Because class solidification is extremely serious and there is basically no mobility between classes, Japanese society in the Edo period has always been quite repressive.

In order to relieve the pressure on society and prevent the over-energetic samurai from causing trouble, as soon as the Edo shogunate was established, it explicitly stipulated that brothels were allowed to exist, and Yoshiwara, the largest red light district in Edo, was born.

During the Edo period, people were accustomed to calling brothels "yōjoya" and prostitutes "yūnyō".

There are many Yoshiwara women's houses. At its peak, Edo was said to have "three thousand women", but in fact the number of Yoshiwara women has always exceeded 3,000.

Hijikata walked into Yoshiwara as if he were returning to his hometown, and ran straight into a certain traveling girl's house...

After a while, Hijikata sat cross-legged in a room of the tourist girl's house.

Wow - a wandering girl who was only 20 years old at most, wearing heavy makeup and dressed up in costumes, opened the door.

"Mr. Hijikata!"

The first thing this wandering girl did after opening the door was to shout Hijikata's name and fly into Hijikata's arms.

"I miss you so much..."

"Ozuki, I miss you so much." Hijikata smiled and raised his hand, using gentle movements to tidy up the hair that had fallen from Ouzuki's temples.

…

"This is a cherry blossom that accidentally fell on my shoulder when I went for an outing in Kanagawa yesterday."

…

"Although I am still too busy to find time to go cherry blossom viewing with you. But I promise you: before the cherry blossoms fall this year, I will definitely take you to see the gorgeous sea of ​​cherry blossoms!

""

…

"This cherry blossom, which is very close to me, is just a warm-up."

…

"After that, I will take you to see a thousand or ten thousand more beautiful cherry blossoms!"

…

"Oryuki, I have something to ask you for help. Our restaurant has recently recruited two new diners, namely Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Zuo, who shined in the previous 'Fanshu Tiaosho Incident'

Help."

…

After staying in Yoshiwara for almost an hour, Hijikata quickly walked out of Yoshiwara while packing his clothes, and rushed to the next place without taking any rest.

The new place Hijikata rushed to was the settlement area of ​​Hatamoto samurai.

After walking to the house of a certain Hatamoto samurai family, Hijikata scanned the surrounding area and after confirming that there were no outsiders around, he quickly and skillfully climbed over the wall of the samurai family's house...

After a while, a strange sound came from the bedroom of the youngest daughter of this samurai family...

…

Just before dawn, Hijikata successfully delivered the 9 cherry blossoms he had picked off from the cherry blossom tree.

…

…

Nagakura and Harada didn't have much luggage, so after agreeing that Kondo would join the trial as a guest, they took their luggage that could be carried with a piece of furoshiki overnight and officially moved in.

Trial Guard House.

After Nagakura and Harada moved in to the Imperial Guard Hall, the population became more prosperous and the Imperial Guard Hall suddenly became more lively.

Except for Abi, who is still struggling with the problem of "doing not want to spend money to support two people who may not necessarily help the development of their swordsmanship hall", the rest of the people in the Shiwei Hall welcome the joining of Nagakura and Harada.

manner.

Ayoto is naturally happy to see Nagakura and Harada living in the imperial examination hall.

After all, after eating and living with the two of them, Qingdeng no longer has to worry about them being late for work.

After Saito, there are two more people who will accompany Aotobo on his commute to and from get off work at the Kitaban Institute and the Imperial Guard Hall.

Early the next morning, Qingden led his greatly expanded "attendance team" and rushed to the Beifan Institute in a majestic manner.

Today is another very stable and peaceful day.

Nothing serious happened, and there was no troublesome official business.

In this tranquility, the quietly flowing time makes the morning glow in the sky slowly turn into the setting sun.

When the golden sunset light dyed the ground with a sunset color, Aonto and Toudo, who did not choose to stay in the trial guard hall, said "see you tomorrow", and then led Saito, Nagakura, and Harada San

People, prepare to embark on the road back to the imperial examination hall.

