After coming out of the dance hall, Okita did not find a place to rest as he usually did. Instead, he chased after a man with long black hair.

They had just walked a few steps out of the bar when they met this man. Beside him was a strange white creature that looked like a duck.

Ando felt that this man looked very familiar.

She didn't have time to search her memory, so she could only focus all her energy on her legs.

If she didn't do her best, she would soon be left behind by these two men.

She was very curious about this man who had aroused Okita's interest. She thought that this was his daily hobby.

Other than playing tricks on Hijikata, fighting with Kagura, and sleeping, there was nothing else.

Ando followed Okita closely. The man's black hair fluttered in the wind like a waterfall.

If he was in a shampoo commercial, he would be very popular.

After running for a long time, her breathing became rapid, but it was clear that Okita was in high spirits and had no intention of stopping.

Finally, the man ran into a dead end. Seeing this, Okita took out a rocket launcher and fired at him. He said confidently, "Goodbye, Gui."

Gui's figure flashed, and she leaped onto the roof, perfectly dodging his attack. She then turned around and glanced at Okita. After a few leaps, she disappeared from their sight.

"Tsk."

Okita put the rocket launcher on his shoulder and murmured regretfully.

Ando was panting next to him with her hands on her knees. If she wasn't too tired to speak, she would definitely ask him why he never hit anyone with the rocket launcher.

Was it because he had bad eyesight?

This scene seemed to have happened countless times. Okita put away the rocket launcher as if nothing had happened. He glanced at Ando who was still panting and said lightly, "Your physical strength is a bit weak. You must have been lazy when you were a kid, right?"

"No, no!" Ando's face turned red as she straightened up and refuted him.

Of course, she didn't know that the person who was lazy when she was a kid was not her, but Okita in front of her.

To him, perhaps slacking off was more rewarding than practicing the sword.

He stretched his back and returned to his usual lazy self.

The person who had chased after Gui with his blood boiling did not seem to be him.

Ando couldn't help but ask, "Who is that man?"

"Katsura Kotaro, a hero who repels barbarians, our enemy," Okita said leisurely.

A hero who repels foreign invaders?

Was he a hero from the Barbarian War?

Sure enough, there were people like him who felt that the current peace was fake.

"Is he going to overthrow the shogunate?" Ando asked anxiously.

The shogunate was weak and corrupt. Not only was it unable to protect the country, but it was also doing things like betraying the country. If people with lofty ideals gathered together, overthrowing the shogunate would be a good path.

However, were they, the Shinsengumi, as the lackeys of the shogunate, as Okita said, were they walking on the wrong path?

"He's a moderate," Okita said. "He still has hope for this world.

Just like us, he's protecting it in his own way. "

From a certain point of view, Okita was really a difficult person to understand.

He clearly understood Katsura Kotaro's way of doing things, but he still tried his best to chase after him. He was more proactive than he was in anything else.

Couldn't he just turn a blind eye and pretend that Gui didn't exist?

Ando thought so in his heart and asked directly.

Okita tilted his head and smiled. He replied innocently, "Don't you think it's interesting to see a person who is known as a 'crazy nobleman' running away in a panic?"

"…" Okita senpai, your heart must be black!

Ando silently licked his dry lips and realized that he had been walking further and further down the road of seeking death.

Other people stayed as far away from Okita as possible, but she kept moving closer to him.

Should she thank him? He only invited her to tease the deputy commander, but he didn't want to tease her.

"Ando, do you like a chili sauce flavored cake or a mayonnaise flavored cake?"

Ando thought of the mayonnaise and chili sauce cake that Okita had teased Hijikata, and her stomach churned.

She just thought that Okita didn't want to tease her, but she didn't expect to be slapped in the face immediately.

How should she answer? Could she refuse both?

"Or do you like a chili mayonnaise flavored cake?"

Seeing that she hesitated for a long time without answering, Okita smiled and gave her a third option.

"I choose chili sauce!" Ando replied immediately.

She would rather be burned to her heart's content than be disgusted by the sticky mayonnaise.

"As expected, no one except Mr. Hijikata likes mayonnaise." Okita sighed.

"Does Senior Okita like chili sauce a lot?" Ando asked carefully.

She didn't understand why he would always use chili sauce to greet Hijikata.

"Yes."

The gentleness in his eyes disappeared in a flash, and was replaced by slyness in an instant. "I like to see people moved to tears."

He wanted to see people in pain!

Ando couldn't help complaining in her heart, but she didn't dare to show it on her face.

She didn't hate chili, and she had a good resistance to it. In fact, her house in the countryside was cold and damp all year round, and her mother had fed her a lot of chili since she was a child.

She wasn't afraid of spicy food, but she was a little tired of it.

She hadn't touched chili since her mother left.

When the cake decorated with bright red paste was placed in front of her, she couldn't help but pick up the fork.

She didn't know how Okita found a shop that decorated cakes with chili sauce.

She scooped a spoonful into her mouth, and the familiar spicy taste covered the sweet creamy taste. It turned out that some things could never be forgotten, even if you deliberately tried to forget them.

That unforgettable memory had been carefully swept to a corner and covered with a piece of white cloth. Once it was lifted, everything that she thought she had forgotten came back to her every cell.

A tear fell from Ando's eyes, and she wiped it away without a trace. She looked up at Okita with a smile and said, "It's too spicy. It's so spicy that I'm crying."

In front of Okita was a plate of spicy cake like hers, and he ate it one bite after another as if nothing had happened.

Sorrow shrouded him again, and he couldn't get rid of it.

Ando paused and looked at him in a daze.

She finally understood why she felt this sadness.

It was because he must have lost a family member like her.

This kind of pain was only suitable for one to lick, and it wasn't suitable for sharing it with others.

He was much better at hiding it than she was. He was clearly sad, but he was able to pretend that he didn't care.

"Senior Okita, actually, the chili is really delicious." Ando stuffed a mouthful with a smile in her eyes.

She didn't hate chili. She was just avoiding it. She didn't want to face her mother's death, and she didn't want to think about all the gentleness her mother had for her.

But if even she forgot her mother, who in this world would remember her?

"It's rare for someone to appreciate this taste," Okita replied lightly. "My sister likes it too."

So it was his sister.

Ando pretended not to see the sadness in his heart and smiled foolishly. "Senior Okita, if you want to eat spicy cake again next time, just call me."

The sister he couldn't forget must be a gentle woman with a warm smile. It was a pity that she didn't have the chance to meet her.

Mr. Tokikata's so-called loneliness was also true. No matter how calm he was on the surface, no matter how powerful he was on the inside, he had never revealed his true thoughts in front of others.

"Okay." Okita looked up at her and replied.

Senior Okita, I'm willing to be the person who can make you confide in me. Are you willing?

Ando asked him in her heart, but she didn't dare to say it out loud. She was worried that it would offend him.

But it doesn't matter. In time, you'll be willing to accept me as a friend.