Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, dappling the concrete ground.
The tension in the air, thick with the scent of gunpowder, seemed to shift subtly with Yoru's appearance.
Yoru placed the guitar case on the ground, his slender fingers grasping the zipper and slowly pulling it open.
*Zzzzt—*
As the zipper slid open, Shiranui—a jet-black blade exuding an ancient aura—lay quietly inside.
No world-shaking pressure erupted.
Nor was there the unsettling cursed energy fluctuation typical of cursed tools.
But the moment Yoru's hand gripped the hilt...
Everyone present, including the provocative Aoi Todo, felt an indescribable chill.
"Interesting..."
Aoi Todo's wide, bell-like eyes flashed with unprecedented brilliance.
He didn't rush to attack, instead sizing Yoru up with great interest.
"No cursed energy, yet such an incredible presence."
"It seems the rumors weren't just hot air."
Saying this, Todo suddenly did something completely unexpected.
*Rrrrip!*
He grabbed the front of his already tattered school uniform and tore it open with both hands.
The sound of fabric shredding was particularly piercing.
In an instant, his powerful muscles glistened like bronze in the sunlight.
Every muscle seemed to contain explosive power, rising and falling slightly with his breath.
"Hey! Are you a pervert?!"
Nobara Kugisaki stepped back in disgust, covering her eyes.
"Why do you strip the moment things get serious?!"
Todo completely ignored Nobara's comment.
His gaze was locked firmly on Yoru, his mouth splitting into an exaggerated grin.
"Yoru, was it!"
"Before I beat you into the ground, I have one question for you!"
Yoru, who had just tucked Shiranui into his waist, looked up slightly.
His calm red eyes reflected Todo's oppressive figure.
"A question?"
Yoru's voice remained gentle, as if he hadn't noticed the murderous intent ready to explode from his opponent.
"Exactly!"
Todo took a sudden step forward, making the ground tremble.
He crossed his arms and looked down at Yoru from his height, his rugged face etched with an uncharacteristically serious expression.
"This is the key to deciding whether we can be friends or if we're destined to be enemies!"
The atmosphere suddenly became strange.
Even Megumi Fushiguro, who was ready to move at any second, was stunned by this sudden turn of events.
'What on earth is this guy planning?'
Todo took a deep breath, centered his energy, and roared with a volume enough to burst eardrums:
"What kind of women are you into?!"
"..."
Silence.
A light breeze blew, swirling a few fallen leaves on the ground.
Nobara Kugisaki's mouth hung open, the hammer in her hand nearly slipping.
Megumi Fushiguro's lip twitched violently, feeling as if his brain was short-circuiting.
Even Mai Zenin, who was watching from the sidelines, was speechless, looking as if she were meeting this Kyoto School monster for the first time.
This... this was the so-called "key question"?
However, as the person in question, Todo didn't feel awkward at all.
His gaze grew even sharper, fixed on Yoru's every micro-expression.
"Do you like them with big butts?"
"Or maybe tall girls?"
"Or perhaps the voluptuous, sexy older sister types?"
"Answer me, Yoru!"
"Your taste in women will determine your value in my eyes!"
In Todo's world, one's fetish was their soul.
A person's taste in women was the most direct reflection of their true essence!
If the answer was boring, then the person was nothing special.
If the answer was vulgar, they weren't worthy of being his opponent.
He waited.
Waiting for Yoru's answer, he even began to automatically visualize various scenarios in his mind.
'If Yoru says he likes some boring woman, I'll immediately punch this "Special Grade" status right out of him!'
Yoru tilted his head.
He didn't find the question absurd like the others; instead, he began to think about it quite seriously.
His red eyes lost focus slightly, his thoughts drifting far, far away.
'What kind of person do I like?'
Deep in his memories, from that long life belonging to Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
A single figure remained as clear as the beginning, the only bright spot in his bleak childhood.
The home he always wanted to return to, no matter how far he traveled.
His wife, Uta.
The girl who came from poverty yet possessed eyes as clear as water.
The girl who still held his hand tightly when he was viewed as an ill omen and abandoned by the world.
The girl who smiled and praised him when he first swung a sword.
The girl who had left him forever.
Yoru's gaze gradually softened.
The sharp, faint sword intent surrounding him miraculously withdrew in that instant.
It was as if he had pierced through time and space to see a figure standing under the setting sun, dressed in coarse hemp clothes, smiling more brilliantly than anyone else.
"Someone gentle..."
Yoru spoke softly.
His voice wasn't loud, yet it reached everyone's ears clearly.
Todo's eyebrows twitched slightly.
'Gentle?'
'Such a cliché answer is the most boring of all!'
'If that's all it is...'
However, Yoru's next words caused Todo's raised hand to freeze mid-air.
Yoru looked up, his red eyes seemingly reflecting a golden field of flowers.
The corners of his mouth curled into a very faint, yet beautiful smile.
"A girl like a sunflower."
Sunflowers.
Always facing the sun, full of vitality.
Ordinary yet passionate.
Todo was stunned.
Not just him, everyone present was stunned.
They had expected some mundane answer like long legs or long black hair.
Or a cold refusal to answer.
No one expected such a vivid, almost poetic response.
For some reason.
Though it was just a simple sentence, everyone present felt a strange stirring in their hearts.
In that moment, they felt as if they saw a lonely swordsman standing on an endless wasteland, watching over a single sunflower swaying in the wind.
Todo's eyes, which had been full of scrutiny and judgment, were now trembling violently.
The mockery he had prepared in his mind vanished into thin air.
In its place was a vision he had never seen before.
A field of sunflowers in full bloom.
He and Yoru stood side by side.
Sunlight bathed them both.
No need for words, no need for fighting.
Just standing there, they could feel their souls resonating.
"This..."
Todo's throat moved.
Two streams of tears welled up and flowed from his eyes without warning.
"How..."
"What an elegant answer!!!"
"Brother!!"