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Yae Miko has changed. A lot.
The first thing Ei notices is her hair. The strands that were once always colored in the bright hue of pink are now dusted with platinum highlights. Next is her body, where she has grown fuller and curvier at all the right parts (she does so respectfully, of course). The way she carries herself around has a certain display of poise, and she’s definitely much more confident than before. There’s mischief every time she smiles, and Ei can almost feel every bit of her snark just by her eyes alone, which also holds a different kind of glint within those purple irises.. No matter where or on what angle she looks in, she can’t see the past innocence and naivety the girl had, and she can’t decide whether she should take that as a good thing or a bad omen.
And being right next to her, as they walk side by side through the lamp lit streets, Raiden Ei feels like she has never changed at all. Not a single bit.
Her violet hair remained in its usual braid, the same length and shade over the years. She’s still the quiet girl everyone saw and knew would have seen back in high school, prim and proper and a slave to societal rules and constructs. Her fashion sense remained to be within the comfort of coats and turtlenecks and plaid suit pants, never gotten as far as Miko’s clothes that mostly hugged her godly figure perfectly. She didn’t have the same striking confidence as Miko does, but she’s somehow glad that she managed to keep her assertive aura all this passing time. That, she thinks, is the only thing she can put on par with Miko.
“Hey,” Speak of the Devil, whose voice drags her out of her train of thoughts along with the little tap on her shoulder. Miko raises a brow as she looks at Ei. “You okay? You’ve been too quiet.”
She doesn’t look into those captivating eyes of hers, or at least tries not to. “Yeah, I’m alright. Just thinking about things.”
A teasing smile appears on her lips, curving the corners into that same mischievous way she’s always remembered. Ei prepares herself for whatever kind of taunting she’ll use on her. “Ha, I never knew the day would come where you’d actually think .”
Miko chuckles, and Ei scoffs at the light jab she made. “I always think , thank you very much. You just choose not to notice it.”
Spring draws near, with the fresh evening breeze hitting their bodies ever so gently. The old sakura tree regrows its leaves and flowers in shades of purple and pink, and as Ei calmly strides a few feet behind Miko, she is reminded of how much it served her comfort while she was away. Far, far away… from her.
Ei finds herself frowning at where the thought has led her. If she remembers correctly, her friend had moved two nations away to continue her studies, while she drifted between Liyue and Inazuma from time to time in order to maintain her family’s track of business and reputation. There was rarely any time to properly catch up with each other, or even get a much needed rest. What once was a regular escape for her became an expensive luxury that she could just take whenever she wanted. It is a considerably heavy burden to be passed onto her, and came along were the constant barrages of responsibilities and duties to uphold. Years have passed, and it has remained to be the same routine and cycle, to which she adapted all too slowly.
Even when years have passed, she still feels the pressure of change clinging onto her shoulders and back tightly.
A hand clasping hers, and she’s brought back to the present from pondering about the past. It’s warm, Miko’s touch and comfort seeping through her gloves and spreading all over her body like a gentle wildfire along some hill. “Ei? Are you sure you’re really okay?”
She takes time to blink, recomposing herself before shaking her head in response. “Don’t mind me, Miko. I just get…” The sweet fragrance of the blossoming sakura guides her to an answer, and Ei faces her friend with a tender smile, squeezing her hand as additional reassurance. “... nostalgic, sometimes.”
||==//::\\==||
“So, how’s Mondstadt treating you so far?” Ei asks, swirling her cup that’s been filled to the brim with sake.
Miko chuckles, and Ei doesn’t miss the slight snort by the end. Just a couple of drinks in, and she’s already much tipsier than her. “Aren’t you curious?”
A simper curling upon her lips, Ei rests her cheek on a loose fist as she stares at the woman. She has never smiled this much for so long, she thinks. “Quite. Why don’t you tell me everything else, after that last call we had?”
“It’s been a month or so, hasn’t it?” Miko hums, just for a bit, but she retells as Ei had requested. And she, on the other hand, listens more than she intended to. Miko’s memory is as impeccable as ever, not ceasing to amaze her entirely. She explains things thoroughly, describes probably every single detail in the places she’d been through that Ei can visualize them without effort. It seems that her unique way with words has stayed through the length of time, and Ei finds herself being grateful for it.