As soon as he left the gate of Beifansuo, the slightly sultry twilight hit his face, and Qingden couldn't help but lower his eyelids, using his slender eyelashes to filter out the slightly dazzling light.

After a few breaths passed and his eyes got used to the light, Qingdeng raised his eyelids.

"Huh?" As soon as his vision returned to its normal range with the opening of his eyelids, Qingto saw a familiar figure outside the gate of Beifansuo.

Looking at this familiar figure, Qingdeng couldn't help but look slightly startled, and made a surprised "hmm" sound.

This beautiful figure that is quite familiar to Qingnobo is none other than Mai Kinoshita.

Kinoshita Mai, who was wearing a bright red kimono as always and wearing red wooden geta shoes, was sitting on a stone step outside the main gate of Kitabansho.

Judging from Kinoshita Mai's current behavior, it is not difficult to tell that Kinoshita Mai is bored right now.

Because the weather was getting hotter, her white and tender feet were not covered with stockings.

I saw her holding the red button of the clog under her feet with the big toe and second toe of her right foot, lifting the clog, and shaking it...

She just hung her head, looking boredly at the wooden clogs that were shaking in the air as her toes fiddled with them.

At this time, out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught a glimpse of Qingden coming out of the Beifan Institute.

Then, she was seen jumping up from the stone steps with a look of joy on her face, tightening her wooden clogs, and quickly walked towards Qingdeng: "Junior Jun!"

Kinoshita Mai smiled and said hello to Qingteng in a spirited tone.

But when her eyes turned to Saito, Nagakura, and Toudo who were standing behind Aoto, she returned to her shy and shy nature. She blushed and talked to Saito and the other three in a voice as soft as a mosquito.

Say "Hello".

"Miss Kinoshita, hello." Qingto smiled and responded enthusiastically to Mai Kinoshita.

Qingden and the others are still standing outside the gate of Beifansuo.

Standing in this place and chatting would easily hinder other people's entry and exit in Beibansuo, so Aoto got straight to the point and asked Kinoshita Mai doubtfully:

"Miss Kinoshita, why are you here?"

"I've been waiting for you here."

After hearing Qingden's voice, Kinoshita Mai quickly broke out of her "fear of strangers" state, smiling and folding her intertwined hands in front of her.

"Tachibana-kun, Mr. Kiryu wants to see you for something. He hopes that you can go to Qianshiya alone now."

"Boss Kiryu?" Qingden raised his eyebrows vigorously.

"Yeah." Kinoshita Mai nodded her head vigorously.

——You want me to go to Qianshiya alone right now?

Qingdeng frowned in confusion.

"Miss Kinoshita, did Boss Kiryu tell you what happened?"

"He didn't say."

"...I understand." Qingdeng nodded seriously, "I'll go now."

Since he is asked to go to Senshiya now... then it must not be an ordinary trivial matter. With this thought in mind, Qingto turned his eyes and let Saito, Nagakura and Harada behind him take the first step.

.

Nagakura, the upright and honest man, and Harada, the brainless fool, nodded without thinking, "I understand."

On the other hand, Saito, a reliable man who doesn't talk much, asked, "Don't you need my escort?"

Because Mr. Kiryu had made it clear that he wanted Aoto to go to Senshiya alone, Aoto declined Saito's offer of an escort and asked Saito to go back to the sword hall directly with Nagakura, Harada and the others without worrying about him.

Since his employer had asked for it, Saito had no choice but to comply.

After watching Saito and the others leave, Qingto said sternly to Mai Kinoshita: "Miss Kinoshita, let's go."

Now is the "peak time after get off work", and the flow of people on the street has increased significantly.

Ayoto and Mai Kinoshita, who were walking side by side, carefully avoided the dense crowds and flows of people while heading towards the direction of Chishiya.

Kinoshita Wu, who was holding the red clogs under her feet, followed step by step around Qingden. She kept raising her eyes and secretly glanced at Qingden next to her.

After peeking at Qingdou for more than a dozen times, Kinoshita Mai finally seemed to have summoned up the courage, took a deep breath, and said:

"Tangerine-kun."

Qingdeng: "Huh?"
To be continued...