Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.

Five Days Break - 05

While taking a detour around town, Kotaro whistled a lighthearted song to clear out the deafening silence.

He came across some interesting places asides from the shrine. They all kept a traditional appearance of the former era so he was somewhat hoping to enjoy the old-fashioned experience. Unfortunately, they were all closed. The dango shop was closed. The convenient store was closed. The marketplace was closed. They had a restaurant, even that place was closed.

Kotaro began to question his luck. Maybe he should have stayed in Gosha and helped with others' requests. Peace and quiet were everthing he needed for a high-quality reading time. But it wasn't like he planned on reading books throughout the entire break, there were other things he wanted to do. Probably a bit too late to regret coming here for a vacation.

Try to imagine going to an amusement park during a holiday and there's nothing for you to play because most of the staff have already left to enjoy their own holidays in another amusement park. At this rate, spending time in a lockdown city in the middle of a pandemic might have been a better scenario to think about.

Five days break was something he rarely earned.

And yet, he arrived at a ghost town. And yet, he couldn't access to the network because there was no reception. And yet, the food tasted bland. And yet, he stayed in the same inn with Ingrid and she became a neighbor next door. And yet, he found out the inn owner was actually having an unhealthy obsession towards the great tree, and for generations, the town worshipped it like a deity. Worse of all, he took with him the note that was supposed to stay on the desk back home.

The whistling stopped. Kotaro let out a sigh, his foot hit a tiny rock by the roadside in boredom. It actually struck a window glass of the house not far from his spot, a crack visible much to his horror.

"S-Sorry!" Kotaro quickly apologized.

There was no respond to his voice. He pressed the doorbell. No sound, the thing was broken. He knocked on the door, nobody answered. It was like this. This kind of silence was unnerving. Kotaro slipped a money bill inside the mailbox hung by the door, he hoped the owner of the house could use that to fix the mess he caused when they returns home.

Damn it, he'd already blown up fifteen percent of his allowance this month!

Now there was nothing else to do but reading. Heh, good idea. That was the plan anyway.

"Fuuma."

"Ah, Ingrid."

Unexpectedly, he met Ingrid who was standing outside a large door as he reached another part of town. She was in her casual clothes, arms folded under the ample chest while she was staring at the name plate attached to the wall.

It was actually the name of the building. A blacksmith's forge. No news flashed, they probably closed it too.

"Are you taking a stroll?" Kotaro asked.

Surprisingly, he was not that nervous around her anymore. Perhaps due to Ingrid's well known nature as someone who will follow through with her own words. They were companions on this trip. That fact will remain until the day they leave this place.

"I want to get some fresh air after a good rest. It seems you are doing the same thing as I do."

"Done mine. Now I just want to head back and read some books."

"Care to join me? This place has pinched my interest."

Her words earned a glance from Kotaro. She wanted to visit a forge?

"Human also creates weapon in this kind of place, no?"

Oh, so that was her intention. She wanted to know more about the place where human's weapons and metal tools were made. Ingrid might be disappointed. Blacksmiths who produce and craft weapon are rare nowadays, not counting everyone in the Weapon Research Department of Gosha Village.

"We used to do that in the past. The requirement to make swords that can be sold to the public has changed because of today's policy. You shouldn't expect too much."

"Understandable." She nodded. "Is this place closed like the rest?"

"I'm pretty sure that is the-" Kotaro pushed the door to confirm the idea. However, the door moved. "…..case….."

It opened up with a subtle cracked sound followed shortly.

"What a gentleman."

"Wha-?! Ingrid, wait!"

Without hesitation, Ingrid headed in. Kotaro's eye went wide, she misunderstood his action for holding the door. A rusty lock dropped by the sidewalk that led straight into the forge. The thing looked busted.

He rushed over to the Hell Knight as she went past the main entrance of the building. Inside, another layer of dirt appeared in their views. Materials and tools laid on the cold floor. Most of them were rusted. The air was thick with a metallic smell mixed with the strong aroma from the wooden wall. Seeing such a state made Kotaro feel like no one has set foot in here for years.

