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Miko is still in training to be Guuji when she finds the Shogun on the grass, under a sakura tree, struggling to contain the bleeding from a wound on her thigh.
They’re some distance away from the shrine, but still within range to rush back should an uptight shrine maiden notice the absence of a kitsune who is shirking her duties. Miko knows this space well, but she never expected to find the Narukami Ogosho in her hiding spot.
She’s never met the Shogun in person, only heard about her in passing and felt her power through the ley lines of Inazuma, but she approaches anyway.
“Are you hurt?” she asks. The answer is obvious, the question is an invitation to explain.
The Shogun looks up with a frown. She seems somewhat surprised at being approached, though Miko is sure she had sensed her proximity.
Miko gestures at the injury on the Shogun’s thigh. It seems to have been a lucky strike in the seam between two pieces of armor, though the plates that would have covered the Shogun’s legs are already removed and placed to the side. The linen underclothing is stained red.
The Shogun shifts away. “It is nothing. Merely a flesh wound.”
Miko snorts. She may know little about medicine, but even she knows it’s worse than that. She tears off a strip of her shrine maiden uniform, already knowing the others will chastise her later. “Here.”
The Shogun stares at the slip of fabric, then up at Miko. “You will tell no one about this.” She takes it.
“Sure,” Miko says. She hadn’t planned to. Everyone knows the Raiden Shogun is wise and kind to her people, always well-spoken and prepared for any situation. This woman here is stiff and uncomfortable, nothing like the stories. Something isn’t quite right, and, until Miko figures it out, she’s keeping this to herself.
Besides, this could become good blackmail some day, or, even more tempting, a good joke.
The Shogun says nothing, holding Miko’s torn cloth to her wound until the bleeding slows, then stops. Miko, in an unusual move, stays silent as well, watching her subtle movements as the pain fades from her features.
Without a word, the Shogun returns the blood-soaked cloth and walks away.
Miko thinks that’s the end of it, but she finds the Shogun under the same tree some time later, this time with a harsh bruise trailing down her arm. She isn’t in any obvious pain this time, and looks to merely be resting.
Miko knows more, this time around. She had been doing her research, and had heard of a fierce battle with a rogue samurai. The samurai had managed to seize the Shogun by the arm and had attempted to throw her down, but the Shogun had pulled off a rather impressive feat of acrobatics and had spun around to pierce him with her polearm before he could.
Miko had thought that story an exaggeration, but the bruise and the self-satisfied air on the Shogun in front of her make her think it may have been true.
“You’re back,” she says as greeting.
“You did not tell anyone,” the Shogun replies.
Miko settles herself beside the shogun and takes a look at the bruise. “You know, I learned simple medicines only recently,” she says, reaching into her robes to pull out a soothing cream. “I’m nowhere near the level of the other shrine maidens, but medicine has never been my passion. I tend to be the cause of small injuries. Only in good fun, of course.”
Unlike the previous time, Miko is not silent. She talks about her time as a shrine maiden, and the absolutely hilarious trick she had pulled on her mentor the other day. As she talks, she gently rubs her cream on the Shogun’s arm. The Shogun says nothing as she speaks, but at the climax, when Miko complains about the absolute scolding she had received from the Guuji, she hears a small chuckle.
Miko glances up quickly enough to catch the barest hint of a smile on the Shogun’s face before it’s wiped away and replaced by her usual stony expression. Miko smirks and files that information away for later.
She has a new personal mission, and that is to see the Narukami Ogosho truly smile.
Miko gets her first opportunity some time later, back under that same sakura tree. Once again, the Shogun is nursing wounds from a recent battle. Miko has been doing her research, and comes prepared with the gauze and creams needed to take care of the gash in her side. This time, it had been a battle with a snake god, one that had finally brought the island of Watatsumi under the fold of Narukami.
Miko had been following the politics of that little debacle with an unexpected closeness. In the time leading up to this decisive battle, the Shogun had been in negotiation with the priestesses of Watatsumi over land and resources. The negotiations had fallen through, and the snake god had launched an invasion on land that the Shogun had fought so hard to control. After the decisive battle, the snake god had been slain in dramatic fashion, and the land itself had been split in two.
The show of force is very, very interesting to Miko. She knows the power of the Narukami Ogosho, she knows the stories of the battles of ages past. She’s been watching as the Shogunate has been expanding its power in an age that the people have already begun to refer to as the ‘Archon War’. She also knows that the Shogun often attempts a diplomatic approach, and stories tell of her wit and intelligence in those meetings.
There is no reason the Shogun cannot be both diplomatic and ruthless depending on the situation. However, from her observations, there is an unexplainable disconnect between the two Shoguns.
