But very obviously—no one paid attention to her opinion at all.
Early this morning, the always disciplined Aoto was practicing his sword skills in the dojo as usual.
Also early this morning, Mr. Tachibana’s sister, Chokata Mitsuo, and brother-in-law, Chokata Rintaro, unsurprisingly visited Shiwei Hall once again.
Ever since coming to Edo for the upcoming Kondo wedding, the Chokata couple has almost visited Shiwei Hall every day.
As an Inner Disciple, Toshisuke has lived at Shiwei Hall for seven years, and Zhouzhu and Kondo already see Toshisuke as their half-daughter, half-sister.
Thanks to Toshisuke, the relationship between the Kondo family and the Chokata family has always been good. Moreover, Chokata Mitsuo is very respectful and has a knack for dealing with people, so the Kondo family always warmly welcomes the Chokata couple, enjoying their chats.
Today, Chokata Mitsuo, who came to visit Shiwei Hall again, naturally quickly found out about Toshisuke’s incident at Qianxun House last night.
So, quite naturally—she hurriedly took her husband and rushed to Toshisuke’s room to visit this little sister who constantly worries her.
Shiwei Hall, Toshisuke’s room—
"Fainting in the bathhouse...when did my little sister become so foolish?"
Chokata Mitsuo, kneeling properly by Toshisuke’s bedside, half-closed her eyes, looking at Toshisuke sitting cross-legged on the bedding with a gaze as if looking at a fool.
"Ahahaha..."
Toshisuke, with a dry laugh, reached her left hand behind her head and smoothed her little ponytail.
"Everyone has unexpected mishaps once in a while..."
"So what exactly happened to you last night? Did you accidentally fall asleep in the bath?"
Chokata Mitsuo pressed on relentlessly with her questioning.
"There wasn’t anything special..."
Toshisuke replied vaguely.
"I just felt so comfortable bathing last night that I unintentionally stayed in the bath for too long. It didn’t feel too bad when I just came out of the bath, but I felt dizzier after returning to Shiwei Hall... But don’t worry, elder sister, I’ve fully recovered!"
Saying this, Toshisuke, with a wide smile, raised her arms like a gorilla.
"..." Chokata Mitsuo, silently, with a sharp gaze like a blade, stared directly into Toshisuke’s eyes.
Being stared at like this by an older sister she revered, Toshisuke couldn’t help but feel a bit cowardly inside.
To prevent Chokata Mitsuo from discovering her guilty conscience, Toshisuke had to muster her spirit, keeping a smile on her face while bravely maintaining eye contact with Chokata Mitsuo.
Although Toshisuke seemed quite carefree last night, quickly recovering her mood and chatting away with Aoto on his back, that was just her nature.
Since Mr. Tachibana discovered her true female identity, there was nothing she could do but accept the fact and move forward—that’s just how Toshisuke is.
So optimistic and broad-minded.
But in the end, Toshisuke is still a girl, and she does have a girl’s modesty and sense of shame!
Regarding what exactly happened in the bathhouse last night... Toshisuke would die rather than tell anyone! Including her own sister!
Being naked with Aoto, also naked, in the men’s bath, having to hide behind Aoto’s back to avoid Nagakura and others, and finally being dragged by Aoto out of the bath due to fainting, dressed by him, and carried back to Shiwei Hall—during which her private parts were accidentally used as a grab hold by Aoto... All these things, Toshisuke would die of embarrassment before speaking of!
Toshisuke is just optimistic and broad-minded, not heartless.
So, last night, she made a private agreement with Aoto: everything that happened that night in Qianxun House is their shared secret and must not be told to anyone!
As for such an agreement... Aoto couldn’t be more thankful.
Although what happened that night with Toshisuke, such as "accidentally grabbing a ball," "helping Toshisuke get dressed," were either accidental or out of necessity, there’s no denying—he indeed committed many acts that, whether viewed by the standards of this era or scrutinized by modern values, would warrant Toshisuke drawing her sword to chase him.
Toshisuke’s generous and forgiving nature in pardoning Aoto for these acts filled Aoto with gratitude and relief.
If Toshisuke really decided to draw her sword and chase him without holding anything back, Aoto might not be able to face a Toshisuke whose reason is destroyed by shame...free
Not to mention the serious reason of not wanting Toshisuke’s true gender exposed, thus ruining her reputation, just the gratitude for not being chased by her with a drawn sword compelled Aoto to keep everything that happened that night a secret.
By the way—Kondo and others did not inquire in detail about how Aoto alone brought Toshisuke back to Shiwei Hall last night.
They are not lacking intelligence, after all... They surely understand that a man single-handedly bringing a completely unclothed girl from Qianxun House to Shiwei Hall would inevitably involve some awkward contact.
So, they tactfully didn’t discuss in detail with Aoto and Toshisuke how they returned to Shiwei Hall last night.
However, they did probe into why Aoto and Toshisuke were bathing together in the men’s bath.

Comments

Loading...