Chapter 21
"That was one of the saddest things about people—their most important thoughts and feelings often went unspoken and barely understood." ― Alexandra Adornetto, Halo
"Oh? Where are you going so early in the morning, Shizuka-san?" I heard a woman's voice as I prepared to sneak out of headquarters early in the morning. I had my naginata strapped to my back and my new surgical kit in my arms.
"I'm heading out to gather some information before anyone else wakes up." I turned to tell the owner of the voice. The woman's name was Yagi Masa, the wife of Yagi-san.
"Are you sure you want to go out by yourself?" Masa-san voiced her concern as she looked at me worriedly. "Kyoto is rather dangerous nowadays."
"I'll be fine. Thank you for your concern Masa-san, but I know how to avoid trouble." I assured her before politely bowing and left for the city. Luckily it was only Masa-san that discovered me heading out to the city alone. If it had been Otou-san or any of the guys then I would have been given an earful before being sent to my room.
Since Kyoto's streets were filled with ronin, none of the guys would let me leave unless I had an escort. I understood that it was dangerous times and that if possible, one should never leave without a partner, but I felt like I had to do this alone. The night before, I had put together a plan to remove Serizawa from his position in the Roshigumi and I feared that if he found out about the existence of such a plan then he would aim for the one responsible. Serizawa already hated me so I didn't think it would be a real loss if he aimed his ire at me, but I refused to let any of the others get caught in the crossfire. If Serizawa would to try to dispose of anyone, then it should be me alone.
Last night when I was developing a plan to remove Serizawa, I had to analyze the situation. Just what was it that made Serizawa beneficial to the Roshigumi and what made him detrimental? Otou-san and Hijikata-san could not dispose of Serizawa because of the connections he held with the Aizu Domain's influential officials. Serizawa was the only one currently able to get the Aizu Domain to sponsor the Roshigumi. But other than his connections that we were reliant upon, what else made Serizawa vital to the Roshigumi? The answer would be his ability to raise money for the organization. Everyone from Shieikan had no status or connections they could rely upon to raise money and would have to continue to rely on Serizawa. But what if we could match Serizawa's ability to raise money? With Serizawa's personality type, the way he would most likely go about raising money would be through threats and force, which I don't doubt that he already started doing. If I could find a way to outcompete Serizawa using nonviolent methods then everyone would rely on my methods rather than Serizawa's. Serizawa would be rendered useless, but that in itself would not be enough to dispose of him. The second part of my plan would be the easiest part. Because of the way Serizawa always behaved, he was a public nuisance. He was violent, always causing public disturbances, and in general, was always stirring up some kind of trouble. Instead of doing trying to prevent him on going on his frequent rampages or do damage control on the problems he makes, Serizawa should just be let loose to act however he wanted. If Serizawa was a useless troublemaker, then it shouldn't take too much effort to remove him. That type of combination of traits would prove fatal to anyone and even his high social standing would do little to protect him. A useless troublemaker in the end would just be a useless nuisance, regardless of status. Keeping Serizawa around at that point would just be pointless and detrimental to the Roshigumi and removal would be imminent.
While this did seem like a good plan to me, the plan was not completely foolproof. The second part of the plan was the Achilles Heel. There was also a good chance that Serizawa would not cause enough trouble by himself. His high social standing was fairly solid and there could be a chance that Serizawa would not cause himself enough damage to warrant removal. If that was the case, then I would need to find some outside source to make his reputation tank enough to affect those influential officials he was connected with. If enough people in Kyoto talked about how detrimental and damaging Serizawa was to Kyoto then the officials that were somehow linked to Serizawa would order his removal in order to save face.
Hmm… then again, maybe I should just go with the easier plan of poisoning him? No, I might be able to remove Serizawa that way, but I would probably doom myself too when the officials figured out who poisoned him. I would be treated as a criminal by law enforcement then promptly executed. I was going to remove Serizawa without actually raising my hand to him. If my plan worked then his disposal would be my fault but at the same time no one would be able to punish me for doing anything wrong since I would've technically done nothing directly to Serizawa.
