We can leave her here. [ well, if you insist on leaving it up to him... his answer is going to be immediate. imagine if hijikata spent more time patting her than him? just imagine!!

but he pauses, since at first, he doesn't seem to know what hijikata means; the flow of time is different for a sword than it is for a person, and it's not that he hasn't enjoyed the time he's spent so far; it's just never really occurred to him to... notice something like that. after all, what feels like months to humans are years for swords.

yet, the fact that tsuru also manages to figure it out quickly is pretty impressive — and when he does, there's this embarrassed smile, because just what the heck. ]

It has. [ and then he glances up at hijikata, a little fondly. ] You know what they say: time goes by when you're happier — or something like that.

We can celebrate in two days, right? But there's no fun in celebrating for one day, so let's celebrate today, tomorrow, and then the day after tomorrow. Is that okay with you?

[ considering how he won't take no for an answer, well! ]