Chapter 32

Chapter 32

He Wan felt he was particularly unlucky.

Which swords would be summoned by Kirisame in the Honmaru depended on luck and fate before the first time, but after that, it was up to Kirisame's will.

The most frequently chosen were Aizen, Imagin, and Chōgitai. The first two, due to the versatility of their abilities, could help the Lord in many places and were often taken over there; the latter was the type that, although the Lord was unwilling, she had to succumb to because she was clumsy.

Chōgitai had once publicly stated in the Honmaru that he loved to see little Kirisame with a face saying "I'm going to be a reliable adult this time!" then "Oh, sorry, Mr. Chōgitai, I can't do this..." and that look.

The memory of Hikaru, impeccably dressed, making such a statement with that expression was something He Wan, who had not yet met the Lord at the time, could not forget to this day.

He was truly a bad guy.

But this bad guy had baked cookies today.

The white-haired, golden-eyed tachi hid a plate of cookies stolen from the kitchen under his sleeve, casually walking past Yagen and Ichigo Hitofuri who had come to help, reaching the corridor under the courtyard. Watching the tantō chasing and playing in the distance, he finally revealed a dejected look.

A small piece of gauze was still stuck to the Tsukumogami's cheek, a wound from being slashed by a deranged Hasebe in the sparring hall after he dropped Kirisame for the second time... The wound was not deep, but since there was no need to go on sorties, the Honmaru basically had no acceleration talismans or the like, so it had to heal slowly on its own.

Normally, Tsukumogami wouldn't use gauze, but that day, when the Young Lord said she wanted to touch his face, she felt the wound on his cheek.

He Wan still remembered the little girl standing on tiptoe, her forehead touching his, her golden eyes, nine-tenths like his, looking extremely serious.

"Yagen once told me that applying gauze helps it heal faster. He Wan, don't leave the wound unattended."

When she said this, the scratches from rolling on the ground during their earlier practice were still on her elbows, exposed to the air.

Actually, Yagen could heal such scrapes quickly, but the sword Tsukumogami, who had experienced much combat, knew that she was unwilling to tell them about this—she had gotten used to pain, so that when sudden harm came, she wouldn't lose the ability to fight back due to the agony.

No one had taught her these things, but since she was a child, this Lord had been striving to give them the best she thought, the things she herself could not have, holding nothing back.

A bit dull, a bit emotionally deficient, the little girl did not know how hard she tried and how good she was, but her swords knew.

In the end, the white-haired tachi said nothing, only gently touched the little girl's nose. Seeing her frown, a bit unaccustomed to it, he laughed heartily.

After returning, He Wan found Yagen and put on the gauze.

"Hahaha—banned from lord Mitsutada's sweets again?" Mikazuki, sitting in the shadow of the corridor, took the plate from him with a smile.

"Hey, didn't you just get unbanned?!"

The one who asked this question was Atsu Tōshirō, with half a cookie still in his mouth, disappearing from the spot just as he finished speaking.

...Called away by little Kirisame.

Startled, He Wan stared at the spot where he had vanished and blinked, but still answered: "Because I messed up again this morning."

Mikazuki squinted at him.

He Wan felt he was about to cry in frustration. He had originally planned to give the Young Lord a big surprise, but it had turned into a big shock for himself.

Now, every time the free-spirited white crane flew in the sky, he was terrified, afraid he would fall to the ground without warning. What was this? A farmed chicken trying to jump over the wall?

Under the half-smiling, half-watching gaze of this colleague, He Wan really couldn't say anything like "Life needs surprises," and sat down dejectedly against the pillar of the porch.

"I don't know what's wrong. I don't even feel anything, I just suddenly fall."

Mikazuki Munechika poured him a cup of tea: "I sympathize with you, He Wan."

The Tsukumogami's famously beautiful eyes, in daylight, appeared as normal deep blue and gold, but now they held a subtle understanding and forbearance that startled He Wan.

"Lord Mikazuki, what exactly do you know?"

"Hahaha, rest assured, it's not He Wan's fault. It will be resolved soon." The tachi, nearly half-corrupted, avoided his colleague's question and played dumb with composure: "The Lord has always been a clever child."

Mikazuki's gaze fell on He Wan's gauze.

