(A/N: I changed chapter 2's title to "Citadel" so that I can use the title "Adjustments" for chapter 3! Chapter 2 has also been updated with images. Thank you for reading so far.)
The day that Horikawa Kunihiro arrived was an eventful one. After giving him all of the fruitful information that he needed to hear, both Tsubaki and Konnosuke gave him a tour of the whole citadel. From the kitchen to the bathing area, every corner of the citadel was explored for the brand new touken danshi and all that was left to do was to pick a room for the sword to rest in. Since there were a lot of empty rooms around, Tsubaki wasn't sure which one to give him and simply went to ask Horikawa for his thoughts on the matter.
"Horikawa, do you have any preferences when it comes to where your room will be located?" Tsubaki asked.
"Preferences? No, not really..." he said before pausing in his words only to have a shy expression grow on his face, "But... Maybe a room big enough for both Kane-san and I to share for when he arrives?" Horikawa suggested politely.
A glance of Horikawa's shy expression made Tsubaki chuckle a little. She was not expecting the touken danshis to be so human-like since her only recollection of them were in books and journals from the previous saniwas.
"Haha, that sounds great Horikawa. Come, there's a room just over there that would be perfect for you and Izuminokami," Tsubaki said.
With a growing smile, Horikawa nodded and followed her to the room. The room was on the smaller side but it was definitely just the right amount of space for the two swords to fit in; no more, no less.
"Your futons are stored behind this closet here on the left and in the right closet is where you can store your clothes. The citadel is pretty much safe as it has a strong protection spell surrounding it so that means that you won't need to carry your sword all the time while inside of the citadel," Tsubaki said, forgetting to mention a very important detail, "Oh! I almost forgot. Since I can't send you out on a proper mission until I manifest five other swords, here," she said as she lifted her hands up in front of her.
Horikawa watched Tsubaki closely as he was not really sure to what she was planning to give him. In that moment, that same light-blue aura that had gathered around her back in the smithing room was beginning to form once more in the palms of her hands. This was the power of a saniwa; a spiritual energy that could manifest objects. Horikawa watched as his eyes widened at the amount of power that his master actually had as the blue-light aura grew around the room. A short verbal inhale could be heard from Tsubaki as all of the aura centered into her hands and with one firm clap, the aura had disappeared completely.
"Aruji-san... what did you--"
"It's a casual attire to wear around the citadel. You should only wear your battle attire when its time to go out on a mission," Tsubaki said as she handed him the attire.
"Ah! My apologies if it's not your style... I had no real decision over what it would look like since I manifested with your heart's energy," she said once more as Horikawa was unraveling the folded clothes.
The outfit that was given to him was a simple red tracksuit that had his crest on the front of the jacket. Realizing how plain it was, Tsubaki couldn't help but emotionally facepalm. Of course, since this would just be a 'lounging around' attire, it had no real purpose to be flashy or fashionable but she couldn't help but wish it were. Silence fell between the two as Horikawa was simply staring down at the garments in front of him which made Tsubaki nervous.
"H..Horikawa..?--" Tsubaki said breaking the silence before Horikawa cut her off abruptly.
"Thank you so much for this kind gift, Aruji-san!! I won't forget your kindness toward me!" Horikawa exclaimed as he bowed deeply in front of her.
A sudden rush of blood fled into her face as her cheeks began to heat up, "H...Horikawa?! You really don't need to be so polite and thankful about this!!" She said before clearing her throat, catching herself as she became flustered, "B..But of course, I am the saniwa after all, it's my job to take care of you," she said as she tried to hide her flusteredness.
"I'm going to change into this right away!" Horikawa said as he began to start removing his gear.
Noticing this, Tsubaki quickly turned around and left the room. "Horikawa, you have to allow me to leave the room first!" She said with her back facing towards the door.
Hearing his master's words caused Horikawa to simply apologize for his ignorance to which Tsubaki quickly dismissed. After all, the sword was barely beginning to learn about the ways of a human. Konnosuke and Tsubaki glanced at one another before sighing but with another glance at one another, they let out a small laugh. Their little laugh would get cut off short as it wouldn't take long for Horikawa to change into the tracksuit, showing himself off as if he was wearing an expensive attire.
"Aruji-san, what do you think?" He asked curiously.
Tsubaki looked at him with a smile, "It looks good on you, Horikawa."
"Really?! Thank you, Aruji-san!" Horikawa said with a glowing smile.
"Yes, I think the red color suits you very well!" She simply replied as she clasped her hands together, happily.
Perhaps the outfit wasn't the fanciest thing to be manifested, but she couldn't deny that it did, indeed, look nice on the boy.
"Aruji-sama," Konnosuke said but was ignored as Tsubaki and Horikawa chatted about the new clothes together.
"ARUJI-SAMA!!" Konnosuke shouted.
His shout would catch the two off-guard, causing them to look back at the small fox. His anger showed in his expression as he puffed his cheeks,
"Guys... look at the time! YOU SHOULD BE WORKING ON DINNER ALREADY SO STOP CHATTING AROUND AND GO HAVE A MEAL!!" Konnosuke scolded.
Hearing Konnosuke scold them caused them to run off towards the kitchen crying the words 'scary!!' as Konnosuke chased them, scolding them more and more. Once all three of them had arrived at the Kitchen, Tsubaki tied back the sleeves of her top so that they wouldn't get dirty.
"Aruji-sama, you know how to cook?" Konnosuke asked, "I heard from the headmaster you didn't know how to do a single thing kekekek," Konnosuke said before getting hit on the top of his head gently by Tsubaki's hand. Though it was true that Tsubaki was not the fondest of cooking, that didn't mean she didn't know how to!
