Summary
Washizu stands outside the toilet waiting for Torigaya, thinking about how to return the handkerchief Ibuki had lent to him a few episodes back. While he thinks, Torigaya finishes up. Coming out to a handkerchief, he naturally thinks the handkerchief was meant for him, but upon touching it, is sent flying back by a raging Washizu.
As Washizu walks along the corridor thinking about exactly how to return it to Ibuki, he hears her voice and turns back to see Ibuki chasing Yoichi. Yoichi had a nosebleed in the art class looking at a female naked sculpture, and Ibuki somehow could not forgive him for that. Seeing his chance, Washizu hands out the handkerchief to Ibuki, but she draws out the 4th Ukiha Divine Wind Style and sends a Tempest after Yoichi. She misses and hits Washizu instead, leaving his clothes in tatters.
Washizu heads to the infirmary with Torigaya, but his mind is elsewhere. He hits upon the idea of handing it back to her in the form of a letter, thinking it would kill two birds with one stone, should he put the letter in her shoe locker. He is very happy as he moves into his patented Washizu Vision, while the nurse asks if there is anything else wrong with his mind.
When Yoichi and Ibuki head to their shoe lockers, they discover the letter. Washizu waits at the rooftop, going into his patented vision of what would happen later when they meet. He also tells of how he first fell in love with Ibuki, where she was actually just asking him to take up his cleaning duties. However she would always greet him after that, becoming the first person to do so. He hears the door open behind him, but turns to find Yoichi instead. It turns out he had put the letter in the wrong locker.
Yoichi starts querying Washizu about the letter, while Washizu thinks to himself that this is a good chance to clear things up. However Yoichi misunderstands and thinks Washizu is interested in the martial arts. Though Washizu tries to deny it, Yoichi notes his strong fists, and moves aside to reveal Ibuki. Ibuki asks Washizu why he could not have just asked her straight, and invites him to join her dojo. Of course, Washizu accepts instantly.
On their way back, Ibuki wonders why Yoichi was asked to return the handkerchief, to which he replies that once martial artists have fought once, they can talk about anything, but Ibuki wonders about that. When Yoichi mentions the dojo will be more active from now on, Ibuki stops, and informs Yoichi that she in fact hated morning cleaning in the dojo, since it was always empty and big and she was alone, but now that Yoichi had joined her in it, it was better now. Yoichi looks away at her cute smile, afraid that if he mentions she looked cute, he would be beaten. Torigaya then meets Washizu outside the school, and Washizu tells him martials are awesome…and Torigaya wonders “since when?”.
We then move to an assassin of the darkness, Nuezume Jinjyuro, who is being asked by Saginomiya Ukyo to finish off Yoichi. Of the Dark Crow Style, Nuezume is promised a reward to finish off Yoichi, but he burns the money instead, stating that he would just go and kill Yoichi, that would be all. Saginomiya leaves on his chopper while Nuezume notes how crude he is, and leaves the house.
Washizu and Torigaya arrive outside the dojo, but while they are arguing outside, Torigaya gets kicked in the butt by one of the 4 students that have come for their lesson with Ibuki. Ibuki appears and welcomes everyone. When asked about who Washizu and Torigaya are, she replies that they are her friends. The students then observes that that would make them their juniors, and when Torigaya asks Washizu to say something regarding that, he is lost in his thoughts on cloud nine about the fact that Ibuki called him a friend. The students note that Washizu is weird, but Torigaya instantly mentions he is only like that at times. As Ibuki brings them in, she tells Washizu that he would be learning something different from the other students as he is a newcomer, and is shown Yoichi as his new teacher, much to his intense shock.
Nuezume is shown again, eating an onigiri. A snake appears and attempts to bite him, but he scares it off with just one glare.
Back in the house, Kagome is shown taking the letters for their dojo back to the main house, and passes Chihaya a letter after acknowledging the latter’s request for a cold drink. After getting the drinks, Chihaya mentions that her manga is getting a second printing so there will be a bit more income for them. They also observe the dojo to be more active today.
At the dojo, Ibuki is teaching the kids how to swing a bokuto, and as Washizu looks at her, he gets whacked on the side of his head by Yoichi, who talks about his heart wandering. While he rolls on the floor, Washizu is told by Yoichi that since he already has the physical strength, he must train his mind. Asked to stop acting, Washizu stands up, and attempts to smash Yoichi with his iron spiked balls. However Ibuki turns at this point to ask if Washizu is fine, and Washizu returns to his hyper mode and asks Yoichi for more training.
