Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ei stands atop of a tall building, looking down at the amenities beneath her. Unknown entities and moving machines mixed up together, it was like a flowing river, she thought. 

Before finding herself in a strange land, the goddess of thunder had been resting in her plane of Euthymia, treating herself to some sweet snacks and dango milk. On her way to get a new batch, the transfer of consciousness had led her to a place elsewhere, and from her puppet body. Meaning that her body was not the Raiden Shogun, but the form she once had before placing her consciousness into her sword technique. Weakness .

Quite concerning, though she chopped it to be a trick laid out by her close companion, Miko, for missing out on her birthdays for 500 years. She shifts her heels to glance at the glowing vision  behind her, laying 20 feet away from her (at the center of the platform). It glowed a gentle green—anemo vision—as if its wielder was alive and nearby, yet they were nowhere to be seen as of this moment.

It has been over ten minutes as she counted, but still, she waits on top of the roof for answers, answers that maybe that glowing vision could give her. She could wait, she was a God of Eternity after all. Unbothered, she turned to look at the sun rising high above the clear sky. 

Fwoosh. Perfect timing.

The vision continued to make sounds of blowing winds, as Ei sensed a sudden surge of energy, though she found the sun a bit more interesting than the event that was happening right behind her back. After a few minutes, it became quiet, and she heard the little jingles of bells. Intrigued, she turned to look at the newly arrived stranger.  

-

What in the irminsul?  

Wanderer doesn’t need sleep. But he does have to do the regular check ups with the Dendro Archon due to hitting his head from the fall; which means that he must be put to “sleep”. Buer (Nahida) is the only one capable of this, and he trusts her, but why the hell is his vision missing after waking up? It’s not a good look, where the vision used to be is now a gaping gold loop by his chest. It irks him very much, but still chooses to rationalize, if it’s the dendro archon she must have an idea of where it went.

Nahida would stay until the process was complete, but it is not it untypical that the archon of dreams would leave for other businesses as he rests in her Sanctuary or Sarusthana, and such is that time now. Though it was unusual that he’d have headaches, unless this was planned to get back at him, Wanderer could secretly tell that she was always trying to make everything for him comfortable. 

He didn’t have to wait for her to come to him to move, so he pulled on his precious hat and strove towards the exit. Strange. He felt unsettled. The sanctuary was completely quiet—the tiny dings of bouncing dendro energy were nonexistent, and so was the vibrating energy of life. 

He slowed his steps, everything looked fine, but everything felt off .

Finally, he stopped. The main gate in front of him, he was preparing his mind to see some unpleasant sights and- or whatever, he forced himself to get it over with and push the doors open and—

Whoosh!

What the f-  

He was then again hit by a strong gust of wind, the doors he pushed had disappeared, forcing him to face the winds head on. There was…nothing behind the gates, nothing but whiteness. Nothing but white clouds and winds that were shoving themselves high speeds past the puppet and into the Dendo Archon’s sanctuary. Soon, everything around him would be enveloped. 

And pretty soon, he also started to feel like he was falling. Again. Shit—he said that out loud.

Without his vision, it was impossible he could fly. “Why the hell is this happening,” he grumbled. He’s not in a dream, is he? It doesn’t feel like it. He quickly realizes that he may be dropping quickly to a ground and that thought did not please him at all, he’s going to fucking crash again. Again, yes, he’s done this before, it should be nothing to him. Is it better if he lands on his feet, or his head?

“Ah, hahah,” he is so annoyed that he laughs at his ‘joke’. He feels like he’s falling, faster and faster every passing second, like the winds are resisting him less and less. He only sighs at this and closes his eyes to brace for impact except…he doesn’t hit the ground. 

A floats a few meters above a surface, his vision right below his feet. That’s where it is. 

Adjusting his hat, he plops down to reach vision, it’s agitated and excited for some reason. He doesn’t ask many questions as he snatches it with his free hand. A low hum escapes his chest, now where was he-

What did Buer do to him. 

He was in shock, as he made eye contact with THE Raiden Shogun—his creator. She was looking at him, analyzing him, processing him. He too did the same when he broke out of his shock that did last a minute or two. It was definitely her, her appearance did not change one bit from the last time he happened to catch a glimpse at her. Long braided deep purple hair, her purple kimono, those bangs that resembled his, and those piercing cold eyes. His hands clench instinctively, right, she doesn’t know who he is. Shouldn’t, he corrected. 

