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Sometimes you put too much effort in your Secret Santa gift only to receive a 300 yen gift

Summary:

Kagura got the horrible idea to organize a Secret Santa with her friends, but with a twist. Now several of them struggle to comply with her demands, some more than others.

Notes:

Based on a true story

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

“Gin-chan! Gin-chan!” 

Gintoki buried his face deeper into his JUMP as he tried to ignore the over enthusiastic girl. At this time of the year, he just knew it couldn’t be anything good. At least not for his wallet. Being so close to Christmas with a kid in the house was dangerous. 

“Gin-chan!” She continued, getting closer to him, practically shouting into his ear. 

He continued to ignore her. Was it too late to fake being asleep?

“Gin-chan! I know you can hear me!” Kagura punched him in the arm, making him finally let go of his JUMP in pain.

“Oi! You stupid girl! What’s your problem?! Gin-san is busy!” He exclaimed angrily.

“You’re not! Stop ignoring me! This is important!” She glared at him.

“Is something wrong, Kagura-chan?” Shinpachi asked.

She shook her head. “No.”

“Then stop bothering me.” Gintoki said grumpily, picking up his JUMP. 

“No until you listen to me first!” She said.

Gintoki rolled his eyes. “What now?”

“Let’s do a Secret Santa!” She exclaimed.

He sneered. “A what? Is that some kind of dirty game you kids do now?”

“Of course not!” She huffed. “It’s to exchange gifts!” She said. 

“A Secret Santa?” Shinpachi asked, intrigued. “I have heard about it. Do you want to have a Secret Santa between us, Kagura-chan?”

“No.” She shook her head, grinning. “I want to have a Secret Santa with all of our friends!” She said. 

“That sounds fun.” Shinpachi said smiling.

“Do I have to remind both of you that we’re too poor to be buying gifts for everyone we know?” Gintoki said grumpily, not liking the idea much. His wallet was already hurting from the mere idea. 

“You don’t have to buy everyone a gift, Gin-san. Just one person.” Shinpachi said. 

“Then why invite everyone?” He asked, still hesitant with the idea, though his wallet let out a small sigh of relief.

“This is what Secret Santa is all about, Gin-san.” Shinpachi started explaining. “A group of people draw names and give the person they got a gift. You’re not supposed to say who you got until the day to exchange gifts. On Chritsmas Day.”

“Yeah, it’ll be fun!” Kagura exclaimed excitedly. “Haru-chan says she does it with her family every year!”

Gintoki groaned. “That seems like such a drag.” He complained.

“Oh, C’mon, Gin-san. It'll be fun. And you get to receive a gift too.”

Gintoki groaned again, both kids staring at him expectantly. “Fine.” He grumbled. “But you’re paying for your own gifts with your own money.”

Both rolled their eyes. “Fine.” Both said. 

“Who are you even inviting to this thing?” Gintoki asked, annoyed. 

Kagura grinned. “Oh, you’ll see.” She chuckled, rubbing her palms in a devious way that made Gintoki start sweating out of dread.

The next day, Gintoki found himself in the Shimura household, staring stoically at the assortment of people Kagura had gathered. His eyes landed on a certain someone that looked just as thrilled to be here as him, making him just turn around and start walking towards the exit.

“Gin-chan! Where are you going? We haven’t drawn any names yet!” Kagura said, following with a slightly threatening voice. 

Gintoki turned to glare at her. “Why are all these people here?” He complained. “It was already such a pain to have to deal with most of them. Especially that stalker. But why did you also have to invite those idiots!” He pointed at the Shinsengumi trio sitting in Otae’s living room. Toshirou seemed to sense his glare because he turned to glare at him too. Kondo was too busy being punched by Otae and Sougo was admiring Sarutobi’s whip as she proudly talked about its multiple uses. 

“They are our friends too, yes?” Kagura said. “Except the Chihuahua.” She glared at Sougo, who chose that moment to glare at her too. She huffed, before turning back to Gintoki. “Besides…” She grinned deviously. “I know Gin-chan likes Toshi as more than a friend.”

Gintoki felt his face turn red, but he told himself it was from the cold. “No, I do not !” He exclaimed. 

She snickered. “Don’t worry, Gin-chan. Your secret is safe with me. As long as you join the Secret Santa.” She said, turning around and going back to the house. 

Gintoki sighed, following her grumpily. 

The living room was crowded with all the people Kagura had brought. Besides the Shinsengumi and the Yorozuya, Otae, Kyubei, Sarutobi, Tsukuyo and a very poorly disguised Zura and Elizabeth were there too. The Shinsengumi either didn’t recognize him wearing a Santa costume and Elizabeth as a reindeer one or they were just ignoring him for the sake of the girl. Gintoki tried to ignore his existence entirely. 

He looked for a place to sit, having very few choices. “Gin-san! Gin-san! Here! Here! Sit next to me!” Sarutobi exclaimed, face red, patting the seat next to her. She was wearing her slutty Santa costume too. 

He sighed exasperated. “Why are you both idiots wearing that stupid outfit?!” He looked at both Katsura and Sarutobi. “It’s not even Chritmas yet!”

“Christmas janai, Katsu-” Elizabeth hitted him with one of his placards that said ‘I’m Rudolph!’ .

Gintoki sighed exasperated. “Let’s just get this over with.” He said. Sitting as far away from his stalker as he could and ending up sitting directly in front of Toshirou. “I have better things to do than see this idiot’s face.” He said, leaning into his hand and staring at Toshirou with a stoic glance.

Toshirou glared at him. “Who are you calling an idiot?!” He growled. “This was a stupid idea. I’m too busy to play stupid games.” He huffed, standing up. 

Kondo looked up from where he was laying down on the tatami with bruises on his face. “Toshi! Where are you going?” He asked. 

“Toshi! You promised you would do it!” Kagura said, making her big puppy eyes. “Ignore Gin-chan, he is an idiot, yes?”

Toshirou glanced at her before closing his eyes and sighing defeatedly. “Fine” He grumbled, sitting again ang glaring briefly at Gintoki before looking away. Gintoki continued to stare at him with dead fish eyes. 

“Okay, listen everyone. Here are the rules.” Otae began saying. “I have already written all of our names and placed them in this bowl.” She gestured at the bowl in the middle of the table with a bunch of paper slips. “Each of us is going to grab one and buy a gift for the person that we got. If you get your own name you have to choose again. It’s a secret who we got until Christmas Day when we have to bring our gift and exchange it. So you can’t tell anyone about it until then. And no exchanging the person you got with someone else. No cheating.” She smiled warningly. 

“Yeah, and something else!” Kagura exclaimed. “When we exchange gifts the Secret Santa has to say something nice about the person they got before saying their name and the rest has to try to guess. And then they have to hug!”

“What?!” Several of them exclaimed. Toshirou and him were the loudest.

“I’m not doing that!” Gintoki said. 

“That’s it! I’m leaving!” Toshirou said, standing up again.

Sougo forcefully pulled him down, making him hit his knee with the table and making him hiss in pain. “Don’t be a partypooper, Hijikata-san. If I have to do this silly thing then so do you.” He said stoically.

Toshirou grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. “Fine.” He said, glaring at the bowl. 

“Okay, now we draw the names.” Otae said, ignoring their outburst entirely. 

Everyone passed around the bowl silently, taking a piece of paper out and taking a peek to see the person they got. Kondo was the first to get visibly upset. “Oh… I wanted to be the one giving Otae-san a gift.” It seemed like the girl visibly relaxed at this. “But it’s fine! I can just buy her something too!”

