sleeping formula

【26】

How many moments will we cherish the hard-won life?How many choices are there, knowing that risks should be avoided, but regardless of everything, would rather fly moths to the flame?Or, how many doubts are clearly pressing on the chest, under the icy gaze, why are there not many words that can be pieced together?For Earth, all this seemed to bring him back to the crossroads of choice, but none of the answers allowed him to find a clear direction.

"'TWO roads diverged in yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

Andbeone traveler, longIstood

And looked down one as faras I could

Towhere it bent in the undergrowth;

Thentook the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

Inleavesnostephadtroddenblack.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubt if I should ever come back.

Ishallbetellingthiswithasigh

Somewhere ages and ages:

Tworoads divergedinawood, and I—

It looked the one less straveled by,

Andthatasmadeallthedifference.”20”

Although it was clearly audible, Hijikata still felt that the lines of the poem were not intended for him, but rather the elegant, self-defeating autobiography of the opposite person.The voice was flat and emotionless, but it unexpectedly brought Hijikata a strong sense of sadness.Sadness does not come from a cold and distressing voice, but a more fundamental and direct body language.

For example, why did he go to the earth?Why did you put down the muzzle that was originally aimed at the earthwork?Why did he gently scratch Hijikata's cheek with his knuckles like in the past?Why do you want to create an atmosphere of the past, but tell Hijikata wordlessly that they can never go back to the past time?His smile is as gentle as before, but what is it that makes Hijikata feel only the fear that is slowly eroding his heart?Is it because he hasn't changed?Or because everything has changed?

The earth side thought about all the questions, such as why disappeared?Why did it appear seven years later?Or what happened in the past seven years?What happened before they met?But in the end, none of the words could really be turned into a concrete voice, all the impulsive words were stuck in the throat, and even the steady greeting couldn't restrain Hijikata's trembling body.

Hijikata watched the man across from him pull up the chair, and said "sit" softly to him, but Hijikata remained indifferent.

"Where have you been all these years?"

The man with a gentle figure shook his head slightly.In the end is not willing to say, or do not know?

"You know better than I do, don't you?"

The man followed his finger and pointed to Hijikata's heart.Smiling, he looked extraordinarily cruel, and Tufang couldn't bear to take another look.

"The car accident in Gintoki, the gun case seven years ago, and the insider trading at Yinghong Securities, were you planning it all, Sakata Ginpachi?"

"Fourteen, I'm a scientist." Ginpachi said, "I only do things to ensure the success of dream science experiments."

"It also includes deceiving those who love you, deceiving those who love you with all their strength?"

Ginpachi slowly closed his eyes, but Hijikata didn't miss this [-] second of sadness, a sadness mixed with a smile.

"Cheating...?" Yinba paused, "Using others to benefit yourself to complete the great cause of dream science in my mind, despicable, treacherous and cunning──Is this what Yinshi told you?"

"Tell me if it is," Hijikata said.

"I won't deny what he said." Ginpachi smiled slightly, "That's the truth. Under the "cruelty" defined by society, there is no need to dispute the fact."

"What do you mean?" Hijikata's palms were sweating.

"Fourteen, do you know?" Ginpachi continued, "There is such a story in Greek mythology. Helix, the son of the god, met two goddesses in the wild one day. The goddess named Venus told him that as long as He chose himself, and gave him a life of ease and prosperity; another goddess, Athena, told him that if he chose himself, he would face a life of thorns and thorns, and once he passed the test and saw the light, he would become a hero admired by everyone. You Guess what he chooses?"

Ginpachi's hand skillfully stroked Hijikata's left chest.However, Hijikata's body was so stiff this time that he could refuse with a light push of reflex. Similarly, he clearly knew the answer to the question, but the words were stuck in his throat and he couldn't find the strength to speak them out.

"Between ease and thorns, he chose the thorny road." Ginpachi said, "Dream science is such an obvious multiple-choice question to me."

"Then what are you seven years ago?" Hijikata said with a trembling voice, "What are you doing now?"

"Fourteen, let me show you something."