"This place too, huh." Kotaro uttered softly.

"Hm. Just a normal forge, nothing special is here." Ingrid commented upon scanning the place.

"Okay, hold up! Ingrid, let's come back outside. This place is closed, you and I are not supposed to be in here."

Ingrid didn't show any interest at his reason. Instead, she sent a knowing look over her shoulder.

"Fuuma, you don't sense it?"

He blinked at the sudden question.

"Sense what?"

What was she talking about? What exactly was Ingrid looking in this place?

"As a Taimanin, you're still lacking, it seems."

Was that remark really necessary at a time like this? Kotaro didn't think he would need criticism from someone who just nonchalantly broke into somebody else's private property. Talk about a noble demon's manner, Miss Hell Knight.

"I still don't get what you meant."

"There's something in this building. I can feel a slight vibration echoing inside. That's why I told you this place has pinched my interest."

"A slight vibration?"

"Indeed. Even now, I'm still feeling it. It must be very close by."

While he thought about it, Ingrid went further into the building for her search. Knowing his enemy-now-turned-temporary-companion through battles, he had no doubt of her keen sense. She was one of the warriors with the sharpest intuition to ever exist in both worlds. That said, Kotaro closed his left eye to get in touch with the invisible sensation.

There is it! There really is something here! It was faint, it flew like the motion of a spider thread caught and moved along the wind. Barely noticeable if one didn't concentrate their senses enough. The source seemed to stand still in one place, unmoving.

Wait a minute, this feeling was awfully familiar to him. He experienced this before.

"Taima particles." Kotaro concluded in mild shock.

"Oh?" Ingrid shared the same look. "So that's what it feels like to you?"

"Yeah. I'm sure of it. There's no mistaking this feeling."

"I see. It's different to me though. What I'm sensing is something else."

"Eh?"

Looking at her companion's confused expression, Ingrid finally revealed the true identity of the thing which intrigued her warrior instinct.

"Killing intent."

Kotaro didn't expect to hear that. They perceived differently the echo of such a sensation.

Within this town, someone or something did not welcome Ingrid's presence.

In the next room, Kotaro found himself staring at a small collection of swords. It looked like the room was used like a small scale museum. Various katana of different forms and lengths from the old era were put on display. Some mounted by the wall and some rested on the sword stands. Mesmerized, Kotaro was about to compliment the display until he read a small paper stuck next to one of the swords.

"These are just props?" He read it out loud. "Almost got me fool there."

Ingrid was unimpressed as she recognized them based on her own experience. Yet, she smiled a bit.

"I thought you would notice sooner."

She found another opportunity to hit him with a humor only she thinks is funny.

"I thought your impression of me would be lower that than."

"You are right, I would be. However, your capabilities as the Captain of the Task Force goes beyond than what I used to expect."

Used to? Did that mean she establish a new standard to evaluate his ability?

"You are the weakest Taimanin and yet you became the head of an organization, your teammates have faith in your leadership. Such potential contains aspects even I'm not familiar. Because of that, I may have misjudged you in the past, Fuuma."

"Okay?" Kotaro simply gave her a glance.

"That was a compliment."

"Really? I'm honored."

"It is. That half-opened stare of yours seems wanting to tell me that you don't believe my praise?"

"I believe you. I'm just waiting for any funny remark you might give next about me being the weakest."

"There's no funny remark after this. I supposed I've ran out of idea to make another witty joke out of that."

"Shame. I was ready to laugh from the inside. So, since your praise is genuine, should I fist bump the air to make it look like I'm celebrating?"

"That would be helpful."

"Yay." Deadpanned tone. "Ingrid the Hell Knight just give her praise to a poor excuse of a Taimanin like me. A constructed criticism would have been nice though."

That earned a chuckle from her.

"Poor excuse of a Taimanin? Your self-esteem could use some work. The Fuuma Kotaro I knew from back then couldn't even hold his sword sturdy under pressure. But look at you now, we both are standing within an arm reach and yet, you can casually retort back at me without the slightest hint of fear. Quite a milestone in your growth, don't you think so?"

She was right.

