VIII
"ANE-san, I'm off to the Yorozuya!" Shizuku called from the front door as she put her slippers on and pulled her long black socks up.
"Have a safe trip!" Tae answered back while peering her head out from the side of the hallway.
"I will!" the younger girl smiled brightly before she went out the door and began walking under the sun with her blue umbrella open and protecting her from the sunrays.
It had been a while since the underwear incident that happened in the Shimura dojo. During that time, Shizuku had spent her time trying to fix everything that had been broken and that had been caught in the explosions that Okita and Hijikata set off around the area when they were chasing after each other. She tried her best, but really, the best she could do was to clean up and not actually fix anything. That was the Shinsengumi's job – mainly their top officers, Kondou, Hijikata and Okita because Tae wanted to make them do all the work – Kondou was more than willing and almost volunteered to do everything by himself. Somewhere along the line, Kusahara got dragged in on it, as well – he grumbled about it, too. It wasn't really a good idea since he and Okita had a bazooka fight in the middle of the house. It caused them both a trip down the toilet bowl, curtesy of Tae – and a little help from Shizuku.
The two captains made a pact that day; They promised not to get in each other's throats when the two girls are with them.
It wasn't surprising for anyone when the pact didn't even last for the day.
The two captains ended up getting their heads shoved down the toilet for the second time.
"What a nice day." Shizuku smiled brightly as she lifted her umbrella to look at the sun for a bit. When the heat started to sting her skin a little, she lowered her umbrella again. "I hope everyone's at the Yorozuya today." She said softly before she continued walking and soon, she was in front of the Yorozuya office building. She looked up at the signboard and smiled. From the outside, she could hear someone shouting something about having no food. Shizuku chuckled. It was a good thing she decided to bring a little snack from home for them.
"Oh, what brings a fine lady like you here?" an old husky voice asked softly from in front of Shizuku. The girl lowered her gaze from the Yorozuya signboard and saw an old lady wearing a black kimono standing by the door of the snack house directly under her trio friends' office.
"Good morning." Shizuku bowed while holding on to the handle of her umbrella, her other hand holding a plastic bag. "I'm friends with Gin-san and the others. I was just wondering if I could go visit them." She said with a smile, her dark green eyes turning into slits.
"Ah, so you're the new main character that the people of this anime were talking about?" the old lady asked as she pulled out a cigarette box from her pocket and pulled a stick out before lighting the end with a lighter. "Looking at you right now, you're too young for Gintama. But then, Kagura's younger than you. I have to say, you're a lot better than that natural perm living upstairs. Fan service, I mean."
"I'm sure that's not true." Shizuku chuckled – slightly ignoring the "fan service" part. "I could never be better than anyone in this series. I'm just an add-on. Gin-san still gives the name to the anime." She said with a sheepish smile on her face.
The old lady laughed a little. "Well, I suppose you already know me, but I'll introduce myself, anyways." She said. "I'm Otose. I run the snack house behind me."
"Nice to meet you." The teal haired girl bowed. "I'm Kusahara Shizuku."
"Kusahara?" Someone else asked, their voice accented and a bit low. Shizuku tilted her head to the side and saw a middle aged woman with cat ears come out from the snack house.
"Yes?" the young girl asked with slightly widened eyes.
"Someone with the name Kusahara came here often, right, Otose-san?" the woman with cat ears asked as she looked up at Otose. "He was wearing a Shinsengumi uniform. He looked like a new officer about a month ago or something."
"Oh, that's my cousin." Shizuku smiled. "He must've been on patrol. He did say that he passes by the Yorozuya office often. That's why I know where the office is." She said.
The woman with cat ears hummed. "I say, you have quite a good looking cousin." She said with a purr.
"Well, he is, rather good looking." Shizuku answered. "He gets that a lot, but it looks like he doesn't have the intention to settle down with a woman. Sorry." She sheepishly said.
"Well, just tell him that if he looks for one, I'm available." The woman winked at Shizuku's direction. "I'm Catherine, by the way."
"Nice to meet y-,"
A sudden bark from above interrupted their talk and made all three women look up. Shizuku grinned brightly when she saw Sadaharu panting on the balcony of the Yorozuya office while looking at her. The young girl waved at the large dog and was shocked when he leapt from the balcony and landed on top of Shizuku, causing her to crash on the ground.
"W – wait a minute! Sa – Sadaharu-kun!" Shizuku gaped when the dog landed on her and began licking her face. "Sa – Sadaharu-kun, I can't breathe." She chuckled as she wheezed.
"Sadaharu! Bad dog!" Kagura's voice suddenly came from the balcony of the Yorozuya building, and as if of command, Sadaharu leapt away from Shizuku, but he still continued to lick her face. He always did like the young girl ever since he met her. The same goes for Shizuku.
