Inquisitor's Melancholy

After Hijikata Toshizo and Okita Souji left, Rezuru appeared in front of the Ikeda house again. At this time, the Ikeda house was blocked, and the members of the Shinsengumi were guarding the front and back.

Recalling the scene when Mr. Okita raised his eyes just now, Li Xian thought that he probably saw him.

I'm just sorry, he couldn't wait for the victorious ones to go back in the Shinsengumi's settlement. In this era, the inspection of non-violation has already appeared, even if he is a god judge, it is not suitable to stay here for too long.

In the corner where no one was paying attention, cherry blossoms began to appear around Lixian, and finally even he himself turned into cherry blossoms, fell to the ground, and quickly disappeared.

Rezuru went straight to Asakusa-Imado four years later.

There are many cherry blossom trees planted in the quiet and beautiful courtyard, the thickest of which grows in front of the house, sitting on the partition, just to watch the beautiful cherry blossoms.

It's just that at this time, the cherry blossoms have passed their flowering period, and only the lush green leaves are left on the cherry blossom trees.

"Can't I see the cherry blossoms with you this year?"

Souji Okita was lying on his side on the partition, and he had lost the vitality he had when he first met him. The hair that could be tied into a ponytail four years ago had become very long now, untied, and spread out randomly. Like flowing water on the partition.He was only wearing a simple bathrobe, even in this early summer, he looked thin and cool.

Lixian took off his cloak calmly, and gently covered Okita Souji's body.

"Mother-in-law? Mother-in-law... I dreamed of fighting with the black cat that appeared in the garden of Ueki House... Ah, I can't cut it...I can't cut it anymore."

Director Okita didn't open his closed eyes, but said directly, his usually cheerful voice was full of fatigue and sadness.

"Grandmother... I can't wait... next year's cherry blossoms, right? I thought this year's cherry blossoms would bloom later, so he could come back... We can watch the cherry blossoms together...but they withered. Cherry blossoms, withered .”

Li Xian looked up at the cherry blossoms all over the courtyard, bent down and sat beside Souji Okita, "Do you want to see the cherry blossoms?"

Just like the deep and gentle voice in memory, Souji Okita still didn't open his eyes, but a drop of clear tears overflowed from the corner of his eyes.

"... Am I still dreaming? It's really disturbing. If so... Wouldn't it make people want to indulge in a dream and not wake up?"

At 26 years old, he is no longer a teenager. Due to the torment of the disease, Souji Okita's handsome face is much haggard, his bloodless thin lips are trembling slightly, and there is also a blue shadow on the eyelids. From the sleeves of the navy blue yukata The slender wrist exposed in the middle seems to be broken if it is lightly grasped.

However, at this moment, he seemed to be still the same boy, turning over and laying on the partition. Because of his movements, Lixian's cloak slipped to one side, and he was pressed under him.

Lixian didn't take this into consideration, but stretched out his hand and gently stroked the top of Okita Souji's head, "If you want it to be a dream, then all this is a dream. In the dream, these beautiful cherry blossoms are just for you And bloom."

As soon as the words fell, the cherry blossom trees in the courtyard seemed to obey Lixian's words, buds formed on the branches, and the cherry blossoms bloomed in pieces at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Xu Shi smelled the faint scent of cherry blossoms, and Director Okita finally opened his eyes.In front of his eyes, the cherry blossoms were blooming all over the sky, and a few petals fell down. Souji Okita stretched out his hand to catch them, and his pale cheeks seemed to be dyed with the color of cherry blossoms, and became rosy.

The small, beloved cherry blossoms were in Souji Okita's palm, he curled his lips into a smile, then struggled to get up, facing Reisen.

"...Li Xian, please say 'Welcome back' to me."

Lixian's breath was suffocated. Director Okita told him to wait for him to come back at the Shinsengumi village, but he left. Does Director Okita still remember this incident?

"Welcome back."

