Valentine's Day at Gintama High School

Chapter 11: "Free Spirits" is a Euphemism for "Irresponsible People"

"Otae-san! Otae-san!" Kondo called out.

Kondo was frantically looking for Otae in the swarm of people, but it proved to be very difficult to find her among the countless dancing teens. After much fruitless searching, Kondo's spirit was starting to waver until he finally caught sight of her angelic face. Kondo sighed in relief as he ran to her.

"Otae-san! I finally found—"

Kondo was now suddenly looking at the ceiling after something hit his face, making him fall onto his back. He blinked in confusion before getting up to see a smol, angry Kyubbei with one shoe in her hand, the other one presumably being the object she threw at him.

"Kyuu-chan! Didn't I tell you I'd be alright?" Otae told her, bringing Kyubbei's hand down.

Kyuubei shook her head and said, "I'm sorry, Tae-chan. The moment I saw you and the gorilla come through the doors, I knew I couldn't let you two dance. He'd feel you up in weird ways. I'm sure of it."

"Kyuu-chan, that doesn't mean you should have dragged me away like that. Sure, he might be a good-for-nothing gorilla stalker, but he's my good-for-nothing gorilla stalker. He'd never hurt me, and if he did anything weird, I know how to control him."

Kondo looked up at Otae with teary eyes and proclaimed, "I'll always be your good-for-nothing gorilla stalker, Otae-san!"

Kyuubei clicked her tongue and said, "Sorry for being selfish, Tae-chan, but I can't bear to see you suffer anymore because of him."

Kyuubei then began dragging Otae away as Otae told her to let go. Kondo rushed forward and clasped Otae's other hand, making them stop. Kyuubei looked back to glare daggers at Kondo. "Let go of Tae-chan."

Kondo held on and asked, "Don't you think Otae-san should decide what she wants to do?"

"I think that Tae-chan should do what makes her the most happy, and I don't trust that being with you tonight can do that."

"Look, I know it may be hard to trust me, but all I want is to dance with the most beautiful girl in the room. You're free to watch my every move if you're worried. I would never do anything to Otae-san that she'd be uncomfortable with doing in public." Kondo told Kyuubei. "Well, when we're married, then it would be weird if we didn't do anything—"

Otae let go of Kondo's hand and threw Kyuubei's remaining shoe at Kondo's face. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Rubbing his now red nose, Kondo laughed nervously and replied, "Sorry, sorry! But I seriously just want to dance with you tonight, Otae. That's my only wish."

Kyuubei pulled Otae behind her and held fast onto her wrist. "Well if you want to dance with Tae-chan, you'll have to fight me first."

"Kyuu-chan!"

Kondo shook his head and said, "I won't fight you."

"Why? Because I'm a girl?"

"No, because you're Otae-san's dear friend, and I don't want to hurt the people she cares about in order to dance with her. I want her to dance with me because she wants to, not because I've somehow won the right to by using force."

After Kyuubei heard that, her strained expression relaxed a little bit, and she released her grip on Otae's wrist. Otae placed her hand on Kyuubei's shoulder, and Kyuubei looked back to see Otae with a reassuring smile.

"Kyuu-chan, it's alright. I may beat him up all the time, but I don't think he's really all the bad. Seeing his face may annoy me for some reason, but I can tell he's really kind and cares about me a lot."