The gazes of the two girls collided and intertwined in mid-air...
At the very moment her gaze met Sazanoko’s, Mukiwa instinctively wanted to look away.
But suddenly, as if she remembered something, she forcibly suppressed the fear in her heart, took a deep breath with a "ha", then tensed all her muscles, widened her eyes, and stared back at Sazanoko without yielding an inch.
—Who is this child...?
A doubtful shadow furrowed Sazanoko’s brows, and after her consciousness looped through the "sea of memory", she finally recalled who this very familiar-looking cute girl was.
—This child... is the girl in red who previously assisted Mr. Tachibana against the Anti-foreigner Group...
The scenes of her first encounter with Mukiwa in the settlement devoured by fire flashed swiftly before Sazanoko’s eyes.
—On closer look... this kid is indeed very cute.
Sazanoko blinked a few times, left this bland comment in her heart, then slowly withdrew her gaze, voluntarily ending the stare-off with Mukiwa.
Seeing Sazanoko look away first, a pure joy surfaced on Mukiwa’s cute face.
—I won! Yay! \(≥▽≤)/
Even though there was no "staring contest" with Sazanoko, and Sazanoko’s voluntary avoidance meant nothing, Mukiwa inexplicably felt very happy, as if she had won a great victory.
Shiwei Hall, second floor, in front of Toshisuke’s room—
"Miss Chokata, have you not changed your clothes yet?"free
Aoto stood in front of Toshisuke’s room, shouting loudly towards the interior.
"Hurry up! The master and the others are urging us! If we dawdle too long, we might miss the competition!"
"Coming, coming!"
Thud thud thud... the sound of tatami mats being stomped rapidly came from behind the room door.
A moment later, with a "whoosh" as the sliding door was pushed open, a swaying and swinging slender ponytail appeared in front of Aoto, moving with its owner’s steps.
An elegant high ponytail that reached the shoulders, a purple satin ribbon tying the hair, a white kimono, a light purple hakama, and a radiant smile as bright as the sun...an outfit too familiar to be unfamiliar, a smile too familiar to recall afresh.
"I’m dressed! Let’s go!"
While saying this, Toshisuke waddled past Aoto with an adorable penguin-like wobbling that made the ponytail on the back of her head sway side to side, heading straight for the entrance of Shiwei Hall on the first floor.
It is now 9:10... leaving now would give just enough time to reach the competition venue without being late and have ample warming-up time.
"... Miss Chokata."
Aoto has now become adept at switching between "Mr. Chokata" and "Miss Chokata."
He calls Toshisuke "Mr. Chokata" in public, and switches to "Miss Chokata" when no one else is around.
"Hmm? What’s up?" Toshisuke turned her face, casting a straightforward look at Aoto that said, "If you have something to say, say it quickly."
"I’ve noticed you’ve been in a really good mood lately."
Watching Toshisuke’s lively, bouncing footsteps, Aoto continued.
"Did something good happen to you recently?"
Recently, for some reason, Toshisuke suddenly changed from a spiritless, wall-bumping state to constantly wearing a warm, bright smile, radiating a good mood that’s visible to anyone.
Perhaps because of this good mood, Toshisuke has been in excellent condition recently.
Every day’s swordsmanship practice, focused and earnest, as if she had inexhaustible energy, practicing a whole day without feeling tired.
Such excellent condition left Zhouzhu, who always maintained strict standards in the practice of swordsmanship, dumbfounded.
Aoto turned his head to recall carefully—it seemed to start from five days ago... the night he discovered Toshisuke’s female identity, her mood inexplicably improved dramatically.
The only explanation Aoto could think of for this was that Toshisuke had encountered some great good fortune lately.
"Hehe~~"
To Aoto’s sudden inquiry, Toshisuke let out a peculiar laugh.
Then, with a leisurely demeanor, she responded in a teasing tone,
"I indeed encountered something good recently... but I’m not telling you what it is~~"
Finishing her words, she mischievously closed one eye, placed her right index finger against her rosy lips, eyes sparkling with childlike cunning.
Seeing Toshisuke’s mischievous and joyful expression, Aoto couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.
"Miss Chokata, you really are good at teasing... Could it be that your sister finally agreed to let you continue exploring Sword Dao?"
The first half of his sentence was an exasperated sigh, the latter half a probing inquiry.
The only possibility Aoto could think of that could make Toshisuke this cheerful every day was that her conflict with her sister had finally been resolved.
However, he barely finished speaking when Toshisuke retorted,
"Not at all. I know my sister’s character best, she’s not one to change her mind easily."
At this point, as if recalling something, Toshisuke paused briefly before continuing,
"Speaking of which... Mr. Tachibana, do you feel something odd about my sister lately?"
"Uh? Odd? In what way?"

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