Summary: Hijikata lost his memories of his lover, Gintoki, and everyone that is connected to him in any way, excluding Hijikata's coworkers. Now that the man has shown up, Hijikata is bombarded by memories that both shock and dumbfound him. Why did he lose his memory, and what exactly is his relationship with Sakata Gintoki?

Warnings: Yaoi, Language, some OOCness, AU, and poor Hijikata losing his memories of Gin-chan, crappy depictions of a Kendo Master.

Pairings: GinHiji, Sougo x Kondou, Shinpachi x Kagura, TakaZura, etc.

A/N: Ohayo! My first Gintama AU fic, so if it's all just crap, tell me, please. Each chapter I'll be posting lyrics to a song. I really hope you enjoy! Also, I apologize for any grammar problems, spelling errors, etc etc.

Enjoy! ^^

One

"Ever since the day you left

My fate's been set unknown

How many years

To walk this path alone?"

-Save Me

Avenged Sevenfold

The sword was brought down, blood coming off the blade with ease. An unknown ronin sheathed the sword as a smirk played on his lips.

He reached into his suit. As he searched for his cell phone, he let out a low grumble once he found that his phone was MIA.

He really wanted to get through with his job as soon as possible, and it wasn't going to happen when he didn't have his damn phone. He clicked his tongue in annoyance, trying to decide if he should just not bother with a clean up crew and leave, or head to his vehicle and use his extra cell hidden in the glove compartment.

After much contemplation, he chose the latter and stormed off towards his waiting Infiniti M. He shifted his stance once he stopped, his hand reaching into his suit's pockets, grinning once he'd grabbed them.

The ronin unlocked the doors and threw the passenger's door ajar. He leaned in to yank open the glove compartment, his grin still plastered on his face once he found what he was looking for.

He held the crappy phone firmly as he switched it on. Finally, after the unneeded title screen left him with the home screen, he went to contacts, revealing every number he would need to know in case of an emergency.

Clicking his tongue once again, he dialed the cleaners' number, and held the phone to his ear. He waited a few moments as the line rang, an exasperated sigh escaping his lips once he heard the knowing voice of a woman.

"Yeah, I need your services once again. Come to ***** ******. I won't be here, but you know what to do," he grumbled, and then hung up the phone. A silvery white lock of hair fell into his face and he brushed it away.

He walked around to the other side of the car, after slamming the passenger's door shut, and opened the door easily, sliding into his comfortable seat. And he started the car, and drove away off into the night.

Leaning back against a dirty wall, Hijikata Toushirou took a deep, long drag of a cigarette, the nicotine sinking into him as he did. He stared up at the cloudless sky as the smoke left his slightly open mouth.

He shut his eyes for only a few seconds, taking deep breaths, and as he opened them, he found himself face-to-face with wine colored eyes and white, curly hair which stuck up in a few places. He blinked once, then twice. He rubbed his eyes, shock unfurling within his body.

"...what?" His voice shook. The shock was replaced by fury suddenly as a scoff of mockery was sent his way by the stranger. He set his eyes into a glare, his voice finally firm as he said, "Who the fuck're you!? Sonofabicth, why're you watching me!?"

The cigarette fell from his fingers without notice when he grabbed ahold of the stranger's dark suit. Hijikata glared defiantly at the man, his eyes narrowing as the permy bastard didn't seem to give a shit.

Said bastard reached towards Hijikata's fingers and removed them from the front of his suit. He let out an annoyed sigh, and then smirked.

"Does it really matter? You'll find out soon enough, anyways. Especially if you're going to sit in on my lecture," the stranger stated, his voice sultry and smooth, with a few hints of roughness around the edges.

Hijikata felt rage burn in his throat, words that were quite vulgar on the tip of his tongue, but he held back, deciding not to piss the guy off, just in case he was a serial killer or maybe a rapist. The latter was highly unlikely, but the former was a possibility.

"Sit in on your lecture? T'ch, as if. I'm not a student here, I don't have the time. I have classes to teach," he said, then looked at his watch. "Which, by the way, I must get to now." He lifted his face up as if to show a haughty exterior, and walked off, his head still raised high.

The stranger just laughed. "You never know, Oogushi-kun, you never know."

Drumming his fingers on his desk, Hijikata stared out at the empty class. All the students were late and it was actually quite eerie not having even a couple of students in the same class with him. There always seemed to be at least one female student staying back after class to talk him up and try, consequently, to get him to take her somewhere, mainly his bed.

He always rejected them, even when he was sexually frustrated. He didn't give a shit if they were college students, adult, or not. He would not prey on a student. It was against his principles.

Yawning, he stood up from his desk, annoyance buzzing around in his brain. He left his classroom and walked down the empty hallway. He looked around, trying to discern where a class of students would have gone.

