Su Shuang's world is collapsing [Comprehensive]

...Looking at their appearance, it should be that they didn't recognize her—or rather, didn't know her—as the identity of "Qing Yuan Yuya"?

During the short respite between the battles, Liu Quan freed his hand, brushed his short dusty hair casually, and patted the dust off the top of his head.

Then, she raised her eyes and asked bluntly, "Souma-kun, Shimada-kun... don't you know me?"

Kui Shimada looked puzzled, and looked at her with a look of "Should I know you? Why should I know you? When did I know you?"

Master Soma's reaction was completely different from his.

On the young man's thin face, there was a look of suspicion and vigilance in an instant.

However, the reaction of the two of them at this moment is enough to prove Liu Quan's previous guess——

They are real, historical figures.The "Qiyohara" they recognized as a team member of the Shinsengumi was the man who later followed Ito Kokotaro to betray the Shinsengumi and became the guard of the Imperial Tomb, not her disguised as a man team player.

Liu Quan showed a slight smile just in time before Master Xiangma questioned him, and continued speaking bluntly with an attitude of taking it for granted.

"...Because I used to be a member of Aizu's women's team. Of course, I have heard of Soma-kun and Shimada-kun from other people... However, I think that Soma-kun and Shimada-kun may recognize me. Too arbitrary and self-centered thinking. Sorry."

In fact, the latter sentence is meaningless.What Soma and Kui Shimada noticed was not that sentence either.

"You... come from Aizu?! Are you a member of the women's team?!" Manager Soma frowned, as if he couldn't believe it and was full of suspicion.

Shimada Kui shouted: "Huh?! ... Eh?!! You said you are a member of the lady team, then you are, yes-"

Liu Quan smiled, and brushed his shoulder-length hair with his hands.

"If I don't dress like this, I won't be able to walk to Hakodate." She said calmly.

"When Aizu fell, I managed to escape."

Crafting a convincing story was already her specialty, and now it's only natural that she's given free rein.

"The eyes of those Sacho are all important figures who lead Aizu to the end. If a woman like me wants to escape, it is not impossible..."

"It's not that I didn't want to live and die with Aizu like everyone else... But later, someone asked me to leave Aizu, go to the north, find the Shinsengumi and Mr. Hijikata, and report to him—"

At this point, her voice choked up slightly, and then she continued: "Everyone who stayed in Aizu did not live up to the belief represented by the honesty flag, and fought to the end..."

Manager Soma:! ?

Shimada Kui:! ! !

The tall Shimada straightened his back suddenly, and blurted out, "Saito!"

Chief Soma also had a look of astonishment on his face, staring at the strange young woman in front of him disguised as a teenager who came here at the most critical moment in Bentendaiba, as if he couldn't believe that she just brought them here. Here came the most precious news about our former companions.

"...Saito?! You mean...Saito?!" He asked in a voiceless voice, and then he reacted and changed his words quickly.

"No... You were in Aizu, you heard the name 'Yamaguchi Jiro', right? ——Yamaguchi-kun, is he still...alive?"

When he asked the last sentence, his voice was almost cautious.

Shimada also looked worried, looking at her tremblingly, as if expecting some good news—but in this tragic battlefield, which was almost the last days of Ezo, they seemed to have no longer dared to look forward to it. What good news can we get.

The attitude of the two of them made Liu Quan feel sad for a while.She had to lower her eyes, and swallowed the hard lump stuck in her throat.

"...I don't know either." She whispered.

Historically, until the final surrender, the members of the Shinsengumi in Hakodate did not know the fact that those who stayed in Aizu survived, right?Then, she couldn't reveal the answer to them in advance, even though she knew that this answer would rekindle their joy and courage.

"When I left him, he...he was still alive." She reluctantly added.

But she quickly raised her eyes and stared calmly at the two men in front of her.

"However, he was seriously injured... No one can tell whether he will survive..." Her voice became hoarse with sadness, "Later, I heard that Duke Aizu decided to open the city... After that, I never heard anything about him again..."

Shimada's eyes turned red.

"Yes, is it...?"

The tall man with a loyal face responded in a fragile and sad tone.

Chief Soma remained calm.For him, this is not the first bad news he has received in more than a year.

"So, when did you leave him?" he asked calmly.

"And why did you come here to find us?"

Hearing this, Liu Quan cast his eyes on him, then looked at his face calmly and calmly, and said slowly:

"...I left Aizu during the Battle of Tathagata Hall."

Soma Chief Accountant:? !

