Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sakata Gintoki sat staring out the window of the Yorozuya, a scowl on his face and foot tapping an irritated rhythm on the floor. Any other night, he would have thought that the city decorated up for Christmas was pretty. But tonight, on Christmas Eve, he was reminded that he lived in Kabukicho and no one here would know elegant or understated if it bit them in the ass! The decorations were corny as hell and they twinkled enough to give anyone a headache who looked at them too long. Never mind that just the other day Gin ooh-ing and aah-ing over how pretty Kabukicho looked in winter. It was Christmas fuckin’ Eve and all the lights, and the sparkle, and the cheer only served as a reminder that Gin did not have a date tonight. The happy couples walking around the snow dusted streets only served as an extra reminder of this sad fact! It was like they were intentionally mocking him!

And what was worse about this whole damn evening was that neither Kagura nor Shinpachi were there to commiserate with him about how annoying couples who went on Christmas Eve dates were! Ok…so maybe it was understandable that Shinpachi went off to that Christmas Eve concert Otsu was having, but it made zero to Gin why Kagura had gone out with that Shinsengumi sadist! She didn’t even like the guy (maybe…Gin couldn’t actually tell exactly what kind of relationship those two had)! Sojiro (It’s Sougo, Danna) had come over and invited Kagura to a “Christmas Eve fight” as he called it, and she had gone without hesitation, leaving him alone with Sadaharu.

But not even Sadaharu had stayed for long. The large Inugami had left a few minutes later for reasons unfathomable to Gin. In absolute desperation, Gin had called Katsura once it was obvious that Sadaharu wasn’t coming back. Gin had invited his former comrade for drinks, but he’d been rejected with an, “I’m sorry Gintoki, I can’t. I have plans with Ikumatsu-dono. Some other time, for sure.”

But what really drove him over the edge was that Sakamoto had blown him off too. Feeling even more desperate after Katsura had declined his offer, Gin had contacted (albeit reluctantly) Sakamoto with the same offer. Once he’d actually gotten ahold of the curly-haired idiot, Gin’s offer of drinks was rejected as well. Sakamoto’s excuse was that Mutsu was dragging him to some dinner because, and this is Sakamoto’s exact words so they may not be all that accurate, “She’s bored, and she wants me to treat her to a fancy feast. Who does she think I am, a rich tycoon, Ah-ha-ha-ha! Sorry Kintoki, maybe some other time.”

Gin did not understand how Sakamoto manage to get that firebrand of a first mate to allow him to take her out to dinner, he just didn’t! Sakamoto was hardly good company; he was an idiot and that laugh of his was really annoying. But then Gin wasn’t really being picky right now so even a laughing idiot would have done for company at the moment. But, of course not, even Sakamoto could get a date on Christmas Even when Gin couldn’t.

“The gods must really hate me,” Gin sighed, feeling especially mad at the couples out and about at the moment, “What could I have possibly done to deserve being alone tonight?”

“Oh, Gin-san, you’re not alone! Don’t forget that your beloved Sacchan is here to keep you company!”

Gin turned in the direction of the masochistic Ninja’s voice and his eyes narrowed in non-surprise when he saw said Ninja in his air ducts, staring at him like he was a piece of meat. “What do you want?” Gin asked, annoyed that his only company now was his weird stalker.

At Gin’s question, Sacchan jumped out of the air duct and landed in front of Gin. She then stood and started shifting from foot to foot, making Gin wonder just how long she’d been up there. Just as Gin was about to ask whether Sacchan had to go take a piss or something, the Sacchan blurted out, “Gin-san, I know you probably don’t think I’m very good company. But if you want, I could accompany you as your d-d-date for the evening.”

Gin raised an eyebrow at the look on Sacchan’s face; blushing, eyes averted as if she couldn’t bear looking at him when he rejected her offer. It was…interesting to see her acting so…normal for once. Gin thought about it for a minute, weighing the pros of not being alone tonight against the cons of being seen in public with his stalker. Eventually, scratching his neck, Gin responded, “Why not? Can’t spend all night sulking in here…much as I’d like to.”

Sacchan, only registering that Gin spoke and not what he said, spoke in a loud voice, “But Gin-san, I can guarantee that if you went on a date with me, you’d have a good time…wait, what did you say?

Gin snorted, “I said yes, I’ll go on a date with you. Besides, I probably should get something for Pattsuan and Kagura for Christmas, they’ll be mad at me if I don’t. Not sure why they care, though, being Buddhist ‘n’all that. ‘Tis the season, I guess, and presents are presents.”

Sacchan, now nodding enthusiastically, grinned, hearts in her eyes, “Oh, Gin-san we’re going to have so much fun! There are so many good places I can take you so that we can have some fun, if you know what I mean.”

