[Gintama] Immortal

This place used to be the stronghold of hunters in the mountains, the low floor was covered with dust, the wooden beams above the fireplace were charred black, and the moldy straw mats were piled up in the corners, which were shaken out by Yae to block the wind in the wall.

The night outside was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers. After a few strikes of the flint, the silent fireplace slowly burst into orange flames.

There were creaking footsteps behind him, and the person dressed in Naluo walked down the stairs made of broken wooden boards.

"Did you find the wine?" Yae looked back expectantly.

Wuji glanced at her sideways, pulled out the scabbard at his waist and sat down opposite the hearth.

"Do you think there will be such a broken place?"

Yae poked the fire with a dead branch.

"Where's the seasoning? Did you find the seasoning?"

"...this is not an outing."

"I'm just asking casually." Yae grilled the skewered river fish on the fire, and when the fish skin was crispy and golden, he turned it over and continued to grill.

"You don't have to be so nervous. You ran out anyway. Instead of catching our two small fish halfway, it's better to wait for the big fish behind to appear and catch them all in one go."

Leaning against the wall behind him, Wuji narrowed his eyes: "Listen to your tone, it's only a matter of time before we are caught up by Naraku."

Hearing this, Yae raised his eyes a little: "No, I mean, the probability that we won't be caught up by Naraku is one percent. But the probability is still there, young people, don't be discouraged."

"...The possibility is only zero point zero one, why are you running?"

"Because it's fun. Exciting. I'm very free. Well, I've given you all the reasons, so you can pick one."

Wuji closed his eyes to rest his mind, and didn't bother to talk to her anymore.

Yae watched the crispy fish skin turn crispy and browned little by little in the fire, and thought that there was no salt to sprinkle, no soy sauce to season, and no wine to accompany the dishes, so he couldn't help feeling a little sad.

Originally thought that she would be able to live a happy life of eating small dishes and drinking small wines once again by escaping from Tianzhaoyuan Naraku.

The reality is obviously cruel.

Since she got drunk once, she never saw alcohol in Amaterasu-in Naraku.

Although Jia Yi and Bing Ding, who were still alive at that time, saw her with expressions of "Why are you still alive" the next day, but Yae dared to swear by his conscience that she absolutely, absolutely did not do anything special at that time Or something insane.

Prohibition is too much.

She doesn't drink alcohol, just likes to drink occasionally.But without alcohol, that's a whole other story.

Yae picked up the grilled fish by the fire, blew a few mouthfuls, brought it to his mouth and bit it lightly.

"...Is it that delicious?" With a crackle, the flames piled up in the ashes flickered, and the person sitting by the wall opened his eyes.

Wuji said casually: "You don't look sad at all."

It was quiet outside, the wooden house at the foot of the mountain was alone in a corner of the world, and the cold darkness surrounded like fog from all directions.

"Being used so far," he said in a hoarse voice with slightly curved dry lips, "I thought that as long as I was a person, I would not be indifferent."

Biting the scalding fish, Yae lowered his eyes and replied vaguely:

"...Who said that, I'm so sad now, almost to death. Really."

After swallowing the piece of meat, her voice became clear: "So there are five fish in total, how about I eat three? You see, I have been used like this, so take care of my mood."

The person on the opposite side looked away indifferently.

"It doesn't matter."

Speechless for a while.

As the night deepened, the temperature in the house continued to drop.

The straw mats covering the wall were not enough to block the chill that seeped in, Yae added some dead branches to the fire, and the warm orange light flickered and became a little more prosperous.But only a little.

"...You used the word 'sad' just now." Yae folded her knees and leaned against the fire to keep warm, "Under normal circumstances, shouldn't you ask people if they are angry, or angry?"

Wuji closed his eyes: "This body's condition is very bad, but I'm not blind yet."

"...you can only live in someone else's body, will you habitually take the perspective of a bystander?" Yae smiled.

Resting her chin on her knees, she folded her arms slightly.

"Okay, I take back part of the foreword. It's not sad at all, it may be false."

"I knew that I might be used, but I didn't do anything." She sighed, "Instead of being sad, now I have a sigh of 'ah, it's still like this'. Do you think there is something wrong with me?"

The other party glanced at her: "do you know what you are talking to me?"

"Hey, don't you know?" Yae raised his head from his knees, "There are some things that can only be said to strangers."

