1W]

A bright red cool yukata...a familiar outfit.

"Qingdeng, good morning!"

Kinoshita Mai responded energetically to Aoden.

"Where's Boss Kiryu? Isn't he here?"

Qingto looked around the store, but saw no sign of Kiryu.

"A regular customer of the store had his house broken down, and Mr. Kiryu went to help him repair it."

"...Huh? Repair the house?"

"Yes. Mr. Kiryu once studied carpentry in Yamato. So he often helped his neighbors and regular customers of the shop repair their houses and furniture."

"Why is Boss Kiryu so good at everything... When will he be back?"

"Um...I can't say for sure. Qingden, do you have anything to do with Mr. Kiryu?"

"Yes." Qingden nodded vigorously, clenched his right hand into a fist, and patted his chest gently, "My body has healed, and my condition has completely recovered. I feel that I am ready to learn how to draw the sword from Boss Kiryu.

It’s time for magic!”

Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Mai quickly swept her eyes around Qingden several times, carefully looking at every part of Qingden's body.

"Qingden, has your body really fully recovered?" Kinoshita Mai asked softly in a somewhat worried tone.

Has your body really recovered to the point where you can start practicing the sword-drawing technique? But don't force your body - Kinoshita Mai's expression and tone of voice convey this message.

"Don't worry. My body has indeed fully recovered."

In order to completely dispel Kinoshita Mai's worries, Aoto changed into a half-joking tone and continued.

"I'm not so enthusiastic about Boss Kiryu's secret skills that I have to force my body to learn it as soon as possible even if I haven't recovered yet."

Now that Kiryu has gone to help others repair the house...then Qingto can only wait slowly in Qianshiya for boss Kiryu to come back.

Ever since he became a disciple of Boss Kiryu, Aoden and Chishiya have developed a deep bond.

Nowadays, Qianshiwu has become one of Qingto's most frequented "strongholds" after the Imperial Guard Hall.

During the two months when he was recuperating at home, Aoto often visited Chishiya every once in a while to kill time, drink tea and chat with boss Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita.

As a result, Qingteng, who was already as familiar with Qianshiwu as he was at home, untied the Dingguishen from his waist and sat down on the soft cushion in front of the counter.

And Kinoshita Mai also trotted into the kitchen with familiarity, and brought over the freshly brewed tea and some snacks for tea.

By the way - Qingdeng's Dingguishen was successfully sent for repair in the middle of last month.

"A Wu, has anything interesting happened in Qianshiwu in the past two days?"

Qingden sipped his tea and casually asked Kinoshita Mai in a relaxed mood.

"Well...it's been pretty quiet recently. Nothing worth mentioning happened."

…

Aoden casually chatted with Mai Kinoshita, chatting about family affairs and passing the time while waiting for the return of Kiryu's boss.

Although the conversation was about trivial topics, neither Ayoto nor Mai Kinoshita felt bored. On the contrary, they became more and more interested in each other and became more and more interested in them.

"By the way, Amaizhen probably doesn't know yet, but Okita-kun's eldest sister has come to Edo..."

Just when Qingdeng wanted to talk about the various trivial things that happened to him recently——

Woo——! Bang!

Woo——! Bang!

…

Suddenly there was the sound of fireworks rising into the sky and exploding outside the window.

The volume was very loud...these beams of fireworks soaring towards the outskirts of Edo attracted the attention of both Ayoto and Mai Kinoshita.

When Qingdeng turned to look out the window beside him, he happened to see dots of colorful firelights in the sky.

These firelights are fleeting, and in just the blink of an eye, these firelights melt into the blue sky and white clouds.

"It's so beautiful..." Kinoshita Mai murmured, "Is this Kagiya testing fireworks?"

"Yeah." Qingdeng nodded lightly, "That should be it."

Since the fireworks display became a permanent event held in various parts of Japan during the summer more than a hundred years ago, with the continuous popularity of fireworks, fireworks have gradually formed an industry.

The profession of pyrotechnics came into being.

Among the many fireworks dealers in Edo, the most famous ones are "Kanaya" and "Tamaya".

