Wind Off the Sea
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A pile of old, damaged swords lay in the middle of the room. Some were broken, some rusty, while others were only mildly nicked. Pieces of paper were spread carefully around them in a circle.
As he raised his hands, the paper rose into the air and started to glow.
Slowly, he smiled, and began chanting.
It was time to save the world.
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Chapter 1: Citadel
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Yagami Karei stepped into the ring of metal, looking doubtfully at the oven-sized device it was attached to. Her hands tightened on the straps of the large brown backpack she carried.
"Ready?" Mibu Kajiya, the grey-haired man standing before her, smiled encouragingly. He reached for the large, obnoxiously red lever on the control panel of the machine.
"Um. Yeah. I guess I'm ready," Karei replied. Brushing strands of her strawberry blond hair out of her face, she swallowed hard, remembering his words from before:
'Time traveling does not hurt. All you'll feel is a little tingling, and perhaps a slight giddyness if you are prone to motion sickness, but that's all.'
Still, two days ago she hadn't even known that mankind had succeeded at time travelling, much less thought about doing it herself. It was normal for one to be a little bit nervous and apprehensive, she told herself firmly.
Ah, screw it, she was scared. Almost as scared as she had been when she had first been invited to the headquarters of the Time-Research Organization. A group of tall men in suits with sunglasses had approached her while she was scrubbing the sink at the La Glace Cafe, and her first instinct then had been to throw the cups at them and run, because such scenes in movies usually ended with the men kidnapping the girl for some nefarious scheme.
This time, however, she was here of her own accord, having agreed to Kajiya's proposition. There was no turning back now. As Kajiya nodded to his assistant, who stepped out of the room and shut the door, Karei took a deep breath.
"Here we go!" Kajiya pulled the lever down. The metal ring in which they stood began to glow, and a loud whirring rumble rose from the time machine. Suddenly, the light intensified to a blinding degree, and Karei squeezed her eyes shut instinctively.
A minute later, Karei could sense that the light had faded. The temperature around them had risen a little, and the air was fresh. Muted sounds of water could be heard in the distance. Apprehensively, she peeled one eye open.
They were standing in the middle of a relatively empty washitsu, with the metal ring still around them, and the time machine next to them. The promised tingling was less noticeable than she had expected, and she felt almost anticlimactic as she looked around. Had they really moved to a different time and space?
"Well, here we are." Kajiya was bent over the time machine, fiddling with the dials and buttons. He pulled its glass cover down, then stood up and turned to Karei. "Feeling all right?"
"Yeah, I guess. Are we in the Citadel now?" she asked uncertainly.
"That's right. This is a base we set up in an isolated space, set in the year 1800. Come." He slid open the shojidoors on one side of the room, and they stepped out onto the wooden engawa.
Karei was impressed by the view that greeted them. It was late in the afternoon, and the sky above the garden was blue, with some light yellow streaks across it. There were a few large ponds, stone bridges, foot paths, and two or three boulders scattered amongst the trees. It reminded her a little of her grandparents' home in Osaka, although their garden was a lot smaller. Somehow, the familiarity was comforting.
"You have returned," an unknown voice said from behind them. Karei turned, startled.
Standing before her was a young man, dressed in what looked like traditional clothes at first glance. He had short, curly purple hair (was it dyed?) and gentle green eyes, and he stared at Karei with undisguised interest. Karei stared back, taking in his neat blue uwagi, grey hakama, and black cape. Distractingly, the lining of his cape had a bright pink floral print, which matched the also-bright-pink flower fastening the cape at his left breast. Strangely, he wore oddly patterned boots instead of the geta she would have expected. At his waist, he carried an uchigatanawith a sheath that resembled the night sky.
He looked like a cosplayer of some fantasy RPG, she thought.
"Ah, Kasen. This is the new Saniwa, Yagami Karei," Kajiya introduced.
Saniwa. It was a title, Kajiya had told her, signifying that she possessed the divine ability granted by the gods to give life. That ability was necessary to fight in a war that was endangering the world as they knew it, he said. It was the reason they were so eager to seek her out and have her join them.
Me, saving the world? This is real life, for heaven's sake, not a video game.
The purple-haired man bow deeply. "I am Kasen Kanesada. I am a famous sword of fine arts who loves elegance. Pleased to meet you," he said.
Karei blinked. A sword. So this was one of the swords that Kajiya had told her about. The previous Saniwa had apparently brought life to a few swords, drawing out the souls within them and creating a human form for each one. Karei hadn't known whether to believe him or not, but now, the evidence stood before her. Unbidden, her eyes flew to the uchigatana he carried.
"Pleased to meet you," she replied, bowing as well. What did he mean by 'fine arts' and 'loves elegance'? How would a sword know anything about art and elegance?
