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Securing his tasuki one last time, Toyo picked up his sandogasa to put on for when he started his route later. The sun had not yet risen across the horizon seen from the port of Ritou, but twas the schedule of the Kawata Post Service.
Kawata Toyo was a morning person, unlike their older cousin, Okamoto Teruha. The latter, unfortunately for him, had the duty of leading others to provide postal service to the other inhabited islands of Inazuma. Toyo would help him every morning by loading up the boat with bags of letters and packages, as well by listening to Teruha’s early-morning complaints.
“Five years, five years of this. You’d think you’d get used to it, but ‘cha don’t, I tell ya,” the dark-haired man leaned back to stretch his back after setting down a medium-sized box.
“Yeah, yeah, old man,” Toyo chuckled at his musings that never changed except for the number of years as they went by. Everything needed to be delivered had been mostly loaded onto the boat, leaving only a few bags being carried by others. The younger cousin stepped off the boat as the older one leaned over the edge to ask his same old question, “Won’t ‘cha come with, Toyo? I know ‘ya love getting out of Narukami any chance you get.”
Toyo tied up the string of her sandogasa, giving her cousin the same old answer, “You know I do, you know I do. You also know how I get while travelling on water. I doubt you wanna see what I had for breakfast.”
“Disgusting person, you are. Sometimes, I believe receiving that hydro vision of yours made your seasickness worse!”
The two shared a laugh and exchanged theories for what dinner would be as the boat slowly began to move, which meant Toyo had to be on his way.
-
Three bags slumped over their shoulders, two full, one empty -head mail carrier Kawata Toyo began their delivery route of Narukami Island. Delivery of letters and parcels on Ritou went by in a flash, the young carrier knew this area like the back of his hand. The group that received the most letters were the people at the International Trade Association, seeing as they communicated with outsiders on a daily.
“Good morning, Xixi!”
Toyo greeted the Trade Association member, Xixi, who would usually receive the group’s correspondence as part of her reception work.
The woman let out a yawn before speaking, “Sorry, I’m so tired. Good to see you’re up and at-em as always, Toyo.”
“Tons of work here, I’m assuming, huh?” The mail carrier liked to make small conversation with whoever they could, it felt bad to just drop by and leave without even greeting someone.
Xixi nodded, “The nation has been open for months and people keep flooding in. Good for business, bad for our sleep schedule.”
Toyo gathered the tied up letter stack dedicated for the International Trade Association and handed it over to Xixi, giving the woman a supportive smile, “It is nice to see Ritou so lively again, but it would also help you to get break, haha. Come over for a drink sometime!”
After reciprocating the smile, Xixi went on her way with the Trade Association’s mail, and Toyo continued with his deliveries.
-
“Special, special delivery!”
The mail carrier pulled out a neatly wrapped package out of one of the bags on her shoulders when she reached the first house at Konda Village. The sun was out over the Inazuman seas by this time and children were on their way to school. Old Lady Saimon and her granddaughter Futaba were chatting out of the road when Toyo arrived with a package addressed to the girl.
Toyo knew what was underneath the coloured wrapping paper. Grandma Saimon had made the trip to the Kawata Post office while the mail carrier had been put on front-stand duty after finishing his route. The elderly woman came to ask for help wrapping up a book she had purchased for her granddaughter's birthday. With this, she also asked if Toyo could deliver it right before Futaba went to school to provide excitement first thing in the morning. Toyo, of course, agreed on the spot.
“Happy Birthday, little Futaba! Hope you have a good day today,” the mail carrier handed over the package to the girl. Futaba seemed excited, but instead of rapidly unraveling her birthday surprise, she handed it over to her grandmother, saying, “I’ll open it when I get back. Will you please hold onto it for me, grandmother?”
Old Lady Saimon smiled, “Of course, my dear. But why wait for after school? Wouldn’t you rather find out what it is now?”
“I really want to! But it will be better to open it in front of you and grandfather as we eat dinner!”