Gin, pinky in his ear, cut her off before she could make this story’s rating go up, “But, I have one condition.”

“Anything for you Gin-san.” Sacchan said a little dreamily

“Nothing weird when we’re on our date, please.” Gin started, “I don’t wanna hear anything about Natto, or being tied up, or any of your masochistic weirdness today, got it?”

Sacchan blinked and Gin was slightly worried, forgetting that the Ninja never took offense to anything that Gin said, that she wouldn’t like being called a weirdo. But after a minute, Sacchan nodded and said, “Ok, I promise, no weirdness tonight. Just give me a minute to get changed and we can head out.” And the lavender-haired Ninja returned to the air duct, making Gin shake his head. Could her weirdness really be turned off so easily?

As Gin was putting his scarf on, Sacchan returned in an outfit that surprised Gin greatly. It wasn’t her usual Ninja outfit nor was it the red dominatrix outfit Gin had been expecting. Sacchan was wearing a dark purple Furisode a light purple and white iris motif. Gin was astounded, he’d always thought she looked pretty good, but never imagined that she could attract his attention in any way at all.

Mouth slightly agape, Gin found himself ogling the Natto-loving Ninja ever so slightly. After a few seconds, he dragged his eyes away from her...attire, and with a faint blush stuttered slightly, “C-c’mon, let’s go. We don’t have all night.”

And off the two went, Gin feeling happy that he was doing something other than just hanging around in the Yorozuya. At the same time, he was a little worried that Sacchan would be unable to contain her…affection for him and he’d have to cut their fun short.

To Gin’s surprise, Sacchan actually kept her promise and didn’t do anything weird while they were out. On their walk through town, Gin had expected Sacchan to cling to him possessively, talking loudly about how ecstatic she was to be going on a date with him. But, she was actually fairly quiet, only making occasional comments about some pretty lights or decorations or on how cold it was out today.

When they went into the department store to look for presents for Kagura and Shinpachi, Gin had expected Sacchan to suggest inappropriate things as blatant hints about what she really rather be doing with Gin. But, Sacchan seemed to pick out suitable gifts for the other two Yorozuya members; Otsu’s newest CD for Shinpachi and Manju for Kagura.

After, when the two went for a late dinner, Gin expected Sacchan to force him to eat Natto instead of the strawberry-chocolate parfait that he ordered. There was no Natto to be found, and Gin was able to enjoy his parfait in peace.

When the waitress brought the extra-large parfait to the table, it had two spoons in it. And Gin, in some sort of uncharacteristically generous mood, decided to share some with Sacchan. She had seemed elated to be able to share something with Gin, and he decided that to tease Sacchan just a little and feed her some with the spoon he ate from to see if he’d get some weird reaction out of her. But there was no weird reaction at all. All she did was smile happily as he stuck the spoon in her mouth and compliment Gin’s excellent taste in desserts.

As the date progressed, Gin relaxed realizing that Sacchan would actually be able to keeping her promise. But all good things must come to an end. As they were walking back to the Yorozuya, it began. Nothing major, at first, but Sacchan began making subtle comments about what they should do when they got back to the house. Her touch lingered maybe a little too long on his arm.

At first Gin didn’t really mind, thinking that it wouldn’t be so bad for the date to evolve into something more. But then, the comments began getting weird, as they began to involve Natto and bondage. Gin his happy buzz wear off, his usual irritation at Sacchan’s antics trickling back all too quickly.

By the time they actually got to the Yorozuya, Gin was ready to kick Sacchan as far away from him as possible. He was almost on his last nerve when she held up some mistletoe above herself and puckered her lips expectantly.

Gin, hoping he could salvage this night one last time, did as she not-so-subtly asked and kissed her. Gin, being the slight pervert he is, thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of her soft lips on his. When Gin pulled away, Sacchan gave a small sigh of disappointment. Gin imagined that she had wanted the kiss to last a lot longer and lead to much more…exciting things. But too bad for her, whatever previous spell she had cast on him had worn off.

Sacchan then opened her eyes and asked, “So, Gin-san, what would you like to do now? We could always go to your room and…” she trailed off there, letting the implication of her suggestion hang in the air between them.

To Sacchan’s eyes, Gin’s smile and, “Oh, I have a much better idea of what we could do now.” Seemed charming and sexy. It had been very hard to control herself for the entire date, but now she’d finally get what she had fantasized about for so long! But to anyone else watching the scene, they would sense the slightly more sadistic undertones to what he had said.

The next morning, Shinpachi came into Gin’s house and smiled to see that his lazy silver-haired boss had decorated for Christmas. There were lights all around the Yorozuya and Gin had even put up a small tree. Shinpachi walked over to the three and was surprised to see there were gifts under it addressed to him and Kagura.

