This sentence seemed to shock him. After he pondered for a moment, he still said in a troubled tone: "...It's true that I can't see you without you."

This response was not what she expected at all, and she exclaimed "Huh?!" in astonishment.

"If you turn your eyes away, I don't know what unexpected things you will do..." He continued as if sighing.

"Either she suddenly turned into a woman, and was pulled in front of me by the chief angrily; or she provoked the leader of the ghost clan again, or she was still joking nonchalantly and talking about summer festivals before facing danger. Strange topics like that... Not to mention suddenly becoming Shimahara's popular husband or something, not only can he deal with those flirting guests casually, but he even dares to dress like that and hold a knife to kill the rogues ...The strange thing is that such a strong woman also has the kind of crying that makes me feel helpless..."

Listening to him enumerating all the daring and good deeds he has done, Liu Quan was surprised and ashamed.

So... did I cause him so much trouble...?

It turns out...he remembers all those things...?

Liu Quan opened her mouth, wanting to say something, or to justify the things she did that gave him headaches; but in the end, she laughed.

"It's really troublesome for you, deputy commander, to have such a willful and reckless team member." She said solemnly, pretending that she was not the troublemaker who sounded as good as Okita in his words.

Hijikata groaned annoyedly, as if he didn't appreciate her humor.

"...It still bothers me terribly until now!" He said complainingly, but did not let go of his arms hugging her.

"Every time it pops up, I'm like, ah, what the hell is this guy going to do to me this time? What's she doing? Where did all that endless, almost obsessive courage and strength come from? Where did it come from..." There was a faint smile on the corner of his lips, as if he was recalling the past they had experienced together.

"...No matter how bad the situation is, he refuses to take half a step back, always sees the bright direction and walks there... Obviously there is such a deep darkness and pain behind him—" He lowered his head, his eyes were gentle And it fell seriously on her face.

"Is there anything you're afraid of? Is there anything that can knock you down? I'd like to know—"

The sly smile on Liu Quan's face slowly disappeared.

She looked back at his still handsome face just as seriously.Even though that face has experienced countless life and death, countless wars, and countless setbacks, it still walks a road leading to despair and death...but it is still as handsome and calm as she remembered.

...It is still possible to easily become the dream man that countless girls fall in love with, and become the object of those passionate love letters they send.

Liu Quan pursed his lips and looked at him deeply.

"I'm afraid that one day Mr. Hijikata will not be in this world...and he will leave before I know it." She said, with a very serious expression.

"Such a simple thing can knock me down. So, please don't do such a thing?"

She took a deep breath.

"For me, if Mr. Hijikata dies, the existence of this whole world will lose its meaning... In my eyes, this world will collapse, and it will definitely—"

However, he will not know that this is the truth of this world.He will never know how important it is to this world and many people in this world that he is alive...

If he leaves, the world will collapse, her mission will fail, and everyone in this world, as well as her, will fall into eternal pain——

"That hurts me more than death. And that pain doesn't go away with time. Never."

This frank confession seemed to hit his heart in an instant.He showed a stunned expression, as if he would never get used to her glib confession even if he had heard it a hundred times.

After a while, he laughed slowly.

"Are you really a more terrifying existence than the women in Edo?" He said jokingly.

"At first I thought you were like Saito, a reliable soldier with good swordsmanship and taciturnity." He recalled with a smile, "Who knew that as your female identity was exposed, you would gradually become Like Souji, although he is good at swordsmanship, he is as talkative as him?"

She didn't know whether it was his description of her or the departed companions he mentioned in his memory, which made her stunned for a moment.

After a few seconds of silence, she suddenly raised the corners of her lips, showing a sly smile, as if she was planning to change the subject, and joked lightly:

"...So, deputy chief, do you actually admire the chief minister? Because in those days when I was more like a king, I didn't see how much you valued me?"

Earthwork: "..."

