At this moment, Kyourou slowly approached and praised, "As I thought, you all are perfect for this. My judgment was not wrong."
He bowed slightly toward Hijikata and Sougo, "I'm counting on you. To protect this street from the Lady, we'll need your help."
"What kind of nonsense is this?" Hijikata responded with disdain, glancing at Kyourou, "How can a samurai stoop to such ridiculousness?"
"Be-be-be!" Kondou, fully immersed in his role as the Harley Gorilla Bike, crossed his arms with a serious expression, "If protecting this street is part of our Shinsengumi mission, then isn't this also a grand duty?"
Hijikata immediately retorted, "I've never heard of a duty where you grow handlebars out of your head!"
"This is an order from the chief, just for tonight. Let's 'Party'!"
"Your brain's been 'partying' all year round!" Hijikata angrily shot back.
"Come on, let's all calm down." Sougo, sitting in a booth with two girls fawning over him, tried to mediate, "Why don't you have a drink, TOSHI?"
"Who the hell is TOSHI?!" Hijikata turned around, veins bulging in frustration as he glared at Sougo. "And why are you already entertaining customers?!"
"Even though I don't fully understand the situation, I've already figured out the trick," Sougo responded with a fresh smile. "Basically, just toy with these dumb pigs, take their money, and enjoy the free drinks, right?"
He said this with a perfectly innocent expression.
"Oh, you're so bad~" the girl on Sougo's left side blushed and giggled, "Sougo, you're such a tease~."
"You're so naughty~" the girl on his right side coyly rubbed against his chest.
"Sorry, I wasn't talking about you two," Sougo apologized, looking down at the girls in his arms. "You two are… special."
"Eek—!" the two girls shrieked in delight and immediately called out, "Excuse me, can we get another bottle of Dom Pérignon!"
Seeing the two girls completely smitten, Hijikata couldn't help but mutter, "He's a genius! He's found his true calling! That guy's radiating a dark, evil glow!"
"Alright, I'll take care of the Lady," Kyourou addressed everyone except Sougo, who was busy with his customers. "You two will provide support for me, and the rest of you will be support for the supporters."
"What the hell is 'support for the supporters'?!" Shinpachi immediately protested. "Even The Beatles didn't need that much backup!"
"What a joke!" Gintoki snapped, glaring at Hijikata. "Who wants to support someone like that?! He looks just like Shinpachi without glasses!"
"Exactly, aru!" Kagura agreed. "If you dyed your hair black, Gin-san, you'd look almost exactly the same!"
Gintoki and Hijikata, both now red-faced, glared at each other and shouted in unison, "Who looks like this idiot?!"
Sandwiched between them, Shinpachi's face twitched as a vein bulged on his forehead. "You both need to knock it off!"
At that moment, Ayame, expressionless, lifted her leg and brought it down hard on Shinpachi's head.
Ignoring the now unconscious Shinpachi, who lay on the floor with smoke rising from his head, Ayame sighed and scolded, "Seriously, stop fighting. How can you not get along? Teamwork is the most important thing for hosts."
"Exactly." Kyourou nodded, clenching his right fist with determination. "Let's work together to entertain the Lady. Follow my lead, and there will be no problems. I usually don't ask for help, but tonight, I want to go all out against the Lady."
"Huh? You're going to reserve the entire place just to entertain her?" Ayame blinked in surprise.
"Yes, is there an issue with that?"
"Sorry," Ayame propped her chin on her hand, looking slightly apologetic, "I thought it would be better if it were more lively, so I invited a lot of people…"
Before Ayame could finish her sentence, Saigou and the group of Okama burst through the doors of Takamagahara, immediately surrounding Kyourou.
Before Kyourou could even turn around, he was caught in a chokehold by the massive arms of Saigou from behind.
"Ah, it's been a while, Kyourou-sama~" the Okama swarmed around the expressionless Kyourou, all striking coquettish poses.
As Kyourou struggled in vain, now foaming at the mouth while Saigou continued to choke him, Gintoki and the others stood there with dark expressions, their faces blank.
"Thank you for inviting us," Saigou growled menacingly as he grinned at the helpless Kyourou in his arms. "You really wanted to see us, didn't you? Well, I just got out of a bad breakup, but if you really want to comfort me… I guess I could let you~."