Shinpachi opened the one addressed to him and his smile widened to see Otsu-chan’s latest CD (sure he had already bought it at the concert last night, but it was the thought that counted). Shinpachi was so busy looking at the CD that he thought the muffled, “Mph” he heard was just his imagination. But he heard the sound again, and slightly worried that someone was attempting to break in, looked around for the source of the sound.

Eventually, Shinpachi’s eyes located the source. It was Sacchan, gagged and dangling above the tree. Shinpachi blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him. But he looked again and she as still there. Shinpachi blinked again, wondering what the hell had happened between her and Gin last night. He then turned his eyes back to his new CD; he would deal with Sacchan later…

Chapter Text

Sakata Gintoki, once again, sat staring out the window of the Yorozuya, a scowl on his face and foot tapping an irritated rhythm in double-time on the floor. Any other night, he would have thought that the city decorated up for Christmas was pretty. But tonight, he was reminded again that he lived in Kabukicho and, as with everything, they went overboard with decorating the city! The decorations were still corny as hell and everything sparkled and glittered enough to give anyone a headache. Never mind that just the other day Gin was saying how everyone had outdone themselves this year. It was Christmas fuckin’ Eve and all the lights, and the sparkle, and the cheer only served as a reminder that Gin did not have a date tonight. Again. And he was absolutely not taking Sacchan up on her offer if she appeared in his air duct this year, too. The happy couples walking around the snow dusted streets only served as an extra reminder of this sad fact! It was like they were intentionally mocking him! They should all just go to their love hotels and leave him alone already!

And the worst thing about this whole damn evening, yet again, was that neither Kagura nor Shinpachi were there to commiserate with him about how annoying couples who went on dates on Christmas Eve were! Ok…so maybe it was understandable that Shinpachi went off to Otsu’s annual Christmas Eve concerts, that was one of his main personality traits, after all. But, it made no sense to Gin why Kagura had gone out with that Shinsengumi sadist again this year! She didn’t even like the guy (maybe…but Kagura loved a good fight, so that had to be the only reason, right?)! Sojiro (Danna, it’s Sougo…) had come over and invited Kagura to the “Second Annual Christmas Eve fight” as he called it, and she had gone without hesitation, leaving him alone with Sadaharu again.

But, just like last year, Sadaharu hadn’t stuck around for very long. The large Inugami left a few minutes later for reasons unfathomable to Gin. In depressingly similar desperation, Gin had called Katsura once it was obvious that Sadaharu wasn’t coming back. Gin tried again to invite Katsura out for drinks, but he’d been rejected with an, “I’m sorry Gintoki, I have plans with Ikumatsu-dono. Some other time, for sure.”

But what really drove him over the edge was that Sakamoto had blown again too this year. Feeling even more desperate after Katsura had declined his offer of getting too drunk to care about all the annoying couples, Gin reluctantly gave Sakamoto a call. Once he’d actually gotten ahold of the curly-haired idiot, Gin’s offer of drinks was rejected again. Sakamoto’s excuse was that Mutsu was dragging him to some dinner this year too because, Sakamoto’s words here might not be all that accurate, “She’s going for round two, Kintoki! Forcing me to take her to an even fancier place this year! Who does she think I am, a rich tycoon, Ah-ha-ha-ha! Sorry Kintoki, maybe some other time.”

Gin could not understand how Sakamoto managed to get that firebrand of a first mate to allow him to take her out to dinner, again! Sakamoto was hardly good company; he was an idiot and that laugh of his was really annoying. But then again, Gin was hardly feeling picky right now so even a laughing idiot would have done for better company than his own thoughts at the moment. But, of course not, even Sakamoto could get a date on Christmas Even when Gin couldn’t. Gin was beginning to feel a rather strong sense of déjà vu and looked up to his air duct expecting Sarutobi Ayame to jump him at any time.

After waiting for several more minutes, there was no sign of his stalker. Just to be sure, though, Gin stood on his chair to peer into the air duct. However, all Gin found was a piece of purple paper with a note written on it in Sacchan’s handwriting: Gin-san, I’m sorry I can’t accompany you on a date like I did last year. I would have been here, waiting for you, but I was called away on urgent business…Perhaps, I’ll see you next year and we can have some more fun. I really enjoyed it when you tied me up above your tree…if only you had stayed to see me suffer…or made me suffer some more…I would have loved to feel more of your delicious pain…

Gin rolled his eyes and crumpled the note up without reading all the way to the end. After tossing the offending note into the trash, he sighed deeply. So much for that. Even though Gin hadn’t really wanted a repeat of last year, even Sacchan would have been better company than himself. Clearly no one else was going to be keeping him company this year, so it was back to staring out the window for him.

