sleeping formula

【23】

Gintoki and Hijikata never mentioned the incident on the top floor.For several days in a row, intensive meetings and discussions on operational strategies have long flooded the team's entire time.

"The preliminary planning of Yinghong Securities' mission this time is a two-layered dream. The first layer is a scene similar to a conference room, and the purpose is to observe the formulation of the company's policies." Hijikata said, "The second layer will stimulate him to give feedback on these policies. The purpose behind the policy, so it will be the scene of the interrogation room.”

"Shinpachi, this time the sedative is still the traditional one, right?" Gintoki asked.

"Huh...uh, yes. It is the type that creates shallow hypnosis, the brain operates at twelve times the speed, and as long as you die in the dream, you can return to reality." Shinpachi replied suspiciously, "Need to use A stronger drug?"

"No, we don't need it yet, just now we are confirming." Yinshi said, "One hour's dose is enough for us to have 144 hours of meeting time in the first layer of dreams, and [-] hours of interrogation time in the second layer, and we will be here Complete the task in a short period of time."

"The next step is to ensure that we have a stable hour to carry out the task." Kagura thought.

This problem is still unsolvable, and it is an inevitable fact that there is no task without time.Even though they were racing against time and had no time to rest, Gintoki knew that everyone would be tired if this continued, let alone last until the last moment of the mission.

If possible, Yinshi is willing to survive alone.

Even after that quarrel, such thoughts still linger in Yinshi's mind.It may be justifiable for the entire team to go after Yinghong Securities, but if Yinshi's goal is not Yinghong Securities at all, but to track down Yinba, then he really only needs him.

But why is the earth willing to let Yinshi take all the responsibility alone?

Regarding the meaning of his existence for many years and the goal of his life, Hijikata needs to give himself an answer, even if there is good news or bad news, he must calm himself down, and presumably he cannot let Yinshi deny his right to know the truth.

It was about the same time, and everyone got off work and left the office.After a while, Tufang cleaned up the things on the table, and was about to go home to rest after get off work, but unexpectedly found that the lights in the meeting room were on. Driven by curiosity, Tufang pushed open the door of the meeting room.

Even though the light was shining closer to the door, Tufang could still see the face on the other end of the circular long table, the face blended with light and shadow, unexpectedly three-dimensional and upright.Hijikata approached with light steps, and the whole space looked quietly as if it could only accommodate a few scattered piano notes, as well as the silver hour in front of Hijikata.

The suitcase of the dream sharer was placed on the table, and a catheter was connected to Yinshi's wrist with his sleeves rolled up three quarters, and his hands were naturally leaning on the handle.Hijikata stretched out his hand to stroke Gintoki's fluffy and curly silver hair, then parted the bangs that happened to cover his eyebrows, and stared at Gintoki's closed eyes.There was no particularly frowning expression, and the corners of the mouth relaxed and drooped into a beautiful arc.

Maybe it's a sweet dream that shouldn't be disturbed?Hijikata thought to himself, and wanted to put back the coat that had slipped off Yinshi's body.

"Well."

Almost thinking that Yinshi was about to wake up, Tufang was so frightened that everyone took a step back.But Yinshi just let out this short □□ sound, without any further movements.Just when Tufang sighed, the sharp-eyed him moved his lips again when he noticed Yinshi, as if he wanted to say something but didn't say it.

When Tufang looked at Yinshi, he glanced at the timing device on the sharer, and there were still about forty minutes.Tu Fang pursed his lips, quickly rolled up his sleeves, pulled a chair, and sat down next to Yin Shi.He pulled out a catheter, which was also connected to his wrist, and slowly closed his eyes.

The boulevard where a few people occasionally pass by is beautiful, and the fallen dead leaves can make a few crisp sounds.This scene is not familiar to Tufang. It looks like a small forest park somewhere that is not too special. Two or three children are playing in the park, swinging on the newly painted swings, smiling, but Tufang can't hear them. Childish laughter.

