[Gintama] Immortal

Summer is almost over.

The heat wave gradually subsided, and the breeze with the coolness of early autumn came from afar through the rice fields. The grass blades were no longer as green and soft as in midsummer, and they made a rustling sound when they swayed in the wind.

The golden sunlight lost its scalding temperature, and when it fell from the treetops, it sprinkled warmth on people.

Fish have a habit of gathering under the shade.Under the cool shade of trees in the mountain stream, if you look carefully, you can often find well-concealed catfish.

"Stay in the water and don't move, wait for the fish to get used to your presence, and then catch it in one go. Remember, the trick is to grab the gills and lift the fish out of the water with a swipe. What you want is the kind of surprise. a feeling of."

Yae suffocated a smile, earnestly guiding on the shore.

The back mountain of the private school is the secret base of the students. Although the adults are often frightened to respect the gods of the mountains, disobedient children will be captured by wild beasts descending the mountain at night. Once children of this age have a playful heart , Ten oxen cannot be pulled back.

It was the afternoon when the private school was over, the weather was fine, and the cold and clear water was washing over the shallows covered with white rocks. A crooked-neck tree grew intertwined in the crevices of the huge rocks, hanging heavily under dense shade.

Yae swayed his legs and sat on the rocks shaded by trees, giving technical guidance to the students on their fish catching operations, and cheering them on by the way—"Tonight's grilled fish feast depends on you."

Yinshi is a landlubber with poor water skills, and a very lazy landlubber, staying on the shore with Gao Shan, who was born as Master Yu, who has never been in the water.

The two were in charge of lighting the fire, but so far, the fish catching team hadn't caught any fish, and the fire lighting team hadn't started a fire, so the fight was very lively.

Gintoki mocked Takasugi for not being able to use a simple flint and steel, Takasugi mocked Gintoki for only being imposing on the shore and not daring to go into the water. Come.

"...Don't you need to pull the two of you apart?" Qiuyin noticed the situation here and ran over.

"Shh, keep your voice down." Yae took out the wrapped melon seeds from her pocket and distributed some of them into her palms, "It's no fun trying to persuade a fight at a time like this."

He decisively chose to go to the theater ah hey hey hey!

Qiuyin glanced at the handful of melon seeds in her hand, showing a look of remorse.

"Puha-"

There was an uproar in the water, and a figure suddenly broke through the water, and crystal water droplets splashed along the flicking black hair. Under the watchful eyes of Gintoki and Takasugi, Gui grabbed a lively catfish and emerged from the water.

The magical sound of "Puha——" seemed to be still echoing in my ears. Gui wiped the water on his face, carried the catfish that was still dying, and walked towards the shore with unconcealed excitement.

"I caught it—! Look, Yinshi, we have dinner for tonight!"

If other people saw this scene, they would probably sigh: What a handsome guy, what a pity that he is so stupid.

Facing Katsura's shining eyes, Gintoki and Takasugi did the same thing.

Both of them bowed their heads together, choosing to ignore the person in front of them.

"... Is that guy Robinson Crusoe?" Qiuyin stood with her arms folded, watching the theater with Yae.

As if hearing the conversation here, Gui suddenly turned around: "It's not Robinson, it's Gui!"

"..."

At this moment, there was an uproar by the river, and the surrounding voices stopped suddenly, and someone shouted in panic: "No! Heshu fell into the water!"

Yinshi, who was originally afraid of water, reacted the fastest, rushing down the river beach one step ahead of Gui.

The icy river water submerged her waist, and Yae rescued a student named Kazuki from the water. The boy, who was only eight or nine years old, was obviously frightened, coughing and shivering, unconsciously grabbing her arms tightly and refusing let go.

"It's okay, it's okay." Yae patted him on the back to help him breathe, and when he raised his eyes, he saw Gintoki who had stepped into the water with one foot.

