I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group

Chapter 42: Mai Kinoshita’s Friend

After promising Kinoshita Mai that he absolutely wouldn't tell anyone about her earlier embarrassing behavior, the girl finally began returning to normal.

The blush on her cheeks faded somewhat.

The "steam" no longer rose from the top of her head.

Since Aoto and Kinoshita Mai happened to be going the same way, both wanting to leave this small path, they naturally fell into step side by side.

The atmosphere between them... was unprecedentedly awkward.

Not yet fully recovered from the earlier "meow meow" incident, and having only met Aoto once before, Kinoshita Mai hugged the large cloth bag in her arms tightly—who knew what was inside—her shoulders hunched, head drooping, lips pressed tightly together, with a lingering blush on her cheeks, visibly nervous and embarrassed.

Kinoshita Mai remained silent, and Aoto didn't know what to say to her either.

Aoto was terrible at dealing with girls.

In his previous life, due to his upbringing environment and personal temperament among other reasons, he didn't even have female friends, let alone a girlfriend.

His experience interacting with women... was practically zero.Though he had no female friends, he did have plenty of male friends with arms and waists thicker than each other, and biceps bigger than one another.

Precisely because he had never made female friends since childhood and had no sisters or similar relatives, Aoto was extremely awkward around women.

What to talk about with them, what they liked to discuss... he was completely clueless.

And the memories of "the original Tachibana Aoto" contained absolutely no knowledge or recollection about "topics girls of this era liked to talk about" either...

If they continued like this without speaking, the atmosphere would become suffocatingly awkward... Not wanting the situation to remain this uncomfortable, Aoto glanced sideways at Kinoshita Mai while racking his brains for suitable conversation topics.

After observing Kinoshita Mai out of the corner of his eye for a long time, he still couldn't think of any topics, but his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

—Now that I look carefully... this girl really is quite cute...

The day before yesterday at Senjiya had been too rushed to properly examine her appearance.

Now that he could look more carefully, he realized this girl's features were truly outstanding.

Smooth black hair was styled in the era's most popular women's hairstyle: the shimada mago.

She wore a kimono primarily in bright red with white accents, and for some reason, this red clothing seemed to suit her perfectly.

Eyebrows, nose, mouth, eyes... every line on her face was delicate and graceful.

Yet compared to her cute face, her skin and chest were clearly more attention-grabbing.

She had perfectly fair, tender skin that felt like even if you threw coarse sandpaper at her face, it would just slide right off her smooth complexion.

Despite her young age—she couldn't be more than 15 or 16—her development was surprisingly good.

The kimono was originally a garment that could make D-cups look like C-cups, C-cups look like B-cups, B-cups look like A-cups, and A-cups look like crossdressers.

Even wearing such a minimizing outfit, this girl's chest area still appeared quite full.

Kinoshita Mai had such slender arms and legs that unless you saw it with your own eyes, it was hard to imagine someone with such a delicate frame could possess such impressive proportions.

Just as Aoto was silently marveling at and praising Kinoshita Mai's beauty in his heart, suddenly—he heard that unique, mosquito-like soft voice of hers coming from beside him once again.

The one who broke the suffocating silence first turned out to be the shy Kinoshita Mai:

"Um... excuse me... even though you've visited our shop, I still don't know your name..."

Ah... that's right... The day before yesterday at Senjiya, I only introduced myself to Owner Kiryu...

Muttering "how careless of me" inwardly, Aoto cleared his throat:

"Sorry, I seem to have forgotten to introduce myself to you."

"My name is Tachibana Aoto, currently serving in the Teimachi squad at Kita Bansho."

"Tachibana Aoto?"

Kinoshita Mai lifted her head, sending Aoto a long, curious look.

"What is it?" Aoto asked curiously, not understanding why she was looking at him like that.

"Ah... it's nothing..."

When Aoto's gaze turned to her, Kinoshita Mai—too shy to meet his eyes—quickly lowered her head again, staring at her small feet wrapped in white tabi socks as she continued softly:

"Earlier when I went to the silk fabric shop to pick up some fabrics, I heard some people in the store discussing you..."

"They said: a dōshin named Tachibana Aoto solved a murder case in less than two hours yesterday..."

[Note: Silk fabrics: meaning kimono. Ancient Japan didn't yet have the term "kimono"]

Hearing this, Aoto gave a wry smile: "I see... Yesterday's matter has already spread through the city so quickly..."

"I never expected you were that Tachibana Aoto..." Aoto vaguely saw a hint of admiring smile on Kinoshita Mai's face, "You're amazing, actually solving a murder case in less than two hours..."

"Ah, that was just good luck on my part," Aoto said casually with a smile.

Though they had only exchanged a few simple words, this brief communication successfully eased much of the awkward atmosphere between them. Kinoshita Mai's previously tense shoulders relaxed considerably, and her voice became louder and clearer too.

Seizing the opportunity while their atmosphere had improved significantly, Aoto "pressed his advantage."

Kinoshita Mai's earlier words had given him an excellent conversation starter—

"You said earlier you went to the silk fabric shop to pick up fabrics, so is this cloth bag you're holding now the clothing you just collected from the shop?" Aoto gestured with his chin toward the cloth bag Kinoshita Mai was holding in both hands.

Kinoshita Mai nodded: "This is a gift I prepared for my friend."

"Friend?"

"Mhm, I have a very important friend. She and her grandfather are moving from Osaka to Edo to live here for a while due to some matters," Kinoshita Mai said slowly, still staring intently at her toes, "If nothing unexpected happens, they should arrive in Edo in about ten days."

"Tomorrow I'll be leaving Edo to meet them at Fujisawa-shuku on the Tōkaidō road."

"I was originally worried the kimono I prepared for my friend wouldn't be finished in time..."

"But fortunately, that silk fabric shop managed to complete the kimono I ordered before tomorrow after all."

"You're going all the way out to Fujisawa-shuku to meet your friend?" Aoto exclaimed softly.

Traveling that far outside the city to welcome someone... that was the highest level of courtesy.

"Mhm... after all, she's my most important friend," Kinoshita Mai showed a shy smile tinged with excitement and anticipation.