novelraw Chapter 1001 [Chapter 6] 15
Chapter 1001 [Chapter 6] 15
Another two days had passed since the appearance of the strange young girl.
Hijikata's injured leg, which was shot in the Battle of Utsunomiya, has finally recuperated to the point that it is almost no longer bad for walking. The continuous high-load marches and battles, as well as the days of rainy weather, all caused his injured leg to become old. The cause of the relapse—so for the past few days, he has been walking slowly in the camp, trying to use this method to gradually exercise the injured leg and restore its former flexibility.
It was a time of war, and there were no idlers in the barracks—once the earthworker regained his freedom of movement, he was immediately dispatched to be on duty at night.
Speaking of which, everyone is actually taking care of him - he is not alone in charge of duty, but there are two people following him in the same group, responsible for the first half of the night; and he does not need to walk back and forth anytime, anywhere, or sit or It is enough to stop and check occasionally.
The only inconvenience is probably that the fixed sentry position needs to go through the entire camp to reach it when the sentry is on duty.Arranging sentry posts at the outermost place is of course the right thing to do.
So, when Tukata walked slowly through the entire camp that night, the young soldier Suzuki who was with him suddenly pointed to a certain direction in the distance and said, "Hey! That longhouse is so lit tonight." So many lights... Ah! Could it be that the place is finally being used to entertain that new big shot!"
Suzuki's long sentence sounded a bit convoluted, and it took Hijikata two seconds to realize what he was saying.Before he had time to express his opinion, he saw Suzuki excitedly raising his hand and waving to the other side, shouting, "Hey! Liulang! Where are you sending the wine to?"
Suzuki is a very nice person, but he likes to inquire about these things too much—Hijikata sighed inwardly, watching Suzuki greet a younger boy who looked like an orderly, and spoke enthusiastically.And the boy named "Likuro" was even more honest and honest, and it didn't take long for Suzuki—and Hijikata, who was forced to listen by standing aside—to get the exact information: the longhouse was indeed entertaining newcomers tonight. He even called the geisha who was also new to accompany him not long ago.
Earthwork: "..."
If possible, he would not want to know at all what happened in that longhouse.That has nothing to do with him.Now he just wants to rush to the predetermined position to start tonight's patrol mission——
But Suzuki is obviously a good guy - there is no shortage of such good things and inquisitive guys who are too enthusiastic and lively - he continued to ask excitedly: "Oh! Then you saw the appearance of Miss Xuezi No? Is she as beautiful as in the legend?"
Earthwork: "..."
Feeling that his patience was finally exhausted, he directly pushed Suzuki's shoulder lightly, motioning him to follow him and leave.
Suzuki reluctantly followed him away.
But Suzuki stopped talking, and Hijikata was distracted all night, thinking about something in his mind.
To be precise, he recalled a certain person and what happened in Shimabara Flower Street in Kyoto a long time ago.
Frankly speaking, he didn't go to Shimabara that night because of her.When she left Shimabara, the person beside her was not her either.
However, when I think about it after many years, I feel that the brightly lit Shimabara as her background has been eclipsed, and she is the only one emerging from the light and shadow, wearing a red dress that gradually transitions to black. Furisode kimono with gradient background, gorgeous flowers embroidered on the fabric of the kimono; her hair is combed with "Date Hyogo" hairstyle, and gorgeous hairpins and tortoise shells are inserted on the cloud temples of the big bun——she just like that He walked out slowly from the depths of the corner room, and stood in the shadow of a lamp beside a pillar, his vermilion lips curled up slightly to reveal a faint smile, and he looked directly at him with bright and expectant eyes——
Why didn't he speak out his thoughts honestly and frankly at that time.Why didn't you say "you look really good like this" or something more sincere and straightforward.Why do you have to cover up the shock and shake in your heart at that moment in embarrassment and haste?
...Why, until the very end, he couldn't frankly praise her beauty.
This sudden sense of guilt haunted him until he realized he couldn't go on like this.
She has disappeared from this world.However, the expectations she placed on him have not been fully realized.She had said that he would definitely be able to wait until the day when the Shinsengumi's name would be confirmed, and now was the time for that.
With the remembrance of the lost companions and the common belief of everyone, he continues to move forward—to prove that what they have been pursuing is the real goal and direction, and to make the name "Shinsengumi" shine again. This is what he can do. For her, for everyone, for myself.
Their replacements have arrived.Tufang took a deep breath and left the position he was in charge of tonight.
To get back to your lodgings, you still have to go through the entire camp again—that is, past the brightly lit longhouse.
It was late at night, and even if the new big shot was in the mood, it was unlikely that he was still enjoying himself.
When Tufang passed the longhouse, he found that the lights in the longhouse were almost extinguished.
