You Shouldn't Let Kids Tag Along When You're Drinking

Author's Notes: This fanfic makes use of Gintama characters and setting which are properties of its awesome author/mangaka, Hideaki Sorachi, and I hereby DISCLAIM them, hehe :) This is just a work to express my fandom.

You Shouldn't Let Kids Tag Along When You're Drinking

by Rei-chu Asakura

"Ne, Gin-chan, how long are you going to stay here? I'm getting bored." Kagura yawned, scratching the back of her neck in the process. She then leaned back on the couch where she was seated and lazily eyed the silver-haired man to her left -the man in the center of one of the U-shaped booths of Snack Smile.

"I told you to go home already." Gintoki made a shoving gesture with his hand. "I'm old enough to take care of myself, isn't that right, girls?" He flashed a devious grin to the women on his left and right before snaking his arms around their shoulders and pulling them closer.

"I can't do that," Kagura said as she leaned over to grab a piece of fruit from the just-arrived platter. "Anego told me to watch you in her stead because she can't come to work today due to her cold."

"You've watched me for an hour already. It's more than enough. You can go home and sleep now," the samurai replied while holding out his cup to the girl who was filling it with sake.

"I still have to knock you out and drag you home the moment you do something perverted. Anego told me so," the Yato girl nonchalantly stated while chomping on her slice of watermelon, making Gintoki choke on his drink. "But I'm not sure if wrapping your arms on them counts as perverted. Should I knock you out now? I wanna go home anyway." The two girls moved away from Gintoki as Kagura leaped onto her feet and did some arm-stretching.

"Oi oi, you're scaring them." Gin stopped her and comforted the girls at the same time. "Why don't we just settle this the Kagura way." He brought out his wallet and fiddled the cash it contained. "I'll give you money for sukonbu-- no, make that meat buns, so you can have something to munch on as you sleep. Deal?" He waved the bills he was handing out to her, but Kagura just shook her head at him and sat back on the couch. After a few seconds of shock, realization hit him and he laughed at himself. "Silly me, of course winning big in pachinko is something out of the usual. Here's a raise." He handed her the money that just doubled in thickness. "Call? Check? Don't be shy, Kagura, I won't tell Otae. We're partners in crime, right?" Wriggling eyebrows and a mischievous smile kept convincing the girl. She looked like she was about to get fooled, but in the end, she wasn't.

"I can't do that, Gin-chan." Frowning, she pushed his hand away. "A sick person's wish is more important. If that person dies because of the illness, he or she would haunt you for not fulfilling your promise."

"No one dies from a simple cold, Kagura-chan." Gintoki's eyebrow couldn't help but rise. "And it's Otae we're talking about in here, the woman who can turn anything into poisonous black matter."

"That's exactly why! Anego is scary as a human. What more if she's a ghost?" was Kagura's reason that Gintoki couldn't refute. While he was wringing his semi-drunk mind for a comeback and Kagura was eating the grapes like they were just nuts, something from the entrance hall caught their attention. The girls of Snack Smile were crowding up as if a bigtime VIP or a celebrity just came in. This annoyed Gintoki a little and made Kagura curious. When their views were cleared, they were surprised to see...

"Hijikata-san, how many times do I have to tell you, whenever you get depressed, don't drink alone in your room," a sandy-haired lad told his companion. "Go out, drown yourself in alcohol, then start a fight and get beaten up or be hit by a car and die."

"I'm already sleepy, Sougo," replied the man who was struggling to keep himself standing straight. "I don't need any more alcohol. And I'm not depressed, mind you!"