𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗜𝗗𝗘

10

ıllıllı  𝙨𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙩𝙝   ıllıllı

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

It took a mere 3 days for her uniform to come in.

"My name is Hidaka Ren. I am your swordsmith."

It had slits in the legs and an open space for her bust, covered by a sheer, flexible black fabric. She had never seen anything like it before. The buttons were gold, and had intricate details like hanging sleeves and strips of fabric that made it rather eccentric.

Compared to the other Hashira, she knew she would fit in. Her mind flashed to the tall, handsome man that had called her unflashy. The uniform reminded her of him, oddly enough.

The swordsmith stared in awe at the life around him, a hyottoko mask covering his face. It's like she could see the sparkles radiating off of him. She found it interesting.

"I have never seen a place as beautiful as this... I'd say it is an equal comparison to the serenity of the Ubuyashiki estate. Chikyuu-sama, this is incredible. How many years have you used to create such a place?" He asked, anticipation lacing his tone.

"I... I have lived here my whole life. It was my grandparents, then my parents, then mine. Centuries of curator's lives have been put into this. Thank you for noticing all of the effort."

Y/N smiled under her mask. She wasn't used to such compliments, but ever since people had been coming to her, such as Kyojuro the night he met her, it was like everyone noticed. They noticed the hard work. They noticed the beauty and the hands that went into it. The hours and the days and the weeks and the months and the years all seemed to finally seem worth it. Like it gave the place an actual reason to be there.

The swordsmith fumbled around and reached for the naginata on his back. The way he moved was awkward and sloppy. Almost careless. It was easy for her to realize he had never held a naginata.

"H-here. I hope it is to your liking." He gingerly handed her the sheath which held the naginata, his ears turning red as he lightly grazed her palm.

She felt excited. As she held it in front of her, her fingers went greedy with delight. She let out a shaky breath. She was scared, too.

"Our swords are crafted from nichirin, an ore rarely ever found. It is located on the highest mountains where the sun shines brightest. Our ores are specially accustomed to each person we meet. Once you touch your sw- I mean naginata, it will change colors representing you. And I am more than excited to see the color you get. I can't imagine the possibilities. We've never had a nature breather before." He seemed to lean in a bit.

No longer able to hold in her excitement, Y/N opened the sheath, revealing the most ravishing naginata she had ever seen. The blade took up about ⅓ of the entire length. The wrap was green and had a flower in the center of each. The blade was light– lighter than her own naginata.

She loved it. And if it couldn't get any better, the blade began to change colors. She held her breath.

It started with blue. And pink. And light green. And gray. The four colors were side-by-side, and then faded into a heavy, muted green going so deep it looked almost black. It was stunning.

She brought down the blade, enthralled and practically in love. She inspected it closely. There were vines inscribed along the side, along with the word 'protect'.

Kyojuro''s blade didn't have those words. It had 'destroy'. She would need to ask him later.

"That.. That's amazing! Spectacular! You are my best subject! An ombre sword... and look at all of those other colors! That's really a spectacle!"

"Is it?" She looked at her new sword. But she noticed it.. Changing again?

"Woah woah woah! It's reverting back to a dark green! Where'd all the other colors go? Ack! They were just there!" Y/N just sat there.

She thought that she had a miraculous sword with many colors, but, of course, it disappeared. But the blade was still a dark green that faded into a near black. It was still beautiful.

"That has never happened before in my life. That's a miracle, a true phenomenon!" Hidaka was standing now, ogling at the sword, amazed.

Y/N found it to be fascinating, but underwhelming. It was just colors. No one should freak out this much over colors.

"Thank you, Hidaka-San for crafting such a wonderful weapon for me. Your services leave me indebted to you."

•••

"Caw! Caw! Chikyuu-sama is needed at the Ubuyashiki residence to discuss matters with Oyakata-sama! Caw! Caw!"

Y/N looked at the crow perched on the edge of her engawa. She tilted her masked face in its direction, simply nodded, and gave a curt, "Alright."

The crow flew off, leaving Y/N in the ambience of her estate. This estate was granted to her to be her Hashira estate. It was under half a days walk, so it was accessible and reachable to nearby comrades.

She was happy she wasn't forced to move anywhere.

Change scared her.

So she indulged in the hum of nature for a couple more minutes before standing up and venturing off through that forest.

As she ran, her thoughts fluttered freely through her head. There wasn't much to discuss with Oyakata-sama. They had organized her rank, estate, and even began preparations for sending kakushi to her estate.

She took in a deep breath under her mask, loving the intense petrichor and mossy undertone that came with it.

But there was one relentless, repetitive thing that was on her mind.

'I want to talk to Kyojuro.'

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