Chapter Text
The air near Mount Yougou was always restless. A static feeling filled the air, ready to discharge at the chirp of a bird or passage of one of the foxes that lived nearby. Amidst the violet grass stood a woman, verdant hair set into a high and messy bun. She idly spun a kunai about in her hand and felt her own electrical energy course through her as she did so. It somewhat settled her heart, jolts and shocks catching up to the pace of her thoughts.
Need to bring back some food to the gang. Should I gather more Naku weeds while I wait? I'll have to figure out a different route back to base. Where is she? She's never late. Too close to that damn shrine...
Her spinning and twirling knife picked up its pace as her mind continued to wander from one topic to the next, each another issue to be plotted around and handled as swiftly as possible. Which only left the interminable task of waiting. Waiting. Waiting...
"Kuki Shinobu." A familiar woman's voice called for her.
"Ah." She took a mask hanging from her waist belt and placed it on her face, obscuring all but her eyes. She turned, beholding her. "Sara. You're late."
"...Matters kept me from our meeting."
"The Vision Hunt Decree."
"Yes." The word came out swiftly, and yet with some uncharacteristic difficulty.
"Who'd you get this time? Another village's only samurai?"
"Don't." Sara closed her eyes. "I follow the Almighty Shogun, that is the only way for me. I'm certain you already know the sentiment."
"I follow a little more than the Boss." Shinobu eyed her. "Someone has to make sure things run smoothly in town."
"I will once again remind you that you're describing the role of the Tenryou Commission. If you want to help then come and join us."
Shinobu looked over the woman opposite her. She understood all too well what answer the tengu wanted, feeling it in her gaze and how she tensed against unfurling her wings.
"...We're both busy. Let's hurry up and get to it." Shinobu took out her sword, the air between them losing its crackle and becoming painfully calm.
"Very well." Sara held out her hand, bow materializing in it.
A hushed breeze blew between them, carrying with it a few blue leaves and violet blades of grass. A nearby fox looked at the mismatched pair. And then, all at once the hush broke with the simplest chirp of a nearby bird.
Sara pulled out and arrow and fired in the blink of an eye, string easily acquiescing to her demands. Shinobu watched its approach, very nearly bored as it bore towards her. A snap of her wrist and her sword swished up, severing the projectile neatly in two. The tengu was already nocking another arrow, it seemed painfully slow to the masked woman, who managed to get three steps closer in the time it took to aim. A fourth step signaled the firing of the second arrow. She slid low under it and then kipped up, leaping right over a third.
"Old tricks won't work that easily!"
"No? Then try this!" Three arrows came out, Sara lining them in a tight fan. Nowhere to run and a follow-up for wherever Shinobu dived, it was over.
For anyone else. Instead electricity flowed freely through the special blade in her hand and it unlocked into a whip-like weapon. With a sweeping swipe the lash swung across the path of all three arrows, deflecting each. With a tidy spin a second strike cut its way for Sara's ankles. A move that had once won a bout between them.
The tengu let her wings free and leapt, giving them as much of a flap as possible to create more distance and saw the chainblade gouge the ground she had been standing in moments prior. Next she summoned her own electricity, channeling it into an arrow that bore the mark of her clan which she let fly.
Shinobu ripped a kunai from her belt and threw, the two projectiles colliding. It was too late to summon a new arrow, too late to step back. Sara took her bow in both hands and swung into Shinobu's slash, blocking and sending sparks skyward.The pair traded three more strikes, the masked woman taking the lead in their dance. None of her slashes were for anything less than a swift victory, but lacked any tell of a rushed flurry or hateful, stupid assault. She was a warrior through and through, and it showed in her positioning and technique in every moment. Better than the other officers by far, and must surely be a sign of Sara's ultimate respect for the Shogun. To battle, to better, to see the spirit of her will and not just confiscate what was here blindly.
Shinobu ducked low for a kick. Sara took her opportunity to lift her foot and stab it down into the earth. The tooth of her geta stuck fast, the ninja's kick was halted painfully for her. Another arrow was nocked, pointed right at Shinobu's slit, violet eyes.