She hummed, and her eyes softened. “You are not Barbatos,’ she said. He has never heard her voice ever, the softness of it sent tingles through nerves he didn’t know he had. He averts his gaze and settles on the thought that he was going to give that Dendro Archon an earful after this. Never mind that, he needs to find a way out of this stupid dream. He needs to get back (not that he has a lot to do since his schedule has been cleared for his maintenance today). 

He fixes his eyes on the image of the goddess standing in front of him, and attempts to formulate an answer, but assuming he was still within a dream, there were no words he could seriously speak.

“Why are you here,” he groaned, “I can’t believe that Buer can mess up like this.” He scoffed. For someone as observant and caring as her, she should’ve known that the Raiden Shogun was a prickly subject to the puppet. He can accept this as a mistake as if he could just get out of here as soon as he can be. 

His little quips made the Shogun raise an eyebrow. “You have relations with the Dendro Archon of Sumeru?” 

Right—despite him being locked in his own consciousness, that doesn’t mean that any apparitions he meets can’t form coherent responses. It’s weird for him though. He could pretend that she wasn’t there, and it wouldn’t matter at all. But it’s hard to. It’s crazy to think that 400 years ago, he desired to see her, to be gazed upon, to be acknowledged and spoken to. After obtaining his vision, he had believed himself to feel nothing for her no more, but the stirred feelings evoked just from seeing her form made that belief less tangible than he’d wanted. 

“Either way, it appears that we’ve both fallen into a different plane of existence,” she announced. 

What?

Was she not just an apparition of the Shogun from his memories? 

“‘Another plane of existence?’ Explain,” he demanded. 

“Don’t you see, look around you?” 

So he did. No Nation in all of Teyvat had infrastructure like this. It was like the imaginary fog had disappeared, and he was faced by the wide planes of blue from above. The colors in the sky of Teyvat were also not like that . 

‘Who are you,” he blurts.

Her eyelids fluttered, seemingly conflicted as she tried to find the right answer. 

‘I am–no,” her eyes averted quickly and back. “You may call me Ei.”

What the fuck again. Maybe this wasn’t a dream at all. Those ‘maybes’ quickly turn into curses against Celestia when Wanderer realizes that it’s not completely impossible for his current predicament to be reality .

Blup-beep.

A holographic screen appears before him. [We welcome you to play this game. Your name is…]

Dear fake stars above, what is it this time?

Chapter Text

He was certainly very unique . Those robes don't look cheap, nor does that hat. He was quite the looker as well. Though, what most intrigued her was the mention of the Dendro Archon; did she have any sort of business for the thunder goddess’s current predicament? Having some knowledge about her power, Ei did not think it'd be impossible. 

She became quite surprised at his question: who are you? He looked Inazuman, and if he was he should have recognized her status by her hairpin. She guesses it makes sense, the Raiden Shogun rarely ever appeared in public. 

“I am-” She was about to answer but cut herself short. No, she wasn't the Raiden Shogun. That title was never meant to be hers. It was forced upon after the death of her twin sister, it was hers. Thoughts ran through her head, right now this man does not know who she is, perhaps it might be fine to put down her shield. 

I am Ei.

“You may call me Ei.” She tells him this because she believes they’ll both be back to where they belong before long. Not many people not many living people know of her real name, but she won’t tell him that. 

He freezes. This causes some concern to stir within her, even more when the stranger is staring into a blank space. His eyes wander, like there is something that he sees , something that makes the muscle by his eyes twitch. 

She was puzzled, but didn’t let it show. “You haven’t told me your name yet.” She states it, though it almost sounds like a demand.

The anemo vision wielder sarcastically huffed, he clearly heard her, but did not make any move to acknowledge her. She has never faced such a blatant display of disrespect towards her, ever . But she must be patient, had she revealed her full identity, she might not have to deal with this disrespect, but covering as a normal person, perhaps this is the compromise. 

After a few seconds, he finally graces Ei with a name, “Wanderer,” he says. Just wanderer? Was that a title, or a nickname, she wonders. “Just Wanderer.” He sets it hard in stone, that that is what she must address him as. 

“Wanderer…” she softly says it, like there was something sentimental to it. An interesting name, but Ei thinks it’s too lonely to be his true name. 

He grumbles again, for some reason unknown, but she doesn’t ponder over it, she has met her fair share of eccentrics over the centuries she lived. 

“You mention the Dendro Archon, what does this have to do with this?”