Miko observes the Shogun in front of her as she attempts to patch up her wound. This Shogun is awkward and tense, clearly preferring to listen rather than to speak. This is a warrior, skilled with her blade but green with her tongue.
Miko can believe that the woman in front of her is the victor from the tales of battle she’s been hearing. What she cannot believe is that this is the negotiator who is known for her kindness by her people.
Even thinking of it feels forbidden. But Miko wonders anyway. What if there are two shoguns?
The Shogun under the sakura tree seems to sense there’s something on Miko’s mind. “What are you thinking about?”
Blunt, and to the point. Now that she’s thinking about it, Miko knows this woman is no diplomat.
“Nothing of importance,” she says, getting back into her work.
The Shogun frowns. “You’re silent today. You don’t have a story on your tongue like last time?”
Miko lets out a laugh. “No, not today.” What if? “Just thinking.”
“Thinking of what?”
Miko looks up into the Shogun’s eyes. She looks earnestly interested. She’s sitting here, after a tense battle, likely knowing Miko would have come.
Would asking ruin everything?
Miko has always been a risk-taker.
“Are you the real Shogun? Or is it the other one?”
The woman’s eyes widen and she jerks away, only to gasp in pain as the movement pulls at her wound. “How - What -”
“I figured it out.” Miko shakes her head. “If you’re worried about anyone else knowing, don’t be. I only figured it out because I’ve spent this time with you. And I won’t tell.” She winks.
It takes a moment for the woman to calm down. Then, her shoulder slump and she sighs. “I suppose I’m not good enough at acting to replicate Makoto entirely yet. At the end of all this, when victory over this land is ours, I intend to step aside and my sister will be the one known as the Shogun, and I will be there to fight her battles. There will be only one Shogun to lead the country, and Makoto is best suited for that role, but I am the one with the battle prowess to protect her and our people. We are… not quite successful in spreading the story that there is only one of us, it seems, if a shrine maiden was able to discover the ruse.”
Miko cannot help the sly smile spreading over her face. “I am no mere shrine maiden. But I will keep your secret.” She tilts her head. “So your sister, the diplomatic one, her name is Makoto. And what is yours?”
“I am Ei.”
Miko smiles. “Lovely to meet you officially, Raiden Ei. I am Yae Miko.”
There is a beat of silence. “Does it disappoint you?” Ei asks quietly. “That I’m not my sister?”
“Why would it?” Miko smirks. “Besides, I don’t think your sister and I would get along nearly as well.”
Ei tries to hide it, but Miko sees her smile. Just the thing she wants to see.
Ei returns to the tree often. She always has a scrape or a bruise, but nothing as dramatic as her previous wounds. These are wounds that she could easily dress herself, but Miko is pleased that Ei returns regardless.
Her skill with medicine improves, as well as her knowledge about this mysterious woman who is not the same Shogun as the one who interacts with the people of Narukami island on the regular.
On one such occasion, Ei arrives with a scrape on her cheek. A friendly spar had gotten out of hand, she says, although the faint smirk on her face says that she had still won, in the end.
Miko dabs gently at it while Ei tells the story, offering remarks and watching as her commentary causes the woman to smile softly.
Miko isn’t sure exactly what it is she says to get the reaction, but at one moment, Ei pulls away to laugh.
It is the first time she’s done it in front of Miko, and from the surprised expression and hasty covering of her mouth, Miko realizes it’s the first time in a long time she’s done it all.
Ei’s laugh is beautiful.
Miko finds joy in wringing frustration out of others, watching them twitch and squirm thanks to her machinations. With Ei, she realizes she has no desire for that outcome. She watches as Ei shakes herself and returns to a neutral expression, and realizes she will do anything in her power to make her laugh again.
Miko returns to cleaning the scrape, and gently brushes against Ei’s skin. Aside from her laugh, the rest of her is really quite beautiful. She knows what the Shogun looks like, of course. The Narukami Ogosho is making a strong claim to be the sole god in charge of the archipelago, and Miko is seeing more of her than ever. But, usually, that public figure is Makoto. She’s certainly easy on the eyes, but there’s something different about Ei. Miko doesn’t quite know what it is, but where Makoto is beautiful in a passive, distant way, Ei is beautiful in a way that makes Miko want to wrap her in her arms and never let go.
As Ei leaves this time, with one last smile, Miko wonders, is this what the humans call love?
It’s a pity she never gets a chance to work that out.
The invasion of the Abyss is a tense and chaotic period of time. The darkness and corruption spread over the land, and every shrine maiden is pressed into service. The people cry out for their Shogun, but she has been publicly called away to Celestia.
Miko hears tales of a warrior with a polearm arriving out of the darkness to save the day on numerous occasions. She knows this is Ei, unable to give her people the hope they need for the sake of the illusion of the Shogun, but fighting for their sake nonetheless.