Walking down the road, the shade of the forest is broken, and several houses appear in front of you.Tu Fang ignored it and continued to move forward, and then walked into the same boulevard and the small forest park that he could see when he turned his head.At this time, the swing has been mottled and faded, and there are traces of rust in many places.The ones in the park are no longer two or three children, but a few junior high school boys around thirteen or fourteen years old, who get together and push each other, probably in the middle of teasing, who likes which girl in the class?The earth side stopped and took a look, but still couldn't hear what the group of middle school children said.

After taking another step, Hijikata continued to look for Gintoki's figure in his dream.But he gradually discovered that after the boulevard and the park, he would see several houses, and then the same park at another point in time, and then go down like this, endlessly.

Looking left and right, there are no other forks in the earthwork. Some just go down this straight circular road, and there is no other choice.The same tree-lined boulevard, and the same but increasingly old small forest park, no children would play in such a dilapidated place, so this time Tufang chose to walk into the unmanned park.

After getting closer, I gradually felt strange, as if all the scenery was separated by a layer of mist.The further you go inside, the thicker the fog overlapping the scenery, but Hijikata's intuition is like a compass, he knows exactly which direction he should go, even if he doesn't know what the final goal is until he passes After the thick fog, he came to another park that was exactly the same, but in the opposite direction, like a mirror image.

Tufang strangely crossed this same uninhabited park, but the road that greeted him was no longer the same boulevard.He twitched his lips, looking at the familiar scene in front of him in confusion.

Here is Xinglin Avenue in Tachikawa, and Ozawa Lecture Hall is in front of it.This is the place that once carried almost all the memories of him and Ginpachi.However, he couldn't hear the sound of the students' bicycles whizzing by, or the voices of other students discussing their homework in twos and threes.

"What do you think is a 'dream', Fourteen?"

Hijikata froze his body, his pupils dilated unconsciously, and he felt his own panic.He heard, not Yinshi, but Yinba's voice.

"Psychologically it's not—"

The voice that answered was his own, and not his own.

"I'm not asking about psychology, I'm asking about you, Fourteen."

That gentle voice gnawed away the temperature of Tufang's limbs bit by bit, and the deep voice bewitched bit by bit the most fundamental emotion in Tufang's heart.

"A delusion that is contrary to reality and may not necessarily come true."

Hijikata's lips were almost in sync with the boy called "Fourteen", and his body instinctively retreated step by step.

"What do you think about the delusion in reality?"

The waves in his heart were roaring loudly to himself, the waves of emotions had already broken through his eyes, and the answer easily defeated Hijikata's fragile thoughts.

"Perhaps, that is also a dream."

Tufang started to run wildly, vaguely remembering that he followed the original direction, but he didn't care so much about the real details.The heart was beating uncontrollably, and the wind flowing through the hair seemed to be a roar of panic, confusion, and anger.After crossing a forest park and stepping over the fog, after stepping out of the fog, we ran across a park. After the park, there are many afterimage-like houses.

Finally, a small stone in front of him tripped the earthwork and stopped.

Earth Fang put his hands on the ground, just barely so as not to lose his strength due to excessive fear.My head is unwilling to play back the picture just now, that period of history that really happened in reality.many years ago.Earth Fang punched the ground angrily, why didn't he wait to take a closer look?Why run away?afraid of what?Hijikata's gasps were mixed with rueful gasps.Regret why not ask?Why don't you ask the guy in your subconscious just now, who is he?

After calming down, I realized that it was actually a character projected by my subconscious mind?This is also the most likely interpretation. Hijikata knew that it was either a projection of his own subconscious, or a projection of Yinshi's subconscious.But Gintoki did not experience that time in the past, Hijikata did not know Gintoki at that time, and now he has entered Gintoki's dream, if Ginhachi just now is not his projection, then he has to question "Where Gintoki is?" It's not silver hour" is simply absurd.

