Chapter 73: Summer Vacation Museum Visit
September in Tokyo still lingered from August's sweltering heat. The air conditioning at the Tokyo National Museum was cranked up high, so even though it was crowded, I could still feel a cool breeze while standing in the corridor.
I adjusted the hair around my ears a little, and said, "Toshiro, this way." I pulled the person who finally made time for me and walked towards the next exhibition hall.
The Tokyo National Museum recently partnered with the Imperial Household Agency to launch a major exhibition. In addition to Daitenta Mitsuyo and Suzumaru Tsunetsugu, both of which are preserved elsewhere, the Tokyo National Museum's collections of Dojikiri Yasutsuna and Mikazuki Munechika, along with Onimaru Kunitsuna, previously a private property of the imperial family, were exhibited for two weeks at the National Museum's main building.
As a Shinsengumi who controls the sword Fusangjin, it's so hard to get a famous sword on display, especially one that has never been on display before, so of course I have to see it!
As for Dong Shilang...
"What?! This exhibition sounds great, Homura! I told you the captain isn't busy lately, so hurry up and ask him out, and you two can go together!"
Well, I don't know why, but Ms. Matsumoto was the first one to know about it, but she was surprisingly enthusiastic about letting us go out alone.
Not only that, after setting the date for the visit, she came the day before and hit it off with Luan, who also knew I was going out on a date, and dressed me up from head to toe.
Anyway, today I wore a super cute dress, permed my hair, put on some light makeup, and just went out like that.
As for Toushirou, his silver hair and blue eyes were striking even as a child, and as an adult he's truly a handsome guy. Today, on a hot day, he wore a short-sleeved shirt with a contrasting color scheme. Before arriving at the museum, I'd already felt countless glances from people glancing at me from the side.
Honestly, I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was happy to be out together, but on the other, I was a little jealous.
"Has Toshiro ever been to the National Museum before?"
"No, I've only seen the building in video footage."
That's right, the captain is usually very busy. He doesn't even know when the last time we had a group vacation was. How could he possibly have time to come to the museum?
Then I chose the right place!
"Are these swords on display in the museum the real bodies of those sword men?"
"Yes." I looked at Mikazuki Munechika's beautiful blade in the glass case and tilted my head. "But because the Time Government is in the future, the swords here don't react to spiritual energy." And the sword men are basically just fragments of their original bodies, so even if they break, it doesn't matter. But as their owner, I absolutely cannot bear to see any of their swords completely destroyed in battle.
"But I don't have Doujikiri Yasutsuna yet."
The oldest of the "Five Swords of the World", a legendary sword that kills evil spirits, is now shining brightly under the light of the display case.
"Because of this, Dabao Ping often grumbles about it, saying things like 'Why hasn't Tongziqi come yet?'"
Toshiro: "Because of the 'East and West Yokozuna'?"
"Ah, you know."
Because he and Dojikiri were both considered the "Eastern and Western Yokozuna of Japanese swords," Oborohei had always considered Dojikiri his rival. However, the other person still hasn't appeared in the Honmaru or sword roster, and I don't know what they were thinking. As I spoke, I took his hand.
"Da Baoping is also in the exhibition hall, let's go take a look."
In addition to the three "Five Swords of the World" jointly exhibited, the Imperial Household Agency and the Tokyo Museum also placed other famous national treasure swords in other locations in the exhibition hall.
Dong Shilang and I visited each place according to the route. When we saw familiar swords, I could also tell some interesting historical anecdotes.
There weren't many people in the sword exhibition hall. By the time I was a little thirsty from talking, I had basically finished visiting all the famous swords and precious swords in the exhibition hall.
But the museum is much more than that.
After buying a bottle of water from the vending machine, I took him to visit other exhibition halls one by one according to the order on the map.
Fine arts, religion, sculpture, ceramics and lacquerware, from the Jomon period to modern times, there are many interesting exhibits and stories in the main building alone. It is no wonder that there are so many tourists here during the summer vacation.
Taking advantage of the fact that there were few people in the afternoon before the museum closed, Dong Shilang and I went all the way to the first floor of the Toyokan annex, where there was a restaurant.
However, when I was ordering food and saw the paper bags carried by the customers passing by, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten the most important thing about going out today!
"Oops!"
Dong Shilang was originally looking at the menu, but he suddenly raised his head when he heard this: "What's wrong?"
"I forgot to buy a souvenir. It's for Miss Mica."
Zhiwan's cousin, Miss Yunmu, is German and seems to be going home soon. "She really likes Japanese culture, and I wanted to take this opportunity to buy her a small gift."
Fortunately, it’s only 3 o’clock and there’s still some time before closing.
"I'm going to go buy something. You can order first and I'll be back soon!"
After saying that, I picked up my wallet and hurried out of the restaurant.
The souvenir counter was not far from the restaurant, and fortunately there were not many people there. I picked and chose the type of gift that Miss Yunmu had mentioned to me before that she liked.
However, when I took the well-packaged gift box handed to me by the staff and turned to walk out of the store, I heard a familiar voice.
"Jiu Jing?"
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"Huh? Minister Yukimura? Senior Yanagi?!"