"Where are the others?" Kajiya asked, looking around, as if he was expecting more people to appear out of thin air.
"They're working in the field, Mr Kajiya, but should be back soon," Kasen replied. "Shall I show the Saniwa to her room?"
"Yes, please do. I'm going to finish up preparations in the forge," Kajiya said. He smiled at Karei. "Come to the forge when you're done changing and unpacking."
He turned and walked briskly off, disappearing from view as he rounded the corner. Karei followed Kasen back indoors and through the corridors (the Citadel was larger than she had thought) until they reached a room with cherry blossoms painted on the doors.
"This is your room, Mistress," he said.
"Why are you calling me that?" she asked, rather awkwardly. Although she had made origami animals move before, none of them had ever spoken. She wasn't sure how to talk to a sword, even one that looked and acted so... human.
"The Saniwa is the one through which the gods gives life," Kasen answered. "You are the oracle, the voice of the gods, and therefore we owe you our allegiance."
"...Ooookay." This was beginning to sound like a shounen manga. Or a period drama. Karei gave him an awkward smile, then slid the door open and stepped into her new room.
It was spacious, about 8-mat large, with a wooden closet against the left wall and a small cabinet opposite it. Four unlit paper lamps were placed against each side of the room. A huge folding screen of paper, painted with pink and white cherry blossoms, was pushed neatly against the far side.
"You'll find clothes and shoes in the closet, Mistress. I hope they'll fit you," Kasen said. "Your futon is in the bottom drawer there."
Karei was only half listening as she touched the folding screen. Like the other furniture, it was exquisitely made, and must have cost a fortune. From what Kajiya had said, the Time-Research Organization had funding from the government, so perhaps it was to be expected.
"Do you like it?" Kasen murmured. Karei jumped; she hadn't realised that he was standing so close behind her.
"What? Uh, the screen? Yeah, it's... it's pretty. Very pretty," she said. Don't creep up on me like that!
Kasen smiled. It was the first time she had seen him smile, and she was... surprised... at how natural he looked. His green eyes were crinkled with laugh lines, and dimples danced in his cheeks. He was, she decided, really quite good-looking, in a way that her friend Natsumi would have approved of. Nobody would know that he was actually just a piece of metal.
"I'm glad you like it. I painted it especially for you," he said.
"I- Wait, what? You painted it?"
"Yes, Mistress. As I said earlier, I love fine arts. I made this for you as a welcome gift when I heard you were coming," Kasen said serenely.
It wasn't what she had expected. Where had Kasen learnt how to paint? Why had he even taken an interest in it? It made Karei wonder about the previous Saniwa. Did he create this 'personality' for Kasen, like programming an android?
Aloud, she said, "Thank you very much." He smiled at her again, then bowed.
"I'll be making arrangements for dinner now. You'll find Mr Kajiya in the forge, which is located to the right of the garden," he said, gesturing vaguely toward where she supposed the forge was.
Dinner. This sword actually cooks. Immediately, a mental image of Kasen chopping vegetables and meat with his sword formed in Karei's mind, and she had to fight down the urge to laugh.
"All right. See you later!"
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Karei tucked the straps of her hakama in, then pulled her long hair up into a single ponytail. She glanced at herself critically in the mirror attached to the door of the closet. Hm, not bad. It had been a long time since she wore a gi and hakama; the last was probably when she failed her 2-dan exam four years ago...
Scowling a little at the thought, she grabbed a pair of zori from the closet and slammed the door shut.
As she strode through the corridors, she glanced briefly at some of the other rooms in the Citadel. Most of them were furnished similarly to hers, but there were also two small sitting rooms and one large one, with tables and cushions in them. The latter had an irori hearth sunken into the middle of the floor, and a sword stand in one corner holding a brown and gold tachi. Karei wondered if it belonged to one of the 'others' that were out doing fieldwork.
Stepping out into the garden, she turned to the right to find the aforementioned forge. She saw it immediately, a small building made of grey stone situated about ten metres from the house. As she walked over, she could feel heat radiating out through the open door. She peered in.
There was a clear space in front of the roaring fire, where Kajiya had chalked what looked like a magic circle for summoning demons from hell. A tantou was placed in the middle. More chalk markings led from the circle to the furnace. Some of it looked like kanji, but others were unfamiliar shapes to her.
Uh oh. Witchcraft. Maybe I should start praying for my soul.
"Ah, Karei! Good timing." Kajiya appeared from behind her, holding an armful of black charcoal wrapped in rags. He wore a faded light blue hakama beneath a darker blue gi, and his hair was pulled back into a messy knot behind his head.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"Getting ready for you to smith a sword." He placed the charcoal beside three other piles of materials (she wasn't certain what exactly they were) and grinned at her face. "Don't worry, I'll help you through it. Sit in the circle there, behind the tantou, will you?"
