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They call her Queen of the Summer, but when Yoimiya is asleep and snoring in her lap she really doesn’t look the part. Especially not when said girl has her hair all messed up and looking so unkempt that Kokomi is determined to do her kimono tomorrow.
But that’s just how it is being with Yoimiya — idyllic and peaceful, the quiet that she has so longed for, even though Yomiya is anything but quiet. The loudest person she has to deal with yet, but it is calming in an almost muted way. Tranquil, she thinks, but that’s not quite right either.
Yoimiya stirs in her lap when Kokomi runs her fingers through the golden hair, earning her soft murmurs of her name. She likes it when Yoimiya calls her name and just her name alone. She likes it when Yoimiya takes her to places where she would’ve never gone by herself, and when she gets swept along in yet another scheme.
Strange, because her energy levels never seem to slide below dangerous levels when they are together. The opposite in fact, Kokomi has found herself close to exploding on many times an occasion.
It is happiness, she realizes with a start.
Naganohara Yoimiya makes her happy.
.
.
.
“Nagano-”
“It’s Yoi-mi-ya! Yoimiya!”
She was by the Naganohara’s before they were to return to Watatsumi, here for their monthly trade discussions. It had been Ayaka’s idea, and Kokomi would like to think that she wasn’t all that opposed to it — a planned festival in Watatsumi, a celebration of their mutual peace.
Gorou, in particular, had been eager about it, if his wagging tail was any indication. Kokomi had been stifling her laughter the entire time, but it was hard not to get swept away by the excitement of it all. It had after all been nearly a year since the Sakoku Decree was revoked, and they were to expect their summer harvest very soon. A celebration was indeed in order.
“My apologies, Yoimiya.” Kokomi returned a light bow. Yae Miko wasn’t lying about how casual the Naganohara girl was, even if they had met a few times prior for the Inazuma festivities. It earned her a hearty laugh as Yoimiya ushered her into her shop, arms locked and looking proudly over her works.
“Ayaka told me all about it! I’m honoured to be part of this and suuuuuuper excited you have no idea! Ah-! Sorry for the mess! I swear I was in the midst of cleaning it up — I just didn’t expect you to come so early!”
There were too many things to focus on in this shop; small spherical balls of various sizes, patterned and tagged, with an occasional paper slip slapped on them. Fascinating, Kokomi thought, though nothing caught her eye as much as Yoimiya did.
She landed her eye on a half-done shell, lying innocently out in the open, and it was then it seemed like she triggered the key to all of Yoimiya’s secrets. The fireworks maker made her way over and and scooped it up, beaming, and for a moment Kokomi thought about how fitting it was that it was Yoimiya who made these.
“And this is?” Kokomi smiled, for Yoimiya already seemed too eager for words.
“Okay- see this here. We place the bursting charges here before the paper, and it goes a whole round and over and over again. Simple~ The colour changing stars are the ones you could customise! The outer ring goes first, and then the second and the third. You get the colours in this order.”
Yoimiya gave the open shell a little twirl, eyes burning as bright as fireworks themselves, excitable and expectant. It was difficult not to notice how much she enjoyed her crafts, and Kokomi thought that admirable.
“When people want fireworks, it’s always because they have something to commemorate. Ehehe, how can there be a festival without fireworks?”
And Kokomi was inclined to agree, these human inventions had been quite the sight to behold. Amazing even, to think that they could have the power to light up the skies the way they wanted to. As if the sky was nothing but a canvas for them to paint, however brief their glory, in this city where Raiden had yearned for eternity.
“You could select the usual celebration batches here, but of course if you want them custom-made I’d make it for ya! It’s not a problem for us!”
“That would be very nice,” Kokomi answered, bowing her head. “I think we would like that very much yes. Maybe just a few alterations to your current designs would suffice.”
She had walked into the store alone, not quite knowing what to expect, almost nervous even, since Gorou had to tie up some loose ends over by the docks. But conversation with Yoimiya flowed easily, and Kokomi couldn’t remember the last time she had one so delightful.
“Oh! Hang on- I could make something special for you! A pretty lady like you deserve only the best afterall~”
A peculiar person too, Kokomi thought, as she watched the girl fumbled over the contents in the drawers till she finally came up with an empty paper slip and a brush.
