Chapter Text
Desperate times call for desperate measures.
And this was a desperate time if Shinobu ever knew one.
The excuses she gave to the gang were getting weaker by the day, and she knew it. “Boss is fine, he’s just a little under the weather.” “He’s a little down after losing that last beetle fight. You know it was important to him.” “He’ll be up and running in no time, like always.”
She couldn’t stand to tell the truth, even if they could guess it - that Boss was a shadow of his former self now. And she was grateful, at least, for the oni mask she wore, an invaluable resource that let her maintain some semblance of a facade.
She crossed the darkened street of Inazuma City, greeted only by the shutters of empty businesses and the echoing footsteps of patrolling guards. A cloudy night, and one that was looking to be stormy before long. She’d have to be fast. Rain would only cause trouble, and mud.
A pair of Tenryou commission guards walked past, and she slipped behind the nearest building, keeping her back to its wall. An old restaurant, abandoned just like everything else here. Her gaze shifted ahead of her. A grassy patch, a wooden platform.
A statue, austere and imposing. The iridescent stones inlaid upon it.
Visions.
At the sight, Shinobu almost made a dash for the platform. She could slip into the space under it, wait there for the guards’ shift change. But no, she would have to be much more cautious to even get that close. And she intended to get very close…so caution it was.
An image popped into her mind. Boss, sitting at headquarters. His eyes dazed as he rested against a wall, not even lifting his head at her presence. Perhaps not even aware of it.
She shook her head to clear the memory. She had known that the loss of his vision was bound to catch up to him eventually. It was a miracle he had made it this long. Nine months. Nine long months before he started to break, like most who had their visions taken from them.
Shinobu wondered how much longer she would be able to last, before the same happened to her.
But there was no time to think about such things now. The guard shift was changing. And the moment the soldier on the platform turned, she was under it, maneuvering expertly between the wooden support beams. Nothing more than a passing shadow, to anyone else’s eyes.
And then she was on the other side, looking up at the statue’s rigid back. Now the only thing left to do was find the Geo vision that belonged to Boss. A speck of amber among the rainbow of colors dotting the statue. She hoped - prayed, though she hated to - that the vision she was looking for would be somewhere nearby, out of the guards’ line of sight.
She could feel a distinct pull in her chest. Her own vision was close, too. But she couldn’t take any more unnecessary risks…coming here at all was already reckless enough. She was here for Boss, and Boss only.
She shook her head to clear it, and began to search the statue.
Boss’s vision wasn’t too far away, fortunately. A few visions were carved into the statue’s base, and with one glance in that direction, she knew that she had found it. She slipped down and pulled out the chisel she had managed to procure, against all odds - resources of any kind were a rarity these days.
Rain started to pour. This was her chance.
She wasn’t too used to handling tools like this, but her resolve quelled her uncertainty. The chisel hit stone. And again. Again. Timed with thunder strikes when she could manage, so that the sound was drowned out. Mostly. Not enough.
“Hey, stop right there!”
No, just a little more-!
A pair of hands slipped under her arms, and she was yanked away from the statue. The chisel slipped from her hands, and she started to lose her balance on the now wet wooden platform. She pulled against the person restraining her, but to no avail.
“By order of the Shogun, you-”
“Sara!” It was the only thing she could think of saying, in the moment. She cursed under her breath. “Take me to Kujou Sara. She knows me.”
The Shogunate soldier restraining her scoffed, and the one in front of her smirked.
“General Kujou, huh?”
“Yes, General Kujou . This situation is under her jurisdiction. Or would you rather face her anger for undermining authority?”
The soldier’s expression shifted to a scowl. He motioned for his companion to take her somewhere, and she was dragged, roughly, down from the platform and towards the Tenryou Commission headquarters.
She hadn’t been here in quite a long time. Not since Inazuma’s better days…
This is no time to remember that. What are you going to say to Sara?
Her mind raced. She could tell the truth, explain the situation with Boss, but that might not work. Sara barely knew him, and from what she did know, he was a troublemaker with no respect for authority. Then, would she have to appeal to their past together? That was even less likely to be successful. But what other options were there?
The soldier opened the doors of one of the commission buildings, and Shinobu’s heart sank. She knew this building, she used to come here a little too often to bail out Boss or the other gang members when they caused too much trouble and got themselves arrested.
“I told you to take me to Kujou-”
She was shoved forward, and her knees hit the ground. That would sting later. The room was dark, but she could sense the two people who rushed forward and pulled her to her feet, each holding one of her arms back. She growled, but they just held tighter. What did they plan to do now? Torture her, throw her into one of the cells, maybe even execute her? She started to struggle. A surprise sweep of her leg was enough to take down one of the guards behind her, but the other forced her back to the ground once again.
A new shadow appeared in the doorway. Someone was approaching. Could it be…?
“Sara!” Shinobu pulled forward, unsuccessfully. “I can explain everything-”
But the familiar raven wings and Tengu mask were nowhere to be seen on the figure approaching her. Instead, the figure before her belonged to a crimson-haired young man, dressed so casually he looked distinctly out of place next to the armored guards. Yet he could not be a normal civilian - the glowing Anemo vision at his hip said as much. He took a few steps into the darkened room and leaned forward, his eyes glancing over Shinobu, who was still struggling against her restraints.
This was not General Kujou.
“Well, well,” the young man spoke, his tone far too nonchalant for her liking. “What do we have here?”