I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The system has not yet fully resumed operation after being frozen.

The commander seemed to be terrified, his body stiff as if pierced by a thick, long wire.

His expression was blank, his mouth was half open, his eyes were unfocused and dazed, and he stared blankly at Qingdeng.

Qing Deng had been staring directly into the eyes of the commander.

But after the commander turned his upper body to the side, his gaze began to drift downwards uncontrollably...

Souji's fair skin was tinged a lovely light pink by the steam rising from the pool.

Glistening water droplets slid down her smooth black hair and her arms, which were clasped tightly in front of the bear.

Although Souji tried her best to cover herself with her arms, due to the large size difference, her slender arms could only barely cover the most important parts, and her northern and southern hemispheres "overflowed" out under the pressure of her arms.

Perhaps it was because of Aoto's downward gaze that Souji's body reacted instinctively out of shame, and her eyes began to gradually regain the light called "wisdom".

From another perspective... it might actually be better if Souji doesn't come to his senses.

Because once she came to her senses, she would have to face the reality before her.

The reality that Qing Deng discovered her true gender.

"Ah, ah wah... ah wah wah wah wah wah..."

Souji spoke incoherently, simply vibrating his vocal cords... His throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he could only make pointless "ah wah wah" sounds.

In that instant, a blush appeared on Souji's porcelain-white face at an incredible speed.

The blush was initially a pale red, then in the blink of an eye turned a deep crimson that seemed ready to drip blood at any moment.

This was the first time Qing Deng had ever seen Souji's face so red.

This color wasn't produced by the steam from the bath... nor could the steam from the bathwater produce such a color.

Her flushed face, coupled with her delicate appearance of covering her chest with her arms and curling up into a ball, made her look shy and timid.

The hazy mist of the layers of water vapor veiled Souji's delicate body, giving it a soft and supple filter.

The faint steam, the gently swaying water, the blushing face of the young girl... all these scenes intertwine to create a beautiful picture, floating in the bathtub at this moment, clearly reflected in Qing Deng's eyes, and deeply engraved in the depths of Qing Deng's mind.

This magnificent scenery... Qingdeng has a confidence that it will never forget.

When Souji made a meaningless "Awaaaaaaa" sound, Qing Deng's body gradually regained control of the muscles in various parts of his body due to the stimulation of Souji's voice.

From the moment he grasped that indescribable thing in his right palm until now, Qing Deng's mind has remained a complete blank.

Various fragmented and chaotic thoughts roared and spun in Qingdeng's mind.

Okita-kun is actually a girl?!

Has she always been a woman disguised as a man?

why?

How does she manage to hide something of such considerable size under normal circumstances?

……

These thoughts and questions swirled too quickly for Qingdeng to have the energy and capacity to untangle every thread of this "ball of yarn" in his mind.

The overburdened brain even briefly generated negative thoughts of "resisting the reality unfolding before it."

In any case, judging from the current situation, this is not the time for Qingdeng to slowly ponder these questions that are filling his head.

It is a confirmed fact that Souji is a girl disguised as a boy.

This grown man was staring straight at the girl's bare chest... and she wasn't even wearing any clothes at the moment. It was definitely a bad idea!

After regaining effective control over his body parts, Qingdeng immediately raised his gaze rapidly as if by instinct, staring intently at the ceiling above him, not daring to look anywhere else.

"I'm...sorry..."

An apology, as if uttered in a dream, slipped out.

Qing Deng's apology contained a great deal of meaning.

I apologize for inadvertently discovering Souji's true gender...

He apologized for accidentally grabbing a part of his body that should never be touched by strangers...

I apologize for glancing around distractedly earlier...

Aoto's apology further restored the clarity in Souji's eyes.

At the same time, the blush on Souji's face became even redder.

Whoosh—!

The quick turn caused the pool water to ripple and splash.

Once he had fully regained his senses, Souji stopped yelling and abruptly turned around, changing his sideways posture, which had only shown half of his face to Aoto, back to his original posture of having his back to Aoto.

The body, which was already clenched, clenched even tighter.

She almost screamed from the intense shame that filled her heart, but just before the scream was about to burst out of her throat, she suddenly remembered that Kondo and the others were still in the bathroom outside Shiliukou. With her willpower and perseverance, she swallowed the scream back down at the last second.

The frozen time finally resumed its normal flow as Qing Deng and Souji gradually "awakened" from their slumber.

In this situation, neither Aoto nor Souji knew what to say or do.

An awkward, suffocating atmosphere brewed and rapidly escalated between the two.

Qingdeng racked his brains trying to figure out a way to get out of this awkward situation.