The startled ripples faded away, and the water surface became calm again.Seeing that the person had been rescued, Yinshi regained that calm expression, and lazily walked back to the river beach with his wooden clogs wet by the river like a normal person.

Accidentally fell into the water, and there was no dry place for the tree's clothes, dripping dripping down.

Although the weather has not yet entered autumn, wearing wet clothes, and being blown by the wind for a long time, it is inevitable that you will not catch a cold.

Yae took off her haori hood and put it on Kazuki's shoulders, and everyone stood around worriedly.

"Sorry, I'll take Heshu back to change clothes first."

After a pause, she looked at Yinshi: "When I'm not around, I'll trouble you, Yinshi."

Letting a group of minors play in the mountains does not know what will happen. She was originally the guardian today, but the incident happened suddenly, and she had to leave her job temporarily.

If it was Songyang who was here, he would also feel at ease to hand over the responsibility of protecting everyone to Yinshi.

The sound of the water in the mountain stream gradually receded, and the silence that belonged to the mountains surrounded us. The summer insects were so weak that they almost disappeared at this time of year, and the stars were scattered and hidden among the lush bushes.

The dappled sunlight fell through the gaps in the treetops, and Yae took Kazuki's hand and walked back to the private school.

Early autumn poked its head out among the slightly curly and yellowed leaves, and the pine needle moss was soft and thick on the ground. Yae saw wild deer hidden behind the trees several times, and the creatures in the mountains looked at the passing people with curiosity. Human beings, the still figure seems to be frozen in a long time, only the furry ears will turn occasionally.

The wind blows, the leaves rustle and fall.

Heshu held her hand and kept his head down, unable to hide the typical frustration of a child, as if he could cry the next moment.

Yae waited patiently for him to speak first.

"...Yae," the grip on his fingers tightened slightly, and Kazuki's voice was low, "Am I embarrassing today?"

She blinked slowly: "Why do you say that?"

"I fell into the river," Heshu sniffed, "only I fell into the river."

He is short and not good at sports, and can fall on the ground even when he walks. Heshu has always been the relatively inconspicuous one among the students of Matsushita Village School.

"It's nothing, Gintoki is still afraid of ghosts, Takasugi is still blushing at Songyang, Gui, who looks smart, will go offline as soon as he encounters a meatball IQ, everyone has their own weaknesses." Yae touched Touching Heshu's little head, "People live in this world, and I am ashamed to say that I have lived without some embarrassing things."

With her haori draped over her shoulders, the little child seemed more wrapped up in baggy clothes than in her clothes.

The child wrapped in clothes held her hand sobbingly, crying tremblingly in a voice that endured for a long time:

"But I'm not as good at swordsmanship as Gintoki-kun and Takasugi-kun, and I'm not as smart as Gui-kun. My homework is mediocre, my personality is not interesting, and I am very easy to embarrass myself."

Yae found that things seemed to be more serious than she thought.

This child who looks a little shy on the surface has always had low self-esteem in his heart.

"I'm different from everyone else. I have no characteristics or specialties. I'm nothing."

Even when crying, He Shu pursed his lips and cried softly.

"...Heshu," Yae stopped, "Heshu, listen to me,"

She waited until the child's crying gradually died down, and then continued: "Have you heard of the famine during the Xiangbao period?"

Not knowing which one she was asking about, He Shuhong shook his head with eyes circled.

"It probably happened more than 100 years ago during the Great Famine. That year, the weather was abnormal and the temperature was extremely low. The harvest in the Seto Inland Sea region suffered a serious failure, and the harvest only reached two-tenths of the original. This Great Famine Many people died, and the disaster has spread to the village where you live, but there are still some people who survived the hunger and cold.”

"Not long ago, Songyang told you in class the Battle of Guanyuan, which ended the troubled times of the Warring States Period, but do you know how many years the Warring States Period lasted?"

After a moment of hesitation, He Shu asked uncertainly, "130 six years?"