So, just how would I raise money for the Roshigumi if I didn't have the same connections or status to rely on like Serizawa did? I would raise money by using the skills I brought over to this life from my previous life. I was a highly trained surgeon, a doctor by trade. Kyoto was a large city and all large cities had their population of the sick and the injured. I could raise money through performing surgeries and treating the ill. Now that I had the appropriate tools to conduct surgeries, thanks to Tsune-san, I could sell my skills to the public to bring in cash. Medical treatment that worked, like in the future, was expensive and I was sure I could earn the money needed for the Roshigumi to function properly. With most of the money going to the Roshigumi's funds, some of the other revenue brought in would also be used to expand the amount of medical equipment I had access to. The more medical equipment I had access to, then the more possible it would become for me to start doing more complex surgeries, which, in turn, would bring in more revenue. This positive feedback loop[1] would be vital to creating enough income to run the Roshigumi. What I had to do now was look for the people with money in Kyoto that had some sort of injury I could fix. If I had to aim for certain people in the population, then the owner of a bank would be a prime target. My hunting ground would be the business sector of Kyoto's main streets.
The morning was still young, so most people were just getting prepared for the day. The streets were still fairly empty. It might have been more optimal to start my search later in the day, but if I left headquarters any later than I originally did, then I would have had one of the guys shadowing my every move and I would be unable to do what I set out to accomplish. Today I would most likely have to spend all morning and part of the afternoon watching for any potential targets. I hope the guys wouldn't be mad that I'm not there to cook breakfast and lunch. But I'm sure they could survive two meals without me.
Hours passed as I watched from my bench at a tea house for any potential targets and it was in the Hour of the Serpent[2] that I found one. A young boy, probably around the age of eight, was slowly running behind the other children playing on the streets. He ran with a curious limp that most likely was the result of a broken tibia that never healed properly. The injury wasn't a life threatening injury, but it was serious enough in this era. An injury that impeded normal movement of the body would seriously limit what the boy could do in the future and cut down on any possible jobs he could do as an adult. This should be enough for the boy's parents to worry about his future and look for treatment options.
"Takumi!" the boy's mother called as she ran out of a nearby shop. "How many times do I have to tell you not to run on that leg? You might make the injury worse."
"But I want to play with the other kids, Kaa-san! Why don't you ever let me have any fun?" the boy complained to his mother after she had caught up to him and stopped him from running.
"You know you can't afford to have that leg get any worse than it already is."
"It doesn't matter! I'm going to be a merchant like Tou-san is in the future, so why does it matter how well I can walk?"
"With the way inflation is rising right now, the future is uncertain. There is no guarantee that you will be able to become a merchant like your otou-san."
Excellent, so the boy's family was a family of merchants. They also look rather well off too, if their clothing was anything to go by. While the target was not related to anyone that owned a bank, it was a good enough start. Deciding this was the opportunity I was waiting for, I made my move.
"Umm, excuse me?" I asked gently, playing the role of a concerned young woman that just happened to pass by. "I noticed that your son had difficulty keeping up with the other children due to his injury. Have you had any doctors look at that leg yet?" I asked as I slowly approached the two.
The mother looked at me before she answered amicably, "Yes, but none of the medication any of the doctors have prescribed have worked." She sighed afterwards, "Maybe this injury is just too severe for doctors to fix."
"I wouldn't say so. The doctors just have been trying to fix the leg using the wrong methods." I said to the woman.
"Really?" she said in surprise. "Do you know of a doctor that can fix this?" she asked hopefully.
"I know how to fix the leg. It wouldn't be my first time either." I answered. Yes, this wouldn't be the first time if I counted my previous life.
"You're a doctor?" she asked, looking even more surprised than before. "I thought you were the daughter of a samurai because of the naginata you're carrying."
"Yes, I'm a doctor." I laughed good-naturedly. "I only have this naginata because a close friend of mine didn't want me in Kyoto without any way of defending myself. I'm nowhere close to having samurai blood in my veins."
"Oh." the woman said with realization before asking. "So how would you fix the leg?"
"Your son's leg never healed properly after he broke it, right?" The woman nodded as a response to my question. "For the leg to heal properly, the bone must be broken again and then held in place by pins to heal straight. It might sound scary, but this operation is rather simple and has minimal risk because of your son's young age."
"You said that you've done this before. Has the operation always been successful?"
"I've never failed once." I stated proudly. "I can perform the same operation if you are willing to pay for my skills and the supplies needed. In fact, if you can purchase all the materials then I could even operate today."
"Why don't you come inside the store so we could discuss the details inside with my husband? Come along Takumi, we might just get that leg fixed!" the woman said with good cheer as she ushered me and her son into the store.
