Chapter Ten

Adults Are Pretty Much Like Kids, But With More Responsibilities and Bills to Pay

"Shit! Where did those two go?! Shiiiiiiiiiiiit!"

If only the number of cuss words uttered in a day could make a person wealthy, Gintoki would've been an instant billionaire by now. From the moment he stormed out of the house to the moment he left the apartment that Tae and Shinpachi rented, he'd exhausted all the curse words he knew, both in his head and aloud. It had been a long time since he was drowning in this much level of frustration that he was surprised at how emotionally-charged he was over this whole 'Ane-ue-has-finally-conceded-to-Kondo-san' situation as reported by Shinpachi an hour ago.

In the first place, why was he getting so worked up for? They weren't even related in any way.

Oh yeah; he worked so hard to make sure nothing would happen between them that it would be a waste of all his time and effort if they just get together in a snap of a finger.

And you heard that right; Gintoki had been searching all over the city for the couple for an hour now. What even added to his still growing frustration was the fact that he had no idea where to even start. Even though Sougo had suggested that they might've headed to a seedy place, the young man knew that Isao wouldn't go as far as doing that on a date (unless he was an extreme pervert, that is). A fancy restaurant perhaps? Did he take her out to drink, and if he did, did he watch out for her? And in the process, were there any guys who tried to make a pass at her?

The young man had to stop cycling just to grab a handful of his unruly mop of hair in sheer anger. But who was he angry at? Tae? Isao? Himself? And why was he even angry for? Was it really just because of work?

But before he could even begin to process all the thoughts and feelings that had been chewing him alive that evening, his eyes managed to catch two figures—a man and a woman—from his periphery. He stopped what he was doing and squinted to make sure if he wasn't seeing things at this time of the night.

That ponytail sure looked familiar, and that modest silhouette could only belong to one person. His eyes widened in recognition.

"Otae-saaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnn!"

It was already about ten in the evening anyway, so he wouldn't really be bothering anyone with the insane volume of his tone. He hastened when he slowly recognized the figure of Isao as he sat beside Tae—too close for comfort, if you asked Gintoki. This was considering Tae didn't want to be around him, he thought.

He called out her name again, but this time louder and with much urgency, that he honestly thought his throat would hurt by tomorrow.

Gintoki guessed that he got their attention when he saw the young lady stand and walk behind Isao's imposing form. This left a bit of a bad aftertaste in the young man's mouth. He couldn't believe that she'd actually consider Isao as a protective figure or something. Truth to be told, he felt like he could be trusted more to do the protecting because at least he was the bodyguard.

Whoops. Used to be.

"Gin-san?!" He heard her call him, but he didn't even turn to face her or to even acknowledge her greeting. He went straight to the man she was with, scowling and trying his best not to do something he'd feel awful about ten minutes after.

"Did you try to do something funny to her?" The young man made sure that he sounded terrifying.

"I didn't do anything to her, Sakata-san." Isao assured him calmly. "I was actually about to bring her home."

"And which home are you talking about, Kondo-kun?" The dropping of his voice and slow enunciation of syllables didn't sound friendly at all.

This time, Tae joined in the conversation, glaring at him. "He means the apartment where I live, Gin-san." She hissed. "What are you getting worked up for?"

The young man didn't reply. He grabbed her right forearm instead, and tugged her with a bit force to his side. She nearly stumbled and her face almost planted on his chest had he not placed a hand on her shoulder to stop the collision. He also didn't miss the nearly quiet 'ow,' that escaped her mouth, but he was just so annoyed to even say sorry at the moment.

"You can go home now, Kondo-san. I'll be the one seeing her home. Later!" He mock-saluted, and without even waiting for the other man's goodbye, turned round to the direction where he came from, dragging Tae along with him. Tae managed to say goodbye before he tugged her arm rather forcefully to get her to walk in pace with him.

When they were about to exit the park, he felt the young lady tug her forearm violently enough to release herself from his grasp. Gintoki looked at her. The sight of an angry Tae hit him like ice cold shower on a winter morning. All the anger he felt not a few minutes ago was quelled.