Just as Gin settled back into his chair in front of the window, the door banged open and Gin was met with a bright red face and blond hair. Blinking at the sudden intrusion, Gin asked, “Tsukuyo, what are you doing here? I thought you were gonna spend time in Yoshiwara with Hinowa and Seita.”

Tsukuyo paused and swallowed hard, her face growing even redder. After a moment, Tsukuyo said, her voice cracking just a little bit, “N-no, they kicked me out…”

“Why?” Gin asked, once it was evident that Tsukuyo wasn’t going to explain further.

There was another awkward pause as Tsukuyo looked at everything but Gin. After another few moments, Gin was about to repeat his question when Tsukuyo said so quietly Gin almost couldn’t hear, “…Hinowa said I shouldn’t be spending time with them but rather with someone l…care…about…”

Gin blinked in surprise and, ‘And I was the first person who came to mind?’ As if Tsukuyo had read his mind, she stood up straighter and said a little too loudly, “B-but, I don’t have anyone that I especially care about and I figured that you’d be alone so I came here! Don’t read too much into it”

Gin rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, whatever you say. So, what’s on the menu for? I had nothing planned, so it’s up to you. You know, ladies first or something like that.”

Tsukuyo raised an eyebrow, “I don’t think that’s how you use that phrase.” Gin raised an eyebrow in return that said ‘I really don’t care’. With a small sigh, Tsukuyo said, “I didn’t really have anything in mind…I mean, because Hinowa and Seita kicked me out and all. By the way, where are Kagura and Shinpachi?”

Gin growled in annoyance, “Out. Shinpachi is at some stupid concert and Kagura is off who knows where with that sadist boy from the Shinsengumi. And here I am, alone, on this stupid day meant for stupid couples! I would have gone drinking, but there’s no one available. Gah, that’s why I hate Christmas!”

At Tsukuyo’s small chuckle, Gin leveled a glare at her, “What’s so funny?”

Tsukuyo tried, and failed, to hide a small smile, “Oh nothing. Well, it’s a good thing I’m here then isn’t it? Now that you have some company, you can come drinking with me.”

The irritation in Gin’s heart melted quickly at Tsukuyo’s suggestion. Now he wouldn’t have to drink his sorrows away alone! Now he had someone to complain to about the couples that were sure to litter the bar that they would go to.

A second later, though, all the color drained from Gin’s face. Tsukuyo watched as Gin looked increasingly nervous. She was about to ask what the problem when the silver-haired man stuttered, “A-actually, I just remembered that one of my Christmas gifts to Shinpachi and Kagura tonight was that I wouldn’t go drinking…S-so, why don’t we see if any of my usual cafes are open and I can treat you to some dessert. You like sweet things right? I mean, who doesn’t like to eat something sweet this time of year after all…”

Tsukuyo was momentarily thrown by the sudden switch in plans. She just shrugged it off, thought, as the longer she spent alone in the same room with the silver-haired idiot, the more likely it was she’d say something stupid. Without giving Gin’s paleness a second thought, she shrugged, “Sure, I like sweet things. Let’s go.”

Gin visibly relaxed then, “Sure, let me just get a scarf. Ketsuno Ana’s weather prediction said it would be cold tonight.” As Gin walked to his room, Tsukuyo tried to swallow down the irrational sense of jealousy that bubbled up inside her suddenly. Why should she care what that Gintoki thought of some weather girl? It wasn’t like they were d-dating or anything. He could do what he wanted…

Tsukuyo’s plans to assassinate Ketsuno Ana were interrupted by a hand on her shoulder, “Hey,” Gin said, making Tsukuyo jump, “what are you just staring into space for? Are we going or not?”

Tsukuyo jumped and then, upon noticing Gin’s hand on her shoulder felt her cheeks heat up and she swallowed hard. After roughly pushing the hand off, she stammered, “Y-yeah, I’m ready.”

Gin nodded and the two left the Yorozuya. It was a short walk to the first of Gin’s usual cafes. It was a short visit to the café as well, seeing as it was closed for the night. With a short curse, Gin frowned and they continued on to the next cafe. But, that one was closed too, and Gin and Tsukuyo were forced to move on. This went on for a while until they finally found one that was open (Gin was starting to feel more than a little grouchy for lack of sugar).

The two entered the café and, surprisingly, it was pretty much empty except for a few very lonely, forlorn looking guys who seemed to be sobbing into girly-looking desserts that looked to be made for two people. Gin almost felt sorry for them, but Tsukuyo was there with him so unlike them, he had a date, even though it seemed to be a forced one (Gin was still a little fuzzy on the details of why Tsukuyo was here in the first place).

