Sweet as Honey 「Sakata Gintoki x Reader」

Chapter Twenty.

Gintoki walks into Otose Snack House, ignoring the hopeful looks he receives from Shinpachi, Kagura and Otose as he walks to the far end booth and sits down, his hand moving to cover his eyes and his mouth exhaling his pain and sadness, the single sound getting the message across to the three in the room. 

He sits in silence, tears rolling down his cheeks. Shinpachi's head drops, Kagura biting her bottom lip to keep her emotions inside; Otose sighs quietly. She knows the two teenagers were hoping everything would go back to normal, but she'd known from the start it likely wouldn't go so smoothly. 

She slides out of the bar and walks over to the booth the Samurai sits in and slides opposite him, handing him a few tissues to dry his eyes and a glass of water. 

"At least you spoke to her," she smiles softly. 

"That's an improvement." She watches him sip the water, his eyes even more bloodshot than before when he glances at her. 

"...Can I get a shot?" He asks bitterly, an empty half-smile sitting on his lips. Otose sighs softly. 

"Sure."

She stands up and heads to the bar to prepare his drink, gently shaking her head at the two who look as though they want to talk to Gintoki. She hands him the shot and returns to the bar, greeting the three new customers who walk into the Snack House. 

Gintoki stays in the booth for hours, not moving once, not even when the sun goes down and Shinpachi leaves, Kagura following to stay at his for the night, and not even when Otose flips the sign to show the Snack House is closed. 

She approaches him with a gentle sigh. 

"Gintoki, go upstairs and go to sleep."

Only when she speaks those words does he move, plopping a few loose yen onto the table and muttering a 'thanks'. He heaves himself upstairs and into his nightwear, sliding into his futon despite knowing he won't be able to fall asleep, and there he lies; wide awake, thoughts racing for hours on end. 

The night is dark, the only light coming from the faint glow of the moon trailing into his bedroom when he hears a knock at his door. He stands up automatically, not bothering to think about who it could be or why they'd knock at such an ungodly hour, and walks to the front door. When he slides it open, his heart skips a beat. 

"...(Name)?" He breathes, her name flowing off his tongue easily. 

Her red eyes water and she speaks quietly. 

"I'm sorry I'm here so late. I just... I couldn't sleep because I have to tell you this."

She looks him straight in the eye, her tone gentler than ever as she whispers, "I love you."

She bites her lip to calm herself down. 

"I love you so much. I love you more than anything in this world and being apart from you has torn me to pieces. I can't keep going like this, I can't stay away from you."

Gintoki's eyes threaten to water again at the words. The moon's gentle light illuminates her features in a way that makes her appear angelic, Gintoki struggling to believe he's not dreaming. 

"Please let me apologise this time," she fights back a sob, "because I love you too much to leave it unsaid."

Those words send Gintoki past his breaking point and he steps forward, his hands falling to her cheeks and his lips pressing against hers so delicately they almost don't touch; her hands rise to pull him closer, deepening the kiss and feeling their emotions flow into one another at the brief touch. 

When they pull apart, eyes gazing into each other, (Name) wraps her arms around him gently, burying her face into his shoulder as his arms wrap around her waist. They stay in each other's hold for minutes, the moon's rays shining upon them and their newfound peace, neither wanting to pull away again. 

"Please don't leave me again," Gintoki whispers into her ear. 

"I won't."