Dark? Bloodthirsty? Insane? It seemed as though every negative adjective could be applied to Sogo Doma, but only Toshiro Hijikata knew that they were all just illusions. The right word should have been indifference!
Just as a child might pour boiling water into an anthill, who would call that bloodthirsty or insane? Toshiro Hijikata did not really want to admit it, but whenever Sogo dealt with irrelevant people, he viewed them the way a child viewed ants...
Utter, complete indifference!
Toshiro Hijikata still remembered that day. Back then, the Kondo Group had not yet been established, and Sogo Doma had only just come to train at Kondo Dojo.
"Hijikata, go die!"
"Hijikata, go to hell..."
Even now, Toshiro Hijikata still remembered the scene when they had sparred that day. Both of them had been exhausted to the point of mutually assured defeat...
"Stop! It's a draw!" Under those circumstances, Gorilla—Kondo Isao—could only separate the two and make that judgment.
"Tch..." Toshiro Hijikata still remembered how Sogo had clicked his tongue before looking at him with a face full of kindness and saying in a tone that did not sound fake at all, "Mr. Hijikata, if you don't try harder, I'll butcher you next time."
"Tch, who knows who'll butcher whom!" Toshiro Hijikata had not backed down either.
"Is that so? Then that's it for today. Tomorrow, I'll ask Mr. Hijikata for more pointers. Whether you cry or beg for help, I'll still butcher you!" A twelve- or thirteen-year-old boy saying such things did not seem very threatening!
"I'll return those exact words to you!" Though he was already an adult, Hijikata—who believed men remained boys until death—said disdainfully. Ever since learning about one of the other's particular traits, he had barely been able to tolerate the other's hostility...
"Onii-chan, Big