The Sword Maiden of Endless Dreams (III)

[“The National Swordsmanship Tournament, customary of the Five Traditions and hosted by the Special Sword Administration Bureau and the Origami family, was again held in Kamakura this year. Now, we shall move on to the weather. Today, cold autumn rains are dousing the Kanto region. Thankfully, this squall is predicted to not be around for long and should stop tonight.”]

With an open can of beer as a reward to herself for a good days’ work, Kyouko observed the two girls, diligently watching the screen of the television. Even if she was retired, she was still a former Toji and she was able to immediately tell that Suzuran had lowered her defenses and was relaxing somewhat while Noa still kept herself extremely vigilant. This was especially true due to Noa refusing to part with her okatana which was resting firmly in her lap. As they quietly ate dinner together, Suzuran proceeded to change stations with the remote, trying to find the thing she was looking for.

Kyouko said, “It seems that the police have yet to issue an arrest warrant for you two.”

With that statement, Noa prodded, “…How much do you know?”

“About as much as I was told by President Serizawa,” she replied, adopting a cool smirk. “I can’t believe you’d actually turn your okatana on the great hero, Nanae Origami-sama. Ah, don’t worry, I’m not particularly interested in your motive for doing so.” Kyouko continued chattering away, “I need to sleep now since I have work tomorrow and I need to wake up early. I’ll leave out a spare key on the dinner table so feel free to use that when you need to.”

For an instant, Suzuran had no idea how to react as she blinked, “Ah… Uh, thank you very much!”

“Don’t worry about it,” she waved as she made her way to the master bedroom. “If you don’t need me for anything else, I’ll be turning in for the night.”

“Good night,” Suzuran replied cheerfully. She then turned warily to her partner-in-crime. “…Okay, I’m starting to see where you’re coming from. Her doing so much for us is suspicious as heck even if she is doing it because the principal asked her to.”

“That aside, I need to talk to you,” Noa declared; in response, Suzuran blinked several times, bewildered at the invitation.

Retiring to the guest bedroom which they will be sharing, the two girls hung their hand-washed student uniforms on the portable closet rod Suzuran had set up in the room (this was one of the items that she bought that had raised Noa’s eyebrows). The girls sat across from each other in the formal seiza position. Both girls had their [okatana] across their laps as Noa began, “I need you to tell me exactly what you saw hiding in the shadows behind Nanae Origami.”

“Oh, uh, okay…” Suzuran stammered. “It really was only for an instant so I can’t clearly remember but I saw the [aradama] open one eye and glare at you, Noa-san.”

“—It… glared at me?” Noa blinked. “An [aradama]? What was its form like?”

“Uh…”

Noa narrowed her eyes. “Spill it already.”

“Well... yes, I did see it but it didn’t have a form. I only saw one eye and it was leering at you.”

“Eyes, huh… And you’re sure you’re not mistaken?”

“Yes.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Hey, don’t look down on me. I am a full-fledged [Toji] myself.”

Noa smirked slightly and backed down. She crossed her arms as she continued, “You said that you only saw it for a moment. Does that mean that it disappeared?”

“Uh… No, I wouldn’t say it ‘disappeared’, per se… The [aradama] did something that was similar to how we [Toji] generate [utsushi]… Yeah, like it slunk back to the Netherworld…” Suzuran added. “I think I saw it when she extracted her [okatana].”

Noa’s eyes widened. “She... pulled them out from the Netherworld…?” She closed her eyes, racking her memory for the instant in which Nanae Origami defended from her attack. Indeed, she definitely remembered Nanae simply yank her sword into existence and defending Noa’s perfect attack before pulling out a second one. [So those two swords are Okanehina and Doujigiri Yasuzuki…? I see, it’d make sense if she can pull it out of the Netherworld considering she is an aradama…]

“This is merely a suggestion but how likely are we to get help or some form of assistance if we spill the truth about the Origami head?”

“It’s no good,” Noa immediately denied. “Both the Sword Administration and the Special Religious Military Units are under the complete control of Nanae Origami. We would essentially be pebbles to be stepped on.”

“I see… You’re going to attack the Origami head again, right?”

“Yes, of course,” she replied instantly. “I now have a witness. Nanae Origami is not a human but an aradama in the guise of a human. It is my duty as a [Toji] to exorcise the being pretending to be Nanae Origami. I didn’t think I’d ever get a second chance but as long as I’m alive, I will keep trying.”

Suzuran sat in silence for a few minutes until she wet her lips and said, “Even if you force her into a one-on-one, I don’t think you can win.”

“…What?”

“I don’t know. My sixth sense is telling me that her power is on a different level than our powers.” Not wanting to anger Noa any further, Suzuran finished her statement and turned off the lights before tucking herself into the sheets of the bed.

Noa, on the other hand, understood where Suzuran was coming from. As she tucked herself into the bed herself, she thought, [I put everything I had into the fastest jin’i I could muster. I broke the sound barrier with my thrust 24 times over. Considering I executed it as a perfect surprise attack, that woman shouldn’t have been able to see my attack, let alone defend against it! As if she was taking a walk in the park, she so easily defended herself from my attack…! Actually, wait. My entire body was accelerated yet I was unable to see that woman’s counter.] She shot up in the sheets and stared at the sleeping body of Suzuran Arisugawa. [I couldn’t see it but SHE can...?]

———————————

I could tell I was dreaming since everything was white.

The scenery was, of course, familiar; it was the same scene I always see in my dreams. I was standing at the foot of the stairwell to Kibitsu Shrine, the shrine in the neighborhood of my house. It was completely empty which only proved even more that this was a dream. Looking up the stairs, I saw a young teenage girl. She carried herself similarly to how my loving mother carried herself while she was training me when she was alive but the girl in front of me was far younger and except for hair and eye color, did not appear too similar to the mother I knew so I thought to myself, This can’t be my mother.

The woman descended down from the stairwell and carelessly sat on the railing. She began, “Well, let’s see…” It seemed she already knew what I wanted as she then launched into a lecture about my sword style, the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, as I went through the forms I had drilled into my body. “It seems that you’ve diligently kept at your training but you still need some work on your standing iai kata. In any case, you're here now so how about a spar?”

“Yes, of course, Master,” I replied. “But… before we start…”

“Hmm? What’s up?" the girl prodded, instantly figuring out that I am feeling down. “You don’t look well.”

“Well, I’m just not sure if I did the right thing…”

“Hmm?” The girl was still confused so I took the liberty of explaining the events up until now. The explanation went on for so long that we both elected to sit down on the stone stairs. “Aha, I see… You got yourself into one complicated situation, didn’t you?”

“Yeah… I’m sure I’ve caused Honami a plethora of problems with my decision.”

“Okay, sure, but your actions saved another person, right? If anything, I’d say you made the right decision because after all, this is the decision that best suits you, Suzuran. Plus, since you’re like this, your friend is understanding and sent you off with a smile, didn’t she?”

“You really think so?”

“Yeah, of course! Anyway, I’m itching already! Come on, let’s go a round!” the girl excitedly suggested, impeccably spinning the sword in her hand and returning it to her sheath, as would a practitioner of the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū would do to resheathe their sword after finishing an iai kata.

“Sheesh, that’s all you ever care about, Master…” Of course, I didn't have any complaints as at least within my dreams, I can fight with this shadow of my mother and learn from her, just like I did with my mother before her passing.

… I really do miss you, Mother.