Work Text:
We so wish to fit the roles carved out for us in this narrative.
You can nock your bow and fire a volley of arrows faster than any man in your command. You are fierce; loyal; unstoppable. Everyone turns to you when they need a helping hand.
And what of the woman inside of you who paints her advice in calligraphy? When you first saw the persona crafted for you – Ms Hina – by a certain vixen, didn’t your heart skip a beat?
Some of the fear in you is born from her wiles. How could she make for you a face that matches who you are within? Doesn’t it take a God to change the nature of the story?
Each time you pass by the standee placed out front of Yae Publishing House, you do your best not to linger. Even so, your eyes stay pinned to it ‘til it’s finally out of sight.
Some of that fear you harbour comes from seeing yourself exposed. Knowing that you can no longer hide behind the title of General or the rugged ideal your Army sees you as.
I see you, too. I comprehend the girl waiting to blossom beneath your skin.
I was born the same way.
A boy could not, by tradition, hold the office of Divine Priestess. The coral upon which our feet rest must be charmed by the tongue of a virginal maiden. Orobashi, though He has long since passed, only opens His ribcage to the most darling of women.
I did not become the heart of the sea to serve my duties – the duties, rather, became me. No one dared protest when I put gems to my ears or wore the shrine maiden’s dress. As I pushed away the name given to me by forgotten parents, each miko and Watatsumi warrior bowed their head in addressing me. Her Excellency, Sangonomiya Kokomi.
I see in you the pearl I cultivated within myself, Ms Hina.
Part of you still can’t believe I’ll hold your hand in full view of the infantry. Your cheeks grow red when passersby greet us humbly, failing to remark on my head pillowed against your lovely tail. You do not ask me why I refuse to hide away, but the question lingers on your lips. I can taste it every time we kiss.
And the reason is simple: we are two women beloved by the sea.
I believe in Ms Hina, whose back is strong when she pulls her bowstring. I believe in myself, the Divine Priestess, flowing like water and receiving the Bloodbranch Coral brought to us from Enkanomiya. I believe in our mutual effort to find peace with the tyrant of Seirai, the shogun of Inazuma – and I will never let Her take from us anything.
You are afraid that embracing your womanhood will leave us defenceless. You think that Ms Hina cannot be the General Gorou. They are incompatible, in your mind.
Yet I am sweeping my mouth across the spine of Gorou and Hina both. I leave pink marks across skin belonging to them both. I am worshiping the body of the woman I love, the same as I pay worship to Orobashi and the exiled Vishaps at the bottom of the sea.
Kiss me like one woman does another. Roll your fingers down my legs and stockings.
Don’t worry about how history will remember us. We are in this moment. We are this very second, and all the time to spill forth like a fountain.
One woman leans against another, drawing strength from love.
You are my strength, Ms Hina.