Kiku

Kiku (菊)is introduced in Volume Four as the daughter of a katana merchant. At just 18 years old, she’s newly married, but has some lingering feelings for Okita Souji.

Story
Kiku is the quiet daughter of Toshodo, a katana merchant in Kyoto who has been bedridden for some time. Presumably, Toshodo accepted the marriage proposal from Kichijiro, who boasted about coming from a prestigious katana merchant family, because his illness prevented him from running the shop. During one of Okita Souji's visits, Kiku’s father mentions that he regrets accepting the proposal, since Kichijiro actually knows nothing about katana. Soji tells him not to worry, however, as Kichijiro loves katana and is studying to know more about them.

Soji’s reason for visiting Kichijiro is that he wishes to have kiku - that is, kiku ichimonji, a 700 year old sword. Naturally, having a woman and a sword known by the same name causes some confusion, especially for Tominaga Sei. Kichijiro’s bets Soji that, if he can go ten days without drawing his sword, then he can have kiku. Unfortunately, Sei and others in the group all believe Soji is trying to win Kiku, the woman, instead and is refusing to draw his sword for her.

The misunderstanding is eventually cleared up, much to Sei’s relief, though it turns out that kiku is little more than a fake. Nevertheless, Kiku gives Soji the sword, saying that “katana are like girls. They’re happiest ... close to someone who loves them”.