The Mysterious Swordsman

Meanwhile, at Haruka’s house...

Knock... Knock...

“Yūto, are you still awake?” Haruka asked from outside his room.

“Yes. What is it, Auntie?”

Yūto opened his bedroom door.

Creak...

“Oh. Sorry for disturbing you this late. I just received an order for tomorrow morning. I’d like to ask you to deliver it to Uncle Takeshi’s house. Could you help me?” Haruka said.

“Ah. Of course, Auntie.”

“Oh, thank goodness. I was going to ask Shiro, but he’s been looking very tired lately because he’s been helping me so much at the shop. I feel bad asking him again.”

“It’s okay. I’ll deliver it.”

“But are your injuries really healed?”

Yūto nodded.

“I think so.”

Yūto moved both of his arms and shoulders to make sure his body was completely fine.

“Then go to bed early so you can wake up in the morning, okay?” Haruka said.

“Yes, Auntie.”

The door closed again.

The next morning...

Haruka waved goodbye.

“Take care. Give my regards to Uncle Takeshi.”

“Where's he going so early in the morning?” Shiro asked.

“I asked him to deliver Uncle Takeshi’s order."

“Why didn’t you ask me instead?”

“I’ve seen how much you’ve been helping me lately. That’s why I asked Yūto this time."

Shiro nodded and went to the bathroom.

Meanwhile...

Ring ring... Ring ring...

Yūto’s phone rang.

He looked at the screen.

“Aoi.”

Yūto immediately answered the call.

“Yūto, I want to invite you to have lunch at my house today. Can you come?” Aoi said.

“Actually, I’m delivering an order to Grandpa Takeshi right now. If I go to your house afterward, I might be late. Is that okay?”

“That’s fine."

“I’ll come after this.”

Yūto continued on his way.

Because he was too focused on his phone, he accidentally bumped into a young man.

Thud!

“Ah. Sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going."

“It’s okay. That phone must be pretty important, huh?” the young man asked.

“Ah. Not really.”

“Hmm...”

The young man gave him a faint smile.

“Pay attention to where you’re going next time. You never know. I might be a bad guy who’s been waiting for you. If that were the case, your head might already be separated from your body by now.”

Yūto stared at him for a moment.

“Ah. You’re right. Thanks for the advice."

Yūto continued walking.

Suddenly, the young man called out to him again.

“Hmm... Wait... I heard you mention Takeshi’s name earlier?”

Yūto stopped and turned around.

“Ah. Yes. Why?”

“You mean Takeshi Ryuzen?”

“Yes.”

“Take me to him. I have some business with him and his daughter, Reika Ryuzen.”

“What business do you have with them? Are you planning something bad?”

“Hmm... Actually, they were the ones who wronged me first. I just want to get even.”

His expression suddenly became serious.

Yūto fell silent for a moment as he stared at him.

“I can’t tell you. Sorry.”

Yūto turned around and walked away.

“No problem. I’ll follow you wherever you go. After all, you’re heading to Takeshi’s house too, right?” the young man said.

His mysterious smile made Yūto even more suspicious.

Yūto glared at him.

“I don’t know what your problem is, but if you hurt them, you’ll have to deal with me.”

“Hmm... I’m not afraid of you.”

The young man smiled again.

“I’m not telling you!” Yūto snapped.

“This is troublesome. Should I force you first and make you show me where Takeshi’s house is?”

“Go away. You’re just wasting my time.”

“How about we settle this with a fight?”

The young man looked Yūto up and down.

“But how can we fight when you don’t even have a weapon?”

‘This guy... What does he really want?’  Yūto thought.

“Let’s keep it simple. If I manage to injure you with one of my attacks, I win. If you can avoid all of my attacks, you win," the young man said.

He took his stance and prepared his katana.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I don’t want to fight anyone,” Yūto replied.

“Get ready. Otherwise, you might get hurt.”

He suddenly moved toward Yūto with incredible speed.

The fresh morning air seemed to stand still, as if it were watching the two of them.

Swoosh!

A katana slash came straight toward Yūto’s neck.

Yūto tilted his body to the side.

Swish!

The blade passed only a few centimeters from his face.

Yūto continued dodging.

Without saying a word, the young man attacked again.

Swoosh!

A horizontal slash.

Yūto ducked.

The blade passed over his hair.

The young man spun around and attacked from the opposite direction.

Yūto took half a step backward.

Swing!

The katana missed him again.

Yūto was still holding the bag of food in one hand.

“Stop attacking me!"

The young man didn’t answer.

He attacked again.

Swoosh!

A downward slash.

Yūto shifted to the side.

Swing!

A second slash.

Yūto twisted his body.

Swish!

A third slash.

Yūto leaned backward.

Every attack struck nothing but air.

The young man frowned.

‘He’s fast,’  he thought.

Yūto glanced at the bag of food in his hand.

‘If this food gets damaged, Grandpa Takeshi will definitely be disappointed,'  Yūto thought.

The young man increased his speed.

Dash!

In an instant, he was already in front of Yūto.

His katana swung.

Swoosh!

Yūto dodged.

The young man didn’t stop.

Slash after slash came at Yūto, giving him no chance to get away.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Yet Yūto always dodged at exactly the right moment.

Sometimes, he only moved his head.