Sarutobi crunched her piece of paper in her fist with a groan. “No way! Someone change with me!” She exclaimed, looking around at everyone.

“No! That’s cheating!” Kagura said.

She huffed. “What am I even supposed to give to this person? I had my gift already planned for Gin-san.” Gintoki also relaxed at her words. At least he won’t be getting her as a gift. 

Katsura opened his piece of paper and frowned. “Zura janai, Kat-” Elizabeth histted him again with a placard that now said ‘ Just choose another one ’. Katsura did, leaving the piece of paper with his nickname inside the bowl again. 

The bowl passed around several other hands again. Everyone of them having a different reaction. Gintoki saw Sougo frowning and putting the paper inside his yukata quickly with a sneer. Toshirou glared at the paper for several seconds as if wanting to burn it with his eyesight before crumbling the paper and putting it inside his yukata too. Kagura cheered when she saw hers and Otae smiled pleasantly. Kyubei and Tsukuyo seemed disappointed by theirs. 

Finally, the bowl reached Gintoki. He took a paper out and opened it. He stared at the name for several seconds, a part of him wishing it changed the name written on it. Written in that piece of paper the name of Toshirou seemed to be almost mocking him. His heartrate increased, his face paled. 

“Everything fine, Gin-san?” Shinpachi asked. “You didn’t get your own name, right?” He leaned in to try to see who he got.

Gintoki closed his fist before he could see, crumbling the paper, and then slipped it inside his yukata. “No.” He grumbled. “But I wish I had.”

“Good! Now that everyone has their own person, rememeber, you have to get something meaningful.” Otae said. “It has to be something that the person you got would like.”

Many groaned. “Can I go now?” Hijikata asked grumpily. 

“Sure. Don’t forget your gift.” She said pleasantly. 

He nodded before standing up and leaving. Gintoki glared at his back as he left. Sougo followed him, but Kondo tried to stay until Otae kicked him out. Everyone else started leaving too. When it was just the yorozuya plus Otae, a new person came in. “Hey, I heard you’re doing a Secret Santa. Why was I not invited?” Said a Madao with a whine.

Everyone rolled their eyes. “You wouldn’t even be able to afford being a Secret Santa, Madao.” Kagura sneered. 

Hasegawa spluttered. “I- I could buy something!” He said, but everyone knew he was lying. He sighed. “No, you’re right. I just wanted someone to give me something.”

“You can have some tamagoyaki, Hasegawa-san. No one ate their share.” Otae said, offering him black matter.

Everyone else grimaced. “Yeah, I think I’m fine not being part of this Secret Santa thing…” Hasegawa mumbled nervously before leaving too. 

“I’m leaving too.” Gintoki said, standing up. He had to leave before he was forced to eat black matter. 

“Don’t forget to buy your gift, Gin-san! It has to be something meaningful! Don’t bring just and old JUMP or a half eaten puddin!” Otae said. 

“I know!” Gintoki grumbled.

“Oh, and you also have to say something nice about the person you got! So you better think of something nice or you’ll see!” She said menancingly. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Gintoki groaned, leaving behind both kids as he quickly walked out of the place.

Ugh, he had no idea what to buy for Toshirou. What does he even like? Mayonnaise and cigarettes? Being bossy? He has never been good with gifts, he is more of bigs acts of service kind of guy. 

And to make matters worse he has to say something nice about him. He is screwed. 

One thing is to come up with something nice about Hijikata that doesn’t reveal too much about his feelings for him Despite his many misgivings Gintoki knows the mayora has many good traits. But saying what he thinks of him in front of everyone? Yeah, no thanks.

He groaned loudly, gaining the attention of several passersby. 

What should he buy and say?

 


 

About a week later on Christmas Day, Toshirou found himself in Shimura’s household again, wondering how he ended up here. He had made the mistake of letting Kagura convince him of participating in her stupid Secret Santa thing. And now he had to not only buy something for Gintoki of all people, but also to say something nice about him. Why was this his luck? 

Maybe he should have broken the rules and changed with someone else. He would bet the ninja stalker would have been thrilled to change with him. But he didn’t do it. Partly because he didn’t want to break the rules Kagura put after she asked him personally to participate in this event. However, he didn’t want to think of the other reason for deciding to keep Gintoki’s name. 

So he got stuck with Gintoki and he had to think of something to buy him. He has always been very bad with gifts, almost as bad as he is with words. But after a lot of time of thinking he finally came up with something for the permhead that he hopes he will like. 

So now, drinking tea and carefully avoiding looking at the black matter sitting in the middle of the table, he’s still fidgeting in his seat because while he is pretty confident on the gift he brought, he is still unable to come up with something to say about Gintoki. Not in front of everyone else. If he were to say anything of what he likes of the man then he would never be able to live it down and he would die of shame. Sougo and even Gintoki himself would make sure of that. He won’t be able to show his face again.

The yorozuya were the last to arrive, both kids dragging the permhead who was fidgeting, trying to escape the kids’ hold on both of his arms. Him and Toshirou locked eyes, the maroon eyes widening just a fraction before looking somewhere else. Toshirou also looked away, feeling the nerves invading him. 

“Okay, now that everyone is here we should start with the Secret Santa.” Shimura said with a pleasant smile. “How about you start, Kagura-chan? Since this was your idea.” She said. “That way you can show everyone else how it's done.”

Kagura nodded. “Yeah!” She stood up. “Okay, so I got this person who is a good leader, though not as great as me! And also he is very loyal to his friends and his cause. Even if he sometimes is an idiot.” She said with a big grin. “Now try guessing who I got!”

“Kondo-san!” Toshirou blurted out before he could stop himself.

“Aww, Toshi! You think I’m a good leader?!” Kondo sniffed, hugging him.

Gintoki snorted. “No, it’s obviously me. I’m the best leader here.” Gintoki snorted.

Toshirou glared at him. “I changed my mind. It’s about me.”

“All of you are wrong!” Kagura said. “It’s Zura!” 

Katsura sniffed. “Leader!” He went to hug her. Accidentally knocking down Elizabeth’s placard that said ‘It’s me!’ .

Toshirou stared at the joui with suspicion. He knew who he was even with his stupid Santa costume, but Kondo, Sougo and him had agreed to ignore his presence. They were all doing this for Kagura and if she wanted to invite 2 terrorists to her party they would allow it, for now. Besides, there was this understanding between them since Katsura and Elizabeth helped them free Kondo from execution. 

After hugging him, Kagura gave him the gift which he opened. He gasped loudly, taking out a UNO box. “The Doraemon UNO edition! Leader! Thank you! This is just what I wanted!” He hugged her again. 

“Yeah, yeah. Now it’s your turn. Stop crying, you big baby!” Kagura huffed, pushing him away and sitting down. 

Katsura turned around. “Well, I got a very strong and fearful lady that her mere presence demands respect.”

“Anego!” Kagura shouted.

“Aneue.” Shinpachi said too.

Kondo gasped in outrage. “You are the one who stole Otae-san from me!” He said, pointing at Katsura with a finger angrily.

“No, he stole my chance to be her Secret Santa!” Yagyuu exclaimed, frowning.

Katsura nodded, not minding Kondo and Yagyuu’s inputs. “Yes, I got Otae-dono.” 

Shimura stood up with a pleasant smile. “Ah, that was nice, Katsura-san. But I am not fearful at all.” Everyone shivered at her tone. He gave her an envelope and she smiled more calmly after opening it. “A Bargain Dash Gift card?” She turned it around. “Valid for an entire month? Wow, this is quite nice, Katsura-san. Thank you.” She hugged him briefly before pulling away.

