[ ryouma winces a little unconsciously because that whole thing has gotten excessively complicated what with hizen tadahiro (the guy, not the sword) being a person he likes and cares about these days. ]

Yeah. He's my best friend, even if our paths ended up goin' in different directions. Izō is a real genius, ya know that?

[ here comes the unapologetic, unfiltered gushing of praise. ryouma could not be more proud. ]

Nobody's like him when it comes t' usin' a sword! I ain't too bad myself, but I spent a long time trainin' for it. He's jus' got a natural talent that's really somethin' so, it jus' made sense pairin' a good sword like Hizen with somebody who'd really make the most of havin' one.