“Every Naganohara customer gets their own special order, one that we could always reproduce when you bring this slip back to us. Ehehe, it’s almost like a love letter to us, I think it makes it a lot more meaningful!”
It earned Yoimiya a hearty chuckle as Kokomi took the slip into her hand. It did sound like it would be memorable if she did so.
“So, Lady Sangonomiya, how do you want yours done?”
How could she refuse someone who has dreams in her eyes and soul in her crafts?
“Kokomi. Call me Kokomi.”
It had been a surprise when they met again, quite a coincidence, for she most definitely wouldn’t have been by the downstream at this hour, if she had not stayed up on a whim. The celebration on Watatsumi had been scheduled to go ahead in a week and she was just admiring the work of her people, of houses and shrines lit brightly for the first time in forever, of celebrations that they were never allowed to have. It had been years since she saw so much life on the island, and somehow it made Kokomi feel like she could finally rest.
And then she saw it. A small glow in the distance, a bright burst of light in the river, fleeting but fascinating all the same.
Like a moth to a fire, Kokomi thought, as her feet brought her to the lowest part of Watatsumi, all the way from one of the highest vantage points. She watched as another firework went off with a muted boom, before the river lit up in gold.
Fishes were swimming in them — Yoimiya’s fireworks, that she recognized as much. The fireworks maker had excitedly obliged to her requests of fish-like patterns, gold ones, in particular. It reminded her of Enkanomiya, of the lustrous beings in the dark, of the sun above when they were all but under the surface. It reminds her of home.
But for her to come up with ones that worked in water-
“Whoops! I’m so so sorry!” Yoimiya’s apology came before Kokomi could speak, a genuine surprise, for Kokomi swore she was being relatively quiet. It would seem like she misjudged how attentive Yoimiya was. “I swear I’m not hurting any of these fishes here! I’ll leave i-if this is not legal or something.”
Her expression was that of utter guilt, and yet there was something else shining in those eyes. It only made Kokomi all the more curious.
“Well, I am no Kujou Sara from the Tenryou Commission, please do not be worried. And I do think I would be sound asleep at this hour, if anyone so much as ask.”
A chuckle slipped out, almost too naturally. Yoimiya seemed to have that effect on people, that Kokomi had observed keenly, through nearly an entire month’s of preparation. For someone to have charmed Madame Komaki was certainly no small feat.
“Ahaha, it is rather late I suppose. I made sure these ones were super quiet too- Did I wake you?”
“I was awake of my own accord. Just looking around, and then I see these curious lights…”
Kokomi smiled kindly as she watched the faintest blush appear on those cheeks. Almost too cute, she thought, when Yoimiya looked positively enthralled by just one simple sentence.
“Do you want to watch? Just a few test sparks! Hmm, if I could tweak some of these I could make something I want you to- oh I think you’ll like these Kokomi!”
It was then she noticed that there were tubes of various shapes and sizes, weird looking charges (she had learnt) that she had never seen before, lying all around them. There was even a small work bench, and papers on it with intricate diagrams that she was sure Yoimiya never talked about. She would know then, if Yoimiya so much as talked about these.
Yoimiya loads a few charges into the tube and looked hesitate just for a second.
“Don’t tell people okay?”
Kokomi’s breath hitched then— Yoimiya gave her the happiest grin as she touched her vision in a quick movement— she saw sparks the colours of everything in the universe, melting air, before Yoimiya placed the tube in water and it exploded into goldfishes beneath the surface. They were swimming in sparkles, remnants of Yoimiya’s vision, dancing with fire.
“They remind me of you somehow,” Yoimiya whispered with the same smile she was beginning to be so fond of. “Beautiful, enchanting, elegant.”
These were the words of flattery that Kokomi heard so often, words that lost meaning to her eventually. And yet somehow when Yoimiya said these she almost believed her.
“No I think that’s super interesting!”
The footsteps ceased then, and they found themselves by the edge of cliff, near the hideout where she found refuge. She supposed Yoimiya would be the first one to visit it, not that Kokomi particularly minded. There were many things she sought the fireworks maker’s opinion of.
“You think all these fertilizer and soil talk is interesting?” Kokomi laughed, as she focused on the fields of the villages below. Yoimiya invoked the strangest of feelings in her, she had never found discussions like this to be quite so embarrassing.
