閑暇な午後
A Leisurely Afternoon


Uzuki: ......There we go.

I gaze blankly at Uzuki-san as she takes Ito in hand.
In a period drama, this is where they would look at a sword's edge on a wet moonlit night, saying "Mm, somehow my katana is clouded. This is a bad omen......"

Kei: Hey, Uzuki-san, do you do that thing, by any chance?

Uzuki: ......By "that" you mean...?

Kei: That thing where you dab a katana with that fluffy ear cleaner-like thing.

Uzuki: Ahh, you mean using an uchiko to clean it, right?

Uzuki: You use that to remove oil from the blade. You can't just remove the oil by wiping it, after all.

Kei: Oil?

They say that if you use a Japanese sword to kill three people, the blood seeps in and it can't cut anymore, but......

Uzuki: To protect the blade from rusting, you usually use clove oil. So cleaning a katana involves removing the old oil and replacing it with new oil.

Kei: Huh---

Uzuki: That's why, if you don't slack in its maintenance, you don't have to apply clove oil, and you needn't use an uchiko. The uchiko is actually a sharpening tool---

They also say that oversharpening the blade would be a demerit, since it causes wear.

Kei: So that's why you maintain it so carefully...

Uzuki: That may not be necessary for Ito, since it's said to have been passed down with no breaking or rusting. But doing this helps me relax.

Kei: Brushing and smoothing your hair or cleaning something really is kind of calming, isn't it?

But, if she's doing something that relaxes her, that means she's not relaxed. When I think about why---
Right, it's probably Kei-kun, isn't it?
I'm properly snug in a room with charms in place, and it's still afternoon. Outside a very small chance, there's no danger.
On the other hand, there were no incidents in the news this morning, but oni still exist in this region.

Nozomi: Tomorrow, when the morning sun climbs over the mountains---

Mikage: One body. Two. Three. Four. Maybe more?

Nozomi: When you hear about the corpses found, drained of blood, I'm sure your face will be a sight to see.

Just because it's not in the news doesn't mean the damage wasn't done.
Regardless, here we are in a position that can hardly be called a good use of our time. That's probably why Uzuki-san is so restless.

提案取り下げ 行ってもらう
Proposal withdrawn. Make her go