I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

However, she couldn't control the seating arrangement, and because she had "social anxiety," she didn't have the courage to ask to change seats, so she could only make do and sit diagonally opposite Qingdeng.

This location does have an advantage—Kinoshita Mai can see everything that Aoto does.

After the celebration banquet began, Kinoshita Mai focused most of her attention on Aoto.

Therefore... all of Aoto and Souji's interactions just now were clearly seen by Kinoshita Mai.

Kinoshita Mai knew that Aoto and Souji were very close.

But it's unclear whether it was just her imagination.

She felt that the interaction between the two of them was... a little too intimate...

Because they were quite a distance apart and the banquet was very noisy, Kinoshita Mai couldn't hear what Aoto and Souji were talking about.

All she saw was Souji giving Aoto a bright, cheerful smile and casting an unreadable glance at him.

Aoto, whose eyes met Souji's, slowly revealed a gentle smile.

Although it could be explained away by the fact that "the two of them have always had a good relationship"... Kinoshita Mai just had a strange feeling of unease and restlessness...

At that moment, a particularly terrifying thought surfaced in Kinoshita Mai's mind...

—I don't think so...?

In an instant, Kinoshita Mai's face turned pale.

Although she was inexperienced in the ways of the world and, due to her naturally shy nature, didn't know much about matters between men and women, Kinoshita Mai did know what "the way of men" was...

Since the Warring States period three hundred years ago, various schools of thought have been very popular among warrior families.

Both Aoto and Okita were samurai...

The two had been living under the same roof for a long time...

Both of them were very handsome, and Souji was an especially beautiful young man with a touch of feminine softness in his appearance...

……

—Impossible…impossible…!

Kinoshita Mai shook her head violently from side to side like a cat that had just crawled out of the water, trying to "shake" these terrifying thoughts out of her brain.

"Young Master, what's wrong?"

Kiryu, sitting next to Kinoshita Mai, asked in confusion.

Kinoshita Mai ignored Kiryu.

She took several deep breaths to calm herself down.

But I simply couldn't calm myself down...

Kinoshita Mai felt as if a heavy weight was hanging over her heart, and her body was being pulled downwards...

She couldn't help but cast a complex, meaningful glance at Qingdeng...

……

……

Edo, on a street leading back to Shieikan—

Nagakura: "Ugh...!"

Hijikata: "Hey! Don't you dare vomit! If you vomit on me, I'll use you as a test subject for my knife!"

Harada: "Look at Nagakura... hiccup...! He's only had a little bit of alcohol... hiccup...! And he's already this drunk... He's really terrible!"

Inoue: "Your alcohol tolerance doesn't seem to be much higher than Nagakura-kun's..."

Harada: "Who said that! I can drink a lot! Even if you give me Russian liquor, I won't get drunk!"

"Quiet down, all of you...!" Zhou Zhu said helplessly. "Don't you even know what time it is? Stop making such a racket and disturbing the peace."

It's currently around 9 PM.

The lively celebration banquet has just ended.

The banquet ended, and everyone went home.

Because they were making such a ruckus, everyone, led by Yongcang, got extremely drunk.

Yongcang immediately lost consciousness.

Harada is talking nonsense.

Kondo and Hijikata were walking unsteadily.

Although Souji didn't get completely drunk because Aoto took his wine glass away in time, he was still in a semi-dazed state and needed someone to help him walk steadily.

The inn where Okita Hikaru and his wife were staying was located near the Shieikan. Therefore, Okita Hikaru and his wife, who were returning to the inn, and Aoto and the others who were returning to the Shieikan traveled together, and the task of helping Souji naturally fell to Okita Hikaru.

Only Aoto, who adhered to the principle of "never getting drunk when drinking," and a few others like Saito and Inoue remained sober.

Just like Hijikata, who was responsible for helping Nagakura, Aoto also had a task at hand right now—he was responsible for keeping an eye on Harada, who was clearly quite drunk but insisted that he wasn't drunk and kept talking nonsense and behaving strangely.