“Otae-san! Why don’t you hug me?!” Kondo wailed by his side. 

“No! Me!” Yagyuu said, glaring at the gorilla. 

She ignored them as Katsura sat down. “I got a woman that is very pretty and nice. She always takes care of the people around her and no matter what she thinks, she is a good and strong woman.” 

“Tsukki!” Both Sarutobi exclaimed. The blonde blushed furiously at this.

Otae nodded with a smile. “Yes, it’s Tsukki.”

Tsukuyo smiled with a faint bashful blush and stood up, going immediately to hug her. “Thanks, Tae.” She said as she received her gift and opened it. It revealed a brand new kimono.

“I just thought it would look great on you.” Shimura smiled. 

Tsukuyo smiled at her. “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” Shimura nodded with a smile and went to sit down. She turned around with a little nervous stance. “I got a preson that I admittedly don’t know much about, but from what I have seen and heard about him I know that he is a very pure hearted person and someone that is quite admirable to the point that many have chosen to follow him.” 

Toshirou barely stopped himself from saying the first name that came to his mind, but it couldn’t be him since Tsukuyo knew him quite well so she wouldn’t describe him as ‘someone she doesn’t know much about’ .

“I think this time it is Kondo-san.” Sougo said with a yawn.

Toshirou nodded. “I think so too.” He said, even if he was not the first person to come to his mind.

“Yes, it’s him.” She said with a nod. 

Kondo gasped. “Me?!” He exclaimed and Tsukuyo nodded. “Oh, those were some nice words, Tsukuyo-dono.” He stood up to stand next to her. “Thank you.” He hugged her tightly and she grimaced but patted his back briefly. He let her go and opened her gift. “Oh? A Photo Album?” He said, raising an eyebrow. He opened it and his eyes widened. “And Otae-san Photo Album?!!” He said with a big excited grin on his face. 

“What?!!” Shimura shouted in outrage, turning to glare at Tsukuyo who was looking away bashfully. 

“I-I don’t know much about him. That’s what Sarutobi said he would like.” Tsukuyo said bashfully. 

Shimura turned to glare at the ninja stalker who snickered. “And I was right. I know what a fellow stalker would like.” Sarutobi said without an ounce of shame. 

“So you admit you’re a stalker!” Gintoki shouted, pointing a finger at her with a frown. 

“But at least I’m not as bad as that gorilla!” The ninja pointed at Kondo.

“I’m not a stalker!” Kondo shouted. 

Hijikata sighed. “Can we move along?” He was getting tired of waiting. The nerves were eating at him. 

He still had to wait 5 more minutes until Shimura was done destroying Kondo’s gift and for him to stop crying enough to continue with this thing. 

“I-” Kondo sniffed. “I got someone that has similar hobbies to me. She-”

“It’s that ninja stalker over there.” Gintoki said with a bored tone.

Kondo nodded. “Huh?!! Me?!! I’m nothing like you, you Gorilla Stalker!!” Sarutobi exclaimed in outrage. 

“We concluded you two are stalkers a few paragraphs ago. Just go get your stupid gift.” Gintoki said, glaring at her. Toshirou just then noticed that he was fidgeting quite a lot. Was he nervous about this whole thing like Toshirou was or was it something else?

She huffed and stood up. “But I’m not hugging this gorilla.” She said with a sneer. “I only want a hug from Gin-san.”

“Actually, that’s what I was planning to give you, Sacchan.” Kondo said. 

“Huh?!!” Gintoki exclaimed, turning to glare at him as Sarutobi squealed in happiness. “What you mean a hug from Gin-san!??!”

Kondo took a thick envelope. “This is yours, Yorozuya. If you hug her for five minutes.”

“Huh?!! I’m not whoring myself for a few yen. How much is it even?!” He harshly took the envelope out of Kondo’s hands and opened it, face turning white. “30 seconds.” He muttered.

“Deal!” Both Kondo and Sarutobi exclaimed. 

“And I’m not doing this again. Unless you empty the national savings.” He said, standing up and going after Sarutobi who squealed even harder. 

Toshirou looked away with a frown, not particularly eager to see this. He caught Sougo’s eyes which shone with malicious glee. He looked away in another direction. 

“Okay, that’s enough!” Gintoki shouted. “You got your stupid hug, now let go of me.” Toshirou turned to see him pushing her face away from him as she held tightly to him, her nose was bleeding, buried in his chest and tainting his yukata with the blood, before Gintoki forcefully pushed her away.

“Gross! You left your stupid blood all over me!” Gintoki shouted.

Sarutobi just smiled happily. “Let’s do this again, Gin-san!”

“No way! Stay away from me!” Gintoki shouted. 

“No! Just a few more seconds! I can pay!” She wailed.

“I said that’s enough!” He kicked her. “This is not happening ever again.” He huffed and went to sit back down.

She sighed defeatedly before perking up. “I still get another hug from Gin-san since I got him! And the present is me!” She made a pose, shoving more of her cleaveage in that diminute Santa outfit she wore. 

“You don’t.” Said several of the people here, Toshirou included. He spoke before he could realize and was grateful that everyone was too focused on the crazy woman to pay attention to his mistake. 

She pouted. “Okay, I didn’t. But I still want to give myself to Gin-san this Christmas!” She said. 

“I don’t want it. You can keep that trash.” Said Gintkoi, picking his nose with disinterest, not even looking at her. 

She huffed. “Fine. The person I got is mysterious and quiet.” She said. Everyone turned to stare at Elizabeth without a word, he stood up before it was confirmed it was him. “Here.” She said, offering the gift to the weird Amanto without any trace of joy. 

He took it, not minding her sitting down before they could hug. He opened a box, showing several BDSM toys. 

Gintoki immediatelly moved to cover Kagura’s eyes. “Oi! What kind of gift is that, you horny bitch?! There are kids present!”

“Wait, I didn’t see!” Kagura exclaimed. 

Shinpachi covered his own eyes, face red. And Shimura was glaring at Sarutobi with a murderous look. “He seems to be into that kind of shit.” Sarutobi said shrugging, uncaring of everyone stares. “I can tell.”

Elizabeth nodded at her, showing a placard that read ‘ I will make sure to make good use of this ’. Everyone decided to ignore this.

He held up another placard that said ‘ He is kind ’.

“Shinpachi-kun.” Toshirou said quickly and Elizabeth nodded. 

“Wow, HIjikata-san. You got that quite fast. And with just a few words.” Yagyuu said, sounding imppressed. 

“He is the only kind one here.” He muttered before catching Shimura’s glare. “From the remaining people to pass.”  He added quickly before she could take offense and decide to shove black matter into him. 

Gintoki huffed and Shinpachi smiled at him. “Thanks, Hijikata-san. And thank you Elizabeth-san.” He hugged him quickly, with a slightly awkward stance. He opened the gift that was handed to him. “Oh! The new Otsuu Christmas Album! This is just what I wanted!” Shinpachi smiled ecstatic. “Thank you, Elizabeth-san. I’ll treasure this!”

Elizabeth nodded at him as Shinpachi turned back around, carefully putting the Album inside his yukata. “I got a strong person that I consider as another older sibling and-”

“Kyu-chan!” Shimura added before he could finish. 

He chuckled. “Yeah…” 

Yagyuu’s eye widened. “Oh, you see me as a sibling. Maybe a Sibling-in-la-”

“Not so far.” Shinpachi interrupted with a strained smile. He handed them a long box. “Here.” He said.

