Work Text:
—{~}—
They stand on the hill, overlooking the city cloaked in fog. Kiyomaro thinks he remembers something similar to this view: a flash of a memory, separated from now by years of darkness, and the warmth of flames. The mist feels cold and familiar against his cheek, but at the same time it feels wrong . He knows, and the sword standing beside him knows too. This is not Edo, at least, not the way it is supposed to be.
“The sky is purple, Kiyomaro.” Thunder rumbles in the distance and the sword next to him, his partner — Suishinshi Masahide — jumps a little, green eyes wide and unblinking behind the collar of his jacket. “Look at it. I’ve never seen a storm like this.”
Kiyomaro glances up at the sky; sure enough, the clouds just above the city skyline are tinted a concerning shade of bluish-purple, a bruise shadowing the clouds above them. It’s the sign of the Retrograde Army; their growing presence is undeniable. It makes the hair on the back of Kiyomaro’s neck stand on end.
“We were told it would be like this, Suishinshi,” he replies gently, his voice still smooth in the electric air. Even as he says it, he wishes he had phrased it differently. His partner tenses at his shoulder; he knows there is a difference between what Kiyomaro says, and what he wants to say. This timeline, like the others that have appeared before it, is an anomaly. It was never supposed to exist. One day, it just did. They’re supposed to fix the timeline, but among their other tasks assigned by the Time Government, they’re supposed to figure out why it became like this in the first place. Kiyomaro has his suspicions.
“I don’t like it.” The response that comes from Suishinshi’s mouth is short.
“That’s why we have to fix it.”
Lightning flashes somewhere within the clouds, and there is a long silence between them. Finally, the thunder rumbles, nearly drowning out his partner’s almost invisible question. “Why us ?”
Something in Kiyomaro’s gut twists, because something tells him that what Suishinshi is asking isn’t something to be answered aloud. They aren’t the first swords to have been summoned in order to deal with a corrupted timeline, after all, and if the continued correspondence from Yamanbagiri Chougi to the Time Government is an omen of what’s to come, they won’t be the last.
“Because we were meant to, perhaps.” It’s not a very specific answer. He doesn't mean just the two of them, either, but he thinks Suishinshi knows that, because he doesn’t respond.
The sun is sinking closer to the horizon when Suishinshi speaks again. “I can’t see the moon, Kiyomaro.”
He’s right, Kiyomaro realises. The clouds above them are darkening, swirling tighter together as the wind rises. If the clouds don’t disappear soon — and they won’t — they will soon be left in darkness.
“Stay focused, Suishinshi.” The grass beneath his boots almost seems to shiver as he issues the command. “Don’t worry about what we can’t help.”
Suishinshi nods, returning his gaze to the darkening sky. “Do you think they’ll come? What if they don’t?”
Lightning cracks in the sky, closer than before. Kiyomaro sighs. He doesn’t know without checking how long it’s been since they issued the transmission to the citadel in question, but if Yamanbagiri Chougi’s most recent correspondence is anything to trust, he knows they won’t have to wait much longer. “They’ll come.”
Suishinshi hums acknowledgement in the fresh darkness. “I hope so.”
—{~}—
