My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 58: Chapter 42: Mukiwa’s Friend

After assuring Mukiwa that he would never tell anyone about her embarrassing moment just now, the child finally started to regain her composure.

The blush on her cheeks faded a little.

The ”steam” on top of her head was no longer rising.

Since Aoto and Mukiwa happened to be heading in the same direction, wanting to leave the path, the two naturally walked side by side.

The atmosphere between the two... was unprecedentedly awkward.

Not yet fully recovered from the ”meow meow meow” incident earlier, and having only met Aoto once before, Mukiwa clutched the large cloth bag containing unspecified items tightly to her chest, shoulders hunched, head drooping, lips pressed firmly together, with the remnants of blush on her cheeks, visibly tense and shy.

Mukiwa remained silent, and Aoto didn’t know what to say to her.

Aoto was least adept at dealing with girls.

In his past life, due to his upbringing and personal character, he never even had female friends, let alone a girlfriend.

His experience in interacting with women... was practically nonexistent.

However, despite lacking female friends, he had plenty of male friends with arms and waists so robust and biceps so large.

Because he never had female friends growing up, nor sisters or female relatives, Aoto was really poor at getting along with women.

What to talk to them about, what they like to talk about... completely mystified.

And ”Original Tachibana Aoto’s” memory contained absolutely no knowledge or remembrance related to ”what girls in this era love to talk about...”

If he continued not speaking to Mukiwa, the atmosphere would indeed be suffocatingly awkward... Not wanting to let the atmosphere remain awkward, Aoto, while glancing at Mukiwa out of the corner of his eye, racked his brains trying to think of a suitable topic.

After glancing at Mukiwa out of the corner of his eye for a while, while no topic came to mind, his thoughts drifted elsewhere.

——Upon a closer look... this girl is indeed very cute...

The previous day at Thousand Affairs House, he had been hurriedly busy, so he hadn’t had the chance to closely examine her appearance.

Now, having a detailed look revealed that the child’s features were indeed exceptional.

Sleek black hair styled in Shimada Bun, the most popular hairstyle among women of this era.

Wearing a kimono with red as the primary color and white as the accent, inexplicably finding this red garment very fitting for her.

Eyebrows, nose, mouth, eyes... All the lines on her face are so graceful and delicate.

However, compared to her adorable face, her skin and bosom were obviously more attention-grabbing.

Her skin was perfectly fair and supple, so smooth that even a rough sandpaper would slide off her.

She was evidently so young, at most around 15 or 16 years old, yet her development was exceptionally good.

Kimonos are a type of attire that can make a D look like a C, a C look like a B, a B look like an A, and an A seem like a cross-dressing man.

Despite the attire appearing small, the area around her bosom still appeared quite full.

Mukiwa’s arms and legs were slender, and if not witnessed in person, it would indeed be hard to imagine someone so delicate possessing such abundant grace.

While Aoto was silently marveling and praising Mukiwa’s attractiveness in his heart, suddenly——he heard Mukiwa’s uniquely soft voice again, akin to a mosquito’s hum.

It turned out the one to break this suffocating silence first was the shy Mukiwa:

”Um... sorry... You visited our shop, but I don’t know your name yet...”

Ah... That’s right... At Thousand Affairs House the day before yesterday, it seems I only introduced myself to Boss Kiryu...

After calling himself ”careless” in his heart, Aoto cleared his throat:

”My apologies, I seem to have kept forgetting to give you my name.”

”My name is Tachibana Aoto, currently serving at North Guard Station Town Patrol.”

”Tachibana Aoto?”

Mukiwa raised her head, giving Aoto a long, curious gaze.

”What’s the matter?” Aoto asked curiously, not knowing why Mukiwa looked at him like that.

”Ah... It’s nothing...”

Once Aoto glanced back at her, the shy Mukiwa dared not make eye contact and lowered her head again, gazing at her small toes wrapped in white socks, continuing in a soft voice:

”Earlier at the Gofuku Shop, I heard people discussing you...”

”They said: A Dōshin named Tachibana Aoto solved a murder case within less than an hour yesterday...”

[Note: Gofuku refers to kimono. During Ancient Japan, there was no term for kimono]

Upon hearing this, Aoto chuckled: ”I see... So yesterday’s matter spread among the public so quickly...”

”I never thought you’d be that Tachibana Aoto...” Mukiwa said, a trace of admiration smile seen by Aoto, ”You’re really impressive, solving a murder case in less than an hour...”

”Ah, it was just luck on my part.” Aoto replied with a casual smile.

Although he had only exchanged a few simple words with Mukiwa, those brief exchanges greatly eased the awkwardness between them, with Mukiwa’s previously tense shoulders relaxing a lot, and her voice becoming clearer and louder.

Seizing the chance as the atmosphere between the two became much better, Aoto ”pressed the advantage.”

Mukiwa’s remarks earlier allowed him to find a very good topic entry point—

”You mentioned earlier that you picked up a kimono from the Gofuku Shop, is the cloth bundle you’re holding now the clothing you retrieved from the shop?” Aoto gestured toward the cloth bundle Mukiwa was holding.

Mukiwa nodded: ”This is a gift I prepared for a friend.”

”A friend?”

”Yes, I have a very important friend. She and her grandfather are moving from Osaka to stay in Edo for a while because of some matters,” still staring at her toe, Mukiwa said slowly, ”They should arrive in Edo in about ten days without any unexpected delay.”

”Tomorrow I’m leaving Edo to go to Fujisawa Inn on the Tokaido Road to welcome them.”

”I was quite worried that the kimono I prepared for my friend wouldn’t be finished on time...”

”But thankfully, that Gofuku Shop managed to finish the kimono I ordered before tomorrow.”

”You’re going out of town to Fujisawa Inn so far just to meet your friend?” Aoto expressed a low exclamation.

Going out of town such a distance to meet ... what politeness!

”Yes... she’s my most important friend after all.” Mukiwa showed a bashful smile mixed with joy and anticipation.

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