[It admittedly takes a little bit of time before Ishikirimaru realizes Nikkari's presence is missing. While he still woke up early enough to perform his routine purifying ritual around the Citadel. He even passed by Nikkari's room, but simply spared the closed door a smile, thinking he was letting the other sword get some well-earned rest. He's been under the weather, after all.
And then he catches up with some of the others; the smaller swords excitedly show him new little treasures they've found while doing chores - acorns, beetles, flowers, even a curious old coin that had been dug up - and some of the larger swords bemoan life's little woes - it's getting colder now or some particular swords tend to stay up too late and don't try to be quiet about it - so, of course, he listens patiently.
Ishikirimaru is almost always patient.
But while it's not strange to not see Nikkari during a day, something in his gut feels...off. It's probably nothing. He's probably worrying for the sake of worrying, but he still makes his way back to Nikkari's room and knocks before sliding the door open when no response comes. Nikkari isn't inside. This isn't strange, even if the wakizashi has been sick and should be resting, but Nikkari is a tough one to pin down sometimes. So Ishikirimaru slowly makes his way around the Citadel again, casually asking from time to time if anyone has seen Nikkari.
They haven't.
The worry sits more heavily in the pit of his stomach.
It's hard to ask a decent amount of people when the Citadel is so big and there are so many other swords. And, naturally, no one sits still - save, perhaps, some of his brothers and other tea-devouring souls - so everything is chaotic motion. It makes it nearly impossible to keep track of anything on a solo mission. He even checks the day's chore list; Nikkari isn't listed. He could ask the saniwa if they've seen him, but if he goes that far, then others will see and start to talk and while his own little investigation hasn't yielded any results, he's sure it will continue to raise eyebrows.
No one else needs to worry needlessly about this, not if he can help it.
It becomes apparent that since Nikkari hasn't been seen inside he clearly must be outside. It narrows down the search, but also expands it. How far would he wander? Where would he wander? Ishikirimaru thinks on some of their earlier times together and remembers favored places in nature that Nikkari has led him, so he starts there. And comes up empty-handed.
This continues for some time and Ishikirimaru quickly finds himself out of breath and out of luck. But he's wandered close to the stables and, well. Surely he's not the first sword who's borrowed a horse for a little joyride. He mutters a promise to be careful as he mounts up and leads the horse toward a patch of woods. If Nikkari were in open ground, he'd be able to see, but that's not the case. So many things aren't the case today, so he chooses somewhere more hidden and calls out, blindly and directionless.]
late
And then he catches up with some of the others; the smaller swords excitedly show him new little treasures they've found while doing chores - acorns, beetles, flowers, even a curious old coin that had been dug up - and some of the larger swords bemoan life's little woes - it's getting colder now or some particular swords tend to stay up too late and don't try to be quiet about it - so, of course, he listens patiently.
Ishikirimaru is almost always patient.
But while it's not strange to not see Nikkari during a day, something in his gut feels...off. It's probably nothing. He's probably worrying for the sake of worrying, but he still makes his way back to Nikkari's room and knocks before sliding the door open when no response comes. Nikkari isn't inside. This isn't strange, even if the wakizashi has been sick and should be resting, but Nikkari is a tough one to pin down sometimes. So Ishikirimaru slowly makes his way around the Citadel again, casually asking from time to time if anyone has seen Nikkari.
They haven't.
The worry sits more heavily in the pit of his stomach.
It's hard to ask a decent amount of people when the Citadel is so big and there are so many other swords. And, naturally, no one sits still - save, perhaps, some of his brothers and other tea-devouring souls - so everything is chaotic motion. It makes it nearly impossible to keep track of anything on a solo mission. He even checks the day's chore list; Nikkari isn't listed. He could ask the saniwa if they've seen him, but if he goes that far, then others will see and start to talk and while his own little investigation hasn't yielded any results, he's sure it will continue to raise eyebrows.
No one else needs to worry needlessly about this, not if he can help it.
It becomes apparent that since Nikkari hasn't been seen inside he clearly must be outside. It narrows down the search, but also expands it. How far would he wander? Where would he wander? Ishikirimaru thinks on some of their earlier times together and remembers favored places in nature that Nikkari has led him, so he starts there. And comes up empty-handed.
This continues for some time and Ishikirimaru quickly finds himself out of breath and out of luck. But he's wandered close to the stables and, well. Surely he's not the first sword who's borrowed a horse for a little joyride. He mutters a promise to be careful as he mounts up and leads the horse toward a patch of woods. If Nikkari were in open ground, he'd be able to see, but that's not the case. So many things aren't the case today, so he chooses somewhere more hidden and calls out, blindly and directionless.]
Nikkari-san! Nikkari Aoe!