'A month for the staff, a year for the blade, a lifetime for the spear.' Aside from long weapons that require a lifetime of practice, the blade, as the "commander of all weapons," also requires "years" to achieve mastery.
Night. Giyu Tomioka, dressed in his striped haori of red and yellow-green, rushed beneath the moonlight, one hand clasped tightly on his Nichirin Blade. For days, he had been recalling the letter his master, Urokodaki Sakonji, had written to the Master.
That feeling of "anticipation" mixed with "anxiety about returning home" grew stronger and stronger as he drew closer to Mount Sagiri.
Unfortunately, his master had said in the letter that his new junior brother had not yet begun to learn Breathing Styles. Otherwise... Giyu Tomioka felt that this "inspection" would have at least satisfied his itch for a spar.
"Haaa... fuu..." Inhaling, exhaling... Giyu Tomioka had been running with "Total Concentration: Constant" active the entire way home. After nearly two more hours, he passed through the town and, far in the distance... saw Mount Sagiri.
In the mountain was a wooden hut with the person he cared for. Deep in the forest were several memorial graves for his senior brothers and junior sisters.
He exhaled a puff of white air. He was close. He adjusted his breathing, slowed his pace, and, with a heart full of complex and unspeakable excitement, walked up the mountain. By the moonlight, he saw from afar a small wooden hut standing quietly in an open space.
A single bean-sized lamp in the hut emitted a dim yellow halo.
Through the paper window, he could vaguely see an aged back, hunched over a desk, writing something. It also seemed to be waiting for someone. Giyu Tomioka took a deep breath, quieted his footsteps, and slowly walked over. A ghostly wind blew, lifting a corner of the paper window.
Immediately after... a kind smile was directed at him.
"Master, Senior Brother Giyu is back!" Makomo rolled the brush to write a line of small characters on the wooden table. Even without her reminder, Urokodaki Sakonji's keen sense of smell had already caught Giyu Tomioka's scent on the mountain breeze.
The old man looked at his beloved student through the corner of the window. The former smiled kindly, the latter nodded slightly, his eyes glistening.
"Shh... Eiichiro is still sleeping." Urokodaki Sakonji gently slid open the door and let Giyu Tomioka come inside.
In early spring, the snow had not yet completely melted, so the kang in the room was still heated.
The old Water Hashira seemed to have calculated that Giyu Tomioka would arrive at night. He had already set up the kotatsu and warmed a pot of tea. He poured a cup and handed it over.
Giyu Tomioka took it and sipped. It was still the familiar taste. More than half the fatigue from his journey dissipated. He raised his eyes to look at a corner of the kang, where a boy was lying quietly.
His hands were folded over his abdomen, his breathing steady, his sleeping face peaceful. His fiery red hair glowed reddish-bright under the lamplight, like a flame. It looked even more like "fire" than Kyojuro Rengoku's "fiery" hair.
As if by some strange impulse... Giyu Tomioka had an absurd thought... 'Perhaps this boy is more suited to practicing "Flame Breathing" than the Rengoku family.'
And once this thought appeared, it was as if it had taken root, lodging itself in Giyu's mind, impossible to shake off.
"See him?" Urokodaki Sakonji noticed Giyu Tomioka's gaze and glanced at Roy with a smile. "He is Eiichiro."
"Your little junior brother."
Giyu Tomioka remained silent.
Urokodaki Sakonji knew his cold personality. He took a set of bedding from the wooden cabinet nearby and spread it out. It was still the same set he had slept in all those years ago. He bent down to smooth the wrinkles. "The Kasugai Crow returned late, so I didn't know you were coming back."
"So I didn't get to air it out. Make do for now. Tomorrow at noon, when the sun is strong, I'll take it out to dry."
"As for Sabito's set, I gave it to Eiichiro to use earlier."
Giyu Tomioka sniffled and, in his silence, stood up. "I'm going to pay respects to my senior brother and junior sister first."
He had just started to move, not yet reaching the door, when Urokodaki Sakonji softly called out to stop him: "No need."
The old man finished making the bed, looked around, and gazed at him kindly. "They are all here. There's no need to go far."
Giyu Tomioka's footsteps paused. "?"
He turned around abruptly, meeting his master's affirmative gaze. He heard the paper window fall shut, and bursts of ghostly wind swept through the small wooden hut. One of the gusts seemed too strong and was entangled by another ghostly gust and given a sound beating.
"Fukuda, what do you think you're doing?"
"I'm telling you to be quiet, don't wake Eiichiro!"
"I... I just got excited seeing Senior Brother Giyu..."
"Who isn't excited? You're the only one being so loud, it's unseemly!"
"Yes, yes... it's all my fault... I was wrong, okay?"
Shinsuke lowered his wind speed and circled around Giyu Tomioka... Giyu frowned, and then felt his shoulder grow heavy. It was his master.
"Come here." Urokodaki Sakonji patted Giyu Tomioka's shoulder and led him to the table.
To his amazement... the brush flew up on its own, dipped in ink, and began writing on the paper that had been spread out on the table:
"Senior Brother Giyu, welcome home. I am Makomo."
Then... "Senior Brother Giyu, you're finally back! I'm Shinsuke."
And then... "I'm Fukuda... I'm Shimizu... I'm Watanabe... I'm... Yagiku..."
Line after line of small characters, name after familiar or unfamiliar name, flooded his vision. Giyu Tomioka's body trembled!
His hands gripped the edge of the table. He bowed his head and took a sharp breath. When he looked up again, his eyes were red-rimmed. He asked, trembling, "Senior Brother Sabito, are you here too?"
"Whoosh—" A corner of the paper was lifted, and a sentence appeared in the blank space: "I am."
"Giyu, welcome home."
Sabito smiled as he looked at the young man. 'It's been a year, and he's grown taller again... a bit tanner, too, and more tired. Knowing his personality, he must have traveled through the night, neglecting to eat or rest.' Finally, he added another sentence on the paper: "It's been hard on you."
He didn't know why, but tears began to well up in his eyes on their own. Giyu Tomioka pursed his lips and tilted his head back. At some point, two tear tracks had streaked down his usually cold cheeks. He wiped them, but they became wet again; wet, and he wiped them again. It was a repeating cycle; they just couldn't be wiped clean—
Sabito teased him, writing on the table: "Still a little crybaby, just like when you were small..."
Only then did he finally break into a tearful smile, stopping the flow.
Once upon a time, Giyu Tomioka had always thought his master must be very lonely, all by himself these years... Now, seeing him accompanied by his senior brothers and junior sisters... even if he were to die in battle in the future, he wouldn't have to worry anymore.
'This is great.'
For a young man, emotions come quickly and go quickly.
Under the oil lamp, Giyu Tomioka wanted to seize this precious opportunity to talk more with Sabito, Makomo, Shinsuke, Fukuda, and the others, to properly catch up.
His head felt heavy. He raised his chin, only to see Urokodaki Sakonji, just like when he was little, stroke his head and look at him kindly. "You've been on the road for several days. Go to sleep first."
"Tomorrow morning, I'll have Eiichiro let you see your senior brothers and junior sister with your own eyes."
Giyu Tomioka: "..."
'I can... see them?'