Su Shuang's world is collapsing [Comprehensive]

He intends to leave tomorrow for the next town.

If I can come back in the future, it should be a few months or even half a year at the earliest.At that time, maybe she was already married.

Then, her funny conversation and occasional sly eyes will gradually disappear in the ordinary years of housekeeping, serving her husband, and raising children.

...But anyway, those weren't things he had to worry about.

Recently, he has been thinking about whether to simply end this ancestral medicine business, join the probation hall inherited by Kondo-kun, and officially start practicing kendo in order to become an upright samurai.

...Okay, let's have a good talk with Kondo-kun after returning to Tama.

With this in mind, Hijikata ushered in the experience of the third day - and the last day - in this town.

He didn't expect that the experience of this day would become so unforgettable later.

The streets of the town were as calm as usual that day.The drug sales between him and the uncle went very smoothly.When it was close to noon, they closed the stall contentedly, and planned to rush to the next town after eating.

The uncle said that he had bought almost all the things he wanted to buy. He was embarrassed to leave Tufang alone for two consecutive days, and insisted that he must have dinner with him.

Hijikata didn't think anything was wrong, so the two of them packed up the medicine box and money bag, and planned to find a noodle stand to eat soba noodles.

On this day, it seems that the slightly subtle town girl did not appear.

After packing up my things, when I walked to an open space under the city, the uncle was happily telling Tufang that he had just counted the money he earned in this town, "The amount of money makes people very energetic." Yun Yun, suddenly there was no warning around A group of people gathered together.

Earthwork was a little surprised at first.But when he quickly looked around for a week, he knew in his heart that he had encountered a local ruffian or a bastard like a rogue who came to blackmail him.Fortunately, the purse was well tucked in the uncle's arms, so it was enough to cover the uncle from escaping.

Tufang untied the medicine box on his back and put it on the ground, and pulled out the wooden knife from his belt.

The wooden knives in the test guard hall seem to be a little heavier than the wooden knives in the general dojo, and it feels a bit heavy in the hand.

There seemed to be about ten of those bad guys in all—maybe a little more? ——In short, they had a clear division of labor and were quickly divided into two teams. The first team surrounded the earthwork with a large number of people, and the first team only had about two or three people, but each of them held a wooden knife in their hands—or it was simply shining The real knife——smiling grinningly, walked towards the stunned uncle.

Before he had time to think about it, Tufang yelled: "Uncle, run away!" He swung his wooden knife and rushed to the closest guy in front of him pre-emptively.

The scuffle started almost instantly.Hijikata tried his best to move his body, expanding the encirclement of the melee, trying to attract everyone to his side, so as to cover the uncle's escape.

After a few clicks, his wooden knife intersected with the opponent's blade.Although his swordsmanship is a bit more proficient, two fists are no match for four hands, not to mention that he has to face far more than four hands now.

Tufang knew that the wooden knife in his hand could not last long, and if he wanted to last longer, he had to defeat the opponent as soon as possible to gain the upper hand.Gritting his teeth, he swung the wooden knife more vigorously, with a solid swordsmanship, and slashed at his opponent.

After he had been in a bitter fight for a long time, suddenly, the uncle on the side let out a scream.

The earth party had no time—nor spare time—to see what happened to the uncle.He gathered all his strength, swished and swished a few times, and kicked the medicine box on the ground towards the opponent—this was not at all the swordsmanship he had learned—this was When he was free, he quickly glanced in the uncle's direction.

Seeing this, he froze for a moment, and was caught by his opponent almost immediately, and was kicked hard from behind at the knee bend.His legs gave way and he almost fell to the ground.

What a disadvantage... These samurai who can hold swords justifiably, are they holding swords for this reason? !Robbing other people's hard-earned money, not hesitating to hurt the lives of innocent people... Where did Shidao go in their hearts?Where is the belief?Where is the honor of being a warrior? !

He staggered, and was hit by several moves immediately.

Uncle has been knocked to the ground.The purse in his arms also seemed to have been snatched away.The uncle's face was covered with blood, and under the merciless kicks and beatings of those people, he rolled on the ground, screaming like begging for mercy.

"Masters... lords... samurai lords... please..."

An unprecedented anger, mixed with resentment and resentment for being so weak and useless, rose in Hijikata's chest.

His sanity snapped at last with a snap.

...A civilian who killed a samurai without authorization, what will happen after that?

He didn't think about these issues any more, just waved the wooden knife with a dull head, chopping forward one after another.I got a lot of punches and knives on my body, and my opponent probably got even more hits—it's a pity that he can only wield a wooden knife. With such a weapon, no matter how many times he hits his opponent, it is impossible to put him to death!

