After listening to Toshisuke’s past, Aoto, filled with deep emotions, couldn’t help but say softly:
"...Miss Chokata, you really love swordsmanship, don’t you?"
"To be able to study swordsmanship, you didn’t mind having a red-faced argument with your sister whom you see as a second mother, nor did you mind changing your name and hiding your gender..."
"This dedication, this love for swordsmanship, truly commands admiration."
Aoto turned and smiled at Chokata with genuine admiration, devoid of any pretense.
Faced with Aoto’s praise, Toshisuke shyly chuckled a few times.
"Mr. Tachibana, you’re giving too much credit."
"Whether it’s having a tiff with my sister or changing my name and hiding my gender, to me, none of these things count as ’sacrifices’."
"I know very well in my heart that my sister only has my best interest in mind when she didn’t want me to learn swordsmanship. Her reasons for stopping me were indeed quite reasonable."
"My relationship with my sister wouldn’t be damaged by such trivial matters."
"As for changing names and concealing gender... that’s even less of a big deal."
"A name is just a label, it doesn’t matter what’s it called."
"Whether I’m ’Chokata Sei’ or ’Chokata Toshisuke’, I am still me, changing a name doesn’t change who I am."
"The same goes for gender."
"I’ve posed as a boy for almost as long as I’ve openly lived as a girl. I’ve long been accustomed to this life of disguising as a male, and I don’t find anything inconvenient about it."
"I won’t say these things haven’t affected me at all... but compared to the joy of practicing swordsmanship and the delight of meeting many precious friends through it, these small negative effects are completely trivial~~!"
Having said that, Toshisuke gave Aoto a beaming smile.
Perhaps it was due to being infected by Toshisuke’s smile... or it might also be due to being touched by Toshisuke’s broad-minded outlook on life... the smile from Toshisuke’s face spread onto Aoto’s face.
The two met each other’s gaze and burst into heartfelt laughter.
Pushing open the door of Shiwei Hall and brazenly carrying Toshisuke on his back, Aoto walked up to Zhouzhu and Abi, who were still discussing what name to give their future grandson, and saw the astonished look on the elderly couple’s faces.
Once Aoto briefly described the series of encounters at Qianxun House today, the astonishment on the elderly couple’s faces turned into shock.
"To think you discovered the greatest secret of our Shiwei Hall" — after Zhouzhu said this, he went to the well in the courtyard to fetch water at Abi’s request.
Abi knew of a very effective remedy for dizziness.
Although Toshisuke’s symptoms didn’t look particularly serious, to be cautious, she decided to brew a potion with her recipe for Toshisuke.
While Zhouzhu fetched water and Abi brewed the medicine... Aoto carried Toshisuke back to her room.
After tonight, Aoto finally understood why Toshisuke strictly forbade anyone from entering her room without permission — a girl’s boudoir isn’t a place to be intruded upon recklessly.
Toshisuke’s room was a stark contrast to her bold and carefree personality.
Spotless and spotless... all those idioms used to describe tidiness could be applied to Toshisuke’s boudoir.
The tatami, walls, and desk were all scrubbed clean, and the bedding folded into a neat block lay quietly in a corner of the room.
Although Toshisuke had been chatting merrily with Aoto just a moment ago, seeming full of energy, it was obvious that someone who had just been dizzied in a bathhouse couldn’t really be brimming with vigor.
Toshisuke’s mental state had long been exhausted, so Aoto tucked her into her bedding to let her have a good rest. She nodded slightly, then closed her eyes — and in the blink of an eye, she fell asleep deeply.
In terms of mental fatigue... compared to Toshisuke, Aoto was equally weary if not more so.
But he couldn’t rest yet.
Because just as he came out of Toshisuke’s room... Kondo, Inoue, and Chiba Shigetarou returned.
Kondo and the others had successfully staged a ’medical miracle’ tonight!
Kondo and Chiba Shigetarou hurriedly carried Inoue to a nearby clinic, knocking hard on the clinic’s door, and saw an old doctor nearing his forties slowly open the door while rubbing his sleepy eyes.
This old doctor proved to be quite dedicated.
Learning that someone had fainted in the bathhouse, he immediately assumed a serious demeanor and asked Kondo and Chiba Shigetarou to quickly bring Inoue into the clinic.
With a look as if he were going to war, the doctor raised his hand and took Inoue’s pulse... and within moments, his expression changed from ’serious’ to ’puzzled.’
No matter how the old doctor examined, Inoue appeared to be in excellent health.
If this continued, the truth that Inoue was only pretending to be unconscious might be exposed... at this critical moment, Inoue Genzaburō... this veteran of Shiwei Hall, once again demonstrated his latent talent for acting!
Suddenly, this supposedly ’unconscious’ man leisurely opened his eyes and looked around with a ’confused’ expression: "Where is this...?"
Faced with the suddenly ’awakened’ Inoue, Kondo quickly approached and cooperated with Inoue to show a ’happy’ expression:

Comments

Loading...