"It's over!" Sara declared loudly.
"Yeah." Shinobu must have been wearing a smirk, because it reached those selfsame eyes. With a glance to her left the reason why was apparent. Kuki's blade was resting along the inside of Sara's thigh. "It sure is."
"...Draw."
"Draw."
The pair relaxed their stances, safely depositing their weapons back to the space that all Vision wielders kept their tools. Shinobu placed both hands on the grass, but stopped as Sara offered her a hand up.
Together they stood, heaving out the last few breaths of tension, shaking their hands and, in Shinobu's case, her sore ankle.
"Are you okay?" Sara asked, looking at her leg.
"A little pain is nothing." She said it almost as though she were happy to have been fighting again. A tone that could only mean she wanted to be asked a certain question.
"Would you care for a best of three?"
"Do you even have to ask?"
The two set their stance again and they continued their clandestine sparring match, unknown to all but the slightest few.
---
"Hey hey, Shinobu!" A boisterous sort of voice welcomed the woman back to the small cave that now served as "The Grand Auxiliary Headquarters of the Great and Mighty Arataki Gang." In reality it was little more than a hole and some boxes and yet somehow, someway, the oni leader had a way of making exile exciting as well.
"Boss, everyone." She held up a hand in greeting and threw a sack onto one of the boxes. "I was able to get some Lavender Melons while I was out."
"Ah, finally! The boys were getting pretty hungry and- Oi... What happened to your arm?" Itto's attention immediately shifted from the promise of food to the small drop of red.
"Grazed by an arrow during training. I'll be fine, there are some bandages in my bag." Shinobu hadn't even noticed it, it barely stung.
Have to be more careful. Should be more aware of wounds. It barely hurt though. Did she miss on purpose? Do I need to ask her to fight harder?
"Is it that stupid tengu again? She hurt one of my boys... My deputy officer, even!" Itto growled a little.
"Kujou Sara is the only reason we're all free right now. Being close to her keeps us apprised of their movements and keeps you out of harm's way. I can only defend you if you lay low and I still have her ear to bend." Shinobu casually left out the part where she didn't mind bending that ear regardless of if it was to defend her boss or not.
Itto stood and regarded her for a long moment. There was clearly something he wanted to say. Yet instead he broke out into his signature cackle. "How about that boys? Isn't she great or what? A real member through and through!"
"Yeah!" The other three called out.
"Yes, sending you to Liyue to study that law thing was a pretty great move if I do say so myself. Being safe from the town watch is a nice feeling."
It was entirely her idea, but that was hardly the point. The point was that her decisions were under his protection. His ego wouldn't allow anything less than her total freedom of choice, in a roundabout way. She could go anywhere, do anything, and was supplied a regular amount of havoc on a daily basis.
It was something to do. Something maybe even worth doing.
"Oi, Shinobu." Itto whispered while the others began to prepare things. "Are you really alright?"
"Yeah. More than that." She took her bandages and several Naku weeds, preparing to dress her arm. She took extra care to be quick, the melon-grilling efforts were already starting to go awry.
---
Sara walked up the steps to Tenshukaku with a deliberate purpose. The Almighty Shogun herself hardly saw any visitors anymore, so standing orders were currently taken at another's discretion. That is who she was going to now, the Tenryou Barracks at the outskirts of the complex.
She entered the building, walked to the center of the floor, and bowed deeply before the man who stood there.
"Father."
"Sara." Kujou Takayuki stood tall, his age never seemed to reach him. "How is the hunt going?"
"It's proceeding smoothly. Three Visions have been seized this week in a small uprising attempt."
"Another uprising attempt." A disgusted sort of scoff cut away at the small success of the week. "They're getting bold, Sara. They need to be put in their place."
"I understand, Father. But the Shogun's law doesn't have many provisions for proactive enforcement. If we're to follow her will then-"
"Then you'll follow the tasks I give you. Make no mistake, Sara. Visions in the wrong hands are dangerous and must be dealt with swiftly. There is no other order in the land but what we make of it."