He wants to say everything. Because why else is this program shoving itself in his face. It has the Dendro Archon’s voice, but the way it speaks is almost condescending. 

[Tell us, what is your name?]

‘Us’, that raises some concerning questions to Wanderer. It reminds him of the akasha, but he’s never used it before, he never needed to. Plus, Dottore tampered with it, no way in hell would he use one. Well shit, maybe this was why Buer always insisted he go have his check ups: his god had also been powered by the knowledge capsule used for those devices, this must be a side effect—that’s what he hypothesized. 

[You must sign the contract to play this game.]

Wanderer really hates games. 

~ ! ~

[You’ll like this one.]

Wow. So it can read his mind. Fuck. He hates this even more. 

[You must be given to sign the contract.]

He ignores it. 

[Please state your name.]

How does he get rid of this thing. 

“You haven't told me your name yet.” Oh dear, now her too. It takes him a while to process and understand the words spoken by the goddess. How laughable—though she doesn't know—it was her who abandoned him without ever giving him real name. He had no true name to go by, everyone called him titles, professions, even objects, but they never gave him a true name—a name with a meaning. He blames the Raiden Shotgun for this, because after 400 years, he is still left without a true name. 

[Your name i-...}

“Wanderer.” That's what he chooses. It fits him, he thinks. 

[ Thank you. By signing the contract, you agree to all our terms and conditions.]

What the heck are the terms and conditions anyways? He knew he was a bit brash and pessimistic, but damn him for being so brash and reckless. What in the world is this anyway?

~ ! ~

[We are an unnamed system, curated alongside the Akasha by the late Great Lord Rukkhadevata 500 years ago. Created to help the nation prosper, we were to aid Sumeru citizens to reach their goals and desires. Too complex and imperfect to handle, the Great Lord demolished our system and locked our data into a discreet part of the key lines.]

He still can't get around that even ‘Buer’ from 500 years ago—a much wiser and more powerful version of her—also messed up badly in that department. Great, he’s getting fucked by two different versions of the same person.

[With the information we received, your desire is…to see the Raiden Shogun: your creator.]

That must be some very outdated information it got. And God, he really didn't want to see her. He really can't tell himself if it's better or worse that she doesn't have a single memory of him at all. Maybe he could have cursed her, made her feel terrible or something if she did have those memories, but Wanderer knows deep inside that she would always remain that cold, heartless, and untouchable god. He can't believe he let that desire of being wanted to control him to try and become a god like she was.

But she doesn't remember. Although it makes him feel sick that she forgot him, he prefers his nonexistence to her than to her indifference despite knowing. 

[We will now guide you towards your desire.]

No, he does not want to see the Raiden Shogun! In fact, she's right in front of him. His “desire” should have been completed then. 

[It appears the Raiden Shogun does not know who you are. Your desire is still incomplete. Please wait. This may take awhile]

{ _Scanning for objectives_ }

He curses out loud. This is all Kusanali’s fault. It's fine, he tells himself, he doesn't have to listen to what the Unnamed System says. 

~ ! ~

He doesn't pay attention to the notification, opting to shut his eyelids close. 

“Your silence does not entail if you are a friend, or foe.” Ei sternly raises her voice, her eyes narrow at him. His unresponsiveness continues to reign anyways. She doesn't interact with enough people to tell if she is the problem, or him. But unbeknownst to her, he is in his own world.

Wanderer convinces himself that he's able to dream in his sleep state, that this is part of the check ups, that the capable Buer will wake him in the next instant. And in the next instant–

He’s struck by lightning.

It shocks every piece of ‘flesh’ on him and straight to his core. It fucking hurt!

This is not a dream. It's a damned nightmare.

  ~ ! ~

[Warning: Failing to comply or meet the goals will result in punishment]

That was the last thing he sees before the lights in his eyes fade away as his eyes shut down. He swears that this system was made for criminals instead.

-

Ei gently sets the puppet in a position where he may be more comfortable. She quickly found that out after his collapse when she checked up on him. Human bodies were fragile, so she wanted to make sure he was fine, but the revelation that the Wanderer is not human was not at all as she expected.  

A puppet, created from what means? When she carried him, why did she recognize that spark or electro energy? Now that she thought about it, his eyes were very similar to hers . This stranger whom she had waited patiently for, has given her more curiosities than the answers she desired.

Unsure of when he’ll wake, Raiden decides to get to businesses and find out more about this place by her own effort.

