Sazanoko stood beneath a white plum tree not far from Aoto.
The Sazanoko of today was no longer dressed like the elegant lady that Aoto first encountered, wearing a pale yellow kimono with a Shimada bun.
Today, she exuded the demeanor of a daughter of the samurai family — wearing a white kendo uniform with straight, mid-sleeves on the top, and a black kendo skirt that reached her ankles below. Her feet, in plain white socks, were clad in flat wooden sandals with blue straps. A wakizashi with a blue handle and sheath was attached to her left waist, and her raven-black beautiful hair was tied into a neat, waist-length high ponytail with a blue ribbon at the back of her head.
Perhaps it was because her hairstyle and attire had changed, her entire aura transformed, with a sharp and heroic look in her eyes and eyebrows.
This heroic spirit added a different charm to her.
