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Of all the things Kunikuzushi expected himself to do when he willingly stepped foot in Inazuma again, sitting down in the position of seiza inside one of the lavish sunrooms of the Tenshukaku was the least expected and wanted.
“You little traitor,” Kunikuzushi hissed.
“Traitor? What are you talking about?” Lumine cocked up a brow. “You’re the one who wanted to come with me. I told you you can stay back at the inn or look around and yet, you insist on coming so, if anything, this is on you.”
“Perhaps if you shared some insights as to your next destination then I wouldn’t—”
“Please. You saw me heading straight to Tenshukaku.” The Traveler rolled her eyes. “That should’ve been telling enough.”
Oh, how Kunikuzushi couldn’t wait until they stepped outside of this wretched place so he could summon all the elemental energy inside him and unleash its wrath. But as much as his blood boiled at the thought, Kunikuzushi himself wondered why he hadn’t run out of this place yet.
“Yeah! Imagine what would Nahida say about this, mister,” Paimon chimed in with the classic fists on her hips.
Kunikuzushi scoffed. “What does the Lesser Lord Kusunali have to do with this?”
“What is it about Lesser Lord Kusunali?” If Kunikuzushi was any more embarrassing, he would’ve jumped. Instead he felt the shivers around his puppet body. “Oh, right. You must’ve met her recently in your travels to Sumeru, Traveler. How is she? It’s been quite a while since we’ve last seen each other, hasn’t it?”
And like Lumine wasn’t just annoyed with the wanderer’s cursing, a bright smile appeared on her face. “Ei—Shogun! Hello! Nahi—er, I mean the Lesser Lord Kusunali is fine back at Sumeru. And you, have you been doing fine?” Kunikuzushi scowled and rolled his eyes at the pleasant look on his companion’s face. How unsightly.
The scoff caught Ei’s attention. “And who might you be?”
Kunikuzushi’s words died on his tongue as he stared at Raiden Ei. The woman who brought him to this world and casted him aside, leaving him to experience all of the sufferings Teyvat had to offer for a puppet with no purpose like him. It’s hard for Kunikuzushi to decide what he actually thought about her. Was he angered? Yes. Did he curse her to Celestia? Most definitely. Did he hate her? He didn’t have an answer to that.
“Just a wanderer,” he answered, curt and short.
It seemed that whatever warm atmosphere the sunroom of the Tenshukaku had was brought down by Kunikuzushi’s detached attitude. The Traveler and Paimon shared shifty and awkward glances and Ei, herself, lost a bit of her smile. He should delight in that, right?
Ei composed herself. “Ah, I see. So you’re like the Traveler then? It’s rather unusual of you to take on another companion,” she said, turning to the Traveler.
“Oh no, we’re not really—”
“Save your breath, Traveler,” Kunikuzushi cut her off, crossing his arms over his chest. Lumine fell silent beside him. “I didn’t know the Raiden Shogun deemed it important to have an audience with us.”
“Well, it’s only natural for friends to want to come together after being separated for a while,” Ei answered, her voice just as soft and gentle as it did when she entered. Kunikuzushi had nearly rolled his eyes. “But I must say, I didn’t expect another visitor. If I had known, I would’ve asked Lumine here your dining preferences.”
“How accommodating,” Kunikuzushi drawled out. Ei looked taken aback and that spurred him on. “But fret not, we’re only here for a short meeting and we’ll be out of your hair by then. We still have far more important things to do than to greet this Traveler’s friend.”
“Kuni,” Lumine warned in a low voice and the puppet gave her a challenging look back in response.
“Well, if the highest being in Inazuma wishes to accommodate me then by all means—” He carelessly waved his hand, “—I’m waiting.” Was this petty? Maybe. He could already picture the disappointed sigh and look on Nahida’s face. It’s not like she’s here anyway and surely, the power of dreams can’t reach him here.
“Very well then.” Ei nodded, as if she was taking it as a challenge to spar on the battlefield. “Would you like to try the Dango milk? The sweetness is immeasurable making it all the more delicious. A recent batch had just been delivered—”
Kunikuzushi silently groaned. Why did his creator have to have a sweet tooth? “I don’t care for anything sweet. I’d like my teeth to remain on my person. Just bring tea. The bitter, the better.” He should've relished the surprised look on her face but some dark force inside him was forcing him to whisper out a “Please.”
And when the look on Ei’s face softened, Kunikuzushi turned his head away, pretending that he didn’t see anything.
“You know you can always leave,” Lumine murmured for only Kunikuzushi to hear when Ei called on a servant to fetch Kunikuzushi’s request. “I can always think of an excuse. And besides, it’s not like Ei knows who you are.”
“Is that pity I hear in your voice, Traveler?” Kunikuzushi teased. “It’d be a shame for me to leave now that my tea is coming.”
