As for appearances, she and Ah Man were both dressed up as little boys. Short hair, straight bangs, little faces smudged with dirt, a messy little tuft tied up on top of their heads, wearing raggedy, patchwork coarse cotton clothes, barefoot in straw sandals. But the two of them looked nothing alike at all—most likely not real sisters. Ah Man had a round face, big eyes, and bean-shaped eyebrows. Ah Qing, on the other hand, had a petite oval face, elegant brows and slender eyes. Her aura wasn't as lively or spirited as Ah Man's; instead, she gave off a chilly, standoffish vibe, like someone who kept everyone at arm's length.
Simply put, she looked like she'd just been pulled out of the fridge after three days.
Harano gave her a quick once-over and then offered her a polite smile, not dismissing her for being young. He nodded in a friendly manner and said, "Hello, please take care of me in the future."
Just a moment ago, when Ah Qing stared at him so icily, he instantly felt as if he was about to be killed—enough to make the hairs stand up on the back of his neck. So, he was particularly courteous.
Of course, it might have all just been his imagination.
And Ah Qing only lifted her head, gave him a cold glance, then lowered her eyes and said nothing, coming off as quite rude.
Ah Man was used to it and casually explained to Harano, "Don't mind her, she's just like this—doesn't talk much, you have to hit her three times before she'll even let out a fart."
Harano glanced at Ah Qing, waved his hand and smiled, "No worries." After that, he figured the sisters would want to talk, so he tactfully went to the earthen room to make a fire, planning to boil an egg for Ah Man to put on her eye.
It was really miserable. In just this short time, Ah Man's eye had swollen into a narrow slit, with an oily shine gleaming through the bruise—no matter how you looked at it, it was tragic.
Ah Qing only came over after he left, looking down at Ah Man and asking coolly, "Big sis, what's going on? Didn't you get caught stealing something?"
Right before her righteous "turn on the black," Ah Man had left her a secret message, saying she was off to Hibi Village to make some extra cash, and told her not to wander—just wait for her in the Castle Town near Nagano Castle, and when she got back, they'd head west together.
After seeing the code, Ah Qing had obediently waited. But by dawn today, Ah Man still hadn't shown, so she started suspecting the old problem—after stealing some money, Ah Man had probably gone off to gamble it all again.
To avoid a disaster like last time, she rushed off to the gambling houses and dens to look for her. After searching all day with no luck, she finally started thinking Ah Man was really in trouble—because with Ah Man's skills and experience, even if she was acting on impulse, at worst she should just fail to steal, not get caught.
So, she hurried all the way to Hibi Village, even tied up a night watch villager and forced out the truth, finding she'd guessed right—her big sister and two river bandits had failed at stealing and gotten caught.
The river bandits had already been sent off to Hosokawa Castle—probably a grim fate. Her sister, however, was being held in the village, in the hands of an outsider samurai.
Originally, she had mentally prepared herself to find her sister raped and ruined like a rag doll, a murderous resolve building inside. She was planning to ambush Harano, save her sister, or at least find out what happened to her, then cut Harano's throat right in front of her sister and wash away her disgrace with blood. But never did she expect to find her big sister splayed out and fast asleep by the earthen hearth—a case of "flooded dragon temple" the moment she touched the hearth.
Now, Ah Man was wearing a weird outfit (her own clothes stank and needed changing, but since Yayoi had only one outfit, she couldn't swap, so Harano just cut a piece of cotton cloth, poked three holes in it, and had her put it on as a quick fix), covered with a strange mat while she slept on the hearth. Frankly, this was all a little bizarre—she really couldn't make sense of it.
"Bullshit! Who says I got caught? How could I possibly be caught? There's no one in this world who can catch me!" When Ah Qing said that, Ah Man looked a bit embarrassed—her words were almost an insult to her professional pride, the shame of a lifetime—she would never admit it.
She hurried to explain about the "six copper coins" incident, just to prove that she had been acting out of kindness—saving a life is better than building a seven-layered pagoda—that she was a top-notch, gold-plated, diamond-inlaid good person.
The only reason she was still here, absolutely, was not because she was unskilled or got hurt and couldn't leave. It was simply that she was too kind, and Harano insisted on keeping her out of gratitude—her original plan, after saving someone, was to leave without a word and let her achievements go unsung, but Harano had been so moved, clutching her thigh, sobbing, begging her to stay for a meal, she just had no choice but to reluctantly accept some fat chicken and rice, bunking by the hearth for now.
Ah Qing listened silently, probably not believing a word, but she didn't argue. After Ah Man finished explaining, she said softly, "So that's it. Alright, big sis, let's go now?"
"Leave now?" Ah Man froze, pressing a hand to her bruised eye, hesitating, her tone uncertain, "Is that really necessary?"
Ah Qing frowned, puzzled, looking down at her, unable to understand why she would want to stick around a stranger's house—much less a samurai's.
Ah Man turned to glance at Harano; seeing him busy with the fire and not paying attention, she lowered her voice and whispered, "He bought loads of rice—we can stay a few days and eat before we go. Anyway, the old man won't be back anytime soon, so it doesn't matter where we wait. At most, we can swing by Nagano and leave him a note."
"But Grandfather's instructions…"
Ah Man cut her off before she could finish, "Don't worry about getting the news—I'll talk to the old man when he gets back. Worst comes to worst, we can just fart at each other and see who drops dead first!"