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It is a calm autumn afternoon, the sun barely starting to set, although the streets are busy as always, filled with pedestrians and vendors. Someone is sitting in a corner, strumming a shamisen and singing some old song. It almost feels like the ever-present aura of omniscience is gone with the city submerged in this fragile quiet.
Kamisato Ayaka walks through Hanamizaka, trying to convince herself that the war is over.
Peace seems almost irreal, after nearly two years of receiving news from the frontlines and seeing people lose their ambitions to a suffocating eternity.
However, peace is noticeable in the way families no longer have to worry about food shortage, in the way the nearby islands are now devoid of the threats of thunder, and soldiers have returned home to their spouses, kids and parents. It can be felt in the way the statue of the Omnipresent God no longer seems to gaze at its people with hatred.
It’s on days like this that Ayaka likes to pretend she is a common person, too.
Even after finding her late mother’s diary, the feeling of having her life forever split in two remains present. During the war she didn’t have her vision taken away due to her privileged spot. She didn’t have to suffer through loss and destruction. After all, she was still a part of the Tricommission, and ultimately the Commissions had always answered to Her Excellency. She still feels guilt each time she remembers how Thoma, her best friend and companion, had spent months in hiding and she could do nothing but watch and wait.
But now the war is over, so Ayaka tries to breathe the perfumed air of the evening and think of what is to come.
Without noticing, she arrived in front of Naganohara Fireworks. What surprises her is that Yoimiya is standing at the entrance of the shop, selling some cheap sparklers to a couple of teens. She speaks fast and excitedly as she explains some intricate firework knowledge to them, moving her hands around and almost dropping the bag of merchandise in the process.
It is uncommon for Yoimiya to be at her shop, as she usually is traveling over the island, occupied with obtaining materials, researching new fireworks and preparing festivals. Ayaka sometimes finds herself passing through the shop, though, absently expecting to see a somewhat familiar face.
Despite the fact that they often have to work together on celebrations and other public ceremonies, Ayaka doesn’t think they’ve ever spoken one on one. The most meaningful conversation she can remember is one time, a few years ago, when Yoimiya had suggested they go to the public baths to further discuss some festival matters. Ayaka had been so embarrassed she desired the land would swallow her in that instant.
Afterwards, reflecting on the matter, Ayaka had never been able to comprehend how people would simply go and bathe together without having any prior relationship. Maybe it only seemed strange due to her upbringing, but it had still been one of her most troubling interactions. Hopefully Yoimiya didn’t remember the exchange.
Realizing she was getting lost in thoughts again, the girl shaked her head and walked forward to greet Yoimiya.
“Good afternoon, Yoimiya” Ayaka immediately regrets her words. Did that sound too formal? They’re supposed to be friends, right? How do friends greet each other casually?
“Oh, hi, Ayaka! Fancy seeing you here!” Yoimiya is still in the process of selling the sparklers, and interrupts her greeting to Ayaka to quickly explain that the flames they produce will be multi-colored. The teens give her a handful of mora coins, and go on their way.
“These are new products, see? I got some insanely easy-to-use pigments from Liyue and immediately put ‘em to work. The thing is, they’re made with different minerals that, when mixed in the powder, manage to make the fire have a different colour. Look! This one’d be blue.” Yoimiya speaks fast, but her words are still clear.
Then, she seems to concentrate on the sparkler she’s holding, her vision glowing faintly from the place it’s attached to her obi. The sparkler lights up on fire, and it is indeed blue. Ayaka stares, marveled.
“So it really is colored fire.” She can’t hide the wonder in her voice.
“Yep! You usually can see it on the fireworks, but it really’s surprising to look at it this close. I’m expecting these to be a hit of the season.”
“They definitely will.” Ayaka is already thinking of placing an order for the Yashiro commission. “Yoimiya, these are amazing. ”
Yoimiya looks incredibly proud of her creation, her cheeks colored by the faintest trace of pink, her eyes sparkling almost as much as the fire, which is slowly extinguishing now.
