"Yes, that's right! Put your fingers in and turn them outwards. Look, it will look like this."
Souji and Mai Kinoshita were sitting side by side on the stone steps, alternately playing the popular folk puzzle game in East Asia: twilight rope.
All I could see was Souji's fingers... Her long, thin, leaf-like fingers were shuttled back and forth between the lavender strings like butterflies, tumbling deftly. Her fingers were like a symbol of her whole body, white and delicate, but by no means delicate.
It is easy to see from the dexterous movements of Souji: she is a veteran of turning the rope.
On the other hand, Kinoshita Mai...
"Uh...!"
Kinoshita Mai pursed her red lips, her whole body stiffened, even her toes wrapped in white cotton socks were tightly clasped in the red button clogs.
The general manager couldn't help but smile when he saw this.
"Miss Kinoshita, relax a little, don't be so nervous."
"Ah...yes!"
Kinoshita took a deep breath, and then followed the method taught by Souji just now, stretched out her hands and fingers timidly, inserted into the gaps in the string, hooked it, and turned it out... A beautiful flower suddenly appeared in the
on her hands.
"Look, isn't this a success? As I said, this game is very simple!"
Looking at the flowers in her hands and hearing the praise from the Director-General, Kinoshita Mai was startled for a moment, then slowly revealed a shy but brilliant smile.
Why are Souji and Mai Kinoshita playing tricks here?
This all starts with Mai Kinoshita’s withdrawn character.
Afraid of life, socially anxious, and unsociable—Kinoshita Mai’s character is like this, and it cannot be changed if she wants to.
On the one hand, she really wants to contact outsiders and make friends, but she doesn't enjoy this feeling of being alone.
But on the other hand, her timidity towards strangers and fear of interpersonal communication stopped her from moving forward.
Although with Qingdeng's encouragement and company, her awkward personality improved a lot, it was only "getting better" and was still far from a complete improvement.
She only becomes more lively when she is in front of acquaintances such as Qingden and Boss Kiryu.
When she is not accompanied by relatives or friends, she will silently tighten her shoulders, fold her hands in front of her body, and try to make her body smaller. Without saying a word, she will consciously turn into a small transparent body.
Just like today: Boss Kiryu needs to guard the Chishiya, so Kinoshita Mai can only come to the martial arts school alone.
Since morning, she had been standing alone in an inconspicuous corner, with her head lowered, not talking, not in contact with anyone, and out of tune with the entire world - until the director-general discovered her.
After discovering that Kinoshita Mai was alone and could only pass the time by staring at the ground in front of her toes, Souji silently took out the purple cuffs he carried with him from his arms and braided them into a strong rope connected end to end.
, and then strode towards Kinoshita Mai.
"Miss Kinoshita! Let's play with the rope!"
"Turning rope? Huh? Ah, ah...I, I don't know how to play with turning rope..."
"It doesn't matter! I'll teach you! This game is very simple! You can get started right away!"
In this way, under the strong encouragement of the director, the two girls started playing with the rope, and they played for most of the day.
People like Mai Kinoshita, who dare not talk to strangers, are always unable to resist when faced with the proactive overtures of cheerful Yang people represented by Souji.
As a children's game that originated in China, after being introduced to Japan, after hundreds of years of development and evolution, it has taken deep roots in the Japanese folk and has a large public base. However,
It is mainly the lower class, that is, the middle and lower-level warriors, who have more contact with civilians.
Kinoshita Mai is the eldest lady of the Calabash House, and since she was a child, she has only had Elodie as her peer friend, so naturally she has never touched the flower rope.
At first, she either got her fingers tangled or turned out into strange shapes.
However, no matter how many times she made mistakes, no matter how ridiculous her mistakes were, Souji would never show impatience, let alone laugh. She would always wear a gentle smile and take the trouble to teach her.
.
Under Souji's careful and step-by-step guidance, Kinoshita Mai finally mastered the skills and fun of turning the rope.
Her originally tight facial lines began to soften, and she gained a bit more smile.
Not long after the two girls started playing with the twist rope, Sanako suddenly jumped out of the thorn and appeared beside them.
