Taichou! [A Touken Ranbu FanFiction]

Chapter One

Three quick raps to her door made Hitomi turn over in her bed as her ears perked up at the sound. She turned her head just in time to see one of the other saniwa's-in-training coming into her room.

"Kuroda-san..." the saniwa said as they looked hesitant to approach the scary female. Hitomi sighed when seeing the look on the saniwa's face.

"Yes, Futaba-san?" Hitomi replied and Futaba seemed stunned that Hitomi actually knew her name. Shaking away her distraction, Futaba spoke up.

"Our senior has requested that you come see them as soon as you are ready" Futaba said and without another word, she dashed from the room.

Hitomi frowned but shrugged off the girl's sudden departure. The silent girl began to get dressed and mentally prepared herself for whatever her seniors had in store for her. It was always hard to tell since they never gave any notice as to what they wish to see you for.

As Hitomi was walking, she had come past a window and looked out of it. The benches beneath her were full of saniwa's chatting amongst themselves and it made her think of her good (and only) friend, Tsubaki Sato, who has since left to start her own journey as a newly appointed Saniwa.

Hitomi was happy for her friend but at the same time missed her dearly and wondered if they would get to see each other anytime soon.

Giving a short sigh, Hitomi continued on her way to her senior's room and rapped sharply on the door. Once hearing the approval to enter, Hitomi opened the door and saw her senior sitting in her desk, sipping on whatever steaming drink filled her porcelain teacup.

"Hitomi, thank you for coming. I have some great news for you" the senior said as she placed her cup down and gave a smile to Hitomi who walked further into the room.

"What is it that you need, ma'am?" Hitomi asked and the senior stood from her seat with a grin.

"You have been chosen as our newest Saniwa!" When the words left her senior's mouth, Hitomi's visible eye widened.

Her? The new Saniwa?

"I..." Hitomi muttered.

She was taken aback by the decision. Sure she had decent fighting skills and good strategic methods but she had never thought that she would ever be chosen as a Saniwa. She was prepared to spend as long as she could in training, thinking that the more practice the better.

Keeping her thoughts to herself, Hitomi simply gave a deep bow of appreciation.

"Thank you" she said as she looked at the wooden floor beneath her. Leaning up, Hitomi now noticed the small fox like creature that was perched on the sofa in the senior's office.

"This is Konnosuke, your new friend that will assist you as you take on your new role as Saniwa" the senior said and Hitomi looked at the fox creature. It smiled at her before jumping off of the sofa and trotting over to Hitomi.

"It's nice to meet you! I look forward to assisting you" Konnosuke said and Hitomi nodded before bowing to the fox.

"Thank you for your help" Hitomi said and lent back up.

"Now, it's best you go as soon as your ready. Good luck in your battles, Hitomi Kuroda. I am sure that you will be another great Saniwa" the senior said as she bid Hitomi a farewell with a wave.

After leaving the room, Hitomi began to walk back to her room with her new ally, Konnosuke, following close behind her.

Konnosuke looked up at her new master and gave the girl a curious once over. Hitomi's face remained stoic as she took quick strides down the hall and her one eye that was visible was sharp as it looked forward. Konnosuke was honestly a bit intimidated by Hitomi if she were being honest and wondered how their first few days as partners would play out.

Hitomi gathered her things, which fit into one suitcase since she didn't have much to begin with, and headed out of the room. She didn't even feel the need to look back or reminisce as it would only hold her back from starting her new journey.

'Is this how Tsubaki felt when she was chosen...?' Hitomi thought as she walked out of her now previous home. The trip to the new citadel was quick and instant as new technology allowed them to get there in the blink of an eye.

The sound of dirt and gravel crunching underneath her boots was heard as Hitomi took the first few steps up to the citadel. It was huge, big enough to fit more than twenty people and the most prominent thing was that it was empty.

"Shall we take a look inside, Aruji-sama?" Konnosuke questioned and at first Hitomi didn't acknowledge the fox's words until she realized that she was the one being called Aruji.

It was a new name for her, all her life she's been known as Kuroda. But now, she would soon be known as Aruji.

Hitomi nodded and the two ventured throughout the citadel taking in all of the rooms and placement of things. Hitomi was quick to notice just how silent it was as her footsteps echoed loudly throughout the empty halls.

"This place feels...lonely" Hitomi said suddenly and Konnosuke looked up at her master. The small fox hadn't expected to hear such a thing come from her seemingly stoic master but then again, she couldn't tell what Hitomi was thinking at all.

"It may be like that at first, but soon this place will be bustling!" Konnosuke said cheerfully as she wanted to bring some kind of happiness to her master.

Hitomi looked down at the fox before giving her a small smile. The fox stared in surprise at the sudden soft look on her master's face but was nonetheless happy that she was able to bring a smile to that normally straight face of hers.

"Then how about we work on that?" Hitomi said and Konnosuke nodded happily.

The two headed back to the smithing room and once stepping in, Hitomi gave a deep breath. She would be summoning her first touken danshi, something that would take quite a bit of power so she tried to focus as much as possible.

Closing her eye, Hitomi breathed in as she concentrated on the power that was flowing through her. It flowed throughout all the parts of her body and she willed it to settled right in her chest before opening her eye and yelling out a powerful 'Sa!'.

With a bright flash, out of nowhere, a new touken danshi stood before Hitomi and Konnosuke.

"Hello, I am Kasen Kanesada, an uchigatana. It is nice to meet you" Kasen said as he bowed and Konnosuke smiled as she saw the successful product of Hitomi's efforts.

"Congratulations!" Konnosuke cheered and Hitomi simply smiled before turning to Kasen.

"My name is Hitomi Kuroda, it is also very nice to meet you Kanesada-san. You are the first touken danshi to arrive to this citadel and as that is the case, I hope that we can get along until others start to arrive" Hitomi said as she gave a swift bow.

And with that, the two partners began to show their newest addition around the citadel.