Once the two were seated with menus, Tsukuyo started studying hers very carefully. She looked up from the menu after a little while, eyebrows scrunched together in consternation, “Gintoki, I don’t understand the menu. I think it would be best if you decided. You are the expert, after all.”

Gin, feeling a little bit proud that Tsukuyo would call him an expert at something, let his eyes land on some random item on the menu; it also had a cool name: Parfait d'Amour. Gin then called over the waitress and ordered two of the weird-sounding parfaits. The waitress smiled, nodded, and said that she would be right out with their desserts.

A few minutes later the waitress was back with two tall glasses of…something shockingly purple. Gin looked at Tsukuyo, hoping his face didn’t betray the fact he hadn’t put in much thought into his choice. The waitress then proceeded to explain what was in the parfait, but Gin wasn’t really paying attention, he really only wanted to know why it was so purple (something about violets or some such).

Not being one to turn down something sweet sighed and dipped his spoon into the purple dessert. He took a bite and almost gagged when he swallowed. Whatever this purple stuff was, it was mostly alcohol…shit. If this Parfait d'Amur, or whatever the hell, was basically booze that could only mean one thing. Gin hoped to whatever god that would listen that Tsukuyo hadn’t eaten her parfait yet…

Gin looked over to Tsukuyo who had finished almost all of the purple dessert. Her face was flushed and a strange smile was creeping its way onto her face. Gin gulped, this wasn’t looking good. Out of ideas, Gin dug through his pocket and slapped whatever money he found in there on the table. He then fled the café as fast as he could.

After what felt like miles of sprinting (he was really starting to wonder why none of the closer cafes could have been open instead), he could see the Yorozuya only a few blocks away. Before he could get any farther, though, he felt his scarf tighten around his neck, stopping him in his tracks. Turning his head slowly, Gin felt his heart sink, there was Tsukuyo, a wide smile stretched across her face, head tilted almost to her shoulder. With a nervous smile, Gin said hesitantly, “S-so…you caught up to me…”

With a slight slur, Tsukuyo said, “That wasn’t very nice of you Gintoki. But, I did have fun chasing you around. Now that you’ve lost though, I guess it’s time for your punishment.”

Gin had a very bad feeling about whatever this punishment was. Further thoughts ceased, though, as Tsukuyo proceeded to drag him into the Yorozuya. After the door shit behind them, a terrified scream rang out through the whole neighborhood.

The next morning, Shinpachi entered the Yorozuya and smiled to see that his lazy silver-haired boss had decorated for Christmas again this year. There were lights all around and Gin had even put up a small tree again. Shinpachi walked over to the tree and was pleasantly surprised to see there were gifts for him and Kagura. Once again, Gin had decided to actually get his sort of coworkers presents.

Shinpachi unwrapped the present addressed to him and his smile widened to see Otsu-chan’s latest CD (sure he had already bought it at the concert last night, but it was the thought that counted). Shinpachi, busy looking at the CD almost missed the muffled, “Mph” from somewhere above him. But when he heard the sound again, louder and more desperate this time, he looked up hoping that he wouldn’t find Sacchan above the tree again (that was a nightmare last year).

Instead of Sacchan, though, Shinpachi’s eyes landed on Gin dangling above the tree by his red scarf. Shinpachi blinked and rubbed his eyes, wondering if they were playing tricks on him again this year. But he looked again and Gin was still there. Shinpachi blinked again, wondering what the hell had happened last night for him to end up like this. He then turned his eyes back to his new CD; he would deal with this later…just like last year…

Gin, seeing that Shinpachi had decided to ignore him, started yelling. Eventually, the yelling got desperate enough that Shinpachi could no longer ignore his sort of boss. With a sigh, he tore his eyes away from his new CD and untied Gintoki from his scarf. Once the silver-haired Samurai was on the floor, Shinpachi asked, “Gin-san…what happened.”

Rubbing his wrists, Gin glared malevolently at the glasses-clad boy. After a moment of tense silence Gin said, “Tsukuyo.” Shinpachi sighed, he now knew exactly what happened.