Grandmother and granddaughter bid the mail carrier a farewell as he had to be on his way.
-
Kawata Toyo took the path up to Araumi to go around Mt. Yougou and deliver to the houses scattered throughout. On the way there, they felt the ground in the surrounding area. He would’ve rushed to see what the problem was, but the sound of cheers and laughter with familiar voices did not worry him. The mail carrier stayed on the path, looking to the side as they passed an empty fatui campsite.
The Arataki Gang must’ve recently cleared it, explaining the ground shake from earlier most likely caused by Arataki Itto. The four men of the group were laughing as they rummaged through some boxes the fatui had there as their deputy looked through some papers.
Toyo slightly slowed her walk and watched, with small hopes that her green-haired friend would look her way. Much to his delight, Kuki Shinobu must’ve felt someone watching her, turning her head to meet Toyo’s. The deputy gave them a small wave, which the mail carrier happily returned as they continued on their way.
-
There were no deliveries to be made at the Grand Narukami Shrine and shrine maidens would usually be sent down to the Kamisato Estate to have someone there deliver it for them if need be. This saved the Kawata Post the trip up Mt. Yougou and allowed Toyo to quickly pass by the Yashiro Commission base.
As it is illegal to read other’s correspondence, Toyo assumed all mail addressed to the tri-commission bases was important. There were times when each commission would send their own person to pick up anything really important or perhaps a big package they were expecting.
The Kawata Post was technically, in government eyes, under the rule of the Kanjou Commission due to its handling of mail across borders -but the Kawata Post has historically been seen as unrelated to the commission. The succession of Hiiragi Chisato as Kanjou commissioner had improved the relationship between the two and Miss Hiiragi had a person running between the post office and the commission residence to save the -slight- trouble.
At the Kamisato Estate, Toyo delivered the many letters and packages to Madarame Hyakubei. As his hands immediately got full, Madarame excused himself and made his way inside to sort everything out inside, though most letters would probably go to his lord.
-
Kawata Toyo lightly jogged through Chinju Forest, as the less time they spent in the semi-creepy forest the better. He was enjoying the run, now that the bags on his back were much lighter, and the atmosphere of the forest was admittedly refreshing.
Suddenly, the hairs on her neck stood up. The mail carrier’s eye gazed up to the clear Inazuma sky, thinking, ‘ Is lightning about to strike? Has the Raiden Shogun finally come to unleash my punishment for (semi) treason?’
But then, Toyo looked back to the road ahead and halted their jog. It was not lightning. It was much worse. A cyclone .
“ Chirin chirin ! Chirin chirin ! I do wonder who it is.”
Shikanoin Heizou made his way up to where Toyo stood, giving a friendly wave after he mimicked the sound of the bells on Toyo’s hair.
“Detective Heizou, a surprise as always,” the mail carrier gave him a nod in acknowledgment. The two engaged in light conversation, catching up as -even though the detective would appear out of thin air on Toyo’s mail runs- he had actually disappeared for a few days the past week.
Heizou chuckled, “I was having a grand time touring Watatsumi for a bit. Did you miss me that much?”
“It was nice not hearing your impossible riddles, I’ll let you know. I heard you didn’t even tell Kano Nana you were gone, she’ll have your head one of these days,” Toyo lifted her hat slightly to be able to meet his gaze.
The man put his hands on his hips, “My riddles are fun and not impossible, really. And, I am actually on my way to see her, I’ll let you know. The day my cuz comes for my head, I know I can count on you, right?”
They had been talking for too long and Toyo had had enough Shikanoin Heizou for today. Without missing a blink, the hydro vision user flicked their wrist to splash some water on the detective’s face from the nearby creek. But as always, the anemo wielder swished it away with a single, quicker wave of his hand.
He laughed at his friend’s clear disgruntled look, “I’ll get you one day, Heizou,” Toyo vowed and began to make their way past the man.
“I look forward to it, Yoyo, but before that day comes, I have mail for you.”
