You've spent the whole morning at the Shinsengumi walking back and forth, thinking about the special event Sougo had recently informed you about. Now, you weren't one to butt into affairs, such as this one, however, you had to stick your nose into this birthday!

"Sougo!" you called out to him from your office. "You are seriously so annoying. You just had to choose to tell me on the day before Hijikata-san's birthday, huh? Why didn't you use your brain to even think of the fact that I would've liked to know a bit earlier?" The boy was laying on his back outside in the nearby garden chewing on some bubblegum.

"It's not that important," he sat up and blew a bubble. "Don't even stress about it."

"What do you mean?" you stormed out of the room to grab his collar. "It's Hijikata-san's birthday, tomorrow. Look, I know how you feel about him, but it wouldn't hurt to celebrate a little." You could already feel a headache coming on. "Oh my, on such short notice, what can we do?"

"What do you mean 'we'? There will be no 'we' in this. Besides," he pulled your hands away from his shirt, "from the years I've spent with him, he's hardly ever celebrated it. There's no reason to start now."

"Sougo, just admit you're a bad friend and get over yourself." He scoffed at your words and rolled onto his to side, ignoring your words. If he was going to give you the silent treatment, so were you! You had better things to do anyway.

The first thing you did after you went back into your office was use your phone to call up a... not very reliable friend, but a friend nonetheless. "This is Yorozuya Gin-chan. Shimura Shinpachi speaking, how can I help you-"

"Yeah, yeah. Shinpachi, I have a favour to ask of you... and the other two. By the way, this is [name]. Anyway, come over to the Shinsengumi as soon as possible! It's very important, you got that? I'll see you later."

"What's the job-? Huh? She hung up on me... Gin-san! Get up from the couch, we have a job! You too, Kagura-chan!"

。。。

With all your spare time, you gathered up all the Shinsengumi officers on the premises and had them sit in an orderly manner in the large training hall within the headquarters. Of course, you forced Kondo and Sougo to sit at the front just for fun. According to a few other people, Hijikata was stuck in his own office doing some paperwork so he shouldn't find out about this meeting.

"Alright!" you clapped your hands to get the attention of all the men in the room. "Since basically everyone is here, let's get straight to the point. Tomorrow is-"

"[last name]-san!" Someone called out to you from the back of the room, "These three people said that you called them here." The Yorozuya trio were roughly pushed and shoved onto the floor.

"Oh, finally! I was waiting for you guys."

Gintoki clicked his tongue, "You'd better be paying me good money."

"You mean us, Gin-san. So, [name]-san, what's this all about?"

"As I was saying before, tomorrow is Hijikata-san's birthday and I want to do something special for him. I want to thank him for getting me this job here at the Shinsengumi and if it weren't for him, I never would've met any of you." Cheers then erupted from the crowd.

"Ah! She's so cute!"

"For once Vice-Chief has done something right!"

"Thank you, Vice-Chief!"

You shook your head at all the noise and got them all the settle down, "First of all, Kondo-san, you need to tell Hijikata-san that he should have a day off tomorrow. While he isn't here, the rest of you guys will be decorating this hall for a party. I'll be with him to make sure he doesn't come here or suspect anything. Got it?"

"Why are we getting involved in this?" Gintoki raised his hand, "I'm sure you have enough people here who can help you."

"Shut up, Gintoki. I need all the help I can get. Shinpachi, you're the only one I can trust who can order a normal cake, will you be able to order it today and pick it up tomorrow?"

"Yes, that should be fine!"

"Everyone else, for tomorrow, just decorate the place with streamers and the such. If anyone is willing to get a present for him, go ahead. Oh, I still need to think of a present! I wonder what he'd like-" You couldn't even finish that thought when the person you were last expecting to enter, entered the room.

"What's going on in here?" Hijikata's voice boomed from the entrance of the hall, "...I was wondering where everyone was. Why are you all in here? Huh?" His eyes caught the Yorozuya just sitting at the front, "You three?!"

"Oh, Hijikata-san!" you nervously chuckled, "I... gathered everyone here to teach them about some general first aid! Yeah, that's it! You never know when someone if going to faint around here! Oh look!" You grabbed Gintoki's wrist and pulled him up, only to knee him in the stomach. "It's someone who needs help!"

Gintoki practically coughed out his left lung, "You... You... You just kick-"

"When you see someone on the floor wheezing like that, all you need to do is cover their mouth and then lightly tap their abdomen." Instead of giving Gintoki a 'tap', you delivered him a punch. He was down on the floor, unconscious.

"...I'm just going to ignore all of you," Hijikata gave you a weird look and closed the door behind him.

You let out a relived sigh, "Please everyone, I'm sure you all know this, but don't actually do what I said."

"[name]-nee, like this?!"

"Kagura, no! What did I just say?!"

---

May 5th

It was finally time to initiate the plan! You approached the birthday boy who was just relaxing in his office looking out towards the garden. "Hey Hijikata-san! I heard that you have a day off today. Why don't we hang out?"

