I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Everyone turned to look and saw Yongcang peeling off a complete spider web stuck to the back of his head with a look of disgust.

"There's such a huge spider web stuck to my head... I hope no spider got into my clothes..."

Nagakura crumpled the spider web into a ball, flicked it with his finger, and sent it flying into the winnowing basket containing the dead mouse. Then he focused intently on turning over his clothes, checking for any remaining spider webs or spiders that had gotten into them.

Kondo gave a wry smile and glanced at Nagakura, then turned his gaze to the others: "Everyone looks quite disheveled..."

The people climbing up and down the ceiling all looked like they had just come out of a coal mine.

His face, hands, and clothes were all covered in black dust.

Besides the dust, there were also many remnants of cobwebs stuck to his body.

My body is filthy and I feel extremely uncomfortable. Going to sleep in the room looking like this will only make the room and the bed dirty.

"How about we take another bath?" Nagakura suggested first.

"I agree!" Harada immediately voted in favor of Nagakura's proposal.

"Is Chihiro-ya still open?" Hijikata asked in return.

“Some are still open.” Inoue nodded. “Chihiro-ya is still open for business; it’s not closing time yet.”

Kondo and his group, all covered in filth, were eager to clean themselves up as quickly as possible.

With almost no discussion, everyone reached a consensus—they would all go to Chihiro's house for another bath...

……

……

Chihiro House——

My bath with Souji tonight is on a mission.

Therefore, Qingdeng didn't have the time or inclination to properly wash himself.

After giving himself a quick wash, he strode through the pomegranate-shaped opening connecting the bathtub and the shower room and entered the bathtub.

The air in the bath was filled with a thick mist.

Stepping into this place is like entering a fairyland.

Qing Deng glanced around and quickly found the figure of the chief—he was sitting in a secluded corner of the bath with his back to Shi Liukou and his knees drawn up to his chest.

Souji was submerged very deep, with his neck and below completely underwater, and his chin close to the surface.

Obscured by the pool water and mist, Souji's body beneath the surface was hazy and indistinct, like the moon reflected in water, making it difficult to discern his true appearance.

Upon hearing the sound of Qing Deng passing through the pomegranate opening, the commander quickly turned his body around, changing his orientation from having his back to the pomegranate opening to precisely having his back to Qing Deng.

Qing Deng, who was eager to question Souji, was too lazy... no, it shouldn't be called "lazy," but rather that he didn't want to spend any more energy paying attention to Souji's strange behavior at the moment.

Silently concluding that Souji was the kind of person who didn't like to be "frank" with others, Aoto strode into the bath and sat cross-legged not far from Souji, back to back.

"Okita-kun. I think you know why I've been bothering you all day... How did your talk with your sister go?"

Although Souji occasionally shows his silly side when doing arithmetic problems and in certain situations, he is generally a person of normal intelligence.

Qing Deng thought to himself: The commander must have already guessed why he had dragged him to the bathhouse to bathe together with such a forceful attitude.

Since everyone here is a reasonable person, there's no need for any beating around the bush. Qingdeng went straight to the point and stated his purpose directly.

"Ah, hahahahaha..."

The commander's tone was generally calm, and it was clear that he was mentally prepared for the question from the Qing Deng Association.

After chuckling a few times, the commander said softly:

"Tachibana-kun, you're really persistent... You even chased me all the way to the bathhouse just to ask me this question..."

"Because I'm very worried about you."

Qingdeng replied without hesitation.

“I didn’t really want to interfere too much in your family affairs... but your current state is really worrying me. You were so distracted today that you even banged your head against the wall.”

"Your negotiations with your sister... haven't gone very smoothly?"

"..." Souji fell silent.

Qing Deng was not in a hurry and waited patiently for the commander's reply.

Time slipped away, bit by bit...

After a long while, Qing Deng finally heard the General's soft murmur behind him.

"...Um...it's not going well."

"The day after you discovered that my sister was forcing me to give up swordsmanship, I went to see my sister and had a serious talk with her."