Toyo stopped and turned back to face him, “And when exactly did the Kawata Post hire you, sir?”
“The Watatsumi General himself asked me to deliver it to you personally, how could I refuse?” Heizou held out a nicely preserved envelope for her to take, which she did after thanking the detective and parting ways.
–
The mail carrier had wasted enough time chatting with the detective, leading to only a brief lunch before proceeding her run up and down the Inazuma City streets. One by one, letters and packages arrived at their destination, all till there was only one package left.
Ogura Textiles and Kimonos was this box’s destination and Ogura Mio herself seemed very excited when she saw Toyo take it out of her bag. The shop owner cheered, “I thought it would take another few days to arrive, truly a good blessing, hehe.”
“Hah, you should thank Li Yue sailors, they sure work and sail fast, I guess,” Toyo chuckled.
Ogura Mio thanked Toyo again before sliding her new package into the backroom of her shop.
And that was it. Two bags over her shoulder were empty and one was semi-full with stuff people had given Toyo to be sent out. The mail carrier’s younger cousin was probably on front-stand duty, which meant he could relax until dinner.
-
Toyo took the time to have a nice, long walk back. During the walk, she read the letter Heizou had personally been asked to deliver from the Watatsumi General himself. She had been quite surprised to receive a letter from Gorou -unless this was some joke by the detective, but Toyo knew he wouldn’t do that.
The Canine General and mail carrier had been exchanging letters twice a month since the settlement of war, though they met during conflict. Sneaking off to Watatsumi (“Once!” Toyo always makes it clear, vividly remembering how sick they got and embarrassed themselves in front of some resistance soldier and Gorou himself), using one's vision to send messages from Ritou to the Resistance, did that really count as (semi) treason? Nothing too confidential was shared, not like Hiiragi Shinsuke was all too nice and open with the Kawata Post -having had taken over transportation of all mail that left Narukami and threatening to limit the Kawata Post's movement on multiple times if they stuck their noses where they didn't belong.
Gorou had written to let Toyo know that he would be coming to Narukami on some business matters, but they would be able to properly chat and meet in a none-war, none-about-to-barf setting. The General used the words, “a setting where we are both, hopefully, well,” but the mail carrier couldn’t help but groan from embarrassment, knowing what he was referring to.
But overall, they were excited to meet their new friend (again). There was no need to reply to this letter, and as his stomach began to rumble, Toyo decided to book it home seeing as Konda village was just up ahead, and the Ritou sands couldn’t be much further.
-
By the time Toyo reached the Ritou ports, the sky above was filled with hues of orange, pink, and prominent purple. The mail carrier was sitting on the harbour deck, kicking her feet above the water as she folded some paper cranes. His vision allowed him to engulf the creations in a bubble, allowing the paper cranes to swim below the water and float in the middle of a hydro shield (this being how he had been able to communicate with the Watatsumi Resistance).
They had fun playing around, bringing the paper cranes back to the surface when a voice at sea called out to them, “TOYOOO!!!”
-
His cousin had come back from their rounds across the islands and dismissed the others for the day as soon as they were on land.
“Auntie Fukue has probably already made dinner, you know we can’t eat without you,” Toyo nudged her cousin’s arm as they walked home. Teruha whined and rubbed his arm, “Ouch, that hurts ‘ya know. My whole body hurts after today, I‘m gettin’ too old for this.”
“Sir, you are not even thirty yet.”
“I will be this year!”
-
Kawata Toyo laid in bed. Her younger cousin, Toa, who slept on the other side of the room, was long asleep.
Most times, Toyo would lay in bed and look out their small window, up at the never changing Teyvat sky- the never changing moon. His whole life, he had only been able to see it through one eye, he always wondered if it would be any different with both. She also wondered what Ogura Mio had received that made her so happy. Little Futaba, too, was very happy. Toyo liked seeing people happy when receiving deliveries, it made them feel something too.
Toyo thought many things at night, but most of them would be forgotten by the time they woke up the next day, before the sunrise as always.