Disclaimer: I do not own Taimanin series.
The Vengeful Blade - 05
The next day.
Kotaro made his way to the Headmistress's Office at Gosha Academy.
Asagi-sensei had yet to return, however. He was actually requested by the Advisor, Mizuki Shiranui, who was temporarily working as the acting headmistress during the absence of the Taimanin Leader.
"Good. You're here, Fuuma-kun."
Shiranui, in a formal business attire and adorning a glasses, greeted him with a kind smile. Unlike Asagi who often looked calm and collected, Shiranui tent to be fairly expressive.
"..."
"Ah!?"
To his surprise, another person was also in the office. They were wearing a black and purple battle suit, with a coat trailing below the waist. As they gave him a brief glance over the shoulder, coldness pierced into the amber left eye.
"S-Sorry, I should have knocked first."
"Oh, it's fine! We're just about to wrap up the conversation."
Kotaro quickly apologized but Shiranui didn't seem to mind about such etiquette.
"Well then." Shiranui turned back to the other Taimanin. "Get some rest, Karin-chan. Thank you for your hard work."
"Likewise." A monotone reply.
After receiving a document from Shiranui, the Taimanin put on a black mask that covered the lower half of her face. Kotaro stepped out the way as she made her way to the door. The woman met his gaze, giving Kotaro a quiet nod.
"W-Welcome back, Sugita-san." Kotaro returned a light bow of his head.
"Captain." Another reticent respond.
Sugita Karin, the Detective Taimanin had returned to Gosha. He could hardly mistake anyone else by such a calm yet cold demeanor, and the unique Taima bodysuit.
The door was already opened after Kotaro entered the room, he hadn't closed it yet. Sugita's whole presence faded into the morning light as soon as she walked out the office. The Detective Taimanin simply vanished into the air, she was a highly regarded Elite excelled in covertness.
The door closed without anyone touching, almost startled Kotaro.
"Ease up." Shiranui giggled at his reaction. "Karin-chan did that."
"An advanced stealth skill?"
"You guessed right." She waved a finger. "This is just one way to sharpen the ability while not on duty. Karin-chan is not often seen around not because she's always on missions, it's because she wants to polish those skillsets around those who can sense her presence clearly."
That was quite a challenge Sugita'd made for herself. Kotaro never doubted Shiranui-san and Asagi-sensei could recognize her presence almost instantly.
"Alright. Let's go back to why I called you here."
Taking a folder from the desk, she passed it to him.
Kotaro looked at the content. It was a report about an infiltration, happened just yesterday. There were also pictures included, showing the already triggered traps at the scene and the damaged automatons. Looking closer, nothing in these photos could give clues about the identity of the culprit asides from their weapon of choice. The cuts on the automatons' bodies were cleaned, barely leaving a hint of struggle in handling the blade. The infiltrator had struck down these puppets with a definitive intention.
"Do you remember the location in these pictures?" She asked.
"I do." He nodded, giving the answer right away. "About eight kilometers in the forest west of Gosha, near the old training ground. In which time did this happen yesterday?"
"I contacted the patrol unit of that section. The last time they checked the area was at 9 p.m. This could mean our sneaky infiltrator had gone through the traps around midnight. Without causing much of a disturbance." Shiranui deducted. "It was only the traps here that activated upon their stealthy arrival."
"Just this area?" He blinked at the mentioning. "Nowhere else?"
Shiranui shook her head, a concerning sign for Kotaro. He knew the location taken from the pictures, he also recognized all the traps which the unknown visitor managed to evade without leaving a single trace.
After all, they belonged to...
"It's only in this area, with the traps you created, Fuuma-kun."
That's right.
As an assignment taken from the special training bootcamp, the booby traps in those pictures were all made by Kotaro.
"The suspect managed to go through them unscathed." He muttered.
"So it seems." Shiranui nodded in agreement. "Knowing the way those traps were designed, this is quite concerning. The infiltrator is someone with a high level of skills equaled to an Elite Taimanin."
"We have to conduct a thorough investigation then."