Just now, Harada, who thought he was walking on a straight road but was actually walking on a slope, almost fell into the drainage ditch on the side of the street. If we don't keep a close eye on him, who knows what strange things he might do next.

"Uh...right..."

At this moment, Harada suddenly turned his face and spoke to the men around him.

"I almost... forgot to mention..."

"What are you trying to say now?" Qing Deng smacked his lips.

From the moment he left the restaurant, Harada's mouth never stopped.

"The fireworks festival is about to start... Uh... Shall we... go watch the fireworks together?"

"A fireworks display?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

Kondo and the others, drawn by Harada's words, all turned their attention to him.

"An annual grand event... it would be such a shame to miss it..."

Perhaps because he was talking about something that interested him, Harada's tongue became much smoother.

"If we're going to attend such a grand event... it'll be more interesting if there are a lot of people and it's lively... What do you think?"

Harada rolled his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Aoto, Souji, and the others.

"Want to go watch the fireworks together at this year's fireworks festival?"

"A fireworks display...?" Kondo muttered, then grinned. "I have no objection."

"A bunch of grown men going to watch fireworks... well, I don't mind," Hijikata said casually. "But I have plans for the 23rd and 24th, so I won't have time until the 25th."

No sooner had Tsuchikata finished speaking than Aoto immediately chimed in.

"Me too. I have plans for the 23rd and 24th, and I won't have time until the 25th."

On the 23rd, I'm going on a date with Kinoshita Mai, and on the 24th, I'm going to perform swordplay with Sanako and Chiba Jutaro at the fireworks festival.

The schedule for the two days leading up to the fireworks display was already packed.

"Haha, all the guests of Shieikan are going to the fireworks festival together... That seems quite interesting." Inoue smiled gently. "But let's talk about this in detail later... after Souji and Nagakura have sobered up."

After saying that, Inoue glanced with a wry smile at Souji and Nagakura beside him, one of whom was half-conscious and the other completely unconscious.

These two are so drunk they can't possibly talk business—that's the implication in Inoue's glance.

“Uh…you’re right…” Harada scratched his head vigorously. “Let’s talk about this in detail later…”

After that, whether it was because he was tired or what, Harada, who had been chattering incessantly all the way, finally quieted down.

With Harada's silence, the noisy group immediately quieted down.

Before they knew it, they had entered the territory of Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi-cho.

As they climbed the steep slope where the Shiwei Hall was located, the square, dark silhouette of the Shiwei Hall quietly came into view.

"Ok?"

Suddenly, Inoue murmured in confusion.

"Is someone at the gate...?"

Upon hearing Inoue's words, everyone immediately looked up towards the gate of the Shieikan.

Outside the gate of the Shiwei Hall, there were indeed several blurry dark figures.

With his innate ability to see clearly even in the dark, Qingdeng was the first to identify the figures.

"Eh?"

Qingdeng let out a surprised murmur.

"Lord Arima...?"

Arima, who was accompanied by attendants carrying boxes and guns, turned his gaze upon hearing the sound.

"Oh, oh." Arima breathed a sigh of relief. "Tachibana-kun, what a coincidence!"

……

……

Test Guard Hall, Living Room —

"Mr. Arima, please have some tea."

"Thank you."

Arima politely bowed to thank Abi for handing him hot tea.

After bowing to Arima in return, Abi carried the tea tray out of the hall, giving Aoto and Arima room to talk.

With Abi's departure, only Aoto and Arima remained in the fairly spacious hall.

Because he has been recuperating at home, Aoto has had far fewer opportunities to meet with his three elders, Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama.

Qing Deng first exchanged warm greetings with Arima, whom he hadn't seen for some time, and then seized the opportunity to get straight to the point, asking Arima why he had come to visit so late at night.

“...Tachibana-kun”.

Arima let out a short sigh, overwhelmed with mixed feelings.