"Are you alright, Shizuku-chan?" Shinpachi came pulling the teal haired girl up on her feet.
"I'm fine." The slightly younger chuckled as she patted Sadaharu's head. "You didn't mean it, right?" the large dog barked happily as he waved his tail around.
"For goodness' sakes, tame that dog!" Catherine yelled as she pointed at Sadaharu.
"He's already tamed." Gintoki's voice came from above. "He's just wild at heart." He sighed before he started going down the stairs. "Speaking of Sadaharu, he needs a walk."
"Oh, you're right." Kagura said before she looked at Shizuku. "Sorry, Shizu-nee, but you wouldn't mind if we walk him together, right?"
"It's alright." Shizuku smiled as she lifted the bag of snacks that she was holding. "We can have a small picnic, too, if you want."
"Perfect!" Shinpachi said from the side. "I'll get the mat from upstairs!" he said before he disappeared towards the office. He came out a minute later with a neatly folded mat on his hands.
"We'll be going then, Otose-san, Catherine-san." The teal haired girl bowed a little in front of the two women.
"Have a safe trip." Otose said brightly as she watched the four Yorozuya go with Shizuku beside them. She and Catherine watched their backs until they disappeared from their sight.
There was silence for a while.
"Is it only me, or is there something wrong with that girl?" Otose suddenly voiced out when she was sure that no one was going to hear them.
"That's girl's too.... I don't know.... she's not fit for Gintama." Catherine commented from beside Otose. "Why is she even the main character?"
"I agree. She doesn't play around like the normal characters in the series. Her cousin takes the cake for being the character more suited for this anime. He shouts, runs around with swords, and plays with explosives." Otose sighed heavily. "Her, on the other hand, we just met her, yet she has already showed how unfitting she is for this series." She looked at the direction where the Yorozuya went.
"I don't like it. Not anyone could be that formal and that nice. She's too.... mellow? Is that even the right word for it?" She said with a slight frown on her face. "I wonder what has happened to her life before she met those four?"
Catherine hummed, being uncharacteristically serious. "Something really unpleasant, probably." She said lowly before disappearing inside the snack house.
"Otose-san, the register's empty."
"Pull out your clothes, Catherine. I can hear the coins jiggling from under your sleeves."
"Are you tired, Shizu-nee?" Kagura asked as she eyed the older girl walking beside her with worried eyes. Shizuku looked a lot weaker than she usually looked.
"That thought is just mean, Kagura-chan. I can read your thoughts." Shinpachi whispered from beside the small girl. "It's not nice to call people weak."
"But, it's true." Kagura whispered back at the older boy. "Just look at her."
It was true that Shizuku looked like she was slowly starting to get under the weather. The way she wearing a smile on her face as she walked looked like she was doing fine, but the vice grip that she had on the handle of her umbrella told Kagura and Shinpachi otherwise. Her green eyes were also stating to lose color – they were getting duller and duller by the minute. Honestly, the two teens were getting majorly worried for their friend.
"Oi." At the sudden call, both Kagura and Shinpachi looked behind them and saw Gintoki pull Shizuku back by the arm.
"Gin-san?" the young girl asked in a weak voice as she looked up at the tall male. Her olive eyes widened a bit when Gintoki placed her hand on her forehead, placing the other hand on his own.
"You're heating up." the white haired male frowned as he dropped both his hands. "You need the shade." He said while he looked around the area.
"We're at the park, Gin-san." Shinpachi said from the side. "We can rest at the bench." He pointed at a nearby chair with no people sitting down on it.
"No." Gintoki shook his head. "Look for a large tree or something. Just somewhere with a shade." He said before he looked around again, completely ignoring Kagura and Shinpachi's questioning faces.
"Over there." their leader suddenly pointed at a far off tree at the corner of the park. He turned to face Shizuku, who was weakly looking at the same spot that Gintoki pointed at.
"I'm fine with sitting on the bench, Gin-san." The teal haired girl said as she attempted to convince the taller male with a smile on her face.
"I have my umbre-, wha – Gin-san?!" she slightly squealed when the white haired male suddenly lifted her up by the hips and placed her on Sadaharu's back, who seemed to have noticed the situation and was already crouching down on the ground.
"Gin-s-,"
"Don't argue with me." Gintoki said to Shizuku with a sharper tone than how he usually talks. "You know that you can't stay outside for prolonged periods of time. You need the shade." He said – more like commanded. Kagura and Shinpachi were shocked when they saw Shizuku sigh and let Sadaharu and Gintoki lead her towards the tree that the latter had pointed at only a minute earlier.
"What just happened?" Shinpachi asked, for the first time in a long time, not knowing anything.
"I'm not so sure." Kagura answered with her head tilted to the side.
"Oi, hurry up!" Gintoki called from in front of them. "I'm hungry!"
