"Alright then, Maki!" Aiden smiled, then asked again, "Is there something you want to say to me?"
"N–no… nothing, I just wanted to sit here for a while." Maki herself didn't even know what she should say, sitting here was only a spur-of-the-moment decision.
But after saying this sentence, Maki fell into silence, thinking about what she should say.
Yet even after a good while, she still couldn't find a suitable topic.
But in truth, of course there were things she really wanted to say, only… they didn't seem too appropriate to bring up.
So, she could only stiffly stare at Aiden.
She felt that the atmosphere suddenly turned a bit awkward.
Or rather, she felt she herself was so awkward.
Unconsciously, her little gestures grew more frequent, every so often she would tuck back the strands of hair falling across her brows, or tug at the miko robes on her body.
In short, she didn't know where to put her hands, always wanting to do something to ease her own awkwardness.
And seeing Maki like this, Aiden originally wanted to find a topic, but when he thought about it, right now he only had one question, that was, just what exactly was behind the mountain of this shrine.
As for other things, well… he hadn't thought that far yet.
But, with the atmosphere already like this, asking that was clearly unsuitable. So how should he ease the other party's awkwardness?
Thus, not skilled at finding topics, Aiden cleverly said, "How about… we sit in my room instead? It's a bit cold outside!"
"How could I… no, I mean…"
Aiden's words worked wonders. Having been silent for so long, Maki's face instantly turned red, and she quickly coughed a few times, "Cough, cough… n-no, that won't be necessary!"
Then she immediately stood up, bowed, and said, "Aiden, forgive me for disturbing you. I… I'll head back first."
Finishing her words, Maki swiftly turned around, taking small steps as she ran out of the courtyard without once looking back.
Of course, calling it "running" was more like "fleeing."
Looking at her slightly stumbling figure, Aiden curled his lips into a smile and said, "The elder sister is cuter than the younger one!"
———
Back in his bedroom, Aiden took a set of clean clothes out of his system space, planning to head out to bathe.
Only, before going out, he suddenly remembered something, when leaving the Shiranui dojo, Shiranui Mai had especially reminded him to call back and report that he was safe.
"Crap, I nearly forgot thanks to these two sisters messing around!"
Slapping his head hard, Aiden didn't even bother with bathing, immediately leaving the courtyard for the shrine's office, where there was a landline he could use.
Although in this era cellphones were already gradually becoming popular, Aiden had only arrived on his second day, so he hadn't had time to get one yet. For now, he could only use the landline.
Coming to the shrine office, Aiden found the maid on night duty, it turned out to be the same one called Yumiko. Hearing that Aiden wanted to use the phone, she immediately led him into the next room.
Aiden waved at the maid, signaling her to leave first, then turned his gaze to the rather old-fashioned landline on the desk.
'How long has it been since I used a landline? Almost fifteen years, right?'
Thinking this to himself, Aiden picked up the receiver and quickly dialed a string of numbers.
Then… with a beep, the phone was actually answered at once.
"Hello, this is the Shiranui dojo…"
"It's me, Teacher Mai."
"Ah, Aiden! You finally remembered to call your teacher, I've been waiting so long." On the other end, Shiranui Mai, lying on her bed, jumped up the instant she heard Aiden's voice.
Ever since Aiden had left, she had kept waiting by the phone. Later, after bathing, she even carried the telephone with her into bed and continued waiting.
Now the call came, how could she not be excited?
And after that excitement, without even waiting for Aiden to speak, she began spilling words like beans from a pod, asking if he had gotten home safely, if he missed his teacher, warning him not to run around after returning home, especially not to go to that place called Kabukichō.
"Am I that kind of person? Teacher Mai, don't look down on me!" Aiden said righteously.
"That's good, that's good, those kinds of places are the worst." Shiranui Mai said happily.
Her student absolutely mustn't go to such places. They were full of bad women who would corrupt her student.
So she thought.
Then, she continued, "Will you be using this number from now on? This is your home number, right?"
"Not really, I don't use it often, it's my friend's house where I'm staying. But in a few days I plan to buy a cellphone… Speaking of which, Teacher Mai, I'll buy one for you too."
"That's not good, that thing's so expensive!"
"It's fine, I'm not short on money."
"Still, better not. Hugging the landline to make calls feels more interesting…"
"…Alright then."
