Aoto, who was eager to question Toshisuke, couldn’t be bothered... No, it wasn’t "laziness"; it was more like he temporarily didn’t want to exert extra energy paying attention to Toshisuke’s current bizarre behavior.
Silently concluding that Toshisuke was the type of person who didn’t like to be "honest with others", Aoto strode into the bath, sitting cross-legged not far from Toshisuke, with their backs facing each other.
"Mr. Chokata. I think you should know why I’ve been bothering you today... How did you talk with your sister?"
Though Toshisuke occasionally appeared silly while doing arithmetic or in certain situations, on the whole, he was a person of normal intelligence.
Aoto thought: Toshisuke must have already guessed the purpose behind his insistence to drag him to the bathhouse for a soak.
Since they both understood, there was no need for pretenses, so Aoto directly went to the point and bluntly stated his intention.
"Ah, hahaha..."
Toshisuke’s tone was generally calm, indicating that he was mentally prepared for Aoto’s question.
After a few dry laughs, Toshisuke softly said:
"Mr. Tachibana, you really are persistent... To the extent of following me to the bathhouse to ask this..."
"Because I’m really worried about you."
"I originally didn’t want to meddle too much in your family affairs... But your current state truly worries me, today you were even so absent-minded that you bumped into a wall."
"Was your discussion with your sister... not going well?"
"..." Toshisuke fell silent.
Aoto wasn’t in a rush, patiently waiting for Toshisuke to respond.
As time slowly ticked away...
Quite a while later, Aoto finally heard Toshisuke softly mumbling behind him.
"...Yeah... It didn’t go well."
"The day after you noticed my sister was forcing me to give up swordsmanship, I approached her and seriously talked to her."
"I really tried everything I could think of to persuade her."
"In order to move her, I almost stripped naked to give her a standard ’full-body dogeza.’"
In Japanese culture, stripping naked can symbolize "I am completely sincere and without any hidden motives."
"But no matter what I said or did, she just wouldn’t budge..."
"Her determination to make me give up swordsmanship is as strong as my resolve not to."
"Neither of us will concede... We’re really at odds now..."
Toshisuke’s tone was filled with frustration and dejection.
"...Mr. Chokata, actually... can’t you just disregard your sister’s opinion?"
Aoto couldn’t help but suggest.
"You are you, and she is she."
"Since you don’t want to give up swordsmanship and want to stay at Shiwei Hall to hone it, why not just ignore her and stick to your guns?"
"No matter how much your sister objects to your swordsmanship... Can she really bind your hands and feet to prevent you from ever holding a sword again?"
Swish...
As soon as Aoto finished speaking, he heard the sound of water stirring behind him—it was the sound of Toshisuke holding his legs more tightly.
"That’s true, but..."
Toshisuke buried his head lower, nearly touching the water’s surface with his nose.
"But if possible... I want this incident to have a conclusion that everyone can be satisfied with..."
"My father passed away when I was less than one year old."
"A few years later, my mother also passed on to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."
"Orphaned, I was basically raised single-handedly by my elder sister."
"To me, she is both my sister and the mother who raised me..."
"I could indeed ignore my sister’s opinion and stubbornly continue to study swordsmanship at Shiwei Hall."
At this point, Toshisuke let out a few dry laughs, filled with a bitter tone.
"But if I did that, my sister would definitely be upset..."
"I... don’t want to make her unhappy..."
Toshisuke’s parents died young, and he was mainly raised by Chokata Mitsuo—Aoto had heard a little about this from Kondo and Hijikata before.
Although he knew the specifics of Toshisuke’s relationship with his sister, Aoto had underestimated his feelings for her.
"I see... Sorry, I made a foolish suggestion."
"It’s fine."
Toshisuke gently shook his head, with a faint smile on his face.
"Next... I plan to keep trying to persuade my sister."
"Even water can eventually pierce through a rock."
"As long as I persistently show my sincerity and my determination ’never to lay down the sword’, maybe I can move her."
Toshisuke’s voice carried an optimistic smile.
Infected by Toshisuke’s cheerful tone, Aoto smiled faintly.
Understanding the result of Toshisuke’s negotiations with his sister, one question in Aoto’s mind was answered... But soon, a new question emerged.
The scenes of Toshisuke trying various ways to avoid him today quickly flashed through Aoto’s mind.
"Mr. Chokata, why were you avoiding me all day today?"
Aoto quickly presented his new question.
"Even if your negotiation with your sister didn’t go well and you found it hard to tell me, you didn’t have to avoid me all day, right?"
"Um... well, this, um..."
Aoto wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination.
He seemed to sense an indistinct nervousness in Toshisuke’s voice.

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