"Precisely. That is the reason why I called you here." She gave her glasses a gentle push. "As these traps were made by you, Fuuma-kun. You understand the strategical set up better than anyone else. I need you to look into this."
"Roger. I'll head out now."
Kotaro turned to the door.
"Wait, just another moment." Shiranui added before he reached the doorknob. "Our suspect is still at large, they could be anywhere in Gosha. Bring two supporters with you just in case. Do you have anyone in mind?"
Kotaro pointed at the door, at the faded shadow of a detective who'd just left.
"I'm thinking about asking Sugita-san for help on this."
"Oh~!" With a knowing smile, Shiranui raised an eyebrow. His answer was within her expectation. "I've already gave her the next mission to look into. She'll be back on duty after a short break."
"Wait, really?"
She let out a soft sigh.
"Though, I told her to get some rest. She must have probably headed out as soon as I gave her the next mission details. Typical Karin-chan, always diligent~."
Kotaro scratched his head. What a shame, a detective's perception could be very helpful for this kind of situation. Well, that was one candidate crossed out.
"Then, what about Kozue-sensei?"
"Hm. Munakata Kozue-chan? As the former agent of Public Security Investigation Agency, I'd say she is also a good choice for this case."
Yes! Kotaro was ready to fist bump the air. Now, he just needed to go straight to her house and ask-
"I'm afraid she's not available at this moment." Shiranui informed with a smile. "Currently, Kozue-chan is in Maesaki City to investigate a certain case."
Kotaro's shoulders drooped. Two candidates crossed out the list, they were his top choices as investigators.
Okay, who else? Who else possesses the right set of skills he could ask for support?
Merci! - Ah. Wait, she wasn't home. She was...somewhere else. He was in a hurry, he couldn't bother taking too much time to search for her.
After thinking for a while, Kotaro snapped his fingers.
"Sakuragi Suruga! That's it, her Beast Art can help me trace the suspect!"
"Unavailable."
"...what?"
"Sakuragi Suruga has been exempted from active duty for a week to take supplementary lessons and improve her concentration."
Kotaro rubbed his temple, more than half of the potential supports on his list had been out.
"It seems like you ran out of ideas. How about I give you some recommendations?"
Shiranui-san had some pointers in mind, Kotaro listened attentively.
"By now, Yukikaze should be hanging around with her classmates near the track field." She tapped her chin, showing a playful smile. "Also, Rinko-chan has just finished her training in the underground facility and she's on her way to the site as we speak."
"Eh?" Eyebrows raised in question. "You recommend Yukikaze and Rinko-senpai for this investigation?"
"I don't see why not. The girls work great together, my daughters alone are enough to help you in both offense and defend should anything happens at all."
So when she said Rinko was on her way here as they were speaking, Shiranui-san actually planned this from the start?!
"Ara~. I know what you're thinking, Fuuma-kun."
He accidentally did it again, the expression blurted out the words running inside the head. Shiranui could read them easily.
"Okay. I'll be on my way and contact them."
"Very good."
It was decided.
Having both Yukikaze and Rinko, the Aces of Gosha, as supporters would still be a good choice nonetheless.
While the unknown infiltrator was hiding somewhere in Gosha, he needed to look into this, pick up the details as much as possible to figure out their identity. That would be the first step.
Kotaro left the office, a determined look flashed across his face.
Shiranui who remained behind as the acting leader of all Taimanins nodded her head in silence. Her choices of recommendation to Kotaro contained a hidden intention.
"Don't waste your chance, both of you. And be careful."
She hoped Yukikaze and Rinko could earn some points with that young man.
"Oh my! Now that reminds me."
Shiranui suddenly recalled something important.
"I should have invited Fuuma-kun over for a meal some time. Fufufu~, I wonder if he still remembers the offer."
"So the mysterious intruder successfully infiltrated Gosha."
The young tanned Taimanin, Yukikaze, repeated the information to the Captain who was walking ahead of her.
"Yeah."
"All because your traps failed to catch them."
She watched his back with half-opened eyes, filled with doubts.
"Yeah?"
Kotaro looked at her, his voice slightly turned deeper like some sort of a revelation was about to explode.
"Fuuma, isn't this happening because you didn't do the assignment properly?"