She didn't say anything, just quietly watching the two girls' game.
Maybe it was because she felt uncomfortable being stared at by Sanako, or maybe she simply didn't like Sanako standing next to her, so Kinoshita Mai finally raised her little head uncontrollably and asked:
"Miss Chiba, what are you doing here?"
Sanako replied expressionlessly:
"Nothing, I just wanted to see what you were doing."
Kinoshita Mai: "..."
Sanako: "..."
Big eyes stared at small eyes. An unkind aura spread between them.
Seeing this, Souji blinked a few times, looked at Mai Kinoshita in front of him, and then looked at Sanako beside him, with a strange look on his cheeks that was half a smile but not a smile.
Whenever the "noble fox" and the "dwarf cat" meet, this situation always occurs.
On normal days, when faced with the "confrontation" between the two women, the director-general could only smile and be unable to respond.
But today is different.
Because just today, she mastered the "big killer move" that may be able to improve the "fox-cat relationship" in one fell swoop!
"ah!"
The Souji cleared his throat and shouted in a strange accent.
"Miss Sanako, I just saw you pacing there."
As he spoke, Souji nodded his chin towards a very secret place not far away.
"From time to time, I would steal glances at the lonely Miss Kinoshita. She would stretch out her steps but then take them back, looking hesitant and hesitant."
Speaking of this, Souji narrowed his eyes and curved the corners of his mouth into the shape of "ω". A hint of childlike mischievous smile appeared in his eyes that were lightly covered by the long and soft eyelashes.
"Could it be that... you saw Miss Kinoshita alone, so you wanted to talk to her and relieve her boredom?"
As soon as these words came out, Sanako's expression suddenly froze.
As if she had been cast under a "time pause" spell, she stood frozen in place, unable to move.
It wasn't until a few seconds later that she came back to her senses and scolded:
"No, don't talk nonsense! How could I care about her loneliness?"
Souji tilted his little head, showing an innocent expression.
"Huh? But I clearly saw you standing there just now, frequently casting concerned glances at Miss Kinoshita?"
Speaking of this, she put on a bright smile like the sun.
"What, Miss Sanako, although you are always fierce in front of Miss Kinoshita, your relationship with her is actually not that bad. You still care about her very much!"
"this……"
Sanako wanted to continue to refute, but looking at Souji's smile, it was really difficult for her to spit out the words that were already rushing to her lips.
The Souji's innocence and innocent smile are so lethal that people can't bear to say harsh words to her.
At this time, Sanako suddenly felt Kinoshita Mai's gaze.
She turned around subconsciously.
Kinoshita Mai: "..."
Sanako: "..."
The girl in red looked at her with an almost blank expression.
Then, the two women averted their eyes in unison, and both showed expressions between embarrassment and bewilderment.
The general manager put his arms on his knees, held his face in his hands, and looked at the two girls with a smile.
At this time, two figures approached them.
"Huh? Isn't this Miss Chiba?"
After saying that, Shannan Keisuke quickened his pace, and Toudou Heisuke, who was right next to him, quickly followed, and the two stood still in front of the three women.
Before joining the Trial Guard Hall, Shannan Keisuke was a core member of the Little Chiba Sword Hall, so he and Sanako naturally knew each other. After the two met, they nodded to each other to express their greetings.
Although Toudou Heisuke is also a disciple of Beichen Itto-ryu, the martial arts school he previously belonged to was Ito Dojo, so he was not very familiar with Sanako. After a simple greeting, he consciously "stand there"
beside.
After briefly chatting with Sanako, Shannan Keisuke's eyes turned to Kinoshita Mai.
"I remember you are Miss Kinoshita from Chishiya, right?"
"Ah...ummm..."
Kinoshita Mai wanted to respond.
But her timid temper "flares out" as expected, making it difficult for her to say specific words and can only make unexplained sounds such as "Ah" and "Uh-huh".
Because both Shannan Keisuke and Toudo Heisuke joined the Trial Guard Hall not long ago, they are not very familiar with Chishiya.