She watches her in patient silence as she talks through the events of her life spent without Ei by her side. She doesn’t miss the way she smiles with contentment written all over it, or the way she fidgets with her hands and fingers every so often whenever she gets too excited over a certain part or climax of her ceaseless stories. It’s crazy, Ei thinks, how every miniscule movement she does causes her heart aflutter. As far as she remembers, she has never eaten or swallowed a butterfly in her life, yet she feels some kind of swarming whenever she’s around Miko. It’s crazy, and she thinks she’s going crazy. But then again, she wants nothing more and nothing less of her.
“Ei?”
“Yes?” Ei clears her throat right after a sharp inhale back into reality. With a few waking blinks, she sees Miko staring at her with that adorable expression on her face — a crooked smile, furrowed brows, and the tiniest of pouts. She feels her chest blossom with familiar warmth; oh, how she missed that look.
“You keep zoning out on me,” Miko huffs dramatically, looking out to the window beside them, her cheek propped on her palm. “Seems like I’m just boring you with my life.”
The equally dramatic sigh that followed makes Ei grin and shake her head. The theatrics never really end where this woman is involved. “Of course not. Far from it, actually.”
Lilac eyes narrow in doubt to her words. “Sure, if that’s true, what’s on your mind then?”
Nothing, you’re just so beautiful right now , Ei says to herself. Or, at least she thinks she did.
“Oh? Just right now?”
A teasing smirk slowly appears on Miko’s lips, and it’s all too late for her to realize what she has done. Ei’s eyes widened in shock of her carelessness, already feeling the beginning of a hot flush spreading across her cheeks and ears. “I said it out loud, didn’t I?”
Miko nods as she picks her glass of hot chocolate up and drinks from it, leaving Ei to groan and fumble on her embarrassment for her own amusement. Still, Ei has the decency to hide and cower behind her hands, lowering her head while muttering apologies over and over again.
“This is so humiliating,” She finally whines after a few seconds, the words coming out all muffled but coherent enough for Miko to understand.
“Complimenting a lady is considered ‘humiliating’ now, huh?”
“Wha— No! T-that’s not what I meant—” Ei stammers, waving her hands in a panic. Gods, why is she making such a shitshow of herself?
It certainly doesn’t help that Miko only laughs at her, snorts and wheezes included in between her breaths. The woman must be sick in the head for her to be so entertained when people get all shy. Or, perhaps, that’s really just the kind of person that she is. Despite this, Ei doesn’t let such a wicked nature of hers stop her from adoring Miko.
“Oh, you should’ve seen yourself!” Miko manages to speak once she’s got all of the remaining laughter out of her system, wiping a tear of joy away in the process. “You’re still as easy as before.”
“And you’re still the giant asshole from then,” Ei scoffs, but it comes out as more of a grumble. The softness within her words doesn’t vanish, much to her surprise. “You’re not so different from me, Miko.”
At her statement, the woman has the audacity to roll her eyes. “Trust me, we’re beyond different. We just…” Miko vaguely gestures with a hand that holds a spoonful of fried tofu, brows contorted into that of focus. Ei knew it too well to forget such a look on her face. “... complete each other, you know?”
Her jaw slacks. Since when did Miko get so genuinely sweet? She can feel her knees go weak and buckle even as she’s sitted, feeling herself go warm and fuzzy and bothered, but in a definitely great way. Maybe because she’s borderline drunk at the moment? One of her shiest smiles comes up to her lips, and she doesn’t bother to restrain it. Ei stares at Miko, who happily munches on her favorite food and, maybe, fully unaware of how she feels about her.
As much as possible, for as long as she can, Ei prefers it stays that way.
||==//::\\==||
Puffs of mist come out of Miko’s mouth as she exhales. Her head is tilted back, taking her time to observe the tall modern building in front of them, the clear and giant letters spelling out TENSHUKAKU glaring back at her, and letting Ei go ahead of her.
“Damn,” She whispers underneath her breath, awe never quite leaving her veins just yet. “So this is where you live now?”
Ei can’t help the small smirk showing up on her lips. “For the time being.”
“For the time being?”
She clicks her tongue as she ponders about her answer, opening the gigantic glass door of the condominium. Miko takes this as her cue to follow. Once they walk side by side, Ei tells her, “There’s a property I bought, just off the coast of the mainland city,” She shrugs and stops in front of the elevators. “I still have it commissioned for a full renovation, so I figured I’d stay here… for now…” She strays her gaze towards Miko, who looked beyond appalled and stood still before the opened lift, causing her to draw her words longer than she intended to.