Figured! He knew it was coming!
"Hey, Hiiragi-sensei tested it and gave me an approval. Those traps were decent, I guaranteed."
"But it failed to do anything to the intruder and now we have a problem on our hands."
"That's also true. But! Hear me out, Yukikaze. That just meant the intruder this time is an incredibly skilled individual. Technically, I'm not one hundred percent at fault." Kotaro said.
Maybe by showing the proof to her rather than filling the empty air with words, she would be convinced.
At least, he hoped the doubt would be lessened. Those traps were his responsibility too, he won't deny anything about its failure to catch the intruder.
"Righhhhtt." Yukikaze stretched her voice, getting more doubtful. But her tone eventually shifted, replaced by a sense of worry. "Fuuma, you have to get to the bottom of this. Those are your traps we're talking about."
"I know."
Gosha should have been on alert.
However, such decision could invoke a drastic measure from the intruder. This village was the home of Taimanins, but not all of them can handle the blade. They couldn't take that risk if the intruder was truly formidable. Only the Elites in patrol units were informed and that was enough. While the investigation was on-going, it'd be best to keep this from public until a proper conclusion.
If something happened and words got out, Kotaro would bear the consequence. He prepared himself for that, it couldn't be anything worst than Murasaki-sensei's Taima-infused fists.
"Other than Mama, Rinko-senpai and a few Elites, does anyone else knows about this?" Yukikaze asked.
"I plan on letting the team know. But right now, we'll just have to see for ourselves first."
"Okay."
They continued to move deeper into the forest. In no time, the two regrouped with Rinko.
...
...
"What a mess."
Rinko said as she witnessed the aftermath of the ambush.
Nearly all the traps had activated, leaving kunais, shurikens and darts scattered on the ground. The automaton puppets and their dismembered body parts were left untouched at the very same spots where the patrol unit took pictures. Some of the hidden trapping pits found collapsed to reveal groups of bamboo spikes at the bottom.
"Uwah." Yukikaze uttered in awe. "Fuuma really went overboard with the traps design. Why did you need to bury a puppet down there in the middle of all that spikes? That sounds like a troublesome thing to do."
"A surprised attack." Kotaro shrugged while he looked around the scene. "Just one of a few experimental strategies I applied to measure an Elite's capabilities in dodging."
"Did it work?"
Kotaro awkwardly rubbed his head. The question was so on point.
"Not so much, Hiiragi-sensei had never come near that spot during the test. So I just left it there."
"All that work and it's basically not effective much against an Elite, huh."
As Yukikaze tried to approach another crater, a string snapped under her feet.
"Ah?!"
Hearing that sound, Rinko sprant into action and drew her blade. She quickly stood before Yukikaze and fenced off the kunais coming from the bushes.
But she missed one spot. The secondary trigger after the first ambush appeared as a hiltless katana plunging above their heads. From the shade of the trees, the blade gleamed a flash of light once it fell right where Kotaro was standing.
"Fuuma!"
"Watch out!"
Yukikaze's guns were still in the holsters, she couldn't aim it in time. Rinko cocked her blade but she couldn't shorten the gap to stop the second ambush.
Their worry was unfound.
With a kunai firmly gripped in hand, Kotaro shifted his footing and parried the secondary trap. The hiltless katana warded off and slammed into the ground.
The two Taimanins stared wide-eyed at their Captain.
"Why are you two looked so surprised?"
"No. It's just...that was some good reflex." Rinko smiled. "Looks like the result of your hard work is catching up, Fuuma."
To hear that comment from Rinko, Kotaro felt a bit relief. Still, he couldn't take it for granted. These were his traps, he knew its what, when and where. The elements of surprise naturally played right into his caution.
"Yukikaze, watch your surrounding. There's another hidden pit five steps away to the right. See those trees? Point your weapon in that direction in case our movements caught by the threads."
Kotaro walked ahead and pointed out the spots where they could step on to avoid the remaining traps.
"Oi, Fuuma. Can't we disable them all?" Yukikaze said with a hint of annoyance. "Moving inside an area filled with traps is so inconvenient. We can't investigate the site properly like this."
