Beach. Everyone has been working so hard lately so why not take a break and enjoy the beach? You can make sand castles, play in the water, and there are even umbrellas for those who'd rather just relax in the shade. There's a nice row of water melons ready to be smashed later in the day and when the sun goes down, that's when the sparklers come out.
Suffering. It's the hottest time of the year and the citadel doesn't have central air conditioning. The few air conditions that were installed have given up on life after being used so much and now, we really have to make do with what we can while the Konnosuke try to fix it. There's a limited number of fans, plenty of ice cream to go around, and the citadel should be built to circulate air, right? ... Right?!
Spooks. In Japan, summer is a time for horror. Gather around the camp fire and hear some spooky ghost stories or maybe head out into the woods just outside the citadel for a good ol' fashioned test of courage. It's all good, harmless fun! Of course, with so many spirits gathered in one place, what's to say a stray or curious outsider spirit won't join the mix...
Rain. Summer is also known for sudden and torrential downpours of rain. The clouds always seem to grown and darken suddenly and the next thing you know, it's raining sheets and the ground is shaking from thunder. Once it starts, it never seems to stop. Maybe you were caught out in the rain or maybe this is day 7 stuck inside.
Other! It's summer and there are tons of things to do. Go to the general store and stock up on ice cream, wake up in the middle of the night uncomfortable with heat, or run around screaming because cicadas are dying and flying at your face.
[Mikazuki picks up his tea and takes a sip of it, before he starts laughing.]
You are right, though. I was only playing with you, hahahahahahaha! But that does not make you unworthy in my eyes, not at all. In the end we are all blades. I am not better than any one of you.
[You 'never know' with Mikazuki-- that's the point! So Tonbokiri holds his breath during that sip of tea, letting it out slowly when he begins to laugh. Of course, the sword was only playing with him... (sigh). At least he can be thankful Mikazuki dispelled the idea quickly. (And maybe, upon later reflection, he'll be flattered that he is apparently worthy of affection.)]
Yes, we are all blades. However... there are different levels between us even so. [He has seen you fight. He knows you have no equal.]
Even if I were in the world another millennium, I could not not begin to approach you. All my merit is thanks to Honda Tadakatsu. You carry merit simply by being who you are.
[The words are said calmly but with assurance. Humans might have ascribed more value to him than others. It's their problem.]
My steel isn't any better than yours. And any merit I carry was simply given to me by others. Just like you, I am what people make of me. Just because some humans' fancy has made me appear more does not mean it is true.
[He knew that Mikazuki didn't like to bring much attention to himself, but he didn't know he could be so directly self-effacing.
Surely, no one could look upon the unsheathed Mikazuki Munechika and not be awed by its keen beauty. But what Mikazuki-dono is saying is true. It took humans to decide that he is valuable. Fundamentally, they are both the same steel. So, light as it was, he bows to the reprimand, respecting what he was saying.]
As you say, Mikazuki Munechika-dono. Thank you for telling me so.
[As he lifts his eyes again, they fall upon the poems they had written. A smile touches his lips lightly.]
I have learnt much today from you. If it is not an imposition, would you write a waka poem? I would like to hear that traditional form once again.
[And, it is only fair that he gets to write the form he enjoys in turn for indulging Tonbokiri's request for a mitsumono.]
He smiles in return to that raised eyebrow, trusting.]
Yes. You have just confirmed that you do not have intimate affection for me, after all, so I have every confidence that you will subsequently choose appropriate imagery.
[ (Too trusting, Tonbokiri! Too trusting-! What do you think he was doing the first time?) ]
[Waaaaaaay too trusting, Tonbokiri. But fine suit yourself. Mikazuki will put down the tea cup and pick up the brush, thinking for a moment. Then he writes assuredly in his beautiful calligraphy.]
On Miyagi plain Upon the fair bush clover Silver dewdrops Are spread like gems Where the moon takes rest.
[Tonbokiri smiles softly. Ah, that's a lovely and calm image... . . .
