"Yes, is that so?"

"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This all starts with Mai Kinoshita’s withdrawn character.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.
To be continued...