[Hakuouki Doujin] The Tide of Fallen Leaves

Looking at the bright moon in the sky, Nueno closed his eyes, allowing his perception to spread out like water waves, covering the entire city.

After confirming that there was no Rakshasa who had escaped, Nueno opened his eyes and looked at the young man in front of him, "Okita, it's getting late, you should go back, right? Are you afraid that your team members can't find you?"

Being reminded by Nue Ye, Okita seemed to be in a daze for a moment, and immediately smiled, "Don't worry, I told them to go back first."

"It's fine." Nueno nodded knowingly, "It's almost dawn, and it's time for me to go back."

After speaking, Nueno turned and left.

Behind him, Okita swallowed the farewell that he almost blurted out, supported the sword by his side with one hand, and looked at the back of the man with a complicated expression until he disappeared.

Even though he is ignorant of many things, it is not that he has never seen them.

Some people have said that a warrior must be sincere in his sword, so how should he be sincere in his heart?

Back at the dojo, Nue Ye pulled a clean change of clothes, boiled a bucket of water, and mixed it with cold water for a brief rinse, before he started to take care of the small farm in the morning.

Ryunosuke woke up halfway and came to help. The two chatted for a while, and Hirasuke also came. The three of them had breakfast together, and Nueno asked Hirasuke to go back with the medicine for Okita.

When Hirasuke went back, Nueno turned his head and noticed Ryunosuke's hesitant expression.

"What's the matter?" He asked softly as he walked past the other party.

"You...did you go out last night?" Ryunosuke looked up at him.

"...Well, let's do something." Nueno nodded calmly, took Ryunosuke's hand, and the two went back to the kitchen to clean up.

"Go to Xingxuan to help?" After thinking for a while, Ryunosuke guessed.

Nueno smiled, "Almost. Did you have something to do with me last night?"

"It's nothing, I just happened to see it." Ryunosuke turned his head away, and quickly left the kitchen alone.

Nueno blinked, feeling that Ryunosuke still had something to say.

But then, it was time for the dojo to teach.

The two spent the day busy with their own affairs.

Nue Ye knew, but as if he had something he couldn't say, it wasn't something to worry about.

So, he waited flatly.

The matter of breaking the knife can be big or small, but Nue Ye knew that he had to prepare a new knife before the next full moon, otherwise he would not be able to continue killing Rakshasa.

Although he had another knife pinned to his body all the time, Nueno didn't want to use it.

For it, the meaning of that knife was greater than its practicality, so he hadn't used it for a long time. He just carried it with him, felt the weight and texture of the knife, and then drew out another knife to face the enemy in front of him.

And the broken knife has no special origin.

It is not the work of a famous craftsman, nor is it a famous samurai sword, and there is no myth of cutting iron like clay, and some are just the time that has been with Nueno for nearly 50 years.

It was a knife he got inadvertently in a local ironsmith's shop when he was passing through Tosa (Kochi's old name).

It just so happened that the previous knife was getting thinner due to daily grinding, and finally couldn't bear the task of using it to stop the fall when Nueno was sliding down the mountain, and it broke into two neatly.

After using katana as a weapon, Nueno has changed countless knives, discarding the broken weapon and choosing a new replacement──this has become very accustomed to him.

Therefore, even if he regrets it, he is in a situation where he will not be shaken by it.

In other words, for him, the hasty changes of things come and go have made him numb and accepted it as usual.

Subconsciously, it was already difficult for him to move his hand to hold something.

Because, the past is unforgettable, and I don't want to bear it again.

The eternity I once thought was based on equal conditions and only had a relative meaning.

When one of them can't even see the end of his own time, such eternity will no longer exist.

But at this time, the man is not aware of it.

When he came to the knife shop in the capital, Nue Ye lowered his eyes and stared at the knives displayed in the window lattice, he stopped for quite a while.

After a while, another person's footsteps stopped by his side, and Nue Ye let go of his thoughts, looked at the other person's dark clothes from the side, his night-like hair was tied in a bundle hanging by his side, and his eyes met His eyes were calm and unwavering.

"Long time no see, Saito." Nueno greeted, slightly bending the corners of his eyes.

"...Long time no see." Saito was stunned for a moment, then turned his gaze to the place Nueno was staring at just now, "Are you going to buy a knife?"

"Yes, so is Saito?"

"No, I just come here to take a look out of habit." Saito paused, then continued: "If you like this one, its blade is about half an inch shorter than the one you're wearing around your waist now. The handle is delicate, but it is not suitable for long-term use, because it is likely to slip out during use. It is recommended that you replace the handle with a suitable one. Overall, this knife is more suitable for display, not manufactured For use."

Nueno blinked, restrained his surprise well, and smiled, "Since Saito understands it so well, I happen to be undecided, may I ask Saito to accompany me in to choose a suitable knife?"

"..." The young man pursed his lips, "It's okay, there is no team work right now."

"Thank you so much."

Stepping into the store first, Nueno noticed that the shop assistant showed a clear expression when he saw Saito behind him, and greeted Saito loudly, as if he was very familiar with him.

Saito glanced at Nueno, seeing that the other party didn't have any strange reactions, he was secretly relieved in his heart, and nodded calmly in response.

Little did they know that Nue Ye was only doing a good job on the surface, but he couldn't hold back his laughter in private. After all, he really didn't expect that this dull and taciturn man would have such a fanatical hobby.

"This one wants to buy a suitable Japanese sword...is there any durable and handy one?" Seeing that Nueno didn't intend to speak, Saito was delayed for a while before speaking in a deep voice.

"Ah, yes... I'll get it right away, little one!" The guy sneaked into the back immediately, and came out with three knives in a short while.

At this moment, Nue and Ye had already been entertained on the tatami by other staff, and hot tea was served on the coffee table next to them. Such familiar correspondence made Nue's shoulders tremble uncontrollably, and he suppressed his smile again.

Taking the knife introduced by the other party, Nue Ye took out one of them first, saw the coldness reflected in the light of the knife, stroked it with his fingers, and savored it carefully.

Saito, who was beside him, also began to introduce it responsibly, from the length of the sword, the craftsman, the pattern of the sword, to the origin of the sword, etc., all of which are detailed. If Saito hadn't brought it in himself, he would Ye Ye almost thought that the other party was an employee of this store at all!

After turning it over in his hand for a while, Nueno took the knife back and replaced it with another knife. He also carefully observed the sharpness of the knife and the conformity of the grip with the habit. After a while, he realized that Saito's voice was not It didn't sound as expected.

Raising his head, Nueno looked at Saito with shy eyes and asked, "What's wrong?"

"...I haven't seen that knife before."

He was obviously sitting upright, but Nueno felt that Saito's expression was a little green at the moment when he spoke, and the emotions hidden under the plain face seemed to embellish the dark color, making it even more charming and intoxicating.

Nueno smiled lightly, unable to contain his emotions after all, he handed the knife to the other party while smiling, "In this case, let you take a good look, and let someone introduce you if you can, it's okay."

"But……"

"It's okay," Nueno interrupted, handed the knife to the other party, picked up the remaining one and looked at it himself, "I'm waiting for you to introduce it to me."

"..." Saito lowered his eyes, "Yes... I am very grateful."

The author has something to say:

There are still three updates owed. (Headache)

Sure enough, I can't update it during the Chinese New Year, if I don't save the manuscript.

This counts as today, and if I’m lucky, I’ll keep working hard every day...not stuck.

Ahh, successive strategies or something, it's a little awkward...