The boy's father had consented to the operation near immediately after a short explanation. Both parents were desperate for their son to have a normal life and immediately paid me and went to purchase the needed materials. I operated on the boy's leg that same day and by the time I was finished, it was the Hour of the Monkey[3]. As I was walking back to the headquarters, I spotted Ibuki-kun walking back to headquarters while carrying a jar of saké over his shoulders. Serizawa probably had Ibuki-kun go out and buy the saké. That drunkard wasted too much money on his own pleasures. A sip of alcohol every once in a while was good for the body but at the rate Serizawa was drinking, I was surprised he didn't have liver failure yet.
"Ibuki-kun!" I called out to him before I jogged to catch up. "Are you heading back now?"
"Wah! It's you!" he cried in surprise as he nearly dropped the jar. "Where have you been?! Hijikata-san asked Sano, Shinpachi, and Heisuke to look for you while they were out patrolling the streets!"
"So I see." I responded with an innocent smile. He gave me the stink eye before he suddenly panicked.
"Gah!" he yelled in sudden realization. "I shouldn't even be talking to you! Okita will beat me up again if he knows I've been speaking to you!" Ibuki-kun exclaimed loudly before picking up his pace. He wanted to put distance between us in case Souji saw us walking together.
"Aw, don't be so mean. Let's walk back together." I said with an annoying cheerfulness as I tagged along behind him. Maybe if I reappeared with Ibuki-kun then I wouldn't get scolded as much by everyone.
"Ah! Don't follow me!"
"But were going same way anyways." I said with a grin at Ibuki-kun's panicked expression when he noticed I sped up to keep the same pace as him. "Besides, think of what he would do to you if he found out that you let me walk around Kyoto alone."
"That's so cruel of you…" Ibuki-kun whimpered before he started to slowly drag his feet.
Both Ibuki-kun and I heard the sound of wooden swords clashing when neared the Mibu temple. With our curiosities tickled, we both went to look around the gate to see who was sparring at this time. It was Souji and Saito-san?
No way! Was that truly Saito-san? What was he doing in Kyoto? I had honestly thought that I would never see him again after he disappeared back in Edo. When did he get here?
Ibuki-kun paused to watch the spar with me. Both Souji and Saito-san were facing each other, each as still as stone statues. Souji suddenly made the first move. He brought his bokken above his head and swung it downwards towards Saito-san only to have it blocked. Saito-san pushed the wooden sword off of his own before Souji quickly shifted into a forwards thrust. Saito-san then stepped slightly to the right to dodge the attack before bringing his bokken down in a downwards slash. To dodge the attack, Souji spun out of the way and leapt back to create some space between them.
"Most impressive, Hajime-kun. You don't let a moment's weakness slip by." Souji complemented with a happy grin Saito-san before both men resumed with frontal attacks.
Both men swung their wooden swords at each other the same time only to become locked together. Seeing no way of being able to overpower the other, both men separated their attacks and leapt back once again.
"You're still the same as ever. Just the fact you're left-handed makes you all the harder to lunge at." Souji continued from his earlier complement.
"And it would seem you've improved upon your suri-ashi[4] side step as well." Saito-san replied calmly and confidently.
"I bet you're going to be unbeatable, even here in Kyoto." Souji said before Saito-san got back into a forward thrust stance.
Saito-san managed to launch two forward thrusts at Souji before Souji pushed him back with an attack of his own. Both men then brought their wooden swords over their heads to attack each other. At the last moment, Saito-san performed a quick side step and landed a hit on Souji's left side, thus ending the match. Souji still had his bokken held over his head when Saito-san had landed that hit. An expression of disbelief at the hit was present on Souji's face before it faded into one of resignation.
"You got… one in." Souji said with a somewhat strained smile. Souji could never take defeat well.
Both men backed away from each other with their wooden swords in their left hands before bowing in respect to each other.
"Hey, Hajime-kun. Have you changed the way you lunge?" Souji suddenly questioned. "Did you undergo training at a different dojo or something?"
Saito-san answered calmly. "No, I don't believe I have changed my style."
"Hmm…" Souji said as he didn't quite believe what Saito-san said. But Souji was right, something had changed. Saito-san's lunge now had a more lethal quality to it.
I decided to interrupt the two's conversation. The questions could come later. After all, Saito-san, who was like family to me, was back. I seriously thought I would never see him again.
"Saito-san!" I called out excitedly before slamming into his side and engulfing him in a tight hug. "When did you get here? Are you staying with us?" I asked while bouncing up and down with a happy smile.
