Axel ascended the stairs, each creak of wood drowned by his humming and the faint fizzling sound of coke.
Axel kicked the door open, dim blue light spilling out, washing over him accompanied by the faint humming of a monitor.
The door opened to reveal a rectangular dark room faint crack of light from a small slit on a window opposite the door, the only light source apart from the dim blue lighting of course.
Flicking on the switch next to the door, a soft white light illuminated the room revealing a twin bed next to the window, a shelf with soft glowing blue light lined with anime merch to the left and a desk sprawled with papers, pens, two large monitors and an empty can to the right.
Axel dropped the package on his bed and sprawled on his reclining chair and sipped his coke, spinning around, his eyes roaming around the glowing shelf, revealing various anime merch ranging from demon slayer swords, the famous Naruto headband, a devil fruit among many others.
His eyes stopped at an empty stand, "time to fill that up," he muttered with a grin and pulled the package close.
Axel effortlessly slid his nail over the sealing and pulled, years of repeating it had made him a master at unpackaging, yet it didn't budge this time, the master had failed.
Axel lowered his eyes, the package was still sealed, "that usually works," He muttered, He slid his nail slowly this time, yet it still didn't open, Axel scoffed, "if it's like that", he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a jackknife from his pocket and flicked the blade out smiling, let's see you resist this, and he slid the knife along the sealing.
The cover instantly propped up with a hiss, causing a satisfactory smile to appear on his face, then faint smell of chemicals permeating the room from the package.
Inside lay a katana. Black sheath. Ancient design. A faint sci-fi glow along its edge.
The hilt looked like a spoked wheel with ten spokes, etched with strange markings. To evoke realism, no doubt, Axel thought, nodding.
Axel smiled, "Good stuff." He carefully lifted the katana with both hands, a satisfactory smile on his face, although it was heavier than the usual sword merch.
The handle was long enough for both his hands, blue and white material wrapped the handle in a traditional ito maki pattern, winding the entire length creating a unique blue and white alternating diamond pattern.
Axel held the handle and slowly pulled out the katana from the sheath, a silver blade, sharp, glinting against the light revealing itself as he pulled.
Axel looked at the blade with awe, the shiny silver blade reflecting his black pupils, he narrowed his eyes, something was off, the blade looked too realistic.
He slid his hand on the flat side of the blade, doubt gnawing at his mind as he felt the cold metallic surface, it feels too real, he thought, but that can't be can it.
Setting a can upright on the desk, he muttered, "Let's see then." He stepped back.
He exhaled and swung, but he felt nothing, no resistance, no sound, the blade just passed.
"Huh" he frowned, "I missed…"
Axel reached towards the can, but he froze as the top half of the can slid cleanly off, clattering to the floor.
Axel's eyes widened as he stared at the katana, it's real, he looked back at the can, the cut was perfect, yet he had felt no resistance, he carefully sheathed the blade realizing its lethality.
Axel slouched on his chair, hand over his mouth, what the hell is this, I ordered a prop, not a real f*cking katana, something isn't right, he spun the chair around turning his computer on, I have a bad feeling about this.
Spinning to his computer, he typed furiously: 'Utsurokami no Tsurugi props.'
Results flooded the screen—cheap replicas, fan builds, nothing like his. Axel switched browsers to a private, premium database—one used for more… abnormal research. Access cost him $1500 a month, complete with KYC verification.
But if any place could explain this, it was here.
Scroll. Click. Scroll again. Similar swords appeared, but none matched his exactly. The hilt colors varied, inscriptions differed. None were real.
He sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. "Well… this is new," he muttered, forcing a weak chuckle.
Then he searched again: 'Real anime weapons.'
No results of worth. Just fan creations. Then—a prompt: Would you like us to research this?
He typed yes.
A pricing list appeared. Without hesitation, Axel clicked extensive research. His phone pinged instantly. Please wait a few minutes to hours.
"It's a waiting game, then," he muttered, finishing the last of his now-lukewarm Coke. Maybe I should contact Amazon…
Before he could act, a new notification popped up.
"That's fast."
He clicked the mail. A thumbnail appeared—a teenage girl smiling, flashing a peace sign.
Ophelia.
