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It was the first time Sara had ever considered the idea of a "lover".
Plenty of times she had entertained the concept of an arranged marriage. She had assumed that her adoptive father would simply pick a suitable man for the clan and induct him into the clan by having her hand in holy matrimony.
That was the sort of person Kujou Takayuki is; he had only ever looked at her as a tool, rather than a daughter to be cherished and loved.
However (or should she say "fortunately"?), arranged marriages were no longer on the table when her father lost favour with the Shogun, after he was found to have colluded with the Fatui. Her brother, Kujou Kamaji, took over as a proxy clan head to ease the internal unrest.
And it was Kamaji who first asked Sara whether she had a suitable suitor in mind.
"No I don't, brother. Frankly, I have not met a single man who had caught my eye," Sara admitted rather bluntly, earning a chuckle from her gentle sibling.
"Well, how about a suitress?" The question easily threw Sara off guard. A woman?
Not a single man may have caught Sara's fancy, but she certainly had a few ideas about some of her female acquaintances.
Particularly, the lady of the Kamisato Clan, whose name she could not bring to blemish with her lips.
Kamaji got his answer when Sara grew silent, the cold shade of her cheeks reddening by the second.
The little bird had been thinking about something else and letting her feet lead the way, when she found herself outside the Kamisato Estate. What had she been thinking about? She wasn't sure either but, whatever it had been, it had led her to the doorstep of the Yashiro Commission. Sara had no business to be here, but she did not wish to leave either.
"Oh, isn't this Madame Kujou? I had just met your brother not too long ago."
Sara was no chicken, but she nearly took flight from being addressed out of nowhere.
"... Lord Kamisato." Sara nodded curtly, as though she had not just nearly lost her feathers with a squawk.
"My sister is taking a day off today from her duties, would you like to come in for a visit?"
Sara shook her head somewhat hesitantly.
"N-No, I couldn't possibly disturb her..."
"She would only mind as much as you do--that is to say: she would not mind a visit from a charming young lady like yourself, Madame Kujou." Ayato paused to observe the Tenryou General squirm slightly. "She had been wanting to make your acquaintance as well."
Sara could not believe her ears, but her feet certainly did.
Although she was told to make herself comfortable in the humble reception room, Sara was anything but. Not because of the gentle elegance of the room that surpassed any sort of decor the Kujou estate claimed to boast, but from the fact that she was about to meet the Shirasagi Himegimi face to face. It was not like they had never met, but it would certainly be the first time they could meet without distraction.
The general shuffled her knees nervously. If anyone else saw her, they would think she needed the loo, but no one dared to broach the question.
"Hello, Madame Kujou." When Ayaka stepped out from behind a modestly-styled screen, Sara nearly forgot how to breathe, but she had to apologise quickly. For being here at all and disturbing her rest.
"You don't have to stand on ceremony," the smaller woman giggled quietly with a fan before her cherry-petal lips, "I am not against receiving an informal visit from you, Madame Kujou."
Ayaka continued when she finally knelt before Sara, after adjusting the creases in her clothes and shifting her body weight slightly. "I had always wanted to speak with you in private..."
Sara's mouth fell open slightly, but she could not bring herself to utter the few words of pleasantries in her repertoire. Thankfully, it had only been a short pause from the Shirasagi Himegimi before she spoke again, "May I call you Sara?"
The general nodded before her mind finished processing what the lady had meant.
"Thank you. I hope we can speak more casually now that there are only the two of us in this room." Ayaka folded up her fan before setting it by her side neatly. "Now, to what do I owe this pleasure of your visit today?"
Sara had hardly closed her mouth when the Shirasagi Himegimi began to speak, but that did not mean that Sara had managed to come up with anything smart to say in return.
"I... Uhm... That is... Uh... I'm sorry..." She could not help but apologise again for her inadequacy. At this moment, all the education the Kujou Clan had put her through had all gone to waste, and Sara could not help but feel oh-so foolish.
She only apologised for the third time that day when Ayaka asked what she had been sorry about.
"There's nothing to apologise for, Sara. I'm unsure what it is that caused you to feel guilty, but no offence has been taken." All this time, the Shirasagi Himegimi had always been gentle, and it made the general feel even more guilty for her inability to be as composed. However, she shall take up the lady on her advice and stop feeling too sorry about the entire situation.
"I..." Sara took a deep breath.
"Take your time." Ayaka's consistent encouragement was the push she needed.
"Sorry- Ugh, I apologise for that." Sara finally pressed a hand to her face in embarrassment. The noblewoman opposite her merely appeared rather tickled by the sight, and chose not to interrupt the (adorable) general again.
"I... I know we have only ever spoken at official settings and that we had our fair share of disputes when it came to our servitude towards the Almighty Shogun and her vision of eternity, but..." Sara had to pause, as though to digest what she herself had just spilled between her lips. "I... I have a selfish request."
"What is it?" Ayaka leaned forward, out of curiosity.
"This... C-Can we be... Friends?!"
"... Surely that was not the objective of your visit?" The Shirasagi Himegimi almost sounded disappointed, even to the obtuse general.
"It... It is! Well..." Sara quietened down as her cheeks began to glow, like a kindled hearth on a snowy winter’s day.
"Well?"
"I-I thought we would need to be friends first before we… B-But may I please... Court you with marriage in mind?" Sara swore her heart had nearly stopped when she finally uttered those words.
“O-Oh…” Without her fan as a cover, Ayaka’s cheeks burned just as brightly in response, like a thundering, roaring wildfire that could not be stopped.
Like a pair of twin flames, before anything else could be said, the two women found their hearts drawn closer than ever before.
When Sara realised that she had hoped for Kamisato Ayaka to be her lover, the rest was history.