Blades of the Past

"Something came out!! K-K-Kotestu, something came out!" Tanjiro yelled, lifting Kotetsu above his head.

"What is that?" Hiroto said, rubbing his chin.

"Well, I have no idea either. What is it!!" Kotetsu yelled. "It must be a 300-year-old blade or something."

"Yeah. This is… wow. So what now?!" Tanjiro said anxiously, also getting excited.

Hiroto watched the two who seemed giddy over the sword.

*pant pant pant* "I can't stop getting excited!!" Tanjiro said, shaking with Kotetsu.

"Yeah! Tanjiro, you can take it. P-P-Please, take it!!" Kotetsu gestured to Tanjiro.

"No no no no, I can't. The doll took years' worth of sword blows, and it just happened to break when I used it." Tanjiro said. Although he denied it, his face was excited as it grew red.

"Tanjiro, you were in trouble since your sword wasn't getting forged, right? Then go ahead. I own it, so I get the say." Kotetsu said, posing next to the doll.

"No no no no, you can't," Tanjiro exclaimed, still obviously looking excited.

Hiroto looked on from the side and thought, 'This is getting embarrassing to watch.'

"Metal forged during the Sengoku Era is of really good quality. Take it." Kotetsu insisted.

"Should I pull it out?!" Tanjiro said, pumping his fists into the air.

"Yea, I wanna see it!" Kotetsu said, copying Tanjiro.

Tanjiro then took the sword out of the doll and knelt beside Kotetsu. The two were anxious and excited when looking at the old worn-out sword.

Tanjiro then slowly pulled the blade out of its sheath. And what was revealed was… A rusted blade.

The two fell and laid down on the ground, defeated.

"I kind of expected that," Hiroto said, picking the sword up and looking at it. He saw that it still had the same original metal color on the blade.

"Well, it has been over 300 years… and nobody got their hands on it. And nobody knew about it… Sorry for getting you worked up over nothing…" Kotetsu said.

Tanjiro sat up, with tears streaming down his face as he smiled and said. "It's okay!! Don't worry about it."

"Waaaahh! Tanjiro! Tanji… I'm sorry!!" Kotetsu panicked and shouted.

Hiroto looked to his side as he sensed someone walking over. "Hm. It seems like he's finally decided to show himself." Hiroto said.

Tanjiro and Kotetsu tilted their heads when they heard Hiroto. But then saw the figure of a hulking man walk through the thickets.

"What the?" Tanjiro said, watching the hulking man walk closer to them.

Once the man got closer, they saw the huge bulging muscles and abs on him. He wore a hyottoko mask. The two boys were shocked completely when they saw the man.

"Waaaaahhh!! Who?!" Tanjiro cried out.

"Haganezuka?!" Kotetsu said.

"I heard everything… Leave it… To me…" Haganezuka's voice came from behind his mask as he gave off an imposing aura.

"Leave what to you?!" Tanjiro shouted.

Hiroto threw the sword towards Kotetsu and said, "It's his sword, you should probably ask him for it."

Haganezuka ignored Hiroto and went to grab the sword from Kotetsu, however, Tanjiro and Kotetsu fought back and pulled it away from him.

Hiroto watched on from the side as the three engaged in a tug of war with the sword. He lost interest and walked over to the doll, looking into its body. At the bottom of the body, he saw what seemed to be white hilt sticking out.

Curiosity getting the better of him, Hiroto reached down and grabbed the hilt. With a bit of pressure, he managed to pry it free from the gears.

Lifting it, he held the white hilt in his right hand, with his left holding the black sheath.

"I'm telling you, leave it to me!!" Haganezuka shouted from behind Hiroto and spun the sword that he grabbed, knocking Tanjiro and Kotetsu unto the ground.

"Waaghh! That's not what adults should do!!" Tanjiro yelled.

Kanamori was crouched behind Haganezuka and said, "Boys, Haganezuka's weak point is his sides. Go for these parts." He then tickled the sides of Haganezuka's body.

"Hya hya hya hya hya!" Haganezuka laughed uncontrollably and fell onto the ground defeated.

"Ah, Kanamori! It's been a while!" Tanjiro said, holding Kotetsu up.

"Oi! What the hell did Haganezuka do?! Why is he so buffed up?!" Atsuhiko's voice came from the side.

"Ah, Atsuhiko." Tanjiro said, nodding to him.

"Please forgive the man. He was training in the mountains." Kanamori said.

"Training?" Tanjiro asked sitting on the ground with Kotetsu and Kanamori. Kotetsu threw pebbles at Haganezuka's head as he laid prone on the ground, with Atsuhiko kicking his leg.

"Yeah. Your brother, Hiroto knows. He wanted to make a strong sword so you wouldn't die. He won't be honest about it though." Kanamori said.

"For me…" Tanjiro said, looking grateful and happy as he blushed.

*smack smack*

"Tsk, this guy can't even make a proper sword, always making it break," Atsuhiko said, sitting on Haganezuka's back and slapping the back of his head.