"Yes, it was 130 years." Yae affirmed his reply, "The war in which people died every day lasted for 130 years. The Onin Rebellion that just started the troubled times lasted 11 years. During this period Large and small battles continued in the Kinki area, and by the end of the Onin Rebellion, the once prosperous Kyoto had been destroyed in the flames of war."

"You may not have mentioned it in your textbooks, but about 1000 years ago, during the Tianping period, an epidemic broke out in the Kyushu area, and the disease was so serious that it led to the relocation of Beijing three times. The current Kyoto, which used to be Heianjing, was the first The result of moving to Beijing six times."

Yae squatted down, the ground covered by pine needles was very soft, Kazuki looked at her with some puzzlement, and forgot to cry for the time being.

"Listen up, Kazuki," Yae said, considering his words, "The reason why you are standing here now is because your ancestors, and the ancestors of your ancestors' ancestors, survived after experiencing these things. In history Every famine, war, plague, and countless sufferings and misfortunes in this world, your ancestors have survived, so you can exist."

"If your ancestors had died in the Great Kamakura Earthquake in the sixth year, you wouldn't be here now. Similarly, if your great-great-great-grandfather hadn't been in the famine during the Kyoho era If you survived, you would not appear here."

Yae bent the corner of his mouth: "You can stand here now, you can hear my voice, you can feel the sunlight between the leaves, and you can fall into the river today, it is already thousands of small probability events in the long past Miracles piled up in

The forest is very quiet, so quiet that you can hear the lingering voice of the late summer time.The strong colors of autumn are hidden in the greenery that has not faded, there is a clear breath in the wind, and the sky between the leaves is blue and high.

"To be human is the greatest miracle."

He Shu opened his eyes wide, as if he forgot to respond for a moment.He raised his head, and the sun-dappled shadow fell slightly through the leaves, reflecting warmly in Yae's smiling eyes.

"You don't need to be a smart person, and you don't need to be good at swordsmanship. It doesn't matter if you have a dull personality, or you don't like to laugh. You just need to be yourself. No one in this world can do this for you. Only From this point of view, you are already the most special person in the world, Heshu."

A day in a private school is always over in the blink of an eye.

The tired students fell asleep, and after covering the minors who couldn't stay up late, Yae came to Songyang's Japanese room with tea, with a serious expression on his face, as if he had something important to report.

"I have something to tell you."

After a pause in writing, Songyang put down the brush and raised his head.

"What's the matter?" His voice was low and soft, and when he looked at others with pine green eyes, he could always make the other party feel that he was listening attentively and concentrating on it, as if there was nothing in the world more important than what the other party would say next thing.

Yae continued to look serious: "Your student is very cute."

"..."

Songyang was amused and silent for a while, and then he spoke again: "What made you suddenly realize this obvious point?"

"...It's nothing special," Yae put the freshly brewed hot tea by his hand, "I just think it's cute for a child of this age to cry and laugh when he wants to cry."

Song Yang blinked: "That's all?"

"Do you need any other reasons?" Yae asked.

"No, I was just joking." A smile appeared in Songyang's eyes, "I know what you mean."

The two chatted for a while without nutrition, and Yae returned the teacup that Songyang had finished drinking to the square plate.

"...that child, I mean Kazuki," Yae's voice paused, the corners of his mouth slightly curved, "Although weeping so hard, when I held that little child's hand, I Feeling very...happy."

Children at this age will cry because they don't have a snack, and laugh because their heads are touched by the teacher.

Crying because of a small matter, sobbing and hugging her little body tightly, filled her heart with warm feelings that were close to happiness.

Why did you cry because you fell into the river?Why do you feel bad about yourself?

In her eyes, it was all insignificant things, but when the child who cried because of this insignificant little setback grabbed her hand, she was filled with emotions that she couldn't help but want to smile, and it was so warm that it was unbelievable.

"I know, Yae." Songyang looked at her tenderly.

"me too."

Those who are given more, have always been them.