"That hurt really bad, Gin-san! What's wrong with you?! And to think Kondo-san was being nice to me the whole time we were together!" She yelled. "And you just had to ruin everything by accusing him!"

His eyes widened in disbelief. "Well, excuse me for ruining your date night. If I only knew that you were secretly and truly interested with that gorilla then I should've acted as your wingman instead of your stupid bodyguard!"

"You know very well that I don't like Kondo-san one bit!"

"Tch. You tell that, but you do another. Why did I even take your word seriously?"

Tae huffed. "Say what you want, Gin-san; he wasn't going to try something funny, as you put it, to me of all people."

"And how can you tell? You're still young—he's well on his way to becoming middle-aged. What makes you think he wouldn't try things with someone inexperienced as you?! Otae-san, the world is a scarier place than you think!"

"And what tells you that he'll try do things to me?! Is it because you're just as perverted as he is? You're also well on your way to becoming middle-aged, no?!"

"You're wrong! I'm only 26!"

"Then act like one! Stop screaming at me and stop accusing people just like that!"

"You know, if you hadn't accepted tonight's date, then maybe we wouldn't be shouting on each other's ears and nearly waking up whoever's asleep at this hour!"

"So what if I did?! What does it matter to you? I may be young, yes, but I can make my own choices now, and you're not my dad, so stop meddling!"

This was getting on his nerves. This was bad. At the back of his mind, Gintoki could sense that this was not going to end well, and yet…

"I'm not meddling! Your brother texted me about your date, so I looked for you! And here you are, being ungrateful of the effort that I put in just to make sure you're fine. Gin-san's really offended. But, like I said, if you really wanted to be that gorilla's woman, then go ahead and run after him; I don't care, and won't care about what happens to you next! Don't come running to me when things become sour. I don't care anymore!"

What followed next hurt even more than any other angry words that the young lady threw his way. It happened too fast, or he was just probably absorbed with his strong feelings that he wasn't able to evade the tiny (but very strong) hand that landed powerfully on his cheek.

"Jerk." She muttered ever so quietly, it chilled Gintoki.

Tae didn't even bid him goodbye, and there weren't even tears pooling at her eyes when she shot him the coldest of glares he'd ever seen on a woman before turning away and leaving. He spent about a good three minutes standing on the same spot, shell-shocked and guilty before cycling back home with an aching cheek and a bruised ego.

When Gintoki said that he didn't and wouldn't care for what happened next, he really meant it that time. Or so he thought.

Shinpachi gotten in touch with him on the same night that he and Tae argued. He told him that Tae went home that night without even greeting him and went straight to her room to lock herself in. She went out the following day with puffy eyes and a sore throat. When the younger sibling attempted to get her to talk about last night, all that he got was a cold glare, and an awfully quiet atmosphere inside the Shimura unit.

Two weeks had passed since that evening at the park, and from what Shinpachi told him via text that morning, it seemed that Tae's mood hadn't improved much. In the pits of Gintoki's mind, he actually felt bad for causing her distress, and was surprised to hear how their heated exchange affected the young lady.

Well at least, he wasn't the only one who seemed to be bothered about what transpired between them. After all, he wouldn't have gotten so mad and his mouth wouldn't have run off just like that had she only continued to give Isao a difficult time pursuing her.

Gintoki concluded that women are complicated beings.

His ears picked up the ringing of the doorbell from his room. He placed the manga he was reading on his bed and sauntered to the living room to see if it was Shinpachi who arrived.

He didn't open the door yet; the young man peered through the slits of the blinds to make sure he was going to welcome the right person (nowadays, one must be careful!), and was pleased to find Shinpachi standing behind the grills of the gate to Tatsuma's flat. He unlocked the door and ran a bit to let the young boy in.

"Afternoon," the young boy greeted as he stepped inside the gate. "You know, for someone who takes up odd jobs, your house sure don't look like you're struggling so much with expenses." Shinpachi commented as his eyes roamed the expanse of the Sakamoto residence. There was a garden with a tiny fish pond and fountain on the side, and since Tatsuma hadn't left for work yet, his car was parked in the garage where the group had also created a makeshift basketball court.