Tonbokiri puts a hand over his eyes. How could you betray his confidence and trust like this...?!]
Mikazuki-dono, I worry you are going to be misunderstood like this. Even though you just said... [He shakes his head and puts down his hand, straining for a smile. If this is just the way he is...] May I ask about your choices this time?
[Hey-- you said it. 'Could'. Could be read entirely innocently. Implying also the 'could not'. It's no mistake that Mikazuki-dono chose the words he did. Well, now Tonbokiri knows.]
... Very well. I had thought that you might be using the image of the moon for yourself, given your name.
But, reading it simply, it is a delicate and calm image. I have not been to Miyagi myself, but the words make it easily imagined.
[Although he knows that there is more to this poem, he doesn't need to delve into the ...ahem... more intimate possible meanings, does he. (And truth be told, he wouldn't know the half of it even so.)
So yes. Calm.]
That it does. It is quite different from your previous verse in that regard. ['Shredded robes' does give a considerably more violent impression, after all.]
You must be very well-travelled. Do you have a region that you like to write about in particular?
[Tonbokiri's lips twitch up in a smile as Mikazuki so easily uses those names for the cities. Although they are natural to him as well, they still somehow feel old. Forgive him, but he will still think that the more ancient blades like you are a tier apart.
Becoming more relaxed as Mikazuki-dono so easily answers his curiosity, (and they get further from the topic of questionable poetry), Tonbokiri ventures to ask,]
What are your thoughts on being put on display as art, compared to being used for battle as a weapon?
[You're not in trouble, Tonbokiri. he is considering your question but you need to understand the context so you can understand his answer.]
I was being kept at Tokyo National Museum... in the reserves.
[So not even on display.]
I did tell you my value is something humans have ascribed to me. Apparently, this value is such that even displaying me for others to see is considered too delicate... so i was only take out of the reserves for a few weeks at a time, every two or three years, for special exhibitions. The rest of the time, I was locked up in a vault.
[Tonbokiri is silent, pondering that. Although their situations were different, he can empathize with being assigned a certain value and yet being kept in a dark box for long periods of time.]
That was your situation then. ... Do you regret that humans placed such a value on you?
Edited (couple letters make all the difference ;;) 2019-10-13 14:54 (UTC)
[Not that Mikazuki himself appears to find it extremely challenging, though. From the start he's always seemed at ease both with himself and with their master.]
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[Mikazuki picks up his tea and takes a sip of it, before he starts laughing.]
You are right, though. I was only playing with you, hahahahahahaha! But that does not make you unworthy in my eyes, not at all. In the end we are all blades. I am not better than any one of you.
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So Tonbokiri holds his breath during that sip of tea, letting it out slowly when he begins to laugh. Of course, the sword was only playing with him... (sigh). At least he can be thankful Mikazuki dispelled the idea quickly. (And maybe, upon later reflection, he'll be flattered that he is apparently worthy of affection.)]
Yes, we are all blades. However... there are different levels between us even so. [He has seen you fight. He knows you have no equal.]
Even if I were in the world another millennium, I could not not begin to approach you. All my merit is thanks to Honda Tadakatsu. You carry merit simply by being who you are.
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[The words are said calmly but with assurance. Humans might have ascribed more value to him than others. It's their problem.]
My steel isn't any better than yours. And any merit I carry was simply given to me by others. Just like you, I am what people make of me. Just because some humans' fancy has made me appear more does not mean it is true.
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Surely, no one could look upon the unsheathed Mikazuki Munechika and not be awed by its keen beauty.
But what Mikazuki-dono is saying is true. It took humans to decide that he is valuable. Fundamentally, they are both the same steel.
So, light as it was, he bows to the reprimand, respecting what he was saying.]
As you say, Mikazuki Munechika-dono. Thank you for telling me so.
[As he lifts his eyes again, they fall upon the poems they had written. A smile touches his lips lightly.]
I have learnt much today from you.
If it is not an imposition, would you write a waka poem? I would like to hear that traditional form once again.
