At this point, he stopped abruptly. For a moment, only the sound of his breathing, which had become heavy, and the sound of rain that seemed to be fading down outside the cracks in the stone, echoed in the square inch under the boulder.

And then he heard her beside him, and let out a very clear throbbing sound.

...... No, not the sound of sniffing, but the sound of sniffing.

Could it be that you are frozen by the cold wind at night?!

Hijikata would never be so sentimental as to think that just a few words could move the girl next to him to the point of crying bitterly - because he felt that he didn't say anything?

He felt that he didn't deliberately say sweet words that were pleasing to women, and he didn't say anything that was enough to impress women—no, it was as if he was trapped in his own memories from beginning to end, and he was talking about the most ordinary, prosaic, and uninteresting details—

Kondo-san admires Emperor Seki and wants to be a general like him, and the head secretary always adds too much soy sauce to the dishes when he is in charge of cooking, even if Saito or Heisuke, who are in charge of the task together, it is useless to stop them, and her room is always piled with a lot of cute and sweet washi fruit packages, and when the powdered sugar wrapped on the outside of the snack gets on her fingertips, she will secretly lick her fingers when everyone is not looking......

And he still remembers how he felt when he saw her in action. At first, her head was full of smoky miasma, and she thought that this child's small movements were too girly, but then she realized that she was a woman at all, and I thought that this guy was so careless, and that licking her fingers in front of a room full of men was what a woman should do, even if no one saw it!

Finally, when she was in the mountain hut, after eating the wagashi, and slowly licked her fingers, and the tip of her little pink tongue rolled gently over the long fingertips, he felt his heart beat faster, and his mind swelled, and he did not know whether it was because the action was too hateful or because he was so angry, and his head was buzzing, and then she would secretly show a sly smile at the corner of her lips, and the tails of her eyes and cheeks were dyed a faint red, and she would knowingly say, "Hey, Mr. Hijikata, what's wrong with you?" Do you have a fever? You don't look well—

Then, perhaps, she would crawl slowly over the tatami mat, approach him, stretch out the little hand that she had just curled the tip of her tongue over her fingertips, cover the place of his heart, purse her lips and smile silently, and whisper: ...... Your heart is beating fast, Mr. Sui?

He turned his head suddenly, and exhaled heavily through his nose, like an old bellows, his breath was heavy, and the parts of his body cracked and creaked, and he felt a little annoyed, as if he had been dominated by tender memories and weak emotions for a moment, and this fact made him angry and embarrassed, and he couldn't help but raise his voice an octave, and stiffly change the subject.

“...... Anyway, that's all in the past. He stiffly forced his words to conclude with that.

"Good and bad...... What else can I do?"

Miss Kujo beside her seemed to be stunned for a moment, but she quickly reacted, and after a short deep breath, she seemed to have gotten rid of the fog called "moving" just now, and hummed with a smile, and asked in a funny way:

"So, Mr. Naito means - you are very dissatisfied with Madame Zun, but you can't get rid of her?"

Hijikata blurted out in an instant: "...... Of course not!!"

Then he heard her pause, then a soft laugh, and it dawned on him that he had once again fallen into the trap of her words. He couldn't help but be even more annoyed.

Fortunately, Miss Kujo suddenly became empathetic—perhaps a little moved by what he had just said, and her tone sounded much gentler now, and she even took the initiative to relieve him.

"I'm sorry. "Actually, I already understand." ”

Hijikata was a little annoyed, and subconsciously asked, "What do you understand?"

He heard Miss Kujou be silent for a moment. Then, without warning, she sniffed again.

...... Probably she really caught a cold!

Hijikata turned her head unbearably, only to see that his coat had been draped over her shoulders at some point. It was still raining outside, and the moonlight shining through the cracks in the stones was so faint that it could only outline a vague silhouette of her face.

“...... I see what a nice person Mr. Naito is......" she whispered.

Earthwork:?!

When he received a compliment from her, he was stunned for a moment.

But that's not the end of it.

"I see, Madame is a very important person in your mind......" she continued.

"Those memories you spent with her, how precious—"

The end of this sentence suddenly disappeared in the air. There seemed to be some kind of glimmer of crystalline light, which quickly slid down the curve of her cheeks from the corner of her eye.

Hijikata sniffed again when she heard her.

“...... Oops, it looks like it's really a little cold. She whispered hoarsely, and suddenly said something half-jokingly.

Earthwork: "......"

He now suddenly felt so irritable.

Although the situation seemed to be under her control, and he had to follow her routine, the girl did not seem to have done anything bad to him, and seemed to have a little kindness, so that if her pursuers found them, should he have taken her back for interrogation with such an iron face and selflessness?