“Oh, thanks, Shinpachi-kun.” Yagyuu said before opening the gift and taking out a sword. “A sword?!” Yagyuu unsheated it, revealing a shiny sword with a high quality finish. “It feels quite good.” They mumbled, swinging the sword around. 

Shinpachi smiled. “Aneue told me you have been thinking of getting a new one so I asked Tetsuko-san to do one tailored just for you.” He explained. 

Yagyuu smiled. “Thanks, Shinpachi-kun. I will use it well.” They sheathed the sword again.

Just then, as Shinpachi went to sit down (looking as if he was avoiding contact with Yagyuu), Toshirou looked around. There were only a few people missing. Kagura has yet to receive a gift, as does Sougo, Gintoki and him. It didn’t help with the nerves and he just wished he had already gotten this over with, but no one seems to be calling his name so he had no choice but to wait so he can finally be done with this.

“I got someone who is a sadic and-”

“The Chihuahua!” Kagura yelled, interrupting them. 

Sougo didn’t react to this. “How would you know, Kagura-chan? It could also mean Gin-san.” Shinpachi said. 

“Yeah, but Gin-chan has other qualities besides being a sadic, yes?” She said as Gintoki nodded with pride. “He is also a lazy bum.” 

Gintoki stopped nodding to glare at her. “Oi!” He shouted. 

“She is right.” Yagyuu said. “It’s Okita-kun.”

Sougo stood up, but neither moved to hug each other. “So where’s my gift?” He said stoically. 

“No! First you have to hug! It was in the rules.” Kagura shouted. 

Both sneered. “Do we have to?” Yagyuu asked, looking quite uncomfortable. 

Kagura nodded. “It’s in the rules.” She said with a malicious knowing smirk. 

“Then I’m out. Hugs are stupid.” Sougo complained. 

“C’mon, Sougo, just do it.” Kondo intervened. “It can be just a quick hug.”

Sougo and Yagyuu turned to stare at each other for several seconds before both sneered, but came to stand closer. As they came nearer to each other, Sougo accidentally touched her hand, resulting in the Yagyuu heir to get pale and shout, throwing Sougo to the floor before he could react. 

He sighed. “You planned this, didn’t you, China?” He glared at her from the floor as Yagyuu tried to calm down. 

She snickered. “Eh? What do you mean, Chihuahua? I just made sure you followed the rules.”

After a couple of deep breaths, Yagyuu, blushing from her outburst, handed a gift to Sougo who took it, careful not to touch her again. “Here. Sorry about that.” They mumbled, looking away from Sougo still laying on the floor. Sougo opened it carelessly, revealing a brand new pair of earphones. “I have seen you listening to music often, so… yeah…” They mumbled, still blushing.

Sougo nodded. “This is an adequate gift.” He said. Yagyuu seemed to calm down and sat down, not waiting for an actual Thanks. Sougo sighed, sounding irritated as he stood up properly. “I got an idiot that had the stupid idea of making a Secret Santa and put together the most random group of people in one room.” Everyone turned to stare at Kagura. Toshirou sighed, he just hoped both of them would not destroy too many things once they inevitably start fighting. 

“Me?” Kagura tilted her face, confused. 

“Yeah, you. Idiot.” Sougo huffed, rolling his eyes. 

Toshirou saw Kagura standing up. “Who are you calling an idiot, huh?!”

Just as Sougo received the first punch, the realization dawned on Toshirou. He turned to stare at Gintoki, the only remaining person without a gift beside him. Gintoki turned to him just then too, both with equal pale faces. The fight around them unbothering them as they both thought the same. 

They were fucked

Toshirou was only able to look away from the maroon eyes when he heard Kagura say “A dog collar? It’s too small for Sadaharu.”

“It’s for you, bitch.” Sougo said, receiving another kick from the girl. 

“I’ll kill you!” She shouted. 

Toshirou tried to ignore the man sitting in front of him as he continued to watch the fight, blankly. He didn’t move to stop the Yato girl from possibly breaking all of Sougo’s bones. He totally deserved it. A few minutes into the fight, Sougo pulled a bigger box and threw it at her head, hitting her straight on the face. “Here, choke on it.”

She glared at him and was about to throw the box back at him until it opened, revealing multiple sokunbu packets. “Oh?! Sokunbu?!” She squealed happily. Quickly opening one box. However, that was not all inside the box. After she took out several sokunbu packets, a dog plushie slipped out, about the size of her head. 

The girl squealed loudly, taking the plushie out and hugging it with a big grin. “It looks just like Sadaharu!” She exclaimed. 

“So? Aren’t you going to thank me, China?” Sougo said stoically. 

Kagura sneered at him. “Why should I? You almost took my eye out when you threw the box at me!” She huffed, but continued hugging the plushie. “Just be thankful I decided not to murder you right now.” She said.

Sougo rolled his eyes. “Whatever, It’s not like I need a stupid piggy to thank me.”

Another fight started, dragging this on for longer than Toshirou would have wanted. Once they were finally done with their petty fight, there was a long silence around the room.

“So, is this over? It finally came full circle.” Yagyuu said. 

Shimura shook her head, hiding her mocking smile behind her hand. “There are 2 people missing.” She giggled as she turned to look at both Toshirou and Gintoki.

Everyone turned to look at them and a few of them let out a chuckle. “Pfft. They got each other?!” Kagura asked between snickers. “They are so in love with each other that-” Gintoki slapped the back of her head. 

“What the hell are you saying, you damn brat?!” He shouted, face red. 

She glared at him. “That you and Toshi are in lo-” Gintoki covered her mouth. 

“Ahem.” Shimura cleared her throat, interrupting both. “Anyway, we should let one of them go first. So who wants to go first?”

“Not me!” Gintoki shouted before Toshirou could open his mouth to say exactly the same thing. 

Toshirou turned to glare at him. “No, I don’t want to go first.” He said. 

Gintoki huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “Too late. It’s your turn, Mayora.”

Toshirou sighed, just wanting this to be done with. “Fine.” He said, standing up. Once in the middle of the room, he could feel everyone staring at him, making him begin sweating from the nerves. He cleared his throat. “Well?” He glared at Gintoki. “Aren’t you coming for your stupid gift?” He said gruffily. 

Gintoki rolled his eyes and began standing up. “Wait a minute!” Kagura shouted, pulling Gintoki back into the tatami floor. “You haven’t described him yet! It’s part of the rules!”

Toshirou grimaced. “But all of you already know who I got. There’s no point in doing that.” He tried to argue. 

She shook her head. “It’s the rules, Toshi! Now do it!” She demanded with a mocking grin. 

Toshirou sighed. “He…” He grimaced, looking away from Gintoki’s attentive eyes. Everyone else was looking at him expectantly, making him even more nervous. He hadn’t really been prepared for this. Spent too much time thinking about the gift to come up with something reasonable to say about him that doesn’t end up humiliating him. He had many things to say about Gintoki, both positive and negative, though, if he was honest, there were more positive than negative, but… there’s nothing positive he can say about Gintoki that wouldn’t reveal too much about his feelings for him or make him want to commit seppukku. Everything sounds too corny in his mind and he just can’t make himself say it in front of everyone, much less Gintoki. They, especially Gintoki, would make fun of him tirelessly. He would never be able to live it down. Seppukku sounded too nice right now.

“He is a good fighter.” He mumbled lamely. He winced, knowing that was too lame of a description, but it was the best he could come up with on the spot. He has never been good with words. 

“Lame.” Sougo said with a roll of his eyes. “Is that the best you got, Hijikata-san?” He let out a malicious smirk.