Although they had met Kinoshita Mai, their friendship with each other was quite superficial - it should be said that except for Ayoto, everyone in the Imperial Guard Hall treated Kinoshita Mai like strangers.
Although Kiryu's boss often brought Kinoshita Mai to try out the gate of the guardhouse, whenever she left Chishiya, Kinoshita Mai would always lower her head and hardly communicate with anyone.
Over the years, including Shusuke Kondo and Isamu Kondo, who were the original owners and former young owners of the Imperial Guard Hall, they probably spoke to Mai Kinoshita less than 20 times.
Even Souji slowly became acquainted with her after Qingteng announced her true gender and threatened to marry three wives.
After Shannan Keisuke looked towards her, her eyes immediately moved to the side subconsciously, and she quietly adjusted her position and hid behind Souji.
In terms of petite stature, she is about the same size as Souji. How could Souji possibly hide her?
However, the Director-General did not say much about this.
She glanced at Mai Kinoshita behind her, then raised a smile and said to Shannan Keisuke enthusiastically:
"Yes! Mr. Shannan, this is Senshiya's Toshiro: Miss Mai Kinoshita! She is my good friend!"
When the words "good friends" were mentioned, the director-general emphasized his tone.
"Despite her delicate appearance, her boxing and kicking skills are amazing! It's not a problem to fight against 10 big guys!"
"She is currently also a member of the Shinsengumi! She is the captain of the 9th Division of the Battou Team! So she can be regarded as our colleague! Everyone should get along well in the future!"
After saying that, Souji stood half a step sideways, revealing Kinoshita Mai behind him.
"Ms. Kinoshita, although you should already know the names of these two people, I still want to introduce them to you!
"This is the chief of the Shinsengumi: Shannan Keisuke. He is very knowledgeable! He is a very rare all-rounder in both civil and military affairs!"
"This is the captain of the 8th Division of the Shinsengumi Battou Team: Toudou Heisuke, he is so brave when fighting! When we hold practice matches on weekdays, he always rushes to the front. He will definitely be the leader of our Shinsengumi in the future.
The forward general!"
In this situation, anyone with a discerning eye can see Souji's intention - she wants to take this opportunity to integrate Kinoshita Mai into the new group of the future.
Kinoshita Mai is just introverted and unsociable, not ignorant of the ways of the world. Of course she is also one of these "discerning people".
Not wanting to waste the Chief's good intentions, she swallowed hard, slowly raised her head, clasped her hands together in front of her, looked away, and said intermittently:
"That, that...I, I am Kinoshita Mai...please give me some advice..."
Fortunately, Shannan Keisuke is an elegant and easy-going person.
He didn't pay attention to Kinoshita Mai's socially threatening behavior. When the other party finished speaking, he immediately smiled and said:
"Shimoyama Minami Keisuke, Miss Kinoshita, I have a deep impression of you."
"When the selection of the Shinsengumi was not over yet, I had the honor to witness Mr. Tachibana's assessment of you. I was amazed by your ability to fight for nothing."
"We should have many opportunities to meet and work together in the future. I hope you can give me your advice."
Todo Heisuke on the side intervened at the right time and greeted Kinoshita Mai enthusiastically.
"Huh? What are you doing? Huh? Aren't these Miss Chiba from Chiba Sword Hall and Miss Kinoshita from Chishiya?"
At this time, Harada Sanosuke walked over in a swaggering manner, followed by Saito Ichi - who finally stopped clumping like a stone pillar.
Shannan Keisuke turned to look at Harada Sanosuke and Saitoichi, and responded with a smile:
"In the future, we...ah, no, it should be said that we are all backbone cadres of the Shinsengumi now, so I want to take advantage of today's rare opportunity to get to know each other, so as not to be embarrassed in the future when we can't even call each other's names.
."
After hearing this, Sanosuke Harada immediately showed an enlightened expression on his face.
I saw him clenching his right fist and hitting his flat left palm with a "bang" sound.
"Oh! So that's it, it makes sense!"
"Although I have always seen Miss Kinoshita before, I have never spoken to her!"
