This reality instantly brought a great shock to everyone present.

Chizuru let out a crying cry and covered her mouth tightly. Okita stood beside her, pressing the hilt of the knife on his waist without saying a word, and his hand was almost spasmodic.

He twisted his lips as he stared at his companions and friends who had fallen to the ground, and for a moment he seemed to want to rush over, but Chizuru had just subconsciously reached out his other hand and grabbed his arm in extreme panic and worry, as if to prevent him from doing so.

Hijikata had no such concerns, so he quickly rushed over in the next moment, took one of Yamanan and Heisuke's hands, and knelt beside them, his handsome face splattered with blood from Fangcai's battle, his facial features twisted with pain, his teeth clenched, and he didn't say a word.

A few paces behind him, Liu Quan still stood in place, his mouth slightly open in extreme shock, his eyes widened, and his whole body seemed to be stiff, unable to speak or move.

The first person to break the palpitating silence in the room turned out to be Shannan.

“...... Although I've done things that are contrary to Hijikata-kun, I'm still proud to be a member of the Shinsengumi. He said clearly in a weak but firm tone.

Hijikata finally spoke up.

"Do you think I don't know?" replied him with a hint of rudeness, as if that would hide the anger and anguish in his heart.

"How important it is to take the affairs of the Shinsengumi, this kind of thing is easy to understand as long as you look at Shannan-kun. He lowered his voice a little and continued as if nothing had happened.

He pretended to be very strong, he must not want Sannan and Heisuke to worry...... But in fact, he is more painful in his heart than anyone else, and when will such a helpless separation continue to stop......!

Such a sad and helpless thought blankly floated to Liu Quan's heart.

Heisuke's voice, still full of vitality, rang out.

"We're going first...... Mr. Hijikata is going to live well. ”

His voice was gentle and hearty, and it sounded like the same Heisuke he used to be, and even though he was in great pain, even if he was about to disappear, he still hadn't changed at all.

Hijikata replied with a nod.

Heisuke said cheerfully in a joking tone, "I can't believe you." Mr. Hijikata is an anxious ......."

Hijikata lowered his voice and deliberately said in a tone that seemed to be a little impatient: "It's quite arrogant. I'm not down enough to worry about you. ”

Hearing this kind of angry reprimand as before, Heisuke narrowed his eyes as if he was relieved.

What a clumsy kid...... At this time, I was still thinking about others, and I didn't want others to feel sad about myself, so I used this stupid method to cheer everyone up......

It's still the same Fujido Heisuke from before. It hasn't changed. Gentle and clumsy, he cares about others in his own way......

Heisuke-kun like a younger brother.。 To die at such a young age, to ashes......

As a result, she was good, Koichi, deputy chief, and even Shinhachi and Harada, who were sent to Yakoji at that time...... I tried all my best to save the young life of Pingsuke, first he became a rakshasa, and then his strength was exhausted, and he was about to disappear-

Liu Quan bit her lip tightly, otherwise she was afraid that the next second the sobs would rush out of her throat, exposing her unconcealable vulnerability to the public.

Shannan's words stopped her violently fluctuating love in time to continue to spread.

"The way you are going is in the north. He said calmly to Hijikata, his gaze as if he wanted to drift in the direction of Okita in the distance, but Okita and Chizuru stood a little further away from them, and he couldn't see them. So, he gestured to Hijikata with his eyes, probably hoping that Hijikata would tell Okita about it.

"Tsunado-kun also confirmed to me that he used water ...... from the Tohoku region in order to reduce the effect of turning into water."

The clue to the rescue of the Rakshasa body is there. If that's the case, maybe it can extend the life of the rakshasa a little. This should be Shannan's idea, but unfortunately, he no longer has time to realize it.

"Tohoku ......?" Okita said hesitantly.

"Isn't Chizuru's hometown also in the Tohoku region......?!"

A flash of hope suddenly flashed across Chizuru's face.

"So, ...... so, can the chief secretary get that kind of water in my hometown?"

Hearing their brief conversation, Shannan smiled slightly.

Heisuke's voice suddenly interjected again.

"Mr. Hijikata, don't get lost...... It's not a good thing to be in a hurry......"

His voice was hoarse and sounding weak, and he seemed to shout with all his strength, but he could no longer utter the same energetic voice as before.