"Just hang in there for a little bit longer, Yukikaze. I'm trying to pin-point the locations where our intruder set their foot on." Kotaro explained. "That way, we'll be sure to know the route they'd taken to advance through the ambush and somehow managed to escape."
"Hm. Good idea." Rinko said. "If we can somehow come up with a map of their movements in this area, it will shed some light on the intruder's mannerism, their skills and the methods used to evade all these activated traps altogether."
Kotaro took out a small note from his pocket and scribbled anything that matched their interest.
"For now, we do know one fact about their choice of weapon." Rinko picked up a dismembered arm of an automaton, checking. "Based on the amount of damages inflicted on the automatons' bodies, the intruder must have used a sword to make these clean cuts with striking precision."
"How can you be so sure? What if they used a short blade like a knife or something else?" Yukikaze wondered.
The question was not without merit.
"Okay. Pay attention to the distance between the puppets."
Kotaro pointed out the hints.
"At first, I buried them in those smaller pits, shallowed enough that they could appear and ambush the intruder within a short timespan. The intention here is not giving the intruder any second to take a break and to provide a constant struggle when they reached this far. The automatons are supposed to engage in groups and force the intruder to engage in close-combat. If the weapon was a pole, a naginata, an axe or a great sword, the intruder would have to deliver wide sweeps to fence off the ambush. Crowd control, that would be the right respond. But in return, such combat movements can cause the threads to vibrate. It's going to be a lose-lose situation."
Kotaro tapped on the hilt of his trusty katana.
"Using a small weapon also won't help, with the kind of reach shorter than a wakizashi, you won't be able to react to everything in time. That's why anything about an arm length should do. Rinko-senpai's katana and the Ninjato are most fitting to defend these traps."
"However, there're also Speed, Agility and Strength. Lacking one of these factors will make you deal with the consequence." Rinko added.
"Correct."
He crouched down, pushing the grass asides to reveal more threads hanging above the pits.
"The automatons will also stumble into the traps to throw the intruder into a state of disarray. Now they'd have more problems coming."
"A constant ambush aid by a layer of deception, crafted by a sharp sense of logic." Rinko muttered in amazement. "A well-laid strategy that can immediately confuse anyone who comes across this."
"Unless they knew about it." Kotaro nodded.
Yukikaze blinked.
"Is that why you had to retake the bootcamp by yourself while others passed? Because Hiiragi-sensei already detected most of these traps?"
Ouch! That nonchalant remark pierced through his chest.
"Back then, I kinda made it obvious. I did pass the bootcamp at the second chance."
"You simply didn't have enough time for a scale this big, is that right?" Rinko began to grasp the story.
"Too much?" Kotaro sheepishly scratched his head.
Sharing a look at each other, Yukikaze and Rinko nodded their head in sync.
"Yup!"
"For a Taimanin-in-training, the combination of these are quite terrifying, Fuuma."
The primary target of these traps was an Elite Taimanin. Kotaro had come up with it purely to pass the bootcamp anyway.
He didn't expect Hiiragi Fuyumi-sensei would approve and allow him to make these traps official as a security measure.
…
…
Holding the eraser pencil, Kotaro tapped his forehead with its rubber part.
Thinking. Thinking.
The direction. The footprints. The methods of evading. The weapon of choice. Accomplices, question mark. Intruder's identity, big question mark. Physical evidences, none so far.
He found the anti-Taima arrow. The talisman, which was a gift from Setagawa Mizuha, was intact. As for the needle, his normal eye detected nothing from it.
"Time for some digging."
After processing the information they had gathered, Kotaro closed back the notebook and disabled the remained traps around the area.
As for the remaining automatons, he preferably let Yukikaze handle the job. Kotaro threw rocks at the slumbered puppets.
"Yukikaze, your lightning."
"Hayyah!"
While he and Rinko made a safe distance, Yukikaze shot her lightnings at the moving puppets to shut them down in one go. Gotta give it to Shiranui-san, Yukikaze's ability was a big help to clean this up without causing another mess.