The Hell Knight Ingrid can easily cut him down as many time as she wants. At this moment, he was able to look at her straight in the eyes without wavering like a scaredy cat. The encounter at Tokyo Kingdom was not that recent, but the time gap wasn't even a month apart. His mind and emotion were working in such a stable manner, despite the immense pressure coming from Ingrid.

If one was to explain this, it would be a surprisingly simple reason. During this five days break, Ingrid considered him as her companion and Kotaro took her words for it. If they were to fight head-on for some reason, the result would be the same. That fact never changed. Him being calm in front of her was just a matter of circumstantial consideration.

"I don't think I've changed in any way, Ingrid. At least not yet. I'm still trying my best to move forward." Kotaro replied. "Right now, I'm your companion. We both share the same reason for being here, to relax after days of hard work. It wouldn't do any good if I was to against the idea. Eventually, we will come back to be enemies after this, being disrespectful to others' quality time is the last thing I will do."

"Very well. I will not speak of this topic any further."

Topic dropped, they focused on the search. The source of that killing intent was in here. Still, Kotaro saw nothing out of place.

Thump!

"?"

Kotaro stopped and looked down at his feet. The floor of the room consisted of entirely tatami mattresses. However, one of them had made a distinct sound the moment he stepped on it.

Thump Thump!

Kotaro lightly tapped his foot against the floor to check one more time. Compared to the other places, this spot seemed to be hollowed underneath. Above it stood a cabinet displaying the props, he moved it out of the way. As he put his hands in-between the gaps of the mattress and readied to lift it up, Kotaro immediately felt the rise in temperature. Without warning, the air behind his back briefly heated up as if something was burning. One wary look threw over his shoulder, Kotaro's left eye went wide at Ingrid, who just conjured her signature Demon Sword and was holding it firmly.

"Woah!" Kotaro raised his hand, stopping her. "Ingrid, what are you doing?!"

"Can't you see? I'm ready to respond back to whoever is hiding under there. They are brave enough to express their killing desire to me, it's proper etiquette that I answer it."

"Put the sword away. We're not sure if they mean it and I'm not going to let a fight break out here."

Ingrid lowered her sword with a contemplating look. She didn't fully agree to his reason, she was still ready to swing her weapon.

"Look, give me a moment." Kotaro tried to persuade her. "Whatever their reason is, I'll talk it out. You are one of the managers working for a multinational corporation, you're solely here to take a break from duty. I'll make sure the point crossed."

"…"

"Please."

Ingrid let out a soft sigh and her sword put away.

"Fine. I will let it slide just this once."

"Thanks, Ingrid."

The tension was gone. A sense of relief washed over Kotaro. But not yet, he wasn't going to let it get to his head.

Returning to his crouching position, he slipped the tatami to the side. It was a trap door. He could feel the sensation growing stronger, this was the place. Kotaro looked back at Ingrid and gave her a nod. For going this far, he offered an apology in silence to the owner of this place before grabbing the handle and pulled.

What lied on the other side was not a figure with a face filled with disdain. He saw the top of an object buried half in deep. It was an old wooden box that easily gave Kotaro the guess of its content based on the length.

"A sword box?"

When he opened it, the weapon was wrapped in multi layers of clothing.

"It gets intense." Ingrid suddenly said. "This doesn't feel like an ordinary killing intent anymore."

Taking the weapon out and the clothes unwrapped. A wave of crimson-red particles abruptly leaked out, surprised both of them. Within it, lied a normal looking sword, scabbard and handle painted in black. Kotaro picked it up and examined the blade.

He continued to be surprised.

"What a strange sword." Was Ingrid's comment upon seeing the appearance.

It was a katana with half of its body covered in red. The color reflecting from the blade gave Kotaro an eerie impression, as if the blood of those it cut down in the past has never been cleaned off. Hopefully, that wasn't the case. He wanted to believe that this was just the natural appearance of the sword.

"Hm? There're something written at the back of the scabbard."

Kotaro read the message that took place from a long time ago.

The next craft of my work. May I gift it to you as payment for your humble kindness.

Signed, Senketsu.

/