Chihaya and Kagome enter the dojo at this point and meet with Torigaya, and a small conversation is struck between them. At the same time Washizu is again struck on the head by Yoichi. Ayame returns to find no one in the house, but upon hearing a commotion outside, moves out to see Ibuki chasing after Yoichi for having whacked Washizu on the head just because the latter opened his eyes a little. She calls him a failure as a samurai for bullying the weak, and both Yoichi and Washizu are extremely hurt by this remark. Yoichi is then helped up by Ibuki, and Ayame, seeing this, leaves. Chihaya notes both this, and the way Washizu looks at Ibuki, and giggles.
Random samurai Nuezume appears again, this time on a raft cutting through a stone in the river.
In the dojo again, Yoichi asks Washizu to train his foundations for sword fighting, which uses different muscles from fist fighting. Washizu is asked to do push-ups, though when he refuses, Ibuki goes forth to tell him basics are important, and he instantly agrees. Setting himself in position, he is surprised to find Yoichi doing the same. Yoichi declares that he is still in training, and after hearing what Ibuki said, decides to also sweat it out. Washizu thinks he is only trying to act like he is cool, and both start to do push-ups together, aiming for a hundred. Kagome and Chihaya are at the grocery store at this point, buying food for dinner, and when Chihaya assures that the money flow will be enough to buy extra, Kagome tells her of something she wants to do to which Chihaya agrees.
Ayame wakes up later due to the heat, hears something going on in the dojo, and decides to check it out. Yoichi and Washizu are duking it out and have gone up to 400, at which point Washizu drops to the floor. However Yoichi decides to continue, as punishment for what he had done earlier. Asked about how much he intends to do, Yoichi replies that he will do twice the normal amount at 1000. Washizu is pissed at this, and informs Yoichi that 400 and 1000 are too far apart and that he will do the same, and both continue. Ayame changes into her casual clothes at this point and wonders what they are doing.
Random assassin Nuezume appears yet again, asking Yoichi if he could feel his murderous intent.
Kagome is making dinner for everyone in the kitchen when Chihaya appears for a drink, and they talk about the liveliness at the dojo. Chihaya also offers her help to Kagome. In the dojo, Washizu is stuck around 786 pushups, thinking to himself that he is actually proud he could get that far. But when he stops and takes a look at Ibuki, he goes into his Washizu Vision, seeing Ibuki cheering him on and telling him he had done well. Yet he shakes his head, and continues. Everyone is happy at this, and Yoichi keeps up as well. Both Kagome and Chihaya then finish dinner, and at the same time, Yoichi and Washizu also finish their thousand.
Washizu is praised by the kids as well as Torigaya, while Yoichi is helped up by Ayame and Ibuki. Kagome and Chihaya then appear with dinner, and Ibuki declares the day is over and asks everyone to eat. Without strength, Washizu is unable to lift his utensils, but Ibuki feeds him, and of course, this puts him on cloud nine. Like Washizu, Yoichi is unable to feed himself, and Ayame takes on the role of his feeder. Yoichi is excited and tells Ayame that it is great to have fun in a group, and also that Ayame is rarely seen at the dojo. She smacks his face for that compliment.
Random assassin Nuezume has lost his way and is unable to find Yoichi, and Saginomiya Sakyou mentions how useless he is, and notes how it will likely be her turn next, ending the episode with her weird laugh.
Impressions
I am kind of glad Washizu got more airtime and storyline development this time round. Always fun to see him duking it out with Yoichi without actually fighting. We also see some of Kagome and Chihaya together in this episode, which I am sure is just to fill up the episode with some screentime of them. However the real side filler this episode was Nuezume, the guy cannot even find his way to Yoichi, WTF? Still, the snake getting scared part was hilarious.
Of course, Washizu Visions are always welcome, though I believe females will prefer Tsubasa’s visions of bishie Washizu. Still no Angela, but we will likely get to see her and Tsubasa in bikini mode next week, so I am not complaining. Ayame also shows some of her tsundere side, as well as more hints of her jealousy towards her elder sister, though she seems unwilling to break them up just like that as well.
We also see that kid that has affections towards Kagome, it was so obvious from the first time round he asked her why she did not appear much at the dojo. Chihaya is also the smartest and most observant, she probably already knows Washizu is interested in her sister.
Next week is the obligatory bikini/swimsuit-filled episode, so I look forward to that indeed. Sorry about the subs, I had no good raw to work with this time round.
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