“Property? Off the coast— wait, you’re the buyer of that estate?!” Miko grabs Ei’s arm as she shrieks. She’s been by the said coast more than a couple of times, whenever she reluctantly agrees to her older sister’s pleas of joining her for a ride back then. It doesn’t take the smarts to know the whole thing was certainly going to cost millions of mora, maybe even close to a billion. That kind of price is reasonable, considering the mansion and the expansive land enough to have a large pool, garage, and training grounds, for some reason. She had never fathomed to purchasing such lengths, even now that she’s more or less a successful entrepreneur. So she has all the right to be stunned at Ei’s revelation.
Ei only laughs at her as she presses the button to her unit’s floor. “Yes. I’ve been planning on buying that place ever since I heard of it.” It’s nothing if not genuine. Of all the things she had been looking forward to in her life, Ei is certain about this very property. It’s obvious, with how her smile stays on her lips as the thought of one of her main dreams finally becoming true and hers settles in her mind. “I just thought it was perfect.”
Miko sees her smile — sees Ei happy. Unrestrained, adorable, childish. And she thinks she’s perfect too.
||==//::\\==||
Ei’s residence is as Miko expected. Not too much color, except for the dashes of purple and lilac here and there. The same goes for the furniture, with only the necessary ones in their rightful places. She keeps a snort to herself — Ei always tended to have a knack for organizing things. A couple of landscape paintings also catch her attention, and from the looks of it, seem to be original and have come from each of the nations. And yet, there’s a specific painting that captures her eyes, that brings her to the past. She stops on her track, tilts her head back by a few degrees, and breathes deeply.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
Ei stands beside her, hands inside her pockets and shoulders ever so relaxed. Miko feels like her heart is about to burst. Still, she keeps herself nonchalant. As much as she can, at least. She remembers this work — it’s kind of hard to forget something when you made it with your own two hands and mind anyway. It was just a simple scene, a view of Inazuma’s Grand Narukami Shrine from the topmost torii gate perfectly framing the Great Sakura Tree. Miko can’t deny that this was one of her best and favorite works during the time of her hyperfixation with art and history and everything in between. Gazing at it for the first time again after what seemed like forever sends a good wave of nostalgia through her soul.
“How…” Miko says, voice barely an audible whisper. “How did you find this?”
She can’t quite tear her eyes off of the old painting, but she still sees Ei shrug through her peripheral vision. “Just by chance, I guess. I managed to track it down after you sold it off,” She explains, then looks over at her with a frown of confusion. “Why did you sell it, Miko?”
Ah, why did she sell it, indeed. Miko hangs her head low, whether from shame or disappointment she wasn’t sure. “I needed to let go of some things in order to move forward.” She gestures towards the framed painting. “This was one of those.”
Ei doesn’t miss the sadness striking through her pretty smile. “Do you regret it?”
Miko looks at her with an unreadable expression, and Ei feels like she shouldn’t have asked such a prying question. She opens her mouth to apologize and to disregard what she had just asked, but Miko beats her to it with an answer of her own.
“I can’t say I do,” She tells her, lighthearted and sincere. “If I hadn’t done this — untethering my ties to Inazuma — I don’t think I could’ve ever left this place.”
Something within Ei’s heart drops and breaks upon hearing it. I guess one of those ties included me. She couldn’t blame her, she never will. Miko only did what she had to, and she’s more than glad to say that letting her go in her own way changed her for the better. Even if it did turn her doubts into facts. All that matters now is that Miko's back — back here in Inazuma, and back to her.
In the end, Ei only hums and mutters, "I understand," before letting her hand find Miko's clenched ones. She turns her head in surprise, and she sends the warmest smile she can muster. Feeling her relax, their fingers easily intertwining, Ei nods towards the living room. "Let's go?"
Miko has her heart leaping all the way to her throat, as if threatening to jump out any second she opens her mouth. Her touch feels live and electric, though she should have expected it. It's Ei, after all. Everything about her is everything about a calm and steady storm — always so familiar.
So, she nods her head in return, and finds herself led to the middle of the modernized structure. She hears Ei say something, but she's preoccupied with the view presenting itself in front of her.