"That's because this isn't my house; I'm only a tenant here." Gintoki cleared up as he closed the gate behind them. "Anyway, did you get lost or something finding this place? I thought you weren't going to show up."

The young boy's face contorted in embarrassment. "I had to lie to my sister that I have kendo practice this weekend and for some reason, she wasn't so convinced this time. I'm actually lucky she relented in the end. But we have to make this quick or she'll suspect that I'm doing something behind her back."

"Ehhh?" the young man grunted as he unceremoniously scratched his butt. "Then why did you even ask to see me today in the first place?" Did Tae want something, but didn't have the balls to talk to him face-to-face? Ah, but she didn't have balls anyway.

Gintoki could trace a mixture of desperation and surety in Shinpachi's serious expression as the young boy fixed his look to him. This took him aback.

"Gin-san," the young boy finally spoke, "please make amends with ane-ue. I can't really stand it when she's mad."

He briefly recalled a very flippant declaration during his youth about quitting drinking altogether. Gintoki inwardly snorted at the amount of bottles in front of him as he spent the rest of his money for today with cold beer. On a sunny afternoon, at that. After talking with Shinpachi (actually, after listening to Shinpachi talk, to be more accurate), there was this urge to spend some time and drink just to let out some stress that, he didn't realize immediately, had been piling up. As much as he tried to dismiss his argument with Tae as just an argument, Gintoki still carried some guilt in him that he knew wouldn't go away anytime soon.

So he went to the nearest bar on his own. He considered asking his friends if they wanted to join him, but ultimately chose to drink by himself (like he usually did). Besides, Katsura didn't really drink (and when he did drink, he'd be asleep after his second bottle, or declaring his unrequited love over his manager—without remembering any of it the following morning); Shinsuke—well, he was annoying to be with; and Tatsuma was out of the question (even though the guy could sponsor as many drinks as Gintoki wanted) just because he'd ruin his already ruined mood with his insane laughter (who laughs like that anyway?!).

Anyway, he needed to hear his thoughts this time. Perhaps ponder about certain things, yes?

"Hey, aren't you the old man who's always with anego and Shin-chan, yes?"

"Old man?" He repeated and winced when he sounded woozy. "Gin-san is hurt by your judgment. I'm not that old."

But the young girl standing in front of his table only looked at him flatly before digging her pinky in her nose casually. "But you are. People who can't accept reality will only end up hurting themselves more in the future."

Gintoki raised an eyebrow. "You're one to talk."

The young girl flicked the dirt off her fingers and blew on her hand. "Just saying," she mumbled. "Anyway, aren't you supposed to be with anego? You're always around her, right? Why are you drinking yourself silly this early in the day? Have adults really become this disappointing nowadays?"

His head ached from the alcohol and from this tiny lady who seemed to not understand the atmosphere right now. Hadn't she heard that one mustn't mess with a drunk?

"Look, I don't even know why I'm talking to you, and even explaining my side,"—he must've been really drunk to even be talking to this kid—"but I don't work for her anymore, so she's not my business anymore. She fired me."

She clicked her tongue and shook her head. "You must've done something really bad for anego to fire you, yes?"

"Hell, no! I grumbled at times, but I did all that she asked me to do. If someone has the right to feel mad, it's me! Gin-san should be the one that's mad, and not her! She called me a jerk, too! Even after all I did for her, I'm still the bad guy. What about her? She just ignored me one time, and then she's mad the next. Who's really the jerk here? You tell me, kid."

"Ay, no wonder you're all by yourself now; you don't know how to treat a lady properly." She stated, then sighed heavily. "You know, when women tell you that everything's fine, you should know that it's not really fine, yes?"

"I know. I've been in a relationship before. Women are just complicated to deal with." He motioned for the young girl to leave him be. "Anyway, run along now. Shouldn't you be in school?"

She looked at him, deadpan. "School's done. I'm just waiting for my brother to finish his shift here."

Gintoki groaned. "Okay then, go bother someone else! I need to be alone."

"If you say so," she mumbled, shrugging. "But let me tell you this, old man; don't ever leave a woman hanging especially after things goes south."

Gintoki might not be chivalrous by nature, but he was raised not to lift a hand—or throw a bottle or two—on women, especially little girls like this punk.