The belated welcome back just came out of Lixian's mouth now. Mr. Okita frowned and smiled happily. Such a clean and pure smile made Lixian feel as if something had changed in his heart. The painful but warm feeling made Li Xian unable to control his emotions.

"Yes, I'm back."

The scene in front of me seems to have returned to the settlement of the Shinsengumi, where Li Xian was really waiting for Okita Souji to come back, and was seriously injured in the Ikedaya incident, and his condition was getting worse. Afterwards, he smiled reassuringly.

But that's just a false conjecture.

Just like this cherry blossom.

Li Xian exhaled lightly to relieve his uncontrollable emotions, and he looked at Sakura.

June and July are not the blooming season of cherry blossoms, even if he uses his spiritual power to transform the cherry blossoms, they will disappear soon.

"...Cherry blossoms...are beautiful, right? It would be great if they could stay in bloom forever..."

Okita Souji bit his lips, and then said slowly, in fact, his current body does not allow him to speak smoothly and energetically.Just like this, he has exhausted all his strength, and there is no place in his body that is not in pain. For some reason, the pain that he should be used to has become unbearable now.

If the cherry blossoms bloom longer, this dream will last longer, right?

When I returned to the village, Reizumi was no longer there, and what remained were Mr. Dojikata's haiku collection and the cherry blossoms in the writing. It is impossible for cherry blossoms to appear in July.

From then on, Okita Souji probably understood that Rexian was not an ordinary person, at least not like him.

Now that four years have passed, the person in front of him has not changed at all, and even the inaccurate Japanese is the same as before. Okita Souji thinks that he should understand something, or maybe there are more things he doesn't understand.

Just like the cherry blossoms blooming and passing away suddenly, Li Xian also came to Shinsengumi suddenly and left Shinsengumi suddenly.

A man like a cherry blossom.

"Didn't you say this is a dream? The cherry blossoms won't wither until you wake up from the dream."

Maintaining such a large number of cherry blossoms blooming in this courtyard for a long time consumes Lixian's spiritual power, but he can't say no to it.

Yes, let this be a dream.

He gave Souji Okita the most beautiful dream.

There are no outsiders in the courtyard, except for Mr. Okita, there is only one old woman.Li Xian originally thought that the unseasonable cherry blossoms all over the courtyard would scare the old woman, but when she was still thinking of an excuse to explain, she didn't expect that the old woman who had experienced countless wind and snow didn't show any surprise.

"These cherry blossoms must be blooming because of Mr. Okita, right? Because I'm so lonely... That child is too lonely..."

The old woman's eyes, which have become cloudy due to the years, were filled with clear tears, and she couldn't help but touch the cherry blossoms on the branches lightly.At her touch, Sakura shook its petals as if in response.

"Mother-in-law, thank you for taking care of Mr. Xiao, I won't be lonely anymore, please rest assured."

"Yes, Mr. Li Xian, I should thank you, and I am willing to accompany Mr. Okita under such circumstances."

Not knowing the true identity of Lixian, she thought he was a member of the Shinsengumi sent by Hijikata Toshizo to accompany Okita Souji, the old woman was not at all wary of Lixian.After she finished speaking, she remembered something and wiped her tears in a hurry, "I forgot, the cherry blossoms are in bloom, so I should make some cherry cakes, Mr. Okita likes them very much."

The old lady turned around and went to the kitchen, Lixian was still standing there, cherry blossoms were flying in front of his eyes, but Lixian's face didn't show any expression, if it wasn't because he was still breathing, maybe it was like a cold sculpture up.

"Cough cough! Cough!"

Okita Souji coughed from inside the room.

Lixian quickly regained his composure, and hurriedly walked into the house. Just now, when he saw Mr. Okita looking tired, he asked him to drink medicine to take a nap, but it didn't take long before he coughed again.

He suddenly understood the feeling of Yamato Shou'an.