Chapter Text

Sakata Gintoki sat, once again, staring out the window of the Yorozuya feeling bored out of his gourd and irritated as hell. Like last year and the year before that, he imagined that, on any other night, he would have thought that the city decorated up with lights for Christmas was pretty. But tonight, on stupid, bloody Christmas Eve, he hated the lights and the decorations and every other wintery thing that came with this particular holiday. He was reminded again that he lived in Kabukicho and, as with everything, they went overboard with decorating the city! The decorations were still corny as hell and everything sparkled and glittered enough to give anyone a headache. Never mind that just the other day Gin was saying this year’s decorations were the best yet. It was Christmas fuckin’ Eve and all the lights, and the sparkle, and the cheer only served as a reminder that Gin did not have a date tonight. For the third year in a row. Gin was still absolutely not taking Sacchan up on her offer if she appeared in his air duct. Nor would he be in catching distance of Tsukuyo if she decided to come barging in. Normally, Gin was all for consensual rope-play, but drunk Tsukuyo hoisting him above his own Christmas tree had not been a fun experience…

What pissed him off even more, though, were all the happy couples walking around without a care in the world! It was like they were intentionally mocking him for not having a date for the third year in a row! They should all just go to their love hotels and leave him alone already! Or better yet, do something good for the community and pick up trash or something instead of going on some romantic date! Charity begins with community service, after all…right?

And the worst thing about this whole damn evening, yet again, was that neither Kagura nor Shinpachi were there to commiserate with him about how annoying couples who went on dates on Christmas Eve were! Ok…so maybe it was understandable that Shinpachi went off to Otsu’s annual Christmas Eve concerts, that was one of his main personality traits, after all. But, it made no sense to Gin why Kagura had gone out with that Shinsengumi sadist again this year! She didn’t even like the guy (maybe…but this was the third year in a row…)! Sojiro (Danna, how many times…sigh, it’s Sougo…) had come over and invited Kagura to the “Third Annual Christmas Eve fight” as he called it, and she had gone without hesitation, leaving him alone with Sadaharu again.

Just like last year and the year before that, Sadaharu hadn’t stuck around for very long. The large Inugami left a few minutes later for reasons unfathomable to Gin. In depressingly familiar desperation, Gin tried again to invite Katsura out for drinks, but he’d been rejected with an, “I’m sorry Gintoki, I can’t. I have plans with Ikumatsu-dono. I’m sure I’ll be able to make it up to you tomorrow.” Although this was a slightly different answer than he’d gotten in previous years, it didn’t make Gin feel any less lonely or desperate...

But what really drove him over the edge was that Sakamoto had blown him off for the third year in a row! Feeling even more desperate after Katsura had declined his offer of getting too drunk to care about all the annoying couples, Gin reluctantly gave Sakamoto a call. Once he’d actually gotten ahold of the curly-haired idiot, Gin’s offer of drinks was summarily rejected. Sakamoto’s excuse was that Mutsu was dragging him to some dinner this year too because, Sakamoto’s words here might not be all that accurate, “She’s going for round three, Kintoki! Forcing me to take her to an even fancier place this year! Who does she think I am, a rich tycoon, Ah-ha-ha-ha! This is the third year we’re doing this, though, so it seems I’m finally getting somewhere with her! Sorry Kintoki, maybe some other time.”

Gin could not understand how Sakamoto managed to get that firebrand of a first mate to allow him to take her out to dinner, again! Sakamoto was hardly good company; he was an idiot and that laugh of his was really annoying. But then Gin wasn’t being picky at the moment so even a laughing idiot would have been better company than Gin all by his lonesome. But, of course not, Gin’s cursed luck for getting dates on Christmas Eve persisted for the third year in a row. Even Sakamoto could get a date on Christmas Even when Gin couldn’t. Gin was beginning to feel a rather strong sense of déjà vu and looked up to his air duct expecting Sarutobi Ayame to jump him at any time.

After waiting for several more minutes, there was no sign of his stalker. Just to be sure, though, Gin stood on his chair to peer into the air duct. However, all Gin found was a piece of purple paper with a note written on it in Sacchan’s handwriting: Gin-san, I’m sorry I can’t accompany you on a date like I did last year. I would have been here, waiting for you, but I was called away on urgent business…Perhaps, I’ll see you next year and we can have some more fun. I really enjoyed it when you tied me up above your tree…if only you had stayed to see me suffer…or made me suffer some more…I would have loved to feel more of your delicious pain…wait a second, that was last year’s note! Why was it back in the air duct? Gin could have sworn he’d thrown that thing away last year…

Gin rolled his eyes and crumpled the note up without reading all the way to the end again. Then, for good measure, Gin stalked over to the kitchen sink and set the crumpled ball on fire so he wouldn’t have the displeasure of reading again next year… So much for that. Even though Gin hadn’t really wanted a repeat of last year, even Sacchan would have been better company than himself. Clearly no one else was going to be keeping him company this year, so it was back to staring out the window for him.

Just as Gin settled back into his chair in front of the window, he remembered that this was about the time that Tsukuyo had barged into the Yorozuya last year. Although he wasn’t really hoping for a repeat of last year, a drunk, crazed Tsukuyo would be better than no one at all. With hope in his lonely, lonely heart, Gin sat on the edge of his seat expecting Tsukuyo to come rushing in at any second.