"I really tried everything I could to convince my sister."

"To impress my sister, I almost stripped naked and performed a full-naked kneeling ceremony for her."

In Japanese culture, taking off one's clothes signifies that "I am true to myself and have no ulterior motives."

"But no matter what I say or do, my sister just won't listen to me..."

"Her determination to 'want me to give up swordsmanship' was just as firm as my determination to 'not give up swordsmanship'."

"Neither of us is willing to back down... We're having a really unpleasant argument right now..."

The commander's tone was filled with frustration and disappointment.

“…Okita-kun, actually…you don’t need to pay too much attention to your sister’s opinions, do you?”

Qing Deng couldn't help but say.

"You are you, and she is she."

"Since you don't want to give up swordsmanship and want to continue to study it at the Swordsmanship Training Hall, then just ignore her and stick to your own opinion."

"No matter how much your sister opposes you learning swordsmanship... does she really have a way to bind your hands and feet so that you can never hold a sword again?"

Splash...

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, he heard the sound of the pool water being splashed behind him—it was the sound of Souji holding his legs even tighter.

"That's true..."

Souji lowered his head even further, his nose almost touching the water's surface.

"But if possible... I want this incident to end in a way that satisfies everyone..."

“My father passed away when I was less than a year old.”

"Not many years later, my mother also passed away and was reborn in the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss."

"I was raised by my eldest sister, who was an orphan."

"To me, she is both my older sister and the mother who raised me..."

“I could indeed ignore my sister’s opinion and stubbornly continue to stay in the Shieikan to study swordsmanship.”

At this point, Souji let out a few dry laughs, his voice filled with bitterness.

"But if I do that, my sister will definitely be sad..."

"I...don't want my sister to be unhappy..."

Souji's parents died early, and he was raised by his two older sisters... mainly by Okita Hikaru—Aoto had previously heard about this briefly from Kondo and Hijikata.

Although he knew the specifics of Souji's relationship with his sister, Aoto underestimated Souji's feelings for his sister.

"Oh, I see... I'm sorry, I made a stupid suggestion."

"fine."

The commander shook his head gently with a faint smile.

"Next... I plan to continue trying to persuade my sister."

Even a drop of water can wear away a stone.

"If I consistently demonstrate my sincerity and determination to 'never lay down my sword' to my sister, I might be able to move her."

The commander's voice carried an optimistic smile.

Infected by the laughter in Souji's voice, Aoto smiled faintly.

Knowing the outcome of Souji's negotiations with his sister, a question in his mind was answered... but soon, a brand new question arose in Qing Deng's mind.

The scenes of Souji trying various methods to avoid him all day flashed quickly before Qing Deng's eyes.

"Okita-kun, why have you been avoiding me all day?"

Qingdeng quickly presented his new question.

"Even if your negotiations with your sister didn't go well and the outcome is something you can't tell me, you don't need to keep avoiding me all day, do you?"

"Um... well, this..."

I wonder if it's just Qingdeng's imagination.

He had a feeling that there was a subtle tension in the commander's voice just now.

Because Aoto was sitting back-to-back with Souji, he didn't notice that Souji behind him was lowering his already drooping head even further, as if he wanted to bury his entire face in the water.

He secretly turned his head and glanced back. The moment his gaze fell on Qing Deng's figure, he immediately looked away as if he had been electrocuted, focusing his attention back on the water in front of his chest.

The moment the commander withdrew his gaze, a faint blush rose to his cheeks.

Outsiders seeing Souji's red face might think that he had been soaking in the bath for too long, and that his face had turned red from the heat of the bath.

But only Souji himself knew that the blush on his face... was not from the steam in the bath.

"The reason I've been avoiding you all day... isn't because of the outcome of my negotiations with my sister, or because I find it difficult to tell you..."

"Hmm? Why is that?"

"Um...this..."

The blush on the commander's face spread.

"This...I can't tell you right now..."

"It's because it's inconvenient for me to tell you again..."