He took a deep breath, calming himself down.

"Earth?"

A pair of beautiful red eyes stared at him with confusion.

"How will you be here?"

Tufang could hear the helplessness in Yinshi's words, but he didn't intend to refute anything, after all Yinshi had discovered him.

"Feel sorry."

"What?" Gintoki wondered, "What are you apologizing for?"

"Break into your dream without authorization." Hijikata looked at him, "Aren't you angry?"

Yinshi's eyes widened, he sighed, and stretched out his hand to give Tufang a hand.

"No, how should I put it? I just don't think it's a bit of a mistake for you to get off work late all the time, but I'm used to you treating yourself like your own without saying hello." Gintoki said, "As you can see , I want to test the stability of my dreams and whether I will over-project people and things in my subconscious.”

"To prevent that car accident from entering your mind without warning?" Hijikata asked.

"It can be said like this." Yinshi said, "Although the mission of Yinghong Securities is not as complicated as imagined, it involves several layers of interests. The original plan did not have much room for flexibility. Only by preparing can it be successfully completed, right?"

After listening to Yinshi's words, Hijikata smiled self-deprecatingly.

"I really have nothing to say about you. When I came in, I brought the projected characters in my subconscious with me." Hijikata said, "The whole picture, the whole thing, was brought in intact."

Gintoki shrugged and said, "That's weird too. The person projected from my subconscious mind didn't even look at you. If that was the case, it should have chased you long ago, right?"

"But who knows?" Hijikata said, "I don't think so, I have to doubt you, Gintoki."

Yinshi pursed his lips and wanted to say something, but finally, as if he had made up his mind, he took Hijikata's hand and walked straight forward.

"Silver hour?"

"There's something I need to let you know before we start Hidehiro's mission and start confronting Ginpachi head-to-head."

The temperature of the hands is transmitted through the interlocking fingers, and the bridge in the heart seems to be able to be built, but there is some kind of obstacle in the middle.Hijikata could only observe Gintoki's side face from the rear angle, the silvery white hair was as dazzling as the sun, but had a metallic and cold aura.Is it an illusion?Who is this person in front of me who looks like Yinshi but not like Yinshi?

"It's about Ginpachi, about me... about us."

Gintoki stopped in front of one of the bungalows, and let go of Dokata's hand for the time being.The engine of the dark green Rolls-Royce parked at the door had already started, and Yin Shi grabbed Tukata's sleeve again.

"Sit in the front seat first, no matter what the other party says, don't go back." Yinshi said.

Tufang looked at Yinshi suspiciously, stretched out his hand to open the door of the passenger seat, but suddenly froze in mid-air, unable to move.

"Why are you in a daze?"

The familiar voice came out from the driver's seat again, the protruding head and the disheveled silver hair were all too familiar to Hijikata. He was familiar with the almost identical appearance of the two brothers.But after all, Hijikata would not mistake the glasses frame on the bridge of the other's nose. There was a gentle and confident smile behind the glasses, and that Ginbachi took away Hijikata's heartbeat and breath again.

"Aren't you the one who said to go to school to see the silver hour list?" Ginpachi smiled helplessly, "Why do you make it look like you are the one taking the exam? What are you nervous about?"

The sound of the rear door opening seemed to be a kind of redemption. Hijikata remembered that Ginpachi in front of him should be the projection of Gintoki's consciousness, so he sat in the co-pilot's seat and put on his seat belt.

"Obviously I just said that I'll go and see with the wigs myself, and I'll call you later," the person sitting in the back seat, judging from the voice that it was Yinshi, went on to say, "Why did you make such a big fuss?" , the whole family is dispatched."

"The whole family didn't come out." Ginpachi said, "Dad just gave up on you when he said something like 'the guy who fell asleep in the exam room, how could he do well in the exam?'"

"What a long-winded one! Concentrate on driving your car."

