Disclaimer: Surprise! I bet a number of you guys might be thinking 'What's this? Another story?' Yes, yes indeed! I have gained permission of another splendid author to translate her stories. Let's all give a round of applause to 紅音 (Akane)! Yay~. I've been waiting for a long time to translate her work, so I'm happy that I finally got permission from her yesterday. For those who don't know me, I am basically a translator who tries to bring stories from Japanese sites to here in the Sengoku Strays community here in fanfiction (with the author's consent of course!) ...Just a warning I will be translating everything, including the author's notes. If I include my notes into it at the end, it will be bolded. Like that. Ahem, now that we got all of that out of the way, let's begin. There will be spoilers in this story, so please proceed with caution. All credit goes to Shingo Nanami and 紅音 and whoever created or participated in the creation of Touken Ranbu. Enjoy!
Touken Strays
審神者になったかさねちゃん奮闘記01
The Struggles of Saniwa Kasane-chan Part One
A considerable number of months had long passed since she returned from her lord and battlefield of the Warring Period. Out of the blue, black robed people came to her doorstep, telling her to become a Saniwa.
Of course as a person who had no idea what a saniwa was. she could only fearfully turn down the sudden visitors away. However the black-robed people reasoned with her, telling her that they were from a government in the far future and that if she were to refuse they will expose her brothers to danger. Saniwas were sages who had the power to call out the spirit that dwells in the swords and fight against historical revolutionists who sought to forcibly change history. Even though they were from the future, because this was the request from the government they provided a heavy sum for her services.
With her brothers' safety on the line, she had no choice. Kotetsu and Masamune were her most important family. She couldn't dare to put them in danger. Besides, if they were to get hold of the money, there's no need for her to work part time anymore.
Also, this thought came to mind. If it's possible if she could finally meet her second "family" once more. With those light expectations, she became a saniwa.
"Nice to meet you, Saniwa-sama! I will be your humble supporter to your citadel, Konnosuke!"
"Eh, the fox spoke?"
"Unlike any normal fox, I am a shiki, therefore I have the ability to talk."
After receiving some training from the government, she came to her citadel with a fox waiting for her. It seems that this fox who calls himself Konnosuke was supposed to be her support.
If you think of this as a game, it would be like going through tutorials and stuff.
"Well then, let us call upon a swordsman at once. Come, come step into the citadel."
Urged by Konnosuke, Kasane stepped inside to be greeted by a marvelous Japanese style mansion. It somehow reminded of the place she stayed with her lord and the others. However, as she and Konnosuke were the only ones inside, it had a very lonely atmosphere.
"Here is the smithery. This is where you create swords and manifest them into swordsmen."
As Konnosuke guided her inside, he introduced her to the kitchen, her rooms, and repair area. And finally he lead her to the smithing room. So this is where she will incarnate the swords.
She took a step inside and found cute little doll-like people quietly waiting there.
"Eh, are they faries?"
"Indeed, these are fairies who help create the sword itself to help you manifest them into swordsmen. Again, as I've shown you, the repair area also have the same kind of fairies."
Talking foxes is one thing, but fairies were also a new sight to see. This citadel was filled with continuous surprises. She still found the job of the saniwa to be a mysterious thing; however it was something she couldn't help herself with.
"Then, may I begin smithing?"
As she asked the fairy, it made a GATEN! sound, a sound of agreement, and pointed to the raw materials. So she'll need to use those in order to make a sword; Kasane produced a suitable number of charcoal, steel, coolant, and whetstone to the fairy. When she did, it began to busily do its work. Seeing it restlessly move around made them look so adorable. The fox suddenly remained speechless at her side processed the situation and turned at her in anger.
"W-what on earth are you doing Saniwa-sama!? Surely you were trained by the government, so you must have known that they will be giving you the choice to call one of five starting swords they had arranged beforehand!?"
"Huh, is that so? I'm sorry, I'm not good at studying, so I don't remember all the contents from the training very well…"
Kasane said while scratching the back of her head. Konnosuke heaved a sigh and replied in an astound tone.
"Those kinds of details… Well, I am the one who introduced you around the citadel beforehand after all, we can't help it if you've already started smithing. Saniwa-sama, I implore you to not take any more actions such as these on a later note. Putting that aside, two and a half hours huh? ...My, this is rare. Saniwa-sama, let us use the help token."
Konnosuke produced a wooden token with the words 'help token' printed on it; he had earlier explained that this token gives the fairies an extra boost of power to finish smithing or repairs in an instant. This was quite a convenient tool to have.
Receiving the token from Konnosuke, the fairies began shining and began to move faster than before. It was as if she was watching a movie played in fast forward. And so, the fairies carried out a sword out just seconds later. The length was the size of an uchigatana*, Konnosuke explained. Once she glanced into the unclouded blade, a certain lord came into her mind. Her lord must have also used such a sharp, clean sword such as this. What is everyone doing now?
Perhaps Konnosuke became impatient with her admiring the blade. He began to rush her through the process. Kasane hurriedly placed her power into the sword and manifested a swordsman.
