On a cold and silent night, a child was born—Nanako, a beautiful newborn baby. She was raised properly by her parents.
She was great at household chores. At the age of 9, she knew how to cook, clean the house, and wash her clothes.
One day, she saw her father wielding a sword and became intrigued by it. She was curious about how it felt to hold a sword.
So, she decided to walk up to her father and asked, "Papa, papa. What's that thing in your hand?" "It's a sword. Why do you ask?" Kotoe responded.
"I just think it's really cool, and I want to know how to use one!" Nanako said as she swung her hands as if she were also holding a sword.
"Are you sure you want to learn how to use a sword?" Kotoe asked. "Yep, I'm sure that I want to learn how to use a sword!" Nanako answered.
"Well then, let's ask your mother if she'll let you wield a sword." So they went back inside their house and asked if Amane would allow Kotoe to teach Nanako how to wield a sword.
She refused, "Hey! Nanako's a lady, not a man! She should do things other than wielding a sword and fighting!" she said.
Nanako kneeled and begged Amane. "Please mama! Let me wield a sword! I promise you, I won't get hurt!" But Amane replied, "And what if you do get hurt? I just want to protect you from any harm."
"But she won't get hurt! I am her father, and I won't let her get hurt!" And so, they kept arguing, but in the end, they managed to convince Amane to let Nanako wield a sword.
"Fine then, just make sure you don't get yourself into any serious trouble or hurt yourself, okay?" Amane said. "I will, Mama."
And so, Nanako started training with Kotoe. Days turned into weeks, weeks turned into months, and months turned into years.
Nanako trained tirelessly until she turned 15. So her parents decided to give her a present—a sword made just for her.
"Happy Birthday, Nanako! Here's our present for you!" Nanako's eyes filled with tears as she accepted the sword. "Thank you, Mama! Papa!"
She hugged them both tightly while they patted her head. A few hours later, Kotoe approached Nanako and asked, "Nanako, do you want to learn a special technique that I know?"
Nanako's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "What is it? What is it?" she asked. "It's a technique that I learned when I was still a swordsman."
"This technique allows you to quickly draw your sword and slash anything in your way." "Wow, teach me how! Teach me how!"
"Okay, Nanako, watch me do it." Kotoe stood still while holding his scabbard with the sword sheathed.
He took a formation, ready to lunge, but instead of lunging, he quickly drew his sword and slashed, cutting the dummy almost instantly.
"Wow!" Nanako was impressed. "PLEASE TEACH ME HOW TO DO IT."
"I will, but it will take a long time before you can use it. Are you willing to wait and train to be able to use it?" he asked. "Yes, I am!"
And so, they started training and practicing. "Stay focused, take a deep breath, pull out your sword, and slash as fast as you can."
Months went by as she kept training until she finally did it, but not as fast as Kotoe did. "I DID IT! PAPA, I DID IT!"
"Good job, Nanako," he patted her head. "I'll keep training until I can do it as fast as you did, Papa!" "I'm looking forward to that."
While training in the woods, trying her best to polish and make the Flash Draw technique faster, something strange happened.
When she performed the Flash Draw, she accidentally created a strong air pressure that blew the training doll away.
"Wait, what? What just happened?" She was confused about what she had just done. She ran back home as fast as she could and told her parents about it.
"You did what?!" Kotoe replied. "Do you have any idea what you just did?" "No, Papa... Did I do something bad?"
"No, Nanako, we're happy that you used magic." "Magic?" And Amane replied, "Yes, we'll get you a mage to teach you how to use magic, okay?"
"Really? Yay!"
~To be continued~