Wuji: "..."

"As a stranger, you are idle now. If you don't want to hear it, just pretend you didn't hear it."

"...It's thanks to you that you can speak to a stranger kidnapper."

Yae: "Fortunately, you don't have much time. The only ones who will sneak into Tianzhaoyuan Naraku are the dead. If you don't mind, please take these words to the grave by the way."

"..."

The other party's expression became weird for a moment, as if he wanted to laugh, but quickly suppressed that cold smile.

"Then, just pretend that I'm stupid and ask, knowing that he will be used but doing nothing, what is this guy thinking?"

Yae put on a serious expression: "I have a theory."

"A theory about that guy?"

"Yes, I watched that guy come up with a theory, do you want to hear it?"

The person sitting by the wall shrugged, and Yae was encouraged to sit up a little forward.

"I think that guy may be subconsciously waiting for a decisive blow. The kind that makes people lose their heads."

"What do you mean?"

"I will be used and hurt—even if I understand this fact clearly, I can't predict how I will react before the knife actually falls on me." Yae's expression is very serious, as if he is explaining an academic paper, The author is herself, and the research object is herself.

"If it hurts, maybe you will pull your hand, so knowing that you will be used but doing nothing, you are sad while looking forward to it, and even try to confess your feelings. When the result is in line with what you expected, compared to the sad mood, What came up even more strongly was the thought of 'as expected'."

Wuji: "...So, the decisive cut, has this guy waited?"

"Unfortunately," Yae raised his hand and touched his neck, "That guy's head seems to be still attached to his neck."

"Oh? Even such a knife is not sharp enough?"

"Maybe." She held down the beating part of her heart, "maybe it would be more useful to stab here."

"You mean a real stab?"

"If only it were that simple. That guy is worried about what to do if his heart is stabbed and he can't relax. Because he is worried about this, he doesn't want to be stabbed."

"Sounds like the guy is seriously ill."

"I think so."

The flames in the fireplace flickered and burned, and the dead wood made a crackling sound. In the quiet and silent night, only this constant sound remained.

Yae smiled noncommittally.

"Are you keeping watch first tonight?"

Before Wuji could answer, Yae pulled a few straw mats, wrapped them around his body, rolled them up a few more rolls, and lay down on his side with the fire on his back.

"..." He was silent for a moment, "You plan to turn your back on the enemy like this?"

"...Didn't I say that, we are now kidnappers and hostages who support each other and help each other." Yae yawned a little, and pulled the straw mat a little higher, almost covering his head.

"Besides, even if you really want to dissect me, I won't mind."

Wuji laughed softly, his voice was cold: "It doesn't matter if you die?"

Under the shadow, the warm orange firelight leaked in through the gaps in the straw mats, flickering like dots of light on the wooden floor.

As if shrinking into his own world, Yazhong looked at the gap where the light and shadow intertwined, and slowly closed his eyes.

"This body is a shackle to me."

The darkness is endless, and there is no sound in the snowy night.

She fell asleep in a haze, and even in her sleep, the crackling fire was still burning.

The warm orange light swayed in the darkness, the blurred light spots were out of focus and scattered, and then gathered again and became clear.

The dream was like an endless pantomime. She saw a familiar figure sitting by the fire, with long light-colored hair falling on Yuori, and a very gentle look in her drooping green eyes.

After a long day of trekking, the little figure hugged the inseparable samurai sword in his arms, curled up by the fire and fell asleep.

Songyang gently covered Yinshi with a quilt, and sat quietly by the side for a while watching Yinshi's silly sleeping face.I don't know what dreamed of, Yinshi frowned, Songyang raised his hand, and gently touched his messy silver curly hair.

There was a smile on his mouth that he didn't even notice, Songyang lowered his eyes, once, once, like putting a child to sleep, and gently patted Yinshi's back.

The nightmare is gone, and Gintoki relaxes.Songyang curled up his fingers to scratch his face, Yinshi muttered something vaguely, turned his head unconsciously, just put his cheek into Songyang's palm, and rubbed against the warm palm like a milk cat. He rubbed, and continued to sleep peacefully.

Yae remembered that Songyang was taken aback at that time.

The warm light of the fire dispelled the coldness of the night. She looked at the two figures, one big and one small, and her heart was gradually filled with a soft and thick smile.