This was the reason why he had brought her here. But she had never made a human out of steel and wood before; how would Kajiya even know if she could succeed? Perhaps it was a test, and if she failed, she would be sent home, and they'd have to find a new Saniwa.
She hated the feeling of failure.
Wiping a trickle of sweat off her face, Karei sat down as instructed, eyeing the tantou before her. The tsuka was white with dark grey markings, and the saya a matte black. Across from her, Kajiya sat down beside the furnace, his face red from the fire.
"In a few minutes, you will begin by holding your hands above the sword, and reading these words," Kajiya said, gesturing to a small paragraph chalked just outside the summoning circle. Unlike the other white markings, it was yellow. "I'll be supporting you by fusing these materials together," he pointed to the piles next to him, "to form the new body of the sword. Now, let's star-"
"Wait wait wait wait! Shouldn't you tell me more clearly what I'm supposed to do?" Karei protested. Kajiya smiled.
"Don't worry. Your powers will take over."
"...Very helpful," Karei muttered. Hesitantly, she held her hands above the tantou.
"Higher. About chest level," Kajiya said. She did as he bade, then looked over to the chalky instruction manual he had indicated earlier.
"Begin."
"Wood, Fire, Earth, Gold, Water. I call to me the Five Elements," she recited. A strange, low pitched humming emanated from the sword, and it rose into the air, floating a few inches from her fingers. Her body felt uncomfortably warm; was it just because of the heat from the furnace? She looked at Kajiya, who nodded encouragingly at her as he lay out a few pieces of what looked like paper.
"From life to life, from ash to ash. Retrieve the soul within this blade."
Warm, golden power was welling up within her. There was no mistaking it now; it was a similar feeling to the few times when she made her paper sculptures move, but on a much larger scale. The air around her was shifting, and the sword began to glow. Dimly, she was aware of Kajiya chanting something else. Tiny balls of light were blinking around him. They surrounded the piles of materials, then carried them into the fire.
"Let the memories of time etched into the metal now surface."
She could hear voices now, countless voices, all talking at the same time. The golden energy within her was streaming into the sword, and its glow intensified. Kajiya plunged his hands into the fire and pulled out something that gleamed white. He raised a small black mallet, and the balls of light flew into it.
Karei read the final line.
"I bind you to earth, life, and this body."
She grabbed the tantou in both hands and stood. One by one, the chalk marks around them lit up. One of the voices in her head became louder.
"In the name of the gods I summon you!" Drawing the sword from its sheath, she called out its name.
"Yagen Toushirou!"
The sword and sheath leapt from her hands and flew towards Kajiya, merging with the white glow that he had been hammering at. There was a loud, blinding flash, causing both humans to shield their eyes for a few moments.
When the light died, Karei opened her eyes. The chalk marks had completely disappeared, as had the fire in the furnace. The power had left her body, leaving her feeling strangely heavy. The pieces of paper and balls of light around Kajiya were gone as well.
Standing before them was a boy with short black hair and pale brown eyes. He was dressed in a dark blue suit with matching shorts, and in his hands, he held the short sword. Pink flower petals were scattered around him.
He stared at the sword, then looked up at Karei.
"I am... Yagen Toushirou," he said. His voice was surprisingly deep for someone who looked about 14 years old, she thought hazily.
"Congratulations," Kajiya rose to his feet, breathing hard. Relief was etched into the lines upon his face. "You've succeeded."
Karei blinked. Suddenly, the ground came rushing up to meet her, and everything went black.
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This was written as an adaptation of a dream I had months ago. When I first planned it, Touken Ranbu only had five maps, and swords like Hakata and Nihongou didn't exist yet. The only recent change I'll be following is Izuminokami's status as an uchigatana instead of a tachi.
I've adopted some of the game mechanics and abandoned others to make this story coherent (because stuff like picking up sword boys from debris of a battlefield is kinda silly. Nor do I want to feed sword replicas to other swords to raise their rank), so if you find anything unfamiliar from the game, it probably came from my imagination.
Trivia: Although the actual kanji is different, Kajiya's name shares the same pronunciation as 'blacksmith'.
Dedicated to Hweein, who helped me to collect huge amounts of research before I even started writing. I hope you enjoy this!
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Translation Notes
Washitsu - Japanese styled room
Engawa - Wooden corridor outside the house
Uchigatana - Japanese long sword, often known as katana. Descendant of the tachi
Gi and hakama - Japanese clothing, top and bottom respectively
2-dan - term for Japanese martial arts levels
Zori - straw slippers
Tachi - Japanese long curved sword
Irori - hearth sunken into the floor
Tantou - Short sword
Tsuka - Handle of sword
Saya - Sheath