I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 41: Miss Kinoshita’s Big Failure

The large orange cat that had been staring at Kinoshita Mai all this time, upon hearing her "meow meow," half-closed its eyes, wagged its tail, and let out a big yawn.
Seeing that the orange cat seemed to react to her "meow meow," Kinoshita Mai showed a happy expression.
Kinoshita Mai: (/≧▽≦)/ "Meow meow meow! Meow meow meow meow meow~~!"
She cried out "meow meow" with rising and falling tones, as if trying to have a conversation with the orange cat.
The orange cat lowered its head slightly.
Looking at Kinoshita Mai who seemed to want to talk with it, it let out a low growl.
Then it showed Kinoshita Mai an expression that said "Damn, what an idiot"...
Not only was Kinoshita Mai completely unfazed by the orange cat's indifference, she actually became even more enthusiastic.
Kinoshita Mai: ヾ(≧▽≦*)o "Meow meow! Meow meow meow meow~~!"
Orange Cat: "......" (Damn, what an idiot.jpg)
Kinoshita Mai: φ(≧ω≦*)♪ "Little kitty~ come here, come here~"
Finally speaking human language, Kinoshita Mai waved at the orange cat on top of the wall.
Orange Cat: "......" (Damn, what an idiot.jpg)
......
Looking at Kinoshita Mai who was completely different from the person she was two days ago, Aoto felt as if something was stuck in his throat...
——It seems... I saw something I shouldn't have seen...
Aoto silently retracted the foot he had already lifted, preparing to step toward Kinoshita Mai...
——What should I do...? Should I pretend I didn't see anything and quickly leave this place...?
Aoto instinctively felt—if Kinoshita Mai found out he had witnessed her entire performance art-like behavior from beginning to end, it would definitely be very bad.
Aoto happened to be standing right beneath a branch laden with snow.
Just as Aoto was considering whether to retreat from this place quickly, the branch above his head happened to bend downward under the weight of the accumulated snow.
A small handful of snow, pulled by gravity, slowly... slid into the back of Aoto's collar.
"Eek...!"
Caught completely off guard by this sudden snow falling into his collar, Aoto couldn't help but let out a low exclamation of surprise.
Aoto's cry wasn't very loud.
But it was more than enough to reach Kinoshita Mai's ears...
Hearing a strange cry suddenly come from the side, Kinoshita Mai's body shook violently several times from the fright.
Startled by the sound, she hurriedly turned her head in astonishment toward the source—
Kinoshita Mai: (ﾟДﾟ)
Tachibana Aoto: (°ー°〃)
The two of them, showing completely different expressions, stared at each other in an atmosphere as silent as death...
......
How much time had passed?
10 seconds? 20 seconds? Feeling extremely awkward, Aoto's sense of time had become somewhat blurred.
Kinoshita Mai seemed to have lost consciousness, her red lips slightly parted as she stared dumbfounded at Aoto.
Looking at Kinoshita Mai whose soul seemed to have left her body, Aoto understood completely.
Putting himself in her shoes—if he were making strange expressions while "meowing" at a stray cat on the roadside and got seen by an outsider...
Well, his body might not die, but his heart certainly would.
After a long time had passed, Kinoshita Mai finally seemed to regain her soul, her eyes slowly widening.
Then... a vibrant red like fresh blood quickly spread from her cheeks to the roots of her ears.
Faintly, Aoto could almost see white "steam" rising from the top of her head, as if something had been cooked...
The girl who had turned into a "steam princess" moved her lips restlessly and fidgeted with her hands and feet.
She opened her mouth toward Aoto, as if wanting to say something to him.
But as soon as her red lips parted, a look of timidity and fear appeared between her brows, making it impossible for her to utter even half a word to Aoto.
Looking at Kinoshita Mai's shy, steam-emitting, timid, hesitant-to-speak appearance, Aoto scratched the hair at his temples awkwardly, then slowly walked toward this "steam princess."
"That... I'm sorry. I wasn't deliberately hiding and peeking... I just happened to be passing by here..."
To ease Kinoshita Mai's nervous and shy emotions, Aoto used as gentle a tone as possible.
Kinoshita Mai raised her gaze, glanced at Aoto who had come before her, then quickly lowered her head as if afraid to look at him, burying her face as if trying to stuff her head into her own chest.
"...I... remember you..."
Hearing that Kinoshita Mai seemed to be speaking, Aoto quickly focused all his attention.
Kinoshita Mai's voice was just like when he first met her two days ago—as faint as a mosquito's hum. Even though he was standing right in front of her, if he didn't concentrate, it was difficult to hear what she was saying.
"You are... that customer who came to our shop two days ago...?"
"Yes." Aoto quickly nodded. "I visited your Senjiya two days ago and received Master Kiryu's assistance."
Kinoshita Mai slightly raised her head.
Aoto could feel a nervous, bashful gaze.
"You just now... saw the entire process of me playing with that cat...?"
——You call that playing with the cat? That cat completely ignored you the whole time, it was basically just you harassing that orange cat unilaterally, right?
Aoto took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to retort, then hemmed and hawed while thinking about how to politely answer Kinoshita Mai's question:
"Well... actually I didn't see much, I only saw you waving at that big orange cat and calling it to come over."
If he told this girl that he had seen the complete process of how she "conversed" with that orange cat... Aoto felt that this girl might do more than just emit "steam"...
Therefore, Aoto decided to tell a white lie.
However—even though Aoto had specifically lied to protect this "steam princess's" feelings, the girl buried her head even lower from increased shyness...
More intense "steam" also began to rise from the top of Kinoshita Mai's head at this moment...
Kinoshita Mai's height was only 150 cm.
While Aoto's height was a full 175 cm.
Because of their height difference, when Kinoshita Mai buried her head so low that her chin almost touched her collarbone, Aoto standing before her could only see her hair, not her face.
However, although he couldn't see Kinoshita Mai's face, Aoto could see her two small ears.
Just moments ago, only Kinoshita Mai's earlobes were red, but now her entire ears had taken on a beautiful pink color.
Even her ears had turned this red... Aoto was having trouble imagining what color this girl's face must be right now.
Aoto felt that if he didn't quickly say or do something, Kinoshita Mai's cheek temperature might rise even further...
"...Don't worry." Aoto let out a long sigh. "I won't tell anyone about what I just saw."
Aoto had never been a big mouth.
Revealing other people's little secrets to the public—this kind of thing, Aoto didn't like to do, and wouldn't do.
Moreover, even if he wanted to tell others about Kinoshita Mai's silly behavior just now, he didn't have anyone to tell, since they didn't share any mutual friends.
Hearing Aoto's words, Kinoshita Mai—didn't react at all.
She just continued blushing, head lowered.
Aoto thought maybe Kinoshita Mai hadn't heard what he just said, and was about to repeat his previous words when—
"...Thank you..."
A soft voice so faint it seemed it might disappear at any moment drifted faintly into Aoto's ears.
Kinoshita Mai, who had been keeping her chin pressed against her collarbone since earlier, finally slowly raised her head.
Kinoshita Mai's cheeks were still so red that one might think blood could seep out at any moment.
Her lips were still tightly pressed together.
But the corners of her mouth were slightly raised in a somewhat shy curve.