"It's rare to come back from a vacation, and the result is that I have to deal with a rebellious kid?" Yin Ba laughed.

"Let's say we're in the same age, bro, can you avoid the sense of superiority of a skipper?" Gintoki retorted coldly, "Don't be a workaholic and turn around and make fun of others for being naive."

The car was driving at a steady speed, the scenery on the way was more dazzling than the slide show, and the two brothers could quarrel with a variety of topics, and the atmosphere mostly maintained the sarcastic attack mode.It's a good relationship, isn't it?Hijikata thought to himself, gradually relaxing.But thinking about it this way, I still can't understand why Yinshi's reaction is so intense every time he mentions "Yinba".

Ginpachi rested one hand on the gear lever in a relaxed manner, whether it was due to excessive longing or something else, Hijikata put his palm on the back of Ginpachi's left hand in a strange way.Ginpachi's expression was not frightened or confused, but the knowing smile that he always wore on his face, and he turned his head away without saying anything.He turned on the turn signal for a left turn, and then changed gears to climb the slope again, letting the earth move with his hands, as naturally as it should be.Longing for this auspicious moment, Hijikata really wanted to forget that he was in a dream, not the real world.For Hijikata, the world with Yinba is the real one.

However, Earthwork felt an uneasy vibration.

What happened to the car?No, the car is still running smoothly.Is Ginpachi's hand playing a prank?Probably not, the prank feels different.So what will it be?

Hijikata looked up and saw Ginpachi staring at the rear mirror without letting go.There were two cars following closely behind, and Hijikata felt Ginpachi's hands tremble slightly, and immediately let go of the clasped hands.

"Yinba, what's going on in the back?" Yinshi noticed something strange and asked aloud.

"It's nothing. It's probably a matter of pretending to crash the car and defrauding compensation." Ginba replied casually.

Hijikata looked at Ginpachi, and found that the moment he answered, his eyes drifted to the upper right unconsciously.

"Are you sure you can get rid of them?" Gintoki asked again.

"I don't think it's necessary for the time being, we're not driving fast." Yinba replied.

But the earthworker found that what Yin Ba said was actually accelerating quietly, and even shifting gears quietly.Of course, Yinshi was not stupid, and immediately discovered the situation.

"Ginpachi, slow down your speed slowly, there's no need to drive faster." Gintoki frowned, "Just in case, wait a minute──"

"Silver, I know what to do."

"But you know...it's still like this? Hey, are you listening to someone talking, Ginpachi?"

Hijikata also wanted to speak out to stop Ginpachi, but then he found that Ginpachi and Ginshi couldn't hear his voice at all.He was impatient, and at the same time realized that this was a replay of Gintoki's memory, a past that Gintoki couldn't tell about -- what Gintoki wanted to tell Hijikata was the story about the car accident.

"Hey, Ginpachi, you stop."

The other party didn't listen and continued to accelerate.

"Hey, you'd better explain to me what's going on, Ginpachi."

Gintoki's anger was ignited with fear, and most of the fear came from Ginpachi's suspicious silence.

"You bastard, stop slowly! What happened?"

"Those people are thugs of Fei's Industrial Group."

"What! Thugs!" Gintoki yelled, "Why is there an inexplicable "thug" halfway through our car?"

"Because of Hashida Industries."

"Because of the bridge──?"

Yinshi paused when he reached the edge of his mouth. After being surprised, he became even more angry.

"Sakata Ginpachi, what the hell did you do at Hashida Industries!" Gintoki yelled, "You're going to design others at all costs, even if you die, you'll drag them down!"

Ginpachi didn't answer, and Hijikata couldn't see his expression clearly.

"Answer me!"

Hijikata felt his consciousness gradually withdrawn, and began to hear the piercing cries and screams of the woman.

"Stop! Stop!"

