Chapter Text
Kitsune Saiguu had known she would have her hands full the moment she accepted Yae Miko as one of her own.
Granted, it wasn’t as if she had had a choice to begin with. The small kitsune was presumably part of the Hakushin lineage and as such, her charge by default. Even so, since the beginning she knew that Miko would prove to be a new challenge even if she had gotten plenty of experience with all the other, feisty children she had taught through the years.
She had been right from the start, though Miko’s love of fried tofu helped control some of her “bad” behavior at first. And although that was still something that she and the rest of the Grand Narukami Shrine used to that day in order to keep her in check, it had lost a bit of its efficacy as Miko grew older.
(And as people from nearby villages became more than happy to thank the youkai with huge bowls of it, whenever she performed some service or the other for them.)
For a while though, Miko had also become quiet, lost in her own thoughts instead of executing some plan or the other on how to work less and have more fun. The change in her demeanor hadn’t gone unnoticed not only by Saiguu, but by the others around the temple, too: it hadn’t become uncommon for the Guuji to hear something or the other about that being commented here and there as she meandered through the sacred ground.
At first she paid no mind to the rumors, to whichever was uttered after “Yae Miko is no longer the whimsical child from before, is she?”. It was all mere conjecture, nothing that was actually relevant to the inner workings of the temple—why, more often than not Lady Saiguu would tell them to hush, mind their own business and gather more books for their growing library.
And that went on for a while… yet everything changed the day that the one to mention that, to ask the exact same question with a smile on her face, happened to be none other than Raiden Makoto.
“She is always by the arena whenever Ei is practicing, too,” the Shogun went on as she accompanied Saiguu on a round through the shrine. It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon by then and she had just left another tea session with the heads of the Tri-Commission. “Just like today: I passed by to make sure my sister didn’t need anything and there she was, watching from a distance with wide, adoring eyes. It’s rather sweet.”
It wasn’t the first time Saiguu had heard about it, yet since many of the youkai and shrine maidens around her liked to gossip she hadn’t been completely sure about the veracity of that information. Well, how could she question it then, since Raiden Makoto would have no reason to lie to her about it?
“I… I see. Is the Almighty Kagemusha upset with that behavior? I can tell Miko to cease that, or to at the very least be more subtle—or offer her the opportunity to be trained in martial arts too, if that is to her liking and yours,” the kitsune said, stopping in front of the torii so as to think things through.
If she craned her head to the right just a bit she would be able to see the training arena that Makoto had mentioned. It stood not at the top of the mountain like the shrine, yet close enough that traveling between the two spots took no more than five minutes or so. The area had been cleaned off of sakura trees (which had been taken to decorate the temple and made for beautiful scenery,) the soil exposed underneath the rocks after the many days and nights in which the kagemusha had used for practicing her arts. It was surrounded by the edge of smaller cliffs, some of which would offer the perfect cover for some spy or the other.
And just as Makoto had also mentioned, there was a flash of pink hair close to some trees, hidden to the best of Miko's ability. It was a good cover, for as good as covers around that open area went; as long as she stayed quiet there was a possibility that someone like the Shogun’s twin wouldn’t listen to her.
“Hm, typical. I told her to gather herbs around the mountains and perhaps she wandered… though I don’t suppose she simply happened to find Raiden Ei training by mistake, this fine afternoon.” Saiguu mused, more to herself than to the Shogun who stood beside her and chuckled at the scene.
“Heh, I don’t think she has. It isn’t the first time I have seen her there—and oh, you asked if Ei was against it? I doubt it, really.” Makoto’s tone was sweet, though the light that looked warm in her eyes the second that the kitsune turned to glance at her was even more appealing than the sound of her voice. “We both better watch it, but apparently Miko has been helping her with all sorts of things. Like giving her water, some snacks or tea whenever she takes a break. Now, before you apologize or say something about it bothering my sister, I actually think Ei… enjoys it.
“After all, she is always smiling when she tells me about it, about the shrine maiden that watches over her. And… It has been a while since the last time she gave me such a beautiful smile, too.” The Shogun stopped, watching her sister practicing for a few seconds. “The fact that our training has gone in separate ways means that we have been pulled apart. Because hers is the warrior’s way, well, that has made her quite lonely and there is little to nothing I have been able to do about it.”
“And you don’t want her to be left alone, do you?” Saiguu mumbled, following Miko with her eyes.
For the most of it, the kitsune stood hidden behind trees and mountains, creeping closer and closer to the arena without making a single sound. There was an enchanting look on her face, hesitation causing her to stop here and there in order to make sure she hadn’t been found out yet.
Her movements were perfect indeed, way different from how clumsy Miko had been as a child or a teenager. Why, they were almost as graceful as Raiden Ei’s were lethal, which would make for a deadly, enchanting combination if the two ever fought together at some point or the other.