He was finally knocked to the ground.Raindrops of fists and feet poured down.

When his body became numb due to pain and frustration, suddenly, there was a sound of splashing water.

A few men not far away almost immediately cursed and cursed.

"...Damn it! Who threw water on me?!"

"Who else dares to meddle in the old man's business?!"

"...I saw it! In the alley over there! It seems to be a boy!"

"...Hurry up and chase!"

Those men hadn't finished their quarrel, and some screamed among the men kicking and beating around Tu Fang.

"...Bastard!! Who hit me with a stone...!"

"Hurry up and chase him...! How dare you make trouble here...!"

There was a sound of chaotic footsteps, and those men seemed to have lost interest in the bruised Tu Fang and the uncle, and took the stolen money bags and chased after the "boy" who dared to throw water and stones at them to provoke them.

Tufang didn't know how long he had been lying on the ground.He just panted heavily, letting his heart pound and beat chaotically, his ears and head were buzzing, and there seemed to be many messy lines intertwined in colorful colors in his vision.Pain surged up all over his body. He spread his limbs and lay on the ground. The trampled green grass under his body gave off a smell mixed with earthy smell. clear sky.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over his head.

He didn't even bother to roll his eyes to see who it looked like.

The wooden knife was lying on the ground not far from his hand, already broken in two.

He didn't know where the medicine box was thrown—but even if he found it, it would be of no use. He didn't believe that the unsold Ishida loose medicine in it could have the miraculous medicinal effect he boasted about.

The owner of that shadow was silent for a moment, then spoke out.

"... Hichikata-san, are you okay? How is your injury? Is it okay—"

He turned his head sharply.

Xiaomei squatted beside him.It's still the same kind of ordinary eyebrows and ordinary clothes.Crouching so close to him, he could even clearly see the contiguous freckles on both sides of her nose and the light-colored tear mole under the corner of her left eye.

Her expression was full of worry, and her slender eyes were widened as much as possible, staring at his face.When their eyes met, she blinked, as if a layer of water suddenly appeared in her eye sockets, and she had to quickly turn her eyes to other places to avoid continued contact with his eyes.

He was a little taken aback by this outpouring of emotion unlike before.

He thought the girl had no special thoughts about him.Or, he thought she seemed to approach him with a mood as common as her appearance.until this moment.

That look came from genuine concern.This gave her incredibly ordinary face an illusion of beauty.Although her voice was still so stable, he didn't know when she appeared here and how she found him here, but he suddenly felt a false sense of confusion——

He laughed softly.

"Really...you have seen such a useless look..." He whispered, there was no feeling of resentment or anger in his voice.

"...Mr. Hijikata's skill is very good." She paused for a moment and replied like this.

"With a wooden sword, one person is fighting against more than a dozen people...even if they can't defeat Hijikata-san, they should be ashamed."

This sentence surprised him a little.There was a buzzing in his head, and he stared at her face with wide eyes, as if she had just spoken some unintelligible language.

"...It's ridiculous. Are you comforting me?" He asked bluntly.

She seemed to choke, and then a faint smile appeared on her face.

"I'm complimenting you, Hijikata-san." She replied with the same candor. "...I think I can finally understand a little bit why Hijikata-san is so popular."

This was the first time since their brief acquaintance that she had mentioned this side of him as a handsome man in such a frank and ordinary tone.Obviously, in terms of his appearance, no matter where he went, he would attract some admirers, which she also knew very well, and she didn't seem to mind making fun of it.

This untimely joke made Hijikata suddenly grin.

If it was normal, he would probably raise his eyebrows immediately, and use the coldest tone to repel this unpleasant girl.But now, he somehow felt that this girl was really interesting.

Always so much fun.

"...Just now, were you the one who splashed water on those bastards?" He suddenly changed the subject and asked straightforwardly.

She raised her eyebrows slightly, as if she wasn't surprised that he could guess this point, a smile that seemed to be both proud and narrow-minded floated on the corner of her lips.

"Yeah. I even asked Jiro-kun to throw stones at them. It was surprisingly smooth to lure them away."

He frowned slightly.

A girl throwing water and stones at a group of menacing villains with dangling swords? !What kind of brain is this to come up with such a dangerous idea? !It's fine if he's her important person, but they've only met twice, so they can't be called friends at all... It's totally unworthy and completely incomprehensible to take risks for such a person!

Originally, he wanted to preach a few words from an objective standpoint with a caring attitude, so that she could change her reckless character, which was completely different from her appearance; Nonsense nonsensical questions to come.Even he himself was taken aback.