And then the unthinkable happens. The forces of Inazuma are overwhelmed, and sacrifices are made, and then, before Miko knows it, the battle is over.
She had not been there at the time, when everything she had known had changed. She had been at the base of the sacred sakura tree with her fellow shrine maidens, desperately trying to cleanse the corruption, when she hears the news after the fact.
The Guuji is dead, she is told. She is to become the Guuji of Narukami shrine.
The sudden promotion in the wake of the death of her mentor is a lot to process, even for her. She manages to make her excuses, and flees to her private spot under the tree.
Ei is already there. Miko smiles when she sees her, but her smile quickly fades when she sees her expression.
Ei is staring at her hands, which are dirtied from battle. Her clothes are crumpled and dusted with foreign dust.
She looks broken.
“What happened?” Miko asks.
“Makoto is dead.”
Miko doesn’t hear any more of this story, not until later. Instead, she hurries forward and pulls Ei into her chest. The pressures of suddenly becoming Guuji feel like nothing in the face of losing a twin sister and suddenly becoming the sole Shogun.
Ei’s shoulders shake and a gentle trickle of tears make their way onto Miko’s shoulder, but she says nothing. Miko runs a hand through her hair, gently working out the tangles. Unlike her usual self, she stays quiet and somber. Ei needs support, not her jokes, not right now.
Together, under the tree, they stand in silence, and then Ei pulls herself away. She fixes her face into a neutral expression. “I must go. There is much to be done.”
Later, Miko will regret not saying anything, but in the moment, she merely nods. And then she watches Ei turn and leave.
Miko doesn’t see the Shogun for centuries after that. She sees the puppet, of course, but she knows that isn’t her Ei. She begins to think that this is it, that all she would ever have were those stolen moments under the sakura tree.
But then the Traveler arrives and turns all of Inazuma upside down. Somehow they manage to pull Ei out of her funk and back into the action. Ei seems to do better, stepping out of her plane of Euthymia and taking charge of her own country. She even confronts the death of her sister and truly takes control back from the puppet, which surprises even Miko. The Traveler and their little flying companion seem to have a knack for accidentally forcing those around them to confront their insecurities and fears.
When Miko recruits them in her scheme to take back control of the light novel industry from that nonsense ritual book, she doesn’t expect herself to be affected as well.
She manages to play it off well enough. She jokes around with the Traveler, and watching their little companion rage at having to part with her precious mora is exhilarating.
But after, when the dust settles, she returns to the sakura tree and looks into the sky. For a brief moment, the moon had been blocked out by a sea of her friends and family from a time long past. And although she tells herself it doesn’t really affect her, and that those around her in the present time are all she needs, she cannot help but miss them.
“Something on your mind, Miko?” comes a voice.
Miko turns and is surprised to see the Shogun. After a second of observation, she realizes that it is Ei at the helm of the puppet, with the puppet nowhere to be seen in her soft features.
She plays off her surprise with a laugh. “I had a good bit of fun with our mutual friend. They’re so very interesting, don’t you agree?”
Ei doesn’t engage. “You miss them, don’t you?”
Miko blinks. “Whatever could you be talking about?”
Ei shakes her head. “I saw the ritual. It’s been so long since I’ve seen that sight, but I would never be able to forget it. I am glad to have been able to see it one last time.”
“Oh, the youkai?” Miko chuckles. “I simply did what any good Guuji would do.”
Ei reaches out and gently takes Miko’s hands. “It’s alright to mourn our losses.”
Is it? Is it really? Miko forces out a small laugh. “What’s the point?”
“They meant much to you. It’s alright. I am here.” Ei pulls Miko closer. If she didn’t know better, Miko would think this a hug. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to be here for you all these years. I’m sorry I never realized that you, too, would have your own to grieve. But I’m here now. I am here.”
Miko stands stiff. Her own feelings have never been important. Nothing had been important before, nothing aside from fodder she could use against others.
But Ei knows loss, and heartbreak. She knows the feeling of her entire life falling apart around her, every last person she knew and trusted fading away into the stars.
And, for the first time in her millenia of life, Miko buries her head into Ei’s shoulder and allows herself to be comforted.
She does not cry, because she cannot muster up a tear. But she allows her smile to fall and her shoulders to slump, and she lets Ei’s strength hold her in place against the one she loves so very much.
Ei is awkward, and clearly out of her depth. But Miko feels the earnestness in her attempts at comfort, and the care she takes. The fact she is attempting at all means so much more than Miko will ever allow herself to admit.
The two of them settle down beneath their sakura tree, and Miko allows Ei to become the only being allowed to take care of her.