He took notice of two students milling around one particular spot, and headed over there to ask what the fuck was going on.

The students seemed surprised when he'd asked the question, giving him a look that made him feel utterly dense. He shifted from foot to foot as they seemed to mull over their words, when they finally decided to tell him what was happening. The female student spoke first.

"Hijikata-sensei, sir, there's a lecture being given by Sakata Gintoki, the world famous kendo instructor," she stated, her eyes lowered from meeting the glare that Hijikata sent her way.

There was an awkward silence that surrounded the three, and, after what seemed like hours, the male student decided it was his turn to speak. "Ah, sensei, would you like to go in and listen to Sakata-san speak? I mean, since you're a professor here and all, you can go in without anyone noticing. You...don't have to pay, unlike us students," he said, his eyes also lowered from meeting Hijikata's hard stare.

Hijikata sighed and patted both of their heads, deciding to let them off easy without yelling or cursing at them, and walked through the double doors leading to a mini auditorium. He padded towards the wall where multiple other professors and assistants stood.

He nodded at both Kondou and Okita, not bothering to acknowledge the annoyance of a person, Yamazaki. He didn't even like Okita, but since Kondou was all for them getting along as professors he had to be at least sociable to the sadist.

He didn't recognize the few other professors and assistants, so he felt that he didn't owe them a friendly nod or anything close to that. He leaned back against the wall, watching silently as he watched someone walk out onto the stage.

Hijikata recognized the white, curly hair and the obnoxious, red, dead fish eyes. He nearly scoffed at the fact that the bastard was the so-called famous kendo master and sensei. God, what a joke. The guy looked as if he couldn't hold a sword correctly, let alone teach students how to use one.

And then the deep, sultry voice that had pissed off Hijikata earlier started speaking.

"To be a samurai, you should feel the sword beneath your fingertips just as much as it piercing your heart. Both can be linked to pain, and both can be linked to your soul. You bring forth pain just as much as you feel it; it's the same with your soul. One way in, living; one way out, death. Choose one." Gintoki's grin was malicious as he spoke those words, his eyes on Hijikata.

The latter gulped as those wine red eyes burned a hole into him. He quickly turned his head, breaking eye contact with the shit head.

"You must decide which one you prefer. Kendo isn't just about fighting with bamboo swords; kendo teaches it's students how to be precise, how to have depth when making contact with your opponent. It trains and trains until you are able to fight by being one with your sword," he stated, and then took a deep breath.

He then continued, "I, as a sensei, first teach my students how to hold and use their swords. They practice with bokken, which is the basics to kendo. But, once I feel that my students are ready to use a real sword, I have them choose new swords from my whole collection. Once they have chosen the sword that will stay with them until its demise, or even their death, I will train them into mastering and controlling their swords with perfection."

Once he stopped speaking, there was absolute silence. There was nothing, until somebody coughed. Then there was more silence, and finally somebody else stood up and started clapping.

Gintoki smirked at the crowd of students, relishing in the act of being in the midst of claps and cheers. His eyes went over the dozens of observers, and conclusively landed on a dark haired, blue eyed professor in the back.

His smirk grew as those pretty blue eyes scowled angrily his way. He easily broke the eye contact and made his way off the stage. He wasn't up to thanking the observers for their listening ability, so he just went back stage and took a seat.

Hijikata felt red eyes on him and he glared back, only to be met with a back as Sakata turned around and walked off the auditorium's stage. With an irked huff, he slipped out of the large room and headed to his own classroom to wait for the late students.

"-and that is how you cook an omelet, Tae. Remember, don't burn it when you try to make it for your younger brother, okay?" Hijikata kept his voice calm, making sure to keep his words kind and caring. He really did not want to piss off the woman Kondou was aiming for, evenif she was just a student.

It wouldn't do him any good to anyone if he ended up with a concussion, or diarrhea if she decided to shove her 'food' down his throat.

Smiling, Shimura Tae (Otae to many) nodded and bowed politely, her summer yukata making her seem pure and perfect. But, sadly, Hijikata knew what the woman could do, in the kitchen or not.

"Thank you, Hijikata-sensei. Thank you so much for giving me this extra lesson, alone," she murmured, a wry grin spreading across her face as she stared at her teacher. She faked a cute laugh and then left, leaving the poor raven-haired male to his own thoughts.

Hijikata clicked his tongue in contentment. If only Kondou had seen that display of affection from Tae, even if it wasn't anything of the romantic sort; the professor would surely have a mild seizure and nosebleed from the scene.

Shaking his head, Hijikata turned and started to clean up the mess his student had made, making sure to dump the burnt disaster of an omelet into the trash can. He really didn't want to get sued or even fired if someone ate it by accident and either died or got horrid food poisoning.

