Sanemi Shinazugawa practically bolted back to his room.
SLAM!
He leaned back against the cold wooden door, panting heavily, his chest heaving violently.
Everything that had happened at the training ground played on a loop in his mind. That damn woman, actually clinging to him like an octopus! Those tiny hands, groping all over his abs! That soft, warm sensation felt branded onto his skin, impossible to shake off.
He cursed under his breath and slammed a fist against the door. A sharp pain shot through his knuckles, but it paled in comparison to the irritation and rage seething inside him.
He aggressively ran a hand through his wet hair, trying to physically shake the chaotic images from his brain. But the harder he tried to forget, the clearer the memory became.
He could even recall how soft and warm her body felt when she returned to normal and collapsed limply in his arms, and how wildly her heart had been hammering.
He should find her troublesome. He should find her an eyesore. He should hate how she was always on the verge of tears. Yet, whenever he closed his eyes, all he saw was her scarlet face, and the unshed tears swirling in her eyes when he hauled her up.
"So annoying!"
Sanemi cursed again in frustration and stormed into the bathroom.
He looked at himself in the mirror. That face, usually terrifying and full of murderous intent, still held a trace of a lingering blush. Especially his ears—they were red enough to bleed.
"Useless," he spat at his reflection.
He, a Hashira, was actually having a physiological reaction to a lower-ranked swordsman? He was flustered just because she touched him? He actually... blushed?
He ripped off his belt and let the freezing water pour over him, desperate to douse the inexplicable heat spreading through his body.
However, no matter how cold the water, it couldn't wash away her image.
Her stubborn voice when she was clinging to him.
Her annoyed yet aggrieved expression when she sat hard on the ground.
That muffled groan of pain when he yanked her up.
Sanemi aggressively dried his hair with a towel, but his mind traitorously conjured an image of her wrapped in his oversized uniform jacket.
What did she look like in his clothes? Did she look impossibly small? Did... did his scent still linger on her skin?
The moment that thought surfaced, Sanemi froze.
That woman was currently wearing his clothes.
Just thinking about it made the heat he had just doused with cold water flare up again instantly in his lower abdomen, incinerating his remaining rationality.
"ARRRRGHHHHHHHHHH—!!!"
"Achoo!" Kazama Aoi sniffed.
"Oh? Aoi-chan, did you catch a cold?" Mitsuri Kanroji leaned in with concern, reaching out to check her forehead. "You don't have a fever."
"Maybe... someone is talking about me," Aoi muttered, rubbing her itchy nose.
Could it be... Sanemi Shinazugawa?
Just thinking that the man might be in some corner, exploding with rage over this afternoon's events, made Aoi's scalp tingle with fear.
Yikes. Terrifying. She absolutely had to stay away from him.
From that day forward, Aoi began her "stealth" life within the Master's estate. She mapped out every possible route and time Sanemi might appear, mastering the ultimate skill of "Sensing the Wind Hashira from a hundred meters away and immediately taking a detour."
"Aoi-chan, are you very busy lately? Why can I never find you?" Mitsuri expressed great confusion over this.
"N-no! I've just... preferred quiet lately," Aoi explained with a forced laugh.
Beside her, Kanao silently handed her a rice ball, her eyes holding a trace of "I understand you" sympathy.
Aoi felt mentally exhausted. She felt like if she kept hiding like this, she could go become a ninja.
However, you can dodge for a while, but you can't hide forever.
Today, Oyakata-sama personally issued an emergency mission requiring the cooperation of one Hashira and one lower-ranked member who was quick-witted and skilled in tracking.
When Shinobu Kocho read this out at the mission briefing, Aoi's heart jumped into her throat.
She prayed, Please don't let it be me, please don't let it be me.
However, fate always seemed to love playing jokes on her.
"Aoi-chan," Shinobu said, smiling as she looked over. A glint of amusement, as if watching a show, sparkled in her purple eyes. "Your dynamic vision and tracking abilities are the best among your peers. You should have no problem with this mission, right?"
Aoi opened her mouth, wanting to say, "I have a problem, I have a huge problem." But under Shinobu's seemingly gentle yet unyielding gaze, all her objections stuck in her throat.
"Then, for the cooperating Hashira..." Shinobu drawled intentionally, her gaze sweeping over the Hashira present.
Aoi's heart beat like a war drum. She pressed her hands together, praying wildly in her mind: Anyone but Sanemi Shinazugawa! Even Master Uzui, who's always yelling about being 'flamboyant,' would be fine!
"Who would Aoi-chan like to partner with?" Shinobu asked, smiling.
This question seemed to give her the power to decide, but to Aoi, this was a fatal choice!
She could feel an intense gaze already locking onto her from diagonally behind. She was all too familiar with the emotion contained in that stare—it was a naked threat.
If she said someone else's name, would Sanemi Shinazugawa slice her on the spot?
Aoi instantly broke into a cold sweat.
She stiffly turned her neck and saw Sanemi leaning against the wall, arms crossed, wearing an expression that clearly said, "I dare you to pick someone else."
That look seemed to say, "If you dare choose someone else, I'll show you the true meaning of the Wind's speed."
"I... I..." Aoi stammered, her mind going blank.
She looked to Mitsuri Kanroji for help, but Mitsuri just winked at her and mouthed, "Do your best!"
She looked at Kanao, who silently looked away, acting as if she "knew nothing."
Traitors, the lot of them! Aoi wailed internally.
"What is it, Aoi-chan?" Shinobu's smile grew sweeter. "Is it because you feel you could partner with anyone, making it hard to choose? What a good child."
"N-no, that's not it!" Aoi waved her hands frantically.
"In that case," Shinobu said, appearing to finally lose patience. She clapped her hands together and announced, smiling, "Then..."
Rather than being forcibly assigned... she might as well take the initiative!
"Wait, Shinobu-san!"
"I choose him!"
She extended her finger, pointing straight at the man radiating an aura that said "Stay Away."