こういうかんけい 0.6.alternate
Hours later, the repair is completed.
Nuguigami and Uchiko did an excellent work. They were fixing me up with great care and detail. When I thanked them for their service, they said that I should be grateful to our master instead.
"I won't be nice to swords that she doesn't think highly of." Nuguigami admitted as he wiped off his own sweats, tired after hours of working on me. "And since you're precious to her, I couldn't possibly disappoint her by treating you badly, you see."
It seemed those two had served her family for a long time, judging from how they spoke so dearly about her. It would also explain why they would understand what she had in mind.
Though, I couldn't understand why she would treat me as someone important.
Unlike the two tools, I didn't originally belong to her. I arrived to this house a few days ago, when her higher-ups brought me to her, telling her that she should take me as her underling. To do the dirty jobs.
The morning before we headed to Hakodate was the first time we talked. I had only came to her service less than 24 hours ago.
Yet they said that she's fond of me?
"Yamanba-kun."
I had to stop with my inner monologues when I heard her calling for me and looked up to see her, sitting across the table.
"Is the food not to your liking?"
"No. No, it's fine."
Laid on the table before us were dinner for two, consisting of well-balanced menu -- a bowl of steaming rice, warm miso soup, grilled mackerel, okara salad, and ohitashi. All were well done and look appetizing. But I was preoccupied with my mind that I haven't touched any of them. To ease her concern, I immediately tasted some of them then earnestly complimented their taste.
"It would be nice if Nuguigumi and Uchiko could join us too," I added before piling some vegetables onto my rice.
"They never join me in dining table, that used to make me think that they don't like my cookings." She smiled meekly, then showed me a much cheerier one when she continued, "I'm glad that you're willing to have dinner with me, Yamanba-kun."
They were probably holding themselves back, I thought as I sipped at my soup. Tsukumogami doesn't really need to eat to sustain themselves, so not eating wouldn't affect us.
But, putting that aside.
"... I notice that you've been calling me 'Yamanba-kun' for awhile now."
Her chopsticks movement stopped right when I said that. She stared at me for a moment before avoiding my gaze. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude..."
"I'm not exactly offended, but that is the name of a youkai."
"But, you don't really like being called 'Yamanbagiri', right?"
I paused for a moment.
"Not really."
"But earlier today..."
"I just don't like getting compared to him."
"That's the same thing."
"It's not."
We were locked into a staring contest, where mine reflect my stubborness in denying the accusation that I don't like my name, while hers represented that she didn't falsely accuse me.
It was such a silly fight that both of us gave up and sigh nearly at the same time. I was fixing the position of the veil that covered my head when she spoke again.
"Then, would 'Kunihiro-kun' be alright?"
I blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"You don't like being compared to the original Yamanbagiri, and I believe that calling you by that name would keep reminding you of him." I wanted to object, that what she said wasn't true, but she didn't give me the chance by immediately continuing, "So I think 'Kunihiro-kun' would be alright."
"But that's my swordsmith's..."
"I know. But I heard that you're his masterpiece..."
Yes, I'm Kunihiro's greatest work. Even though I was made to look like another sword, I'm not some lowly impostor!
"... and after seeing you fighting, I think you really lived up to the title."
That took me by a surprise.
"I thought you were underestimating me?"
She canted her head slightly. "Why would you think so?"
"Earlier today, before I engaged in battle with those monsters, you asked whether I could finish them off or not, like you were doubting my ability. And even after I gave you my words that I would kill them, you still look doubtful. And then in the middle of the battle, when I was about to finish the last one, you stopped me and took us back here!"
I ended up speaking in such a passionate tone that I slammed my chopsticks onto the table somewhere in the middle of talking. She looked at me in surprise, before her expression hardened and she put down her chopsticks and rice bowl as well.
"First, I've never doubted or underestimating your capability. But neither you nor I knew the extent of their capability. What if they're much more invincible than we originally thought? What if they have horrible powers that we didn't predict about? I doubted to send you to battle right away because we have so little information about them."
She had a point there. I wasn't thinking about those possibilities.
"Thankfully, it seemed since both of you and the enemies are tsukumogami of weapons, your attacks worked just fine. It would be too early to be sure, but from the fight today, we could gather that they didn't harness any other special powers."
"Then, why did you stop me?"
"I had to. You were about to break. I didn't know how you managed to ignore your injury like that, but I don't want to risk endangering your life by letting you go after the other one too."
That effectively silenced me. She was right -- I was on the verge of breaking. I myself hadn't realize it until I reverted back to my original form under Nuguigami's order. Both him and Uchiko were complaining the whole time they tried to repair me, telling me to pay more attention to my condition.
"... Do you still have something to say?"
I shook my head and tugged my veil down, trying to hide my face.
The talk is over and we started to resume our dinner with sounds of chewing and utensils moving accompanying us during the rest of dinner session. After we were finished, she moved to clean the table and I offered my assistance to carry the dirty wares to the kitchen, which she accepted.
She walked ahead to the kitchen while I followed closely. The whole time she was silent, so I had no choice but to initiate a conversation myself.
"Master?"
"Yes?"
"You can call me 'Kunihiro', if you'd like."
That seemed to surprise her, as she halted her steps and turned to look at me. I didn't know what kind of expression I had, but soon after she saw my face, she laughed, and that made her cheeks flushed a little.
"Okay, Kunihiro-kun."
Turning around again, she once again walked forward, this time skipping a little and humming a random tune, like a child who had received a present from her parents. I should've quicken my walking pace since the distance between me and her slowly widened and she would be out of my sight any seconds now, but I couldn't bring myself to catch up with her.
Not while I still haven't calmed my loud heartbeat.
Okara: the fiber-rich bits of the soybean left over after the soy milk.
Ohitashi: vegetables soaked in dashi sauce.
