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Hijikata Toushirou is called many different names by many different people and over the years, Gintoki has cycled through quite a few of them himself.
When the police officer had ambushed him while he was trying to repair a rooftop, he had jokingly called him “Oogushi-kun,” making some meaningless comment about a goldfish.
At first he had dreaded his run-ins with the demon vice-chief because they always seemed to end in trouble. He could be minding his own business, on his way home after going out for a snack, but as soon as he saw the characteristic black uniforms coming down the street, he knew his plans of making it home in time to catch Ketsuno Ana’s next report would have to change. Even if he didn’t get caught up in some huge mess, any encounter would still set him back because he and Hijikata couldn’t go for a second without an argument breaking out between the two.
Still, Gintoki eventually developed an appreciation for how delightfully easy it was to rile up the police officer. Unfortunate coincidental encounters became something he looked forward to and he found himself keeping an eye out for those V-shaped bangs anytime he was out wandering the streets of Edo and never passing up on a chance to provoke him.
He’d called Hijikata many names during that time, all with the intention of getting a rise out of him.
“Tax thief” is a classic that Gintoki won’t let go of as long as he’s still struggling with money (which basically means forever, unless he somehow fixes his terrible pachinko addiction).
Gintoki also often called him “mayora,” watching with disgust as Hijikata ruined perfectly good food with an absurd amount of mayonnaise. As someone who barely affords enough meals to just get by, it was particularly offensive for him to watch. Now, he’s more or less become desensitized to it and though he can’t say he enjoys the condiment any more than he used to, he certainly does enjoy how the usually stoic man instantly perks up when eating it. “Mayora” has recently taken on a much more affectionate tone.
There’d been a plethora of other insults, some that he still uses now, but now they hold a lot less bite than they once did. Though he supposes there never really was much real animosity to them, more like a cat harmlessly gnawing on your finger than an attack with any sort of ill intent.
Gintoki’s still lost on memory lane when he hears the door click open.
“Kagura? Shinpachi?” he calls out without moving from where he’s sprawled on the couch.
He’s met with silence aside from the sound of shuffling shoes which tells him that it’s definitely not the kids.
“Ah, Oogushi-kun, I was wondering when you’d pay me a visit.”
“Who are you calling Oogushi? Hasn’t your dumb brain moved on from that yet?”
“Hey! Whose brain are you calling dumb, you mayo freak?”
“That’s not a very polite way of addressing someone who brought you food. If you’d rather starve, then I can just go back to the barracks.”
“You already came all the way here! Come on, even tax thieves need to take a break sometimes.”
“That’s still not my name, you bastard,” Hijikata scoffs, but walks over to join Gintoki on the couch regardless.
“My bad, Hijikata-kun~” he says, tone playful and teasing.
“Yeah, yeah. Here’s your onigiri.” Hijikata shoves a plastic bag at him without warning and Gintoki barely reacts fast enough to catch it.
“You’re the best, Hijikata.”
“Tch. You’re happier to see the food than you are to see me.”
There are few things Gintoki values above food, but opportunities to tease Hijikata happen to be very high on his list of priorities. He sets the now somewhat misshapen onigiri on the table and turns his attention towards his guest instead.
“Oh, what’s this? Are you jealous Hijikata-kun?”
“As if.”
“Don't worry, I’ll tell you some guaranteed ways to get Gin-san’s attention.”
“No one wants to know that.”
“This is valuable, top secret information! The first way is with a sexy outfit. Of course, Gin-san’s not picky, but if I had to choose—”
Unfortunately, whatever his preferred choice is remains top secret as he’s silenced by Hijikata’s fist.
“I never asked, you damn pervert!” There's red tinting his cheeks and Gintoki finds it absolutely delectable.
“Fine. Suit yourself, but don’t blame me if you regret it when you’re desperately trying to think of a birthday present for me.”
Hijikata snorts. “Don’t worry, idiot. I wouldn’t put that much effort into your birthday anyway.”
Gintoki sends him an affronted look. Even if it’s a joke, this has gone too far! He expects Hijikata to be at least somewhat remorseful, but instead the bastard is laughing.
