Dressing Souji and taking him out of the bathhouse...these most troublesome and difficult problems have been successfully solved one by one. Qingteng breathed a sigh of relief and let out a long sigh that condensed all the fatigue tonight.

At this time, Qingdeng suddenly noticed that the chief executive behind him seemed to be extremely quiet since just now, so Qingdeng turned his head slightly and looked behind him.

"..." The general manager breathed out a light, gentle and rhythmic breath

After getting out of the hot bath, Souji's complexion improved significantly.

Healthy blood stained her cheeks and lips again.

Looking at Souji, who was sleeping soundly with his left cheek pressed against his right shoulder, a faint smile appeared on Ayoto's face unconsciously.

In order not to disturb Souji's sleep, Qingden deliberately slowed down his walking pace.

But just when Qingdeng focused his gaze forward——

"Uh...hmm..."

A whistling sound that was reminiscent of light smoke came from his right shoulder.

Qingteng, thinking that the Souji had woken up, quickly turned his head and looked behind him again.

Souji did not open his eyes... He seemed to be in a state of half-asleep and half-awake. He stretched his head forward and hooked his graceful chin on Qingto's right shoulder.

The director's move brought her face very close to Qingdeng...so close that Qingdeng could clearly see the texture of the skin on her pretty face, so close that their breaths almost touched each other.

Qingto was stunned for a moment, and then with a slow reaction, he forcefully tilted his head back, widening the distance between his and Souji's faces.

"elder sister……"

Souji, who until now could only moan weakly, suddenly let out a clear whisper, like a sigh.

"I... don't want to give up swordsmanship..."

The voice was very soft... but it contained a clear and firm will.

A strong will that does not want to be dominated by her sister's personal dictatorship.

Qingden opened his eyes slightly as he was surprised by the huge power hidden in the general's words.

——You are unconscious, but you are still thinking about your sister who stopped you from learning the sword...

Qingden was shocked to realize at this moment - Souji's love for swords and swordsmanship seemed to be much deeper than he had previously expected.

This belated realization, before I had time to ponder and savor it carefully, was swallowed up by the sound of clothes rubbing together that suddenly intervened in my thoughts.

"Hmm...hmm?"

Accompanied by the sound of the rustling cloth being gently rubbed, Qingden felt that the weight on his right shoulder had been reduced a lot - Souji slowly raised his head and slowly opened his eyes.

"Tachibana...Tachibana-kun...?"

The Souji blinked his sleepy eyes feebly a few times, as if he had just woken up.

She looked at Qingdeng's face, who was very close to her, and then looked at the street scenes to her left and right, as well as the starry sky and full moon above her head.

His eyes were blank as if he couldn't focus.

Souji's eyes and tongue "awake", but his consciousness has not yet fully awakened.

It wasn't until a moment later that the light called "sanity" gradually filled the Souji's empty eyes.

The memories before the blur of consciousness came back to life like a spring.

In the blink of an eye, the expression of the Souji, who had looked confused just now, changed drastically.

A look of astonishment spread across her cheeks.

"Tachibana-kun...are we...?"

Although he can speak normally, his tone is still very weak.

"We're on our way back to the Shiwei Hall."

Qingteng wanted to explain to the general manager what had just happened in the bathhouse.

Souji's memory only reaches the sudden arrival of Chiba Jutaro.

She didn't know what happened in the bathhouse after that.

When Souji learned that so many things had happened during the period when he lost consciousness, the expression on his face changed wonderfully.

"That's it..."

The chief murmured softly.

"It was Brother Kondo and Uncle Gen who helped take away Jutaro..."

"In addition to Mr. Hijikata, I also have to express my gratitude to Brother Kondo and Uncle Minamoto..."

Before he finished speaking, the director's voice suddenly stopped.

At the same moment, her facial features seemed to be frozen, and her expression was extremely stiff.

The reason why there is such a strange thing is because the director suddenly thought of something...

"Tachibana-kun...could it be said...that you took me out of the bath alone and helped me get dressed...?"

The Souji asked in a hesitant tone with a slightly trembling tone.

