And in the days that followed, as he deliberately chose to avoid and ignore Kiyohara Yukiha's increasingly vivid and clear presence, the connection between her and the others became more and more vivid and clear. Until he realized that if he continued like this, he would not be qualified to interfere with that kind of gaze, that kind of gaze, that kind of connection—

It was that moment that gave rise to a childish emotion similar to competition in his heart.

Like a fledgling hairy boy, he began to give her more and more important things to do, and when she had fulfilled his demands conscientiously and brilliantly each time, a secret self-satisfaction arose in his heart, as if this would prove that only his requests could be satisfied in her first. He alone had the ability to bring all her strength and brilliance into accomplish his desires, and he had no need to doubt her, nor be wary of her, for what he had received from her was more, deeper, sweeter, and more persuasive, than the friendship, care, and loyalty which all others could get alike—

It's all glorious memories that have disappeared into the past. But today, the guy in front of him named "Kujo Saburo" has succeeded in rekindling the memories that have been hidden in his heart for a long time.

That's not great. Because on the battlefield, only extreme calmness can keenly capture the short opportunity to defeat the enemy in a long-term circle.

He knew deep down that he had missed that moment.

By the time he confronted this "Kujo Saburo", the Satsuma who had come up later to reinforce had already dragged the ground with his back and dragged away the guy who was still breathing on the ground. Of course he didn't want to sit back and watch this happen, but the guy named "Kujo Saburo" was very alert, and every time his body shook slightly in the direction of the two people next to him, even if he hadn't actually moved his body yet, the "Kujou Saburo" was ready to block the direction he was going to move.

The guy seemed to know Hijikata's combat habits very well, which was suspicious - everyone had a little difference in habit when fighting, such as the head secretary would shake the tip of his sword a little before attacking, Saito would be extremely focused, ignoring or responding no matter how much the opponent said, and Eikura was the opposite, the kind of person who wanted to overwhelm his opponent in both eloquence and swordsmanship......

And this fellow, "Kujo Saburo", seemed to be coincidentally familiar with some of Hijikata's little habits, and when Hijikata had just flicked his shoulder in a certain direction where he intended to move aside, the fellow had already taken two large strides and jumped in the direction where Hijikata was intended to move, and at the same time had not forgotten to get into the right position and not give up any space for Hijikata to break through his own defenses.

Moreover, that guy actually spoke openly!

“...... That's all for today. ”

His voice sounded strange, as if it was subtly suppressed as a disguise, as if he had to squeeze out syllables one by one because of some emotion, and the rain curtain passed between the two of them, making their figures and faces look a little blurred.

"I can't win against you...... However, I wouldn't let you kill so easily. ”

The guy's voice fell along with the sound of rain. Hijikata keenly caught something similar to the other person's tone of voice...... There was a mixture of emotions that bordered on pleasure and sighing, and Hijikata felt even more annoyed.

"Since there may be a chance to meet again in the future...... You still have a lot of opportunities to kill me. Why don't you let me live until then?"

Now, the smile in the guy's voice was a little obvious. Maybe it was an illusion of the earth, but with that hint of laughter, the guy's voice didn't seem so hoarse - and when the hoarseness faded, the guy's smiling voice felt inexplicably familiar. However, Hijikata couldn't figure out why for a while.

However, this provocative and generally smiling tone is really infuriating!

Hijikata sank his face, and took out his strong courage that had never failed before, and shouted, "...... Do you think that you can escape today's crisis by talking to yourself for such a long time without permission? If you can get away with it with just a few words, then we will choose a new ...... What has become of the newly selected brigades!!Don't talk big, arrogant boy!"

He thought that his words were threatening and imposing, and if they had been placed on the streets of Kyoto ten years ago, they would have been enough to intimidate the seven or eight fierce ronins on the other side, but the guy called "Kujo Saburo" was not intimidated when he heard this, but suddenly burst out laughing after being slightly stunned!

Hijikata's anger gauge was ignited by his laughter in an instant, breaking through the maximum.

"Hey, you're ——"

He let out a loud shout, and was just about to say a few more words before he attacked, when he saw the guy on the other side put away his smile, his eyebrows calmed, and the bright eyes that were exposed on the scarf that covered half of his face looked at him deeply.

"Mr. Naito, he's a heroic character~" The arrogant kid named "Kujo Saburo" suddenly changed his tone and said in a Kyoto dialect so meaningfully.

Earthwork:!!!

...... What is he implying about?!He's not from Satsuma, but — from Kyoto?!

That Kyoto accent may sound strange at first glance, but if you think about it, you can find out why—although it has been imitated very similarly, some of the Kyoto dialect used by Kujo Saburo is still a bit plausible, and there is no doubt that it was learned later, and it is not a native accent from Kyoto.

...... That's dangerous.