“Thanks, thanks.” Her gaze goes to the floor. “You’re embarrassing me now, Ayaka.”
A woman approaches the store, and hurriedly calls for Yoimiya, speaking of something about a birthday party for her kids, and a date and a number of attendants.
The owner of the shop swiftly goes in her aid, not without whispering Ayaka a quick promise of getting back to her as soon as the shop closes.
In the meantime, Ayaka makes her way to Kiminami restaurant, and entertains herself by chatting with Anna. Her friend rambles about the newest ingredient imports and the chance of going on a trip for culinary inspiration, with the Sakoku decree gone. It’s wonderful to see that Inazuma is connecting with the other nations again.
Then Anna excitedly reveals that she’s going to get married to some outlander she met in Ritou this summer. Her friend gives her the news, her eyes glistening with joy.
“Archons, I’m so happy for you! Please make sure to invite me to the wedding and I’ll be sure to go.”
“I most definitely will! Karpillia and I can barely wait for the date!”
When she and Anna finish their meal, Ayaka walks back to Naganohara fireworks, and thinks of what Anna just said. They’re almost the same age, and Ayaka has never thought seriously of marriage. Of course, the idea had been considered by her family in the past, but only for political advantages and other ulterior motives. Besides, Ayaka was barely a teenager when those offers were made.
After her parents died, the topic has never been mentioned again. It seems to the Commissions that the Kamisato siblings are not marrying off anytime soon. Considering they both are over twenty years of age, it is considered strange by some, with obscure rumours being whispered about them. None of them are quite true, not that Ayaka knows. but she sees how Thoma stares at her brother when he thinks no one is watching him do the chores. She knows well how her interest has never caught at the sight of men, too.
It seems that Naganohara fireworks have closed already, and Yoimiya sits on the perch, taking sips from a bottle of dandelion wine. Ayaka sits by her side, wishing to have a talk.
“Hey, you’re back!” Yoimiya offers her the bottle. “See, this’s from Mondstadt, just arrived today. It 's delicious!”
Ayaka takes a sip. It is indeed very sweet, with the smallest trace of bitterness that comes with alcohol.
They sit in silence for a minute, none of them renewing the conversation. After a few beats, Yoimiya blinks, and speaks again.
“I sometimes can’t believe it, these days. That we’re at peace, I mean.”
“I can’t, either. Guess I got used to the war.” Ayaka is glad someone else shares her feeling.
“And even now that the decrees have ended and the Visions are back, I still don’t believe we’re back to normal. Don’t think it’ll ever be back, at least for me. You can’t be at peace knowing the war truly took things away.” Yoimiya’s voice trembles ever so slightly at that last sentence. If Ayaka weren’t listening attentively, she would have missed it.
“I feel lucky, of course, living in the city and not in the frontlines, and I know I never got my vision taken because the Shogun-” Her voice shakes again, this time with a different tint. One of anger.. “the Shogun favours my fireworks.” The blonde finishes.
Ayaka can see the other girl is holding something back, but she doesn’t get what. Did something happen to her during the war? Both women stay silent for another minute. Now the sun is almost set. The moon and a few stars are out of their hiding already.
“Yoimiya, what did this- what did the war take from you?”
Yoimiya looks back at her, and her gaze seems heavier than Ayaka has ever seen it.
“That’s a story for another day” Her smile is a bit strained.
They stay in a slightly awkward silence for a few minutes, letting the sounds of the night take over. The cicadas are particularly loud in summer, and the clear streams of water that run all around the city sing at any time of the day.
After a bit, Yoimiya excuses herself to go back into the shop to finish cleaning up. Ayaka waits for her, staring at the stars and trying to recognize the constellations in them. Ayato had taught them to her once when they were kids, but Ayaka could never manage to see the shapes formed by the endless sparkling dots.
Some time later, Yoimiya gets back at her, sparkles in her eyes.
“Come, Ayaka, let’s go have dinner at Uyuu’s”
“I don’t know. It is kind of late already. I should probably get back to the Estate.”