After that, he turned around, put his hands on his hips and said loudly to Kinoshita Mai:
"My name is Harada Sanosuke! I was born in the Iyo Matsuyama Domain of Shikoku Island! I am a man who will not die even if he commits seppuku! Back then, there was a bastard who looked down on me! Guess what he laughed at me? He said I was a
A fool who can't even perform seppuku! I don't want to hear this! So..."
Before he could finish his words, Saito next to him interrupted abruptly.
Saito, who doesn't like to talk, has always cherished words like gold.
However, this time he unexpectedly said a long sentence of hundreds of words:
"Harada-kun, can you please stop telling this story? Every time you catch a group of people who are willing to chat with you, you must tell the story of your 'haram-kippuku but not death' past. You have already told it today
This story has been told 13 times, and I have listened to it 13 times."
While everyone was noisy, Sanako quietly moved behind Souji, lowered her voice, and said slowly in a voice that only the two of them could hear clearly:
"Not only do you play with her to prevent her from feeling lonely, but you also bring her into the Shinsengumi... Isn't it too nice of you to treat Kinoshita-san?"
The director-general smiled slightly and replied half-jokingly:
"I can't help it. Who said this was Mr. Ju's request?"
A look of surprise suddenly appeared on Sanako's eyebrows:
"Tachibana-kun's request?"
The director-general nodded lightly.
"Some things would be more convenient for me, who is also a girl, to do."
All along, Aoto has wanted to correct and improve Kinoshita Mai's socially fearful character.
The methods he used include but are not limited to: taking her to play in crowded places, conducting "conversation exercises", and teaching her how to communicate with others.
Although Qingdeng's efforts cannot be said to be useless, the results are indeed not ideal.
Therefore, Seito entrusted Souji, who is also a girl, to pay more attention to Kinoshita Mai on weekdays and do his best to take care of her when necessary.
"Anyway, I like Miss Kinoshita very much, so I happily agreed."
Speaking of this, Souji seemed to have remembered something interesting, and a bright smile broke out on his face.
"Although I have always known that Ms. Kinoshita is a very interesting and good child, after getting to know her in depth, I was surprised to find that she is not only very interesting, but also very cute."
"I finally understand why Mr. Ju is willing to risk the disapproval of the world and insist on marrying three wives."
"I don't care about being born into a poor family and having no other talents."
"The self-reliant Sanako Chiba and the innocent Mai Kinoshita, it would be such a blessing if I could marry both of you home."
Listening to Souji's words, Sanako's expression gradually became complicated and unspeakable.
Souji noticed the change in Sanako's expression.
She turned her head to the side and raised her sly eyes.
"Miss Sanako, you also think Miss Kinoshita is a good child who is both interesting and cute, don't you?"
"?!"
Sanako, who was not mentally prepared, was speechless for a moment because she had not expected that Souji would suddenly question her.
After being silent for a long time, she turned her head away and said hesitantly:
"Whether she is a good child who is both funny and cute, I don't know. But...it is undeniable that she does show her lovable side under very accidental circumstances."
As soon as Sanako finished speaking, the corners of Souji's mouth turned up high, and he smiled so hard that his eyes almost turned into slits.
When the other party saw this, he couldn't help but asked in confusion:
"why are you laughing?"
"It's nothing, I'm just more convinced - Miss Sanako, although you are always fierce in front of Miss Kinoshita, your relationship with her is actually not that bad. You still care about her very much."
"?!"
Sanako looked at Souji blankly, like a lost child.
After a moment, she sighed silently.
"...Director-General, I am also convinced of one thing."
"Um?"
"I'm really not good at dealing with you."
Souji raised his eyebrows, then smiled, seeming to be very impressed by Sanako's comment.
*******
*******
Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation vote! (Leopard Head Cries)
Sanako: "I am the double ceiling of this book in terms of appearance and figure, so I am the royal wife of the Tachibana family and the first heroine of this book..."
Chief: "It's my little girl!"
Souji is such a little angel ~ she deserves to be the cover character of this book. Thanks to her, Aoto's "Harem Plan" is progressing in an orderly manner. Everyone, please say: Thank you Ms. Okita!