She looked at herself in the memory.

The bottom of my heart was hollowed out bit by bit by this warm memory, so empty that it sank, and fell into a bottomless place.

……

Dawn is foggy blue.

The black shadow stopped by the window, like a huge inkblot, staying there quietly with its wings folded.

Yae walked to the window, the heavy dust on the floor muffled the sound of her footsteps.

The quiet sky had not yet brightened, she stretched out her hand, and the old crow rubbed her finger as usual, the dark feathers lost their former luster, covering her body like a fisherman's coir raincoat fluffy.

Yazhong lowered his voice: "...Are you leaving too?"

no respond.

The old crow just looked at her quietly, motionless, standing there like a thick sculpture.

"...I see." She bent her lips.

"Thank you."

Thank you for coming to say goodbye to me.

"Go."

The old crow lightly pecked at her fingertips, spread its wings and flew away.

Did not come back.

"... Has it been discovered?"

A low, hoarse voice sounded from behind.

"Don't worry, not yet."

Yazhong stared out the window in a daze, his tall figure stood in the slanting shadow, his cold eyes showed no emotion.

"But it's probably coming soon."

Those crows who act as obscurity's eyeliner will find this place in a short time.

She turned around and met the killer hired by Tiandaozhong.

"We have to hurry up and run."

The previous support team was killed by Amaterasu Institute Naraku, but this time they learned their lesson and sent a highly concealed airship.

Yae emphasized a request to stay awake, and the armed men with guns ignored her, and Qiqi looked at Wuji who brought her to the meeting.

Wuji nodded expressionlessly, hesitating whether to knock her soldiers down or not.

With a click, Yae asked the other party to handcuff her.

This was the second time in her life that she had stepped on such a thing as a spaceship.

Xu has gone to the universe many times in the past few years, but he didn't bring her with him, and he didn't bring any souvenirs when he came back. It's impossible not to be disappointed.

The footsteps of a group of people echoed on the spotless metal walkway, and Yae looked around, looking here and there in novelty, and was escorted to the main control room of the spaceship by soldiers on both sides.

The control room is surrounded by huge screens, showing the outside world in all directions.

Strange celestial beings sit in front of the screen, and the picture shows flowing clouds, and when the clouds part, you can glimpse the distant surface of the earth.The frigates scattered around are invisible, and the outer layer coated with special metal changes with the light, and it seems to be integrated with the sea of ​​clouds.

The spaceship sailed extremely smoothly, and it was hard to imagine that she was at an altitude of a thousand meters. Yae looked up at the huge screen and felt that she had earned it.

...even better with popcorn.

Yae felt a little regretful.

"Have you seen enough?" Wuji gestured, and the two soldiers escorted her to go back.

At this moment, the screen on the screen suddenly switched, the calm flowing clouds disappeared, bright red warnings densely piled up in the field of vision, and the light in the monitoring room dimmed.

"……what happened?!"

There was a violent loud noise from the rear of the hull, the metal ground shook for a while, the lights flickered on and off, and finally dimmed completely. With a low curse, his expression became tense.

At the moment of the impact, Yae was directly thrown out by the huge force.

With her hands handcuffed behind her back, it was inconvenient to find a point of support. She slipped, and the soldier next to her didn't catch her. The two of them stared at each other. Yae kept a dazed expression, and with a standard roll, he hit the console in front of the screen. superior.

Then, she heard a familiar voice from above:

"Good morning, everyone."

The monitoring room full of people became extremely quiet. In the dim space, only a cold and low voice could be heard. Even if he didn't raise his head, Yae could still imagine the hollow smile in those scarlet eyes.

"After playing cat and mouse for so long, it's time to put an end to it."

A man wearing a crow mask stood in front of the screen of another spaceship, his eyes were slightly curved, his mouth was smiling, and his gentle voice clearly had no killing intent, but everyone felt an inexplicable chill crawling up, like being stared at by a snake. The frog on the bed choked its throat a little bit, and finally couldn't even make a sound.

"The bait that ran out without authorization, I should take it back."

Yae stood up from under the console.

Under everyone's gaze, she raised her elbow and turned to one side.

click.

Turning off the screen cuts off the call.

"...What are you looking at, what are you doing in a daze??"

Yae raised his eyebrows and gave instructions sonorously:

"Full speed ahead - run for me!!"