After his departure, Miyajima Tsubaki also didn't stay long, heading back to her own home.
She had informed her family beforehand, so they had already eaten dinner by the time she returned.
Not seeing her father in the living room, and just as she was about to look for him to discuss the evening's events, her daughter Miyajima Sakura, dressed in a pink nightgown and padding quickly in fluffy pink slippers, approached her.
"Mother, have you had dinner?"
Looking at her daughter, who shared much of her appearance but still carried a hint of youthful naivety, Miyajima Tsubaki smiled softly and stroked her daughter's hair. "Yes, I've eaten, Sakura. Where's your grandfather?"
Hearing her mother's question, swaying her long dark blue hair flowing loosely after a bath, Miyajima Sakura affectionately linked arms with her mother and spoke gently, "Grandfather went to the study to read after dinner."
"Does mother need to speak with Grandfather about something?"
"Yes, it's about that…"
"Sakura, you've grown up. It's time to think about marriage. Do you have someone in mind?"
Smoothly running her fingers through her daughter's hair, Miyajima Tsubaki, intent on setting up Sakura with Sasaki, directly inquired about her daughter's romantic interests
In their warrior family, marital arrangements were typically settled at a very young age, sometimes even before birth, and formalized when they reached the appropriate age.
She had come from this path herself.
However, she did something diffrent; unlike every one else before her, who followed family's rules and arrangements, she, who was relatively strong and rebellious at the time, did not adhered to her father's arrangements but chose the person she liked at that time, who was now her husband.
With this personal precedent, Tsubaki did not dictate her daughter's future but offered her a choice.
Although she wasn't sure if her decision was the right one, but as long as her daughter was happy, that was what mattered.
After all, she was the least qualified to force anything.
"I don't want to get married yet. I don't want to leave mom so soon,"
Hearing her mother talk about such embarrassing things, Miyajima Sakura held her arm and sat on the sofa, burying her red face into her mother's warm arms.
"Who said it's now~" Sitting on the sofa, gently stroking her hair as she did when she was a child, Miyajima Tsubaki continued to ask with gentle eyebrows: "You haven't told you mother yet, is there someone you like. ?"
With no particular person coming to mind, Sakura blushed deeper and shook her head slightly within the comforting confines of her mother's arms.
Knowing that her daughter never lied to him, Miyajima Tsubaki continued to ask with a happy face: "Do you mind if mommy introduces you to someone?"
Sakura Miyajima, who didn't know how to answer, buried her red face completely in the soft material, leaving only a pair of small crimson ears hanging out, and said softly:
"I'll listen to mom~"
"Okay~ I have the opportunity to introduce you to him. He is really great. Although I haven't practiced kendo much, my mother even lost to him."
"ah?"
Miyajima Sakura, who felt there was something wrong with her mother's words, couldn't help but raise her pretty pink face that was stained like cherry blossom petals.
"It's true~" Not surprised by hee daughter's skepticism, Miyajima Tsubaki briefly recounted her encounter with Sasaki and their battle.
"Tsubame...Tsubame Gaeshi?"
After the mother's narration.
Hearing that this legendary sword skill was performed by a man about her own age, Sakura Miyajima's narrow and charming eyes widened, her mouth slightly opened, looking in disbelief.
The fact that a legendary technique was performed was one thing—after all, it was a recorded historic skill with potentially hidden successors.
But the notion that this practitioner of a legendary technique was as young as her, and had never before practiced swordsmanship, was not something she could accept.
If her mother hadn't experienced it herself, Miyajima Sakura wouldn't believe anything she said.
It seemed as absurd as claiming a monkey could enroll at Tokyo University.
But there was no need for her mother to lie to her.
Sword skills, tangible and definitive as they are, would be easily debunked if fabricated.
You can either perform them, or you can't.
There's no such thing as suddenly mastering them without any prior practice.
But... a person who didn't know swordsmanship at all... could actually "Tsubame Gaeshi", this...
Though there is a difference between swordsmanship and kendo, this disparity seemed too vast.
Seeing her mother assert such claims confidently, Sakura's curiosity about this unseen 'suitor' intensified greatly.
Because she was born into a samurai family and was educated by her grandfather, she was not as rebellious as her mother when she was a girl.
So she didn't think there's anything wrong with parents or other elders making the decision about her marriage.
However, although she did not dislike the person introduced by her mother, but it was hard to say she had any good feelings about him, after all, they have never met.
Typically, if it were someone from a family of equal social standing, she might have heard descriptions of the man being diligent in kendo practice, sincere and straightforward—fairly standard and unremarkable traits.
Though her mother hadn't detailed much about the man who mastered "Tsubame Gaeshi," just mentioning he had used it to defeat her wielding the sword for the first tome was enough to pique all of her curiosity.
Since her earliest days, Sakura's life had oscillated between studies and sword practice, the latter of which she deeply cherished.
She was confident in her swordsmanship, believing herself unmatched by her peers, a self-assurance built through relentless practice and countless competition victories.
But today, the person her mother was talking about challenged her self-confidence.
Even though he defeated her mother.
But a daughter of the warrior Miyajima line, a scion of the Miyajima style, wouldn't shy away from renown.
If he really could defeat her, she would willingly, even gladly, become his wife
Compared with her mother's soft face and gentle temperament that have accumulated over time.
Sakura's features, though slightly immature, carried a more pronounced edge, giving her the appearance of being as sharp and imposing as an unsheathed blade.
The fighting spirit that arose in her at this time only aggravated her sense of fierceness.
It made her look like a long unsheathed sword, sharp and sharp.
Noticed the changes in her daughter, Knowing that she had a good impression of Sasaki, Miyajima Tsubaki gently stroked the broken hair on her daughter's forehead: "Don't be hasty, dear. This is just a thought for now. The specifics will depend on what your grandfather and Mr. Sasaki think."
"Is that why you're talking to Grandfather?"
Although she desperately wanted to see the person who defeated her mother.
But the patience she had developed from years of practicing swordsmanship did not allow her to say any urging words.
"Yes exactly~"
.
.
Straightening up slightly, as her plump and round breasts, which were outlined by dark blue jeans, slowly rose up like a full moon, she sat up from the sofa.
Standing upright with her tall and graceful body, Miyajima Tsubaki smiled softly at her daughter who was nestled on the sofa: "Sakura, go to bed first, I will go and talk to your grandfather about this."
"Hmm~"
Looking at her mother's back walking towards the study, Miyajima Sakura nodded expectantly.
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.
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