“Look who’s talking! Your description was no better!” Toshirou shouted angrily, glaring at the sadist. 

Shinpachi sighed. “Just go for your gift, Gin-san.” he said, looking at Gintoki who was still impassively staring at Toshirou. 

Gintoki sighed and stood up. “This is stupid.” He mumbled. 

“Oh! And remember to hug!” Shimura said happily, making both men tense. “That’s also in the rules!” She giggled. 

“Yeah!” Kagura shouted with a grin. 

Toshirou grimaced. “Is it really necessary?” He asked nervously. 

“I had to do it and so do you.” Sougo said, glaring at him threatheningly.

“You didn’t even get to actually hug anyone!” Toshirou shouted. 

“And that was totally not my fault.” He said stoically. 

Toshirou sighed. “Fine. Just make it quick!” He said to Gintoki who was staring at him with a clearly uncomfortable look. 

Toshirou went to hug him, putting his arms around Gintoki’s shoulders. Before Gintoki could do the same, Toshirou pulled apart with a brightly red face, looking away from the equally red face from the permhead. “There. We hugged.” He mumbled. He could see several people rolling their eyes, but no one complained outloud. “Here.” He pushed the gift box towards Gintoki, making him groan from the force of it.

Gintoki stared at the box in his hands. “What’s even in here? It’s quite big. And heavy.” He raised an eyebrow, shaking the box.

“Don’t shake it! Just open it, idiot!” Toshirou shouted angrily. 

Gintoki opened the box and his eyes widened. “Candy?” He mumbled. “Wait, there’s a lot of candy in here.” He said. 

“You like sweets, don’t you?” Toshirou mumbled, looking away with a blush. 

Gintoki nodded, as he got out the several packets of candy. At the top there were the Apollo chocolates, the smallest candy Toshirou bought. He had seen the perm head eat them several times so he at least knew he liked those. However, under those, there were other types of candy. 

“Nama Chocolate?” Shinpachi said with surprise, learning closer to look at the contents of the box. “I heard of it, they’re quite good, right?” He said. 

“And pricey.” Katsura said with a nod. 

Gintoki stared in awe at the chocolates. “I always wanted to try these…” He mumbled. 

“What else is in there?!” Kagura asked enthusiastically. 

Gintoki took out the 3 Nama chocolates boxes and placed them carefully on the table to continue to see the contents of the box. “Meiji Chocolate? That’s also a good brand.” Yagyuu said. “It’s my father’s favorite.”

Gintoki took the other 3 Meiji chocolate boxes out. “Wait! Is that Straberry Meltykiss?!” Shimura exclaimed with surprise. “Those are really hard to get! I tried getting some for a client that asked for them at the Snack Smile, but I wasn’t able to get them! They are a limited winter edition and they’re always sold out!”

Gintoki stared at Toshirou in surprise. Toshirou shrugged. “I don’t know much about candy so I asked around and they said these were good. Especially the strawberry one…” He turned to look at Gintoki who was still staring at him, holding the box of the candy carefully in his hands. “You like strawberries, don’t you?” He mumbled. 

Gintoki nodded, speechless. 

“Such a toughful gift, Hijikata-san.” Sougo said with a smirk. “It alsmot seems like you put a lot of thought into it. Is it because it was for Danna?”

Toshirou blushed. He was right. “Shut up!” He shouted. 

“Wait! There’s more!” Kondo exclaimed. “A bottle of sake!”

“Kubota Manju. We only serve them for very special clients.” Tsukuyo said, peering at the bottle. “It has a great taste. One of my favorites. Though the bottle is quite fragile, it always ends up breaking in someone’s head.”

Several stared at her with a grimace. Gintoki continued to stare at Toshirou in awe, making him even more uncomfortable. “And that’s it! I’m not very good at gifts, but I know you like sweets and alcohol so there!” He exclaimed, looking away. 

“Thanks…” Gintoki mumbled, carefully putting everything back inside the box. 

There was an awkwards silence for a few seconds until Kagura patted Gintoki’s back. “Well, it’s your turn, Gin-chan! Describe Toshi!” She said with a smirk. 

Gintoki stood up again, sweating profusely, looking even more nervous than before, even more than how Toshirou felt. He looked around nervously, as if looking for an escape route. 

“We don’t have all night, Danna.” Sougo drawled boredly. 

Gintoki glared at him before taking a deep breath. “Well, I got… I got someone who is not only a great leader, able to keep the Shinsengumi in one piece, but he is also an extremely loyal person. He cares a lot about people and would do anything for those he considers his friends and family. He is someone I can trust to protect my back and those I cared about.” He said, voice slightly shaky but sincere. 

Toshirou stared at him with his mouth open, unable to form a word. Surely he wasn’t describing him, right? Gintoki would never say those nice things about him, right?

“My, Gin-san!” Shimura exclaimed, convering her big grin behind her hand. “That was quite sweet of you. Who knew you thought all of that about Hijikata-san?” She giggled. Gintoki turned quite red, but didn’t add more. 

“You should close your mouth, Hijikata-san. It makes you look even more stupid.” Sougo said with a smirk. “Don’t act so surprised. Even if it sounded like a love confession.”

Toshirou closed his mouth, but almost choked at what Sougo said. Gintoki coughed, face turning even more red. 

“What? No, way! Gin-san would never confess to anyone but me!” Sarutobi yelled, everyone ignored her. 

“And what better way to respond to a love confession than a hug?” Sougo said maliciously. “Now hug. Though, I would prefer you don’t kiss. I don’t want to throw up.”

“Shut up!” Both Gintoki and Toshirou shouted. 

“The Chihuahua is right for once!” Kagura exclaimed wih a big mischievous grin. “You two need to hug now!”

Toshirou and Gintoki looked away. “No way!” Both shouted, equally red faced. 

“Just do it!” Almost everyone shouted. Even Elizabeth had a placard that read ‘HUG!! ’.

Gintoki sighed. “Okay, let’s just get this done with.” He mumbled, not looking at Toshirou. 

He stepped in front of him and hugged him, surrounding Toshirou’s middle with his arms. Toshirou gripped at his yukata in surprise by the sudden move, but soon surrounded Gintoki’s shoulder’s with his arms too. 

The hug didn’t last long, barely even a few seconds, but both pulled apart with their faces so red that it was coming closer to purple. 

“Aww. That was so cute!” Shimura exclaimed with a giggle. “Now let’s see what you bought for Hijikata-san, Gin-san!” She said.

There was a silence, in which Gintoki didn’t pull out any gift. “Well? Where’s the gift?” Yagyuu asked. 

“I…” Gintoki mumbled, looking embarrassed, “didn’t bring it?” 

“What?!” Everyone shouted in unison. 

“I forgot to bring it, okay?!” He shouted embarrassed. “I slept in and that stupid girl dragged me here before I could pick it up!” She said pointing at Kagura who was glaring at him. 

“You had plenty of time to say anything!” Shimura said with a glare.

“I’m sorry, okay!?!” He shouted. 

“You should be apologizying to Toshi, you jerk!” Kagura shouted. 

Gintoki nodded, embarassed. “Yeah, sorry, Hijikata-kun…” He mumbled, looking at the floor.

Toshirou sighed. “It’s fine.” He said. He was slightly disappointed, but admittedly didn’t care much about the gift. There was nothing he particularly wanted so he was fine with nothing. He had only participated in this on Kagura’s petition, after all.

“No, it’s not fine!” Kondo shouted, surprising everyone. “Toshi deserves a gift too!” He exclaimed, glaring at Gintoki. 