She was showered by sakura, overflowed by a bright light.
The swordsman who appeared before her was a person with sooty-colored hair and violet eyes.
"My name is Heshikiri Hasebe. If…"
The man named Heshikiri Hasebe took one glance at her before freezing. Wondering what was going on, she tilted her head. Shaking, the man stuttered out one word.
"Kasane….sama…"
Even though he wasn't supposed to know her name. Konnosuke glanced at her with a shocked expression on his face. She couldn't comprehend this. Unable to utter a single word, she could only stare at the man before her.
Simple Sengoku Strays Explanation
An ordinary girl named Kusanagi Kasane was just walking back home from a kendo competition before her brother picked up a mysterious sword and got swept up into an car accident. Before the truck could run over them, the sword began to shine and the girl disappeared from the present era. Once she opened her eyes, she is greeted before a grassy plain...
A Rough Character Explanation
Kusanagi Kasane
The main character. JK (high school girl). Is part of the kendo club and has guaranteed swordsmanship abilities. Using the art of the Kusanagi-style, she defeats enemies. A fighting high school girl. Living with Oda Nobunaga and his retainers, she grew up in the battlefields, finding a way to go back home to the present day. She absolutely loves her two younger twin brothers: has a brother's complex. Because of her modernist viewpoint, bonds and family ties are very important to her. After the middle stage, probably because she and Nobunaga have similar view, she was treated as 'another' Nobunaga.
Oda Nobunaga
The person known as the demon king of the sixth sky. However, right now he is only a youngster who has recently inherited the clan and had yet to gather allies. He has charisma and always has his eyes fixed straight to the future. There are only a few people who can understand his viewpoint. Because of that, he is slightly isolated, even from his own army. Although he treats his allies as his important family, those who cannot keep up with him will be left behind. Ikemen. Has a horrible naming sense. In the drama cd he's voiced by Toriumi. Same as the grandpa.**
Three Idiots
Niwa Gorouza (Narimasa), Sassa Kuranosuke (Nagahide), Maeda Inuchiyo (Toshiie) are the group of three that Kasane spend time with. They are the trusted vassals of Nobunaga. Gorouza is calculating. Kuranosuke is a tsundere. Inuchiyo is a dog (my personal opinion).
Author's Notes
The idea of Kasane-chan becoming a saniwa just popped into my imagination one day. By the way, Hasebe-san (whom everyone loves) remembers Kasane-chan. Of course since the lord (Oda Nobunaga) has authorized Kasane-chan to be the 'other him'. The lord was really cool in the last manga book. I can still feel the numbness from that scene.
By the way, other swords other than Hasebe such as Souza Samonji, Tonbokiri, Shokudaikiri Mitsutada, Ukka…. Nikkari Aoe all know Kasane-chan's name. Yagen was a present from Matsunaga, so he has yet to meet Kasane-chan. However, it seems that he has heard her name. The reason why Nikkari knows her name is because though he is Shibata Katsuie's sword, he was also Niwa Nagahide's (Gorouza) sword. Both of them are interested in Kasane-chan. Good for you, Kasane-chan!
Probably after the incident with Hasebe, I would find it interesting if Kasane-chan had to complete the collection of Sengoku Era swords either by having them drop by or smithing. She also might have a clash with Souza-san. After all, for Kasane-chan, the battle of Okehazama was her last war while for Souza-san it was the battle that sealed his fate to becoming a possession of those who ruled all under the heavens. As long as he has these feelings against her, Kasane-chan must correspond to him. This would definitely cause some tension.
Also, if you think of Nobunaga you would think of the famous Honnouji Temple incident. The fact that she must abide and protect history, yet she still would want to save her precious family; I would love to see Kasane-chan conflicted by this dilemma. Not only that, for the saniwa Kasane-chan, I had the premise start off with Nobu ← Kasa. So this will cause even more pain. However, in the end this would probably turn into Hasebe x Kasane. This is only my personal hobby though. Young men x high school girls pairings are delicious in my eyes.
Well then, thank you very much for reading for accompanying me until the end.
*For those who don't know anything about swords, the uchigatana is a type of sword that usually has length of 60 cm. (~23 inches). It became the ideal blade to use on horseback so during the 15th century, so this type of sword became widespread.
**Mikazuki Munechika
Whew, hopefully everyone made it to the end! Anyway, for those coming from the Sengoku Strays fandom, have you heard of this game? Do you play it? It's become quite popular nowadays... Well I'm one of those people who play it now. (lol). To those who also play Touken Ranbu, who did you pick as your first sword? Mine was Mutsunokami Yoshiyuki. I'm a huge fan of Sakamoto Ryouma after all.
Well... I was so surprised to see this crossover when I first encountered it in Pixiv. It was so interesting and fun to read that I couldn't help but want to share this with everyone. It's such a simple concept, but it works so well. So how was it? Did it spark your interest?
As usual, I will provide the direct link to the author's webpage so for those who wish to thank the author... (or read the original contents as my translations aren't the greatest) may do so. Thank you very much for sticking out till the end! See you all next time!