He pretended not to see the look of concern Lumine and Paimon gave each other.
She’s right. Of course, Lumine was right. So good and so right. But it’s true that Raiden Ei should have no memory or knowledge of him, not when he wiped all data about him in Irminsul on that fateful day. So all of his rudeness, pettiness, and curtness was of no use. Not like the creator herself had any use to him anyway.
He waited in silence as Ei, Lumine, and Paimon chatted away, mercifully ignoring him and only came back to attention when his tea was brought to him. Taking the yunomi in his hands, he closed his eyes and took a sip.The aftertaste from the bitterness made him decide that this might be the only pleasant thing to come out of this visit so far.
His eyes met Ei who had a look of mirth on her face. “Do you usually stare at your guests while they’re enjoying tea?” he nearly snapped.
“No, I’m sorry, it’s just that… The way you drank your tea,” she began. “It reminded me of someone very important to me. My sister. In fact, she gave me a gift one time and it looked like the feather stringing from your Vision right now.”
The cup nearly slipped from his fingertips as his hand almost reached out to shield the feather ornament away from her eyes. “Do you usually compare your guests to your family members too?”
Paimon nervously laughed. “Don’t mind him, Ei—I mean, Shogun. He’s always like that.”
“It’s alright,” Ei chuckled and it confused the puppet. “It’s actually amusing.” Kunikuzushi couldn’t contain the small spluttering he let out. What did she mean by that? Whatever it was, can she stop already?
“Let’s go already,” he said, already standing on his feet, feeling the tingle of the feather against his chest when Ei took a glance. “We don’t want to reach Tatarasuna by nightfall, now do we?”
As if sensing his growing discomfort, Lumine nodded, rising to her feet. “Right. Let’s go then.” Turning to Ei, she grinned and said, “I’ll make some time to come here; we still need to spar after all.”
Ei nodded her head, smiling in return. “I look forward to that. Please take this food on your travels.” She gestured to the row of snacks set on the table and Paimon squealed—painfully hurting Kunikuzushi’s eardrums—immediately grabbing whatever she could as she yelled out her thanks as she rushed out of the doors with an irritated Lumine hot on her trail.
“Well then,” Ei began when it was just her and Kunikuzushi. “This is farewell.”
“Didn’t expect the Traveler to be so chummy with the Raiden Shogun herself,” he let out a nearly lazy chuckle. Fixing his hat on his head, he gave a curt nod to the goddess. “Well, I’m off.”
“Will you return here to Tenshukaku?”
The young man turned back. “What for? I don’t see how a wanderer like me could be of any interest or of use —?” The last of words died on his tongue. Raiden Ei looked at him with a face that was far too gentle. Far from the one he had convinced himself she’d wear when they met. What was the look on her face? Why…?
“I doubt that. It’s just that your presence is — I can’t describe it well. Familiar.”
Kunikuzushi froze. His empty chest made itself known and echoed amongst the cavern inside him. How unlikely. How uncharacteristic of her. But surely, she wouldn’t know him right? Irminsul’s power is greater than that of any god in Teyvat.
And yet a familiar touch to his cheek came to mind, wiping away the tears that flowed and a dream that happened once upon a time that felt far too real. What if?
No. What’s done is done. He had already made peace with that.
“Alright then, let me rephrase. What can this familiar wanderer be of any service to you?”
“Perhaps a light spar?”
Maybe he dreamed of it or maybe he didn’t but a small and gentle smile pulled on the corner of Ei’s lips. This was the time to refuse and to walk away and to never look back and yet —
“Just a light spar? The Traveler hasn’t told you much about me, haven’t they? A light spar will not just do for me, O Great Shogun.”
What was he getting himself into? But he couldn’t take back his words right now, not when he'd end up making a fool of himself and when the Raiden Ei herself looked at him with a growing fondness in the look of her eyes and a warm chuckle sounding into the air that had fondness tinged into it.
“Very well then,” she said, not tearing her eyes away from Kunikuzushi. “Come by whenever you feel like it. I look forward to our next meeting.”
Kunikuzushi didn’t give any greeting. Tugging the edge of his hat to hide the emotion showing on his face and betraying his will, he turned back and walked away.
This visit turned out to have more surprises than he thought there would be. It was only a matter of time before Kunikuzushi would have to decide if these surprises are the ones he wanted to welcome into his life or not.
—
Her eyes never left him. Even when he disappeared from her sight, her mind still conjured the image of him. A strange feeling tugged inside her, beating the heart inside as if reminding her it’s still there pumping life into her. She reached up to touch her chest, willing her heart to be still even if just for a moment.
Moments had already passed when the wanderer took his leave and Raiden Ei was looking forward to the day they see each other once again.
“Kunikuzushi…” she whispered into the air. “Welcome back.”