[Gintama] Immortal

"...why?" Xu asked her.

He has always had a lofty look, with a smile that is not a smile, always calm and unhurried, always sure of victory, like a cruel god standing in a place out of the reach of all living beings, indifferently overlooking the joys and sorrows of this world.

Destroyed battleships are burning, and the night sky is torn in two.Naluo's corpse climbed up from the ground, chopped off the man's arm and head, pierced the man's throat and chest, and retreated into the encirclement, pressing down on the patriots.

"Why?" Xu repeated again.

His voice was deep and soft, but his expression was always easy to handle, showing cracked fine lines, the hand that was holding Yafold's cheeks was not feeling heavier, and his eyes were dark red like blood stains: "You already know that human beings treat you What you have done, why do you still want to protect those people."

"...Probably because what you said to me was right." Yae raised her face, as if choked, and suddenly laughed, "I'm just chasing things that I will never get in my life, even the last You're just a poor bastard who can't do basic resentment."

——Xu's voice was cold and clear in the memory, he pulled the corner of his mouth and showed a strange smile:

"You're just dreaming of something you've never had and won't get."

……yes.

is that so.

"...Why." Yae said, "After knowing what I am, I just feel sad."

After knowing what she had done, she just felt very sad, as if a hole had been opened in her heart, filled with wind that could not be filled.Now the wind turned into a sharp knife, scraping down her heart and flesh one by one, she was in excruciating pain, desperately pressed the pain down, stuffed it into her body, almost curled up.Even so, there was a slight, quiver-like thing leaking from the voice.

"But those who hurt me have nothing to do with these people. It wasn't these people who hurt you back then—it was me."

Xu seemed to pause for a moment, that short pause was like some kind of illusion, he relaxed the strength in his hand, as if he didn't hear what she said just now, he gently rubbed her cheek, as if the two were not on the battlefield, Instead, snuggle up under the eaves and look at the flowers in the garden.

"Look, you still don't get it. Human beings are human beings, nature doesn't change. Why perpetuate a creature that just repeats sorrow and mistakes? Why stop me, Yae."

He lowered his voice: "You should have been with me. Only me is enough."

The battleship in the sea of ​​flames collapsed, covering the figures of Wanshiwu and others and the people with lofty ideals, as well as Yinshi's hoarse shouts.The flames surged up with black smoke, and the lingering and flying sparks spread all the way to the dark night sky like a scalding Milky Way.

"...Does it hurt?" Xu Wen asked.

"Human beings with a short lifespan easily talk about saving the world, because the world after 100 years has nothing to do with them. What they really want to seize is the seven or eighty years they have left in this world. They can indulge in In my short life, I hope that all the pain will end soon, but we are different. Our pain will not only last for seven or eighty years, as long as this world exists, it will not end."

"Saving the world is such a selfish idea of ​​human beings. You understand this, Yae, you clearly know it, just like I know your pain."

"..." Yae closed her eyes, as if she couldn't bear the pain, she turned her face away slightly, "Is it really okay to let everything end here?"

"..."

"Is it really okay to end in pain and let the end of everything stay here forever?"

The gentle illusion faded away, and the expression in Xu Xu's eyes became cold.

"if not."

"...I don't know." Yae's voice fluctuated, "But I don't want to end here, I don't want to end in pain."

Showing a mocking expression: "You hope that the pain will pass? After all these years, you still have such naivety..."

He didn't finish his sentence.

The voice suddenly froze, and the expression on Xu's face became stiff.It was as if someone had stabbed him in the heart unexpectedly, and his thoughts went blank for a moment. He slowly came back to his senses, and the disordered killing intent was contained in an instant, and was hidden under the expressionless expression on his face.

"...Don't cry."

He raised his hand to touch the skin under her eyelids, rubbing it with his fingertips.Of course it wasn't wet with tears, but Xu still frowned, as if he couldn't bear it, and his gloomy voice was a little more like anxiety.

"do not Cry."

This sentence sounded like a threat, but of course it had no practical effect, because she didn't cry, and there was no such thing as tears.

For a brief moment, Xu seemed to want to threaten her with the lives of those around her.He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say, "Do you want those people to die?" But his eyes were cold and silent for a moment, and he lowered his voice slightly:

"……what do you want?"

The smirk could no longer be maintained, and Xu asked her: "What do you want, Yae."

Naraku in black jumped over the flames and chased after the enemy who was trying to retreat.

After a long while, he withdrew his hand, didn't turn his head, and didn't look at the Naluo people around him.

He lowered his eyes faintly, covering his blood-red pupils, and said in a calm voice: "Come back to me."

……

The Japanese room was built in a hidden way, deep in the hinterland of Amaterasu-in Naraku.The 500-year-old room exudes a strong smell of ancient wood, and beyond the window is the continuous mountains, surrounding the horizon like a thick fortress.