Instead of answering me, Saito-san just stared at me with wide eyes. He didn't seem to know what to do when a young woman was attached to his side.
"He just got here and he's staying with us." Souji answered me instead. He didn't seem too happy to see me attached to Saito-san like this. "But of course, you would have known if you actually stayed at the Yagi house like you were supposed to." he said with narrowed eyes as he pried me off of Saito-san. "Where did you go anyways?"
"I was out with Ibuki-kun." I answered with a bright smile before pointing to Ibuki-kun, who was in the middle of sneaking off.
"Oh?" Souji said with a dark smile before he sped over to where Ibuki-kun was and forcefully grabbed Ibuki-kun around the shoulders. "So you decided to take Shizuka with you?"
"N-no! You've got it all wrong!" Ibuki-kun cried in panic before yelling at me. "Don't tell him lies! I don't want to die yet!"
This was too much fun.
"So you're calling Shizuka a liar? Both of you did return together." Souji said, his voice dripping with venom. Saito-san just sighed and stared at me through the corner of his eye while I smiled slyly back at him. He was already use to my antics.
"N-no! The only reason we returned together is because we ran into each other outside! I-I didn't want her to walk back by herself because it was dangerous!" Ibuki-kun tried to explain in a flurry panic as he tried to inch away from his assailant.
"Hmm… well I guess you did alright." Souji released Ibuki-kun when the explanation was accepted. "But remember, I'm watching you."
Ibuki-kun ran away from the temple as fast as he could after he was released.
"So what were you doing?" Souji asked while looking down at me after he returned to where Saito and I were standing.
"Hmm… I wonder…" I said while adopting a pondering look.
"Huh? You're not going to tell me?" Souji raised his eyebrow at me in slight surprise.
"Nope. You'll find out later." I winked at him. Souji just frowned at me before poking my cheek.
Saito-san, at that moment, decided to end our conversation. "If you were out all day without telling anyone, then we should return to the Yagi house now to put an end to Hijikata-san's worrying."
"Ow!" I cried as Hijikata-san cuffed me on the back of my head with his hand. The moment he saw me walk in the house, he whacked me.
"Just what were you doing? What did I say about leaving the house alone?" Hijikata-san furrowed his brow as he harshly scolded me.
"To not to." I answered while rubbing the spot he hit.
"So care to tell me why you disobeyed?"
"No, not really." I sassed at him.
A vein appeared on Hijikata-san forehead at me response before he started pulling on my cheek. "Ho? Care to repeat that?"
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Let go!" I cried while pulling at his hands, trying to get him to release me.
Otou-san just shook his head at me with a small smile and let Hijikata-san continue to abuse my face. Souji was no help either; all he did was laugh at me before tugging on my other cheek.
"Shizu-chan, you should listen to Toshi." Otou-san said when he was done laughing at me.
"Truly, I am excited that you rushed to our aid, Saito-kun. It is most heartening" Otou-san said to Saito-san as we all gathered to eat dinner later that night. "With you here, we're a hundred men stronger."
Souji, who sat next to Saito-san, took a bite of food while looking envious at the praise Saito-san received from Otou-san. I nudged Souji's side and placed an extra sardine from my plate in his bowl to try to cheer him up.
"Sir!" Saito-san replied to Otou-san's praise.
"With him here, everyone from our Edo days has been reunited." Sannan-san joined the conversation. Both Otou-san and Hijikata-san nodded at that statement.
"What's Ryunosuke up to?" Shinpachi-san suddenly asked Heisuke after Sannan-san finished speaking. Ibuki-kun was nowhere in sight, which was strange. He usually ate dinner with us.
"I told him we're eating," Heisuke answered, "but he said he doesn't want any dinner."
"A moment, Nagakura-kun." Otou-san cut in
"Yeah?" Shinpachi-san said as he snapped his attention back onto Otou-san.
"How was the city?" Otou-san asked. Shinpachi-san, Heisuke, and Sano-san were out scouting the city a bit earlier.
"Right, I spotted some ruffians causin' problems here and there." Shinpachi-san replied.
"It'd probably be best if we avoided going out alone." Sano-san added before giving me a pointed look. "A rogue samurai could strike us down at any time and the locals won't be of any help."
"I see… This is even worse than I imagined" Otou-san said while processing the information before shooting me a stern look. I quickly shrunk back and hid behind Souji to escape Otou-san's glance.