They all yelled.But Ginpachi didn't listen, and when the speed of the car was too fast and the brakes and steering wheel were gradually becoming uncontrollable, the bottom of the car skidded and began to spin.After hitting a utility pole, one tire couldn't bear the force and was rolled aside. The steel plate of the car body was deformed, and the front and rear lights of the car were instantly shattered due to the impact, but the car still kept spinning.

Finally, what stopped the car was a fragile-looking guardrail.Yin Shi happened to be sitting on the side that hit the guardrail, and the moment the car stopped, he was bleeding profusely.Earthwork, who was sitting in the co-pilot, was thrown out of the car window like garbage, but he felt that this dream was about to end, and the whole world began to collapse.

Before leaving this dream world, Hijikata saw something.He saw Ginpachi climbing out of the car body with difficulty, and dragging Gintoki out with the remaining strength.At the same time, the car suddenly exploded and burned, and the woman closest to the car was the mother of Yinshi Yinba, who was supposed to be in the passenger seat of the earthwork.

Then, the earth was thrown back to reality with the acceleration of gravity.

"Cough cough──cough! Haha...haha..."

Being thrown back from the dream, Hijikata found it difficult to breathe, just like the first nightmare he had when he was a child.

"Higakata, take a deep breath, relax..."

Yinshi's voice rang in his ears, like a drowning man holding the rescuer's hand tightly.Hijikata managed to hold his breath, but he just witnessed a car accident, and even in his dream, he could smell the burnt smell. Thinking about it, he couldn't help feeling sick again, so he quickly covered his mouth.

"Tufang," Yinshi patted him on the back lightly, and said, "I'm sorry."

"Cough... why do you apologize?" Hijikata asked, "In the end, I owe you more."

"I'm between the Shinsengumi and you. I choose the Shinsengumi." Gintoki said, "Even if I thought about it, you might not be able to accept everything I know, but without any solution, I still risk it." take the risk."

"This is something I have to face sooner or later. Even if I don't have to face the Hashida Group, I can't escape." Hijikata said calmly, "As you can see, I can't bring up or let go of Ginpachi, so it's not your fault."

"I……."

Tufang made a "stop" gesture to Yinshi, and skillfully took out the cigarette and lighter from his coat pocket. Once lit, the smell and white mist drifted quickly in the confined space.

"When I said silver, why did you quit your job as an architect?"

"what?"

Yinshi was hit by the earthwork's question with a sap, and he was like a King Kong for a while, and he couldn't figure it out.

"Is it bad treatment?" Tufang asked again.

"Uh, no. I originally planned to change jobs, but it just so happened that Sougo hit the right track." Gintoki replied, "Although I never thought I would do this job, but anyway, it's good to do everything and accumulate experience. .”

"Remember when you said that after everything is over, you have to return to your original life." Hijikata said, "After you know so much, can you go back?"

Yinshi really didn't think about this matter carefully, but just prayed with all his heart to calm down as soon as possible.

"Maybe not?" Gintoki said, with a slightly uncertain tone, "But it should be possible to start over and live a normal life like before."

"Start again...?" Hijikata murmured, "As you said, when Ginpachi enters our world, can we really forget everything and start over?"

Like the game world, return to the origin, and then live a new life?And pretend that none of the previous events happened?

"Emotions...it's impossible to start over."

Family affection or love, there has never been a single item that can be decisively let go.However, Gintoki and Hijikata both understand that anyone can say big words like "Facing difficulties", but in real encounters, there are only two options left: "Fight or flee", which can ensure that they can suppress the fear in their hearts , Can you guarantee that you don't choose to escape?

Earthwork's voice was very soft, almost like a raving in the night.

"Who knows?" Gintoki shrugged and said, "It's the first time for me to show true feelings."

Hijikata looked up at Yinshi after hearing the words, and wanted to figure out why Yinshi's answer was more like a "farewell declaration" to him?But I don't know if it was a coincidence or something else, Yinshi packed up the dream sharer and some of his own sundries, waved to Hijikata and said "I'm off work", and left the conference room without looking back.