He still clearly remembered the sensation of that human child's soft little finger hooking around his pinky when he first saw her in a dream that year.

Now, that hand was covered in black, and he could no longer hold hers.

Sunlight could not reach this slanted corner of the corridor. The laughter of the tantō seemed far away. The most beautiful of the Five Great Swords of the World sat alone, his back bearing something huge and heavy, yet he remained straight.

He Wan knew he wouldn't get anything out of him like this, so he decided to take a roundabout approach and instead expressed concern for his health: "Still can't be in the sun?"

Unlike He Wan, who was lightly corrupted but still fine in the sun, his fellow swords in the Honmaru, still kept in the dark, did not yet know that sunlight was already enough to harm Mikazuki Munechika.

"Hahaha, I'm old. The sun is too harsh. It's good to avoid it a bit."

"..."

"Not going to see her?"

These words wiped all the smiles from Mikazuki's face.

"There will always be a time to meet," he said softly.

Unable to get any answers, He Wan decided to eat a cookie to calm himself down.

Then Mikazuki moved the plate to the other side.

"Sweets are forbidden, He Wan."

...Just said it wasn't my fault, but you're still holding a grudge, aren't you!

Just as He Wan was about to say something else, a familiar feeling surged from his heart.

Both stood up. Light spilled from the window on the second floor, in the direction of... Ōtenta Mitsuyo's room?

Kashū Kiyomitsu rushed over: "This time, don't screw it up like He Wan did!"

He Wan: "..."

He would go and see what Ōtenta could screw up today!

The white-clothed Tsukumogami's figure ran off. Mikazuki sat back down on the porch.

"All physical things will eventually fade," he said, reaching his hand into the sunlight, watching the scorch marks spread little by little. "But still, I hope it can be delayed a little longer..."

The 1-A students stared down at the arena.

This was the first match of the second round after Bakugō against Uraraka—Aizawa Kirisame versus Kirishima Eijirou.

As Teacher Mike said, the strongest spear against the strongest shield.

Kirishima's hardening could be both defensive and offensive, and in close combat, it had virtually no flaws except for its endurance. Against a fully hardened opponent, sneak attacks were largely meaningless, and using high-damage skills like those in the entrance exam was absolutely inadvisable for Kirisame, who wielded a bladed weapon that was hard to control.

So she had very few options available.

Kirisame thought the same, so from the start, she kept trying to gauge the right amount of force.

The first strike was a probing one.

The short sword clanged against Kirishima's arm, sending a jolt through Kirisame's hand.

...Really hard.

Kirishima grinned, but his tone shifted as he attacked: "You split those zero-point robots in half during the entrance exam, didn't you?"

"I thought about what you said on the way to USJ that day. You didn't want to fight me because my quirk made you unsure how much force to use—you were afraid you might hurt me!" He threw a punch—

"Ah, it kind of stings to think about!"

Kirisame sidestepped while listening to him.

"But letting a girl hold back because she's worried about hurting me—that's not manly at all!" When Kirisame's blade clashed against him again, Kirishima looked up and grinned carelessly: "Don't worry about holding back!"

"Don't underestimate me!" His arm struck the blade with a dull thud.

"I'm serious about winning too!"

"Come at me with everything! Whatever you throw, I'll take it and show you!"

Because of his full-body hardening, his face could barely show expression, but the light in his eyes was strikingly similar to Uraraka's from just over ten minutes ago.

The girl shook her head.

"That's not it," she said, focused. "I struggle with controlling my strength, but I can't just pull out the kind of skill I used in the entrance exam whenever I want. If I'm not fast enough, I won't hit you. If I run out of stamina without landing a hit, I'll lose."

Kirisame concluded: "It's not like I was going easy on you."

"Your quirk really counters me."

Kirishima was taken aback, then flashed Kirisame his signature manly, sunny smile.

"Then let's settle this properly!"

"Yeah."

The next phase was a long stalemate.

The short sword that could easily pierce through Todoroki's ice in sparring had almost no effect on Kirishima when used at normal strength.

But each strike from the blade gradually weakened his defense.

It was the ability of Atsu Toushirou, the sword famed for armor-breaking.

Because Kirisame was too fast, her opponent's attacks never landed, so the battle turned into a shield taking all the hits.