“You should see your face right now,” he huffs out even as he’s doubled over in laughter.
Gintoki feels any resolve to feign anger crumble in an instant at the sight. “Finally appreciating Gin-san’s handsome face, huh?”
“If that’s what helps you sleep at night, then sure.”
“You’re not cute at all, Oogushi-kun.”
“Call me that one more time and I’ll show you just how not cute I can be.”
“I don’t doubt that, Oogushi-kun.”
Gintoki only laughs as Hijikata tackles him to the ground.
Gintoki doesn’t remember when exactly he’d started being more conscious of it, but it’s happening much more frequently.
When he walks down the streets of Kabukichou and passes a particularly lovey-dovey couple, he can’t help but overhear how they affectionately call each other pet names. It’s the same even when he’s lazing around at home watching TV, the terms of endearment used by the characters in the dramas he watches not going unnoticed.
If not an insult, Gintoki only ever calls him “Hijikata” and while the two of them are not by any standards a normal couple, he wonders if he should call him something a little more personal than just his family name. It feels weird to think about after being so used to the way it is now, but he still wonders how Hijikata would react.
Luckily, Hijikata happens to be just over in the kitchen, so he doesn’t have to travel far to find his answer. He sets his head on Hijikata’s shoulder and wordlessly wraps arms around him from behind.
“Get off me.” Hijikata turns his head to scowl at him. “I’m trying to make us food since your lazy ass refuses to.”
“Oh come on, baby, don’t be like that.”
Hijikata immediately freezes and turns bright red, the knife that he was using to cut vegetables turned against Gintoki instead. He realizes a bit belatedly that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to do this while he was cooking. “Huh?! What did you just call me?”
“Baby. You know, like how couples always call each other.”
“I’m not a fucking infant.”
“Well, it’s obviously not literal! It’s supposed to be affectionate.”
“It’s weird is what it is.”
“But then what am I supposed to call you instead?”
“How about my name?”
“That’s boring.”
“Fine. Then, shut up and stop bothering me. Problem solved.”
Gintoki doesn’t think that’s much of a solution at all, but he’s hungry and opts to let it go. For now at least.
Gintoki happens to spot Hijikata and a few of his men on their daily patrol and, having nothing better to do, he decides to go bother a certain mayora.
Admittedly, he’s not thinking about the consequences when he shouts “Hey, darling” from across the crowded street.
He hadn’t considered the consequences, but he doesn’t regret doing it as he watches Hijikata’s reaction.
At first, it takes a second for Hijikata to register the pet name, but once he does, the effect is immediate; he turns red as a bottle of ketchup, a comparison that might be considered offensive to the mayo addict.
Once the realization sets in, he immediately turns to look at the two subordinates accompanying him. Both seem just as shaken as he is at hearing their demon vice-chief being referred to as “darling.” It looks like they’re desperately trying, albeit not very successfully, to hide their snickers under a neutral expression.
The logical progression from here, of course, is that Hijikata loudly orders them to commit seppuku and the two officers are immediately brought back to their senses upon seeing the return of the death glare they’re so well acquainted with.
Hijikata sends them away before finally acknowledging Gintoki’s presence, hand resting on the hilt of his sword to act as a threat. Of course, Gintoki finds it more amusing than menacing.
“What do you think you’re doing, bastard?”
“Is that any way to greet your beloved sweetheart?”
“Don’t think I won’t cut you down if you interfere with my work.”
“I guess ‘sweetheart’ is no good either,” Gintoki sighs, ignoring the warning entirely. “Would you like ‘honey’ better?”
“Stop with all these idiotic pet names.”
“But Hijikata-kun! They’re romantic.”
“Since when has your lazy ass ever given a damn about romance? You don’t have a single romantic bone in your body.”
“People can change. Gin-san is trying to be better for you! Isn’t that so sweet of me? I’m the best, aren’t I?”
“No one asked you to do something that stupid,” Hijikata mumbles. He desperately avoids Gintoki’s eyes, a telltale sign of his embarrassment.
“You’re no fun,” Gintoki pouts.
“So what did you want?”