Hijikata-san gave Otou-san a confident nod before facing everyone else. "Let them bring it on! Because the locals and the clans aren't up to the task, we've got a chance to make a name for ourselves. You guys came prepared for danger, didn't you? You aren't going to declare you want to go home back in Edo, right?" Hijikata-san oozed charisma out of every pore of his body as he spoke.
Shinpachi-san was the first to respond and grinned before saying, "I wouldn't have followed ya all the way to Kyoto if I was going to do that."
"Yeah!" Heisuke agreed with just as much excitement. "Everyone here formed their resolves ages ago!"
"This may prove trying, but I hope you will bear with us for a while!" Otou-san said before bowing gratefully from his seated position.
"Don't even get started, Kondou-san." Souji assured Otou-san.
"We're used to the poor life!" Heisuke finished cheerfully.
"Like, seriously. Just getting' miso soup and pickles is a luxury compared to life back at Shieikan." Shinpachi-san finished with a grin. "There were times that Shizuka could only prepare barley rice for us to eat. I'd never been so hungry in my life than the time we were on that diet."
"You said it!" Sano-san agreed.
I laughed cheerfully at what they all said before adding my own piece. "We're certainly better off now. There's even enough here for everyone to ask for seconds." I said playfully while raising my bowl of rice.
Everyone laughed in good cheer as Shinpachi-san yelled, "Seconds for me!" while raising his empty bowl at me.
Oh bugger! After finding out that I had snuck out of the headquarters yesterday morning, Hijikata-san had kept a tighter watch over the gates this morning. It was already the Hour of the Dragon and if I didn't leave soon, then I wouldn't have enough time to check on the boy from yesterday and find a new patient. There was no way I would be able to get out of the headquarters unnoticed today unless I found some way to distract Hijikata-san. I quickly ducked into my hiding spot as Hijikata-san's hawk-like gaze swept over the area where I was once standing. I headed towards the kitchen after Hijikata-san's gaze had passed. I had a plan and I needed someone to be near the kitchen for it to work.
As soon as I came close enough to the kitchen, I peeked into the nearby rooms. Perfect! Sano-san was chatting with Shinpachi-san in the room to the left. I quickly ran to the kitchen and put on the apron before I dusted the front of the apron and my hands with flour and returned to the room Sano-san and Shinpachi-san were in.
"Sano-san, Shinpachi-san," I called into the room as I appeared in the doorway. "Otou-san wants to talk to Hijikata-san and Sannan-san. Do you think you guys could go get them? I would go do it myself, but as you can see, I'm busy with making gyōza[5] in the kitchen. I can't leave the unfinished food in the kitchen for too long."
"Oh, it's been awhile since we ate any gyōza!" Sano-san said in pleasant surprise. "Sure, we'll go get them for you. I'll go get Hijikata-san and Shinpachi will go get Sannan-san."
"Sure thing, princess! Just focus on making those gyōza delicious!" Shinpachi-san grinned before he began to drool. "Yum! I can just taste the gyōza already!"
Well someone's going to be very disappointed when he finds out that he's been deceived.
Both men exited the room and I returned to the kitchen to wait for Sano-san to remove Hijikata-san from the front gate. I watched from my hiding spot as Sano-san approached Hijikata-san.
"Hijikata-san, Kondou-san wants to talk to both you and Sannan-san."
"What about?"
"I'm not sure. Shizuka was originally supposed to go get you, but she's busy in the kitchen. She doesn't want to leave the food unsupervised. She's making gyōza today."
"Oh! It's been awhile since she made any gyōza for us. Well then, I guess I didn't need to guard the front gate after all. If Shizuka's busy in the kitchen then that must mean she wasn't planning on sneaking out today. Well I better go see what Kondou-san wants to talk about."
Maybe I should have said I was making something else? There was going to be a lot of disappointed people today. I got out of my hiding place and ditched the apron as soon as both Sano-san and Hijikata-san entered the main building, leaving the front gate unguarded. I quickly grabbed my naginata and surgical tools that were leaning against the kitchen wall and made a dash for freedom. I'm sure they'll forgive me later when they understood why I was doing this. I had managed to make it down the block and as I was turning the corner, a voice froze me in place.
"Oh? Just where do you think you're going?"
I turned to see Souji leaning against the wall. He grinned at me before he pushed himself off the wall and walked towards me.