Yae was familiar with the scenery outside the window and the location by the window.She used to sit here and watch the diet and daily life of the successive leaders of Amaterasu-in Naraku, and watch the Sixth Generation read the scriptures without saying a word. Entangling, talking to her about the hope for another life.

Yae sat by the window, Kanxu told her that everything would be over soon, and he would leave the earth in a few days to deal with the rebels in the universe.

Sometimes she sat by the window, and sometimes she didn't feel like she was there.

The passage of time has nothing to do with her, she wanders between the past and the reality, and occasionally vaguely remembers that she also had a period of time when she could laugh without any burden and without knowing anything.Because I simply feel happy, and simply feel that this world is incredible, I am so happy that my heart is full, and I am so interesting that I am alone.

The voice that summoned her to return to the original was within her own body, that voice was thin and small, like an idea that suddenly popped into a person's mind when he was in a trance.

Yae suppressed that impulse, but that hidden, instinctive desire was like a buoy, quietly emerging from the water.

Crows are heard from the mountains, and the crows living here do not know how many generations they have bred.Those black birds were chirping and always in groups. When she first arrived 500 years ago, these guys were very curious about her and stopped on the branches to stare at her every day.If it wasn't for Amaterasu Temple's Naraku, a group of crows staring at the empty place all day long, I don't know what it looks like elsewhere.

In the past 20 years, she kept leaving and coming back, going and staying.

Now the crows here no longer recognize her, just like the crows in Kumano.

Kumano.

This place name is both familiar and unfamiliar, and it has a distant taste between the teeth, peeling off the sweetness and bringing with it a slight bitterness.

The leaves rustled lightly, and the silhouette parked outside the window swayed slightly, spreading its wings and leaving the branches.

Daylight is not overly bright, but it can still be a little dazzling when looking directly at it.Yae squinted her eyes, and the rising mountain wind blew past her ears, as soft as gauze.

"Eight heavy."

The voice calling her is close at hand, but far away in the courtyard of the private school where the cherry blossoms are as colorful as rain.She turned her head and saw the gentle green eyes like a lake in spring.

Distracted attention is brought back to reality.

"... Black really doesn't suit you."

Yae tilted her head and smiled.

The person on the opposite side frowned and looked down at the black kimono on his body.

"No way, I sneaked out."

"Really." Uncompromising about Songyang's remarks, Yae stretched out his hand, and stroked the broken hair on his forehead, "Then when you sneaked out, you might have forgotten to straighten your hair."

The same face, the same smiling crescent eyes.

The cloth was soft and rustling, Songyang took her into his arms.That embrace has the smell of books and ink, and the smell of the sun on the drying quilt. You can see the sunny courtyard with your eyes closed. The wind chimes are spinning under the eaves, and it takes a long time to make a jingle sound—like water patterns Diffusion in the lazy air.

Yae relaxed her body and closed her eyes against Matsuyo's shoulder.

"Did you see it?"

"En." Songyang made a soft nasal sound.

"They've all grown up."

"Yes."

"Hair is still a mess."

"That can't be helped, it's been like that ever since."

"But it feels good."

"That's great."

"...By the way, did that kid like penguins before?"

"? Don't you like meatballs the most?"

"After growing up, my preferences may have changed a little bit."

"Guys who don't drink milk well are still making enemies everywhere as before."

"Spirit is enough."

"You really dote on your students, Songyang."

"Aren't you too?"

Yae seemed to laugh, Songyang circled his arms, resting his chin on her hair, his slightly drooping eyes seemed to be smiling, but also seemed to hide gentle sadness.

"...they have really grown up." She said, "Obviously they just planned to watch from a distance, knowing that they are still alive is enough, but it seems that if they are not careful, they will worry instead."

Yae spoke for a while, and her voice paused without warning.

Songyang raised his hand and stroked the hair around her ears, his voice was warm and clear, calm like a windless field.

"Don't be sad, Yae."

"I've probably... not been in the right shape lately. But don't worry, I've had experience before and picked myself up."

Yae raised his head, and smiled slightly at Songyang: "Did I tell you about my past?"

Songyang's eyes were very gentle: "I remember."

The sound of the wind is gentle, and the sun like fog stops on the window sill.

Yae lowered her eyes and was silent for a long time, with a little smile on the corner of her mouth.

"Actually, there is one thing I didn't tell you."

"Even I, thinking about the long time, sometimes get scared."

Songyang didn't make a sound.He hugged her tighter, but couldn't do anything else.

"Do you still remember what I mentioned to you, the little girl from the shrine back then?"

Yae's voice was calm.Like a calm doctor, she picked up the scalpel and dug out the secret that had been guarded for hundreds of years from the open chest, and put it in front of her terminally ill self.

She said to Songyang:

"Actually, I can't remember her name."