One way or another, Hijikata would not get not anymore trouble with the college. He'd already nearly lost his job three times thanks so ignorant and idiotic students.

Once the job of clearing away the mess Tae had made by practicing her cooking, he left the Culinary Arts class' kitchen, not bothering to lock up, considering a janitor would come by later on and do that for him. He decisively headed towards his own classroom, which wasn't too far away.

As Hijikata's footsteps echoed in the empty halls, he took a sharp turn into a doorway leading to his moderately small classroom. He padded over to his desk and piled up his crap, shoving it to an open bag all the while having murmured, "Thank god I'm finally alone..."

He hummed a low tune as he did packed up all the papers and other not-so-important things, but stopped immediately once he noted another person in the room with him. He sighed.

"I guess I'm not alone after all, huh," he grumbled towards the lone figure standing by the window.

The previously unnoticed person left the comfort of the large window, and steadily made his way ver to Hijikata. A smirk played on his lips after seeing the recognition in the raven-haired male's eyes.

The shit-head kendo master reached out with one hand to stroke the side of Hijikata's face, a soft smile replacing the sinister smirk. Red eyes stared into blue, and blue eyes stared into red; neither backing down as they stared each other down.

Hijikata slapped Sakata's hand away, an angry glare gracing his handsome features, making his supposed bad boy looks turn into an even more dangerous guise.

Gintoki bit back a smile at the look he was given, finally deciding to speak up. "Oogushi-kun, no need to be hostile. I'm just here to have a small chat, if you will. Nothing more, nothing less..." He paused, collecting his thoughts, and then resumed. "...unless, of course, you want something more."

His eyes danced with amusement as Hijikata started to huff and puff, his cheeks being dusted with a pale red.

"You! You...! What the fuck is Oogushi-kun, anyways!? Why are you even calling me that, shit head?! I don't fucking know you; don't you dare assume that I would even allow you speak to me in any manner other than professional, bastard," he yelled, a dark aura surrounding him.

Sakata visibly deflated at those words, his bright red eyes dulling down into a deep, muddy wine color. Taking a deep breath, he decided to ask a question that had been on his mind for quite some time.

"You...you don't remember me? At all?" Gintoki's words were laced with pain and sorrow, his eyes lowered so he wouldn't, as if he could, meet Hijikata's eyes; his Oogushi-kun's eyes.

"Of course I don't," Hijikata stated flippantly. "As far as know, today was the first day I have ever laid eyes on you, let alone spoke to you."

He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "I really do apologize if somehow you've spoken to me without my knowledge, but truthfully I have no memories of you." He kept his tone of voice harsh, not allowing any but of softness to squeeze in.

Sakata only nodded. He tried to keep himself from shaking with grief, and before the barriers of sorrow broke through his invisible dam of emotions, an unexpected person entered the room, making a sound from the back of her throat.

"Ne, Gin-chan, hurry up. I want my dinner soon!" Kagura's voice was loud and so unladylike, it actually grated along Sakata's nerves, which was a first. He never, ever got annoyed with her, or even Shinpachi for that matter. But, at the moment, he seriously was not in the mood to deal with the pubescent fourteen-year-old girl.

"Kagura, I'll be there in just a moment. Tell Shinpachi that it won't take long," he told her flatly, deciding early on not to face her, since it would only cause him even more vexation.

Gintoki heard her clap her hands together and then run off, her footsteps trailing off the farther she ran down the hall, until he couldn't hear her anymore. Letting long held breath, he turned his attention back to Hijikata, who had his eyebrow quirked up in an adorable way, making Gintoki want to hug him.

Hijikata blinked a few times, the scene replaying over and over in his head. That girl...she was young, younger than most university students, anyways. Was this silver-haired bastard a pedophile or something?

Before he could stop himself, he asked, "Oi, perm head, you a damn lolicon?"

The look on Sakata's face was priceless; it nearly made Hijikata roll on the floor laughing, which would have been a first.

Gintoki's mouth opened and closed like a fish, his eyes bugging out and blinking rapidly. He lifted a hand, his index finger up as if he was about to make a point, but he reluctantly lowered it.

"...I...what? Lolicon? Where'd you get that idea? And are you a fuckin idiot?" He kept his voice firm and questioning as he stared at the now open mouthed individual in front of him.

Hijikata just stammered, "I-uh, it's just...t-that girl...she was y-young, so I just f...figured that, well, y-you know..."

A smirk played on Gin's lips as he 'tsked, tsked'. "Don't assume anything about me, Oogushi-kun. I know much more about you, and you know just about everything about me. You just have to remember."

With that said, Gintoki turned and left Hijikata alone in his classroom, looking awestruck but also sick to his stomach.

"What the hell? Remember what?"