Kondou went back into a stupor beside him. Sougo grinned as he walked up towards them with a slight swagger.

"It seemed that your assumption was wrong, Hijikata-san."

"Hmph!" Hijikata snorted as he blew some smoke into the air. "So what? It doesn't concern me..."

Sougo grinned again.

"It doesn't concern me either... but I'd like to care about it. Yorozuya Boss... was after all one of my favourite people, and I want him to be happy with someone that he liked—"

Hijikata rolled his eyes at him before turning to drag their now-useless chief, who had fallen into a stupor after watching Yorozuya leave with Otae-san.

"Suit yourself," he said before leaving him behind. Sougo shrugged as he also turned to head back towards home.

Chapter Text

*cough*

"Gin-san, what's the meaning of this?"

A young lady took a seat in front of the man as the man proceeds to scratch his head. He turned his attention towards the lady.

"Otae-san... don't you get the memo already? Because of the new movie as well as the recent releases of the new season and episodes, Miss Writer finally took an action to catch up with the series. And that means the possibility of her finishing some of her old writings that she left unfinished long ago."

Otae let out a soft chuckle. "Ah, really... isn't that good news?"

Gintoki shook his head. "Not really, if you recall her inconsistent bouts of attention spans. Even now in her long lists of works in progress, our particular writer has a lot of pending works that she needed to finish. It would be too much to hope that she could continue on this line of the track too long to actually complete what she intended to do."

"Ara? But isn't the fact we were having this exchange shows that she really does intend to complete this piece?"

Gintoki shrugged. "Well... it's because she's been having this conversation stuck in her head for days now, was the reason she finally snapped."

"Then, it shouldn't be a problem then?"

He shook his head again. "No, no... you don't get it at all. Let us recall... how many years since the first chapter of this fic was posted? It's almost ten years now, and do you know how many fics had Miss Writer been posting ever since? Not to mention how her writing style has evolved since her way of thinking would have also taken a lot of evolution as she got older! For her to go back to continue this piece and finish this chapter, would not have been an easy task. Not to mention she would have lost her old draft after all the life mishaps and bad lucks with computers, getting back on the track would be—just look at her other very old piece for Sai○○○○ when she tried to resume the story? Halfway through a sequel, she realized that some scenes were better written differently and she ended up revising the chapters and ended up rewriting the original multi-chaptered fic. And what happened after? That piece ended up on a hiatus because she had too many things to rewrite and many other things to watch and write for. Asking her to achieve more with just one more chapter of Misco—"

"Gin-chan... are you going to spend the rest of this chapter just trying to explain Miss Writer's situation?"

Gintoki coughed. "W-Well... this chapter was just an intermission, but don't you think that this is something that we should do at least? How would you feel if you were reading HangerXHanger and had to wait for the next chapter for years afterwards because the series had to be postponed for an indefinite time and years later it finally returned but then you noticed that the art style and storytelling had differed a lot since the last time you were following the series? Culture shock, you see! Even if new readers started taking attention to her old works and were able to read the continuation, they would have noticed the difference! Also, considering that the anime and manga plot had progressed so much since the last time our writer had followed Gintama, certainly, that would have affected how she would want to write this next chapter that she's been meaning to complete!"

Otae laughed. "Well, it's still just one more chapter, isn't it? Miscommunication was originally meant to be a two-chaptered fic from the very beginning... so it shouldn't be too much burden for our writer to carry."

"W-well... Otae-san? You're just saying this because you have a main role in this fic, aren't you? You're just saying this because you love all this attention on you, isn't it?"

A haughty laugh burst out.

"Well, I AM the heroine of Gintama after all. There's no way I would say no for more chapters involving me. And Gin-san... don't you remember all the reviews we used to get? The readers just loved the pairing between us, do you intend to disappoint all of them? They had been waiting for so long for this piece to be completed after all."

He sighed. "As if we don't already have the anime and manga to worry about, now here come all the fanfictions! And it's not like you can just label this chapter as 'Chapter 1.5'! In the end, this fic would still appear to have THREE chapters than the supposed TWO."

"Maa, maa... now don't worry too much about those minor technicalities. At least we'll finally get to finish this fic."

"IT'S NOT LIKE THE NEW DRAFT HAS ALREADY STARTED!" Gintoki hollered, before remembering his manners. "Well, I think we already said enough to cover the explanations. And I think we could also post this notice on ○○ net without breaching the agreement about the no 'Author's note' thing or what was it that used to happen in the past...?"