"…"
And so, without realizing, the two chatted for over ten minutes…
Come to think of it, in all his life Aiden had never spoken this long on the phone before, normally just a few minutes, then switching to WeChat or QQ. Talking into a receiver continuously for over ten minutes, this was his first time.
But he found it actually felt fresh and new.
And while he was still chatting with Shiranui Mai, he failed to notice that outside the door, a figure flashed by, their gaze faintly sweeping over the receiver in his hand…
What could be called Aiden's first "phone porridge" lasted nearly half an hour before it ended. But mainly it was Shiranui Mai speaking endlessly while he listened, he hardly had a chance to cut in.
This was different from chatting with Maki, who, after each sentence, would always pause, only continuing if Aiden didn't speak.
That was probably due to the different etiquette training the two women had received.
Even so, when the call ended, Shiranui Mai still wanted to keep chatting… Aiden didn't even know where she got so many things to say.
Most of it was trivial nonsense, a tiny matter she could talk about for several minutes. She even asked for his opinion on how to redecorate the Shiranui dojo.
If it hadn't been for the maid Yumiko coming in every few minutes, Aiden would probably have kept listening to Shiranui Mai's chatter for a while longer.
But the maid's strange looks made Aiden really uncomfortable, he vaguely felt she was despising him.
Well, Aiden could roughly guess why the maid would despise him. He really didn't seem all that gentlemanly just now.
So, after hanging up, Aiden walked out, flashed a smile at the maid waiting by the door. The result was that the maid unconsciously touched her face, flustered and at a loss.
Waving at the bewildered maid, Aiden returned to his room, picked up his clothes, and went off to bathe.
Meanwhile, Maki appeared in the room with the landline. She pressed a button on it, and a string of numbers appeared before her eyes.
After thinking for a bit, she found paper and pen to write them down.
But immediately after, she tore up the paper.
Her good upbringing wouldn't allow her to do something shady, even though, in her heart, she was thinking, 'This is all only for the sake of my younger sister…'
Later, after bathing, Aiden returned to his room. Before sleeping, he switched classes in advance and summoned the Snake-belly Sword, placing it beneath his head as a pillow.
'If that woman dares to peep on me again tonight, I'll definitely take her down.'
With this thought, Aiden peacefully closed his eyes.
Yet not long after he fell into deep sleep, several dozen meters away, on the branch of an ancient tree, a figure stood, swaying with the night wind.
"Should I go tonight or not?"
"But if I don't, I'll have to sleep in the tree again."
"Forget it, I'll just look from afar…"
The mysterious woman thought gloomily. Tonight, she kept her guard up, in her current situation, without at least becoming familiar first, she definitely wouldn't dare approach too close…
———
In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.
After waking, Aiden, unsurprisingly, learned from the maid that the Kagura sisters had once again gone early in the morning to the family company. It seemed they were completely tied up these days with some investment matter.
'It should be because of the KOF tournament. I remember many companies invested in this event. With the Kagura family's heritage, they surely wouldn't miss it. After all, no one complains about having too much money…'
Aiden recalled that after her sister was killed, and with Orochi's revival, Chizuru had hosted several KOF tournaments in a row.
Even though they all ended in chaos for various reasons, the Kagura family still stood strong. Truly worthy of a thousand-year clan, resilient indeed.
After breakfast, Aiden once again drove the GTR out. Since he was now more familiar with the roads, it only took him a little over half an hour to reach the Shiranui dojo.
As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Shiranui Mai holding a hammer at the gate, her eyes full of helplessness.
At her feet lay a broken gate.
"Good morning, Teacher Mai. What's this…" Aiden greeted first, then glanced at the gate… now both doors were ruined.
"I booked several renovation companies, but for some reason, lately a lot of dojos in Tokyo are being renovated. Mine won't be done for several days yet."
Seeing Aiden arrive, Shiranui Mai's helpless eyes turned into delight, though soon followed by grievance, "Because they can't come for now, I thought I'd repair the gate myself. But…"
Shiranui Mai pouted. She was a martial arts master, but martial skills obviously didn't translate into renovation skills. With just a bit too much force, she ended up smashing the only remaining door.
"Let me do it!" Aiden said with a laugh, shaking his head as he stepped forward to take the hammer from Shiranui Mai's hands.
But Shiranui Mai hid the hammer behind her, tilting her head up at Aiden, who was a whole head taller, and said, "How could that be? How can I trouble Aiden with this kind of thing?"
"You just joined, you should be learning the basics first. Leave this to your teacher, your teacher can do it."
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