Chapter Text

The space on the ground was more colorful and alive than she anticipated. Ei is pretty sure that she has never seen such architecture and culture ever in Teyvat. 

“Mama look! A hero!” A child pointed across the street, a masked person was chasing a person. Or an animal , it seemed. Such strange costumes she thought. The consumed “hero” ejected a capture net from his gadget, successfully apprehending what seemed to be a thief. Such efficient law enforcement, she mused. The streets were clean, the air was fresh, the people all seemed to have places to be; what a wonderful world. She became even more intrigued: deserts. What kind of sweet did this world have? She squealed just at the thought.

Just, where will she find them? 

From just a single thought, she had forgotten about her goal. 

It's not that she kept on ignoring the looks from passersbys, she just didn't notice them. It was normal for humans to awe in the face of a god, so during her outings she has gotten used to them. Her isolated world prevented her from understanding that she was sticking out like a sore thumb. 

“Hey miss,” who? A uniformed man jogged up to her. “Cosplay has been pretty acceptable these days, but there are regulations to the dress code.” 

Cosplay? Dress code?

He looked ashamed to say, “you- you must at least wear a cover. I mean, that it's illegal to wear your underwear with a cover, at least in Musutafu.” 

Ei looked around, then finally at herself her own appearance; she indeed did not dress like the masses in this area.

“I see. I'll find some proper garments when I have the time·” with that, she simply walked away. 

“Ack- you can't just shove this-” she was already gone by then. 

-

So this was a clothing store. So many racks of different pieces of clothes hanging, so many of the same pieces stacked together. It was unlike going to a tailor and asking for a piece to be made. After having another confrontation with an “officer”, Ei opted that the best choice would be to find some clothing that respected the culture of the world.

“Hello miss, do you need help with anything?” Ei was approached by a young lady, her attire that reminded him of Fontainians. The girl gasps upon glimpsing at her face. Thousands of thoughts ran through her head, by the time she regained her composure she had found a sound conclusion.

“Yes, I do require some assistance. A man wearing a uniform kindly I formed me that my yukata has offended the law of this…nation.” The girl could only smile politely in response. She happy insist Ei to follow her into a discreet corner or the shop. 

“You know, Miss, you’re so pretty that someone might just think you’re a celebrity,” the girl giggled. Quickly, she cleared her throat to be professional, “These are our highest quality items, are you looking for something specific? If not, I believe you won’t be disappointed by my suggestions.”  Curiously as to how it felt, she touched the surface of a pastel yellow shirt. She noted how the material felt much softer than the fabrics she had access to as Shogun. 

That’s right, in this current form of hers, she could feel . She could feel the cool air flowing through the store, as well as the warmth of her breath. It is certainly uncomfortable to have an organic body after living in stasis as a piece of consciousness for 5 centuries. Miko must’ve despised her like that, but after many long years of isolation, Ei accepts that she needs to get out of her shell (literally). Her methods of ruling Inazuma have led its people to fear and turn against each other. “You’ve been disconnected from the outside world for too long, EI. I believe it’d do you well to try and understand your own people,” those were the worlds of her dear fox friend Yae Miko. 

What’s the best way to learn about humans if not to try and live like them then? 

“I am unfamiliar with the fashion of this world, I deem that you’d be best to advise me on such matters,” she says, but she was never a gal for fashion or materialistic things in the first place. (Seriously, she’s a god, and the equivalent of royalty in Teyvat, clothing, snacks, tea, and anything was accessible for her had she wished for them.)

The young lady squeals and efficiently moves around, to swab at different pieces of clothing. “I think you’d look great in a sophisticated pencil skirt, y’know, for a mature look, you would totally rock office-core. Ooh glasses too.” Why does this girl's energy strike a familiarity within her? “Gee–are you a model miss, you definitely would look good in anything!”

“Thank you,” she simply says.

Dressing rooms are a thing apparently. Ei wonders if the mass production of the clothes in this world was more efficient than custom made clothing that immediately fit one better. The girl shoves her inside one of the doors, telling her to ‘have a good time in there’. In all honesty, it took her a long time to figure out how to properly wear, specifically the ‘pencil skirt’. Like layers on a kimono, the top parts were easy to put on. A light undershirt which she thought was very comfortable, and the outermost layer was as a ‘blazer’ as the girl told her. Ei opted to change out of her old clothes leaving on the stocking because they kept her legs warm—and her hairpin; it was special to her.