"Coming!" Shinpachi and Kagura answered at the same time as they ran to catch up with the white haired male. Soon, they were under the large tree at the end of the park. Gintoki helped Shizuku climb down from Sadaharu's back and let her settle by the base of the tree with her back against the bark.
"I'm fine, everyone, really." Shizuku smiled as she placed her closed umbrella next to her. Kagura and Shinpachi were by her side as soon as she settled down. Even Sadaharu was worriedly nuzzling his nose against the teal haired girl's leg. "I'm sorry for worrying you." The young girl said with an apologetic smile.
"I'll get water from the vending machine." Gintoki said before he stood up and walked towards the vending machine that was quite a distance away from their location.
"Are you sure that you're alright outside, Shizuku-chan?" Shinpachi asked worriedly, eying the pale girl's skin. He frowned when he realized that she looked whiter than usual – if that was even possible.
"It's just hotter than usual." Shizuku answered. "You, guys, know that I'm not really good under the sun. That's why I can't stand the beach and prefer the winter season."
"Is it... a sickness... or something?" Kagura asked with a worried expression on her face.
"I'm not actually sure." The slightly older girl hummed. "I've always been like this ever since I could remember. It just got a little worse when I got older. It's nothing serious; I just get tired often. I'm already used to it."
"But, you look like you're already going to collapse at any moment." Shinpachi frowned. "Does Kusahara-san know about this?"
"Of course he does." The teal haired girl nodded. "At times like this, he lets me rest under a shade, just like how we are doing right now. After that, I'll be back to my usual self."
"When, exactly, did this start, Shizuku-chan?" Shinpachi asked.
The slightly younger looked up at the sky for a moment, trying to think, before she spoke. "I think it was when I was two or three, or something, but I don't remember in detail since I was so young. It got a little worse when I turned nine or ten." She hummed. "How I got it, though, I'm really sure."
"It must be hard." Shinpachi said with a little pity in his voice.
"Here." Gintoki suddenly came from behind the three teens with a water bottle in his hands. "I better see you drink every last drop of that." he said with a slight glare before he sat down next to Sadaharu and took the bag that was hanging from his back.
"What's the food?" he asked before pulling out food from the bag that Shizuku brought with her. He immediately sat back on the grass and crossed his legs.
"It's sugar cookies, Gin-san." Shizuku said with a smile after drinking from her water bottle. "I would've brought ice cream or everyone, but I knew that they would melt even before I got your place."
Gintoki hummed before he gave one large cookie to Kagura. The younger girl took a bite and immediately squealed right after. "This is so good!" she cried before she took another one from the pile that Shinpachi fixed on top of the mat that he had brought along.
"You should really become a cook or something, Shizuku-chan." Shinpachi nodded after taking his own cookie. "Your food and your baking is so good that if you were to make a restaurant, it would become a five-stared one."
Shizuku sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well, I did have a lot of experience when I was young. No one was there to cook for us, so I learned how to operate the stove at a very young age. I took care of a lot of people, so I'm used to doing these things."
"Then, does that mean Kusahara-san didn't cook food as good as he does right now?" Shinpachi asked. "I mean, the two of you are both good."
"You could say that, yeah." Shizuku chuckled. "We travelled a lot, and because of my condition, there were times that I slept for days. Nori-san was the one who's doing everything, so he learned on his own. There was even a time when he almost set the kitchen on fire for boiling water, but he doesn't do that now." She laughed before she looked over to where Gintoki was sitting and saw him staring at the cookie in between his fingers.
"Gin-san, is there something wrong with the cookie?" the young girl tilted her head to the side.
"No." Gintoki shook his head before he popped the sweet delicacy on his mouth. "They're fine. For sugar cookies, though, they lack sugar."
"That's just your diabetes talking, Gin-san." Shinpachi and Shizuku said at the same time, before they both chuckled. A few minutes passed with them not doing anything. They just sat there, enjoying the silence – which was ironic for an anime like Gintama.
"It's a nice day." Shizuku sighed as she leaned back on the bark of the tree. Beside her, Kagura joined in and leaned her head on the older girl's shoulder. On the other side, Shinpachi also leaned back and rested his head on the tree bark.
"This is nice." The teal haired girl said, closing her eyes. Shinpachi and Kagura did the same thing and closed their eyes. Soon, all three of their breathing became even and their facial features softened. By their feet, Sadaharu began curling against himself and started to take a nap. A few minutes later, his breathing also evened, leaving the oldest among them to watch them all sleep.
Gintoki looked at the four sleeping beside him and sighed before he took another cookie from the pile in the middle of the mat.
"I know that you cooked, Shizuku, but I never knew that you baked things." he said in a soft voice before he looked up at the sky.
"It's been a long time, huh?" he said to the bright blue sky.
"It would be nice if you cooked for us again."
He unconsciously closed his fists and squeezed hard.
"Just like you used to."
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