Yoimiya’s lips twitch. “Oh? Are you scared of being seen having dinner with someone?”
“What?”
“Do you wish for a more serious invitation?”
“Yoimiya, what?”
Then Yoimiya stands up straight, clears her throat, and speaks in what might be her attempt at a smooth voice.
“Kamisato Ayaka-san, would you like to go out for dinner with me?”
What on earth is she doing? Ayaka is completely puzzled. Is she flirting?
“Sure, Yoimiya, but quit the formality.”
“Yep! Let 's go.” The smoothness is gone from her voice. Replaced by what sounds very similar to embarrassment.
The dinner turns out to be a fiasco. Not because the food is bad in any way, but because by the end of it, Ayaka is convinced she is completely drunk. It really isn’t her fault they sell such a wide selection of alcohol here. It isn’t her fault, either, that Yomiya insisted on trying most of it. It probably is her fault, though, that Ayaka had one of everything Yoimiya tried.
“See? I was challenged by Arataki Itto to a drinking contest here at this same place, and I lost!” Says the blonde as she drinks something that they were told was authentic Shneznayan fire water. “I need to get in shape for the rematch, and I’m not losing this time. Naganohara Yoimiya won’t lose a drinking contest twice. Not as long as I live!”
Ayaka can only nod along. She has no idea how the so-called contest went last time, but she’s glad she didn’t see it. Whoever this Arataki guy is, anybody who can out-drink Yoimiya should be pursued by the Tenryou Commission and imprisoned. The woman has had more drinks tonight than Ayaka has in her whole life. Of that she’s sure.
In the end, Yoimiya drinks three glasses of water, slaps herself in the face, pays their astronomical check even when Ayaka offers to do so, and brings them both back home. It’s surprising how she doesn’t stumble more than a couple times. Maybe Pyro visions come with an extra alcohol tolerance.
They finally make it back to Naganohara’s and sit in the living room of the house. Ayaka’s vision doubles at times, but she feels pretty sober for a girl who just had an entire selection of drinks from the seven nations.
“Yoimiya, isn’t your father worried you’re home this late?”
“No, don’t worry, he’s used to me working until early morning or sometimes going out. The man goes to bed pretty early. Won’t they be worried for you back at the Estate, though?”
Oh shit. Ayaka completely forgot that she is expected home early as the daughter of the Kamisato clan.
“I forgot.” And she starts laughing so hard her stomach hurts. Yoimiya is giggling too, and it honestly doesn’t seem like a big deal now.
“It 's ok. You can stay here for the night and I’ll get you home early tomorrow.”
“Thanks, ‘Miya.”
“Ooh, is that a nickname for me? It sounds funny.”
“It suits you.”
“Alright, then can I call you something too? How about Aya? Or maybe Yaka?”
“I don’t know.” Nobody has really had any nicknames for Ayaka. Her mom used to call her some, but she forgot them all with time.
“Well, we better set up a bedding for you, we need to be up early to return you to the Estate.”
Yoimiya’s room is somewhat small, with only her futon and a table full of schemes and recipes. Ayaka helps her set up another futon, and Yoimiya fumbles through her closet, looking for a robe.
Ayaka changes her clothes in the tiny bathroom of the house, and folds them next to her futon. She sits on it and waits for Yoimiya to come sit down too.
“You know, this is like having a sleepover.” She doesn’t know why she’s whispering. They’re alone in the room, after all.
“It really is! I used to love having sleepovers as a kid. Sometimes I would have them with my brother and we’d stay up until dawn. Father would get so mad he eventually forbade it. Then Tomo moved away and I would go to my friends’ houses.” Her gaze goes distant for a moment, lost in the memories.
“That sounds like so much fun. I barely ever had any sleepovers growing up, because, well, I didn’t have a lot of friends to begin with. Ayato was always so busy, even when we were younger. I did stay up late with Thoma sometimes, though. He started working with us when he was thirteen, you know? We’re about the same age.”