Sometimes, he simply turned his shoulder.

Sometimes, he only shifted one foot.

His movements were simple.

Yet every attack failed to hit its target.

Yūto didn’t even look like he was fighting.

He looked like someone walking through heavy rain without an umbrella.

The young man tightened his grip on his katana.

His expression changed.

“I’ll get serious...”

Dash!

He shot forward.

This time, he was much faster.

Swing!

The first slash.

Yūto dodged.

Swish!

The second slash.

Yūto spun around.

Swoosh!

The third slash.

Yūto stepped backward.

However...

Snip!

Several strands of Yūto’s black hair were cut and floated through the air.

Yūto fell silent.

The young man gave a faint smile.

“That was close."

Yūto looked at the strands of hair falling to the ground.

He sighed.

“This isn’t over yet,” the young man said.

He attacked again.

Swoosh!

His katana sliced through the air.

Yūto lowered his head.

The blade passed over his head.

Crack!

A leaf from the tree behind Yūto was cut in half.

The young man spun around again.

Swing!

Dozens of leaves fell from the tree.

Yūto shifted to the side.

Swish!

Several branches were cut.

The wind suddenly began to blow harder.

Leaves filled the road.

The young man continued attacking amid the falling leaves.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swosh!

One slash... Two... Three... Four... Five....

Yūto continued to dodge.

Not a single attack hit him.

Yet more and more leaves continued to fall.

Fwoosh!

The wind blew the leaves straight toward the young man’s face.

“Pfft!”

His vision was blocked.

Only for a moment.

Just a fraction of a second.

But when the leaves finally fell away...

...his eyes widened.

Yūto had disappeared.

“Huh?!” the young man said.

He looked to the left.

Nothing.

To the right.

Nothing.

“Where did he go? I couldn’t hear his footsteps,” he murmured.

He looked ahead.

All that remained were the leaves still falling through the air.

He stood there silently.

“When did he leave? I couldn’t even hear his footsteps...”

He tightened his grip on his katana.

For the first time, he smiled.

“Interesting...” he muttered.

He stared at the leaf-covered road.

“Who are you?” he whispered.

Meanwhile, in front of Takeshi’s gate...

“Finally, I’m here. Because of that guy, I had to take a huge detour just to get here,” Yūto muttered.

“Grandpa. It’s me, Yūto,” Yūto called out.

“Oh, Yūto. You’re right on time.”

Takeshi walked over and opened the gate.

“I brought your food. It’s from Auntie Haruka,” Yūto said.

“Thank you, Yūto.”

Yūto was surprised to see a young man wearing blue samurai clothing.

His hair was blue, and he was wearing glasses.

‘That’s the guy from earlier!’  Yūto thought.

The young man waved at Yūto and smiled.

“Grandpa, who's that blue-haired guy? Was he trying to do something bad to you?” Yūto asked.

“Oh. That’s my grandson. His name is Sakamoto Ryuzen. He just arrived.”

Yūto looked surprised.

“Your grandson?”

“Yes. What’s wrong, Yūto?”

“He’s not a bad person?” Yūto asked hesitantly.

Takeshi smiled.

“No, he isn’t. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Takeshi and Yūto approached Sakamoto and Reika.

“I told you to stay home! Why did you go out?!” Reika said to Sakamoto.

“Stay home? You must be joking, my beautiful mother. You didn’t even prepare any food. You left without telling me."

Sakamoto sighed.

“Turns out you went to Grandpa’s house, and Grandpa didn’t tell me either,” Sakamoto said with a smile.

“Wipe that fake smile off your face! That smile doesn’t work on me, Sakamoto!” Reika snapped.

“I’m sorry, Sakamoto. I was badly injured at the time and couldn’t tell you,” Takeshi added.

“Wait a minute... Didn’t you just say that you wanted to get revenge for what Grandpa Takeshi and Auntie Reika did to you?” Yūto asked.

Reika immediately interrupted him.

“Not ‘Auntie’! Call me ‘Big Sister'.”

“Sorry, Big Sister Reika.”

Yūto scratched his head.

Sakamoto then interrupted.

“'Big Sister’? Can I call you ‘Beautiful Big Sister’ too?” he asked with a mysterious smile.

“No!”

Reika immediately went inside the house, leaving them behind.

“Sakamoto, this is Yūto. He’s the one who helped me during that attack,” Takeshi said, pointing at Yūto.

“Oh. Yūto. Nice to meet you. I'm Sakamoto.”

Sakamoto smiled.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Yūto,” Yūto said.

Yūto stared at him.

‘That smile is definitely fake. This guy is dangerous,’  Yūto thought.

“Ah. Wait. I’ll take this food inside first,” Takeshi said.

Takeshi walked into the house.

“Okay, Grandpa,” Yūto said.

Yūto remained outside, looking at the garden while keeping his distance from Sakamoto.

Suddenly, Sakamoto stood beside him.

“Yūto, about our fight earlier...”

Sakamoto smiled.

“So, I won, right?”

Yūto fell silent.

“There’s a small cut near your ear,” Sakamoto said.

Yūto slowly touched the wound.

‘He’s right. I didn’t even notice it,’  Yūto thought.

Sakamoto smiled at him.

Yūto turned his face away.