[ how dare ceres tries to uncover Hijikata's times as a youngin'...

well, it's understandable Tsurumaru wouldn't understand. not like he was a peasant like Hijikata anyway. this is a thing he liked talking with Kondou-san, they did understand each other when it came to this sort of thing. he was a kind man that was easy to talk to. ]

Hm...

[ as he allows Tsurumaru to leave his hand and then soon wrap it, he nods silently after a bit of thought. ]

I suppose, I feel like I have... The Shinsengumi has come a long way so far.

Even so, people still tell us we can't become samurai, or just insult us -- but I think that's more of an incentive to get me to try even harder. So even if it feels like I've became a samurai, I still have a lot to do.

[ he's gotta show them wrong! this is why Hijikata is so stubborn? he spent almost his whole life being told he can't do this, or that... ]

It almost feels like a mountain I've been climbing up my whole life. Even if I came a long way, I'm still not at the top, so I have to keep climbing. Because when you're halfway up the mountain the only option is to continue climbing, right?