"Konnosuke, you better watch that mouth of yours or next time I won't be so forgiving!" Tsubaki said with a scary smile as she was wielding the kitchen knife, "I know that my strengths lie in the battlefield but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of doing things like cooking!" Tsubaki shouted.
"Aruji-san, please let me know if I can help you, I am a wakizashi after all!" Horikawa said. (A/N: like stated in ch.2, wakizashis are worn as an extra sword and are used when in need of assistance.)
"Of course, Horikawa! Can you bring me these ingredients from the pantry and fridge?" she said as she handed him a small piece of paper with a list of ingredients.
Taking the paper from his master's hands, Horikawa would then quickly retrieve all of these ingredients from the pantry and fridge like she had requested. As each ingredient came in, Tsubaki would use her knife and cut them into bite-sized pieces. Tonight's dinner was going to be a curry stew since it was an easy-to-make meal that would fill their stomachs for tomorrow's new beginning. Once all the ingredients had been prepped, they were moved into a pot, where they would cook slowly as a basket of rice was made to serve alongside it.
Shortly after the food had finished, the three of them sat around one of the tables and ate together in peace. It was quiet yet delightful but a bit lonely given how much space the dining hall truly had. Small stories were shared between Tsubaki and Horikawa as they got to know more about one another as dinner was eaten. Tsubaki would come to learn about who the Shisengumi truly were to Horikawa and what impact they had on him being that the age of swords ended when his former master died. Despite the fact that Horikawa was telling her these stories with a smile, she knew that deep inside of him was a bundle of sorrow that wanted to bloom but refused to.
When the meal had finished, Tsubaki asked if Horikawa would take care of the cleaning in her stead. She had told him that sooner or later the swords would need to take care of internal affairs such as caring for the horses, maintaining the crops, cleaning and other things.
"Even if you are a sword, battling is not the only training that can better you as a person," were the words Tsubaki said as her reason to why they would need to do these internal affairs. Horikawa didn't mind it much, in fact, he enjoyed cleaning and assisting others to the best of his abilities so he had no objections to the idea.
"When you're done cleaning up, you are free to go back to your room and rest, tomorrow will be a busy day! Until then, I have matters to take care of so, good night, Horikawa," Tsubaki said leaving the room with Konnosuke following behind her.
"G..Good night, Aruji-san!" Horikawa replied.
"Aruji-sama, what are these matters you talk about??" Konnosuke asked her, trying to keep up with her suddenly fast walking pace.
"Konnosuke... I am going to summon another touken danshi," Tsubaki said as Konnosuke tried to stop her, "Aruji-sama you mustn't! You've already used up a lot of your energy today to summon Horikawa Kunihiro, you should go back to your room and rest!"
There was no point in arguing with Tsubaki at this point. She had already made up her mind and once it's made, there is no more turning back from it. What Tsubaki decided to do was try and manifest the soul of Izuminokami Kanesada, Horikawa's partner. She didn't fully understand why she felt so determined to manifest his soul but one thing she could understand was that Izuminokami Kanesada meant a lot to Horikawa and that's all that mattered.
The two of them arrived at the smithing room once more and the ritual began just like it did before, except this time, Tsubaki's aura had become overwhelming powerful. She had focused all of her power into finding his energy but no matter how hard she searched, it would not appear. Even with all her efforts, she simply could not find him.
"Aruji-sama you must stop now!" Konnosuke shouted at her.
No reply came from Tsubaki. She was completely focused on the ritual and completely focused on trying to find Izuminokami Kanesada but it was no use, he couldn't be felt at all, therefore a different touken danshi was manifested instead.
"I am one of the famous blades produced by Gou no Yoshihiro, Kuwana Gou. I was treasured by a farming family, but that doesn't mean fieldwork is the only thing I'm good at. It's nice to meet you, Aruji." Kuwana said.
Tsubaki could only let out a faint smile, "... Not good enough..." she said as she dropped down to her knees, causing everyone to gather around her.
Kuwana was the first to Tsubaki's side as he was barely able to catch her from falling to the floor completely,
"Aruji?! Aruji are you okay?!" He said shaking her slightly to grab her attention.
"Aruji-sama I told you not to overexert yourself waaaaah!" Konnosuke said as he began crying.
Tsubaki could barely hear the words that were coming from out of their mouths. Everything looked like a blur to her as her eyes were being forced shut by a heavy presence. Her body felt weak and the strength that she once had, had disappeared.
A weak gasp would come out of Tsubaki's lips as she looked towards Konnosuke, "S..Sorry.." she mumbled out faintly before collapsing in Kuwana's arms.
"Aruji-sama you big idiot waaaah!! *sniff* Gou-sama! Please help carry Aruji-sama back to her room!! *sniff*" Konnosuke begged as his words began to mix together from his sniffling and crying.
Nodding his head, Kuwana lifted Tsubaki into his arms and carried her back to her room with Konnosuke guiding him. After being tucked into her futon, Konnosuke escorted Kuwana out and showed him to his new room. He had informed Kuwana that tomorrow Tsubaki would explain the reasoning behind his summoning and manifestation as a human and that he could change into the other clothing that he manifested with since there was no need to wear his battle attire around. When the fox had finished giving Kuwana his lecture, he left the newest touken danshi alone and returned back to his 'idiotic' master.
"Oh Aruji-sama... what were thinking...?" Konnosuke said laying beside her on the futon.
(A/N: fun fact! I chose to randomize all of the swords, minus Horikawa, to see who'd I would write about next to give me some variety in life. I decided that I wanted to get an uchigatana next so I randomized the uchigatana's and got Kuwana Gou as the first sword. I really like the Gou swords so I hope you will come to like them through my work.)