Just when he was about to reprimand this unlucky guy who was talking and laughing casually, he felt a sudden panic because his eyes glanced casually at some incredible place, and his body froze.

He didn't realize until this time that the remaining drops of water on her long hair had already wet the clothes on her shoulders and back.The shirt suddenly looked extremely thin after it was soaked in water, like a layer of tulle, the wet material clinging to her skin, faintly outlining the soft lines of those parts.

His eyes slid over those places quickly, and his mouth suddenly felt parched.In order to conceal his sudden embarrassment, he quickly took off his coat, shook it off violently, put it on her shoulders, and said in a firm tone: "...Put it on!"

Her expression became a little stunned for a moment, as if she didn't understand why the topic would suddenly jump to this kind of thing after the heated debate about whether she would stay or not just now ended.She lowered her head subconsciously, glanced at his hand that was still resting on her shoulder for a short time, her eyes flashed, as if she suddenly understood something, her eyebrows and eyes slowly curved, showing an increasingly bright smile.

Her smile as if she understood something made him suddenly feel even more uncomfortable.The movements of his hands intensified involuntarily, and angrily pulled his coat, which had not had time to change after a long day of travelling, onto her shoulders, and said angrily: "... ...do you want to get sick when you run around with your hair so wet...?!"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly felt her body shrank slightly under his palm, and her right shoulder avoided the touch of his palm as if without a trace.

His hands froze suddenly, as if he remembered something, and the angry expression on his face deepened.

"Your shoulders...!" He growled, and the scene on the battlefield was recalled in his mind for a moment - she stood upright beside him, facing the enemy soldiers rushing up, and picked up the heavy rifle with one hand neatly. Raising his hand, he put the wooden butt firmly against his right shoulder, squinted his eyes, took aim, and fired with a bang.

For a moment, he felt an unknown fire burning up, almost burning through his head.He grabbed her right arm roughly, waved off the coat that was draped over her right shoulder mercilessly, and pulled open the collar of her unfastened shirt.

Even in the midst of his rage, he certainly kept his proper proportions.The neckline was torn open slightly to the right, just exposing only her shoulders that were really bruised and purple.

What he saw this time was several times worse than the situation after her training last time.Because the gun was fired many times in a hurry, it was too late to assume a more correct posture, and the gun was often fired without holding the gun on the shoulder, so the violent impact caused by the recoil was even more serious than when shooting normally. ——In short, there was a large bruise on her right shoulder, and some places were even slightly blackened—indicating that those places were the places that suffered the most impacts and were the most violent.

Liu Quan was stunned for a moment, and suddenly realized what was going on, before he could blush, he hurriedly tried to hide his neckline back.

"No... this... it will be fine after a few days of recuperation... It's not like I haven't suffered a serious injury before, isn't it all right..."

The words she said in a hurry made him suddenly startled, that hand was frozen in mid-air, and a surprised expression appeared on his face.

This kind of expression is so rare on his face, she couldn't help feeling suddenly at a loss and guilty conscience, she lowered her eyes, but peeked at his face from the corner of her eyes, and stammered and lowered her voice, "So... ...So...I didn't tell you...Because, because I think it's nothing..."

The two words she added seemed to have brought back his mind, he smiled, shook his head lightly, and said, "Yes...why is that...?"

Liu Quan couldn't figure out what he was going to say at all, and stared at him blankly, and the action of pulling back the collar of his shirt also stopped unknowingly.

Hijikata looked at her dumbfounded face, but suddenly smiled.

"I'm talking about myself." He said to her as if explaining, "Obviously, as a team member of the Shinsengumi before, you have completed many dangerous missions, and you have to risk your life to fight the enemy many times, and you were injured and bled. Not once or twice..."

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment, and then continued with a slight exclamation: "... At that time, it was not that I did not give you a death order. Even if I later learned that you are a woman, I would I once entrusted you with very difficult and dangerous tasks, or left you alone among the dangerous enemies..."

