Chapter 260: Guidance

On Saturday, because Tani Akiko had some urgent matters to handle and couldn’t accompany her, Bibi threw a tantrum, insisting that Kuang Dao take her out shopping. [Changed Baby to Bibi.]

Kuang Dao, unable to concentrate on his training due to her incessant pestering, had no choice but to comply.

As they walked along the street, Bibi, eating an ice cream, said to Kuang Dao, “Kuang Dao-ojisan, let’s go to the zoo. I haven’t been there in ages!”

“The zoo? What’s so interesting about it?” Kuang Dao replied dismissively. “Having to look at a little monkey like you all day is already more than enough for me.”

Pouting in dissatisfaction, Bibi retorted, “I’m not a little monkey!”

Uninterested in arguing, Kuang Dao said offhandedly, “You can go wherever you want now, but just don’t bother me tonight.”

“Fine,” Bibi replied weakly.

After a moment, she asked, “Kuang Dao-ojisan, do you think Mommy will come home tonight?”

“How would I know?”

Unbothered by his response, Bibi smiled and said, “Mommy’s been so nice lately. She often stays home to keep me company. I heard from Rie that it might have something to do with you, Kuang Dao-ojisan. Is that true?”

“It’s got nothing to do with me.”

“Liar! I know it must be related to you. Mommy only started changing after you arrived. Ah, I get it now! You must be dating Mommy, right?” Bibi looked at him with hopeful eyes.

Kuang Dao gave her an exasperated look, clearly annoyed by this presumptuous little kid.

As they walked further, Bibi suddenly tugged on Kuang Dao’s sleeve and said, “Kuang Dao-ojisan, look at that lady. She seems a bit strange.”

Kuang Dao turned his head to look. Near the entrance of a community park, he saw a young girl in a knee-length dress standing still, intently focusing on something ahead. Her hands were held as if gripping an invisible sword, raised to neck height.

Seeing her posture, Kuang Dao’s eyes gleamed with interest.

The girl remained motionless in that stance, seemingly even holding her breath.

Suddenly, without warning, she sharply swung her hands downward.

The movement was clean, swift, and precise. The transition from utter stillness to dynamic motion created an illusion that she was wielding an actual sword.

After completing the motion, the girl looked somewhat dissatisfied and returned to her original stance.

Bibi, finding the scene increasingly strange, asked, “Kuang Dao-ojisan, what’s that girl doing?”

“She’s practicing swordsmanship. Not bad. Although she’s still a bit green, having such focus and discipline at her age is commendable.” Kuang Dao murmured to himself as he led Bibi toward her.

When the girl repeated the motion for the third time, a deep male voice suddenly rang out nearby. “Not bad. Though your strength is lacking.”

Startled, the girl turned to see a rugged-looking man approaching with a curious little girl in tow.

Seeing the little girl’s wide, inquisitive eyes, the young woman instantly blushed, embarrassed by her seemingly odd behavior in public.

Without waiting for a response, Kuang Dao asked, “Hey, who taught you swordsmanship?”

“You could tell I was practicing swordsmanship?” The girl looked at him with some surprise.

“Of course. From your movements, I can see your sword technique is decent. Who taught you?”

Humbly, the girl replied, “You flatter me. I only know the basics.”

“I can tell good from bad,” Kuang Dao said plainly. “So, who’s your teacher?”

Realizing that this man genuinely understood swordsmanship, the girl earnestly answered, “My grandfather taught me the techniques, but my senior taught me how to focus my energy for those strikes.”

Hearing this, Kuang Dao muttered to himself, “Strange. Japanese swordsmanship doesn’t typically emphasize this kind of energy concentration.”

He continued, “How skilled is your senior?”

The girl replied seriously, “He’s the most formidable person I’ve ever met.”