“I think you make things interesting— I, no— I just mean you have a way with words. I like listening to your stories.”
“Even if they are just mindless incoherent thoughts that I mull over daily?”
That earned Kokomi another very serious look, and she could practically see the cogs turning in that very pretty head of Yoimiya’s. No doubt she would come up with yet another earth shattering invention if Kokomi so much as asked. For a brief moment Kokomi wondered if she could entertain the thought of employing Naganohara Yoimiya, but to bound such a free soul to the darkness of politics was something she could never subject her to.
“And if I talk about Raiden Shogun?”
“Oh Archons— well, I’d listen anyway. But I’m glad it all worked out in the end, and we could be able to talk like that too. I’ve always thought Watatsumi is a really beautiful place. Just imagine the fireworks over this place! The colours would light up the reefs, it would go so well with the landscape don’t you think?”
Yoimiya had a strange view of the world, Kokomi had quickly realized — she saw beauty where Kokomi could not see. And for that Kokomi was grateful, for the world needed these dreamers, needed the hope that ran in her.
“I cannot possibly think of anything better than the view of your fireworks over this place.”
The celebration had been nothing like she had seen in her life. The Yashiro Commission had helped out too, courtesy of Ayaka, who seemed just as excited about this as she did. To think she could see Inazumans and her people mingle like family, it was something that was almost unfathomable just a year ago.
And in the midst of the highlight of the event, between the loud explosions of the fireworks above, Kokomi found refuge by the waterfalls, the highest point in the whole of Watatsumi. She could almost feel the flames licking her face, the heat from the fireworks searing the air above.
“I think-” Yoimiya started, fiddling with her fingers. It wasn’t quite like Yoimiya to stutter, and Kokomi was beginning to be really concerned. “Maybe we should go back? They would start looking for you soon.”
Her little escapade with Yoimiya would no doubt be noticed soon, but at this moment Kokomi could not care less. Her work would never be done, and everyone needed a piece of the Divine Priestess of Watatsumi, except this girl before her. There was something about being with Yoimiya: a breath of fresh air, crazy summer urges to just dive into the waters below, and this feeling that maybe everything would be okay.
“What about it?” Kokomi laughed, as she kicked her sandals off, walking into the river. “You said you have something to show me?”
“I-I do.”
The fireworks overhead had no end in sight, and in another minute Kokomi knew she could see the goldfishes, her gift to the people of Watatsumi. Although there was this selfish part of her that wished for it to only be for her eyes. But everything Kokomi sought, everything Kokomi owned, it was all for her people was it not?
“Yoimiya?”
“Oh-my nerves.” She watched on curiously as Yoimiya took out the biggest tube she had seen yet, almost half of her height in length.
“I just think I want you to do it. Although maybe I shouldn’t- it can be a little dangerous maybe. You know what they say about playing with fire.” Yoimiya chuckled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“Hmm, yes. But I am a healer and a hydro user.” Kokomi willed a fish (made of water) to swim over then, circling Yoimiya’s head before dissolving into her cheek with a kiss. “Don’t you worry.”
“Wait that’s really really cool-”
“I could show you more next time, but tonight it is your show.”
Yoimiya made her feel strange. For one, Kokomi had never been particularly excited about the things in life. There were just too many motions to go through, routines to be completed. But the girl before her seemed to find joy in everything, even the most mundane of tasks.
She could only think of so many people who could find land surveying fascinating, and water irrigation ‘the coolest system ever’.
“Okay, hold this sparkler. And then we’ll do it together yeah?”
Kokomi’s breath hitched again, just like the last time. She saw Yoimiya’s vision burned the brightest of red, felt the warmest hand holding hers, before the sparklers burst into flames. Yoimiya brought her to the edge of the waterfall, and then it really hit her when Yoimiya placed the tube in the water.
“Ready?”
All she saw was the colour of Yoimiya’s eyes, and the delight on her face; she could hear the sizzling of the fuse, but there were hardly anything worth caring compared to the view before her. Flames were licking her hand, but they didn’t hurt— they danced, and she could almost hear Yoimiya’s soul sing. They coursed towards the end of the fuse like two entwining serpents, and then there was nothing that mattered anymore.