"See if the intruder left anything behind. We'll need to check out the accomplice theory first. Be careful not to get near the bushes, there're poisonous thorns inside them. They'll drain out your life energy upon touching."
"Oh, that's so! Just when I was wondering why the intruder didn't bother to make their way around this place."
It wasn't just that. The thorns inside those bushes also emitted a smell that has – for the better lack of words - questionable effects on the victim's rational behavior. Kotaro got them from one of Hanasaki Yozora-sensei's experiments and with the help of Yamato Suzune's Wood Art.
The consequence of being caught in it, he'd leave out the details. They didn't have to know about it.
"Fuuma, over here." Rinko called out to him. "More footprints. Looks like they all share the same size."
"Which means no sign of an accomplice." Kotaro jotted down the discovery. "This really goes to show more on the intruder's capability. They actually pulled this alone without any help."
One possibility dropped, yet the true identity of the infiltrator remained in the dark.
"Guys, look what I found!" Standing next to one of the trapping pits, Yukikaze waved at the two and pointed at something in the grass.
It was a kunai with a fragment of wood stuck on its tip. Kotaro grabbed the object using a tweezer and examined closer. At first glance, one might mistake it with a normal piece of wood.
"The color is different. Is this paint?"
An aroma tickled his nose. It came from the fragment.
"Yukikaze, do you smell that?"
The tanned Taimanin girl took a whiff.
"It's not from these woods, there're something mixing into it." Yukikaze had yet to grasp it.
"*Sniff*….This gentle scent. Hinoki Cypress!" Rinko realized. "Blended with natural pigments!"
Kotaro nodded at the answer.
"Hinoki is widespread in Japan but the ancient forests around Gosha don't have much of this type of tree, except the shrines around here were built using its material."
Still, what could this tell them?
"This fragment is stuck to the kunai, and it's not from around here. Which means…..."
The conclusion drew close, all eyes widened.
"The intruder got hit!" In sync, they spoke.
"That's gotta be it!" Kotaro eagerly said. "This must have come off when the kunai struck them."
"But what is it, exactly?" Yukikaze pointed out.
"I'm not sure yet. This could be from a mask though, certain types of masks are also made of hinoki materials."
The wood fragment and the anti-Taima arrow's needle dropped into zipper bags and sealed off.
"Anyway, these go to the lab. While we wait for result, I'll come up with the next steps."
They were done here, at least for now.
Kotaro formed a plan.
He'd leave it to the patrol unit to secure the area and ask Emily to scan the site in case they missed out another clue. He would need the data she retrieved to look further into the case.
The Holographic Display of the Training Room, one of the Village most advanced technologies.
Let's see if he can revisit the night the intruder entered Gosha.
[?]
Inside a dark room where a single light source was hanging by the ceiling.
Yazaki Toshiji, formerly Real, gulped in the air repeatedly and hissed as the next wave of pain rushed through his body. His limbs wiggled in the restraining leashes while he was tied to a surgery chair.
"Ahhhaahhh! It hurt! It hurt!"
"Settle down or the wound on your chin will tear off again. You don't want to draw unnecessary attentions to this room, do you?"
Bloodshot eyes gleamed with rage towards the direction of the voice. The owner of that calm tone let out a soft sigh, almost seemed like they were mocking Toshiji for his current state.
"You! You damn crazy woman! Untie me now!"
"Look at you, I'm sure you were asking for this. It was your desire that caught you in this result."
"Not this much pain! This isn't what I wanted! All I wanted to get my revenge on the Vengeful Blade!"
The woman in a lab coat walked into the light. The hatred in Toshiji's eyes burned brighter as she brought her face close to him, smiling.
"Of course it's not what you wanted. This is an intended side-effect of the thing you delivered to me in that briefcase." The woman pushed the gray strands of hair behind her ears. "I merely wanted to test it out on you."
His breath hitched, Toshiji's jaw hung in bewilderment. Crimson veins popped in and out of his sclera. A realization drawn in the middle of that torturous pain, his endurance completely broke apart.
"AAAhahahahahhahahhhhhhhhh! Ahhgguheh! Kekeeughh!"
"Oh my. Such a weird reaction, I have no idea if you are laughing or screaming."
