It was common for Hijikata to spend the night at Shiwei Hall.
If he stayed too long or too late at Shiwei Hall, he would often say, "I'm too lazy to return to that little rented shack," and spend the night there instead.
With the frequency of him staying overnight, Hijikata was practically half a boarder at Shiwei Hall.
When Aoto turned around to look, Harada shouted to him:
"The weather is still so hot today! Let's go take a bath and refresh ourselves!"
Aoto didn't immediately respond to Harada's invitation to bathe.
Because at that moment, his mind drifted elsewhere.
——The bathhouse… taking a bath…?!
In that instant, Aoto felt as if a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind.
"A bath… that's right…"
Aoto murmured to himself in a volume only he could hear.
"How could I not have thought of that…"
After mumbling, Aoto tilted his head back, squinting his eyes, gazing northeast.
In the northeast, somewhere close to Shiwei Hall, wisps of thin steam were wafting up.