A minute passed…two minute passed…five minutes passed. Gin growled and sat back with a huff. Why wasn’t Tsukuyo here? Why was he still alone? What sick, sadistic, evil being hated him so much that he would be alone for the third consecutive year on Christmas Eve? Just as Gin was about to question further the sanity of the author writing this story, there was a weak knock at the door.

Gin figured the knock was just wishful thinking, though, because it was such a weak and pathetic knock and there was no follow up immediately after. But just as Gin was settling into his chair again, he heard the knock again, this a fraction stronger.

Eyebrows knitting together in consternation, Gin walked over to the entrance of the Yorozuya and slid the door open. What he saw on his stoop left Gin even more confused. There seemed to be a corpse lying just outside the door. The corpse was of a man in his early thirties with messy brown hair and what looked to be the earpieces of a pair of sunglasses sticking out from the back of his head. Said was wearing a threadbare red Kimono and reminded Gin quite a bit of Hasegawa Taizo’s. But Hasegawa wouldn’t be here lying on Gin’s stoop, after all Gin had heard that he and Hatsu were going on a date tonight (the lucky bastard).

And yet, there was no one else around, meaning that…the corpse had been the one to knock…? A shiver went up Gin’s spine at that thought. He really should contact the police, lest they think Gin was the one who killed this Hasegawa look-a-like. Gin sighed deeply, great, just one more reason for him to hate Christmas…

The silver-haired idiot was about to shut the door, when the corpse lifted its head an inch or two and spoke, “Food…”

So not a corpse, then, thankfully. Hearing the voice, Gin recognized the only half-dead corpse was, indeed, Hasegawa Taizo. Wondering what had happened, Gin sighed once again, “I’m sure we have something that counts as food around here, Hasegawa-san. Let’s get you inside.”

Gin lifted Hasegawa onto his shoulders and made the much heavier trek back to the couch. Once there, he deposited the starved Hasegawa Taizo haphazardly onto said couch and walked over to the refrigerator. Gin groaned long-sufferingly, the only thing that was ready made was a chocolate strawberry parfait…one that he had been planning to eat later…to console himself for being dateless again…

Gin sighed, although he really didn’t want to share, now didn’t seem to be the time to be selfish with Hasegawa groaning pathetically on his couch. Sighing one more time, Gin took the parfait out of the fridge, got a spoon, and walked back over to the couch.

Gin tried to hand Hasegawa both the spoon and parfait, but the Madao’s hands could only weakly flop close to the proffered food. Hasegawa groaned again, “Gin-san…too weak…”

Gin made a face and, for the first time that night, was glad that both Kagura and Shinpachi were out for the night as they were sure to take this the wrong way (especially after that drunken escapade that one time). Gin dipped the spoon into the Parfait, drawing out a large bit of layered chocolaty-strawberry-y goodness.

Lamenting the fact that he wasn’t eating this parfait himself, he guided the spoon over to Hasegawa’s open mouth. Hasegawa made a face after swallowing and said, “So sweet, Gin-san…”

“Well,” Gin said, rolling his eyes, “if you had called ahead, I could have gotten some Oden for us to share. You can’t expect greatness with only a minute’s notice.” Gin dug out another spoonful and was about to pop it into his own mouth when Hasegawa’s stomach rumbled he made such a pitiful noise that gave Gin pause.

With a sigh, Gin spun the spoon around and into Hasegawa’s mouth. Let the poor Madao eat something (even if it was his favorite dessert). Hasegawa took it gratefully without any more complaints about how much of a sweet-tooth Gin had. Once Hasegawa had eaten just over half of Gin’s parfait, Gin said, “So, what happened? I thought you went off on a date with your wife to…rekindle your romance, you said? How’d you end up outside the Yorozuya?”

It was hard to tell with the sunglasses, but Gin could sort of see that the question had caused Hasegawa to tear up a little. Hasegawa motioned to Gin for the spoon and the parfait and quickly shoveled the rest into his mouth once Gin had handed them over. After a long silence, Hasegawa stared into the bottom of the empty parfait glass and sniffed sadly, “…Who’d want to go on a date with a sad old man like me, anyways?”

Gin scoffed, “Oh, please. You’re early middle-aged at least. Sure, you’re going through a rough patch right now, but you were a government official once, right? That’s gotta count for something, ya know.”

“Gin-san,” Hasegawa said, giving Gin a reproachful look (well, as reproachful as a look could get with sunglasses blocking his eyes), “you’re the one who made me lose my job in the first place…”

“Not the point, Hasegawa-san,” Gin said, whisking away the spoon and empty parfait glass, depositing them in the sink to be washed later, “Right now, we don’t need to be hanging around inside, feeling sorry for ourselves. What we need is to go out and get so drunk we can’t see straight and complain about Christmas! I’ll even get you some Oden on the way, I’m sure there’s someplace still open.”