"This is a first, I thought you didn't like me. Why should I hang out with you anyway?" He gave you a suspicious look, which you could tell was also accompanied with a disgusted frown.

"You're so rude! To think we could actually bond as friends. It's not like you have a life anyway, what are you gonna be doing today anyway? Oh I know, nothing."

"Now look who's the rude one. Why are you so insistent?"

"No reason! Just tolerate me for the day. I'll even treat you to breakfast, how about that?" you forcefully grabbed his hand and started to walk into a nearby café.

。。。

Shinpachi tapped the tip of his sandals on the floor making sure his show was secure onto his foot. "Gin-san, you go on ahead. I need to go pick up the cake I ordered."

"Tch, I still don't get why we have to do this. I just want to go to a Pachinko parlour," he then whispered under his breath. "Just do it for the money, Gin. Nothing else matters. How troublesome."

"Gin-san! Please get up from the couch and head down to the Shinsengumi!" Shinpachi grabbed his boss by the back of his collar and pulled him off the chair. "Also, you can admit that you're jealous in front of me. I know how you feel about-"

"Pachi-boy, I am not jealous."

。。。

Kondo was astonished, "Wow, everyone is actually working hard on this surprise. I wonder why they don't work as hard when I ask them to do something...?"

"Maybe because you aren't a hot lady like [name]-nee-san," Sougo walked into the room with a bazooka.

"Why do you have that?"

"Aren't you supposed to give the birthday boy a bomb to the face?"

"What kind of birthday parties have you been too?!"

"Oh, Danna is here. You actually came?"

"Well, if I wanted to get paid I have to."

Kagura noticed all of the streamers, the rubbish and papers on the floor. "Wow, this place looks like a pigsty."

"Be quiet, China-girl. I bet your house is even dirtier than this, without any celebrations on."

"Shut up, you crazy sadist!"

"Hey... Shouldn't we-"

"Shut your trap, Yamazaki!"

。。。

"That breakfast was actually quite nice. Is that all for today? I want to go home and actually relax for the day."

"Hijikata, just deal with it. Next is a nearby festival! They're gonna have food stalls and games. It's just by the river!"

"How old are you? Five?"

"Shut up."

Hijikata sighed, "Looks like I don't get a say in this... But, She's enjoying herself, so I guess I'll go along."

。。。

"Let's play goldfish scooping. Sir, how much is it to play?"

"100¥ for two poi* nets."

*[Poi is the round plastic frame with a hand grip, and paper on the frame.]

"Okay, here's 200. Hijikata, you play too," you handed him two poi nets and a bowl.

He held the bowl in his left and the poi in his right. He slowly and cautiously put the poi in the water and moved it towards a fish. "That damn fish!" It had swum right into the paper and broke it.

"It's okay, you have another one, but it's my turn. Move over," you put your poi in the water and left it there until a fish came by. "Almost... and now-"

"You two sure make a nice couple," the store vendor commented.

You lost your concentration and a fish swam through the paper. "No way in hell! That guy has a stick up his ass 24/7. No chick, especially me, is going to want to hang out with him."

"Oh, but you two seem close. You know what they say, a strong relationship is full of arguments." Hah? That doesn't even make any sense. The vendor then looked at Hijikata, "If you don't make your move, someone else will."

"I- What?"

"Anyways, we have another turn each." You were now in a salty mood, your eye twitching almost every second.

。。。

"Okay, everyone!" Kondo shouted. "It's getting late and it's almost time for the surprise. But... where is everyone?!"

"They all got lazy and are laying around somewhere. I'm pretty sure half of them went home."

"What?! We haven't even finished off the decorations! What are we going to do?!"

"Kondo-san," Sougo lifted his phone. "[name]-nee-san is calling. You take it."

"What? No, you take it!"

"You're the captain."

"Okay, fine." Kondo got the phone from Sougo. "Hello? This is Kondo."

"Oh, Kondo-san? How is everything going? Are you finished with everything? Can I bring him over yet?"

"Uh- [name]-san... We're-"

Gintoki grabbed the phone from Kondo's hand, "We're done with everything. The hall is decorated with streamers, we set up food and Shinpachi picked up the cake. You can bring him over now."

"Thanks for everything! I'm sure this is going to be great. I'll be bringing him over now."

"What about the mone- She hung up on me."

"Gin-san! Why did you say everything is ready?! Other than the cake, nothing has been prepared!"

"Okay, since no one else is stepping up, I'll be the leader. Have the remaining men here to finish off the decorations. I'll help the ladies in the kitchen cook. Some of you will be on look out for the two who are coming. Got that?"

"Hey, Gin-chan. Why are you working so hard on this?" Kagura asked. "I thought you hated the mayo freak."

"[name] was relying on us to do this for her- well him. But-"

"Ehh? So you're doing this for [name]-nee?"

"It's for the money she's going to give us."