“Kondo-san, it’s fine. Really.” Toshirou tried to calm him down.

“Did you even get him a gift, Danna?” Sougo asked, staring at Gintoki. “Or did you just forget to buy anything?”

“I bought something.” Gintoki said, still looking down in shame. 

“What?” Shinpachi asked. 

Gintoki’s face turned even more red. “Mayonnaise?”

Damn, he missed out on getting free mayonnaise. 

“Mayonnaise?” Tsukuyo asked with a frown, similar to several of the others. “And that’s it?” She asked. 

“Look, I didn’t know what else to get him, okay?!” He exclaimed. “And he is a mayo freak, okay?! He eats that stuff straight from the bottle! You may not know this because your characters never interacted much, but that’s one of his defining traits!” He rambled. 

Everyone else continued to stare at him with different levels of anger. Even Katsura was looking at him in disappointment. Toshirou was the calmest in the room, just a little annoyed, but otherwise unbothered. 

Toshirou sighed loudly. “Look, let’s just get this over with.” He said, gaining the attention from everyone. “Yeah, Yorozuya was an asshole that didn’t bring me anything, but it’s not a big deal. Let’s just move on so I can go back to the barracks to finish the end of year reports.”

“But, Toshi…” Kagura mumbled with a pout. “Don’t you want to hit Gin-chan?”

Toshirou huffed, slightly amused. “Why don’t you do it for me, China?” He said.

Gintoki spluttered as Kagura nodded determinedly. “I will!”

“Well, if that’s it, I have to go.” He said, turning around. “Pops wants those reports before New Year's eve. Happy Christmas.” He said, waving at them.

And with that, he left, not bothering to wait for an answer. It was several hours later and only a couple of reports finished, that he heard someone knocking at his door. “Come in!” He said, not looking up from his next report.

“Toshi, are you busy?” Kondo asked. 

He was, but he always had time for Kondo. “No, what’s up?” He asked, putting down the report. 

Kondo sat in front of him. “I have great news!” He exclaimed. 

Toshirou raised an eyebrow. “What?” He asked.

“I just got you a girlfriend!” He exclaimed.

Toshirou choked. “What?!” He shouted. 

“Yeah! And she’s a friend of Otae-san. So we can go on double dates! I will have to convince Otae-san, but-”

“Wait a second, Kondo-san.” Toshirou shooked his head. Unable to believe he had heard right. “What do you mean you got me a girlfriend ?” He asked bemused. 

“It means that I got you a date with a friend of Otae-san from Snack Smile.” He said proudly. “You can thank me after your first date with her.”

“But… What makes you believe I want a girlfriend, Kondo-san? You know I’m not the type to date.” He said. 

Kondo’s grin diminished. “Y’know, Toshi… I used to wait for you and Yorozuya to finally get together.”

“What?!!”

“But after what he did today I can’t let you at the hands of that man.” He shook his head in disappointment. “So the rest of us agreed you should seek someone else.”

“What do you- Wait. The rest of us?” He asked, confused. 

Kondo nodded. “Yeah, me, Otae-san, the yorozuya kids, even Sougo.” Toshirou stared at him in disbelief. “We believe that Gin-san should learn to appreciate you more so China got the idea that if he didn’t give you anything then we should all get you something and Sougo got the idea to get you a date with someone else.”

“Dammit, Sougo.” He mumbled. He is definitely doing that to annoy him.

“So Otae-san called a friend of hers and now you got a date!” Kondo said enthusiastically.

Toshirou sighed. “Look, Kondo-san. I appreaciate you all tried to do this for me, but I don’t want a date with some random woman.” He said, a little annoyed. 

“But, Toshi! What about your Christmas present?!” Kondo asked.

“If you really want to give me something then just buy me a bottle of mayonnaise.” Toshirou huffed. “I don’t want a date.”

“C’mon, Toshi! Just one date!” Kondo pleaded. 

Toshiro sighed loudly, rubbing his eyes. “Fine.” He groaned. “I will go on that stupid date, but after it I won’t talk to her again.”

“But what if you end up liking her?” Kondo asked. 

“I won’t.” Toshirou huffed, crossing his arms.

“Is that because you still like Gin-san?” Kondo asked, tilting his head. 

Toshirou stiffened. “I do not!!” He shouted with a blush. “Just leave me alone! I still have some reports to finish!” He huffed, turning around. 

“But, Toshi! Your date is right now!” Kondo exclaimed. 

Toshirou tripped, turning to stare at Kondo in horror. “What?! What do you mean I have a date right now?!” He shouted. “No way! I’m busy with the reports and I’m not prepared for a date right now! You just told me about the date a minute ago!”

“Ah, but, Toshi. When would it be a better time to have a date than on Christmas Day?” Kondo said with a smile. 

“Literally any other day.” Toshirou deadpanned. 

“But today is such a romantic day! It’s tradition for couples to go out on dates on Christmas Day!” Kondo said.

“But that girl and I are not a couple. We don't even know each other. Besides, every where is bound to be too busy for a last minute date on this day.”

“That’s fine. The date is in that izakaya you like so much, Toshi. Everything is already planned, you just have to go there and enjoy your date.” Kondo said cheerfully.

Toshirou sighed. “Does it really have to be right now?” He asked, frustrated. 

Kondo nodded. “Yeah, so you better hurry to get there.” 

Toshirou grumbled. “Fine. But I’m not paying for this, even if the woman runs away after she sees the Hijikata Special.”

Kondo chuckled. “Don’t worry, she won’t run away. And as I said, this is your gift, you just have to enjoy the date.”

Toshirou sighed, picking up his scarf and haori. “I’ll be back soon.” He said. 

He left his room, ignoring Kondo’s cheers. Really? Was it so difficult to get him a bottle of mayonnaise?

 


 

“Are you sure about this, Sougo?” Kondo asked, nervously smiling after Hijikata left.

Sougo turned the corner, coming to stand next to Kondo as they watched Hijikata grumpily leave the barracks. “Don’t worry, Kondo-san. I’ll assure you this will be fun either way.” He smirked. 

“Will he even stay when he sees who he is going on a date with?” Kondo asked worriedly.

Sougo shrugged. “He will.” He wasn’t actually sure, but that would only make this whole thing more entertaining. “Hey, Kondo-san. Want to spy on their date?” He asked.

Kondo seemed to consider this, but shook his head. “Shouldn’t we give them some privacy?”

Sougo huffed. “China and Glasses are already planning on spying on them.”

“Huh… Then I guess it’s fine. Let’s go!” Kondo exclaimed enthusiastically. 

Sougo and Kondo followed Hijikata at a safe distance. 

 


 

Later, Toshirou arrived at his favorite izakaya despite wanting to be anywhere else but here. A date with a random woman? Seriously? Damn Sougo and his stupid ideas. And damn Yorozuya for not bringing him that stupid mayonnaise bottle. If only he had then he could already be peacefully doing his reports while eating a nice bottle of mayonnaise. 

He just planned on attending the date, ordering a bowl of his favorite meal and watch as the woman left after seeing it. By this point in his life he was already used to people feeling disgusted by the amazing mayonnaise he loves so he doesn’t have high expectations for the date. She will only be another woman in the long list of women that felt attracted to him by his looks but left as soon as they learned of his habits. 

He looked around, and suddenly realized he didn’t know who to look for. Maybe he should have asked more questions, but he was too tired to care. He went to sit by the counter. 

“Ah, Hijikata-san, you’re already here!” Oba-san said cheerfully. 