Unimpressed, Kuang Dao said, “You’re just inexperienced. Judging by your age, you’re likely a high school student, which means your senior is probably one too. No matter how skilled he is, he’s just a high schooler. I’m not underestimating him, but martial arts training requires both talent and dedication. For a student juggling academics, it’s nearly impossible to focus entirely on martial arts. And the biggest obstacle to progress in martial arts is divided attention.”

The girl blushed and said, “I’m already a university student. Also, my senior has never lost to anyone.”

Kuang Dao chuckled, stopping a short distance in front of her. Mimicking her earlier stance, he raised his right hand as if gripping the hilt of a sword. After glancing at her briefly, he suddenly slashed horizontally in her direction with his imaginary blade.

To an onlooker, it appeared as if he had casually waved his hand. But the girl standing in front of him immediately froze, her entire body stiff and unable to utter a single word.

In the instant his hand swept through the air, she felt a terrifying sensation, as if a real blade had just grazed her skin.

Seeing her reaction, Kuang Dao asked, “You okay?”

Gradually regaining her composure, the girl took a deep breath and said, “Thank you for your guidance, senior.”

Kuang Dao waved it off and said, “You have great potential. If you keep practicing, you’ll eventually be able to execute strikes as effortlessly as breathing.”

The girl suddenly said, “Even though your swordsmanship far surpasses mine, you might not be able to defeat my senior.”

Raising an eyebrow, Kuang Dao smirked with amusement. “You really believe in your senior, don’t you? Although I’m not fond of competing with kids, hearing you talk like this is starting to make me curious. Where is your senior? If I have time, I might pay him a visit.”

The girl was about to respond when another girl wearing glasses suddenly called out from nearby. “Rumi!”

Turning toward the voice, Rumi saw that it was Kazumi. She quickly said to Kuang Dao, “Sorry, senior, my sister is here to pick me up. I have to go now.”

“Hey, you still haven’t told me where your senior is!”

Noticing that Kuang Dao seemed genuinely interested in challenging her senior, Rumi grew a little worried. Bowing to him, she said, “Excuse me, senior,” and hurried off.

“Hey! You haven’t answered my question!” Kuang Dao called after her. But Rumi, fearing this mysterious man might trouble her senior, pretended not to hear and ran even faster.

When Rumi approached Kazumi in a rush, Kazumi asked, “What happened?”

Clinging to Kazumi’s arm, Rumi recounted the events.

After hearing her story, Kazumi couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s what you get for practicing swordsmanship in the middle of the street. Now you’ve attracted some weirdo!”

Blushing, Rumi protested, “I was just bored because you were taking so long to come out. I didn’t expect something like this to happen. But he doesn’t seem like a bad person. He’s really skilled! Apart from senpai, he’s the most incredible person I’ve met. When his hand swept in front of me just now, I genuinely felt like a sword had sliced through me. This must be what my senior calls sword energy.”

Kazumi rolled her eyes and said, “You’re always getting overly excited when it comes to things like this. Let’s go—Shinobu is still waiting for us.”

“Oh, right. Kazumi, let’s stop by our senpai’s place on the way back and help clean up. That lazy guy must have a pile of dirty laundry by now. He’ll be so surprised to see his place spotless when he returns!” Rumi grew more excited as she spoke.

Smiling, Kazumi replied, “It’s because we’re always cleaning for him that he’s getting lazier.”

Rumi thought about it and realized it was true, bursting into laughter.

After a while, she suddenly hugged Kazumi’s arm and whispered, “Kazumi, honestly, I’m really happy to do these things for senpai. I’m not good at much, so this is one of the few ways I can help him. Oh, Kazumi, do you know? One night, when I cooked noodles for him, he said they were delicious! It was the first time he genuinely praised me. I’ve told him I can cook plenty of dishes, but he never believes me. Now he’ll finally trust me, right? Kazumi, next time we cook for him, can I do it instead?”

Seeing her hopeful expression, Kazumi nodded and looked at her warmly.

“Thank you, Kazumi. You’re the best!” Rumi said excitedly, hugging her arm tightly.