[And, it is only fair that he gets to write the form he enjoys in turn for indulging Tonbokiri's request for a mitsumono.]
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[At the request, though, he is going to raise an eyebrow.]
... Are you sure?
[You have seen the type of poetry he likes to write, after all.]
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He smiles in return to that raised eyebrow, trusting.]
Yes. You have just confirmed that you do not have intimate affection for me, after all, so I have every confidence that you will subsequently choose appropriate imagery.
[ (Too trusting, Tonbokiri! Too trusting-! What do you think he was doing the first time?) ]
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On Miyagi plain
Upon the fair bush clover
Silver dewdrops
Are spread like gems
Where the moon takes rest.
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. . .
Tonbokiri puts a hand over his eyes.
How could you betray his confidence and trust like this...?!]
Mikazuki-dono, I worry you are going to be misunderstood like this. Even though you just said... [He shakes his head and puts down his hand, straining for a smile. If this is just the way he is...] May I ask about your choices this time?
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Besides, this could be read entirely innocently. Maybe I should ask you what it was that you read into it.
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Well, now Tonbokiri knows.]
... Very well. I had thought that you might be using the image of the moon for yourself, given your name.
But, reading it simply, it is a delicate and calm image. I have not been to Miyagi myself, but the words make it easily imagined.
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Ah well, I have done so in the past, but at times it is a bit too obvious.
[Like the 'silver dewdrops spread like gems' are not obvious, Mikazuki. But anyway...]
Yes, calm. That is what this moment should evoke.
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So yes. Calm.]
That it does. It is quite different from your previous verse in that regard. ['Shredded robes' does give a considerably more violent impression, after all.]
You must be very well-travelled. Do you have a region that you like to write about in particular?
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['Young being relative, he was already pushing three or four hundred years by then.]
I am more familiar with Heian-kyou. It was where I was the longest, back when I was still being used for battle regularly.
[And that was not a particularly peaceful time.]
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[Tonbokiri's lips twitch up in a smile as Mikazuki so easily uses those names for the cities. Although they are natural to him as well, they still somehow feel old.
Forgive him, but he will still think that the more ancient blades like you are a tier apart.
Becoming more relaxed as Mikazuki-dono so easily answers his curiosity, (and they get further from the topic of questionable poetry), Tonbokiri ventures to ask,]
What are your thoughts on being put on display as art, compared to being used for battle as a weapon?
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Do you know where I was before I was summoned here?
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...No, not exactly. Yet you are one of the five Great Swords, so in a museum.
[His tone lilts questioningly though, asking for confirmation.]
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I was being kept at Tokyo National Museum... in the reserves.
[So not even on display.]
I did tell you my value is something humans have ascribed to me. Apparently, this value is such that even displaying me for others to see is considered too delicate... so i was only take out of the reserves for a few weeks at a time, every two or three years, for special exhibitions. The rest of the time, I was locked up in a vault.
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Although their situations were different, he can empathize with being assigned a certain value and yet being kept in a dark box for long periods of time.]
That was your situation then. ... Do you regret that humans placed such a value on you?
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Most of them do not see or hear us anyway, unlike Aruji. We cannot ask them to understand our feelings when they are unaware of us.
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I am glad you think so.
[He then ducks his head for a moment as he chuckles ruefully.]
In this form, I have to work hard to understand my own feelings, let alone ask others to understand them.
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[Not that Mikazuki himself appears to find it extremely challenging, though. From the start he's always seemed at ease both with himself and with their master.]
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[Out of everyone, Mikazuki has the air of struggling the least with that...]
A challenge you seem to have overcome.
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[He has seen and heard and experienced... a lot, by their side. And of course, he has another little particularity.]
Do you know who was the master who kept me for the longest time, Tonbokiri?
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Tonbokiri sits up straighter at that question, rubbing his cheek thoughtfully for a moment.]
My apologies, but I do not. I would like to hear about them.
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[Yes, 'her'. You heard that right, Tonbokiri.]
She was Toyotomi Hideyoshi's wife.
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