The mirror opposite of the door allowed her to see herself in full; simple but satisfactory. She unlocks the handle and walks out to find that the girl had left to attend another person. She thanks the girl for helping her mentally, and walks out the store. 

-

It’s much better this time, the people who pass by her don’t stare for too long after seeing her, or notice her at all. There is a sense of peace she feels for not being so different from these humans, it’s unexplainable, but that is what she truly feels. 

She stops in her tracks and breaths. It was the smell of sweet treats. With her extraordinary sense, she was able to find the place quickly. It was a small remote shop at the end of a street . She had to enter a small alleyway and walk left and right, which led her directly to the shop. 

This was her chance to finally experience what this world could offer to her in terms of sweet delicacies. A bell rang as she entered the small pavement, the inside was plastered in pink wall paper, and decorated with pastel colors and decor. The smell was even more enticing, it was unlike what she was familiar with, almost like tea but much stronger and deeper. There were some people occupying seats by the windows, but Ei paid no mind to them.

Ei walks to the registry desk—there was no one there—and looks down at the glowing tablet—not even Fontaine had such technology like this—it displayed the names of menu items that were separated into categories: drinks, sandwiches, desert, and specials. 

“Coffee?” She’s heard of that before, from some law in Sumeru banning the importation of coffee beans and prohibiting the market of the item due to its high addiction rate in the region. 

“Apologies, I needed to help my grandmother in the back. What would you like to order?” Another young woman assisted her again. 

“Dango, please.” 

“Sorry, our place doesn’t have dango. We do have mochi, especially the donut mochi. It’s soft, light, crispy, and full of flavor.” That sounds marvelous to her ears.

“I’d like that then. Oh, and a cup of coffee.”

Ei thinks she’s ascended to Celestia. The mochi donut was divine . She’s lost count how much she has already ordered. The coffee in her opinion was too bitter for her tastes, the polite server offered to make it extra sweet for the goddess which Ei had graciously taken. 

Upon finishing that serving of mochi donuts, she realized that she had left Wanderer alone by himself in that building. “Ah, I have to check up on him.” 

She got out of her seat to leave, when her hand was about to push the bar, she was interrupted.

“You can’t leave yet, you have to pay for your desserts first,” said a deep and low voice, it came from one of the customers. Ei found that it came from a scruffy looking man with long black hair. 

The confusion on her face was telltale. Pay for it?

“Oh.” The shogunate doesn't exist here,  that means she's penniless. That's a problem . The man gives her a scrutinizing look in return. 

“Unfortunately,” she clears her throat, “I don't have a single coin on me.” The man grumbles and massages his temple. 

“But worry not, I shall find a way to compensate for this restaurant. They have really impressed me, I will for sure reward it graciously.” He doesn't believe her one bit. She leaves without a second thought, not even bothering to acknowledge that the moment she exits, so did the man.

~ ! ~

“Ugh,” he groans. Wanderer sits up still in disarray and disheveled. He's been shifted to another spot and thankfully, the Raiden Shogun is not in sight. He notices the sky has already begun to turn orange, signaling that it has been some hours since his death.

Ding! 

[New Mission Arrived!]

Wanderer curses at being reminded that he had been struck by lightning. A very powerful one which was surprising because his body was built on the basis to contain the Electro Gnosis. For a puppet, he was typically not susceptible to pain, so tha was a real shocker.

He glared at the screen in front of him. “God, I really despise you,” he sneered.

[Objective: Release Ei from the detention center]

{Details: She has been arrested for offense of the law.}

…

[Failure to do so will result in punish—]

“Yeah, okay, I get it!” 

He regained consciousness and it’s already bossing him around again. He could care less about what happened to her. Still, the idea of being constantly shut down at almost all instances, he found that unpleasant

“Where am I going?” He asked, putting on his hat before rising. 

The system did not reply as quickly. Seriously, this was stupid system is going to be the death of him. He swears if he has to fly around these buildings he might just self-

[Head east]

He let out one last scoff before flying off at high speeds.

A detention center, Wanderer was able to find a building label as such, it was smaller than he had anticipated. How she even got captured was beyond his understanding. 

There was only a man standing by at the reception desk, doing something on their electric. If he had known, he would have tried being more discreet in his entrance, because the man was now noticing his presence. 

“Ah, are you here for… Raiden?” The man asked. How he even knew that made Wanderer flinch. “Haha, it must be hard to troublemaking relatives when you’re a new hero,” the receptionist chuckled, “Especially when they’re your mother.” Wanderer’s eyelid twitches. He pulled out a ring of keys from a drawer, lead him towards the halls

“She is not my mother,” he snarled. 