“Come over today.”
“It’s been busy lately.”
“I know. Because I’ve barely seen you. So come over.”
Hijikata sighs. “Fine. But only because I know you’ll keep bothering me if I don’t.”
“Bold of you to assume that I won’t continue bothering you regardless,” Gintoki says as he starts to walk away, wanting to quickly escape before he inevitably meets Hijikata’s wrath. “See you later.”
Without turning around, he hears the click of a lighter and even without seeing it, he can clearly picture the exasperated, but fond expression on the officer’s face as he lets out a puff of smoke.
The first time Gintoki hears Hijikata call him by his name for real is when the officer is deep in slumber. He gets home from a job to find Hijikata snuggly wrapped in his blankets, eyebrow creasing with concern as he notes how tired he must be to have fallen asleep already.
Gintoki takes a moment to appreciate how peaceful Hijikata looks in his sleep, not getting many chances to see it since the bastard always wakes up before him and is long gone before he even cracks an eye open. As much as he loves riling him up, gaining probably far too much amusement from his reactions, there’s a beauty in his current, undisturbed state.
With this in mind, Gintoki does his best not to jostle him around too much as he slips under the covers himself. Still, Hijikata has always been a light sleeper, probably as a result of the ever-present threat of danger at that barracks, usually caused by Sougo, and Gintoki freezes when he shifts in his sleep. It's faint and if it weren't so quiet he might've missed it, but he's able to catch the soft murmur of "Gintoki" that leaves Hijikata's lips.
Hijikata turns so that he’s directly facing Gintoki and then seems to settle back into his slumber, eyes never opening once, which makes Gintoki breathe a sigh of relief.
Deciding to test his luck just a bit more, he carefully brushes the V-shaped bangs to the side and places a gentle kiss on his forehead.
When he wakes up in the morning, it’s with a kick in the shin (and though Hijikata will insist it was just a nudge, Gin maintains that a mere nudge should not be that powerful) and a greeting of “Wake up, lazy bum.”
Hijikata goes back to addressing him by anything but his real name and he can’t help but wonder if he’d hallucinated hearing it in the first place.
The next time he hears it catches him completely off guard.
“Oi, Gintoki! Did your brain stop working for good this time?”
Gintoki finally snaps out of his daze at the call of his name, turning to stare at Hijikata.
“What are you looking at me like that for?”
“You never call me ‘Gintoki.’”
Only then does Hijikata seem to realize that he’s said it and he reddens slightly, turning his face away in an attempt to hide it. “Well, it’s your name, isn’t it? You were spacing out and you ignored the first few times I called you,” he mutters. “Don’t get used to it.”
“Ehhh? But it sounds nice when you say it.”
“S-shut up, shitty perm!”
Gintoki smirks as the blush on Hijikata’s cheeks continues to spread. “Come on, just one more time? Pretty please?”
He pulls Hijikata onto his lap, chuckling at how he averts his gaze. Adorable.
“It’s just your name, so stop making such a big deal out of me saying it.”
“If it’s not a big deal, then why can’t you just say it again?”
Gintoki watches in amusement as Hijikata seems to have an intense staring contest with the tatami mat. His gaze is still fixed on the ground when his lips part to softly mumble, “Gintoki…”
It really is just his name and there’s plenty of people who use it on a regular basis (usually in shouts of anger or annoyance) and it probably shouldn’t affect him the way it does, but he can’t help the warmth that fills his chest regardless.
Still, the warmth doesn’t do anything to quell the irresistible urge to tease. “See? That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
He expects Hijikata to grow more flustered, but instead he catches him by surprise when he looks directly at him
“Gintoki,” he says, eyes unwavering as they meet his.
This time it’s Gintoki’s turn to grow flustered, not expecting this sudden reversal. “W-what?”
“Not a big deal, huh?” Hijikata taunts.
Gintoki decides that he doesn’t appreciate the look Hijikata is giving him right now and would very much like to punch that smugness right off his face, but he has a better idea.
He brings his hands up to Hijikata’s face and pulls him in for a kiss. It proves to be rather effective.
