Sharp Wings; 鋭い翼 [Gintama]

3 | Apparently, being tax thieves is a well paying job

III

Manga: Lesson 23

Anime: Episode 14, part B

ONE week after Shizuku and Kusahara woke up, surprisingly, the latter was already well enough to move around on his own. He helped around the dojo with whatever he could do, he was a rather skilled cook – at least he significantly makes better cooking than Tae's dark matter but Shinpachi would never say that to his sister's face. Kusahara cleans the house when the siblings are out, and he tends to Shizuku, who was still not fully recovered, but was well enough to sit up and move on her own.

The Yorozuya visits when they could. Gintoki has been acting oddly around Shizuku and Kusahara, no one really knows why but everyone could see that he was still checking upon the two, even if he doesn't really show it. Katsura visits, sometimes, too, when he's not plotting to overthrow the Bakufu. Slowly, the Kusahara cousins started to fit in with everyone. Being close in age, Shinpachi, Kagura and Shizuku seemed to have clicked somewhere and instantly became friends, while Kusahara oddly became good friends with Tae, despite being a little older than the young woman.

One night, when the Kusahara cousins and the Shimura Siblings were having dinner inside Shizuku's room, Kusahara brought up a topic that he hoped they had discussed sooner.

"Otae-san, Shinpachi-kun, I appreciate the two of you housing the two of us, but I think it's time for us to leave." Kusahara said as he looked at Shizuku, who was looking at him, looking like she was also hearing the new for the first time.

"We're leaving?" the teal haired girl asked, her olive eyes slightly widened.

"We don't mind you staying here, Kusahara-san." Shinpachi said as he placed his bowl down the table. "We like you and Shizuku-chan here with us."

"Yes, Kusahara-san." Tae seconded as she gave Shizuku a second serving of food. "I'm sure both Kagura-chan and Shizuku-chan would become lonely if one of them leaves."

"I kind of don't want us to leave, Nori-san." Shizuku said before gulping a glass of water. "Though, I know why you're suggesting it." she muttered, mostly to herself.

"Well, we can't exactly live under someone's house without paying them, Shizuku. You know that." Kusahara reasoned, his voice soft. He turned to the older of the Shimura siblings. "Forgive me for saying this, Tae-san, but especially with your financial struggles, we can't keep leeching off from your income as siblings."

"We don't really mind." Shinpachi said brightly, clearly not wanting them to leave. "The house is big and it's just the two of us here. To be honest, it's gets a bit lonely, sometimes." He said as he looked at his sister.

"Besides, with you helping with the housework and the cooking, I think that that's enough for payment." Tae nodded as she smiled, her eyes closing.

"But, still, it would be unfair for both of you." Kusahara insisted, before he sat back in thought.

"Well, there is the option of getting a job, Kusahara-san." Tae suggested, lifting her finger in the air. "If you get a job, then we could split everything. It would be a win-win situation."

"That's no good, Otae-san. You have to make him pay for keeping him inside your house."

All four occupants of the room suddenly stopped at what they're doing to look at the head that was coming from the ceiling of the house.

"A gorilla!" Shizuku yelled as she stumbled back, slightly shocked. Kusahara jumped from his seat and kicked the gorilla on the ceiling, causing him to fall on the ground. Kusahara kicked him once again to prevent him from landing on the food.