Shimada Kui:! ! !

Ignoring the shock that the place name "Nyoraido" brought to the two of them, she continued calmly: "Yamaguchi-kun led the Shinsengumi who stayed in Aizu out of the city to guard Nyoraido... Before he left, he said to me, Mr. Hijikata led the Shinsengumi to Sendai."

Manager Soma had a puzzled and suspicious look on his face.

Liu Quan ignored that look and continued calmly.

"He told me to go all the way north to find Mr. Hijikata and the Shinsengumi."

"I think, maybe he wants to convey his final will to Mr. Hijikata and everyone in the Shinsengumi."

"...So, I obeyed him."

A bitter smile slowly unfolded on her face.

"However... this journey was not very peaceful... I finally arrived at Sendai, but found that you had already left... I can't openly ask where the Shinsengumi is going, and I don't have any money... Even if I ask at the end By the time you have crossed the sea and arrived in Ezo, but at that time, I didn’t even have the money to catch up by boat..."

The kind-hearted Shimada gasped loudly and looked at her with sympathy and admiration.

Only the meticulous Soma Master was still observing her calmly with scrutinizing eyes.

Liu Quan smiled wryly and lowered his eyes, shaking his head slightly.

"So, I can't come here until this moment..."

Of course, she didn't forget that the battle was at its last moment, and there was no ship that could sail, so she calmly added a story.

"Actually, it's not that I just arrived. I've been in Hakodate for two months; but... why should I come to see you? It wasn't until I stood outside Goryokaku that I realized... I don’t have a token, even if I tell you, ‘Yamaguchi-san asked me to come’, it’s impossible to convince you just like that…”

Shimada: "Hey! How come! You should come to us right away, we'll—"

Chief Soma sighed and interrupted his next words.

"Indeed, you are right." He actually agreed with Liu Quan's statement.

"When the war is tense, it's impossible to just believe your baseless statement." He stared at her calmly, with deep eyes, as if he wanted to see through the deepest part of her pupils to see her real intention.

"...However, now that things have come to an end, no matter what you say, even whether you have evidence or tokens to prove your words or your identity... probably it doesn't matter anymore."

After a short pause, he calmly said something that seemed to be very serious.

Of course Liu Quan understood what he meant.

So far, what does it matter if she is a spy or internal agent sent by Chief Sa?

The defeat of the shogunate army is already an irreversible ending.The Shinsengumi is still fighting here, just like Saito and other companions who stayed in Aizu back then, just to uphold their beliefs and do their best for their morality and loyalty.

Therefore, even if her true face is a spy sent by the enemy, it doesn't matter.

Because there is nothing she can do.Assassinate important cadres of the Shinsengumi?Leak the firepower and personnel arrangement or defense plan of the Shinsengumi to the new government forces? ...What's the point of doing those things now?Accelerate the collapse of the Ezo Republic by a few seconds?

Although Master Xiangma allowed her to appear for this reason, Liu Quan felt that he couldn't just stay here with this inexplicable misunderstanding.

It doesn't matter whether you want to stay here or leave here; the important thing is——you still have to be regarded as companions by these people, damn it!

Liu Quan suddenly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the pale and calm Master Xiangma like a ball of fire.

"I'm not a bad person. It's even more impossible to be driven by those guys from Sa Chang."

She said every word.

"Even if Saito-kun is not here, I can't fight with doubts."

"Actually, you didn't have to change your mouth to say something like 'Yamaguchi' just now—"

Out of the blue, she said seemingly irrelevant words.Chief Soma looked at her in surprise.

"...I know his name."

"I know he's Saitoichi. He's the original leader of the third team of the Shinsengumi."

"He told me to go north to find you...so I must come."

Although he was trying his best to play the role in the story he made up temporarily, Liu Quan felt that his throat was constricted for a moment, his voice was hoarse, and the water was almost floating in his eyes.

"...because, I've always, always—"

The originally planned lines almost got stuck.She had to use a little effort to squeeze out the next few words from her throat.

...The reason why I reacted like this is——that was actually not a line, but my own...true words, right?

"...Look at him."

Yes.

I have been watching him all the time.

Watching Mr. Hijikata.

Watching Yijun.

Looking at those heroes who finally disappeared in the irreversible trend of the times, watching how dazzling they can shine in Shidou's twilight——

All this, Souma-kun, you don't know, do you?

Chief Soma seemed to be stunned.

The author has something to say:

February 4:

Oh heh heh heh this is today's brain hole [I was kicked away

So every private device has to be reused hhh