"I am not Nameless! Kurikara Gou! It's Kurikara Gou!"
In a surprising twist, the armour worn by that dark warrior cracked and broke... revealing a young-looking sword warrior armed with a sharp tantou in his hand. As the sword warrior who called himself Kurikara Gou launched a series of attacks on the large Ootachi, Honebami couldn't help but marvel at the fighting prowess shown by the lone tantou.
Well, it made sense now. The reason why that tantou had been quite a strong opponent to them before. Having clashed swords with that same warrior moments earlier, he had to admit that the warrior was indeed strong... even when he was just armed with a tantou. To be able to stand his ground against warriors wielding a wakizashi or even a tachi, Kurikara Gou was quite a capable warrior.
"That guy's also a sword warrior like us?" exclaimed Hasebe as Mikazuki explained that Kurikara Gou was the tantou belonging to Akechi Mitsuhide.
So that explained the situation as his brother loudly reacted to this revelation.
"Now everyone... let's finish this!"
"Surround the enemy!"
Even when Mikazuki hadn't said the order aloud or even tell the others what strategy to use to take on that large Ootachi, it felt as if everyone had moved as one. They had surrounded the Ootachi in a circular formation, to prevent escape from all sides.
Kurikara moved first—since he was the most enraged at the Ootachi in front of him—before Yagen and Fudou followed his actions. Nihongou joined after the tantou warriors were done, unleashing wide slashes with his great spear. Yamanbagiri stepped in soon after—Hasebe pulled Honebami aside as the other uchigatana swung his blade at the Ootachi.
"We need to break that hard armour to really defeat that guy—" said Hasebe to him as Honebami nodded his head.
So as Uguisumaru swung their blade at the Ootachi, Honebami took his position before jumping on Hasebe's shoulder to launch a double attack on the Ootachi with Hasebe to break the enemy's hard armour. As he landed on the ground afterwards, Honebami turned around just in time to see Mikazuki give the Ootachi final blow that concluded the battle.
After receiving so much damage, the Ootachi Leader exploded in a great blast before disappearing into nothing...
.
"That blast should be a sign for another celebration, huh?"
Honebami gasped as Nihongou randomly slung their arm around him and Yagen as Honebami pulled away to look behind him. Right away Mikazuki's back caught his eye as he noticed that the older sword warrior appeared slightly sorrowful somehow, despite their victory.
But perhaps, it couldn't be helped. Since they also had to part with the Saniwa just moments ago.
Since he only just recently manifested into being and was sent out soon after, he didn't really feel any attachment to the previous Saniwa compared to everyone else. While he's sure that everyone was also saddened about the old Saniwa leaving them, he wondered if Mikazuki felt the sorrow even more deeply than the others. After all, if they haven't gone back to retrieve him... the Great Sword could've perished without even saying his goodbyes—
.
Honebami was about to walk towards Mikazuki as Uguisumaru approached the other tachi.
"—Have you changed your mind? About stepping down as aide?"
Honebami gasped. What? What did Uguisumaru mean by—
"Forgive my two very awkward friends here—" Suddenly Nihongou's voice reached his ears as he turned back to see the Great Spear with Kurikara Gou, who then started introducing everyone to the newcomer... including him.
Nihongou then proceeded to call out to Mikazuki and Uguisumaru to remind them about the next celebration party that they were going to have.
Honebami turned to look at Mikazuki again as the serious atmosphere around the two tachi disappeared.
xxx
"Mikazuki... are you—"
Just as he was about to talk to the Great Sword while the nine of them had gathered together, they were alerted by the sound of many more people coming over towards the large hall they were all gathered in.
"Is that the other units finally coming home?" exclaimed Fudou as Honebami turned around to see a large number of sword warriors entering the building.
Earlier he was told that aside from their unit, there were three other units comprising six members each that can be sent out to either fight in the frontlines or go on expeditions to gather resources. Prior to his arrival here, all of the other three units have been dispatched on different expeditions. So he ended up only seeing Uguisumaru who had been the temporary aide at the time. He used to think that the citadel was too big to house only a few sword warriors in it. But now that he finally get to see the others, it made sense for the citadel to be so big to be able to house everyone...