A silent gasp leaves Miko as she walks closer to the giant windows that show the city at nighttime in full display. Countless dots of lights in horizontal and vertical placements according to the buildings and streets, the hypnotizing movement of cars passing by like little ants on the visible highways, the sun setting in the horizon to give way to the moon. She has never seen Inazuma from this kind of perspective, way too high that one can almost see the edges of the nation through the black frames. From what she can remember, it wasn’t as bright and crowded as it was then, and yet, Inazuma’s beauty still shines radiantly.
“Miko?” She registers Ei’s beckon, looking over her shoulder to find the woman holding two plates on each hand. Two sticks of dango on one, and fried tofu on the other. “Here, I made us a small meal.”
Snorting, Miko makes a face in faux disgust and settles on the couch. “I do hope that this won’t be my last meal, Ei. I know how you are with cooking.”
Ei playfully swats Miko’s arm as soon as she sets the plates down on the table. She doesn’t miss the tinge of pink burning on her cheeks from the sudden remark. “Shut up. I’ll have you know I picked up some culinary lessons not too long ago.”
“Oh, did you, now?” Miko smirks, already splitting her chopsticks and picking a slice of the tofu.
“Yes, I did,” Ei argues back, hiding her still flustered state by aggressively biting off a dango and pushing Miko’s lifted arm. “Now, have a taste, please. And no need to worry, it won’t poison you or anything.”
Shaking her head, Miko does as she has been told. She expects it to taste burned, or have some parts charred. But the vegetables included in the little dish were no less than perfect, not a single sign of over- or undercooked tales on them, and the tofu was soft and full of flavor. She finds herself blinking in pure disbelief before darting her eyes between the food and a very antsy Ei, who’s fiddling with her hands and bouncing the balls of her feet.
“So…?” Ei asks, nervous as ever. “What–what do you think?”
With how adorable she looks, Miko decides to furrow her eyebrows and hum longer than what can be considered as a compliment. The nervous look on Ei shifts into a mortified one, and her heart suddenly falls to the depths of her guts.
“Oh, gods. I really thought I got it this time…”
“No no no!” Miko quickly shoves the tofu down her throat for the first time in forever and shakes the crestfallen Ei by the arms. “I’m sorry I was just kidding! It was really good, I swear!” Better than anything she’s ever tried to cook before, that’s for sure.
Ei groans behind her hands, letting herself be swayed. “ Nooo , you’re just saying that.”
She can’t help but laugh over how silly her friend is. She rarely saw this side of Ei’s, and she finds herself being fond of the adorable, child-like reactions from her. The Ei she knew before would never let herself show even an ounce of emotion, and it would usually take more than a lot of effort to get a single smile or laugh or frown out of her. Seeing her like this, Miko basks in this special moment and makes a mental note of treasuring it with her whole heart.
Ei changed, and it seems like she changed positively.
Miko smiles, only for it to progress into a grin. “No, I’m telling you the truth. This meal’s wonderful, Ei. Thank you.”
At this, her friend slowly lifts her head up, eyes wide and hopeful. Seriously, at her big age? She tries to think of teasing words, but with her heart hammering and insides churning in all kinds of direction, all she can think of was— Cute…
“You changed.”
Miko’s smile drops as she realizes the words that suddenly left her mouth. She freezes on her spot before whipping her head up, an apology already prepared on the tip of her tongue, but she reins them in when she sees Ei having such a warm expression on her face instead of a frown or a grimace that she expected.
“Yeah, a lot has changed,” Ei tells her, quiet and content, drinking from her mug of hot chocolate that’s undoubtedly sweeter than a regular one. From where Miko sat, she can see those lilac eyes glinting with what seems to be newfound peace. It makes her smile come back, spreading unabashed on her lips once again. “And I think it’s all for the better.”
Miko hums, taking another bite of the delicious tofu in front of her. There’s a question she’s been meaning to ask since seeing Ei at the airport, and after the awkwardness was replaced by a more easygoing atmosphere, she thinks it would be senseless to keep it to herself like she did quite a handful of times in the past. “Do you wish I stayed, Ei?”
She observes the way Ei breathes in deep, turning her head towards the windows overlooking the now midnight scenery. “Yes, I did.”
To that, Miko lifts a brow. “‘Did’?”
