The trio sat cross-legged in a circle in the middle of the spacious lobby, Chiaki examining her sword yet again.
"You asked about my photokinesis, right?", Chiaki rested the sword back on her lap. "What about it?"
"To put it simply, photokinesis and divine magic are somewhat alike, so it'll be a little easier for you to properly control your powers," the smith said knowingly, arms folded and tucked behind his sleeves.
"Okay, but how do I use it?"
"Look within yourself, and the sword. Trust that it does you no harm, and free the spirit trapped within."
"Alright," Tetsuo cut in before his sister could ask again. "You said the sword has a... spirit inside, yes?"
"Hmm, what about it?" Kuroba questioned nonchalantly.
"Does that mean," the boy continued. "That this sword is a tsukumogami?"
The smith paused to gather his thoughts. "Well, not exactly. Tsukumogami acquire a spirit over the course of time, like say, a hundred years, whereas saniwa sages unlock the spirit within them. A simple matter of take versus give."
Seeing the perplexed looks the children shot him, Kuroba added, "Well, that, and the fact that these swords do not become youkai."
"If not that," Tetsuo pressed further. "Then what?"
"That is for her to find out," the smith gestured to Chiaki, whose mouth curled into an annoyed scowl as she continued to gaze at the sword. Then her eyes lit up and she fished the Link card from her Index.
"Do you know where this thing goes by the way?" the girl said as she handed over the card.
"As a matter of fact, I do," Kuroba accepted and stood up. "I'll be right back. You just figure it out, okay? Trust your instincts." And with that, he turned on his heels and left.
The sage mumbled a 'As if I wasn't planning to already', which earned her a nudge from her brother. She shot him a glare before picking up the sword yet again, and turning it over.
Look inside yourself. Chiaki closed her eyes and took several deep breaths to calm her nerves. Trust your instincts, the sword, and the spirit that awaits within. It won't hurt you.
The sage could feel warmth gradually travelling from her chest and her head to her arms, snaking their way down to her fingertips, and she felt the sword turn lightweight. Heat and blinding light seared her eyelids, but she dared not open them, concentrating.
The heat and light died down after a moment. From beside her, she heard her brother wheeze. "Holy shit."
Chiaki opened her eyes and blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes just to make sure what stood before her was real.
"Whoa," Tetsuo muttered. "What the fuck just happened?"
"I'm Yamanbagiri Kunihiro," the figure introduced himself. He looked quite unlike the usual swordsman, from his hair to his body's frame, and even his attire, which looked more like something a private high school student would wear, coupled with some armor plates. A sheated sword rested between his belt and he wore a white cloak, tattered and dirtied at the hem.
Yamanbagiri saw the looks of disbelief that the siblings exchanged with each other before turning their attention to him.
"What's with that look?," he asked as he tugged his cloak to hide more of himself. Chiaki was looking him up and down with awe, while Tetsuo silenty took a photo, reminding himself to Tweet about it later. Kunihiro saw what they were doing. "Does the fact that I'm a duplicate bother you?"
"What? Duplicate?," the sage cocked her head to the side. "You mean like, you have a twin or something?"
Her brother nudged her side yet again and shook his head before giving her a disappointed look. The redhead merely rolled her eyes at him.
"Kidding bro. I'm not that stupid." Chiaki stood up and neared the sword to take a closer look, which took the latter by surprise. She grabbed the wrist that was about to tug at the cloak again, gently moving it aside. With her free hand, she slowly pulled the hood down.
Then, she screamed.
With ecstasy.
"Oh my gods!," she holstered an arm behind his neck, bringing him closer and squishing their cheeks together. "Aniki, look! Blue eyes!"
Whipping out her phone, she opened the camera app and rapidly switched to the front camera. The man watched her with fascination, unaware that she had already taken a photo. Then she unhooked her arm from its place and began to type.
As Kunihiro marvelled at the piece of technology, he pulled his cloak back up. "Aruji?"
Firguring that he was talking to her, Chiaki raised an eyebrow, still composing her Tweet. "Yeah?"
"You're kind of... hot."
The girl almost dropped her phone. "Excuse me, what?" She could feel fire beginning to spark inside her, a scowl slowly forming. "You think I'm-"
"Chill out sis," Tetsuo interrupted quickly, standing up and extending an arm as if to bar the man from his sibling. "I think he meant that literally."
His sister shot him a look and he quickly added, "You look like you came out of a sauna after six hours. Not good."
The sage put a hand to her own forehead and realized her new comrade and brother were telling the truth. She did feel a little warmer, and that she was sweating a lot now.
Chiaki made a noise of disgust as she hurriedly finished her post and pocketed her phone, doing her best to wipe her sweat. She turned to Yamanbagiri and said, "I'm sorry you had to deal with that. It's so uncool of me, figuratively and literally."
Kuroba stepped in, wearing a baby blue apron with a Gudetama print and「Take it easy!*」 written in hiragana, wooden spatula in hand. "Sorry it took me a while. I had to prepare lunch."
He fell silent to register the scene before him, his mouth slowly curling into a smile. "You've awakened your first touken danshi! Excellent!"
For the umpteenth time today, the siblings shot each other confused looks. "Touken what?"
"Ah, let's just discuss this over lunch, hmm? Set up the table here for now. Master Tetsuo, why don't you help me bring the food over?"
"Aniki," the sage said. "Could you get me a few towels while you're out?"
The boy gave her a thumbs up, following the smith out of the room.
★★★
When they returned, Chiaki hastily took the towels her brother brought and began drying herself with them. Afterwards, she left them to dry on a nearby windowsill, then proceeded to help ready their dining area.
Once the low table and cushions had been set, they all sat down and dug into the meals: three servings each of curry fried rice, chicken katsu, flavored with kikkoman soy sauce, creamy crab and corn soup, and tall glasses of water.
While the siblings were busy heartily eating away, the smith noticed that the cloaked man had only eaten a small portion of his meal, instead idly moving around the chicken cutlets. "What's the matter?" Kuroba addressed him, inquisitive.
A lone blue eye peeked from behind the white shroud, looking at the android meekly. "Ah," Kunihiro began in a soft tone. "I'm just... not used to this." He gestured to himself and the meal for emphasis.
"Not used to this?" Chiaki interrupted through a mouthful of food. She chewed for a bit, then swallowed. "How so?"
"Moments ago, I was but a spirit trapped within my sword. Now that you've freed me and given me human form, I don't know what to do." Their comrade exhaled slowly and closed his eyes, pushing his meal aside. "Everything feels so... strange."
"Well," Kuroba began in a knowing tone, before the sage could say anything. "It's as you said: This is the first time you've been given human form and sentience. It's only natural you feel that way."
And with that, he laced his fingers together and rested them on his lap, then added, "You'll get used to it. Eventually."
The rest of the meal was silent. The siblings finished their meals, as did Kunihiro, the latter albeit reluctantly. Then Tetsuo turned his attention to their smith, folding his arms. "Alright, Kuroba-san. You've got some hefty explaining to do. Talk."
"What would you like to know about?"
The siblings glanced at each other, then simultaneously said, "Everything else about this place that mom never bothered explaining properly."
★★★
A/N:
*ゆっくりしていってね! = 「yukkuri shiteitte ne!」Means "Do it slowly!" or more commonly, "Take it easy!".