When they returned to the Butterfly Mansion, they spotted Kanae waiting outside the gates from afar. Makomo immediately let go of Kanzaki Kumo's hand and threw herself at her.
"Kanae, I missed you so much!"
Kanzaki Kumo looked at his abandoned hand, then at the two girls locked in a close embrace. For a moment, he couldn't quite process it, but then he noticed Makomo rubbing her head against Kanae's chest.
"Makomo! Kanzaki-kun is watching!"
Kanae spoke with some embarrassment, pushing Makomo a little way out of her arms.
"Huh?" Makomo raised her head in confusion, looked at Kanae's flushed face, then turned to look at Kanzaki Kumo, whose eyes were practically shooting fire. Only then did she catch on.
"No way! You two... after more than two months, you're still... being that proper?"
"Ahem!"
Kanzaki Kumo's eyes really were about to catch fire.
"Makomo!"
Kanae also gave Makomo a light, embarrassed swat.
"Hehe~"
Makomo grinned playfully and stopped teasing. She simply took Kanae's hand and walked into the Butterfly Mansion, chatting and laughing with her, while Kanzaki Kumo followed silently behind them.
With Makomo's arrival, life afterward seemed to have gained something, yet it also seemed unchanged.
Apart from the number of girls he often shared intimate moments with increasing from one to two, everything else continued as usual.
With Makomo sharing the load, the daily workload of the other three Hashira, including Kanzaki Kumo, decreased further, leaving them with a little more free time.
Some time later, when Kanzaki Kumo felt his strength had hit a bottleneck, he left the Butterfly Mansion.
This bottleneck wasn't a matter of honing his moves. Rather, his physical strength was limiting how well he could execute them.
After several attempts, Kanzaki Kumo confirmed that simply refining his technique could no longer