"Oh! They're here!" Yagen suddenly exclaimed before grabbing him by the shoulders. "Honebami! I can't wait to show you to our other brothers!"
Honebami just stared at Yagen helplessly before turning to Mikazuki. Mikazuki just smiled at him.
"Don't worry too much... I'm sure the others would understand your situation—" said the Great Sword reassuringly to him before calling out towards the incoming crowd. "Ichigo! Namazuo! Over here—!"
Honebami could've also sworn he heard another name being called out but afterwards, both Mikazuki's and Yagen's voices were drowned out by their other companions greeting and welcoming the other sword warriors who have finally returned home.
.
The furore in the hall continued for a while before a sudden cry caused everyone to go silent for a second. Honebami took a look as a snow-white sword warrior started to wave his arms around him to get everyone's attention.
"What happened to the citadel?" exclaimed the snow-white warrior. "The barrier outside has gone down and the courtyard looked like a mess. That was quite a surprise!"
An unexpected laugh burst out from Mikazuki as the Great Sword smiled widely.
"It's quite a long story, Tsurumaru. I'm sure you'll get to hear the explanation for it after this—"
"Then how about you tell the story to everyone, old man!" cried Yamanbagiri in response. "That should be good practice for you!"
Honebami turned to look at Mikazuki again as the old man started to laugh again. It seemed as if the Great Sword was back to being his usual self... or so it appeared.
xxx
Mikazuki got up without a word as Honebami turned his head to observe the old man's behaviour. Despite the earlier merrymaking as each of the members of the First Unit started retelling the story about their mission involving Lord Nobunaga, Mikazuki barely touched his rice wine and barely ate any of the assorted food and desserts that lay in front of them. It worried him... since Mikazuki was the type to keep his thoughts to himself. But it turned out Mikazuki only just walked out to sit on the veranda outside.
Honebami quickly grabbed a small cask of rice wine and a few other treats and side dishes onto a small tray. After excusing himself to Namazuo—who seemed the most excited about him, among his brothers—Honebami carefully carried his tray to follow after Mikazuki...
.
Honebami placed the tray between them as he gently addressed the Great Sword.
"Are you... alright now?"
Mikazuki turned towards him in surprise. "Why did you ask me that... Honebami?"
He just shrugged at the Great Sword. "Because you looked... sad." Mikazuki gave him a curious glance as Honebami reiterated. "I mean, even before this... you did seem to be carrying a heavy burden. Because of that, it troubled me when seeing the others misunderstand you and your actions when I couldn't tell them anything about it." Honebami sighed. "I thought everything could be resolved once the truth was revealed... but then since the previous Saniwa had to leave like that—"
"Did you worry about me?" ask Mikazuki as Honebami nodded. The Great Sword smiled weakly. "I'm... fine. Since I've already prepared myself for it, from the first moment I accepted this mission... knowing that the Saniwa's time at this citadel growing shorter and shorter."
Mikazuki turned his head towards him again. "Anyway, I heard that you had a hand in asking the previous Saniwa to bring me back."
Honebami hastily turned his face away as he felt his cheeks burning. "Well, I can't exactly protect the citadel with peace of mind knowing that you were still back there fighting alone. Plus, I wasn't the only one thinking that."
He cast another glance at the Great Sword as Mikazuki nodded his head.
"I can tell. If even Hasebe could push aside his pride to admit his true feelings and scold me over my rash decisions, that must mean what I did before affected them deeply. But I suppose I deserved that."
Honebami turned his attention to his tray as he poured the rice wine into one of the small cups. He offered it to Mikazuki before shrugging. "Would you like to drink with me?" Honebami asked before recalling that Mikazuki barely touched his rice wine earlier. "Or, if you prefer something else, I'll—"
Mikazuki quickly stopped him before taking the offered cup. The Great Sword poured another cupful of rice wine before offering it to Honebami.
"Since you've made the effort to come to me and ask me to drink with you, I will certainly be obliged to do so."