Nuguigami and Uchiko did an excellent work. They were fixing me up with great care and detail. When I thanked them for their service, they said that I should be grateful to our master instead.
"I won't be nice to swords that she doesn't think highly of." Nuguigami admitted as he wiped off his own sweats, tired after hours of working on me. "And since you're precious to her, I couldn't possibly disappoint her by treating you badly, you see."
It seemed those two had served her family for a long time, judging from how they spoke so dearly about her. It would also explain why they would understand what she had in mind.
Though, I couldn't understand why she would treat me as someone important.
Unlike the two tools, I didn't originally belong to her. I arrived to this house a few days ago, when her higher-ups brought me to her, telling her that she should take me as her underling. To do the dirty jobs.
The morning before we headed to Hakodate was the first time we talked. I had only came to her service less than 24 hours ago.
Yet they said that she's fond of me?
"Yamanba-kun."
I had to stop with my inner monologues when I heard her calling for me and looked up to see her, sitting across the table.
"Is the food not to your liking?"
"No. No, it's fine."
Laid on the table before us were dinner for two, consisting of well-balanced menu -- a bowl of steaming rice, warm miso soup, grilled mackerel, okara salad, and ohitashi. All were well done and look appetizing. But I was preoccupied with my mind that I haven't touched any of them. To ease her concern, I immediately tasted some of them then earnestly complimented their taste.
"It would be nice if Nuguigumi and Uchiko could join us too," I added before piling some vegetables onto my rice.
"They never join me in dining table, that used to make me think that they don't like my cookings." She smiled meekly, then showed me a much cheerier one when she continued, "I'm glad that you're willing to have dinner with me, Yamanba-kun."
They were probably holding themselves back, I thought as I sipped at my soup. Tsukumogami doesn't really need to eat to sustain themselves, so not eating wouldn't affect us.
But, putting that aside.
"... I notice that you've been calling me 'Yamanba-kun' for awhile now."
Her chopsticks movement stopped right when I said that. She stared at me for a moment before avoiding my gaze. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude..."
"I'm not exactly offended, but that is the name of a youkai."
"But, you don't really like being called 'Yamanbagiri', right?"
I paused for a moment.
"Not really."
"But earlier today..."
"I just don't like getting compared to him."
"That's the same thing."
"It's not."
We were locked into a staring contest, where mine reflect my stubborness in denying the accusation that I don't like my name, while hers represented that she didn't falsely accuse me.
It was such a silly fight that both of us gave up and sigh nearly at the same time. I was fixing the position of the veil that covered my head when she spoke again.
"Then, would 'Kunihiro-kun' be alright?"
I blinked. "I'm sorry?"
"You don't like being compared to the original Yamanbagiri, and I believe that calling you by that name would keep reminding you of him." I wanted to object, that what she said wasn't true, but she didn't give me the chance by immediately continuing, "So I think 'Kunihiro-kun' would be alright."
"But that's my swordsmith's..."
"I know. But I heard that you're his masterpiece..."
Yes, I'm Kunihiro's greatest work. Even though I was made to look like another sword, I'm not some lowly impostor!
"... and after seeing you fighting, I think you really lived up to the title."
That took me by a surprise.
"I thought you were underestimating me?"
She canted her head slightly. "Why would you think so?"
"Earlier today, before I engaged in battle with those monsters, you asked whether I could finish them off or not, like you were doubting my ability. And even after I gave you my words that I would kill them, you still look doubtful. And then in the middle of the battle, when I was about to finish the last one, you stopped me and took us back here!"
I ended up speaking in such a passionate tone that I slammed my chopsticks onto the table somewhere in the middle of talking. She looked at me in surprise, before her expression hardened and she put down her chopsticks and rice bowl as well.
"First, I've never doubted or underestimating your capability. But neither you nor I knew the extent of their capability. What if they're much more invincible than we originally thought? What if they have horrible powers that we didn't predict about? I doubted to send you to battle right away because we have so little information about them."
She had a point there. I wasn't thinking about those possibilities.
"Thankfully, it seemed since both of you and the enemies are tsukumogami of weapons, your attacks worked just fine. It would be too early to be sure, but from the fight today, we could gather that they didn't harness any other special powers."
"Then, why did you stop me?"
"I had to. You were about to break. I didn't know how you managed to ignore your injury like that, but I don't want to risk endangering your life by letting you go after the other one too."
That effectively silenced me. She was right -- I was on the verge of breaking. I myself hadn't realize it until I reverted back to my original form under Nuguigami's order. Both him and Uchiko were complaining the whole time they tried to repair me, telling me to pay more attention to my condition.
"... Do you still have something to say?"
I shook my head and tugged my veil down, trying to hide my face.
The talk is over and we started to resume our dinner with sounds of chewing and utensils moving accompanying us during the rest of dinner session. After we were finished, she moved to clean the table and I offered my assistance to carry the dirty wares to the kitchen, which she accepted.
She walked ahead to the kitchen while I followed closely. The whole time she was silent, so I had no choice but to initiate a conversation myself.
"Master?"
"Yes?"
"You can call me 'Kunihiro', if you'd like."
That seemed to surprise her, as she halted her steps and turned to look at me. I didn't know what kind of expression I had, but soon after she saw my face, she laughed, and that made her cheeks flushed a little.
"Okay, Kunihiro-kun."
Turning around again, she once again walked forward, this time skipping a little and humming a random tune, like a child who had received a present from her parents. I should've quicken my walking pace since the distance between me and her slowly widened and she would be out of my sight any seconds now, but I couldn't bring myself to catch up with her.
Not while I still haven't calmed my loud heartbeat.
おわり
Okara: the fiber-rich bits of the soybean left over after the soy milk.
Ohitashi: vegetables soaked in dashi sauce.
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