"...Who is Jiro-kun?"

As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he choked suddenly, almost biting his own tongue.

She seemed to be taken aback for a moment, her eyes flickering slightly.

"Ah... Jiro-kun is my neighbor, he is a very good person..." She replied in a perfunctory tone.

For some reason, this tone made him even more subtly uncomfortable.But reason told him that continuing this topic would only make people laugh in vain.He abruptly turned his words around.

"Why did you come to save me?" He asked in a stiff tone.

"Don't you know that those people are dangerous? What if they catch you? Have you thought about the consequences of being discovered or chased by them?!"

She froze for a moment.

"Of course I've thought about all of this. I'm not stupid." She pouted slightly—that gesture on her ordinary face really wasn't very touching—and continued: " I have already figured out the escape route. What's more, I am a girl, and they will never think that a girl has the courage to provoke them-this is my best disguise."

Tufang couldn't help but rolled his eyes towards the sky.

Although the wounds all over his body and the overstretched muscles were still aching, the resentment he was full of just now had inexplicably eased a lot, leaving only a certain determination in his heart the moment he pulled out the wooden knife.

...Give up the pharmaceutical business that my ancestors engaged in, and join the test guard and Kondo-kun's sect, strive to become an upright samurai, and try to help Kondo-kun achieve a career——

At that time, everyone will no longer be so easy to insult and take away everything he has earned with a mocking look, right?

At that time, the dignity and ambition he pursued, as well as those honors and dreams that did not belong to the class he was born in, will be able to come true, right?

... Until then, he is not allowed to stop, right?

Even looking left and right, the slightest hesitation, is impossible to allow.Before realizing all of this, everything else is just a stumbling block and is not allowed to appear in his world.

The expression on his face seemed to slowly freeze.

He stared at her, looking directly into those slender eyes, frankly and undisguisedly, for the first time since he knew her.

He saw the faint, warm smile on her lips slowly disappear.

... This girl is really smarter than he thinks, he thought.

Without saying a word, it seemed that she already understood what he wanted to say.

There seemed to be some kind of light flickering slightly in those narrow and dexterous eyes with a tear mole under one corner of the eye.

Then, she straightened up neatly, and just watched him struggling to prop up his body from the ground in a spectatorial posture, and sat there, patting the dust and dirt on his clothes. grass clippings.

"I thought I would repeat what I said to you when I first met Hijikata-san."

She spoke abruptly, her voice calm and steady.

"Please take good care of yourself."

"Maybe we won't see each other again. But it's great to get to know Hijikata-san."

"All of your ambitions will come true one day. I firmly believe that."

She stood up, ignoring the dust on the bottom of her clothes, her eyes lightly passed over his head, and looked into the distance.

Probably because he didn't want to give him the impression of looking down on him.

Unlike ordinary women, her thoughtfulness always seems to be reflected in this wonderful place.

Her voice seemed to choke slightly, and then she spoke the last words in his memory.

"I am sure you will be a great man."

"I hope that the light you emit lasts a long, long time, just like your life."

"Farewell, Hijikata-san."

As abruptly as when she appeared, she just turned and left.He didn't look back, and he didn't look at him again, and he simply did not look like something a woman would do.

...Just like she didn't hide in the alley just now and throw water and stones at those villains.

It wasn't until her back disappeared from his field of vision that Tu Fang looked back, smiled wryly and muttered to himself in a low voice.

"I don't know what kind of neighbor...is willing to throw stones at those bastards for her..."

When he said this, he was also taken aback.

...Totally unexpected.

Speaking of which, Aqin, the daughter of the shamisen house in the Tama countryside, is much more beautiful than Xiaomei.For such a small place in the countryside, the family background is also very good.

For the youngest son of a drug dealer whose family has long since fallen and is unable to inherit any property, a girl like Aqin is already the most ideal wife candidate.

As for Xiaomei who will never see her again...

What kind of man will she marry in the future?

The author has something to say:

February 7:

Today’s episode of the deputy chief’s youthful (?) era~~ Can be regarded as… sprinkling sugar?

Also, starting today, the [-]-character chapter will be broadcast for three consecutive days~~

[Soundtrack for this chapter]: ED of "Hakuoki Dawn Record", "Jijiu no Yeming け".It can be regarded as the source of inspiration for this episode, because the author Jun suddenly had this brain hole when listening to this song【.

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~~

=============================================

★The part of [Non-responsible Extra Story 245 ([-])], the guide system number [[-]].Because of JJ's new regulations, it is not allowed to put words related to the text of this paragraph in the essay, otherwise the text will be locked without discussion, so I have to put it elsewhere, sorry.