Tufang stopped, glanced at the longhouse where there were only one or two rooms with faint candlelight, paused, and then turned around and walked back to his lodging.
Suzuki and another young guy who was on duty with him, Hijikata had already sent them back first.After a half-night full duty, even though he was using his injured leg as carefully as possible, he felt a pang of fatigue and soreness.Those young guys will get up early tomorrow morning to go to the gym, so there is really no need to waste precious sleep time on accommodating his slow walk.
Tufang stopped for a moment, and when he was about to move forward again, he suddenly half-turned away as if feeling something.
... Sure enough, there was a person standing under a big tree outside the longhouse door.
She had been standing in the shadows with her back against the tree trunk, so the earthworker hadn't noticed it before.But at the moment when Tufang turned around just now, because of the change in posture, he could just catch a glimpse of her white-painted face through the moonlight, which made him suddenly stop again.
At first, she was still leaning against the big tree, just standing there lazily and carelessly.After a short moment, as if realizing that he was still standing there, she suddenly straightened her body with force, and after standing in the shadow under the tree for a while, she actually walked straight towards the direction of the earthwork!
Hijikata stopped in his tracks only because he saw the whitewashed face out of the corner of his eye—it has to be said that this kind of geisha makeup is really conspicuous in the dark.Now that she has already walked towards him, he turned around and strode away before she arrived, which seemed a little inappropriate, a little bit like running away; so he also straightened his back slightly on the spot, quietly Waiting for her to walk in front of him with small steps.
It wasn't until she walked in front of him that he unexpectedly discovered that although she had painted her face white today due to business needs, so that he could not recognize her true face, her furisode kimono was indeed very beautiful ——It's surprising that such a suit of clothes can still be preserved in this war-torn era.
The furisode kimono has a cyan background, and the lower part of the furisode and the skirt is embroidered with a snow-colored white plum pattern; the slanted plum branches divide the hem, and the background color under the plum branches becomes a deeper purple, in the night It seems to have a mysterious and thrilling beauty.
Moreover, because she is quite tall and slender, the lines when wearing Furisode kimono are of course smoother and more graceful than those of shorter women.Even though Hijikata was no longer a boy who had never seen anything in the world, he couldn't help being surprised for a moment when he saw such a make-up for the first time.
...Sure enough, she has something to be proud of...?No wonder she spoke so loudly in the longhouse that day, as if she didn't take his defenses seriously...?
The first thought that popped up was actually this.
However, he just had some kind of simple impression spontaneously because of this first impression.If you want to talk about the follow-up feelings, it is totally underwhelming-or, he was only surprised for a moment, and he didn't care about what she said or did next-it had nothing to do with him, and he didn't care about it. Will take it to heart.
So Tufang just stood there, watched her walk slowly in front of him calmly, raised his face slightly and looked directly at him; in the night, there seemed to be a hint of a smile on her white face.
"Where is Mr. Naito going?" she asked.
Tufang replied in a blunt tone: "Just off duty, ready to go back."
In the dark night, by the moonlight, he saw that she seemed to make an "oh" mouth shape and nodded.
The earth side thought she would say something about her task tonight, but she didn't say anything, not even saying "Is everything as usual?" or "Is everything okay?" He said with a smile, "What a coincidence... I almost just finished the reception tonight. It's really hard to work until late at night——you too, and me too."
Earthwork: "..."
For a moment, he felt that this sentence was a bit out of place, but he didn't know where to start.After a moment of silence, he said hastily, picked up a topic at random, and asked, "So, your face—?"
He made a gesture, she showed a knowing expression, smiled and agreed with him: "Yes. I haven't had time to remove my makeup yet....Speaking of which, I don't have any maids, so I have to come out to fetch water by myself—"
Earthwork: "..."
Now even in wartime, it is not necessary for geisha to come out to do handyman's work, right? !
He complained and asked back: "...you don't have a maid?!"
She nodded solemnly. "In this time of war, who would keep a few maids at home...? What's more, I'm a half-baked geisha, I'm just making a living, and I can't afford to use maids——Didn't I tell you that last time?" ?”
Tufang was choked by her and was speechless for a while.
This kind of... a tone that seems to be taken for granted, seems to be very familiar with him!Why should he know anything about her?What she said to him in the longhouse last time, he almost didn't take it to heart, and he forgot it when he turned his head; the only impression left in his mind now is that she seems to be an accident. The step-by-step woman——
Look, isn't she attacking every step of the way now? !
The author has something to say:
February 8:
I'm going to pass out...
I have been having a headache all day today, where the logic is dead, everyone thinks that it is necessary to have such a brain hole in order to create a chance to be alone [I was kicked away]
Next update: tomorrow.It may not be guaranteed whether it is zero, but it should be updated tomorrow!