“Then Ayaka, let’s do sleepover things. We can dare each other, do our makeup, tell our deepest, darkest secrets, all that.”
“Sorry?”
“Yeah, that’s what friends do at sleepovers. At least it’s what I did.”
“I think we’d rather just chat.”
“C’mon, Ayaka, don’t you want to know my secrets? I would gladly know yours!”
“Alright. I’ll start.” Ayaka thinks of what she could ask. She thinks of how Kiminami Anna is about to get married. Maybe women their age are interested in that.
Ayaka looks at the other woman. Her hair is loose and she’s wearing a simple, wide robe, with all her intricate accessories gone. Ayaka notices she isn’t wearing hersSarashi underneath. Then she realizes she’s looking down and blushes red. Maybe she should ask already.
“Tell me, ‘Miya. Are you in love with someone?”
Yoimiya grins when she hears the question. “Hehe. Not right now, but I used to be. I went out with this investigator who came from Liyue. Tang Wen. We dated for- what? three years? Actually, she’s the one who convinced me to get this tattoo. I really wanted it, but I was too scared, and she promised she’d get one if I was brave. She did end up getting a tattoo herself, but hers was tiny like this:” She signals with her fingers. “What a cheater.”
“I did love her, though. I still miss her sometimes.” Ayaka thinks of how it would feel to be loved and missed like that. It must be beautiful.
“Are you in love with someone, Kamisato Ayaka?” Yoimiya’s playful tone is back.
“I’m not.”
“Sheesh. Well, it’s your turn again.”
“What does your tattoo mean?” Ayaka is curious about it, now that the story behind its acquisition has been told.
Yoimiya takes a second to think. “Not a lot, really. I know people usually get them to represent something meaningful, but I just wanted something pretty and bold. I haven’t found a meaning for it, even now. And it’s gonna be on my arm forever.”
“Maybe that’s the meaning.”
“What is it?”
“It can mean that: it’s something without a deep meaning, but it’s permanent.”
Yoimiya pouts.“I don’t like that. At all.”
“Why not?”
“I seek the exact opposite. Something meaningful, even if it’s as temporary as a firework.”
Yoimiya is sitting too close now, so close Ayaka can see her eyelashes and the smudged red eyeliner that remains on her face. The girl’s cheeks are a bit flushed. Her tattoo really is pretty. She is beautiful.
Ayaka doesn’t recall the moment their lips meet, but it really is everything she could want. Yoimiya’s kisses are warm, and her breath has a vaguely sweet taste. Suddenly, Ayaka understands she wants. She wants anything Yoimiya could possibly give her. A tale, a kiss, a sparkler. She wants everything.
Then she separates to catch her breath, and realizes what she’s doing. The daughter of the Yashiro commission is out late on someone else’s house, making out with some woman she barely truly knows, after drinking her head off and stumbling back through Hanamizaka.
An annoying, inner voice that’s always present scolds her with the voice of her father.
This is so unlike you. These things don’t fit you and your status. And that inner voice always manages to convince her, after all these years.
“Is-” her voice sounds raspy. “Is that why you brought me here? To- to bed me? Weren’t we talking about the war?”
“Ayaka, sorry. I thought you were okay with this,sorry, I don’t mean to-” Yoimiya looks genuinely hurt. Maybe whatever trust they had built with all their prior conversations is gone now.
“No, I am sorry. I misread the situation. I apologize for implying your intentions were so frivolous. We should just go to sleep.”
“Alright, Ayaka.”
They lay down, next to each other, with so much left unsaid.
Yoimiya, however, falls asleep in a couple minutes, her soft breaths the only sound in the room.
Ayaka still feels embarrassed, her mind uselessly providing her with every possible atrocious outcome of her actions today.
In the end, she isn’t sure when she falls asleep.
She dreams of her mom before she got ill, and of how she would play board games with Ayato and Thoma when they were teens. She also dreams of the summer festival she attended with the Traveler, and of the fireworks she saw there. They all shine an intense blue in her dream.