"Now, now... enough complaining. Don't you think it's about time we address the readers now?"

Gintoki snapped his fingers. "Oh yes!" he exclaimed as both of them turned to face the screen.

"Dear readers, considering that all of you had managed to read through all of this without pressing that Esc button... you really have our deepest appreciation."

Both of them bowed.

"THANK YOU, FOR YOUR CONTINUOUS SUPPORT!"

Gintoki shrugged. "Our writer would start working on the next chapter soon. Hopefully, it would not be another long wait."

Chapter Text

He sneaked another glance towards her, as they made their way through the streets of Kabuki-cho. For some reason, he felt chilly despite the lack of strong winds around them.

The night was still early, there were still a few bars and shops that were still open. And there were still people walking about, minding their own business. Yet right now, Gintoki felt uncomfortable. As if there was a wall of heavy air surrounding the two of them, making it unbearable to withstand.

Should I say something? he wondered. His thoughts replayed back on the conversation he had with Sougo. Did Otae came looking for him because she liked him? It couldn't be that, could it? That's ridiculous. How could Otae be liking HIM of all people? That would be as ridiculous as her finally accepting and liking Kondou. No matter what pressure Hijikata... or the rest of the Shinsengumi would have thrown at her, there was NO way that she would start having feelings towards that gorilla stalker. That would be laughable...

Gintoki frowned. Wait, what was he doing right now? Was he trying to convince herself that the possibility that Otae could ever like him as a man was close to nil? Was he trying to convince himself that Otae did not have feelings towards him? Why was this line of thinking making it seem that he actually HOPED that Otae DID like him? No, no...! There's no way that HE actually liked that violent, flat-chested woma—

Well, to be fair... Otae's a pretty lady. Any decent man with a functional joystick down there would be crazy to NOT like her in any way. If not because of that springboard flat—I mean, her boorish temper and complete lack of cooking skill, he would have happily—No, screw that! Even if Otae was not such a violent woman he couldn't possibly even dream to have her as his. It wasn't as if he had anything on him that would justify him being together with her. Someone like him...

... wait! Why on earth was he even thinking about this now? This is all because of that damn Sougo! He was overthinking this, yes he was! Otae probably only came looking for him because she needed to tell him about the kids. Yes, that should be it!

"Err... umm..."

He glanced towards her again as Otae stared back at him. Without thinking, Gintoki turned his head away from her.

"Ah! I guess it was already so late right now...umm, I guess I better get back home. Aha-ha... I better go. Kagura must be wondering where I—" he exclaimed nervously as he tried to walk away from her.

But before he could even do that, Gintoki felt a tug on his sleeve. He turned his head back towards her as Otae hung her head low, as if afraid to look at him in the eye.

"Did you forget already? I mentioned earlier that I told the kids to head to the dojo..."

Ahh... yeah, he forgot that. Totally slipped from his mind.

Gintoki cautiously scanned the area around him. This was bad, people were starting to stare at them! How did this scene look from their point of view? And Otae was being very quiet behind him. Would he dare to look? What was going on inside her head? Come to think, since the incident at the Yagyu residence, he hasn't seen or talked to Otae until this gorilla wedding. Was she mad at him? But she hasn't even landed any hits on him today—but then it won't make sense. I mean, it's not just a few hours ago that she happily crashed a gorilla wedding full of gorillas and running around happily as chaos exploded around them. Was she having a mood swing right now? After such high excitement, would she start plunging into another furious explosion of rage? After Kondo... would she direct her attention towards him now? Should he...

"...were you still angry at me, Gin-san?"

Gintoki slowly turned around.

"Eh?"

×××

Otae felt her cheeks getting warmer. There, she said it aloud. Although... she started regretting her actions as she could feel that they're now attracting the attention of the people still out on the street at this time. Not just Gin, who was staring back at her right now. 

Oh no, she was afraid to turn around. And was she hearing things? She thought she could hear whispers behind her. What should she do? Wha—

As if aware of her concerns, Gintoki grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the streets without a word.

×××

"What did you mean?"

The question popped up suddenly as Otae was taken aback. "Oh... what?" As she raised her head towards Gin, she finally noticed that they've finally left the busier part of Kabuki-cho.