His running nose now spilled a red flow, the saliva filled mouth raised many bubbles. Toshiji's body continued to convulse violently in the torment the woman believed he had rightfully earned to her own amusement.
"Arrhguh!…..Sei...ko! I'll remember….this! How dare you! HOW DARE YOU!"
The woman in a lab coat felt her body jolted in excitement at the twisted expression that caused by a thousand needles.
"Ahh~." She hugged her face, moaning as the blush fully adorned the cheeks. "This is good, this is the reaction I wanted to see from you. Give me more~."
"Aarrggkkuhhh! The Vengeful Blade! The Venge…..ful….Blade! I have to…!"
"That's it. Focus your thoughts on that name, don't ever let go of that hatred. That will make your objective easy to remember after you turned."
Beep! Beep!
The heart rate monitor began to echo such alarming warnings about Toshiji's condition, he was about to be at his wit end.
"Rest assure, I'll help you." The woman said calmly without an ounce of concern.
On the table, many surgery tools were on display, stained in blood. Toshiji's briefcase was placed next to those instruments and an empty tube labeled Incubus Blood Sample. A name could be seen on the small description but the woman found no interest in it, as the name didn't appear in any database.
As a scientist, she should have been curious about its origin. However, knowing the dreadful man's story, she had concluded the attempt to research its source would be quite troublesome.
"If only there were more samples of this blood. Oh, but I guess that would have been too much to ask from a man who'd just escaped his own world."
The woman grabbed a syringe and injected it to Toshiji's neck. The pain-killing substance bumping into his body somewhat calmed down the rapid shaking movement.
"Let's have a recollection, shall we? I need to make sure you're still with me and not letting the pain break your mind."
"D…..De….vil…YOU DEVIL!"
"Aww~. What an awful thing to say to a lady."
Coughing, Toshiji began to vomit. The pile reeked the stench of drugs, blood and undigested meals, splashing everywhere on the floor, some drops caught onto her lab coat. But the woman's expression unchanged, this was expected from one of her test subjects. She put on the gloves and cupped his cheeks.
"Real, you said you've met me back in your world. You understood the kind of person I am, yet you still decided to reach out to me simply because I was one of your closest contractors. You truly believed that I can help you with what you brought over to this world, in that briefcase. Well, I admit it was indeed a fascinating sample of that existence. You have come to the right place. To me, a scientist who loves studying the elements of Dark World and as someone who's always driven for the sake of answering their own questions, what contained inside it are such wonderful gifts."
The woman made a cold smile.
"But….don't you ever think that things would turn out different here? You and your family are no longer in the position of power ever since the Taimanins pointed their blades at Under Eden, forcing you into hiding and shut down the place. Your brother disbanded the Minshin Party and went to jail, all resources and properties confiscated by Section Three."
She playfully flicked the needle part of another syringe taken from the breast pocket, its label addressed only two letters, CD.
"Your uncle was a tab bit lucky though. He managed to retreat to the Dark World before the Taimanins could sink their fangs into him. Project Eve was permanently destroyed."
The woman pulled up the sleeve on Toshiji's left arm, which showing signs of disfiguration.
"Oh! The sample is beginning to reshape your body. The process is slow but this is enough for me to look forward to the result."
"Stop! STOP! PLEASE STOP!"
Slap!
The surgery chair snapped backward and returned. She stopped his scream with a smack in the face. His mouth sealed off by the tape and a bloody handprint. The woman hugged herself to feel more of the rushing ecstasy her body experienced from that brutal act. She drew a satisfied sigh while Toshiji continued to thrash around in vain.
"To tell the truth, I've seen him, the Yazaki Toshiji of my world, at his most pathetic state."
The woman whispered as the tip of the syringe injected into the mutated arm.
"An old man, crawling in the back alleys of Amidahara like some poor wet dogs. A pretentious human who'd like to bath in the delusion of his own making. He slept by the trash in these same clothes, made friends with the rats, grinning to himself while he stared at a broken TV and spoke nonsense to all that filthy garbage around him."
Something seemed to move inside the tube, it creeped into Toshiji's flesh through the injection.