"You won't be able to sneak away this time. I know you too well." Souji said as he came to a stop in front of me. "So where are you going this time, hmm?"
"Umm…"
Just how was I going to get out of this? Souji has been with me since we were both kids, so my normal tricks weren't going to work. In the end, he just knew me too well to fall for anything. I had to try something completely new and different. Oh! What if I…
"Don't tell me you're sneaking out just to go meet a man…" Souji said with a particularly nasty expression.
What? Where did he get that idea? Didn't he always complain that I didn't understand the matters of the heart? Well, I'd ponder that later, but now I had to put my plan into action.
"Souji…" I said shyly while looking down.
"Eh? What is it?" he asked a bit surprised at my sudden change in attitude.
I raised my glance to look at him coyly through my long lashes. He froze in confusion as he stared at me with a perplexed expression. I slowly slinked across the distance between the two of us before I placed my lips gently on his. This was where my plan completely failed to work. Instead of freezing up and giving me a chance to run, Souji wrapped his arms tightly around my waist, effectively trapping me in place. Instead of becoming nervous, he pressed his lips harder against mine.
So I clearly miscalculated. I clearly didn't know him as well as I thought I did. I thought he would cringe upon kissing someone he was so familiar with, but this was his first time kissing a girl. Maybe he was just excited because he was experiencing something so new? I had honestly thought the kiss would distract him long enough for me to escape. Before I could even realize what was happening, Souji slipped his tongue into my mouth to deepen the kiss.
"SHIZUKA!" I heard Hijikata-san roar not too far behind while Souji and I were amidst the kiss.
Crap, Hijikata-san had found out that I tricked him and I needed to disappear fast. However, there was a problem. Souji was clearly not going to let me go anytime soon, so I was stuck in place. I honestly could not foresee this day ending well in any way. Hijikata-san was going to string me up by my thumbs before ordering me to my room for the rest of the day. And that was if he didn't tell Otou-san about my little stunt. If he did tell Otou-san then I was going to be in so much more trouble. Counting down from ten in my head, I heard the footsteps of a single person running towards Souji's and my position. The footsteps came to a sudden stop on our left side when my count reached zero.
"Wha?" I heard Hijikata-san say in disbelief.
Souji broke away, but kept his arms looped around my waist. He turned his head toward Hijikata-san and had a very unimpressed expression on.
"Doesn't Hijikata-san know that it's rude to interrupt?" Souji said with an annoyed tsk.
"I-I—what?" Hijikata-san stuttered with a baffled shock. He quickly cleared his throat before composing himself. "Well, as long as Shizuka isn't running around by herself." Hijikata-san said sternly before turning to walk back towards the compound with a slight blush evident on his cheeks.
Souji and I remained in the same position until Hijikata-san disappeared from sight. Souji sighed before he released me and looked at me with a smug expression visible on his face.
"Did Shizuka really think that she could trick me like that?" Souji asked as he quirked his eyebrow down at me. "You thought I would freeze up and give you a chance to escape. I already told you that I know you too well."
I pouted and looked away. Darn it, he really did know me too well.
Souji's smug expression vanished and he sighed again. "I know you have a good reason for sneaking out and you won't tell me until you're ready. I'll keep Hijikata-san off your back so you can leave more easily. I won't ask what you're doing, but promise me you'll be careful."
I was touched by the amount of concern he had for me. I didn't think I would be worth all that trouble.
"I promise. Thanks… You're the best, Souji." I said softly before I got on my toes so I could peck him on the cheek.
"The best, huh…" he said while smiling bitterly before turning to head back towards headquarters.
I didn't like that smile like I liked all his other ones. This smile was bitter and I didn't understand why his smile was bitter or why it was bitter so often now, but I wanted him to smile at me the way he once did back in our childhood. When he smiled at me back then, it was always filled with joy and without a hint of bitterness.
[1] Positive feedback is a process that occurs in a feedback loop in which the effects of a small disturbance on a system include an increase in the magnitude of the perturbation. That is, A produces more of B which in turn produces more of A.
[2] A two hour period that was roughly 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
[3] A two hour period that is roughly from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
[4] Footwork in kendo where the person Steps forward by pushing off with the left foot, then quickly brings the left foot back into the beginning foot position.
[5] Gyōza or otherwise known as Jiaozi, are a kind of Chinese dumpling, commonly eaten across Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Asia. Though considered part of Chinese cuisine, jiaozi are often eaten in many other Asian countries.