His chest tightened, he remembered the nightmare. His fingers brushed his shoulder unconsciously, before he hit play, unsheathing the katana again.
"Axel, how are you doing?" A bubbly voice came from the monitor, " I hope you are doing well, that's all I can do but since the mail is delivered every time I guess you are, I'd appreciate a response though," she pursed her lips.
"Mom says I am just wasting my time," she paused, "but…well that's something I have a lot of." She muttered in a lower tone.
"Anyways, I came up with a way that might explain what happened that day, what went wrong with the portal" she said, her voice quieter.
Axel twitched as he heard her words, the sword slipping out of his hands as he swung it, slicing effortlessly through the shelf, why bring that up, he thought and slowly walked towards the shelf.
"But mum won't allow me leave the mansion, she's a real bummer you know." The voice continued.
Axel's lips curved upward slightly as he picked up the merch, maybe that's for the best, he thought.
"So, I thought who else is as smart as me and would get my ideas." She paused.
"No one of course, but my beloved brother is this close," she chuckled. "And it concerns you as much as me, maybe more considering what you saw," she said, her tone lower.
"So I sent you my idea, I do hope you take a look at it." She paused, "And work on it, please."
Her final words lowered to a whisper. "Promise me, promise your little sister. I'll be looking forward to seeing you."
Then silence.
Axel stood still, staring at the cleaved shelf. She's still going on about that, huh? He rubbed his shoulder. The image of glowing red eyes burned through his mind.
The video ended. Ophelia's smiling face lingered on the screen—bright, alive, frozen in time
He smiled, she really is a happy and optimistic girl, unlike me.
If only that didn't happen he thought his gaze fixed on her, his hand rubbing his shoulder, for a few seconds he just stood still.
He clicked away from the video. A PDF attachment blinked beneath it. He hovered his mouse, then clicked to archive it without opening.
"It's better this way," he muttered and closed his eyes, nothing good will result from finding out more about whatever that was, it was my past mistake to think I could and look what it cost me, Ophelia's face flashing in his mind, he sighed and opened his eyes, but now let's leave it that way, as a past mistake.
For a few minutes, silence ruled the room. Only the faint hum of the monitor remained.
Then—beep.
Axel blinked at the screen. The security app.
A bald man in a black suit stood at his door. Adjusting his tie, glancing around. Then he looked directly into the camera—and smiled.
A soft knock echoed through the apartment.
Axel's eyes narrowed, an uneasy feeling gnawing at him perhaps due to multiple unusual events happening at once, first the katana, now this, he looked closely at the monitor, the man turned to look at the camera, he smiled and waved.
"Calm down," Axel whispered to himself, glancing at the katana. "I'm overthinking things."
Still, he walked toward the door—then paused. "Just in case," he muttered, grabbing the jackknife.
He hesitated. Then, "This has more reach."
He picked up the katana.
Maybe… something will happen, just in case.
Each step down the stairs echoed against his heartbeat.
At the door, he took a deep breath, blade gripped tight. He opened it a crack..
"Hi," the man said in a boisterous voice, "are you Axel?"
Axel studied him warily. The door hid the katana behind it. No tattoos. No scars. Perfect posture. Immaculate suit—except for a faint bulge at his waist.
The man was perfect, he looked more like a bodyguard, his fit body towering over Axel, his posture and manners perfect, except for his thick beard although that was also well kept.
"Hello." The man snapped his finger.
"Oh sorry." Axel chuckled awkwardly, I was overthinking it for sure, he thought, yet his hand tightened behind the door.
"I understand you got a package from Amazon this morning, yes?" The man asked.
"Yeah." Axel's eyes narrowed.
"The Utsurokami no Tsurugi from utsuro no ken anime?"
Axel's brow furrowed, his hand gripping the katana tightly, how does he know that, suspicion rising.
"I am a fan of the anime myself." The man chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Don't mind my looks, it's just the job description." He continued.
"Yeah, right… who are you? Is there an issue?"
"Me?" The man smiled—a thin, vicious curve. "No one important. Just…"
He didn't complete it, shoving Axel backward. His hand went to his waist.
Axel's eyes widened as the metallic glint appeared, a gun.
Sh*t. I knew it.