Passing through a long corridor, you can overlook the bustling crowds through the crystal clear glass, as if people are standing in the air, so dangerous but so beautiful.Hijikata can tell at a glance that the outside is the daily street scene of Tokyo. The large TV advertising billboards broadcast advertisements and news in turn, and you can also see a few pedestrians stop and look up, looking at the colorful and colorful messages above.

"What did you see?" Ginpachi asked.

"Ordinary Tokyo, we live in an era of information explosion."

"It's also a time of confusion." Ginpachi continued, "No one knows where the future will go, right?"

The streets where the advertising billboards are located are noisy, and new medicines and new technologies are changing with each passing day. It seems that the world is endlessly pursuing a new era, which means that people can pursue a better tomorrow.As long as they keep chasing, searching, and exploring, people believe that they can break new ground and even create an unimaginable future.

"So what do you feel?"

Those gentle red eyes slightly narrowed a thin line, as if a steel cable could cut the throat of the prey, but there was no emotion or warmth in the eyes, which is the most puzzling part.

"Blindness, hesitation... This world has not been given a direction to move forward, and everyone is just rampaging with their own brute force."

Hijikata opened and closed his mouth, and the words he spit out were hardly like his own, he had no idea what they meant.

"Is there any problem with that?" Ginpachi asked, "Should the world have a direction to go together?"

"me……"

"Fourteen, give me a more fundamental answer." Ginpachi continued to ask, "What is the 'feeling' hidden deep in your heart?"

"It's fear."

Hijikata tried to stabilize his chaotic breath, trying not to tremble when he uttered each syllable.

"That fear comes from the imaginary unknown."

The corners of Ginba's mouth gradually drooped, and there was a strange look in his red eyes.

"Seven years, I haven't forgotten you for a moment. At first I was afraid that when I found you, you would have turned into a corpse; at the same time, I was looking forward to the day when we meet again, I can listen to you like before, and treat you differently. Even if you act like a spoiled child, you will leave this opportunity for me. Waiting day after day, unchangingly, even though there is little hope, even in the name of "revenge on the Hashida Group", I feel that I can hold on until you come back to me .”

"Gintoki told me about you and his past, about the things you did to complete the dream science, and those feelings that were abandoned and abandoned by you, constantly, constantly forcing me to ask myself..." Hijikata closed his eyes and tried Take a breath for yourself, "What should I believe? What should I know? What was I doing in the past? What should I do when I see you?"

"──What should I do for you?"

Ginpachi lowered his brows, pursed his mouth quite flat, and deliberately made a small arc at the corner of his mouth as if he were evil-hearted.Hijikata swears that the expression he hates the most in his life is this one that is so distorted and ugly because he tried his best to hide something.

"Fourteen, fear is not your patent, but it will indeed find the most suitable way of survival for you."

Ginpachi's tone was still gentle, but the surrounding temperature gradually cooled down due to a sudden change in the aura.

"You don't have to do more for me, and I don't want you to do more for me."

Immediately before the thunder could cover his ears, Ginba drew out his left hand, put his right hand on the gun stock held in his left hand, and shot accurately on the Achilles tendon of the earthwork without any hesitation.Hijikata let out a scream of "Ah ─ ─", which was quite dramatic in both dream and reality. The only difference was that Hijikata, who was paralyzed in the dream, could shoot himself and return to the upper level. Dreamland, or all the way back to reality.

But he stared at Sakata Ginpachi with straight eyes, and it was only natural that half of the tragic cry was due to pain, and the other half had a big reason to be yelled to Ginpachi on purpose.The projected figure walking on the street stopped, literally stopping all movements, staring at the transparent empty bridge with the same expression as Hijikata's staring at Ginpachi.

"Hijikata──!"

When the person who was shot by the gun fell to his knees on the floor of the transparent empty bridge, Gintoki intervened in time to support him, so that the earthworker avoided the posture of hitting the wound again from the front.But Hijikata in his arms didn't look away, still staring at Sakata Ginpachi, like a paused animation.

