I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"I see..."

"..."

"..."

Silence descended between Aoto and Souji.

—Oh right… I almost forgot, there's still Ms. Okita's matter that urgently needs to be resolved…

Last night, the young couple embraced and poured out their hearts to each other... Such a romantic scene was ruined by Souji's sudden falling asleep.

They expressed their mutual liking for each other, but did not discuss further what they should do next.

Should we continue the relationship?

Or... will this cause the friendship between the two sides to deteriorate?

Judging from Souji's current shy reaction, where she doesn't even dare to look Aoto in the eye... she must remember the beautiful scenery of last night.

This made Qing Deng secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

After all, Souji was very drunk last night, and the possibility that her memory was wiped out after she woke up cannot be ruled out.

If that's the case, then Qingdeng will truly be left speechless with despair.

Fortunately, this did not happen.

Qingdeng, who has always detested procrastination and prefers to act decisively, found it unbearable that his relationship with someone... especially with the girl he liked, was in a state of uncertainty.

Therefore, he wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with Souji as soon as possible, to discuss their...future.

So, Qing Deng cleared his throat:

“Okita-kun, um…”

"Tachibana-kun, um..."

At almost the same time that Aoto spoke, Souji also spoke.

Their voices collided.

The two, both stunned, exchanged an awkward glance—

"You speak first." *2

The sounds collided again.

The awkwardness on their faces intensified.

Qing Deng chuckled a few times and gestured to the Chief, "You go first."

"Tachibana-kun, um..."

The commander slowly lowered his head, looking at his fingertips with a shy expression.

"……between……?"

"Huh? What did you say?"

Unable to hear what Souji was saying, Aoto leaned forward towards Souji.

"……Room……?"

Compared to before, Souji's voice was slightly louder, but it was still as soft as a mosquito's buzz.

For a fleeting moment, Aoto wondered if he was having a conversation with Kinoshita Mai.

He was speaking so softly... It wasn't like Souji's usual style at all.

Aoto raised an eyebrow in confusion. Then, he took two steps forward, standing closer to Souji, while continuing to lean his upper body towards Souji.

“Okita-kun, speak louder, I can’t hear you.”

Souji gritted his teeth, then looked around restlessly, as if he couldn't calm down. He even pretended to run away from Qing Deng, but then changed his mind and raised his head to meet Qing Deng's eyes directly.

“Tachibana-kun…” she took a deep breath, “Are you… free right now? If you are… could you come to my room?”

With each word the commander spoke, his face turned a shade redder.

After the last syllable of that sentence fell, her entire face turned as red as if it had been branded with fire, as if bright red blood would seep and drip from her cheeks at any moment.

"..." Qing Deng opened his eyes wide in surprise.

The boy stared blankly at the girl in front of him.

The girl would sometimes look down at her small toes, and sometimes turn her head to look at the wall beside her, waiting shyly for the boy's answer.

The crescent moon outside the window seemed to be covering its mouth and laughing secretly, hiding behind the dark clouds above the distant peaks, framing the clouds with a silvery-white border.

……

……

A few minutes later—

Shieikan, Souji's room—

"Mr. Tachibana, please have a seat."

Souji took a clean cushion from the wardrobe, patted it to make it soft, and then pushed it next to Aoto's lap.

"Thanks……"

Souji took another cushion and sat down in front of Aoto.

Two fair little feet were buried between the cushion and the plump peach... The neat toes wiggled nervously.

It was clearly Souji who invited Aoto into her room... but she didn't say a word at the moment, only focusing on playing with her fingers stacked on her lap.

The commander's silence made Aoto feel a little nervous.

Although this wasn't his first time in Souji's boudoir... it was the first time he had ever been alone with Souji in this room, which exuded a delicate fragrance.

Without any warning, Qingdeng suddenly felt a gaze containing a certain will.

Looking up, he saw beautiful eyes staring straight at him.

The commander raised his head at some point and stopped staring intently at his fingers.

"Tachibana-kun... I... I'll be frank... were you... were you serious about what you said last night?"

That simple sentence seemed to have exhausted all of Souji's strength.

The more she spoke, the more rapid her breathing became.

After uttering the last word with all her might, her chest heaved rapidly like a blower.

Her voice carried an intense tension... Judging from her tone, she must have been very concerned about the answer to this question.

Looking at the tense expression on the face of the chief, Qing Deng unconsciously grinned.

—As expected… Ms. Okita really wants to clarify my current and future relationship with her as soon as possible.

When Souji uttered the startling words, "Quick, come to my room!", Aoto had already vaguely guessed what Souji's intention was.

Qingdeng gradually suppressed his smile, sitting up ramrod straight. As his back straightened, a solemn and serious expression slowly crept onto his face.

"Yes, I'm serious. Okita-kun... ah, no, Okita-san."

Since there were no outsiders around, Aoto changed his address to Souji from "Okita-kun" to "Okita-san".

"Everything I said last night was the truth, without a trace of falsehood."

"Miss Okita, I like you."

In the next instant, Qingdeng heard a strange cry.

"Gurgle...!"

The one who made that strange cry was naturally the Souji.

The commander's chest heaved rapidly... so rapidly that Qing Deng couldn't help but wonder if she was lacking oxygen.

"Hmm...!"

Another strange cry rang out.

The commander suddenly lowered his head and cupped his face, which was turning red and hot at a visible speed, in his hands.

Her eyes rippled gently, as if the tranquility of an ancient pool had been broken.

"...And what about you?"

"Eh?"

Souji maintained the gesture of cupping his face, slowly raising his head—Aoto's lips curled up, his eyes filled with laughter.

"Ms. Okita, were you serious about what you said last night?"

"?!"

The chief's delicate body stiffened.

The next moment, she glanced around shyly, trying to suppress her embarrassment.

She glanced at the tatami mat in front of her, then at the tightly closed window beside her…

After struggling helplessly for a moment—

Bang!

With a low thud of flesh colliding, something exceptionally soft and warm slammed into Aoto's body—Souji threw himself into Aoto's arms.

Caught off guard by Souji's sudden "meatball charge," Aoto instinctively reached out and hugged her.

"Miss Okita?"

"me……"

The commander's voice muffled in Qing Deng's chest.

"I...I've finished answering!"

After saying that, Souji reached out and hugged Aoto tightly, burying her pretty face even deeper into Aoto's arms.

Qingdeng blinked and chuckled to himself.

Is it because he's too shy to speak directly that he chooses to use "actions" instead of "language"...? Aoto thinks Souji's behavior is so cute.