Sara couldn't help but catch the glint of everviolet on her hip. But anything she might have said was silenced.
"Like my latest request for you. One Kuki Shinobu."
Sara's eyes went wide.
"You know her and meet with her regularly. Tell me, why is that?"
"She-" The tengu had to catch her words before they fell out. "She is a useful sparring partner. No one else has fought to as many draws as she has."
"And to who does she swear loyalty to?"
"The public order."
"My people say otherwise. That she's with the Arataki hooligans."
"Even if she has... aided them, she has been nothing but a boon. She helps to improve my skills. She is more of an asset than a hindrance to the Almighty Shogun's plans."
"You say that, but what I hear is that there is a woman out there who can oppose you and who does not work for the Shogun. A liability. What will we do if she defects to Watatsumi? Puts an army at her back that equals our forces? What will happen when you meet on the battlefield then?"
"Shinobu would never do that."
"Oh really? Even though she's already loyal to that rabble-rousing Oni? The one who openly mocks us?" Takayuki shook his head solemnly. "She is a liability, girl. A disaster waiting to happen. And you should be lucky that the Shogun has realized it before disaster struck."
"The Almighty Shogun!?"
"Yes. Consider this order to be directly from her chambers. You are to capture Kuki Shinobu, so her Vision may be confiscated. That is all." He looked down upon Sara's bewilderment. "Is that understood?"
"I... Yes, Father." She looked down to the floor. "Understood."
"Good. Take a detachment, deal with the problem." Takayuki turned and made for the doors in the back, not beholden to the need for a polite dismissal and leaving Sara on the ground, looking at her hands.
The problem, she was referred to. Even though she wielded the Vision bestowed by the Archon of Eternity.
A problem.
---
The shadow of Mount Yougou stretched over the field, the faint silhouette of the sacred sakura topped it. Shinobu eyed it, spinning her kunai around one finger from her place in the tree. Her eyes were full of the same kind of despite usually reserved for the dishes the gang "invented" back home. She could still smell the burnt seagrass and congealed rice mush.
She's late. More than usual. Another hunt? I should stop coming here. But then what would I do. She suspicious. She's a friend. I should really grab some berries on your way home. My handiwork is getting sloppy again, I should fix it up. Where... is... she?
Her silent questions were answered when a crimson mask crested the hill. Sara's golden eyes followed, and flowing white outfit. She was looking dead ahead, that same sharp look in her eye as when she was tracking down others.
"...Shit." Shinobu cast her gaze all around. She couldn't see anything except the usual foliage. That was too simple a scene for what Sara's gaze told her though. She fell into her elemental power, just a little and...
Electricity all around, as expected. Massive interference just north of her, in the small lake at the base of the mountain. The violet grasses held their motes of Electro... but also a few footsteps as well. Someone had been here recently, with Electro power, and it hadn't been her. And if the few twigs on the ground were any tell, then they brought friends to where the bushes rustled in the "breeze".
She dropped out of the tree.
"You're late again, Sara."
"...Yes. I am."
"Let me guess, you're out hunting down another Vision."
"I-"
"Don't keep up the pretense. It doesn't suit you." Shinobu could have sworn that Sara's eyes softened for a moment. Then her gaze became distant, and with a resigned flick of her wrist her bow was called to hand.
"Kuki Shinobu, by order of the Vision Hunt Decree and in the name of the Almighty Shogun, you are hereby ordered to surrender yourself and your Vision. Resistance will not be tolerated."
"What law or ordinance did I break? Tell me that first."
"Concealing an unlawful organization's whereabouts."
"You can't prove I've seen anyone." The words hit the ground like leaden weights. It was the truth, by the letter of the law. Shinobu was challenging her, drawing a line and daring her to step over it.
"That may be true... But your arrest was called for by the head of the Tenryou Commission, Kujou Takayuki, an order given from the Almighty Shogun herself."
"Oh..?" Shinobu shrugged, same sly attitude as ever at the forefront. "There, doesn't it just feel better to say your boss told you to do it?" She looked over her shoulder, to the secret places the two of them were being watched.