Toshirou looked at her. “Did they tell you about that date too?” He asked, a little grumpily.

She giggled, nodding. “Ah, I’m so happy for you two.”

“Eh? You know her?” Toshirou asked, surprised. Does she frequent this izakaya too? 

Oba-san blinked, confused. “ Her ?” She tilted her head. 

Toshirou furrowed his eyebrows. “Huh?”

“Oba-chan! A bottle of your best alcohol and two cups!” A familiar voice said before someone sat next to Toshirou.

Oba-san nodded cheerfully. “Coming right up, Gin-san!” She said, turning around to go for the alcohol. 

Toshirou turned to his side to stare slightly shocked at Gintoki. “What are you doing here?” He asked. 

“What does it look like?” Gintoki said with dead fish eyes. 

Toshirou sighed a little annoyed. “Whatever. Just go sit over there.” He pointed somewhere far away from him. “I’m waiting for someone.” He grumbled, looking away. 

“I know.” Gintoki deadpanned. 

Toshirou’s eyes widende. “You know?!” He asked. “Are you also part of this plan? Or are you just crashing on my date?” He asked, annoyed. 

Gintoki rolled his eyes, but before he could open his mouth, Oba-san returned with the alcohol. “Here, Gin-san, Hijikata-san. Enjoy your date!” She said cheerfully.

Toshirou spluttered. “Ah! No! We- no! We don’t-”

“Thanks, Oba-chan!” Gintoki answered her, filling both himself and Toshirou a cup of alcohol. He took his cup and rasied towards Toshirou’s direction. “Happy Christmas, Hijikata-kun.” He said. 

“Wait, don’t tell me…” Toshirou shooked his head, trying to clear his mind as Gintoki stared at him with a black face as he drank from his cup. Toshirou stared at him. “Are you my date?”

Gintoki turned to stare at the counter and away from Toshirou. “Ah, don’t tell me Soichirou-kun and the Gorilla didn’t tell you…”

Toshirou gaped at him. “Seriouly?!” He exclaimed as Gintoki continued to look away from him, his cheeks were just the barest hint of pink as he downed the rest of the sake in his cup. “Did you seriously make them force me on a date with you?!”

Gintoki shrugged. “I needed to give you my Chritmas present.” He said.

Toshirou sighed. “And that couldn’t wait?” He asked exasperated. 

“Otae did say that the best time to have a date is on Christmas Day…” Gintoki mumbled.

“Wait! You actually intended for this to be a date?!” Toshirou exclaimed, shocked. 

Gintoki sighed, exasperated. “Of course. Why would I invite you here on Christmas Day otherwise?”

“Ah, but…”

“And I also brought you this.” Gintoki pulled out a white box and pushed it in front of Toshirou. 

“What the- Is this a cake?” Toshirou gaped at him. 

“What’s more romantic than a cake on Christmas Day?” Gintoki said. 

Toshiro stared at the unopened box. “Is this some kind of joke?” He asked. 

Gintoki glared at him. “Why would I be joking about this?!”

“Since when do you want to date me, Yorozuya?! You dont even like me!”

“Well, maybe I do!”

“Huh?! That has to be a lie!”

“It isn’t!”

“I don’t believe you! You’re always complaining about me. What do you even like about me?” He shouted. 

“Huh?! I just told you that earlier! Do you want me to repeat myself?!” Gintoki shouted too.

“Repeat what?!”

“About how much I like you and the many things I like about you! I already said them in front of everyone earlier or are you too dense to remember?!”

“Huh?! You really like me?!” Toshirou blushed. “Seriouly? This is not a joke?!”

“I already told you it isn’t! Idiot!”

Both quieted down after this, blushing and suddenly painfully aware of the rest of the people inside the izakaya. Toshirou turned back to the white box. “You know I don’t like cake, right?”

Gintoki huffed. “I know.” He mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“And a mayonnaise bottle was enough.” Toshirou continued. 

“You’re starting to sound really ungrateful, Hijikata-kun.” Gintoki said annoyed. 

Toshirou huffed, a little amused by the whole thing. “Either way… thank you, Gintoki.” He smiled at Gintoki. “I may not like cake, but… I…” he blushed. “I do like you too.” He said. 

Gintoki’s arms fell to his side as he turned to stare at him shocked. “You do? Even after all that?” He asked. “Everyone said you would surely hate me after forgetting your gift earlier.” Gintoki said.

Toshirou huffed, amused. “As if I didn’t know how you already are.” He joked. “If I didn’t like you, you think I would have stayed here when I could be working?”

Gintoki rolled his eeys “I’m sure you were forced to come here.”

“I was. But I stayed. Because I like spending time with you, Gintoki. Even if you forget to bring me my mayonnaise bottle.” He said sincerely. 

“But I brought you cake!” Gintoki added.

Toshirou rolled his eyes. “Sure, sure.” 

“Y’know… this was my plan originally. To ask you on a date, but I didn’t know if you would accept so I had to think of another present for you.” Gintoki said. 

Toshirou looked at him. “And you forgot the present anyway…” he said amused. 

Gintoki huffed, blushing. “That was Kagura and Shinpachi’s fault. They woke me up and dragged me out of yorozuya before I could fully wake up and remember to pick up the gift.”

Toshirou rolled his eyes. “That’s your fault for sleeping in.”

Gintoki pouted. “I was tired. I spent the whole night baking that cake for you.”

Toshirou sighed. “Only for you to forget it.”

Gintoki rolled his eyes. “Are you going to eat it or not?” He asked.

Toshirou wasn’t particularly thrilled with the idea of eating cake, but if Gintoki put so much effort on it he would try to enjoy it. “Fine…” 

He opened the box revealing a yellowish cake. If the color wasn’t already a tell, the scent was enough for him to tell him what the cake was flavored as. “ Mayonnaise ?” He asked surprised. 

“That’s the most disgusting thing I have baked, but I think you’ll like it.” Gintoki said. 

Toshirou took the fork by the cake and took a bite of it, eyes widening at the flavour. “This is so good!” He exclaimed ecstatic. It tasted mostly of mayonnaise with the barest hint of matcha and vanilla under it. It was creamy and soft and so delicious. “Did you really made this? This is so good!” Toshirou said between bites, stuffing his face with cake.

Gintoki watched him with disgust, but also with a smile. “Yeah, you think anyone else would be crazy enough to bake that for you?”

Toshirou smiled softly at him. “This is delicious. Thank you, Gintoki.” He took another bit of the cake. “You should try it.”

Gintoki grimaced. “No, thank you. I already tortured myself too much by baking it.”

Toshirou sighed. “I didn’t bring you cake, though. Even if this is supposed to be a Christmas date.” Though, it’s not like he expected Gintoki to be his blind date.

“It’s fi-”

“I got a cake for Gin-san right here!” Oba-san interrupted with a wide smile. Bringing a cake and placing it in front of Gintoki. That one, unlike Toshirou’s, was pure white with strawberries on it. “Enjoy your date!”

“Huh?!” Both exclaimed. 

Toshirou snorted. “This must be part of their plan.” He muttered, as he took another bite of his cake. “They seemed really intent on pairing us up. Or well, I thought Kondo-san meant to pair me up with a woman.” He frowned, thinking it was odd for Kondo to lie like that. It must have been part of Sougo’s plan.

Gintoki rolled his eyes. “You should have seen them earlier. After they finished punching me and I told them of my original plan of organizing a date for you. They all went from angry gorillas to giggling monsters and barely let me talk after that.” He huffed, leaning his head on one hand as he took a fork and took a little of the strawberry cake with the fork. “Getting me cake after all I had to deal with today should be enough payment.” He took a bite and hummed. “Oh, this is good.” He took another bite. “You should definitely try this.”