"That's what you say. But how do I know that it's really not for her?"

"Just get to work!"

。。。

"Okay, Hijikata-san. There's one more place I want to take you."

"[name]-san. Wait a moment. Why are you doing this all for me? I know you wouldn't do this out of a spur of a moment. There's a deeper meaning behind this."

"You finally figured it out?"

"I was suspicious since the start of the day, couldn't you tell?" He raised his eyebrow.

"Well... The truth is... I wanted to do something for your birthday. I know you don't celebrate it, so-"

"Huh? How did you know about my birthday? Geez, someone needs to shut their mouth."

"Sougo told me about it. But not only that, I really wanted to thank you for everything so far. Without you, I probably wouldn't have met everyone from the Shinsengumi; I wouldn't of have been able to be friends with everyone. Well... thank you for everything, Hijikata."

"Oh... I wasn't expecting that at all," he put a hand to his face, covering up the blush he had on his cheeks. "Well, thanks for today as well. I had a great time, even though I was complaining all day. Sorry about that, I just... haven't gone out with anyone in a while."

You averted your eyes, "I-It's not a problem. Anyways, one last place before this day ends." You gave him an eye mask, "Put this on and I'll lead you."

。。。

Yamazaki whispered to a fellow officer, "Hey, go tell the others that they're walking towards the entrance," he ran into the training hall and shouted. "They're here!"

"Everyone! Get into your places!" People went behind the sliding doors and under tables. Kondo went ahead and turned off the lights.

"I want to hold the cake!"

"No, Kagura-chan! [name]-san entrusted me with this! You're going to drop it."

"I won't drop it, I just want to be the one to hold it."

"You're just going to eat it!"

"Hijikata-san, you can take the mask off."

The lights turned on and everyone got out from their spots, "Surprise!"

"Kagura-chan! Be careful with the... cake..."

"Whoops..." The girl had grabbed the cake from Shinpachi's hands but she tripped on her own feet and accidentally had thrown it towards the birthday boy's face. "It was Shinpachi's fault."

"What?! Everyone just saw you grab the cake from my hands and throw it at him."

Before anything could get any worse, you told everyone, "It's okay... thanks for this everyone! I'll help him clean up, have fun!"

。。。

"Sorry Hijikata-san, I didn't expect this to happen."

"It's..." he inhaled and sighed, "fine." He got his hand and wiped the cream off his face. You got a cloth and brought his face closer towards you. You put one hand on his jaw and the hand with the cloth cleaned the side of his face. You didn't realise how close you were to him until you looked into his eyes.

"Oh! Sorry," you moved a step back from him, "I was too close."

"N-No, it's fine."

You sat in a silence after that, until you remembered, "I totally forgot! You're present!" You grabbed a small box with a green ribbon from your pocket and gave it to him.

"Can I open it?"

"Of course," he pulled one side of the ribbon and pulled it; he lifted up the lid.

"E-cigarettes?"

"I know that you probably won't get over your addiction with cigarettes, so I got you these. They're less harmful than normal cigarettes. But it's not like you're suddenly immune from diseases that come from smoking. E-cigarette or not, it can still affect your body."

He didn't bother to take one out, but instead, just a scratched the back of his head. "Thanks... for this. I appreciate it." He was embarrassed to even face you at this point.

"Now worries at all." A moment of silence went by as the two you of stayed still. But then a memory made you burst into laughter.

"What's so funny?"

"I just can't believe that only a few months ago, we couldn't stand each other. We fought the first time we met, remember? Wow, haven't we changed... I guess you can say that this is a new level of this friendship."

"I can remember that like it was yesterday. You didn't comply with us at all. Sometimes still annoys me to this day," he shook his head. "Hey, [last name]-"

"I give you permission to call me by my first name!"

"Huh? Your first?" you nodded and leaned your head towards him, waiting for him to say your name. "Eh... then... [name]-san," you grinned. "I guess... you can call me by my first name too.

"Tōshi-kun!" he shivered at the sound of your voice-he didn't know if it was out of weirdness for hearing you say that for the first time or pleasure of hearing his first name come from your mouth. "Actually, I might just keep to Hijikata-kun. Tōshi is such a Kondo-san type thing."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"Nothing!"

。。。

"Wow, I haven't seen this place filled with joy for a while."

"[name]-nee! You should eat some of this, it's great!"

"Kagura, save some for everyone else."

"Oi, [name]. You better be paying me. They've troubled me enough."

"I bet you've been waiting for the money all day. Telling yourself stuff like 'its all for the money.'"

"Actually [name]-nee, Gin-chan was doing it for-"

"Yeah, all for the money. Totally not for you at all."

"You've always been bad at lying. Thanks Gintoki, for everything."

He averted his eyes, "Don't get all sappy because I did my job."

You put on a pouty face, "But, Gin-chan~"

"Don't call me that!"

"Aw, love you too."

"..."

"Gintoki?"

"I hate you."

"Ouch."