Summary:
Mana and the Hollyhock agent wake up in one of the upper floors of Babel (the skyscraper that was the former headquarters of Yamato) and they soon find themselves surrounded by monsters. Mana and the agent escape deeper into the building into a kitchen. The agent takes the point to investigate an open door and Mana loses sight of him. A large monster suddenly appears in the room and Mana is forced to run for her life, but she is caught by the agent. Then out of nowhere, Fujimaru appears with his blade Kaname and cuts down the monster.
No underage drinking in this series...
Meanwhile, due to the poisonous rain and monsters outside, Haru's group is forced to take shelter in one of Kava's (the former princess of Yamato) hiding places which is protected with a magical seal. The room is complete with food, water and even high quality wine for Yaedaki to give to her alcohol-loving sword. While waiting inside the shelter, Haru asks Kava about people living inside the district, and Kava explains that there are still people but things are getting worse since no supplies are being shipped in. As long as Yamato is still hanging upside down from the sky, sending in supplies or extracting survivors are next to impossible. At this moment, Kava's bodyguard ninja Hyuoume (not sure about spelling) arrives to signal that the rain and monsters have left.
Haru's group emerge back onto the streets to find that the clouds have cleared and they can actually see a bit of sky. It turns out Babel is only a few blocks away, and Haru's group quickly make their way towards the skyscraper. However, Haru and company stop in their tracks when Haru spots a man standing in front of Babel. Haru recognizes the man as none other than Kuushirou. Upon seeing Haru's group, Kuushirou turns around towards Babel and quickly draws, swings, and sheathes his sword, and this sends Babel crashing down into the ground much to the shock of Haru and company. After the rubble settles down, Haru runs into the wreckage in a vain attempt to find Mana. Just when it looks like all hope is lost, Mana, the Hollyhock agent, and Fujimaru appear out of the smoke right next to Haru.
Surprise reunion!
Before he can even feel relieved about Mana surviving, Haru spots Kuushirou standing behind Mana and yells for Mana to run. Mana turns around and is surprised to see her former wielder. Before Mana can ask any questions, Kuushirou draws his sword and attacks Mana, but fortunately Haru was able to activate Mana's transformation just enough to block the blow and Mana is thrown into Haru's arms. Kuushirou is then rushed by Hyuoume, Fujimaru, Ruru, and Yaedaki but the legendary swordsman easily bounces all of his foes away. With the others out of the way, Kuushirou turns to Mana and Haru and gets ready to cut them down. In a desperate effort, Mana screams out Kuushirou's name, and this seems to shake Kuushirou who falls to his knees. Suddenly, a girl appears between Kuushirou and Mana/Haru, and Haru is shocked that the girl looks exactly like his missing sister Aki. The girl glances at Haru for a moment before disappearing with Kuushirou in a whirlwind of smoke.
Speaking of surprises, here's another one.
After the confrontation, Kaname tells Fujimaru that she is frightened by Kuushirou's current sword. Fujimaru is then questioned by Yaedaki about his intentions, and Fujimaru states that he is no longer a member of the Seven Sheathes. Fujimaru explains that he was tired of staying at the Hollyhock hospital so he wanted to go to Babel to recover, and that's how he ran into Mana. The Hollyhock agent vouches for Fujimaru, and he also reveals that Alex's current whereabouts and condition is unknown. Fujimaru then moves the topic back to the confrontation with Kuushirou and wonders how Kuushirou was able to handle the attacks of so many experienced warriors. Nearby, Kava and Hyuoume are also concerned by Kuushirou and Kava speculates that Kuushirou may have been created by Zin Estark, the alchemist who created the metamorphosing blades.
Meanwhile, Haru and Mana are sitting together thinking about Kuushirou. To console Mana, Haru states that maybe someone had taken over Kuushirou's body. Haru then asks Mana to tell him about how she met Kuushirou, and Mana agrees to tell the story. Mana grew up in northern Japan and was the first daughter of a leader in the area. However, after the clan of Mana's mother was exterminated, Mana's father cut relations with Mana's mother and hid Mana in a prison cell. One day, Kuushirou stumbles onto Mana's holding cell and starts having lunch together with Mana. As Mana did not respond to anything Kuushirou said, Kuushirou made it his goal to get Mana to smile. Everyday, Kuushirou would bring masks and props to try to get Mana to smile, but Mana seems to ignore him. Suddenly for about ten straight days Kuushirou did not show up to eat lunch with Mana. Kuushirou eventually returned and explained that he had to go on an emergency mission. To Kuushirou's surprise, tears were streaming out of Mana's eyes and Mana finally smiled and told her name to Kuushirou.
Character Sheet
(has English names, but they're hard to read)
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The mystery deepens! Kuushirou made his shocking return as a super powerful bad guy with a frightening new blade, and on top of that he seemed to be controlled by Haru's sister Aki! I definitely didn't see that coming. I was thinking that Tokisada may show up to kidnap Mana and Haru, but in this volume there were no mention of Tokisada's forces. That is not to say that Kuushirou and Aki are not in cahoots with Tokisada; we don't really know at this point. There is also the alchemist Zin Estark who may have something to do with Kuushirou's current state, so there's no shortage of powerful forces inside the 13th District. Speaking of surprise appearances, Fujimaru also made his return just in time to save Mana. It looks like Fujimaru will be part of Haru's group from now on, which isn't a big surprise since he's always been impressed with Haru.
Regarding Kuushirou, Haru's guess is probably right that Kuushirou's body got taken over by some evil forces after he was separated from Mana. Part of Kuushirou's soul was transferred into Haru, but looks like there is still some old Kuushirou within the body to make him react to Mana's screams. This may also be the same case with Aki. There's definitely going to be Haru/Mana vs. Kuushirou (and perhaps Aki) showdown in the future, and there is going to be some drama between the combatants. Will Mana really be able to fight against the former wielder whom she loved, and would Haru be able to fight against his little sister?
Overall, this was an excellent volume. There were some big developments and the plot continued to thicken. The action was of course as impressive as ever. The next volume will probably contain more of Mana's history with Kuushirou, but after that I wonder what will Haru and Mana's group do next. I suppose Kava will hold Haru to his promise of helping her now that she has helped him reunite with Mana. Too bad it's going to be a couple of months before I find the next volume.
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