I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The last person to speak was Souji.

"Hello there, Elodie!" Souji waved to Elodie with a beaming smile. "It's been a long time!"

"Ah, Mr. Okita!" Elodie skipped excitedly to Souji, whom she got along very well with. "Mr. Okita, it's been so long! How have you been lately?"

"I've been living the same old life lately," Souji said with a grin, "eating, sleeping, practicing swordsmanship, over and over again."

Elodie's first formal meeting with Kondo and the others... was a perfect one, both in terms of process and outcome.

As the saying goes, one cannot hit a smiling face—especially when that smiling face is a young girl at the tender age of innocence.

Elodie's poise and refined manners gave Kondo and his group a very good initial impression of this blonde loli.

The atmosphere was very harmonious, which made Qingdeng very gratified.

"Alright! Alright!"

At that moment, Harada, the organizer of tonight's outing, clapped his hands vigorously a few times.

"Now that everyone's here, let's hurry up and go! There's still a good amount of time before the fireworks show starts, so let's quickly check if there's anything good to eat or fun to do around here!"

Harada's suggestion was unanimously approved by everyone.

……

……

At this very moment—

Edo, Ryogoku Bridge, somewhere—

"Ms. Kinoshita, take care."

"Yes! Goodbye, Mr. Shenqi!"

Kinoshita Mai bowed nearly 90 degrees to Jinjiro in front of her, and then, with Jinjiro watching her go, she carried the rat-removal tools she had successfully retrieved and embarked on her journey home.

Despite trying my best to go to less crowded places, at this time and in this place, the so-called "less crowded places" simply do not exist.

"The fireworks display tonight is still very lively..."

Kinoshita Mai scanned the dense crowd around her, secretly marveling.

The bustling crowd before her eyes reminded Kinoshita Mai of the wonderful moments she and Aoto had shared the previous night when they visited this place together.

A silly, cheerful smile gradually appeared on Kinoshita Maiji's cheeks as her memories unfolded.

—Let's go have fun together with Qingdeng when there are more exciting events like this!

Kinoshita Mai sang these thoughts to herself with delight as she strode across the street corner in front of her.

Then... the instant she turned into the street on her left, the silly grin on her face froze.

"Qing...Deng...?"

Kinoshita Mai stared blankly ahead, at a certain stream of people in the distance... Among this stream of people was a tall figure that she recognized very well.

It was Qingdeng, whom she had been thinking about all along.

With her excellent eyesight, Kinoshita Mai clearly saw that Aoto was walking side by side with someone.

And that person... was Okita Souji.

Due to the angle of view, Kinoshita Mai only saw Souji walking beside Aoto, and did not see Elodie, who was also walking beside Aoto...

……

……

At the same time—

Edo, Ryogoku Bridge, somewhere—

Thank you for your patronage! Welcome to visit us again!

With the shop owner personally seeing her off, Sanako strode out of the kimono shop she had visited the night before.

Sanako walked until she had left the shops and their owners far behind before she slowed down and finally stopped.

"What am I doing...?"

Sanako glanced down at what was in her arms and sighed heavily.

In Sanako's arms was a blue yukata wrapped in fine colored paper.

At this moment, Sanako's feelings were extremely complicated.

On the one hand, she felt very fortunate that the yukata had not been bought.

On the other hand, she felt so ashamed—why was I in such a hurry to buy this dress? I don't even like wearing yukatas!

“Oh well…” Sanako sighed again, “Since I’ve already bought it… I’ll just treat it as a decoration and hang it in the closet…”

Although she said that, Sanako unconsciously hugged the new clothes tighter.

Just as Sanako was preparing to head home—

"what?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of light and shadow that she could not ignore at all...

Sanako quickly turned her head to look at her.

Immediately afterwards, a look of astonishment crept into her eyes and cheeks.

She saw Qingdeng...

To be more precise, I saw Aoto walking side by side with a little girl wearing a bright yellow yukata, who was probably not even up to my waist and looked to be only 11 or 2 years old from behind, chatting and laughing.

Due to the angle of view, Sanako only saw Elodie walking beside Aoto, and did not see Souji, who was also walking beside Aoto...

*******

*******

This is the first time the four women have appeared together in this book! Congratulations!

Today's chapter is unusually long, so please give me some monthly votes!

Please vote for me! Please recommend me! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Red, blue, purple, yellow... Actually, the author didn't just randomly choose these representative colors for Kinoshita Mai and the others.

Have you noticed that the personalities of Kinoshita Mai and others match their respective representative colors very well?

So here's the question—let's guess what the representative color of the other female protagonist, Tenshōin, who has already appeared but hasn't met Aoto yet, is. (Leopard.jpg)

Chapter 243 A Sudden Battlefield! Qingdeng, in Danger! [9000]

This instant, which happened not long ago... a memory that wasn't pleasant for Kinoshita Mai, flashed quickly before her eyes.

It was a few days ago, at the victory banquet celebrating the victory over the Genbu Hall. Aoto and Souji, sitting side by side, were chatting and laughing, their behavior so intimate... This made Kinoshita Mai feel strangely uncomfortable, and she couldn't help but recall the "Shudo"—a path she knew existed but had never thought of understanding...

What are Aoto and Okita doing here? Are they here to watch the fireworks together?

Just as these questions were filling Kinoshita Mai's mind at an astonishing speed, Aoto and Souji had already walked far away and disappeared into the crowd.

Hesitation, anxiety, confusion... these emotions were mixed together in a peculiar balance and spread across Kinoshita Mai's face.

She hesitated for about three seconds—

Snap! Snap! Snap! Snap...

Going home... I can't worry about that for now!

Eager to verify something, Kinoshita Mai resolutely turned around, stomping her red-buttoned wooden clogs, and chased after the direction where Aoto and Souji had disappeared.

Although we walked very fast and in a hurry, there were just too many tourists on the road.

The dense crowd formed walls of people, hindering Kinoshita Mai.

In such an environment, even the fastest walking speed is useless.

After finally arriving at the location where Qing Deng and Souji had just been... the two of them had disappeared again.

With a blank look in her eyes, Kinoshita Mai surveyed the crowd of people around her, now devoid of any trace of Aoto or Kinoshita Mai.

Then, seemingly lost in thought, she gently bit her lip.

"Is it going in this direction...?"

She murmured this to herself as she turned to the right...

……

……

Who is that girl?

Zanako and Elodie had never met.

When Sanako saw the little girl walking beside Aoto, dressed in a strange outfit with a headscarf and a mask, she felt quite unfamiliar with her.

She didn't remember Qingdeng having a younger sister of that age.

—Is she a friend's family member? A distant relative? Or...?

Sanako herself didn't realize that her expression was slowly becoming strange...

When she came to her senses, she found that her feet had started to move forward on their own.

She chased after Qing Deng in the direction he had appeared, only to encounter the same situation as Kinoshita Mai—when she arrived at the spot where Qing Deng and the girl in yellow had just been, the two had already disappeared.

Not only did she not find Qing Deng and the girl in yellow, but she also did not find Kinoshita Mai, who was standing not far from her side—and Kinoshita Mai also did not find Sanako.

It's quite a coincidence.

Sanako not only missed out on Aoto just like Kinoshita Mai... but her subsequent actions were exactly the same as Kinoshita Mai's.

After only a moment's hesitation, Sanako, with a serious expression, looked around while clutching the blue yukata tightly to her chest, then turned to the left...

……

……

"Wow... this crowd... Hey, you all better stay close!" Qingdeng turned to remind the people behind him, "Be careful not to get separated in the crowd."