In the morning, Yoimiya is oddly silent as she hands Ayaka something for breakfast and they eat in a tense silence. Her father is confused at Ayaka’s presence, but ultimately lends them his cart, and they quickly take the road to Kamisato Estate.
Yoimiya leaves her way before the entrance, whispering nothing but a quick goodbye and going on her way.
When Ayaka enters, she is immediately scolded by Thoma, who was apparently worried sick and on the brink of summoning a search party.
“Thoma, I’m fine. I went for dinner with Yoimiya, and it simply got too late. Nothing else.”
“And since when are you such good friends? That’s a nice change.”
“We’re just acquaintances. Now, is there any work I missed? I’d like to get everything done before noon.”
Thoma eyes her suspiciously, but says nothing.
Turns out, she did miss a lot of work. The sun is setting already when she comes out of her office, and all that time Ayaka can barely focus, her thoughts stolen away by a certain blonde.
When she finally finishes with paperwork, she’s dead-set on apologizing to Yoimiya. She walks to leave the Estate, ready to beg for forgiveness on yesterday’s happenings, but is ambushed by Thoma before she can get out.
“Ayaka, did something happen yesterday?” Ah, Thoma, always so diligent and kind. Ayaka loves him with all her heart. “Anything, you know I can help you with.”
“Nothing happened, Thoma. Nothing bad.”
Thoma’s lips twitch. “Then, Ayaka, are you having,” He whispers. ”Girlfriend problems?”
Ayaka blushes redder than Thoma’s vision. “No, Thoma. I am not having ‘girlfriend problems’. And even if I were, I think you need to work on your ‘Ayato Problems’ before speaking.”
It is now Thoma’s turn to blush. Defeated, he offers to take her to the city, and spends the entire trip pouting and blushing.
Ayaka leaves Thoma making a deal at Okura silks, and walks her way to Naganohara’s.
There she finds Yoimiya, sitting at the porch again. She has a sparkler in her hand, though it has long since burned out.
Ayaka sits by her side, and since Yoimiya does nothing, the blue-haired woman starts to talk.
“Hey.”
“Hello, you.”
“Want some dandelion wine? I got it from last week’s shipment from Mondstadt. Apparently it’s from their top producer.”
“Sure.” Yoimiya doesn’t look her in the eyes.
They stay there, drinking from their respective bottles.
Then they speak in unison.
“About yesterday-”
“You first.” Says Yoimiya
“I’m sorry for what I said at the end. I just started thinking of what everyone would say and think, and of what my parents would say, and of my status, and-” She cuts herself off.
“Sorry. I wasn’t thinking clearly yesterday. That 's all.”
“Ayaka, don’t worry.” Yoimiya smiles at her. She painted her lips a light red today. Ayaka’s breath catches. “It 's okay. I’m okay with whatever you want.”
“I- I do like you, Yoimiya.”
“Then everything is fine.” Yoimiya hugs her tightly. She smells like smoke and a soft floral scent. Ayaka kisses her on the cheek, and they both giggle.
“Archons, Thoma is never going to let me live this down. And let’s hope Ayato never finds out, or we’ll have a wedding on the way.”
“Oh my. Is your brother that exaggerated?”
“Not really. But he does insist on me getting a partner. And I do the same for him. Ever since I realized I could never be with a man, and he could never be with a woman, it’s kind of a bet to see who gets with someone first. Guess I won.”
Yoimiya laughs. “And does the best bachelor in Narukami seriously have no one swooning over him?”
Then Ayaka realizes something. “I may have won the bet. Unless…”
“Unless what? Archons, this is some fantastic gossip!”
“When I get home today, I’m going to have a serious chat with Thoma. It may or may not end with him getting shipped back to Mondstadt.”
Yoimiya laughs, loudly. She looks radiant.
“Man, you must really love your brother.”
“Yes.” Answers Ayaka. She means it. “And ‘Miya, you never told me. Do you have any siblings?”
Yoimiya’s gaze fills with sorrow for a second, but she speaks nonetheless.
“I do.” She grabs her choker, fidgeting with it. “A brother.”
