Valentine's Day at Gintama High School

Chapter 7: Dress to Impress and Fight to Ignite

After Nobume left with Kamui, Kagura and Otae went to Soyo's house to help get Kagura ready while Sougo, Hijikata, and Kondo went to the orphanage they all lived at to help get Sougo and Hijikata ready. Shinpachi went home alone like a loser.

On the way back to the orphanage, Hijikata asked, "Oh right, Sougo, where are my cigarettes?"

"Oh, those... I threw them out," Sougo said with a shrug.

Hijikata grabbed Sougo's collar and screeched, "YOU DID WHAT?"

"Hijikata-san, a high schooler shouldn't be smoking in the first place. You're setting a bad example to the underage readers."

"Oi, I think my smoking should be overlooked when there are way worse things shown on Wattpad."

"The 'Well, I'm not as bad as other people' excuse is only what the worst of people say, Hijikata-san."

"You—"

"Toushi, c-calm down. I'll buy you some new ones. Let's just go home and get ready for now," Kondo said with his hand on Hijikata's shoulder.

(Fun fact: Kondo is old enough to buy cigarettes in this universe because he was held back.)

Hijikata let go of Sougo's collar and picked up his pace to walk ahead of them.

Sougo shook his head and said, "It's no wonder that he has no date to the dance when he's like that. Why is that nuisance coming anyway?"

Without looking back, Hijikata replied from ahead. "It's to watch over you idiots!"

"Idiots? Plural? Toushi, are you talking about me too?" Kondo asked incredulously.

"Yep! I don't want you to be kicked out or arrested for sexual harassment or stalking, Kondo-san!"

Kondo opened his mouth to defend himself only to realize that that situation was highly probable, and then he walked with his head held down.

"I don't need supervision, Mother!" Sougo yelled.

"Any girl is in danger if she's your date, you sadist. Although I do think that Kagura could probably defend herself just fine, I don't want that liability."

Sougo rolled his eyes and said, "I already had to deal with one overbearing brother. I don't need you to start giving me crap too."

Sougo and Hijikata continued to bicker while Kondo occasionally stepped in to stop them until they reached the orphanage. When they entered their shared room, Sougo sifted through his messy closet to find the one suit that Mitsuba had bought for him before she passed away of a lung disease. He never thought he would have any reason to wear it because he had simply worn shirts and jeans to all his previous dances and had no plans to apply for an office job that would require a suit for the interview. However, he thought that now was finally time to dress up a little. After much searching, Sougo finally found his dress shirt, coat, and bottoms and pulled them out of the closet. Hijikata knew where his suit was beforehand and was already putting on his suit jacket when he saw Sougo pull out his attire. The sight made Hijikata burst out in laughter.

"Oh my goodness, who would have thought the day would come that Sougo would dress up for a woman? China must be real special to you, huh?" Hijikata asked.

"I refuse to be under-dressed compared to her, so I need to come looking my best," Sougo replied, pulling on his pants.

"Sure~ You go and write it off as a rivalry thing, but we all know you have a thing for her. It looked like you were really into that kiss earlier, you know?" Hijikata commented, snickering.