"Sakata Ginpachi, what are you---?"

"Quick battle." Ginpachi spread his hands and said, "You have appeared, which means that someone in your team has discovered that President Nishino is just a cover."

"It may not be as easy as you imagined, Professor Ginpachi. We haven't figured out whether President Nishino is the cover, or you are the cover, but you can't just say so."

Sougo's voice sounded behind Ginpachi, and the gun in his hand was pressed against Ginpachi's shoulder.He glanced at Hijikata, then smacked his lips and muttered, "'Deputy Chief of Demon' looks really ugly like this."

"President Nishino's insider trading is just to attract the attention of the media. The Hashida Group has other experiments behind the scenes." Gintoki said, "The direction was wrong at the beginning. Hashida Biotechnology is the entire key development project of the group, isn't it? "

"I really wonder why you didn't find this kind of thing when you investigated the flow of funds." Ginpachi said, "These are hinted in Yinghong Securities' internal documents, Gintoki."

Yinshi suddenly remembered that time at Tukata's house, in that small library, he found that stack of internal documents of Yinghong Securities that neither the Shinsengumi nor Hijikata himself could obtain, and he gritted his teeth bitterly.

At this time, the melodious and slow sound of the euphonium sounded in the air, which was synchronous music.Sougo blinked at Gintoki to indicate that time was running out, and they had to leave quickly.

But apparently the earth has something to say.

"Dreams and science... Sakata Ginpachi, is that all that important to you?"

"Hijikata, don't force yourself──"

Yinshi's hand was slapped away by Tufang.

"...I said you are just someone else's shadow, what do you know!"

Pretending that the ankle injury didn't exist, and that it wasn't bleeding, Tuka stood up unsteadily.

"Don't talk like you know everything!"

Hijikata raised his gun and aimed at Ginpachi's heart.

"Fourteen, because it's a shadow, you can see it more clearly than yourself. Don't you understand this truth after so many years of experience in the Shinsengumi?" Ginpachi said lightly, "The real idea, the real Only the shadow can understand the emotions and the meaning you really want to convey, can’t you?”

Ginba took out the remote control on his body and pressed it. The sound of the explosion broke a pillar of the empty bridge, and also shattered a large piece of glass. With the strong wind from the tall building, everyone was covered in blood.

"If you want to know the answer, Fourteen," Ginpachi said, "the lost Atlantis is hidden deep in that park."

The fragmentation of the empty bridge floor creates the feeling of free fall, which will wake people up from their dreams.Hijikata wanted to rush forward and grab Ginpachi, but the explosion sounded again in sync with the slow-playing euphonium, his consciousness was getting closer and closer to reality, and the tempo of the music gradually accelerated to its original appearance.No one has the ability to support Earthwork, but at the same time no one can save him from the moment of collapse.

Back in the real world, Kagura got up first to check the countdown timer of the dream sharer.

"Did it work?" asked Shinpachi, who was the second to wake up.He didn't enter the second floor, and didn't know what happened in the middle.

"Half good news, half bad news." Kagura said, "Shinpachi, President Nishino's medicine is about to wear off, please help me wake up the rest of the team members who haven't woken up yet."

"Kagura! Gintoki can't wake up!"

"What! The others?"

"Mr. Hijikata can't wake up either, China." Sougo who woke up third said, "I think we should pack up our things here and run away before President Nishino wakes up."

"I can't help it──Shinpachi," Kagura said, turning his head, "You take the sharer box and help us find an empty car, go now!"

"China, my Dana, Mr. Hijikata."

Kagura nodded, grabbed Hijikata's arm and hung it around his neck, Sougo also had Gintoki's arm hanging around his body.

"Kagura, Sougo, the empty carriages are two cars ahead, and the curtains of the passing carriages in the middle have been drawn. If we don't make too much noise, theoretically no one will know we're passing by."

"Okay, let's go with you." Sou Wu replied, "Drag and beat these two troublesome spirits together until they wake up."

The author has something to say: (20) The Road Not Taken ("The Road Not Taken") by American poet Robert Frost.