Sharp Wings; 鋭い翼 [Gintama]

23 | New act, new arc! Enjoy the start of guts spilling, everyone!

XXIII

Manga: Lesson 57-63

Anime: Episode 40-42

"GIN-san, are you drunk?"

"There's a difference with just waking up in the morning and being drunk, you know, Shizuku."

The teal haired gild chuckled as she watched Gintoki roll to his side before completely facing the ceiling with a groan. Shizuku slowly went inside his room, gently closing the door behind her before walking up to lightly kick the white haired male's side.

"Then, get up." She chuckled again when Gintoki gave another groan. "Come on, Gin-an, I walked all the way here from the station and this is how you greet me? How rude."

"Alright, first of all, you've got no right to be like that to me when you're the one who disappeared for seven years only to come back like you don't know me." Gintoki grumbled lowly, his arm covering his eyes as his other hand scratched his shoulder.

"In my opinion – no, wait, it's a fact – this is acceptable."

Shizuku sighed.

"You can't use that pass on me every time, Gin-san. I have my reasons."

"Reasons that you have yet to tell me."

"I'll tell you eventually. It's not like I can go and disappear again now that you've seen me. I know you're going to find me no matter what."

Gintoki didn't reply, but he had a small smile on his face. It was kind of hard for Shizuku not smile, as well.

"Whatever, just give me a minute." The white haired male said after a while. "We went drinking last night."

"Ah, so a hangover, then?" Shizuku asked as she kneeled beside the older male. "With Hasegawa-san, I presume?" Gintoki nodded.

Shizuku smiled. So that explains why the older male was still in his outside clothes. There was also the smell of alcohol in the air, but it was a little diluted by an air freshener – pine, Shizuku assumes. Well, it wasn't that hard to come to the conclusion that Gintoki was nursing a hangover. After all, the teal haired girl heard from Shinpachi and Kagura that he goes out and spends their money that way almost every week.

On the day that she found that out, Shizuku hit Gintoki so much that he actually ran away from her.

"Did you tell Zura-nii, already?" Shizuku asked after a while of silence between her and the older male.

"Ah, brings back memories." Gintoki replied with a sigh. "I remember the time that you always called Zura that."

Shizuku hummed, fully understanding what the white haired male meant.

Zura-nii. It has been a while since Shizuku used that nickname on Katsura. They aren't siblings, but she always called him that because she thought that it fitted him since he did act like the oldest among them. Shizuku prided herself with being the only one who can openly call Katsura by "Zura" without being told "It's not Zura, it's Katsura." The older male always did take care of her, even when she didn't ask for it, Katsura would do a lot of things for her, acting as if he really was her older brother.

She missed using that nickname.

"So, did you tell him?" Shizuku asked, running a hand through Gintoki's white hair, noting how soft it felt through her fingers.

"He was with us last night. We talked after Hasegawa-san left." Gintoki replied after a hum. "You know, I'm surprised that he didn't come and kidnap you from the Shinpachi's house when he found out."