A Saniwa's Duty

Exposition

Everything, huh? The smith mused, humming. "Well, where would you like me to start?"

Chiaki sat, lost in thought. She had a million questions buzzing in her head, but couldn't for the life of her figure out where to begin either.

After a moment of silence, her brother spoke up. "Is he really a swordsman? If so, why doesn't he look like one?" The boy gestured to their guest, who was idly twiddling his thumbs together.

"He is in fact, a proper swordsman," Kuroba stated matter-of-factly. "He just doesn't look the part because all swords are different, and they all went through and had unique experiences."

"Oh! I got one too!," the sage grabbed their attention. "What kind of sword is he? Or was? Whatever. You get my point."

"Yamanbagiri Kunihiro is an uchigatana. Similar to a katana in form, however the word itself is often used in the time period from which Kunihiro-san was forged."

The girl nodded and continued, "Are there other sword guys like him? How do I get more of them?"

"Well, long story short, the answer is yes. Of differing types, I might add. As for obtaining them...," the smith paused to flash them a small smile. "Either you find them, like in Kunihiro-san's case, or you smith them, which is where I come in."

"Oh," Tetsuo said softly. "What happened to the Link card sis gave you?"

"It's in the card slot by a metal door. The Streams from both ends will take quite a while to connect with each other, so you'll be staying here in the meantime."

The boy nodded, putting a hand to his chin to drum up more questions. Chiaki sighed and rested her chin to her upturned palm, resting the arm in turn on the table, eyes half-lidded out of sheer boredom.

"Kuroba-san," Chiaki drawled out. "What's a touken danshi?"

"A touken danshi," replied a disembodied voice, seeming to come from outside the room. "Literally means 'sword warrior'."

"Your other guide is here. Let me go get him, hmm?" And with that, Kuroba stood up from his spot, then left the room. Tetsuo turned to his sister and mouthed 'Other guide?' to which she replied with a shrug, turning her gaze back to the doorway.

A few seconds later, the android returned, a small, beige and white fox resting on his shoulder. Chiaki's heart melted when she saw the creature, its golden eyes flitted between the three other occupants. There seemed nothing unique about this one, aside from the red markings on his face. Then, it opened its mouth.

"Hello. I am Konnosuke, the all-knowing guide among all saniwas that undertake this mission. What other questions might you have for me?"

The sage's awed gaze quickly turned into one of mixed amazement, horror and shock, mouth agape and eyebrows furrowed. She let out a small, "What the fuck."

Her brother looked equally awed, eyes wide. "Did that fox just talk?"

Konnosuke let out a series of high-pitched yelps, as if to laugh. "My my, have you children never heard of a talking fox?"

"We have," Tetsuo responded quickly. "We've just never met one before."

"Konnosuke-san," the sage drawled again. "How the hell did you know we were here? How did you get here even?"

The smith sat back down on his cushion, then the fox hopped down onto his lap and made himself comfortable. "A divine guide like myself does not reveal all of his secrets. Ask another question."

"Who do you work for?" Tetsuo cut in before his sister could complain.

"The government."

"Whose?," The boy pressed on. His sister yawned and sat up properly, stretching upwards to wake herself up.