The girl before him, unlike the girl she had left behind at school, was now wearing a pale yellow dress and beige shoes. Her long hair was now tied up, the princess cut gone, replaced by cute little curls. She even wore a silk scarf in the same hue as her dress as a hair accessory.
"What a coincidence! Are you here to see the exhibition too?"
The two young men looked at each other in bewilderment. The other party had changed so much that they didn't know what to say for a moment.
"Yes, because it's a rare sword exhibition." Finally, Yukimura spoke first. "Sanada really wants to come and see it."
As soon as he finished speaking, a tall figure wearing a peaked cap appeared behind them. "Yukimura, Yanagi, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
Genichirō Sanada was holding the drink he had just bought and talking when his eyes met the girl standing in front of the three of them and he was stunned.
"Ah, Deputy Minister, good afternoon."
Sanada: "...Wait, is that Jiu Jing?"
"Hahaha, it seems Jiu Jing is really cute today." Yukimura smiled, "Even Sanada was stunned."
Liu: "To be honest, I didn't recognize it at first."
The girl seemed a little embarrassed and subconsciously used her fingers to twist the curly hair on her temples: "Ahahaha, thank you."
She was wearing a strapless dress today and her hair was combed up. The sharp-eyed Yukimura noticed that the girl's ears turned red after being praised, and she seemed a little shy.
Liu: "But Jiu Jing came to the museum today, are you here to visit?"
"Well, because it's the first time Onimaru Kunitsuna has been exhibited in public." She said, also picking up the bag in her hand. "I also bought some souvenirs for my friends."
During a chat at school, several regulars had discovered that their tennis club manager had different interests than the average girl. She was interested in history, especially Japanese swords, folk culture, and myths and legends. She knew them like the back of her hand.
"Oh, it would be great if the Five Swords of the World could be exhibited together in one place. It would definitely cause a sensation."
Because the topic involved was of interest, she seemed very happy, and even her eyes were sparkling.
Yukimura: "Hey, it seems you really like the Five Swords of the World."
"Because it's a famous sword, and it's also very beautiful." The girl blinked, "Ah, but actually my favorite is the Yamaubakiri."
Sanada raised an eyebrow and subconsciously touched the brim of his hat: "Yamaubakiri Kunihiro?"
"Oh, as expected of the Deputy Minister, you said the name right away."
Since these two kendo enthusiasts would talk endlessly once they started, Yukimura cleared his throat and interrupted the topic at the right time: "Is Jiu Jing visiting alone?"
Having a younger sister at home, Yukimura at least understood a little about the thoughts of young girls in love. He guessed that the girl should have come with someone else today, and there were only two of them.
As expected, the moment he asked this question, the other person's ears turned red again. "Ah, eh, that's not the case..." His eyes kept flicking towards Sanada.
"Well, did you come here with your boyfriend?"
You hit the nail on the head.
Girls are not good at lying, so they touched their necks awkwardly and laughed.
"Boy friend?"
The reason why she looked at Sanada was very simple. After all, he was the school's discipline committee chairman.
The deputy minister frowned, and the girl immediately began to stammer, "Yes, she's my childhood sweetheart. Even though she's from another school, she's not a strange person!"
"I see."
It’s confirmed, it’s my boyfriend.
At this moment, the girl looked past the three of them and towards the open space behind them.
"Ah, Toushirou."
In a moment, a tall, silver-haired young man passed by several people and came to the girl.
"Why are you here?"
"Why haven't you come back yet? The food we ordered is getting cold." He looked a few years older than the girl. As he spoke, he took the bag from her hand.
"Oh, by the way, Toushirou, these are my seniors at school. They're from the tennis club." Homura was a little nervous because her little secret was exposed by the club leader, but now that everyone was here, she could only introduce them to each other. "This is Toushirou Hitsugaya, yes, my childhood sweetheart..."
Although she didn't utter the word "boyfriend", the color of the tips of her ears has almost blended in with her red hair.
"Hello."
Unlike Jiu Jing, who was so embarrassed that he was about to burn, the young man's personality was just like his appearance, a little cold.
Those emerald eyes reminded Yukimura, who had studied painting, of the lush green pine trees standing in the snow in winter.
"Hello." Yukimura smiled gently, "It seems that the three of us have disturbed others."
"Ah, no, no—"
"Alright, there's no point in arguing. Sanada, Renji, let's go."
After saying goodbye to the girl, they could still hear the intimate conversation between her and the young man as they left.
"Actually, you don't have to come."
"I'm afraid you'll get lost."
"Huh? I'm not that stupid!"
"Um……"
Liu: "What are you thinking about, Jingshi?"
"No, I was just thinking how wonderful it is that Aka is such a simple child."
"Ah, indeed."
Hearing the conversation between the two, the usually stern-faced Sanada could only hold his hat down and say, "How lax!"
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The author has something to say: It’s so funny that my love affair was seen by my senior.
But the senior didn't want to meddle in other people's business.
They say Kirihara is simple because he has no feelings for love and therefore will not feel the pain of a broken heart (not true).
By the way, in reality, Onimaru Kunitsuna has not been frequently exhibited publicly and is still a private collection of the Emperor.
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