The last customer left at around 2:17 a.m.
Sougo sighed.
There was still one more hour until his shift ended and Otose, the old granny who owned this place, never lets him leave early. She also never lets him slack off from work. He had found that out the hard way on his first day.
On that day, the grandfather clock chimed as soon as its hands hit midnight. There were no customers in his sight and the owner had left a few minutes ago to run an errand. He thought it was a suitable time to take a nap. As soon as he pulled his eye mask down, a cigarette butt was thrown at his face. He had dodged with ease and pulled off his eye mask to find the culprit to be none other than the owner herself.
Thinking she had appeared out of thin air, he was certain that she wasn't human and was some sort of evil spirit haunting this place. He had been wary of her ever since and tried to keep himself busy when the bar was idle. He had to please the owner or else, his cover will be blown.
He absentmindedly picked up one of the wine glasses to wipe clean while his mind drifted back to an event that happened almost one year ago.
"Sougo."
"Hn." He grunted.
"Sougo! Stop sleeping on the job and listen to Kondo-san."
He pulled off his eye mask to glare at the source of the voice. It was Hijikata Toushiro, dubbed by his coworkers as the "Demonic Vice Commander" of the Shinsengumi, but with the man's abnormal obsession with mayonnaise, Sougo believed that "Dog Food Lover" was a more suitable title for him.
Kondo Isao, the Shinsengumi Commander, sitting across from him cleared his throat before continuing.
"As I was saying earlier, we received a tip that a small, underground bar in Kabuki-cho was frequently used as a meeting for the Jouishishi. Unfortunately, Yamazaki suddenly fell ill so we need someone else to do undercover work as a bartender at the bar and get info."
"And you want me to do the job?" Sougo finished his thoughts.
"Yes. I only have Otae-chan in my heart so I can't spend so much time in such a place-"
"Because you wouldn't have enough time to stalk her, right?" Sougo interjected.
Kondo avoided Sougo's glance and fiddled with his thumbs, "Nothing wrong with protecting a civilian, right?"
"A-hem." This time, Hijikata interrupted the conversation, trying to steer it back to its original direction.
Kondo regained his usual composure and continued, "Toshi can only seduce a bottle of mayo, Saito is too much of a recluse and everyone else is either on a mission or on patrol (or simply, a mob character). The only option left is you."
Sougo grinned, not missing the twitch on the corner of Hijikata's mouth. It was true that he had a natural ability to squeeze out info, regardless of gender. The women were the easiest, they were pretty much his slaves after spitting out a few, unflattering words.
"Alright, I'll do it. It seems like fun."
Sougo sighed again. Besides his new identity as the university student Ishida Kiyotomo, this mission was not as fun as he initially thought.
In the blink of an eye, a year had passed and the only information he's managed to grab was the useless gossip between old housewives and drunk businessmen.
He was starting to think that the tip was false.
"Eh?!" Otose cried out. "You're being detained by the police because you look like the homeless bandit they're after?"
Otose's brows knitted further.
"This wouldn't have happened if you had just shaved off that goatee, combed your hair and taken off those stupid sunglasses that make you look even more suspicious!"
Sougo shuddered, glad that he was not on the receiving end of the phone.
"So, they're a part of you, huh. Well, then, kiss your freedom goodbye and say hello to your prison guards for me. They got the right guy."
Even at a distance of three meters away from the owner, Sougo was able to hear the grown man's sobs as they grew louder.
Otose blew out a long puff of smoke from her cigarette as if enjoying the sound of his tears, before continuing, "And, look at the bright side, at least your room and food are free."
Again, Sougo was reminded not to get on the evil spirit's bad side.
Otose hung up the phone, still irritated. Since they were the only two employees at the bar, she spoke to Sougo.
"Even if he was a Madao, the customers always liked his songs because they were, and I quote, 'full of feelings'. His first song, 'The God of Cardboard' was a hit. I guess at the end, Madao will always be a MADAO."
(Youtube Video Owner: Frost Root Directories)
She sat down, and ordered a bottle of wine. "Kiyotomo-kun, you'll be opening up the bar tomorrow evening. Since I need to figure out who will be his replacement, I'm not sure when I'll be back."
Sougo eagerly nodded his head. He couldn't wait to spend an evening away from this evil spirit.
+++End of Part 1+++
Author's Note
Anyone else surprised by the update? I know I was. Tell me what you guys think so far!
I hope the double identity doesn't confuse anyone. I can refer to him as Sougo because I'm using a third person's perspective as the narrator, but when others talk to him, they view him as Kiyotomo, therefore they call him Kiyotomo in their dialogue.
Ishida is his last name and Kiyotomo is his first name. As for why I chose these names, I actually just used a random Edo name generator and voila, I searched the meaning of these names and thought it was suitable.
I love reading your comments. It's my motivation. And so, the fun will resume in the next chapter~
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Mr. Bartender, Don't Lie
Fanfiction[Gintama AU] After a year, Okita Sougo has fully adjusted to his late night shifts as a bartender at a small O-Edo bar. That is, until the regular, sunglasses-wearing singer was no longer able to make it to work and was replaced by a certain vermill...