Although the sentence structure is an interrogative sentence, the interrogative tone in the tone is not strong.

Because the DG already knows the answer to the question he asked.

There were no friends of the same sex around, and there was only Qingto who was carrying him on his back... It was clear at a glance who took her out of Qianxun House.

However, even though he already knew most of the answers to the questions, the Director-General still cautiously asked Qingteng for confirmation with a sense of luck and a "what if?" mentality.

"..." Qingdeng said nothing.

To be more precise, I don’t know how to speak...

When he made up his mind to take Souji back to the trial defense hall by himself, Qingto was already mentally prepared for such a time.

Qingteng once wanted to deceive him, but by the time the General Secretary opened his mouth to question, it was already too late to do so, and it was impossible to hide this kind of thing from the General Secretary forever.

With such thoughts in his mind, Qingto gave up the idea of ​​fooling the Souji, let out a sigh of relief, and then said slowly in as calm a voice as possible:

"Well...yes, I took you out of the bath alone and helped you get dressed."

Because he didn't know what expression he should show to the DG, when he said this, Qingto looked straight ahead and did not dare to look at the DG behind him.

At this moment, Qingto clearly felt that Souji's body on his back had stiffened.

Then, he heard a voice full of the Director-General’s personal style:

"Ah wow, ah wow wow wow..."

Aoto also didn't know until tonight that Souji would make a strange sound like "ah wow wow" when he was shy.

He turned his head and looked back, and as he expected, he saw a big red face.

It was as if the face was gradually dyed a layer of bright red by a red spray, making it look bright and vivid.

After Qingteng looked over and their eyes met, Souji immediately shrank his head as if he wanted to avoid Qingteng, burying his pretty face deep into Qingteng's back and burying his eyes into Qingteng's eyes.

Inaccessible places.

The delicate fingers and toes were clasped together with force... so hard that the joints of the fingers and toes turned slightly white.

Qingdeng saw this and said quickly:

"Don't worry, I didn't touch or look at your body when I took you out of Qianxun House!"

In order to "cheer up" as soon as possible for this young girl who was too embarrassed to see anyone, Aoto carefully explained the whole process of how he took Souji out of the bathhouse.

After saying everything he could say and explaining everything he could, Qingden immediately focused his attention behind him - his back was silent... The director didn't say a word, but still tightened his face into Qingdeng's eyes.

Put it in the clothes on the back.

Qingdeng thought that the general secretary was angry.

It's no wonder... Although he kept saying that he didn't touch or look at Souji's body, these were just his words.

Even if Souji believed every word Aoto said just now, Souji was not a fool. She must have known that when Aoto took her out of Chihiro House, there was no way he would not have any physical contact with her.

The era that Qingdeng currently lives in is not the open 21st century.

Even ordinary physical contact between men and women can be considered an extremely ambiguous thing.

Just when Qingdeng didn't know what to do——

"Tachibana-kun... I'm sorry..."

Attracted by the unexpected apology, Qingden immediately looked back.

Souji raised his little head little by little with slow movements.

Her face was still flushed with a bright blush...but her eyes were no longer as blurry as before.

She raised her gaze and looked at Qingdeng seriously.

"It's all my fault for being dizzy...for causing you so much trouble..."

"In order to take me out of the bathhouse without touching or seeing my body...you must have suffered a lot, right?"

The Director-General did not ask Qingnobo whether what he said was true.

She wasn't angry because Qingdeng touched her body.

The first thing I said... was "I'm sorry."

Her simple apology contained her strong trust in Qingdeng.

Only when she completely believed that Qingdeng had done nothing wrong to her would she frankly apologize to Qingdeng when she spoke her first words.

Ever since just now... no, ever since he found out Souji was his daughter tonight, Qingto's brain has been suffering from all kinds of "mental shocks".

And among every wave of "spiritual shocks" tonight, the one occurring in the "present continuous tense" was the one that brought the greatest "power" to Qingdeng.

At this moment, Qingdeng only felt a real, strange feeling like a rising tide, permeating his whole body.
To be continued...