"That other you can't even recognize me anymore but he was willing enough to bark when I tossed him some food, out of pity. He and his brother looked down on my research, rejected my offer to improve the Eve Chips and forced me out of their inner circle. Ultimately, they paid a price so high that not a single fragment of their sanity remains. But unlike him, you are very cooperative, even though it was simply out of desperation."
She pulled away from Toshiji and rested her hand on his.
"Don't think of this as a betrayal. Because you're not the Real whom I knew, I hold no grudge against you. I'm actually helping you in my own way. You might be able to make it with a desire for revenge, good luck with that~."
"Hmmmpphh! Hmmpphhhfff!"
"Now, my question is how the Creeping Death Virus will respond to the mixture of Incubus and human's blood."
The woman scientist named Saeki Saiko revealed the twisted question she'd been driven for answers.
"Hopefully, this experiment will be a spectacle."
Taking the briefcase with her, Saiko left the otherworldly Toshiji by himself in the surgery chair. After one last calculative glance at her subject, the door soon closed and the only light source turned off. Faint whimpers resonated weakly in the dark.
Creaking noises kept on for hours.
Until the voice distorted into growls.
Until the pain wrecked all senses.
Until what was tied into that chair no longer appeared a human.
…
…
…
…
…
No one was at home, she had been waiting for this moment.
Despite it wasn't exactly the place where she belonged, she still wanted to find herself in the warmth similar to her own.
Standing in the hall of the Akiyama dojo, she reminisced about her time here, memories that could have stayed the same or different to her other self.
The practice of Itto-Ryuu sword style. The students under her guide. The wall mounted swords. The stretching corridors. The vast tatami rooms. The altar of her father, the late patriarch.
The room of this world's Akiyama Rinko, always tidy and well-kept and the jasmine tea fragrance was filling the air. The girl also shared the same taste in things that helped her relax.
Rinko the Vengeful Blade slumped against the wall as she dragged her feet. The paralyzed toxin was slowly working its way to one of the legs and robbed her off its movement. She had held out this long, struggled to walk and not wanting to collapse on her feet. Rinko (VB) refused to give in to that lightheadedness in her head right now, not until she reached the next place.
Akiyama Tatsuro, this world's Rinko's little brother.
She finally stood in front of his room. The door was closing shut, but not locked when she tried turning the knob. Her hands slightly shook as she gently pushed away the door.
An unpleasant memory flashed before Rinko (VB).
In their battle against the Incubus King, Tatsuro had fought together with her and Yukikaze despite the critical wounds the monster inflicted on him. When a blinding blast struck, he was gone, nothing of her brother remained.
And Yukikaze…..was…..
She was unable to protect them.
Thud!
The door frame knocked into the wall, snapping Rinko (VB) out of the haunting thoughts that ate away her heart.
The silence on the other side of the room welcomed her inside. This world's Tatsuro wasn't home.
Strangely, she felt relief, it washed away her doubtful fear. She recognized the lingered presence from the objects in his room. The bed, the books, the computer, the school bag, the towel and the closet where his clothes were hanging.
The room was tidy, Tatsuro had kept it cleaned and fresh. The state of his room depicted a young man who has manner and full of life. He was the same Tatsuro she knew in her world.
The resentful mask, which was missing a piece, dropped to the floor. Rinko (VB) lumbered to the neatly folded Gosha uniform by the edge of Tatsuro's bed. With no one else around and after witnessing a wonderful reality where her brother was still alive, she couldn't control herself anymore.
A slumbered part of her awakened, something she has never forgot.
Wheeeeeeezzzze!
"Ohh. The same fabric softener he always used."
Following closely to the voice of that massive brocon inside her, Rinko (VB) buried her face into the clothes and took a deep breath. A delightful smile on her lip.
Such a wonderful reality had provided her the comfort she'd deeply missed.
Then, her tired body loosened itself.
Rinko (VB) fell asleep in the familiar warmth of her otherworldly home.
/
Author's Note: If you are new to the name Saeki Saiko, she is a character that appeared only once in a Taimanin Asagi original short manga.
Thank you for reading. Take Care!