When the short sword first grazed his cheek, drawing a spray of blood, the scales of victory began to tip.

Seeing it had an effect, Kirisame switched from the blade to the hilt.

The drain on his stamina and the relentless pounding made him far less agile than at the start, and the hits gradually started to take effect.

The deciding move was a sweep behind his knee with the spear—Kirisame gripped it awkwardly and used it like a staff.

That blow completely robbed Kirishima of his ability to move.

Panting, the girl extended her hand toward him:

"I won."

"I'll win next time!"

It must be said that the second round's last match, Midoriya vs. Todoroki, looked just as brutal.

Aside from Midoriya's self-destructive fighting style, Kirisame, who really had no idea Todoroki could breathe fire, was taken aback.

The moment the shockwave and flames collided, the ice cracked and shattered, and the usually expressionless boy set aside all his coldness and rejection, revealing an expression like a chick that had just pecked its way out of its shell.

He was about to find his own path.

Kirisame felt a little envious of him.

The third round's first match was Kirisame vs. Tokoyami.

The girl rolled across the ground as Dark Shadow's palm came down. She had already switched through nearly a dozen blades, from Warai Aoe, effective against ghosts, to the divine swords Ishikirimaru and Taroutachi, but all of them passed straight through without exception.

Dark Shadow's physical form was like water—a powerful punch could send it splashing, but a direct sword slash would simply pass right through.

Watching from the stands, Midoriya was confused.

Kirisame's black flames didn't have a "light" property. Against this, the best tactic was to bypass Dark Shadow and attack Tokoyami directly. Midoriya believed Kirisame had the ability to do that, but his friend Kirisame had been dodging Dark Shadow's onslaught for almost five minutes, switching blades without any success, yet she persisted.

"What is Kirisame doing?"

Bakugo, watching too, snorted.

He didn't believe she hadn't noticed Dark Shadow's weakness. Using her golden transformation from the morning, she could win easily. But there was no way she'd use it—given what she'd said earlier about wanting to fight Tokoyami, it was clear what she wanted:

She wanted to see if she could counter Dark Shadow just with her quirk's properties.

...Can't underestimate her.

Kirisame was thinking.

She had tried every method she could think of, but none dealt effective damage. She felt she was on the wrong track.

Dark Shadow wasn't a ghost or a monster.

...Then what was it?

When Dark Shadow slammed her into the ground up close, the answer hit her.

—It's a Quirk.

She froze for a second.

...Then what are my blades?

—Also Quirks.

Almost the moment she realized this, Tokoyami saw the flames around Kirisame, which had nearly gone out, suddenly surge.

But it was too late to call Dark Shadow back.

The blade in Kirisame's hand now was one even she had never seen before.

But she knew what to do.

—Feel.

Feel each attack: feel where it comes from, feel its deeper nature.

—And then try to connect herself to it on the same line.

The tachi Ōtenta Mitsuyo, famous for its powerful spiritual energy, now had its blade gradually turning black and becoming translucent at the will of its Lady.

—It became very similar to the Dark Shadow.

Then came a fully focused slash.

This slash cut off the claw that the Dark Shadow had extended, and that part slid off from the main body as if burned, dissolving into the air.

The Dark Shadow let out a howl and quickly retreated, reforming a claw.

But this time, its body had lost nearly a quarter of its mass, and it couldn't recover for a while.

"Oh my god, she actually did it!!" Present Mic's voice echoed across the venue.

Shota Aizawa's eyes narrowed beneath his bandages.

...He had a feeling that her goal wasn't just Tokoyami's Dark Shadow.

Holding her new partner, which had reverted to its original form, the girl wiped the sweat from her forehead and smiled.

The victory was decided on the spot.

The following matches went by quickly.

Despite the conversation before the match, Bakugo ultimately did not get Todoroki's full power.

Kirisame found him in the waiting area.

The boy had just come to his senses from Teacher Midnight's sleep-inducing incense and was no longer as agitated as he had been on the field.

He looked up at Kirisame, his voice hoarse.

"What I want is a complete victory." Despite his fierce expression, Kirisame could see a hint of almost pleading in his eyes. "You're different from that Todoroki guy, aren't you?"

This person had just wiped away his own tears earlier that day at noon.

The girl looked seriously into his ruby-like eyes.

"Okay."