Looking at the hilt of the sword I saw that it was damaged and really worn out. Judging from what Kotetsu had said, this sword must have been over three hundred years old and I couldn't help but want to take it out and study it. Would it look like the swords that we have today? Was it crafted with different techniques? It was a nichirin blade so what colour was it? Who did it belong to?
"Something came out! K-K-Kotesu-kun, Hikaru, something came out!" Tanjiro yelled as he and Kotetsu looked at the blade hilt.
"What is it?" Kotetsu questioned.
"Well I have no idea either, what is it?" Tanjiro asked.
"Calm down both of you, from the look of it, it has to be a sword that is probably over three hundred years old" I said looking at them. I couldn't believe how excited they were getting over this, don't get me wrong I was excited but they were taking it to the next level.
"Yeah...This is....Wow. So what now?" Tanjiro asked.
"I can't stop getting excited! Tanjiro-san, you can take it. P-P-Please take it" Kotetsu said, covered in sweat from excitement.
"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 protested.
"Tanjiro-san, 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.
"No, no, no, no, you can't," Tanjiro continued to protest, even though he was just as excited as Kotetsu.
"Metal forged during the sengoku era is of really good quality, take it" Kotetsu insisted.
"How about we take it out of Yorichi first, before you continue to fight about it?" I decided to speak up since this seemed like it was going to be going on forever.
"Yeah, I want to see it!" Kotetsu cheered. As carefully as I could I gently eased the sword out of its resting place and held it out to them. Then I remembered something.
"Oh it will-," I started before they pulled the sword from the sheath and collapsed onto the ground, all their excitement gone.
"Be rusted" I finished. What did they expect from a three hundred year old blade to be in perfect condition when no one had looked after it.
"Well, it has been three hundred years and nobody got their hands on it and nobody knew about it. Sorry for getting you worked up over nothing" Kotetsu apologised.
"It's okay, don't worry about it" Tanjiro said with tears streaming down his face. Sighing I leant over and gently ruffled his hair even as Kotetsu was once again apologising.
"If having a sword is that important I could see about...." I started but I stopped turning as an aura came towards us and we heard large footsteps. Even with all the bulging muscles that were new I knew who it was instantly. It was Haganezuka and he looked like he could probably beat us to a pulp. I hope he wasn't still angry about the swords I broke.
"WAAAHH! Who?!" Tanjiro yelled.
"Haganezuka?" Kotetsu questioned.
"I heard everything, leave it to me," Haganezuka said.
"Leave what to you?" Tanjiro questioned. Without any more words Haganezuka grabbed onto the sword while Kotetsu and Tanjiro also still had a hold of it. Looks like they were going to fight over the sword and for now I wasn't going to get involved. It's not like he was trying to steal the sword, if he was offering what he was then it was good.
"Please let go! Wait, why are you even trying to take it?" Tanjiro questioned.
"Leave it, to me," Hanganezuka said.
"No, this is Kotetsu-kun's," Tanjiro protested.
"Leave it," Haganezuka said.
"Please, explain Haganezuka-san" Kotetsu tried to get through to him.
"Leave it," Haganezuka said once again.
"No! Leave what?" Kotetsu asked.
"I'm telling you, leave it to me!" Haganezuka yelled while spinning with the blade in his hands. Kotetsu and Tanjiro couldn't hold on but I caught them both before they hit the ground and got hurt.
"Wahh! That's not what adults should do" Tanjiro cried out as I gently put the two of them on the ground again.
"Boys, Haganezuka's weak point is his sides, go for these parts" Another voice said as a familiar aura and person showed up and started to tickle Haganezuka's sides. Said person burst into laughter before collapsing to the ground.
"Kanamori-san, it's been a while" I greeted and Tanjiro did the same.
"Hello there, Tanjiro-kun, Hikaru-kun. Haganezuka-san will just fall limp when you tickle him so I'll explain. Please forgive the man, he was training in the mountains" Kanamori started to explain.
"Training?" Tanjiro enquired.
"Yeah, he wanted to make strong swords so the two of you wouldn't die, he won't be honest about it though" Kanamori said and I couldn't help but wince a little. I was making my own blades now so I hope Haganezuka wasn't too upset about it. Even if it did upset him I couldn't stop, something was telling me this was the right thing to do. Shaking my head, I would deal with that later, looking I saw Kotetsu was throwing pebbles at Haganezuka's head.
"For me" Tanjiro whispered and his aura was sparkling with awe, embarrassment and happiness.
"And you two keep asking him to make blades for you, so I think he's happy. Every other swordsman hates him, and he's lost a lot of clients" Kanamori said. Now I was feeling even worse.
"Oh really?" Tanjiro said.
"And he's really bad at dealing with people, that's why he's not married" Kotetsu piped up. Just then Haganezuka jumped up into the air looking perfectly fine again and I saw Tanjiro and Kotetsu jump in fright.
"He's back" Kanamori said, he was obviously used to this by now.
"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" Haganezuka said while moving his arms in a weird pattern and looked really intense. Even his aura was spilling intensity all over.
"Then you could have just said that from the get-go. You keep saying 'trust me' even though you don't try to establish mutual trust, you just repeat that on and on," Kotetsu said. Instantly Haganezuka grabbed Kotetsu by the front of his shirt making us yell. Both Kanamori and I ran to get to Haganezuka's sides while Tanjiro ran to grab Kotetsu. Finally everything was settled and Haganezuka took the sword to polish while Tanjiro and I headed back to the main estate to wait out the time since it would take three days and three nights to fully polish the sword. Since we were no longer going through Kotetsu's hell training I could now spend more time forging my swords which I was glad about since I was coming up to a crucial part, I was nearly finished with the long sword and only had a few more things to do.
"Hey Tanjiro, I'm going to head to the forge and I might end up sleeping there tonight so don't worry if I don't end up back here" I said and he nodded.
"Okay, have fun" Tanjiro said and I nodded before heading to the forge. As soon as I got to the door I took a deep breath and gently opened the door and then something happened. Just like in the entertainment district my body was moving on its own while I was watching, it's like I was moving but at the same time I knew that it wasn't me moving.
"Sorry about this little sun but you'll understand soon. It's been a while since I was in a forge" I heard my voice say but I hadn't spoken. With those thoughts my eyes went wide before everything went black.