Gintoki had only made a simple, inconsequential comment, but Hijikata stares at him like he’s crazy.
“What?” he questions.
“You called me ‘Toushi.’”
“Am I not allowed to?”
“Only Kondou-san really calls me that. My brother used to. It feels weird hearing it from someone else.”
“You let Kagura call you that.”
“Only because she won’t stop even when I tell her not to,” he says with a roll of his eyes, but Gintoki can tell the annoyance in his tone is only to mask the underlying fondness. It makes Gintoki’s heart swell in turn.
“So by that logic, it’s fine if I just don’t stop.”
“What kind of fucked up logic is that? I’ll kill you, dumbass.”
“You wound me,” Gintoki says, dramatically clutching his heart.
“I’ve seen you play off multiple stab wounds as if they’re nothing. I’m sure you’ll live.”
“That’s different! While I admit that Gin-san’s strong, sexy body is near invincible, my heart is quite fragile Toushi.”
“Cut it out,” Hijikata says, swiftly hitting him on the head.
“Ow! Okay, okay. I’ll stop, so please stop abusing poor Gin-san.”
Hijikata smirks. “I don’t know about strong or sexy, but poor is definitely accurate.”
“First physical abuse, now verbal abuse?”
“What are you gonna do? Report me to the police?”
“Nah, that wouldn’t help. They’re a bunch of corrupt dogs anyway.”
Needless to say, that comment earns him yet another smack on the head.
Gintoki likes it when Hijikata calls his name. He especially likes it when Hijikata is pinned underneath him, nails digging into his back, and screaming his name out of desperation (though he tries to push away that particular mental image for the time being because this is not that kind of story.) Still, he also likes it when Hijikata wakes up in his arms and gently calls his name, voice still laced with sleep. He even likes it when Hijikata angrily yells his name after he’s inevitably done something stupid again.
His name on Hijikata’s lips just sounds different from anyone else and Gintoki can’t get enough of it.
He wonders if Hijikata is the same way, if he doesn’t care for special nicknames because just the fact that it’s Gintoki calling him makes it special enough.
He wonders how Hijikata feels about his family name considering how he feels about most of his family. Is he so detached from them that he doesn’t think about the connection anymore?
Most of all, he wonders how many people have called him Toushirou, how many people he’s let in that close. How many people have managed to make their way through the thorny bushes that he surrounds himself in, able to call the name that belongs to him and only him?
He thinks about Mitsuba and how her soft voice had called out “Toushirou-san.” He wonders how it would sound coming from him instead, how Hijikata—how Toushirou would react to it.
Gintoki thinks it’s about time to test it out.
“Hey,” Gintoki greets as he hears the door open right on time.
“What? No weird pet name today?”
“Why? Do you miss it?” he teases, the light blush across Hijikata’s face not going unnoticed.
“No, I just find it hard to believe that you’d respect my wishes for once.”
“Hey! I resent that! Gin-san is very respectful of your wishes! Like when you beg for me to fuck you harder and to let you—"
“Oh my god, can you please shut up?”
In an attempt to show just how obliging he is, Gintoki makes a motion to signal his sealed lips alongside a thumbs up and a cheeky smile.
Hijikata lets out a scoff at that, though the slight quirk of his lips gives away his amusement. “Okay, cut it out, it’s weirdly unsettling when you don’t run your big mouth all the time.”
“I knew you loved my big mouth. You love it even more when it’s on your dick.”
“It appears I had a lapse of judgement. I take it back, please shut up again.”
“Sorry, I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
“You’re insufferable, Yorozuya.”
“I have a name.”
“Fine. You’re insufferable, Gintoki. Happy?”
“Yeah. I’m very happy, Toushirou,” he says, testing how the name feels on his tongue. He decides he likes it.
Toushirou freezes just for a split second, just long enough for Gintoki to wonder if he’s made a mistake, if he’s crossed a line he shouldn’t have crossed. The next second his doubts are immediately alleviated when he sees the small, but genuine smile across Toushirou’s lips.
Hijikata Toushirou is called many names by many different people, but Gintoki takes pride in that Toushirou is his and only his.