“Mommy, you’re back!” Bibi exclaimed the moment Tani Akiko walked through the door.

Watching her energetic daughter, Tani Akiko couldn’t help but smile. The fatigue she had been feeling seemed to dissipate in an instant.

“Have you eaten?” she asked, gently stroking her daughter’s soft cheeks while sitting on the sofa.

“Yes. What about you?”

“I’ve already eaten. Did you go out today?”

“Today, I went to the zoo with Kuang Dao-ojisan, and we also had dinner outside.”

The child’s eyes darted mischievously as she suddenly asked, “Mommy, are you free tomorrow?”

“What’s the matter?”

Excitedly, the child picked up a flyer from the table and spread it out for her mother to see. “When I was out with Kuang Dao-ojisan today, we got this flyer. Can we go to this new aquarium tomorrow? It even says here that if a whole family goes, they’ll give you a gift! Let’s go with Kuang Dao-ojisan. And when we collect the gift, I’ll tell them Kuang Dao-ojisan is my daddy. What do you think?”

Hearing this, Tani Akiko froze in surprise.

“Mommy, let’s go, please?” The little girl clung to her arm, pleading and shaking it when her mother didn’t respond.

“But…”

Before she could finish, Kuang Dao walked out of the bathroom wearing only a pair of shorts.

The moment the girl saw him, she dashed over and said, “Kuang Dao-ojisan, let’s go to that new aquarium with Mommy tomorrow!”

Kuang Dao turned to Tani Akiko and asked, “You’re planning to go there tomorrow?”

Feeling suddenly self-conscious, Tani Akiko lowered her gaze and said softly, “If Mr. Kuang Dao doesn’t want to, that’s fine.”

“No, I want to go! Kuang Dao-ojisan, you’ll come, right?” The child’s tone grew insistent.

Kuang Dao replied casually, “If you both want to go, I can tag along.” After all, he hadn’t forgotten his semi-bodyguard role.

Hearing his agreement, the child cheered in excitement.

“Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Kuang Dao,” Tani Akiko said.

Kuang Dao shrugged and opened the fridge to grab a beer.

As Tani Akiko glanced at the flyer again, her eyes fell on the words “Family admission comes with a mysterious gift,” causing her cheeks to flush slightly.

The next morning, Tani Akiko drove the three of them to the newly opened aquarium.

After parking the car, Kuang Dao pointed to a large amusement-park-like building not far from the aquarium and asked, “What’s that place over there?”

Tani Akiko squinted at the prominent sign and replied, “That should be the new ‘China Town’ they’ve been advertising on TV. It’s supposed to be a fusion of entertainment and dining, filled with traditional Chinese shops and restaurants.”

Hearing this, Kuang Dao’s expression grew intrigued. “Oh? A Chinatown in Japan? Interesting.”

It was rare to see him so curious, so Tani Akiko suggested, “If Mr. Kuang Dao would like to visit, we can stop by after the aquarium and have lunch at one of the Chinese restaurants there.”

“Thanks, I’d appreciate it.”

“You’re too polite,” Tani Akiko said gently.

“Kuang Dao-ojisan, stop chatting! If we don’t hurry, all the mysterious gifts will be gone!” Seeing more and more people entering, the child became anxious.

After purchasing tickets, they approached the entrance, where several staff members welcomed them in line. One of the staff asked directly, “Are you a family?”

The blunt question made Tani Akiko’s face flush. Remembering her promise to her daughter last night, she hesitated, unsure whether to tell the truth.

Seeing her hesitation, Kuang Dao was about to answer.

But the little girl quickly chimed in, “Yes, they’re my daddy and mommy.” She said it with complete naturalness.

“I see. Well, here’s a gift for you.” A staff member handed a neatly wrapped present to the child.

The child accepted the gift graciously, thanking the staff before playfully winking at Kuang Dao.

Seeing this, Kuang Dao couldn’t argue anymore and could only glare at the mischievous little girl.

The child giggled triumphantly.