It was like she found the key to summer, the key to the secrets of this world. Almost like an epiphany, except Kokomi didn’t exactly know what she realized.
She was sure she had stopped breathing then, because how could she, when the waterfall lit up as the fireworks coursed through its waters, when the din and chaos from the other side of the shore quietened in that brief moment, as the entire world watched the golden trail streaked across and exploding in the center of Watatsumi.
Kokomi could’ve sworn it was vaguely serpent-like when it was coursing through the waterfall, but what people saw were schools of fish the colour of everything Watatsumi.
“Don’t tell anyone okay? That was just for you to see.” Yoimiya grinned, “Not a word.”
And above them she saw the brightest stars shine, even if it was for a fleeting second Kokomi was glad that she was able to call the view hers.
“Say Kokomi? Would you come back for my fireworks again?”
Kokomi did come back, many times in fact had she invited Yoimiya over, and many times she had found some poorly made up excuse to visit the shop that sat squarely in Inazuma. Regrettably a little too far, she mused, and she watched Yoimiya walked through the entrance to the Sangonomiya Shrine, carrying with her yet another large bag of her trinkets.
“Kokomi~”
She could never admit how her heart lifted whenever she saw the megawatt smile, it was just something she allowed herself to indulge in secretly.
“To what honour do I owe, to have the best fireworks maker grace my place yet aga-” Kokomi began, after a small cough. Her soldiers were already looking over curiously, and she was keenly aware that her cheeks were burning up.
“Oh you said, you wanted to see me? In the letter!”
She could hear Gorou splutter some distance to her left, before he made his way down the shrine with the rest of his guards. They knew the protocol by now, their Excellency would be in good hands if Yoimiya was there.
“I-I do, yes.” Kokomi answered. Some part of her felt like she just lost part of her pride, although it is a small price to pay for time with Yoimiya.
“I brought some. Oh, you already know don’t you. I see that look Kokomi.” Yoimiya chuckled as she took her outstretched hand. The sun was already beginning to set, and she knew in a few hours they would be painting the skies again. “I just think—that it is the prettiest when I’m with you— that I just want to you know. See what I see.”
Her heart skipped just so slightly, and Kokomi pretended it hadn’t happened too often for her liking.
“They burn the brightest when I’m with you too.”
They were by her hideout again, except this place had found itself more furniture than ever, courtesy of Yoimiya’s craftsmanship. A delicately made lantern, that Yoimiya made sure it would never go out (“Your eyes Kokomi! How do you read in the dark?”), and a couch made of the finest maple wood.
She wasn’t really sure when she had developed the habit of lying on Yoimiya’s lap, but she reckoned it was after that one time Yoimiya caught her sleeping. Kokomi had woken up with her head in Yoimiya’s lap, and the girl was asleep herself, with a half opened book in hand.
“Sara is a little stiff yes, but I think if you were to explain how much the people hated the idea of the Tenryou Commission arming up around the waters — oh because how could people forget the terrors of the war— I think she’d understand.”
Yoimiya had her hands in her hair, braiding mindlessly as she answered. “Trust me, I kinda know her. Many run-ins after all. Oh, and I think if the goal was to be on guard from the Fatuis and treasure hoarders then why would Inazuma not share their weapons? It doesn’t make sense otherwise.”
“I do think you are right.” Kokomi nodded, already drafting her speech to a certain general that she was supposed to meet in a few days. “We have the grounds to.”
It was just like Yoimiya to break things down simply, to see solutions where she cannot. Kokomi had frequently wondered about a counterpart, someone who would made her whole, someone who could make up for what she couldn’t. And sometime she saw it in Yoimiya; she saw it in how she breathed life into things that Kokomi could never use to find joy in.
Now she found it in her.
It was not fireworks that Yoimiya brought then, but sparklers. The same kind that Kokomi had first held, the very one that set off the view that took her breath away.
“Remember your fireworks slip?”
And at that Kokomi chuckled, for how could she forget the look on Yoimiya’s face when she handed the slip back?
“Colours of the universe huh?”
“Indeed.”
“I think sparklers will do for now, but I won’t go back on my word.” Yoimiya smiled, as she brandished multiple sparklers from the bag.
She would never grow tired of this, Kokomi thought, as she watched Yoimiya light up her vision, fires dancing on her fingers as she explained the colours of flame, and the various temperatures needed to achieve them.