Yamato Mamoru Anding has always been by Okita Souji's side. He saw all this, but he was powerless to change it.Gradually, this feeling of powerlessness became Yamato's obsession with keeping stability. Even after he became a swordsman, he knew that he could not change history. The only thing he wanted to change was the fate of Souji Okita.

After Li Xian walked into the room, the cough that Souji Okita made just now seemed to be a hallucination of Li Xian, because at this moment, Souji Okita was looking at Li Xian with his eyes bent and smiling, "What's wrong? You walked in suddenly .”

Lixian closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, he looked at Souji Okita's hands hidden behind his back. Lixian strode forward and pulled Souji Okita's hand forward with all his strength, and the bright red blood on his palm stabbed him. Li Xian's eyes.

"Why are you still coughing up blood..."

Li Xian muttered, the medicine of this era cannot cure Okita Souji's disease, but it still has some inhibitory effect, otherwise Okita Souji would not have died only four years after the onset of Ikeda's disease.

After taking the medicine, he shouldn't have such a severe cough, or even cough up so much blood.

"It's nothing, but you don't touch it, it will make your hands stained with blood."

Director Okita kept retracting his hand, and at the same time glanced uneasily at the medicine bowl on the table beside him.

There is not much medicine juice left in the medicine bowl that my mother-in-law had boiled before, and there are only faint brown traces on the edge.Mr. Okita was not a good liar, and Li Xian also stared at the medicine bowl for a long time, then he stood up suddenly and walked to the table, but his goal was not the medicine bowl, but a pot of flowers next to the medicine bowl.

Li Xian stretched out his hand, pressed the soil in the flower pot, and picked up some soil between his fingers. It was too wet, obviously just watered.

These flowers and plants are taken care of by her mother-in-law. She stayed with Lixian before, until she went to the kitchen to prepare cherry cakes. Lixian didn't think her mother-in-law had this time to come to Souji Okita's room to water the flower pots.

If Souji Okita poured it himself... I'm afraid it's not water, is it?Li Xian put his fingertips under his nose and sniffed, and it really exuded a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Why did you pour it out? Why didn't you drink the medicine?"

The two questions in a row expressed Lixian's suppressed anger, and Mr. Okita just puffed up his cheeks in dissatisfaction, "It's too bitter... I don't want to drink it."

"But mother-in-law said that you used to drink medicine obediently."

Because in this era, Japan did not have western sugar-coated medicine pills, and the boiled Chinese medicine was very bitter. My mother-in-law couldn't bear the smell when she was brewing the medicine, let alone drink it.

But Mr. Chongtian may not want to cause trouble for her. Every time he took the medicine bowl, he drank it in one gulp, which was simpler than drinking plain water. Tell Li Xian about this matter.

In the eyes of her mother-in-law, Souji Okita is such a sensible and kind child.

"I don't want to drink it anymore...it doesn't have any effect, does it? Even if I drink the medicine, I can't pick up the sword again..."

"Because of me?"

After interrupting Souji Okita's words, Li Xian calmed down and asked.

"...It's not your reason, it has nothing to do with you, I just don't want to drink medicine."

Sometimes overemphasis is the real reason, Li Xian picked up the medicine bowl and walked towards the door, "I'll make another bowl, if you don't drink it, I will leave."

Seeing Li Xian walk out the door, Chief Secretary Okita wanted to stop him, but as soon as his feet stepped on the ground, his calf felt so sore that he almost fell forward with his whole body.

If he drinks the medicine, he will fall asleep because of the medicine.

When he falls asleep, will all of this cease to exist, or what if he won't wake up once he falls asleep like this?

very scary.

Obviously when facing countless enemies back then, Souji Okita didn't feel terrified, but now he is really terrified, afraid that Reixuen will leave and the cherry blossoms will wither.Even if he can't, he doesn't have much time left, how can... How can he spend it on things like sleeping?

Obviously there are still many things I want to do.

Things to do with Lixian.