The more he thought about it, the more angry he felt. Then he suddenly realized that he had not dealt with such a troublesome matter in a long time.

It turns out that in the Shinsengumi era, of course, he also caught some women who were determined to pass information on Sacho, or even do bad things. There are also occasions when it is necessary to interrogate a woman, or when it is necessary to meet with a woman to discuss business—but in those cases, it is always necessary for him to negotiate in person.

There's one person who's the perfect and reliable person to handle this kind of thing—there's no one more trustworthy than her. And she always manages things properly. She will get information when she should dig it up, she will deal with it appropriately when she should deal with it harshly, and even when interrogating some timid women, she will gently comfort the other party, and get what she wants to know in a quiet chat......

Even the most difficult tasks, the most difficult interlocutors, she can handle them well.

Hijikata couldn't help but wonder in her heart what she would do to this tricky Miss Kujo if she were here at the moment, what she would say, and what she would ultimately decide what to do with this mysterious Miss Kujo, who was both good and evil......

However, she couldn't be here. What he was hoping for could never happen. His hometown is still there, but there is no such person there, whimsical, lively and cunning, determined and brave, who has always stood with him, who has always followed him desperately, and who has followed him desperately and followed his beliefs together, and can go with him to the summer festival of the next year, the summer festival of the year after, and the summer festival of countless years to come—

Hijikata sighed, and finally couldn't help but say bluntly, "Why do you want to do such a thing-"

Why did she agree to be the secret envoy of the Satsuma people, and pretend to be a wandering girl to come to the camp of the official army to take risks? Why did she kidnap Saigo Congdao and make things out of control? He did not believe that if she did not take any drastic actions, Saigo Congdao would take the initiative to raise a warning and expose her true identity and purpose to the people on the side of the official army; because that would really create an irreparable reason between the official army and Satsuma, and push the situation to the point of no return......

The Turkish side tried to objectively consider the answers to these questions, but found that there was simply no rational explanation that could answer them.

Unless—

Before he could go any further, he heard her voice ring, interrupting his reasoning just right.

"Because, that's my destiny. ”

There was a hint of tiredness in her voice, very different from the pleasant feeling of a slight smile just now.

"I have tasks that I have to complete...... I'm here because I'm sure I can do something. She said.

However, this answer only made Hijikata feel more confused.

Was she really being persecuted? This did not seem to match the excellent skill and tenacity she had shown, and besides, she was a person who even someone like Saigo had to call "Miss Kujo", and with Saigo's current status, there was no need to use such a polite title for everyone, even if the other party was a secret envoy from Satsuma—then, was she threatened by something? Otherwise, with such a status, if she didn't want to come, she should be able to refuse, right?

“...... Satsuma, is there something important that controls you? Hijikata asked slowly.

"That's why you're forced to do their bidding......"

He felt her breath a little unsteady, as if he was very surprised.

"How...... Why do you think that?" she laughed, not answering his question directly.

But this reaction only made Hijikata a little more convinced of his own ideas. He turned his head, trying to keep an eye on her face in the faint light, and said, "...... What do you have to worry about? Can you tell me?"

He heard a stalk in her throat. Then, suddenly, she let out a short, shrill chuckle.

"No, it's not the time to say yet. She replied.

Earthwork:!!!

The answer almost confirmed his suspicions. However, since she didn't say it, she had no way of knowing what her weakness was in the control of the Satsuma. Hijikata could only try to seize the opportunity to guess:

"Are they controlling the people you value? your family, or your ......?"

He didn't say the latter word, for she had interrupted him simply and rudely.

"Did Mr. Naito ever have any regrets?" she asked abruptly.

Hijikata: "...... What?"

Miss Kujou sighed softly.

"That's it...... There is something that must be done, so that thing must be put before Madame...... But that incident may temporarily endanger Madame, so it will be unsettling, and I am afraid that I will regret that I have chosen the wrong one......" she explained slowly, this time in great detail.

Then, as well, she turned her face in the direction of the earth. Although in the darkness, neither of them could see the expressions on each other's faces, but the darkness also amplified the voices, making each other's words seem to have a deep effect-

She asked, "Mr. Naito, have you ever had such a moment?"

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

August 26:

In fact, the deputy chief still plans to set up the girl's words, after all, he doesn't know that this person is a girl, but he just thinks that this girl is still a little kind to him, and there is probably a rescue?

So he plans to see what the girl has planned, if not too much, to stop her before she does something bad

But he also sensed that the girl's actions tonight were actually not too beneficial to Satsuma, so he fell into confusion

Next update: tomorrow.

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

Thanks to the little angels who threw [mines]: Meow Meow, Immortal Limit, Gui Heshen, Sophia 1;

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

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