If the two fought together… and if they stayed together as well…
“Indeed.” Makoto nodded, hand ghosting over Saiguu’s once Ei stopped for a few seconds, the tip of her sword resting over the floor. The kagemusha’s chest heaved with the effort, a long sequence that summarized every pose and strike immortalized in their family’s technique. All that the Shogun herself had failed to master, and to that day was grateful that her sister had been able to do it and lift that burden from her. “Yet I feel that both Miss Yae and Ei are reticent, a bit unsure about how to proceed.”
Saiguu could do nothing but nod. “Miko asks me a lot about Raiden Ei. At first I was unsure about her real aim, as everybody knows that she will assist both of you when the time comes, but…”
“This is more than mere curiosity about the Shogunate, I believe. Look.”
Makoto pointed to the arena at the exact moment in which Ei sighed, shook her head and glanced around as if looking for something. Just as it happened every single day, it was usually about the time in which she would stop for a meal, for a light snack or cup of tea if her twin had invited her to it beforehand.
Just as it happened every single day, the martial artist had forgotten to bring some food or water with her, face falling the second she recognized her recurring mistake.
The novelty to that situation came in the form of the shrine maiden who slowly approached the training spot as if she had been on her way towards a task or the other. The difference was that right then and there her steps were louder than before, loud enough for the kagemusha to look up from the ground and point her sword in the direction of the trees in the same way she had been doing for the last months or so.
Only to lower it and give a light, beautiful smile the moment Miko emerged from her hideout.
“See what I mean?” Raiden Makoto queried under her breath, chuckling a bit.
She turned her back to the cute interaction, something she had secretly watched for the last few weeks without confronting Ei about it. The entire scene was too wholesome, a breath of fresh air when compared to the rest of her day, to the nature of her work and of the rumors she had been hearing from around and outside of Inazuma.
If things were indeed about to get dire, if darkness was indeed lurking and trying to close its claws around their beloved land, then she would do all in her power to preserve moments like that.
“I…” Meanwhile, Saiguu didn’t know what to say, how to react. She couldn’t tear her eyes from it, from how her own pupil took tentative steps towards the kagemusha with a cup of steaming tea in hands—the smell was enough to let her know that the herbs which had been used for the concoction were the same ones she had asked Miko to fetch. “Has she been doing that a lot?”
“ They have, yes. Almost every single day, except the ones in which Ei’s presence is required at my side.” Turning to face the other woman, Makoto placed a hand on her shoulder and caressed it. “Now now, please do not be cross at the young one—it’s not as if we were too different, remember? And as I said before, Ei enjoys her company a lot.”
Before the kitsune could say anything against the matter, they both saw and heard the kagemusha laugh. The sound was sweet, carefree, not like what they thought they would ever hear from someone like Ei. Someone reserved, who wasn’t known for interacting with others aside from instructors, her own sister and the temple personnel when needed.
“By the looks of it, I would say that you wish them to keep getting closer. And that mayhaps you already have a plan on how to do so,” Saiguu said, wincing once she noted the glean in Makoto’s eyes.
“That I do, and I require your assistance for it to come into fruition. You see…”
Saiguu had been with Makoto (as familiar and lover) for long enough to know how cunning the woman was. How she would never stop at anything if the end goal was to make her loved ones happy, or to solve their issues before they could even ask for her help. That was even truer when it came to Ei, a closed off person who remained in the shadows and was quick to consider what her sister wanted first and foremost.
What would she do, then, if said sister focused on her wellbeing first and foremost?
Yet even the kitsune had to admit that the plan was something interesting, if not too simple. They wouldn’t even have to meddle that much—though Makoto had already thought about contingencies and what they could do should things go awry—and do nothing but point their two idiots in the right direction.
Once the Shogun was done speaking, the head priestess turned towards her, ears twitching with excitement.
“We should talk to them on separate days, should we not? Provided they won’t mention it to each other or something of the sort.” Saiguu thought out loud, already wondering what her words to Miko would be. What with how intelligent the young woman was proving out to be, there was a chance the slightest word would make her suspicious.
“I don’t think they would comment on it, no.” Makoto’s statement was so certain, Saiguu’s doubts were put to rest. “But very well. Given the calendar and how such days will go, I will allow for you to speak to Miss Yae first. Wait for further orders and please keep watch over them for the time being.” The Shogun turned around to leave, but not before casting a last, forlorn stare towards the arena, the chuckling Ei and blushing Miko. “There is a lot at stake here, starting with their happiness.”
The head shrine maiden had seen that look lingering on her lover’s face for the last few weeks—months, really, if she was being honest with herself. Yet whenever she asked Makoto about it, the Shogun either dismissed it with a wave of her hand or simply disappeared without answering, something that made her even more concerned than before.
Right then it was no different: as soon as Saiguu opened her mouth to ask what the matter was, to see if she would have a semblance of an answer or explanation, Makoto shook her head and walked away at a slow yet tired pace.
Left with nothing but orders to follow and thoughts about what would happen next, she sighed, took one last look at Ei and Miko down at the arena before going back to her own tasks as well.