"Since Shiki says so, then please guide me, hehe~" Ayaka smiled, then took a sheathed wooden sword from the rack and handed it to Shiki.
"It's not really guidance, just some of my experience."
Shiki took the wooden sword and examined it carefully. A sheathed wooden sword was made entirely of wood, mimicking the form of a sword, with its width and length identical to a katana.
And to simulate the weight of steel, the wood used by the Kamisato Clan to make wooden swords was the hard Otogi wood.
Actually, Otogi wood itself isn't very hard, but after being exposed to the sun, it becomes surprisingly hard and has a weight similar to steel.
After a few practice swings, Shiki had already adapted to this high-end wooden sword from the Kamisato Clan, but whether it would maintain its current appearance later was uncertain.
"By the way, Ayaka, do you really not need to rest first?"
At this moment, Ayaka's forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, her breathing was slightly rapid, and her cheeks had a slight, alluring flush from the high-intensity swings.
"After all, it's a spar, so we should give it our all. If you're like this, I feel not only will you not be able to perform at your best, but it's also a sign of great disrespect to me, isn't it?"
"Ah, I apologize, I was inconsiderate." Ayaka quickly apologized upon hearing this. How could she make such a low-level mistake?
As a prominent family in Inazuma, the Kamisato Clan placed great emphasis on etiquette. Shiki knew that mere words couldn't make Ayaka rest, so she came up with this method.
For these prominent families, regardless of the strength of the two parties in a duel, both needed to ensure they were in their strongest state.
Otherwise, if one party became exhausted after extensive exercise, the other party would not only win dishonorably, but the exhausted one would also be branded as looking down on others.
In short, it would have a negative impact on both sides, so there was such a rule.
This way, even if one lost, it was with full effort and conviction, and the other party won legitimately.
Of course, this only applied to sparring duels between prominent families. When it came to a fight to the death, the underhanded tactics were one more ruthless than the last.
Ayaka put down her wooden sword and sat properly on the smooth floor to rest.
"I say, Ayaka, between the two of us, there's no need to be so formal. You can sit however you like, I won't mind. Besides, isn't doing that also very tiring?"
People are all hypocritical. One moment you say that's disrespecting me, and the next you say there's no need to be so formal.
Shiki didn't deny this. She just felt that people should live a little easier, not so tired.
Yes, etiquette is very important, but if it's a close friend, Shiki believed there was no need to be so particular.
Ayaka knelt on the smooth floor. This was what formal sitting meant in Inazuma. If it were a soft mattress, it wouldn't matter, but a hard floor was a burden on the knees and ankles.
Compared to the meticulous Ayaka, Shiki appeared very casual, simply lying directly on the ground.
Anyway, the place was cleaned daily, and shoes weren't allowed inside the dojo, so she didn't have to worry about dirtying her clothes by lying down.
Ayaka looked at the very casual girl, and a different emotion arose in her heart.
Ever since the changes occurred in her family, the girl named Ayaka had disappeared, replaced by the Young Miss of the Kamisato Clan.
She strictly demanded herself every day, and everyone who met her would say, "Wow, how elegant!" "As expected of the Shiratsuyu Princess!" and so on.
But no one had ever told her that she could relax a little, that she didn't have to be so tired.
Though a Princess, she was actually just a white heron confined in a cage called status.
Shiki was the first person to say such a thing to her. Thoma was also her friend, but after all, there was still a barrier of master and servant between them. Even if he said he didn't care, deep down, he would still have some reservations.
Her nose stung, and Ayaka tidied her clothes, then learned from Shiki and also lay down on the ground.
At this moment, she let go of the rigid rules of etiquette. Shiki, like a hammer, brutally smashed the cage and then unreasonably rescued this white heron.
"How is it? Did you pick a comfortable position? Do you feel completely relaxed?" Shiki asked with a smile.
"Yes, very relaxed..."
Lying on the hard floor, Ayaka felt as if she had shed something heavy. What she thought about was no longer the various interactions between families, but childhood memories.
Her thoughts drifted, and she seemed to return to that era, a white-haired child, patting a colorful temari while humming a nursery rhyme.
"Come, come, come,"
"Let's play temari."
"One, two, three,"
"The temari flies high over the Sacred Sakura Tree."
"Three, four, five,"
"The temari flies high over Mt. Yougou."
"Seven, eight, nine,"
"The temari returns to its original place,"
"Back into little Ayaka's hands."
Since the changes happened in her family, this temari, which she named Irismaru, had been carefully preserved by her, just like this memory, which she hadn't thought of for who knows how many years.
The dojo fell silent. For a moment, the two could only hear their own and each other's breathing.
Ayaka turned her head to look at the girl's profile. Her soft black hair spread out, forming a stark contrast with her fair cheeks.
'If only... it could stay like this forever...' Ayaka's eyes drooped slightly, thinking this to herself.
Seemingly sensing the girl's gaze, Shiki turned to look at Ayaka, only to find the other party staring at her with ice-blue eyes.
"What's wrong?" Shiki asked, puzzled.
"No, nothing."
Ayaka hurriedly got up, turned her back to Shiki, took a deep breath to calm herself, then, as if having made a decision, quickly ran out of the dojo.
"Shiki, wait for me here for a moment."
"Where are you going..."
Before Shiki could finish speaking, Ayaka had already disappeared from her sight, which made her feel somewhat puzzled.
Slowly getting up, Shiki looked at the doorway where the girl had left and sighed in her heart. Had she made the other party unhappy?
After all, she was from a prominent family. Was it really okay for her to keep persuading the other party to let go of those aristocratic constraints?
But not long after, Shiki heard a gradually approaching sound of footsteps, and then Ayaka appeared before her, only her hands were hidden behind her back, as if she was holding something.
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