Despite the melodrama he put himself through, Junichiro returned home within an hour of leaving and hadn't run into any kind of issue. He'd left, arrived at the store, got some food, and returned home, all without anything happening. Just like hundreds of thousands of other people country wide were doing at the same time. He knew how irrational his fear was. That was the thing about irrationality, it just didn't make any sense, ever.
As he stepped back in through the main door, he was surprised to see Mittelt standing there with a smile on her face, "Well well well, look at you. All grown up and going out all by yourself at night."
Junichiro rolled his eyes and walked past her, "Shut up and come to the dining room. I've got enough to share."
He hadn't been able to decide what he wanted to eat so he'd grabbed anything and everything that caught his attention. Sushi, Onigiri, Instant Ramen, and Shrimp Chips just to name a few random things. Once he had everything unpacked, he took off his utility belt and hung it on an empty chair. Mittelt eyed the belt and the two very obvious weapons hanging from it, "Isn't that a bit much?"
Junichiro shrugged his shoulders, "Maybe, but it made me feel safer so..."
Mittelt mimicked his shoulder shrug and dropped the line of questioning. Instead she switched to something even more embarrassing, "So, have you decided where to take me for our first date?"
Junichiro instantly blushed and began to fidget while trying to focus on his food, "Not yet. I was kind of busy with that order and then playing with Sword Birth."
Mittelt smirked a little at making him blush. Despite how mature he could be at times, at others he acted exactly as his age would dictate, "You know, you never really explained why you wanted Sword Birth. Wouldn't a different Sacred Gear be stronger?"
Junichiro made a so-so motion with his hand, "It all depends. For me, I think Sword Birth is just about the best possible Sacred Gear for me to have. With my abilities, skills, and knowledge, I can design rather impressive swords in my mind and then conjure them up with Sword Birth. All without having to spend anything but my magical power. I grant it's not as amazing as a Longinus, nor as powerful, but most Longinus lack something that Sword Birth has in spades."
"What's that?"
"Flexibility and Utility. Take a Longinus like Dimension Lost. Sure, teleportation and dimensional control are really powerful abilities. Like destroy the world powerful. But it's also limited to just that and it lacks any form of direct combat power. Sure, it can transport people to the Dimensional Gap and kill them that way, or into a fake dimension where they starve to death, or something similar, but it's not going to kill them head on. It also can't do things like healing, enhancing the abilities of others, or any number of other things not related to its main abilities."
"So you're implying that Sword Birth can do that?"
Junichiro leaned back in his chair, "I'm not one hundred percent sure what the limits of Sword Birth are. I do know a few nifty things though. For example..."
He held up his hand and in a flash of golden light a tiny sword appeared in the palm of his hand. The blade almost looked like a cross necklace with its size. An image that was reinforced by the fact that there was a long loop of chain attached to the pommel. The longsword style blade looked like a miniature version of the flaming sword he'd made earlier, complete with a red Hihi'irokane blade.
He held the necklace up for Mittelt to get a better look at it, "For example, the size of the swords made are irrelevant as long as they can be recognized as a sword. This particular sword has the ability to absorb fire thereby protecting the person wearing it from flames until it can't take any more and shatters."
Mittelt arched an eyebrow at that and closely observed the sword necklace, "Okay, I can kind of accept that this small thing counts as a sword, but how the hell did you make it into a necklace?!"
He smirked at that, "All kinds of swords have all kinds of decorative things on them. For example, a Chinese nine ring broadsword has, oddly enough, nine rings pierced through the spine of the sword. Others have decorative tassels and bits of chain hanging from the pommels. This is just an extension of that. It's just an exceedingly long and delicate pommel chain that happens to come back around to form a loop."
Mittelt looked at him in surprise at that, "So... you're basically scamming the system to make things most people wouldn't think to make?"
Junichiro's grin grew wide, "Exactly. I mean, as long as it's a sword I can make it into just about any shape I want. I could even, hypothetically, make a sword in the shape of a ring. Just a small sword like this one," He hefted the necklace, "But bent into a circle like a ring would be." He set the necklace down in front of her, "Or what about making a pair of knuckle dusters with a collapsible super thin rapier blade built into them? I don't, technically, have to extend the blade for that to count as a sword. How about a sword completely covered in crosses to kicking the shit out of a devil? The possibilities are endless. So, while Sword Birth might not be Longinus class in raw power, I'd argue it's Longinus class in sheer versatility."
Mittelt let out a low whistle as she went over the mentioned possibilities in her mind, "I can see why you'd be so interested in getting your hands on one now."
He pushed the necklace across the table towards her, "Keep that, it's not super amazing, but if anyone throws surprise fireball at your face it can protect you long enough for you to move. Just don't count on it protecting you from a ton of fire." Once she collected it, he continued, "All of that doesn't take into account one super important question." When she looked at him, his grin turned from playful to flat out wicked, "What happens when I include my rune schemes into the swords I create?"