However, his brain had only just begun to function normally again, and at that moment he felt completely blank... unable to think of any good way to get out of his current predicament.

The commander's silence and inaction made things even more difficult for Qing Deng, who was at a loss for what to do.

Just then, good news and bad news came at the same time to Aoto and Souji.

Harada: "Let's go! Let's go take a nice, relaxing bath together!"

Outside Shiliukou, Harada's loud voice and the sound of hurried footsteps approaching the bathhouse could be heard.

The good news is that Kondo and the others are going to the bathhouse.

Their voices jolted Aoto and Souji awake, and their footsteps dispelled the awkward atmosphere between them like the wind.

The bad news is that Kondo and the others are going into the bathhouse...

"Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Souji's face instantly filled with terror and panic. She stamped her feet in desperation. "I can't let Nagakura-kun, Saito-kun, Harada-kun find out that I'm a girl...!"

Souji looked around helplessly, like a poor little puppy abandoned by its owner, searching for a place to hide.

However, in a bathhouse that contains nothing but water and steam, where could one possibly hide a living person like Souji?

Although it's unclear why Souji has been hiding her true gender and disguising herself as a man until now... the helpless expression she's currently displaying tells Aoto that she has a secret she desperately doesn't want to reveal her true gender to the public.

Seeing this, Qingdeng gritted his teeth.

In that instant, as if by reflex, he made up his mind quickly—he raised his hand and grabbed the commander's right wrist.

“Okita-kun… ah, no, Okita-san, come with me.”

"Hey? Where are you going?"

Ignoring Souji's helplessness, Qing Deng pulled Souji to the bath and then, with his back to Souji, used his back to push Souji into the corner of the bath.

"Lower your body and curl up a little."

Qing Deng lowered his voice and whispered to the commander behind him.

"I'll shield you with my body, so you can hide behind me."

Upon hearing this, the commander immediately understood what Qing Deng was trying to do, and immediately did as she was told, squeezing her arms and legs together like a baby in a pregnant woman's womb, compressing her body to the extreme.

Souji's body was already petite, and after she tucked her arms and legs in as much as possible, Aoto's strong body was just enough to cover her entire delicate body.

With Aoto's cover, Souji hid in the narrow gap between Aoto's body and the corner of the bathtub.

Just as Souji had hidden behind Qingdeng, a series of figures that were very familiar to Qingdeng and Souji swaggered through Shiliukou and stepped into the bath.

"Huh? Isn't this Mr. Tachibana?"

As soon as he entered the bathhouse, Harada spotted Aoto. He clenched his hands into palms and placed them over his eyes, gazing at Aoto, who was sitting cross-legged in the corner of the bathhouse "alone".

At this very moment... the talented "con artist" has made a great contribution!

"Huh? What brings you here?"

Aoto greeted Kondo and the others with a normal expression.

"We just went to catch rats..." Kondo succinctly recounted the entire process of how they had just killed the rats at the dojo.

“I see…” Qingdeng nodded, then gave a slight smile. “You’ve arrived just in time. If you’d come any later, Chihiro’s House would have closed.”

"Tachibana-kun, why are you taking a shower so late today?"

As Nagakura stepped into the pool, he cast a questioning glance at Aoto.

"I sat on the veranda in the courtyard all night thinking about swordsmanship. Before I knew it, I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I only just realized I hadn't taken a bath."

The lie told by Qing Deng was flawless.

To leave the Shieikan (Test Guard Hall), one must pass through a corridor adjacent to the courtyard.

So, in order to be able to hear the sound of Souji going to the bathhouse as soon as possible, Aoto waited patiently on the veranda of the courtyard all night.

He insisted that the reason he had stayed on the veranda of the courtyard all night was to contemplate swordsmanship, so Kondo and the others had no way to refute him.

As expected—after hearing Aoto's explanation, Kondo and his group no longer suspected anything and were no longer puzzled as to why Aoto, who usually bathed very early, would visit the bathhouse so unusually late at night.

Like penguins diving, they leaped one after another into the pool water, which was still at a comfortable temperature, and then sat together in a circle.

"Tachibana-kun." Hijikata waved to Aoto. "Why are you sitting so far away? Sit closer and let's chat together."

Sitting alone in the corner of the bath, Aoto looked so out of place and so out of place compared to Kondo and the others who were sitting in a circle.

"I'll be fine sitting here."

Qingdeng replied without hesitation.

"You know Hijikata, when I take a bath I like to sit in the corner, leaning against the corner between two walls, it's indescribably comfortable."

Qingdeng's statement... is half true and half false.

He really does like to sit in the corner of the bathtub when he takes a bath.