Mitarashi Dango

"Master! I'm home!"

They had barely reached the entrance to the Swordsmith Village, and Haruto was still on the Kakushi's back when he began waving toward where he remembered his house being.

Godogawa, wearing a Hyottoko Mask, looked up and tapped the railing with the iron rod in his hand. "Over here."

Haruto immediately turned a full 180 degrees and waved in that direction. "I'm back!"

The Kakushi set him down, removed his earplugs and blindfold, and took a few breaths. "Mr. Takanashi, this is as far as I take you."

As usual, Haruto fished a few small gifts out of his pack basket for the Kakushi, then smiled, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "You can call me Haruto, Mr. Nameless Kakushi."

The Kakushi accepted the Mitarashi Dango wrapped in oiled paper and replied gratefully, "I'll be sure to enjoy these... Haruto!"

After seeing the Kakushi off, Haruto put down his pack basket, took off his haori, and changed into the inner garment draped over the railing.

Then he shouldered the basket he normally used to carry charcoal, grabbed a shovel, and dashed to the Charcoal House. He brought back a large basketful of charcoal and filled up the corner of the house where they stored it.

Godogawa's mask concealed his expression. He did not speak until Haruto had finished replenishing the charcoal pile and brushed the charcoal dust off his clothes.

"Was the food at Urokodaki's house that good?"

Petty Godogawa was back.

Haruto chuckled inwardly, but answered with a perfectly serious face. "Mr. Urokodaki lives up in the mountains, so supplies are a little scarce. But the fresh fish raised in the mountain spring water were delicious. I ate twenty-four of them all by myself."

"Then you..."

"And there's a girl at Mr. Urokodaki's house. She's really cute."

Godogawa fell silent.

He looked at Haruto, then at the Swordsmith Village. After a pause, he said, "That does sound pretty good.

What's the girl's name? What year was she born? Where are her parents from? Is she a swordsman in training too?"

Staring at the Hyottoko Mask thrust right into his face, Haruto stammered, "Her name's Makomo. I think her surname is Urokodaki too... Uh, which year of Meiji was it..."

The pressure around Godogawa grew increasingly oppressive, until he finally became a furious Hyottoko. "You remembered eating twenty-four mountain spring fish, but you couldn't remember the girl's birthday!"

"Come on, it was our first meeting! How could I just ask her that, Master?"

"Then spend the rest of your life married to a rice bucket!"

Haruto, who had only recently passed the swordsman selection and been summoned by Oyakata-sama, was utterly powerless before the swordsmith. Godogawa grabbed him by the ear and lectured him for ages.

Who knew why Godogawa cared so much about Haruto's marriage prospects!

Especially after Haruto mentioned that his childhood playmate, who was a year older and liked dressing as a girl (Kagaya: =_=), had gotten married at thirteen!

If there had been any girls of a suitable age in the Swordsmith Village, Haruto thought he might have been married off even sooner than that Ubuyashiki fellow! Yes, married off!

"That Haganezuka fellow has been waiting for you ever since he got the news from the Demon Slayer Corps. When your white parrot brought word that you were putting off your return, he got quite angry. Said you were wasting his precious time."

After finishing his lecture, Godogawa tucked his hands into his sleeves, in a pose almost identical to Sakonji Urokodaki's.

"No big deal. I brought back plenty of Mitarashi Dango."

Remembering his pack basket, Haruto slapped his forehead. "Oh, right."

He rummaged through it and took out two paper-wrapped packages.

These were the gifts he had brought Godogawa: a new pair of geta and a new haori.

The haori had the same blue landscape embroidery as the one Haruto wore, but its size and cut were better suited to an older man.

Godogawa accepted the gifts, his first reaction one of suspicion. "Did you buy a gift for that girl named Makomo?"

"I did."

"Good. I'm leaving the continuation of the Takanashi Family line to you."

"Master..."

Haruto said helplessly, "With a face like mine, it'd be pretty hard not to find someone willing to marry me off..."

Wait, why am I talking about being married off?

"...It'd be hard, really hard, for me not to find a wife."

Godogawa's gaze lingered on that exceptionally handsome face before he said in a low voice, "That face is precisely the problem..."

It's so annoying when he only ever says half of what he means!

Carrying a large package of Mitarashi Dango, Haruto crossed half the village to visit Hotaru Haganezuka.

Hotaru Haganezuka was an eccentric fellow who often lost his assignments as a swordsmith because the swordsmen disliked him.

If Giyu on Mount Sagiri was merely bad at communicating, then Hotaru Haganezuka had terminal communication cancer.

But Godogawa said this swordsmith focused all his attention on making Nichirin Blades, so a little difficulty communicating was understandable. Talented people were never perfect, after all.

In summer, Hotaru Haganezuka liked to train in the mountains, where he had a small swordsmith's hut. When he got carried away with his training, he would run around the mountains bare-chested, exposing his powerful muscles.

...He was always mistaken for a wild boar coming down from the mountains.

Haruto found him outside a wooden house in the village. Hotaru Haganezuka was discussing something with fellow swordsmith Kanzaburo Kanamori over a drawing on the table.

"To make the blade sharper, we can only reduce its thickness. But if it's too thin, it risks snapping."

"That demands a very high level of forging skill. Thin, yet hard... This really is a challenge."

"It's all that brat's fault! His swordsmanship is so good, but his Breathing Style is so lousy. He might as well have stayed an apprentice!"

Huh?

Who are you talking about?

Haruto pursed his lips and approached, raising his voice. "Excuse me! Mr. Kanamori! Mr. Hotaru!"

Hotaru Haganezuka turned around, his eyes behind the mask fixed intently on Haruto. "You're finally back-young Takanashi."

Hotaru Haganezuka disliked the name Hotaru, and Haruto disliked the surname Takanashi. Having each danced all over the other's sore spot, they could call it even.

Haruto set the package of Mitarashi Dango on the table and leaned over to look at the drawing. "Is that my sword?"

"Yes, yes! No other swordsman is as much trouble as you!"

Hotaru Haganezuka opened the oiled-paper wrapping, and Haruto could immediately sense his mood improving.

Apparently, grilled mochi balls drizzled with sweet soy sauce were so irresistible that even a muscle-bound man could fall under their spell.

Haruto rubbed his stomach and tore his gaze away from the cold Mitarashi Dango.

"Don't listen to Haganezuka's tough talk. He was actually delighted when he heard he'd be making your sword." Kanzaburo Kanamori whispered in Haruto's ear, "He was so pleased he'd snatched the right to forge your sword away from Mr. Godogawa that he stayed up all night drawing this design."

The drawing on the table had clearly gone through countless revisions. The paper had even grown fuzzy from all the erasing.

"Can you understand it?" Hotaru Haganezuka removed his mask and stuffed a dango into his mouth. Beneath the ugly Hyottoko Mask was a handsome face.

"The blade's thinner?" Haruto tapped the measurements marked on the paper.

"To let you make the most of your swordsmanship in battle."

Fully aware of his own shortcomings, Haruto sighed. "You're the expert when it comes to forging swords. I don't have any constructive suggestions. There's just one thing..."

"Hm?"

Haruto pointed to the tsuba and nakago in the drawing. "Could you make them a little nicer-looking? I'm a bit doubtful about your taste..."

Hotaru Haganezuka, who still had a polka-dot headscarf wrapped around his head like an old lady from Kansai, stared at him in silence for several seconds.

Then, holding up his grilled mochi balls, he turned into a boiling kettle:

"How dare you look down on me! I'll kill you!"

"Unforgivable-"