Sara's hand squeezed her bow a little tighter.
"Let's get this over with, then." She lowered into a crouch, blade materializing in her grip and at the ready. She heard the bushes all about her rustle. Sara raised one hand in a halt, the bushes stopped rustling, and in the silence the clatter of arrow against bow was painfully loud. Gold and violet met, and another terse silence passed.
"It's okay. Just do it."
Sara's grip on the string released, Shinobu was out the arrow's path before it was even halfway to her. The bolt was slow and hesitant compared to the knife Shinobu let fly in turn. Sara had to lean hard to the left, then bat away a second kunai with her bow.
Her dueling partner- The fugitive had closed the distance in no time. Sara took two steps back and let another arrow fly, where it stuck in the dirt before her. Shinobu unhooked her blade and cut over it, Electro energy keeping the unwieldy weapon in perfect form. The tengu put her strength into a leap, flipping over the lash and taking her time to line up another shot. She pulled her arrow taut, landed and then lashed out with a kick.
The tooth of Sara's sandal just missed Shinobu's eyes, the arrow followed while she was temporarily blinded, aimed for the shoulder.
To her shock, Shinobu took the hit, the bolt sprouted from her shoulder and yet she didn't even look at it. Instead her eyes were only for Sara. Her blade reassembled and the next three strikes happened in slow motion. She quickly reversed her grip and swung upward, for the tengu's cheek.
Sara stepped back.
Shinobu leapt up in a neat spin, throwing a volley of five kunai all at once at the officer's geta.
Sara fluttered away. Reorienting herself, she couldn't find her opponent anywhere. One single heartbeat and-
She appeared on the other side of the kunai, low and swift and in a tackle that sent the two of them rolling.
"Madame Kujou!" A chorus went up in the field and ten men in violet armor stormed the field. Each had their spears at the ready, thundering to a halt and then breaking into cheers. Kujou Sara had an arrow pointing straight at Shinobu's exposed stomach. She had so clearly won, and they were all blinded by the radiance of victory. Their general, however, seemed to share none of that, golden eyes going wide. Something warm fell upon her cheek.
Blood. A drop of Shinobu fell onto Sara's face.
"...You win, Kujou Sara."
A bitter, putrid taste coated the general's tongue as Shinobu was accosted and bound, the men falling instantly into a formation to safely "escort" her back to Inazuma City. Sara let them do as they needed, silent while the chainblade and mask were taken from the woman.
She turned to Shinobu, forced down to her knees and hands behind her back. Sara reached for her Vision, clasping it.
Shinobu closed her eyes. The shadow of a shudder ran through her body.
"By order of the Almighty Shogun, I hereby relieve you of your Vision." With a soft tug, she took the shining, violet gem in hand, turning about in short order and walking away. "And get her proper medical care. I don't care who we have to call on." She held a hand over her side, right in the soft spot between ribs that would lead up and into her liver. There was a bead of red gathering from where a hidden kunai promised to pierce and yet did not. She let her bow fade from existence, hiding its cut string from the platoon.
The sunlight was suddenly lost. The sun had gone behind the mountain, the outline of the sacred sakura fell over them all. The last thing Sara saw was the gleam of the Vision reflected in Shinobu's eyes, slowly growing fainter.
---
The cave was dark, despite the fire. It was cold, despite the blankets, and it was crowded even though there was one less person in it than usual. It had been so for three entire days now. Itto stomped from one side of the entrance to the next, occasionally biting his thumb or flicking his comb through his already-immaculate hair.
"C'mon... Where are ya, Shinobu?"
Any other time and the tone of his words might have suggested that he was impatient for dinner, or a beetle fight, or any number of hare-brained schemes. But none of that playful mischief was present now, there was only pacing, waiting, and watching.
"Moo!" A familiar sound drew his thoughts away.
"Huh, Ushi? Hell yeah I'm wearing a hole in the floor! We're missing a member." Itto turned to see a tiny bull with a tiny roof on his back.
"Moooo... Moo!"