Yoimiya made her feel as if there were nothing in this world that couldn’t be fixed. She watched as the last flames dispersed into the night, until all that left was the fire in Yoimiya’s hands. And then a moment later all was gone, and she saw nothing but the colour of her eyes, the colour of her hair. They burned under the moonlight.
“Kokomi-” Yoimiya started, and she had not seen Yoimiya this nervous since forever. Not since the last time they did the stunt at the festival. “I-If its okay with you— I’m saying a big if, like a big if — if you would also like it-”
There was a hand cupping her cheeks, soft and warm, and another tugging on the sleeves of her arm, pulling her closer. Pulling her in, sinking her in.
And just for the split second Kokomi let her.
“Yoimiya,” Kokomi tried, but words were failing and she was supposed to be the one good with words. She was supposed to be the one the hold this conversation. You’re a free spirit, she wanted to say. I have used your kindness for far too long, she wanted to say. “We can’t.”
“And why can’t we?” Yoimiya had her hand in hers, and it was warm. Oh, it was as warm as the summer waters, and Kokomi was finding it hard to retract her hand. She had sought too many moments of peace with Yoimiya, too many indulgences.
“Because you think you shouldn’t- because you don’t want me to— ah— But it really isn’t all that complicated Kokomi.” Yoimiya said simply, and the words dug into her chest like a dagger. How many times had she done exactly just that? “U-Unless I’m mistaken?”
She saw something flash in those pretty eyes, something that shouldn’t be, because Yoimiya did not go well with sadness.
“I am- I have duties to my people Yoimiya.” She thought about her mother and the many generations of Sangonomiyas before, what of the bloodline? And what of her duties that her sole existence was made for? “There are things that I don’t wish for you to- Oh.” And she was vaguely aware of tears streaking down her face, for Yoimiya looked as if she was watching her shatter into pieces right before her very eyes.
“Maybe liking someone is… not that complicated.” Yoimiya whispered, a hand on her cheeks. “Sometimes. I mean obviously there are many things to think about and I don’t know whether I could share your burden as much as I wanted to. I don’t know if I could- but I know I love you with my whole heart. My entire soul.”
It wasn’t really like that, Yoimiya was just as brilliant as she was, if not better. The girl could do anything if she so much as set her heart on it. And it was beginning to show, for Yoimiya seemed to have her heart set on taking Kokomi’s.
“I would take on the world with you.” Yoimiya said, and it was shattering her and putting her back together. “If you would let me-”
And for a brief moment she allowed herself to entertain the thought of being with Yoimiya, as a rush of happiness threatened to spill forth. Yoimiya, who had never asked anything of her; Yoimiya, who only saw her as Kokomi.
There was something about being with Yoimiya: a breath of fresh air, crazy summer urges to just dive into the waters below, and this feeling that maybe everything would be okay.
“If you would-” Yoimiya tried again, but it ended in a choke, and it really didn’t quite suit Yoimiya.
She would never let herself be the cause of anguish on this face.
“I would.” Kokomi said, as their lips met in a kiss.
.
.
.
It really feels like a whole summer dream, except it isn’t.
Kokomi has dreams the colour of her eyes, she dreams about the goldfishes. She dreams about them in the skies, she dreams about them in the water.
“Did you really just stare at me while I slept Kokomi?”
Yoimiya is smiling at her, a sleepy lopsided one, and Kokomi has to resist the urge to kiss her squarely on the lips.
“It is not as if you haven’t done the same on many occasions.” Kokomi answers, stiffening her back while she pretends to return to the book at hand. The Art of War never prepared her to fall in love, and it would seem that she has to scour the entire Yae Publishing for tips to handle.
“How could I resist when I have the prettiest firework right in my lap?”
Yoimiya’s hand is cupping her cheeks and Kokomi could feel her defenses rapidly fading. She wants to kiss her.
“I could say the same, Miss Naganohara.”
But maybe it is not all that bad, what could beat having knowledge through firsthand experience?
“Kiss me?”
“And you’re going to say something cheesy again, like. I’m seeing all the colours of the world right now or something when we kiss.”
“But I am, Yoimiya.” Kokomi laughed, “I could never see all these colours if it wasn’t for you.”