"Didn't you hear what I just said?  What did you mean that I'm still mad at you?"

That caught her off guard. She glanced up to see Gintoki scratching his head before pausing, looking as if he had just realised something. Gintoki turned towards her. "Are you saying—Were you avoiding me these past few days... because you think I'm still mad at you?"

Otae felt her cheeks getting warm. "Ah! What're you talking about, Gin-sa—" she started to say as both of their eyes made contact. Otae hung her head low. "Well, actually... yes, you're right. I'm sorry."

She could hear Gintoki sighing loudly at her.

"Silly girl, I thought I already made it clear to you last time that I'm not blaming anyone for that incident. After saying all that, why would I even stay mad at anyone at all? Or at you?"

Otae bit his lips. "You might say that Gin-san... it doesn't change the fact that my actions caused so much trouble for everyone. And for you, especially. I—"

Gintoki chuckled. For some reason, the sound he made caused her heart to skip a bit.

"That... you certainly got the blame all right. Because of you, that Mayo-demon became a mummy. Not to mention that Sougo, Kagura, Shinpachi, and even I had gotten hurt." Otae flinched as Gintoki made a point to remind her about him getting hurt as well. She thought back on the last battle where Gintoki fought alongside Shinpachi against Kyuubei and their grandfather. Just recalling that memory made her feel guilty again.

"But haven't you done enough to make up for it?" Otae jumped as she glanced back at him to see Gintoki smiling towards her. "You returning home made the kids happy... and you saving that gorilla made those Shinsengumi guys happy to get their leader back. That should be enough, isn't it?"

That smile made her heart flutter again, but then she had to remember Gintoki's face right after they concluded the fight that time. Gintoki's face at that time was devoid of emotions, unlike the others, who started expressing delight at Shinpachi's last attack. It was so unbearable that she didn't dare to look at him directly in the eye. Gintoki back then had certainly appeared unamused. Even when he already said that time that there was no longer any need for apology between them, she still felt that...

"No, there's still one more person that I need to—" Otae started to say as Gin cut her off.

"Oi, oi... don't you start telling me that you felt guilty towards me. I told you before that I didn't come to get you back because of any other personal reasons, so don't think too much about that." Gintoki glanced at her. "Besides, it's not like the two of us made any promises to each other. Not like how you made a promise to that friend of yours. There was never anything of that sort between us... so it's not like you're betraying me or whatever. You don't have to keep being troubled..."

Otae felt her heart drop at those words. "Yes... I guess you're right about that..."

×××

"But Gin-san, even if you say that... it still doesn't change the fact that what I did hurt you. I mean..."

"Hey, what—" Gintoki paused as he saw Otae's struggling face. He turned away. "Otae-san... you can't just suddenly say that..."

He shrugged before sighing softly. "It's not as if we could be a good match. And Shinpachi wouldn't have approved of it anyway." 

Gintoki shrugged. "Did you know what he said to me before, about the possibility of you having someone that you'd marry? He went 'No, she doesn't have one. I can't allow it!' I don't think he'd like it even better if we actually end up together. Wait... was there a time when I actually heard him screaming that he didn't want me as a brother-in-law? Or did I just imagine it?"

Otae snorted. Finally. All these tensions had started to get to him if he had to be honest. About time someone started to break away from all of this seriousness!

"That does sound like how Shinpachi would react. But Gin-san, would you believe it if I did say that I liked you a lot?"

Gintoki immediately turned to stare at her to see if she was trying to make fun of him. But no, Otae didn't look as if she was about to prank him or anything. She looked... earnest somehow. He hastily shook his head.

"Hah!" he started to say. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised, to be honest. That's what you'd expect, being a popular character. And I'm the main character of Gintama after all." Out of habit, Gintoki started to pick on his nose before stopping himself. He turned to glance towards her.

"But are you going to be fine, Otae-san? At this rate, you might end up getting way too out of character. I was expecting that you'd start hitting me any moment now for even starting this kind of conversation and in this kind of mood—"

"WHAT'RE YOU TALKING ABOUT, GIN—" Otae paused just as she was about to slap Gin very hard. Instead, she just gave him a light tap on the back as Gintoki let out a small gasp. Otae finally smiled. 

"How could you say that... Gin-san? How could I beat up someone who was badly hurt like you? It's only been several days since, but you haven't recovered yet from your injuries... have you?"