Liu Quan let out an ah, and his eyes flashed slightly.Tufang knew that she finally understood what he was referring to.

He can't talk about regretting the orders and decisions he once made.He also knew that she would not feel unwilling or annoyed because she had obeyed and resolutely carried out these orders of his.But at this moment, for some unknown reason, those scenes of heroism and tenacity that she had seen before, in which she was far superior to ordinary women, flashed through his mind one after another, like a slowly unfolding picture scroll, the contents were shocking and heart-pounding. I couldn't help but feel distressed and unbearable.

...This must be because his own mood has changed.

He can no longer look at her with the same mentality that an ordinary deputy commander treats a team member.It was not even possible to look at her with the mentality of a friend and companion who has fought side by side for many years.She has been deeply integrated into his past, his memories, and his life, and continues to exist as an inseparable part of him, so that he can no longer ignore it.

He caressed her right shoulder, which was red and swollen from the heavy recoil impact of each shot against the wooden butt of the rifle.

Her naked/exposed skin was a little hot due to redness and swelling, but when his cool fingertips brushed the surface of the skin, she suddenly shivered, and her face quickly flushed red.

"I understand your determination..." He said softly, as if sighing, "You support me even if you hurt yourself... For some reason, you make me feel a little..."

What is there?But he stopped and didn't say anything immediately.

She opened her eyes wide and looked up at his face, unable to see what the description that came to his mind at this moment was.

She waited for a while, but couldn't hear what he said below, probably because it was difficult to express her feelings in words?

So she also thought about it seriously before answering: "...No. It's not in a way of hurting myself."

His expression was slightly stunned, looking down at her, as if he wanted to find the answer from her face that really supported her hard work so far.

"I'm supporting Mr. Hijikata by trying to make myself stronger." She raised her beautiful eyebrows and smiled slightly, her tone gentle and firm.

He was stunned for a moment, unable to say anything, he could only let out an "ah" sigh similar to surprise.

Then, his eyebrows and eyes gradually softened from surprise, and finally he smiled with a hint of melancholy, gently stroked the red skin on her right shoulder with his fingertips, and said softly: "...if only I found out earlier It's—no, if only I'd faced this up earlier..."

Liu Quan:?

However, the deputy chief's next sentence made her seem to understand something.

"That way...we'll still be able to spend several summer festivals together—"

As if wanting to cut off the Deputy Chief's feeling of setting the flag casually, Liu Quan immediately spoke.

"It's okay in the future."

Earthwork:? !

"There will be many summer festivals in the future. I think I can join Mr. Hijikata from the beginning every time." She said with a confident attitude and an unquestionable tone.

Earthwork:! ! !

A look of surprise and emotion appeared on his face again, and after a long silence, he suddenly bent down towards her slowly, and dropped a kiss between her black hair, which still had water vapor and a faint scent of soap.

"Really..." He said softly like a sigh.

"At that time, there will be a small stall for fishing goldfish. I will catch another one for you. This time, you can keep it in your own room."

With a sore nose, Liu Quan closed his eyes abruptly, and pressed his forehead against Hijikata's chest. Hearing his heartbeat, he felt that his eyes were about to get wet.

"That must be a great festival."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

The author has something to say:

February 6:

Because my sister is going to get married tomorrow, I am in a good mood today, so I wrote so many words~~

Then I feel that the sugar has been sprinkled enough recently, so tomorrow I will start various battles and various high-energy [.

I will work hard, please continue to look forward to it~~

PS. The last sprinkle of sugar before the big battle, let’s post the BGM again [Huh]

[Soundtrack for this chapter]: It is still the ED of the Hijikata chapter of "Hakuoki Snow Flower Record" that appeared before, "Mami-thelightlasting-".

Since JJ doesn't let you post the link now, if you try to listen online, you can only trouble everyone to search by yourself, sorry for the inconvenience~~

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

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