[He solemnly nods along. It's true; there's no proof that most of the many related beliefs across the multiverse are true. After all, while he's seen plenty of ghosts in the land of the living, he's never seen any kind of afterlife for himself.]

Well, the spirits here - and on the other worlds I visited - do perceive the sentiments of the living. Once they cross over, though... who knows?

[He thinks back on his personal experiences... ugh, he'll have to share something private, won't he? It's not like Nikkolaus is pressing him in any way, but Hijikata started this conversation, and now he needs to put his cards on the table rather than keep talking in abstracts.]

...

After my older brother died, I kept writing him letters. His widow would read them to him when she visited his grave.