When he first hears whispers among their citadel, back still in a land that was not this one, whispers about a new sword, whispers that spelled the name Kogarasumaru, he couldn’t help but feel his blood turn cold & anger fill his veins faster than it had ever before.
But the whispers continued; Kogarasumaru? Who is that? A mistake, Higekiri answers himself, in the back of his mind and to nobody to hear, as his delicate fingertips still made sure to remain as gentle as possible against the softness of Hizamaru’s hair as he rested on his lap, beautiful and innocent and safe from poisonous words. I heard he was one of the first swords to be made like us. He’s a super old sword too, even more than Mikazuki-dono!
So it wasn’t that Kogarasumaru; the forgery, the replica of a treasure, of his own brother, steel of his steel, as the Genji took him away and gave him someone who was just a substitute. The reason he had been named Tomokiri. No, he had heard of a rarer Kogarasumaru among the Taira, one who had been smithed by the legendary Amakuni Yasutsuna– it was that one.
To think they would meet in a place that was not the Saniwa’s citadel… Fate does work in strange ways. And though Higekiri is a proud work of the Genji, who always had been a rival of Taira ( oh so much blood of the taira had been drank by his blade ), though the combination of that plus the disgusting name that brought nothing but anger to his being, he greets his new comrade ( he isn’t a sword of the saniwa, no, that little boy never deserved him ) with a smile and the same soft voice he would use to keep his distance as a renowned treasure.
❝ The Saniwa is a curious person. Only under a sage’s power would a Genji and a Taira sword not only reunite, but be made to fight together. ❞ He finds it’s a very similar feeling to working together with the traitor’s sword, Shishiou, a man who had dared not only be friends with Taira no Kiyomori but even fight with them against blood of his own blood. The Minamoto were known to fight their own blood, yes, the many branches in the clan ended up with conflicting opinions, yet never would they join a rival to fight their own family. ❝ Kogarasumaru… is it not? So you’re the original. It’s truly a pleasure to meet you. ❞ That name was nothing but venom between his lips. ❝ I’m ( tomokiri ) Higekiri, treasure of the Genji, as you already know. ❞
certainly, this power is not one to make light of: the ability to accomplish the seemingly impossible, the capability to grant life to that which lacks it - without a doubt, the saniwa are holders of potential, great and vast. with a strength that only they themselves can wield so efficiently, so skillfully, they must yet exercise caution and control - for such a power can bring about unpredictable outcomes, unthinkable results.
to find himself now ally to a sword that had once fought from the other side of the battlefield - if they were witness to such a reality, would his ancient masters cry in outrage? would his behavior, mild and passive, be considered unsightly, treacherous?
“it seems you already know of me -” painted lips curve gently into a smile, small and polite,“i am indeed the sword known as kogarasumaru, once in possession of the taira.”
the taira that had matched the genji’s possessed conviction with their very own, letting it consume them with every battle - the taira that had ultimately fallen, betrayed and defeated after years of bloodshed - the taira that had lost him, chaos in a battle of tides and waves misplacing him from history for centuries -
yet his youth has long since passed him. whatever he might have felt for the genji during the war has already melted away into tranquil acceptance - though the taira’s has ended, his own destiny continues.
his loyalty belongs to the current hand that wields him, not to the echoes of eras ended - and so when he holds this new comrade’s gaze, it is with no rancor or spite, only calm neutrality.
“the conflict of genpei is of ages past; only the sword remains to truly remember the master. it is for the best that we fight alongside each other with no ill will, would you not agree, higekiri?”