Downtown Battle at Early Twilight (I)

Roughly half an hour had elapsed since Suzuran had called Honami from a payphone just outside of the hotel she was staying in. The sun was close to setting and with a glance at the clock on the beside cabinet, it was just past eight. As the hot water of the shower poured over her, she began sorting through her thoughts, putting together a timeline in her head concerning the events of the day.

In the morning, she had awoken as normal—just past five-thirty. Of course, seeing as Honami was her best friend, she also woke up at the same time. Together, the two girls engaged in some morning training, which included jogging along the road near the inn they were staying at. Finishing at seven, the two girls retired back to the inn and began preparing and by seven-thirty, they were finished and headed out to the Origami mansion’s grounds to prepare for the tournament.

The preliminaries began at nine and ended at around eleven-thirty, where the girls were allowed a lunch break. Once that was concluded, the girls were gathered in the main stage for the finals which were held at twelve-thirty. However, Noa attacked Nanae Origami and fled with a plus one—Suzuran herself. They made a pit stop at Yasaka Daijin Shrine at thirteen hundred before Noa revealed her plan to hitchhike on a truck. They hopped on at thirteen-fifteen and hopped off later in Shibuya. Currently, they were lying low in a Shibuya hotel, having checked in at around fifteen-fifteen after their purchase of a guitar case to disguise their blades. This brings her mental map to the present as she had just gotten off the phone with Honami half an hour—sixteen hundred—through the hotel’s in-room landline; she cut the call short after informing her friend that she was fine by mimicking a regular broadcast from the early warning station for aradama appearances. She was a bit guilty about lying to her friend like that but there were more important things to be done.

Suzuran turned off the faucet and grabbed the unused towel, drying herself off. She then put on the same clothes she had worn earlier as she had no choice. [I do hope we won’t be wearing the same clothes the entire time we're on the run… I should advise Noa so we could buy some other clothing—specifically, new pairs of underwear.] Exiting the bathroom, she posed the suggestion, “Hey, Noa, we should go out again to do some clothes shopping. I don’t know about you but I’d rather not wear the same underwear for more than two days.”

“Hmm,” Noa said, deep in thought. “Yeah, I think we should. Let’s make it quick.”

“We should also buy some dinner.”

“Of course. We need the energy to keep running.”

The two girls then set out of their room and descended the stairs into the main lobby when the receptionist lady that had helped them earlier called out, “Hello, girls! Going out?”

Suzuran put on her best smile and replied, “Yes! Since we have some free time, we’re thinking about splurging on the money the school gave to us on clothes and food!”

“Oh, dear me, you girls sure are naughty.”

“Fufu, please keep it a secret between us~,” Suzuran impishly smirked.

“Oho, alright. Promise me that you won’t stay out too late, alright?”

“We won’t~!”

The two girls then brazenly exited the hotel lobby and once outside, they put on their hoods. After they were a ways away from the entrance, Noa jabbed, “I did not know you were such a good actor.”

“Aside from my role as student council president, I also hold the the position of president of the drama club in Osafune Girls’ Academy,” Suzuran explained. “It’s better to have as many faces as possible. Before you ask, I definitely have not been diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder but I just instinctively know which of my many faces to put on at any given time. Although, I do have problems with restraining myself when I clash with swords.”

“I see, so that explains why you looked so giddy during the tournament.”

Suzuran bowed and rather sarcastically said, “I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

Noa looked at her incredulously before laughing. “Oh no, it’s fine. I just can’t help but wonder. [Which of your faces is the true Suzuran Arisugawa?]”

Suzuran quietly averted her gaze, not answering the question. Upon arriving at the mall, the two girls quickly hunted down for a women’s clothing store. The two girls had relatively different tastes in clothing with Noa going for more reserved ones while Suzuran liked the bolder ones. They decided to buy three sets of outfits: one to wear, one to serve as a backup, and a pair of pajamas. In terms of underwear, they both decided it would be better to buy five pairs each, both top and bottom. After purchasing the times, the girls walked out of the store in their casualwear, their first stop being the bathroom so that they could change out of their used underwear.

Suzuran exited first and stood outside, waiting for Noa; her current outfit was a black one-piece dress, a black cardigan worn over it, and knee-high socks. She also had a cartwheel hat atop her head and was sucking on a lollipop she got with some pocket change. Noa left the bathroom and said, “Alright, let’s go.” Her outfit consisted of a dark T-shirt with a button-up black sweater and a plain black skirt with her legs covered by black pantyhose that disappeared into her skirt.

The two girls hoisted their guitar cases that held no guitar and exited the mall. Upon encountering Ichiran Shibuya, they decided that this place would be their dinner. Seeing as they both enjoyed ramen, it was the perfect meal for them. Both girls ordered the tonkotsu ramen at its largest size but had a divergence in opinion in terms of the toppings. For Suzuran, she liked her food spicy so she asked for extra zest while Noa liked mixing small amounts of soy sauce into hers. They eventually found out that they were hungrier than they thought and both asked for a kaedama—an extra portion of noodles.

“Phew… I seriously ate a lot…” Suzuran mumbled as she patted her stomach after upon leaving the restaurant.

“No kidding. Thank goodness they offered a special small discount for celebrating a staff member’s birthday with them.”

The two girls then retired back to their hotel but on their way there, a girl dressed in a traditional all-black kimono and hakama—the standard outfit used for kendo—were tailing them. She remained out of sight, undetected by the two girls she was pursuing. Her outfit, of course, attracted attention but she paid no mind to the eyes of men and women alike as she had no interest in entertaining the audience; she simply continued her course of observing the two girls.

Upon returning to their apartment, there was one fatal issue that they had yet to sort out.

Suzuran waited with bated breath as Noa drew her okatana. She asked, “Well?”

Noa closed her eyes, focusing her mind as she held her sword aloft in a ready position while sitting in seiza. “Mmm, yes, I can generate [utsushi] now. I’ve rested for long enough.”

“Personally, I’d say you’re too rested,” Suzuran quipped.

“Oh, really? Want a go?”

“No thank you. Oh, by the way, your [okatana] is double-bladed. How come?”

“It’s an ancient style of swordsmithing called kissaki moroha. It is also known as Kogarasumaru-style which is why the sword’s previous name is Kogarasumaru. Although now under my ownership, the blade is called Yatagarasu.”

“That’s interesting… My own sword, Suijingiri Kanesada, was previously known as Chidori. Any idea why they were renamed?”

“I don't know.”

“Speaking of which since your sword is double-bladed, it’d make sense for you to perform a thrusting maneuver.”

“Excuse me?”

“You know when you attacked the Origami family head and was stopped?”

“…You were able to see that?”

“Yeah, just barely! Seriously, that’s the fastest [jin’i] I’ve seen so far! That on top of your flawless technique just took my breath away. Oh, but I’m curious about your other techniques. You use Shintō-ryū, right?”

“…Yes, I am a student of the Kashima Shintō-ryū.”

“I was particularly interested in your sword style because I too am a student of Shintō-ryū; I study the Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū.”

“Tenshin Shōden Katori Shintō-ryū, huh? I see, that explains your swordsmanship.”

“Oh, oh, in your fight against the blonde girl, you used shigi no hagaeshi, right? If she had realized what you were doing, it would’ve been a loss for you instead…!”

Noa couldn’t help but shrink away at the sudden onslaught of praise. It really seemed like Suzuran was not exaggerating when she said that she gets extremely excited when the topic turns to swords. She vaguely dodged Suzuran’s heated questioning as she wondered if this was what she’d have to deal with to have an accomplice.