I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"I visited this place with Qingdeng the day before yesterday! I thought the fireworks were the same every day at the event, but today's fireworks seem to be more colorful than the ones I saw the day before yesterday."

After saying that, Kinoshita Mai glanced sideways at Sanako beside her.

At that moment, a hint of mischievous smugness appeared on Kinoshita Mai's upturned lips.

—Hmph hmph hmph~~

After letting out a smug laugh in her heart, Kinoshita Mai subtly shifted her feet, moving closer to Aoto.

In reality, all those words were deliberately spoken loudly by Kinoshita Mai.

So that Sanako could hear it!

All for the sake of gaining some confidence in front of Sanako!

Kinoshita Mai has always felt inferior in front of Sanako.

Whether it's looks, figure, temperament, knowledge, or refinement... Although she hates to admit it, Kinoshita Mai has to face the fact that in these aspects that are fatally attractive to men, she is inferior to Sanako in every way...

If it were just that these personal qualities were inferior to Sanako's, then that would be fine.

However, what's really problematic is that Sanako and Aoto are actually very close.

She knew that after being discharged from Renyitang Hospital, Qingdeng had been frequently visiting Xiaoqianye Sword Hall.

Although Aoto's reason for visiting was to see his pet cow... it still made Kinoshita Mai feel a great sense of crisis!

This sense of crisis, like standing atop a precarious, hundred-foot-high building, made Kinoshita Mai desperately want to do something... she had to do something!

And now.

With both Aoto and Sanako present, it's a perfect opportunity to "do something"!

Xiang Zhuang's sword dance was aimed at Liu Bang's dance under the tree. After standing closer to Qing Deng, she puffed out her chest even higher, and raised her delicate nose along with it.

—How about it? Qingdeng and I have been to such a beautiful event together! Have you? Have you? Hehehe~~

As Kinoshita Mai was happily laughing like that, Aoto—

"..."

Not uttering a word... Correction: It means they dared not speak.

Although he was still looking at the night sky, which was decorated with colorful fireworks, his eyes could no longer process any information from the outside world.

Kinoshita Mai's sudden statement to "assert sovereignty" instantly put Aoto, who had just been reassuring himself that "nothing will happen," into a state of mind as if he were preparing for a life-or-death battle with some powerful enemy, one that he might die from.

The muscles and nerves throughout the body are tense.

Goosebumps rose one after another from my skin, and fine beads of cold sweat seeped from my forehead, back, and other parts of my body.

It's a little embarrassing to admit—Qingdeng really wishes time could just stop right now.

But clearly, the world will not respond to Qing Deng's absurd vision.

"...I see."

Sanako... spoke...

"You, Tachibana-kun, attended the fireworks display with Ms. Kinoshita the night before, huh..."

She said this in a low voice while turning her pretty face to the side.

With a blank expression... no, with a bizarre look as if "all expressions had disappeared," he gave Qing Deng a long, sweeping gaze.

The emotions hidden in his eyes are unfathomable.

Aoto trembled slightly upon sensing Sanako's gaze.

In Sanako's emotionless words, Aoto clearly sensed something called "crisis" rushing towards him.

Despite facing an unexpected "encounter battle," Qing Deng still wants to try to put up a fight.

However, before he could say or do anything, a new surprise occurred—Sanako suddenly noticed Kinoshita Mai's expression at that moment.

Sanako doesn't have mind-reading abilities, so naturally she doesn't know what Kinoshita Mai is thinking right now.

However, for some reason, Sanako felt... very unhappy after seeing Kinoshita Mai's pretty face, which was full of smiles.

Extremely displeased!

Displeasure caused her delicate eyebrows to furrow unconsciously.

Just then, quite suddenly, Elodie turned her innocent gaze to Zanako.

"Hmm? Miss Chiba, the paper bag in your arms is a little loose!"

Upon hearing Elodie's words, Sanako quickly looked down—indeed, the paper bag was slightly loose, and a corner of her yukata was sticking out.

As Sanako tucked the corner of her yukata that was hanging out of the paper bag back in and rewrapped the bag tightly, Elodie suddenly praised her with shining eyes:

"What a beautiful yukata! Ms. Chiba, you just said you came here to buy something. Could it be that you came here just to buy this yukata?"