“Is he traveling or something? I’ve never seen him.”
“You have.” Yoimiya sounds much more serious than usual.
“Do you know one Kaedehara Kazuha?”
“I’ve heard of him, why? Isn’t he the one who revived a vision and confronted the Shogun together with Sangonomiya’s resistance?”
“Yes. Do you know why he did it?”
Ayaka remembers their conversation from yesterday. What did the war take from you?
Yoimiya quits fiddling with her choker.
“Let me tell you a story, will you?”
Ayaka nods, and the firework maker’s tale is whispered.
“Once lived in Narukami a family that had two children who were seen and favoured by the Gods. They grew up to inherit a large tradition, and while one found her home in the flames and their creation, the other decided to wander the islands of thunder and see this world.
But the land of Narukami was shaken by the will of Her Excellence, and the favours of the gods got taken away for the sake of Eternity. The eldest child, who had chosen to wander, valued his honour over his love and tried to challenge our Narukami Ogosho. He lost, of course, for one can’t win to Euthymia, and left his story to be told by one samurai’s sorrow.
The samurai fled this islands, carrying memories from his lover and homeland, and the eldest son’s family could never mourn him in public, because her Excellency favoured their art.
Now he has been properly avenged, and he now rests on a calm meadow. And no tears are spilled for him anymore, since peace has returned to the land that he lived in.
The end.”
Yoimiya speaks differently when she tells her stories. Everyone who has listened to them knows that. Her demeanor changes, and her language becomes refined. She really brings tales to life.
When she finishes, there is a single tear falling down her cheek. But Yoimiya is smiling.
“And the rest is history, I guess. We all heard of what happened in Tenshukaku, didn’t we?”
Ayaka is speechless. “Yoimiya- I’m sorry. I didn’t know he- I didn’t know he was your brother. I’m sorry.”
Yoimiya is still smiling. “Don’t worry. Like I said, no tears are spilled for him anymore. And don’t you know what I say to the kids I tell stories to? ‘None of Naganohara Yoimiya’s tales will have a sad ending. Not while I live and speak! ” She laughs shakily.
Ayaka wipes the tear from the other girl’s cheek with her handkerchief.
“Thanks for telling me, Yoimiya. Your tale was amazing.”
“You’re welcome, Ayaka. I should tell it Kazuha when I see him. Maybe he can make it into one of his poems.”
Ayaka rests her head on the other woman’s shoulder. She feels so calm like this. The peace in Inazuma finally settles in her heart.
It’s dark already, though, and she can’t spend two nights outside just like that.
“I’m going back with Thoma already. See you tomorrow?”
“Anytime.” Yoimiya hugs her again, and before Ayaka leaves she slips one feather-light kiss to the blonde’s lips.
On the way back to the Estate, she learns that she indeed won the bet. Thoma is embarrassed to no end, but has new motivation to finally confess to Ayato. Turns out he’s been pining like this since he was fifteen. Gross.
The next afternoon, Ayaka is back with Yoimiya, sharing stories over dinner at Kiminami’s. Anna introduces them to Karpillia, and announces she’s leaving for Mondstadt, for their wedding and to learn their cooking. Ayaka couldn’t be happier for her friend.
She stays again at Yoimiya’s house, now with a newfound trust. They only set one futon for the night.
And Ayaka wants anything Yoimiya could possibly give, so she takes it all. She takes Yoimiya’s delicate kisses, and her playful whispers, and her warm embrace. Yoimiya, she finds out, wants her just as much.
Much later, when the morning sun shines through the windows in the room, Ayaka gets dressed carefully, and giggles every time her eyes meet Yoimiya’s. She helps the blonde with her eyeliner, stopping every so often to kiss her face.
They depart with a tight hug and a warm kiss, and as Ayaka makes her way back to the Estate, she goes with a thousand promises in her heart. This might not last long, and it may not be fit to the land of Eternity, but it still shines bright in the summer.
While she walks back to her house, Ayaka whistles an old love song her mom taught her long ago.