Gin went to retrieve his boots and scarf. Once he was back on the couch, he noticed Hasegawa staring at him with furrowed eyebrows, “Gin-san, are you sure? You remember what happened the last time we got that drunk, right?”

Gin felt his cheeks grow hot, “Well…uh…not first-hand but…if it happens again, it’s no big deal…right?”

Hasegawa broke eye contact at that, suddenly finding a spot on the wall to be very interesting. After a moment, Hasegawa finally mumbled, “You’re too nice to me, Gin-san…”

Gin smiled, taking this as good sign. Hey! This meant he was getting his Christmas drinks after all! Take that Katsura and Sakamoto! See who’d be inviting you idiots out next year! Not Gin-san, that’s for sure! As Gin was pulling on his shoes, he said, “Hey, if we’re looking for something boozy and sweet I know this place that sells these weird purple desserts, Parfait d’something-or-other…”

Gin’s musings were interrupted when he felt something land on his shoulder. He looked down to see that, in the time it took Gin to put his shoes on, Hasegawa had fallen asleep, snoring softly, and looking quite at peace there on Gin’s shoulder. Well, being used as an impromptu pillow wasn’t so bad. Drinks would always be there tomorrow.

Gin yawned himself, feeling suddenly tired. He eyed Hasegawa’s head, it didn’t look very comfortable but he was feeling too lazy to roust the poor Madao to make their way over to Gin’s bed. Gin let his head rest on Hasegawa’s (his ear felt a bit squished, but otherwise not too bad), and his eyes slipped slowly closed.

The next morning, Shinpachi entered the Yorozuya and smiled to see that his lazy silver-haired boss had decorated for Christmas again this year. There were lights all around the house and Gin had even put up a small tree. Shinpachi walked over to the tree and was surprised to see there only a note under the tree addressed to him and Kagura. The note read: As recycling gags seems to be pretty popular this year, I feel the need to write you a note about why I didn’t get you brats any presents this year. Due to…circumstances, I wasn’t able to leave the Yorozuya last night. I’m sure I’ll have time to do something tomorrow, sorry. Well, I’m tired now so good night, or good morning, or good whatever time it is when you read this.

Shinpachi frowned after reading the letter and looked up at the ceiling to make sure Gin or someone else wasn’t hanging above the tree again. But there was no one, and Shinpachi let out a relieved sigh. It was still puzzling, though, what sort of circumstances could have led to Gin-san not getting his coworkers presents this year.

Suddenly, a loud snore interrupted Shinpachi’s thoughts. He turned around to see Gin-san and Hasegawa-san sleeping on the couch comfortably together. Hasegawa-san’s head was leaning against Gin-san’s left shoulder, sunglasses slightly askew, and there was a thin line of drool running from Hasegawa-san’s mouth to an ever widening pool on Gin’s Kimono.

Gin, in turn, was resting his head on top of Hasegawa-san’s head and there was a similar string of drool going from Gin-san’s mouth into Hasegawa-san’s hair. Grossness of all the drool aside, Shinpachi thought it nice that Gin-san’s Christmas Eve seemed to have gone calmly this year. A year where Shinpachi didn’t have to disentangle anyone from a rope display above the Christmas tree was a good year to him.

Shinpachi had always thought there was something going on between Gin-san and Hasegawa-san. There was that incident when Gin had gotten so drunk that he, Kagura, and many of their friends had to pull an elaborate prank on the silver-haired idiot to get him to stop drinking…it worked for, maybe, a minute, though, as very soon after, Gin-san had gone on a huge drinking binge after Gin had learned that he and Hasegawa had in fact slept together. It was nothing to be embarrassed about, though, maybe they even did it sober this time. Shinpachi shook his head, why was he thinking about his boss’ sex life? He wasn’t, and the previous thought was shoved into the deep corner of his mind labeled, ‘stuff to unpack never’.

Shinpachi stood up and left the Yorozuya as quietly as he could. No need to wake the sleeping couple, they must have had a rough night…Shinpachi closed the door, turned around, and saw Kagura leaning against the scowling.

“Oh, Kagura-chan, I didn’t see you there.” Shinpachi said, wincing at the look on her face, “Is something wrong?”

Kagura clicked her tongue in response and glared at the door as if she could burn a hole into it, “Gin-chan could do so much better than that Madao, uh-huh!”

Shinpachi shrugged, that was probably true, but…be that as it may, it looked like Gin-san had finally gotten the Christmas Eve date he had always wanted.