[It's not all that long anymore, actually. He cut it short about a year before he died.]
[Hijikata freezes up, but not in panic this time -- just sort of awkwardly, as if he's not quite sure how to respond to what he's hearing.]
[But it's not new, not really. He thinks about Souji, about his gentle hands and soothing voice and it isn't your fault!. He thinks about Ichimura, about the worried look that haunted his eyes whenever Hijikata didn't take enough care of himself -- which was more often than not, after Souji died. About the way the kid would cover him with a blanket when he worked himself to the point of collapse, and sit by him like a sentinel, making sure no one disturbed the little rest he did allow himself. About the weight of Kondou's broad, warm hand on his shoulder -- when they were kids, in the aftermath of the Ikedaya, on the day Sannan died, on the night he found out about Souji's sickness...]
[There have always been people looking after him -- loving him, in their different ways.]
[He's sure he doesn't deserve it, but it somehow feels disrespectful to keep saying so, to keep contradicting the people who've been good enough to care for him all this time.]
...You would have gotten along with some of my other friends. They were good at that.
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[Hijikata freezes up, but not in panic this time -- just sort of awkwardly, as if he's not quite sure how to respond to what he's hearing.]
[But it's not new, not really. He thinks about Souji, about his gentle hands and soothing voice and it isn't your fault!. He thinks about Ichimura, about the worried look that haunted his eyes whenever Hijikata didn't take enough care of himself -- which was more often than not, after Souji died. About the way the kid would cover him with a blanket when he worked himself to the point of collapse, and sit by him like a sentinel, making sure no one disturbed the little rest he did allow himself. About the weight of Kondou's broad, warm hand on his shoulder -- when they were kids, in the aftermath of the Ikedaya, on the day Sannan died, on the night he found out about Souji's sickness...]
[There have always been people looking after him -- loving him, in their different ways.]
[He's sure he doesn't deserve it, but it somehow feels disrespectful to keep saying so, to keep contradicting the people who've been good enough to care for him all this time.]
...You would have gotten along with some of my other friends. They were good at that.