Hijikata wordlessly held Sannan Heisuke's hand tightly.

Shannan said to himself, "Is it time......

No one responded to this incomparably difficult and unanswered question.

Shannan didn't seem to be looking for answers. His gaze suddenly fluttered over Hijikata's shoulders and looked at Liu Quan, who had been standing silently a few steps behind Hijikata.

“...... Snow leaves. ”

For the first time in his life, he abruptly abandoned her honorific title, and he gently and calmly called out her name.

"Could you please come over for a moment?...... I can't get to you anymore. ”

Liu Quan's body shook suddenly, as if his two bland words had dealt her a heavy blow, and the calm and sad, dull and stiff expression on her face like a mask disintegrated in an instant. Almost immediately, she rushed to Shannan's side in a few steps, and knelt beside him with a thud.

Shannan's left hand was held by Hijikata, and at this time he slowly raised his right hand with difficulty, across his chest, and spread his five fingers, as if he was about to stretch out in the direction of Yanagiquan.

Liu Quan immediately stretched out his hands and held his hand tightly without hesitation. The warmth of his palm could still be felt through the glove, but her hands trembled uncontrollably.

Their hands and ten fingers intersected, and they were placed on Shannan's chest. Through Shannan's clothes, Liu Quan could still feel Shannan's chest rise and fall with each light breath through the back of his hand.

Shannan's gaze drifted to her injured left arm.

"It's really ......"

When he saw that the wound had stopped bleeding, he laughed slowly.

"Really...... If you're not careful, you're trying to get in front of you, the three rakshasas, Okita-kun and Fujido-kun, and behind you is the luscious blood that attracts the rakshasas...... You're really ......."

He paused for a moment, as if trying to find an exact adjective in his mind. But he soon seemed to give up on the effort, and smiled a shallow smile that was surprisingly frank.

"Really...... What a stupid, Yukiha. ”

After saying this, Shannan suddenly choked with difficulty, but the smile on his face still did not disappear. His gaze seemed to jump from Ryuizumi to Hijikata, the former deputy head of the Shinsengumi who was kneeling beside her, holding one of his hands.

Hijikata was watching him as well. All of a sudden, the eyes of the two men, who had been working together since the days of the Trykan in the countryside of Tama and who were the two pillars of the chief and deputy head of the Shinsengumi, met silently in mid-air.

Shannan had already said to him all the things he thought he should explain. Now, then, Sannan was just going to leave a last word to the last person he saw in the world—such thoughts came to Hijikata's mind for a moment.

He decided not to think about it for a while.

He and her...... They all used to risk their lives to fight for someone else's sake. They also never mentioned their feelings to each other at that time. But to this day, when the people they worked so hard to defend were still in front of them, the people who stood side by side, who had always been running in the same direction along the way, and who would continue to walk like this until the end of their lives, had become the two of them.

For a moment, he seemed to understand a little bit -

In fact, all along, I have always followed him unrelentingly, always moved firmly in the same direction with him, even if I risked my life, even if I lost my companions, even if there were differences and misunderstandings, even if I had to endure many pains, I deeply trusted and unwaveringly.

It's just her.

It's always been her.

This has never changed.

His gaze couldn't help but drift to her, who was kneeling beside him, stretching out his hands and tightly holding Shannan's right hand across his chest.

Even if you just look at her from the side, you can see the deep pain in her expression. The deep pain made her countenance even pale and weak, like that of an ordinary girl.

At that moment, she was no longer a member of the squad who could take over as the head of the Shinsengumi Ichiban as a woman, she was just an ordinary girl—a girl who was about to wrestle desperately with all her grief, vulnerability, unwillingness, and anger in the face of someone who was important to her mind and her eternal secret.

And that man, the one who was about to perish, was their companion.

Ryuizumi didn't notice this strange thought in Hijikata's heart. In fact, all her attention now is on Shannan.

“...... Oh, yes. She followed Shannan's line of sight, saw the cut sleeve of her coat and the wound on her left arm, blinked, and struggled to smile at him as if nothing had happened.

"Didn't Mr. Shannan say it before...... I've always been so stupid and doing uncute things all day long......"

Her pretended brisk voice was abruptly cut off in mid-air. She swallowed twice with great difficulty, as if something had suddenly stumbled in her throat, preventing her from making a sound.