The "Ryoku Kaikawa Fireworks Festival" in Edo was hosted by these two major fireworks dealers.

The upstream part of Ryogoku Bridge is handled by Tamaya, and the downstream part is handled by Kagiya.

During the annual fireworks display, these two major fireworks dealers show off their special skills across the Ryogoku Bridge.

In order to cheer on the two major fireworks dealers who compete with each other, people who come to watch the fireworks will constantly shout "Ka-gi-ya!" and "Ta-ma-ya!"

Over time, it became a common practice to shout "Kanameya!" and "Tamaya!" when watching fireworks.

It's a pity that this exciting situation of "two major fireworks manufacturers competing with each other" did not last long.

On April 17, the 14th year of Tianbao (1843), a fire broke out in the Jade House, causing serious losses to nearly 50 households.

It happened to be the day before the 12th shogun Tokugawa Ieki was going to pay homage to Nikko.

In the Edo period, the crime of fire was a serious crime.

He accidentally did something inappropriate on an inappropriate day... The unlucky Tamaya was convicted of the felony of sabotaging Edo and was chased away. Tamaya never recovered from the fall.

Without Tamaya as a competitor, the Kagiya family was the dominant one, and the annual fireworks display in Edo became the Kagiya family's "exclusive show."

However, although Tamaya is no longer there, the men, women, and children in Edo still habitually shout "Kanameya" and "Tamaya" when watching the inspection meeting.

There are less than 20 days until this year's fireworks display. At this time in previous years, Kaname would test fireworks in the suburbs of Edo where there are no houses or crowds of people.

Aonto speculated that the sound of fireworks he and Mai Kinoshita heard just now was probably the sound of Kagiya testing the fireworks they would set off at this year's conference.

"...There are still 17 days left. This year's fireworks display is about to begin. It will be held from August 23rd to August 25th. It's really rare that it will be held for three consecutive days."

"Well, that's right." Qingdeng took a sip of tea and answered casually.

"...Qingdeng, are you free on the night of August 23rd?"

"um, I……"

Qingdeng was about to subconsciously reply, "Hmm? I'm free." When he had just uttered a few syllables, he suddenly stopped speaking because he suddenly realized something.

The night of August 23rd...isn't this the day for the fireworks display?

Qingto, whose expression became strange, put down the teacup in his hand and turned to look at Mai Kinoshita beside him.

Kinoshita Mai's expression was still normal.

But after Qingdeng looked over, she noticed Qingdeng's gaze and trembled slightly.

Then, she slowly lowered her head and looked at her nose, nose and heart.

Due to the angle, Aomori couldn't see the face of Mai Kinoshita, who was burying her head low.

However, Qingto could see that Kinoshita Mai's delicate and small ears and the skin near the ears were turning into a lovely cherry pink color at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"On August 23rd... I can take a day off from Mr. Kiryu."

"I have been in Edo for so long...I have never seen Edo's famous 'Ryougoku Opening Fireworks Festival'..."

"So...so...Qingdeng, do you want that day, do you want...do you want..."

Speaking of this, Kinoshita Mai was stuck.

No... I should say "I can't talk anymore".

As for what she just said, Kinoshita Mai's voice became smaller and smaller as she spoke.

His face became redder and redder as he spoke.

It was cherry pink just a moment ago, but in the blink of an eye it turned into light red. In the blink of an eye again, the light red turned into bright red.

For the thin-skinned Mai Kinoshita, the shame of what she said next was beyond the limit she could bear.

I muttered for a long time, but still couldn't finish the second half of the sentence...

Although Kinoshita Mai couldn't finish her sentence, Qingto had already deduced from Kinoshita Mai's expression what this shy girl wanted to say.

"..." Qingden silently looked away and looked at the void in front of him.

In order to get rid of his reserved expression, he brought the tea cup to his mouth again. Although he pressed his lips against the edge of the cup, there was not a drop of tea left in the cup.

Qingdeng remained silent.

Kinoshita Mai couldn't muster the courage to speak again.

An inexplicable atmosphere rose between the two...
To be continued...