Gintoki rolled his eyes at her. "Heh! If I remember right, you had NO problem beating me up while I was gravely hurt. Like that time after that Nizou slashed me with that monster sword—" he stopped himself before placing his hand on his chest. Gintoki shrugged. "—but yeah, have to admit that I still find it hard to even laugh loudly right now. It's not just because of the earlier gorilla business... that old fart from that Yagyuu household really wasn't going easy on me. But then again, my fault for placing that small plate over my chest of all places—!"

GURURURURUUU...

Otae was about to speak when an odd sound suddenly came out. She blinked before noticing that in the faint light of a street light nearby, that Gintoki's cheeks had started to turn red. She chuckled.

"Of all the timing..." Gintoki started to say, "...heh. Then again, I did have nothing but bananas today."

Otae shrugged as she stepped up to grab him by the arm. "So let's go home, there should be something more to eat at my place other than bananas. Well, at least I think I remembered telling Shinpachi and the others to prepare something at home..."

Gintoki snorted.

"Well, enough already with being too chummy with me... Otae-chan! It's weird seeing you act like this. Go back to being normal already, woman!" he exclaimed as Otae continued clinging to his arm.

×××

"Wait!" Gintoki suddenly exclaimed in horror. "Earlier, you said that Shinpachi and Kagura, alongside that Kyuubei, were heading to your home, right?"

Otae shrugged offhandedly. "Yeah... why?"

Gintoki frowned.

"What are the odds that Kagura would end up finishing up all of the food in your house all on her own?" he mumbled aloud as Otae tried to brush it off.

"Ara... don't worry about it. Kyuu-chan and Shinpachi were at home too. So they should be able to keep her controlled—oops?" Without warning, Gintoki suddenly carried Otae in his arms as Otae could do nothing but grab on Gin's neck tightly. "Gin-san?"

Gintoki shrugged to himself before he started walking, still with Otae in his arms.

"Don't think too much about this. I'm just doing this because I want to start racing towards your house right after this, and having you lagging behind me would be a bother—" He rolled his eyes as he tried to ignore Otae softly teasing him. "Also, let us just remain the way we always have been with each other before. Regardless of whether you really do like me or just decide to choose me over that Gorilla Kondo, or because you had no one else to choose to be with, I'll be here by your side if you want me to. As whatever... whoever you want me to be for you."

He shrugged again. "Also, I'm not doing this just because of you. Regardless of whether it's because I also liked you back or that I prefer you to some clingy M-woman that occasionally hides in the ceiling of my house or any other reasons besides that; if you want me to stay by your side, I'll do that. Whether or not we actually go out together. Let's remain like this."

Otae sighed as she leaned closer to him. "I guess you're right. It's better for us to remain unattached like this."

"Besides... it would spare both of us plenty of heartbreaks later on, no matter how we ended up later once Gintama ends."

Otae chuckled. "What an idiotic man you are, Gin-san. Though I think you're the one who will cause a lot more heartbreaks rather than me. Even then, we might still end up being together... would you still accept that fate if it happens?"

Gintoki glanced down towards her before grinning. "You're SO not quite a cute girl yourself. Well, if that really happens to both of us in the future... I might as well accept my fate regardless. There are other worse fates after all, and ending up with you might not be too bad after all. Are you saying that you don't mind having me as your life partner? Honestly, I don't really mind much having you either—though I have to admit there might be a few itty-bitty things that might be bad for me if I ever married you—so it can't be too bad. I mean, I had a feeling that Miss Writer knew a bit more than I'm aware of at this point, so maybe ending up with you at the end might not be such a bad idea."

"Perhaps," Otae started to say, "I have to admit I don't really have much of any other options, now that you mention it. When you consider all of the chapters or episodes we had so far to the point this fanfiction was based on, and yeah... I also felt that Miss Writer knew that I didn't really have that many options when it comes to love interests in this series. But I guess, I'll be fine if this was meant to be. Even if it meant that I have to put up with you constantly getting yourself hurt. Or seeing you getting involved with many more female characters who would inevitably fall for you."

He smirked. "Now that we've already left that said, let's go home since I'm still starving."

Otae smiled. "Don't push yourself too much... didn't you say your chest still hurt earlier?"

"Don't you look down on me! I'LL RACE ALL THE WAY HOME FOR THE SAKE OF RICE!" Gintoki screamed as he started racing to reach the dojo in time.