"Wait, Hiroto. Why are you holding a Wakizashi in your hand?" Atsuhiko said, walking up to Hiroto and looked at the wakizashi in his hand. "Wait… Don't tell me you cheated on me with another swordsmith!!"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? I found this at the bottom of the doll." Hiroto said, pointing towards the crumbling mechanical doll.

"You found that in there? Well… Since it came from my doll, I guess you can have it. Since your Tanjiro has the katana, you might as well take it." Kotetsu said, shrugging the wakizashi off, seeming uninterested in it.

Hiroto then slid the blade out of its sheath, and the same rusted appearance appeared. Already expecting this, Hiroto wasn't fazed and handed it over to Atsuhiko.

"Can you fix up this blade for me?" Hiroto said.

"Hmph, who do you think I am? Of course, I can!" Atsuhiko declared, holding the wakizashi in his hand. He then inspected the blade and couldn't help but praise it unconsciously. "This metalwork truly is superb. Even better than mine, only by a little bit though…"

"Well, of course, it would be. It's from the Sengoku period." Kotetsu said.

"WHAT!!" Atsuhiko exclaimed, grabbing Kotetsu's shoulders. "Are you serious?! You aren't lying to me?"

"Y-Yes," Kotetsu said, as he was being shaken back and forth.

"Hahaha! Hiroto, you're like my lucky charm! First, you let me see a red Nichirin Blade, and now you gave me the chance to work with a sword that came from the Sengoku period!" Atsuhiko yelled, as he held the Wakizashi and hugged it.

*spring* Haganezuka sprung up from the ground.

"Ah, he's back," Kanamori said casually.

Haganezuka stood and waved his hands around in circles, saying, "I will deal with the rusted blade. Allow me to refine it with my Nichirin polishing skills that have been passed down the Haganezuka line for generations."

"Pft, like you, could do anything about an actual blade, let alone a rusted one," Atsuhiko said.

*snap* Haganezuka glared at Atsuhiko, who then ran off while shouting, "Let's see who can polish the blades better!"

Kotetsu then spoke up, "You should have said that from the get-go. You keep saying, 'trust me' even though you don't try and establish mutual trust. No wonder you can't get a wife. You just repeat that on and on…"

Haganezuka then grabbed and lifted Kotetsu by his shirt.

"Sides! Sides! Get the sides!" Kanamori yelled as he and Tanjiro rushed at Haganezuka.

----

The next day, as the evening approached, Tanjiro and Hiroto were eating in a room. Tanjiro held a bowl of rice crackers as he recounted the events that happened yesterday.

"So that happened yesterday. And I heard it will take three days and three nights to finish. Apparently, Atsuhiko said he will complete his faster, but I think they were just competing. Haganezuka said his methods are so severe that people have died from them. I'm kinda worried. Atsuhiko then said that with his method, apparently 1 in 10 people survive when using his polishing technique." Tanjiro said, taking another bite as he stuffed his face.

"Haganezuka then told me not to check on him. Ever. But should I?" Tanjiro asked and looked to the back of a man with a long mohawk hairstyle.

"I don't care!! Get out, Dammit! Don't talk to me like I'm your friend!! And why are you here too!!" Genya shouted, looking at Tanjiro and Hiroto.

"But we're friends, right?" Tanjiro. Hiroto nodded.

"Why the hell are you nodding your head! You kicked me in the goddamn face. Don't tell me you forgot!" Genya shouted, pointing at Hiroto.

"Hey, you hit a girl. Brother had to, Genya. You were completely at fault." Tanjiro said with a sparkle.

*crunch*

Hiroto ate a rice cracker, nodded his head and said, "He's right, Genya. You know what they say. True bonds are made after one exchanges blows with another."

"Don't call me by my first name!!! And we never exchanged blow! You just kicked me in the face!" Genya yelled.

Tanjiro and Hiroto both looked at each other and held out a rice cracker each.

"These rice crackers are really good. Wanna try?" Tanjiro said.

"You're not yourself, have a rice cracker," Hiroto said.

"Shitface!! I don't need that crap! Both of you, get out!!" Genya yelled.

Tanjiro paused and said, "Huh…? Your teeth. Didn't you pull them out… at the hot spring?"

Hiroto then said, "It's rude to talk about people's teeth like that Tanjiro. With how advanced medicine is these days, he might have had a fake one.

"..." Genya didn't say anything.

"But, how can that be, brother? I have his tooth right here." Tanjiro took the tooth out from his pocket.

"Why did you take it?! Ewww, you're fucking gross!!" Genya yelled, looking a bit disgusted.

Hiroto looked at his brother and said, "... Tanjiro… I didn't know you had these kinds of hobbies…"

"It's not like that, brother. I mean, Genya dropped it and I wanted to give it back to him." Tanjiro said with an innocent expression.

"You're insane! Both of you! Throw it out! And fuck off!" Genya then kicked the two out of his room. Of course, he missed Hiroto who dodged and left with the bowl of rice crackers, leaving a trail of crumbs behind him.

"Why is he so mad all the time?" Tanjiro said, looking back at the door that slammed shut behind them. "Maybe he's hungry or something."

"Remember what father taught us, Tanjiro. Never provoke a hungry beast. *crunch*" Hiroto said, lecturing Tanjiro.