"..."

Sanako's slender fingers, which were arranging the paper bags, suddenly stopped.

She looked thoughtful, like a scholar pondering a difficult problem, gazing at the yukata in her hands, indifferent and unmoved.

This pose was maintained for a long time, and finally—

"Yes. This is the yukata I rented from a kimono shop nearby last night when I came to the fireworks festival with Tachibana-kun. I thought it looked pretty good, so I came here tonight to buy it."

He uttered these words in a precise tone, causing the surrounding atmosphere to change abruptly once again.

crisis.

It's bubbling and boiling...

Realizing that things were taking another sharp turn for the worse, Qingdeng felt that not only were the sounds fading away, but the colors were also slowly disappearing from the surrounding space.

The air around me seemed to have solidified into liquid, making it feel exceptionally heavy.

This small space seemed to be cut off from the outside world, becoming an independent little space.

"Eh?"

Mai Kinoshita... was stunned...

The radiant smile that had been gracing her pretty face since earlier froze and gradually disappeared.

Souji was also stunned.

Although the "dullness" that Souji is showing at this moment is not the same as the "dullness" that Kinoshita Mai is showing now, Souji's mind and eyes have indeed entered a momentary state of stagnation and blankness.

Immediately afterwards… she instinctively stepped back, creating distance between herself and Aoto, Kinoshita Mai, and Sanako…

Elodie, on the other hand, still wore her childlike and innocent bright smile.

All I heard was her teasing remark to her beloved master:

"Master, so you've been watching fireworks with different girls these past few days? No wonder you seemed so distracted when you were with us today; you've already been to the fireworks festival twice!"

Elodie's unintentional remark only added fuel to the already raging fire.

If he could, Qingdeng really wanted to yell at Elodie right now: "My little ancestor! Please stop talking!"

After teasing Qingdeng, Elodie indeed remained silent, just as Qingdeng had hoped.

However... the person she was talking to had changed to Kinoshita Mai.

"Ah, hahaha..."

A dry laugh, like the rubbing of firewood, escaped from Kinoshita Mai's lips.

"Miss Chiba, you... have you also come to the fireworks festival with Aoto before...?"

Kinoshita Mai looked up and met the gaze of Sanako, who was a head taller than her.

Her large eyes seemed to reveal endless melancholy and anxiety.

This act of staring intently into Sanako's eyes seemed to be searching for something called "hope" within them.

"……Um."

Sanako hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.

"Oh, I see..."

Her gaze fell straight down... Kinoshita Mai lowered her head and eyes as if trying to escape, staring unblinkingly at the ground in front of her toes, her two small hands folded in front of her, tightly clutching the fabric of her yukata in front of her legs.

……

*Whoosh—smack!* *Whoosh—smack!* *Whoosh—smack!*

……

The fireworks are still going off... or rather, the fireworks display is now reaching its climax.

But apart from the innocent Elodie, no one else had the leisure to appreciate the dazzling fireworks overhead.

Even the vibrant colors of the fireworks couldn't bring back the bright colors to everyone's faces... especially Kinoshita Mai's.

The increasingly loud and frequent explosions of fireworks contrasted sharply with the deathly silence surrounding everyone.

At this moment, everyone remains silent, each with their own thoughts and feelings.

For example, Sanako is currently feeling frustrated.

She pursed her lips, scolding herself irritably:

—Tsk…Why should I get angry with a kid like that…

Just now, when Elodie asked if she had come here to buy this blue yukata, Sanako had only intended to give a casual answer.

But somehow, even though the words of deception were already on the tip of his tongue, he just couldn't bring himself to say them.

At the same time, Kinoshita Mai's smile, which was tinged with a hint of smugness, kept flashing through Sanako's mind.

And then... my lips, tongue, and consciousness briefly "went out of control".

When she came to her senses, the words that made Kinoshita Mai's smile disappear and caused the atmosphere around her to change abruptly came out.

Sanako is a full seven years older than Kinoshita Mai.

In Sanako's eyes, Kinoshita Mai is just a young girl.

Given his long-cultivated good manners and consistent tolerance towards the young, he should not have acted in such a way that is so unbecoming of an elder.