"I know but-"
"Moo!"
"I'm making you nervous? Look buddy I-"
"Mooooooo. Moo..."
Go for a walk?"
"Moo moo."
Uh. Okay. I guess you got a point, some fresh air sounds pretty good. And hey maybe I'll find Shinobu!"
"Moooo."
"Yeah yeah, I got it. Who do you think you're talking to? I'll stay outta trouble!"
So it came to pass that Arataki Itto was out on one of his Great and Important Journeys of Self-Discovery. Or something. The name was a work-in-progress. Like his destinations often were. Usually he ended up in Hanamizaka, or Amakane Island. Today he set his sights on the former, passing through Konda Village, thoughts blowing about like the grasslands the tiny town was set in. Even though he had waved to the various villagers, he didn't stay to chat for very long, instead crossing the Byakko plains as the sun made its sojourn overhead. Shinobu had said... something about staying away from the city. But he was Arataki Itto, and the people there were his friends. Most of them.
Some of them. And that was enough, especially when there were new potential friends always hanging out there, to be won in beetle fights and card games, and the occasional sumo match.
The latter had been his introduction to his deputy. He had been up to his usual routines when she approached the lot of them.
"Are you the Arataki Gang? I was referred to you by a friend. I've come to request temporary employment."
She couldn't just be accepted like that, and Itto couldn't just accept some random girl, obviously. So he sought, at the time, to end it quickly with a sumo match. The woman threw him out of the ring in about three seconds flat with some kind of fancy throw he had never seen before or felt since. A rematch was called and he was ready. He put all his weight into the next grapple, only to topple out of the ring once more. She had earned her entry, and joined on almost every adventure since. Finding beetles, fighting honorable duels, causing a ruckus in the name of spreading the good word about the gang, and yes, even bailing them all out of jail time and time again. He stepped into the outskirts of Inazma City.
Yes, right there it had all started. Next to the tree in Hanamizaka, green hair set against the pink petals.
But it wasn't an image his mind conjured up. There actually was a woman with verdant hair there. Waiting in the same spot as their first-ever meeting. Itto's eyes went wide before he broke into a flat out run.
"Shinobu!" He called out, smile plastering itself on his face. He ran up to the passerby and clasped a hand on her shoulder. "It's about time, me and the boys-"
"Unhand me!"
Itto jumped back a pace as his hand was shoved off. The woman before him leered through a pair of round spectacles.
"You. What business do you have with me, Oni?"
"Uh hey... Missus Kuki. Sorry, I thought you were Shinobu for a second." He did his best to give a winning smile, even if the sudden terror struck into his heart made it into a poor grimace.
"And why would you need her? More law-breaking? More selfishness?" She was practically hissing her words. "You should be grateful she's come to her senses, or I'd lay you out in the street here and now for stealing her in the first place."
"Hold on, hold on! I think you've got something confused here, Lady. I didn't take Shinobu from anyone, she joined all by herself. She drew her own paperwork!"
"After you filled her head with nonsense, no doubt." She let out an annoyed sigh. "She's home now, where she's supposed to be. And that's where she'll stay. Not off chasing fantasies and fairy tales."
"Oi." Itto's voice dropped a little. "I don't know where you heard that, but Shinobu's done a lot of great things. You're saying she just gave all that up?"
"I'm not saying anything. Especially to you." She turned up her nose and continued down the street, shouldering her grocery bag as she did.
That left Itto in the middle of the street, looking up and down it in shock. Shinobu really had left, and to go somewhere she always avoided. Going so far as to send him (Arataki Itto!) to deal with any matter that concerned the shrine. Sure it had led to a fruitful arrangement, he got to see the small tanuki-hoodie-wearing girl who slept up there, and once challenged the fox-eared lady who lived up there to an eating competition and won. But more important than that was the fact that Shinobu had been so adamant about avoiding the place altogether.
Something didn't feel right, even to him. He sighed deeply and looked up to Mount Yougu, topped with the sacred sakura. He didn't stop to think for even a moment, instead throwing himself into his next task.