Toshirou grimaced. “Yeah, no thanks.” He mumbled. “I prefer this one.” He took another bite of his mayo cake, smiling at the taste. By now the cake Gintoki made for him was half done. Toshirou wondered that if he started dating Gintoki then would he get to taste this more often?

Gintoki smiled. “As cute as it is that you like my creation, as horrible as that creation is, you should definitely try this one. It’s so much better. And for me to say that something is better than my own creation it’s because it is, though today I won’t deny that this strawberry cake is better than the mayo one.” He glared at the mayo cake, before taking another bite of his own cake. “Besides…” He smirked at Toshirou, leaning closer to him. “It’s a Christmas Date, that means we have to do cliche mushy stuff like share our cake with each other.”

Toshirou grimaced. “Then that means you have to taste mine too.” He said and Gintoki’s face blanched. Toshirou smirked, raising his fork with some cake to Gintoki’s face maliciously. “Here, say ah!” He said maliciously. 

Gintoki groaned. “Fine. But you have to taste this cake too.” He raised his own fork to Toshirou’s face who grimaced by the overly sweet scent coming from the cake. 

“Fine.” Toshirou huffed. 

He took a bite of the strawberry cake, grimacing at the overly sweet taste of it. Gintoki also grimaced as he took a bite of the mayo cake. Both chew slowly with equally disgusted faces, but eventually they manage to swallow down. 

Both immediately downed a full cup of sake to wash off the taste of the other’s cake. “Ugh, gross.” Both said with equally disgusted faces. 

Oba-san laughed at them and Toshirou got a sense of deja vu. He remembered that night they had exchanged bowls and he smiled, turning to Gintoki who was also smiling at him. Both laughed at the absurdity of it. Moments like this made it really hard for Toshirou to not fall deeper in love with Gintoki.  

Here, by Gintoki’s side, he felt warm all inside, his cheeks heated as he watched Gintoki with equally red cheeks. He wanted to kiss him so bad. He wanted… he needed…

Before he could finish closing the distance to Gintoki’s lips (both having moved closer to each other), there were slow claps behind them. Both turned to see Sougo maliciously smirking at them. Kagura was giggling mockingly at them and Shinpachi and Kondo were smiling nervously. 

“Well, this sure proved to be entertaining.” Sougo said. “But I’m afraid I don’t want to watch what will happen next.” He smirked. “Enjoyed your cake, Danna?” He glanced at the cake with a smirk and Toshirou felt dread, glancing at it too with suspicion. “So nice of you to share it with Hijikata-san. That only made my job here easier.”

Toshirou growled at him. “What did you do to it?”

Sougo glanced at Gintoki, briefly looking down and then to his face. His smirk widened. “Why don’t you ask your boyfriend here?” He said and Toshirou turned to Gintoki. He was completely red, both of his hands over his crotch, Toshirou took a sharp intake of breath as Sougo continued. “You took a smaller dose so it should take a little longer for you, Hijikata-san, but I suggest both of you find somewhere more private soon unless both of you want to get arrested for public indecency. Though, if you do, then I’ll make sure to rid you of the shame, Hijikata-san, and kill you to repent for your sins.” He turned around. “Merry Christmas.” He said mockingly.

“Sougo!!!” Toshirou shouted outragedly. 

Kagura snickered one last time before following the sadist. Shinpachi glanced at them nervously before following him. Kondo gave him his thumbs up and then left too. They just got betrayed by all of them.

Toshirou glanced at Gintoki again, he was really starting to feel hot too. The heat began to travel to one specific place. He was going to get hard soon and it looked like Gintoki was already stiff. 

“Let’s get out of here.” He gasped a little out of breath. His cheeks were hot, but most of the heat was gathering on his crotch. He didn’t want to get a boner in the middle of the city. “C’mon.” He dragged Gintoki out of the izakaya. Gintoki moaned at the contact and Toshirou blushed deeper. “We have to hurry.” He groaned. 

Toshirou dragged Gintoki to the nearest motel and they went into one room just in time before Gintoki snapped and started kissing him heatedly. “Fuck!” Gintoki exclaimed between kisses. “Fuck, I’m going to kill Soichirou-kun.” He moved to kiss Toshirou’s neck after taking off his scarf.

Toshirou moaned, leaning his head to the side to allow Gintoki more room to bite his neck. “I’ll help.” He mumbled, hand reaching down to take off Gintoki’s scarf and haori. “Ngh, Gintoki!” He moaned. The aphrodsiac the sadist had put on that damn cake was making him feel way too sensitive to Gintoki’s touches. 

Both undressed each other with equal raging boners as they moved blindly towards the bed. “Fuck, this is not how I wanted our date to end.” Gintoki said, kissing Toshirou’s bare chest. “Though I have definitely thought about fucking you before.”

Toshirou moaned again, feeling more sensitive than ever before. “Then hurry.” He mumbled. 

And Gintoki did hurry, feeling as pent up as Toshirou felt, probably even more. It wasn’t long until Gintoki was inside him and they started a hard and fast pace. However, one time wasn’t enough for either of them so they did it again, and again and again. By the time Toshirou was spent, he had lost count of how many times he came. That aprodisiac must have been a very potent one if only one bite made him come so many times and in almost any position possible, even getting to top at some point. However, Gintoki was still painfully hard probably due to the fact that he ate way more of the poisoned cake than Toshirou did. With his ass already too sore to let Gintoki fuck him again, and his dick already to spent to fuck Gintoki himself, Toshirou didn’t have any other choice than to give Gintoki a blowjob. 

Gintoki came twice again before falling to Toshirou’s side again. 

Both were sticky with sweat and cum, panting from the extertion of multiple orgasms. “We should probably take a shower.” Toshirou said groggily, voice sore from how much he moaned and from the blowjob. “We’re gross.”

Gintoki huffed. “Tired.” He mumbled before placing an arm over Toshirou’s waist, pulling him closer to himself. 

Now that the effects of the aphrodisiac were gone, Toshirou groaned in distaste. “No, I’m not sleeping with you like this. Let’s take a shower, you’re gross.” He sat up on the bed and pulled Gintoki’s arm to get him to stand up too.

Gintoki huffed. “Says the one with cum on his face.” He said, sitting up too. 

Toshirou glared at him. “And who’s fault is that?” He growled. 

He let go of Gintoki's arm and went to the bathroom by himself. “I would suggest shower sex but I don’t think little Gin-chan is up for it after all of that.” Gintoki said, following him into the bathroom. 

“I’m not letting ‘ little Gin-chan ’ anywhere near my ass in the near future.” Toshirou growled, feeling his sore ass with every step. He will probably have a limp tomorrow.

Gintoki gaped at him. “What?! Why?! Little Gin-chan did nothing wrong!”

“You left my ass sore, idiot.” Toshirou glared at him. 

“That’s not my fault! You were begging for it too!” Gintoki exclaimed. 

“Shut up before I kill you.” Toshirou said, stepping into the shower. He sighed, feeling the water hit his sticky skin. 

Gintoki went inside the shower too, hugging him from behind. “Merry Christmas, Toshirou.” Gintoki whispered next to his ear.

Toshirou smiled, feeling comfortable in his arms despite how tired and sticky he still felt. “Merry Christmas, Gintoki.” He said too.

In the end, what Toshirou enjoyed most of this Christmas was spending time with the people he likes and getting to confess to the man he loves.



Notes:

Merry Christmas!