[It's oddly sweet (he believes it!)]

I'm not that sure what to think of him now. He and sensei are nothing alike, but I haven't seen father in over a year, and the more I'm with sensei, the more it's mixed up... I'll need to sort it all out at some point.

[Who better to raise him than Hijikata?]

Not that he's someone you'd need to worry about...

[Maybe it's rain that's somehow softening the edge of all this. He doesn't hide, but his eyes do shift to lights reflected in small, glassy puddles. The boy peeks up.]

You're really sure you won't get sick?

[From all the rain, and all that?]