高杉晋作からのお返し。

晋作の眠る東行庵の梅の花と紅葉。この山はかつて奇兵隊の本陣があったゆかりの地。東行とは晋作の号で「西へ行く人を慕いて東行く心の底ぞ神や知るらん」と詠んだ歌がある。

僕は梅の花が好きでね。何故かって？　そりゃあ他の花に先がけて、誰より早く咲くからさ。

紅葉は……、まあ、何となくだ。

というわけで、一花と言わず百花繚乱と咲かせようじゃないか。そう、君と僕でな。

A thank-you gift from Takasugi Shinsaku.

Plum flowers and autumn leaves from Tougyou-an, the temple where Shinsaku was laid to rest. It is located on a mountain which once served as the Kiheitai's home base. Tougyou, meaning "eastbound," was Shinsaku's sobriquet, and there is a poem which reads, "Only God knows the depths of my heart, for while I yearn for you as you go west, I am bound for the east."

I'm fond of plum flowers. Why, you ask? Well, they bloom first, before all the other flowers.

As for the red leaves... I just felt like it.

Anyway, let's make all the flowers bloom, not just one of them. That's right, we'll do it together.