The deliberate use of the Kyoto dialect is obviously an ominous hint that the Shinsengumi were most active when they were in Kyoto, and although their brigade is called the "Shinsenkumi", not everyone is from the Shinsengumi, and among the members, of course, there are Aizu, Kusan celebrities, and even Satsuma...... But now, Kujo Saburo deliberately spoke in a Kyoto dialect in front of him, which means that the other party must have noticed something-

The earthwork squeezed a sentence out from between the teeth.

“...... What do you mean?!"

As soon as his words fell, he saw that the bright black eyes on the other party's face and the scarf covering his face slowly bent up again, bending into the shape of a crescent moon, as if he was in a good mood.

"I say—" He snuffed out.

“...... It's literal. He suddenly said solemnly, his eyes flashing and sparkling, and there was a smile hidden in the depths of his eyes.

Heavy rain swept through the bamboo forest, and the leaves made a rustling sound. Tahara Sakagami was supposed to be a killing battlefield and a hell on earth, but at this moment, in this small bamboo forest, the heavens and the earth suddenly became extremely quiet, as if the whole world was only the two of them, and the voice of the strange young man who covered half of his face with a scarf.

"I'm afraid I'll never be able to win against you. However, it's impossible for me to surrender like this~"

He said.

"Do you understand? Even if I am defeated by your sword one day, I will not admit defeat to you. Not for allegiance to anyone, but because—"

He said strange things that made Hijikata more and more suspicious, but just as he was about to get to the point, he suddenly stopped, choked slightly, shook his head, and suddenly laughed, and changed to a leisurely and disgusting attitude.

Suddenly, he took a step backwards and slowly removed his left hand, which was holding the knife. Now, although he still holds the knife in his right hand and the tip of the knife is pointing at the earth, it is clear that he does not want to fight with the earthwork anymore.

As if he was very tired, as soon as he freed his left hand, he immediately helped his waist, rubbed his waist as if his back hurt, and beat his lower back—although he did not have murderous intent from beginning to end, this attitude was still a little too contemptuous; Hijikata's eyebrows were suppressed, and anger welled up on his face.

"I say, you, do you think you can always do whatever you want, against your opponent, against your life-threatening battle...... Isn't there a little respect! Even if a person like you appears on the battlefield, he-"

Before his preaching was over, he saw the guy named "Kujou Saburo" in front of him slowly straighten up and straighten his back little by little.

...... Is it introspective? It doesn't look like it......

Hijikata thought so.

The next moment he knew the answer.

"You seem to know me—" The guy smirked, dragging out his voice.

Hijikata felt that he could indeed guess a little bit of the other party's style of behavior - at least when he spoke like that, he must be talking the opposite! I don't know what weird idea he was playing!

Sure enough, in the next moment, that guy did something reckless.

"So...... We'll see you soon!!"

Suddenly, the kid named "Kujo Saburo" who could speak a little Kyoto accent dropped such an epilogue, and then decisively threw something in Hijikata's face.

Hijikata was thinking about the true meaning behind the colorful words of "Kujo Saburo", but he was unexpectedly attacked by him; he only felt that there was a flower in front of him, and the next moment his vision was blinded!

He was furious, and as he tensed himself against the cunning boy's sneak attack—but it didn't—he reached out his free left hand and pulled the clutter over his head that was covering his eyes.

He held it in his hand and realized that it was still a scarf!

The scarf, which had become heavy and wet from the rain, was half-unfolded in the air and was under his hood. Of course, the scarf didn't spread out as it normally did when it was thrown out in the wet water, but it was enough to throw it over his eyes to cover it - in fact, Hijikata's reaction was so quick that it took almost a blink of an eye to remove it, but now, in front of his eyes, there was a hillside and a forest under the rain curtain, and the arrogant and cunning boy had disappeared before his eyes!

Hijikata held the scarf tightly in his left hand, and the anger of being wantonly provoked, but there was no time to fight back, spread all the way to the top of his head. If it had been for some other fragile object instead of a scarf in his left hand, it would have been shattered by now.

"Bastard...... don't let me meet you again next time...... or ——!" He stood on the hillside, gritting his teeth and squeezing out this angry sentence word by word between his teeth, staring at the already empty forest, and suddenly flicked his hand, and threw the scarf in his left hand into the muddy ground.

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August 7:

I'm going to completely abandon normal logic and thinking at the beginning of the next chapter!

In order to pile up Su terriers, I feel like I can do everything!

Take a closer look at Deputy Hhh's words, almost every sentence is a flag [Hey!

I love this kind of funny coincidence.

Next update: 0:00 tomorrow.

Thank you to the little angel who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angel who threw [grenade]: 1 Gui Heshen;

Thanks to the little angel who threw [mines]: Immortal Limit, Return to the Crane Deep 1;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [the nutrient solution]:

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!