[Ichigo puts his arms a little more firmly around Tonbokiri’s neck as he’s lifted. This is certainly quite a bit higher than when Mitsutada carried him on his back the other day after he was injured in battle... His injuries weren’t that bad but the other tachi had insisted on carrying him. Is there something about him that makes others want to protect him, he wonders.

There is a fondness in his voice as he recalls his late master.]

Hideyoshi-sama had a vast sword collection but I was his favourite, so he constantly kept me by his side. I was a bit too tall for him to carry around comfortably at first though, so he had my size adjusted to suit him better. I was there with him till the end...

[And he was kind of a status symbol since all swords smithed by Awataguchi Yoshimitsu, one of the Three Great Swordsmiths, were very desirable at that time. What better way to show off one’s wealth and status than by carrying the only tachi Yoshimitsu had ever smithed because Ichigo was apparently so perfect that Yoshimitsu did not feel like he could top that.]

Three metres? [He laughs a bit too.] Perhaps it’s a good thing you were shortened or you’d never fit in any of the rooms here! It sounds like your master loved you a lot too.