Ei nods. “Back then, I wished you didn’t have to go away. What, with the…” A wave of sadness washes over her face, but she blinks it away in a second. Miko understood it right away — there’s no need for further clarification. “But then, I’ve come to realize that perhaps it was really for the best. I realized that if you stayed, this version of you wouldn’t have existed, just as mine sitting across to you wouldn’t. Neither of us would’ve gotten the chance to properly move on, neither of us would’ve gotten out of our comfort zones. Neither of us would’ve grown into whoever we are right now.
“I’m not going to lie, it was… really difficult, not having you around. We were stuck to the hips all of the time, we have always been ‘Ei and Miko’. But,” Ei sets the mug down on the table, Miko chews slower. “That’s just it. We were always together that I never got the chance to actually know who I was. I didn’t see it before, but when high school ended and you took up Saiguu’s offer overseas and I was left to my responsibilities alone, everything slowly made sense.
“I… I was a coward back then,” Ei wavers for the slightest bit. “And I guess you moving away was a sign from the universe for me to start standing and moving around on my own two feet. To be stronger, and have a new perspective in life.” She meets Miko’s gaze. “It made me decide to give life another chance, another go. Not to set things right, but to make it a bit better at the very least.”
Miko has her jaw slack, surprised at Ei’s answer. She doesn’t remember her being this vulnerable and open, not even to her. It makes her insides warm and fuzzy and all things along the line to see how far her friend has come all these years, the assurance that she’s been more than well by the time she had been away melting away whatever worry and anxiety she has left in her heart.
“Well, did you at least miss me?” Miko giggles, deciding to aim for a teasing approach. She can’t let Ei see her become flustered, after all. “Because it seems like you didn’t—”
“I did.” Ei cuts her words short, voice firm and filled with determination. “I… I missed you very much. And, I’m really happy that you’re here with me again.”
Miko makes the mistake of blinking, because as soon as she did, she finds Ei moving from her place across her to sitting beside her. The woman takes her free hand and squeezes it with conviction, her large and warm hands dwarfing hers grounds and lifts her soul at the same time. She doesn’t notice the way she’s holding her breath, or the way she’s reciprocating the squeezing motion. All she pays attention to is Ei, finding herself completely enamored and captivated by her starry eyes and the deep furrow on her brows. She can sense the words she has to say, and she waits patiently for her to say them, whatever it may be.
“I know that I’ll be contradicting myself about what I said just a few seconds ago,” Ei starts, barely a whisper. “But Miko, would you mind humoring my past self and stay for a while this time around?”
Miko feels her eyes widen at the request. “Ei…”
“I’m-I’m not saying that you have to settle, I won’t cage you in like that,” Ei tucks a strand of pink hair that seemed to have fallen over the side of Miko’s face behind her ear, and she can see her even clearer than before. She’s real, and she’s here. “You’re a free spirit, after all. I-I guess what I’m saying is—”
No one can fault Miko for what she does next. She can’t even be mad at herself for surging in and taking the opportunity to close the distance between them, with Ei being impossibly close to her, just mere inches of space between their faces. Of all the dreams and wishes she has done and achieved, perhaps it wouldn’t be too cruel to cross out another one on her list as completed. Kissing Ei was nothing like she had imagined — it’s more, so much more. She knew her lips her soft, but not this soft. There’s a hint of sweetness that causes her to dive further, and if she was to guess it could’ve been from the amakumo fruit that Ei had been nibbling on earlier, or maybe it was just the rich chocolate of the beverage she’d just drank. Either way, Miko doesn’t care. All she cares about is that she’s kissing her right now, nothing holding them back or interrupting them anymore.
Reluctantly, Miko pulls away due to her cursed lungs begging her for some air. She cups the jaw of a very disoriented and dazed Ei, who still tries her best to blink herself back into reality. And as soon as she does, she continues from where Miko had broken her off. “... w-we can start over, if you’d like.” Ei returns her focus on Miko, with a flushed face and once steady hands clutching onto Miko’s wrist. “Wait, what just happened?”
Miko giggles, her thumb absentmindedly brushing over Ei’s mole. This hopeless idiot . “You were talking too much, so I kissed you.”
“Oh…” Ei mumbles. The red on her cheeks spread up to the tips of her ears, making for an adorable sight. “Wait, does… does this mean…”
Miko nods, and pulls Ei into a tight hug, going as far as burrowing her face on the crook of her neck. It’s so, so warm. “Let’s give us another try, Ei.”
She sighs in relief when Ei returns the favor, engulfing her with her big arms. She has never felt so safe than now. “Gladly, Miko.”