"Kyourou-sama is so happy he's bubbling over~"
"Yes, he really is~."
Seeing Kyourou surrounded by the Okama, Shinpachi finally snapped back to reality, horrified. "It's… it's Saigou's Okama Army!"
"Hey, Ayame." Saigou looked up at Ayame, "Is it true that everything's free tonight?"
"Mm-hmm," Ayame nodded without hesitation. "Since we've just reopened after renovating, please enjoy yourselves."
"No! What have you done, Ayame-nee!" Shinpachi mentally screamed.
"Well then, let's drink till dawn, Kyourou-sama~."
For some reason, Saigou's words had a slightly vengeful tone.
Watching Saigou and the Okama drag Kyourou into the club, Ayame slightly bowed and sent them off with a smile, "Please enjoy yourselves~."
"Kyourou-sama!!" Shinpachi screamed internally, but his face and body remained frozen in place.
"H…HELP…" Kyourou managed to croak out with all his remaining strength.
As Saigou and the others left, Hasegawa casually remarked, "He's suddenly asking for help in a completely unrelated situation."
"No, he's really asking us for help this time," Kagura corrected with a smirk. "If it's a genuine 'HELP ME,' we can ignore it, aru."
"How can we?!" Shinpachi yelled, veins popping in frustration, before looking back at the scene of Kyourou being overrun by the Okama. "What's worse is that the Lady is about to arrive any minute, and now Kyourou-sama is surrounded by monsters at the worst possible time!!"
"Hey! Kyourou-sama is being overrun by monsters!" Shinpachi shouted, clutching his head in despair, "And it just had to happen now!"
"It's fine, aru," Kagura nonchalantly remarked, watching as Kyourou was held up by only one arm amidst the Okama. "After all, he's the No. 1 host. He can handle a small scene like this with one hand. See, he's still holding up a 'I'll be back' gesture."
"No, he's been relying on just one hand to show he's still alive since earlier," Shinpachi corrected, pointing at the chaos. "We need to rescue him and send these monsters back to the underworld!"
Gintoki dramatically flipped his hair and spun around, "Damn! It's a shame we're just the support for the supporters!"
He then pointed at Hijikata, "TOSHI! Are you ready?"
"Who the hell is 'Are you ready'?! No way I'm going to 'Let's Party' in a piranha pit like that!" Hijikata angrily retorted.
Seeing everyone trying to pass the responsibility around, Shinpachi suggested, "At this rate, we'll all have to go in together to rescue him."
"What a joke!" Gintoki spat and, while everyone was distracted, began to crawl toward the door, inching away as stealthily as possible.
However, he suddenly found himself in shadow and, realizing something was off, looked up to see a blushing Kyubei standing before him dressed in women's clothing. Gintoki started to sweat profusely, but before he could apologize, Kyubei grabbed him by the hair, her eyes flashing with anger, and flung him back into the hall.
Boom!!!
As the loud crash echoed behind them, Shinpachi and Hijikata turned to see Kyubei standing at the entrance, still holding her throwing stance, both of them drenched in cold sweat.
"Kyu…Kyubei-san is here too!!" Shinpachi screamed internally, completely overwhelmed.
"Oh, Kyu, you're here," Ayame greeted Kyubei with a smile as she approached.
Kyubei cleared her throat and feigned calmness as she raised her hand, "Sorry, I'm late. You said we had to come in women's clothing, so..."
She gestured to the entire Yagyuu clan, who had all donned geisha attire and makeup, "That's why it took a little more time."
"Why did the entire Yagyuu clan dress up as geishas?!" Shinpachi couldn't help but shout, spitting out his words in disbelief.
"By the way, why hasn't Tsukuyo-san and her group arrived yet?" Ayame asked, frowning slightly. "She agreed to come in the text message I sent."
"You don't think there are enough troublesome characters already?!" Shinpachi snapped again. "We're already at full capacity!"
"Boss, Tsukuyo and the others probably won't be coming," Kagura raised a finger and explained, "They're probably too busy keeping an eye on her uncle to make sure he doesn't cause any trouble."
"Oh, I see~ That must be tough~" Ayame sighed, before raising her fist and shouting with a smile, "Sisters, let's all relax and have a good time tonight~"
Instantly, everyone except Shinpachi and the others raised their hands and cheered.
"Oh!!" ×n