[I wrote this about ten years ago. I'm posting it simply to preserve the memory. The plot is old-fashioned melodrama, so read with caution. Adapted from the classic shoujo manga Hakuoki, with original leads. The whole story is free and will not be paywalled.]
The Shinsengumi at the end of the Edo period, people torn apart, and a struggle against fate.
Still as stone, the flowers and water lie beyond the darkness.
There was a woman, extraordinarily skilled and famed as the most beautiful in the world, yet content to drift from place to place. She hurt others without mercy, yet felt compassion in her heart. She planned for every contingency, yet could not withstand fate's upheaval. She said, "Meeting you was my mistake. From now on, we will never see each other again."
There was a man, pure and innocent, blessed with dazzling talent, yet unable to escape the passage of time and the fickleness of love and hate. Torn between loyalty and love, he ultimately lost her. She said, "I'll wait for you to come kill me."
There was a man caught in the whirlpool of the powerful, yet as pure as jade, free to come and go as he pleased. He inspired trust and longing, yet remained beyond reach, a solitary flower in a world of his own. She said, "You should be happy."
There was a man who followed her like a shadow. Their time together was a fleeting illusion, yet he was willing to stay by her side, faithful and constant, treating her like family. She said, "We will bear every hardship together."
[Left by Chao Shiyi on 2025.02.26.]
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Theme: Press on through hardship, unafraid of wind and rain