Teasingly, the man responded with, “Don’t worry, the people won’t know.”

It didn’t even take a matter before they arrived at her cell. He immediately noticed her new atringe attire. 

“You’re here,” says Ei. It sounded like she did not expect him to come to her. 

“How did you even get there anyways,” he won’t deny that he was a tiny bit curious.

“She was caught by another hero trying to dine and dash. As well as resisting arrest and illegal usage of a quirk. All offenses were minor, that's why she's here. Because a hero intervened, it won't go on her record.”

Wanderer it in, but he doesn't care about that at the moment because of the anger that stirs within him. 

“What the hell,” he almost whispers, he feels his cheeks becoming warm. “Why the heck did you leave me alone up there-!” - did you just leave me for some food? He cuts himself when he realizes he was almost borderline yelling at her. He runs a hand through his bangs and sighs. His outburst clearly confused her.

“Release her.” 

-

Before they leave the center, the receptionist asks for his hero name, saying he has never seen him before,

“A hero? I’m no hero.” His eyebrows furrow at the receptionist's remarks. “Weird.”

A notifying que beeps, though only Wanderer can hear it

[Objective Completed! You are one step closer to your goal. Keep it up!]

Wow, this system sure has personality. Or maybe it doesn't; he just hates how with Nahida’s voice, it’s hard to not imagine that she was with him, the one guiding and encouraging him. Wanderer finalizes that having to hear Buer’s voice from the system is akin to a curse and it makes him physically ick. He’ll survive, he tells himself, he’s had worse things happen to him, this is nothing. 

When they both are a distance away from the building, Ei closes the distance between herself and the puppet before saying, “I apologize for making you worry.” She’s too calm when she says that.

“I wasn’t worried,” he snaps. “Not about you. That was…I was just reminded of something.” His tongue felt better after admitting that. He knows she doesn’t know, he knows that it’s useless to feel anything for the goddess, he says that he doesn’t care about the Raiden Shogun anymore but only because he had never hoped to see her ever. But he is here with her now, and that makes everything for him so much more complicated. 

“Well, I thank you for helping me in there, if not for you I may have been in that cell for a very long time.” 

It takes a while before Wanderer responds. “Why didn’t you free yourself?”

“I wanted to abide by the laws here.” she says.

“Heh, the Raiden Shogun following the law? That’s a funny joke if I’ve ever heard one.” He cackles, almost mocking her.

“So you knew…” if she had any feelings about that, she doesn’t show it. “If you want to know, I wish to understand humans. It may seem strange for a god such as I to say this, but I have been struck by an epiphany. I am not a great ruler, I have even brought harm to my subjects.” She stops and it takes a few steps farther for Wanderer to realize that she’s not going to continue walking with him.

 “I want to change,” she says, so full of solemnity that it’s sincere. Ei sees the irony in her desire; she was the god of eternity, and eternity must never be influenced nor touched, but if it meant that her nation—the nation that she and her sister built—could last for more centuries, EI was willing to sacrifice her own principles. “And to change, I must learn and see the world with my own eyes”

Wanderer doesn’t turn his whole body to face her, but it’s enough for Ei to see the unreadable emotions coursing through his eyes. She catches on too some of his mumbled words, “if only you had been like this from the start,” only shakes head, and looks towards the sky. The sun was setting, and the night would soon rise. 

“How did you get here?” He asks. She tells him the truth about her leaving the realm of Euhthymiya: it was a realm made of her own consciousness that she had installed in the heart of the Shogun puppet so when Ei wanted to take control of the body it would be easy. 

“Buer is waiting for me, I have to find a way back.” 

Wanderer crosses his arms in contemplation, frowning when he realizes he’s clueless.

“I have my own suspicions that a certain pink fox is pulling strings here, but I’d like to hear what you have.” 

He stares at her for a full minute before finally caving in. “I had business with Kusanali, she used her divine power on me, and I am here.” 

“From what I see, both our predicaments stemmed from something related to ‘consciousness’,” she concluded. “I have attempted to go back to the Plane of Euthymia, unfortunately, I was unsuccessful to no avail.”

So there was little hope to find in this situation, but seeing the expression on Wanderer’s, the goddess thought of assuring words to tell him.

“Have you met the renowned traveler?” The look in his eyes said yes. “It was from them that I was able to see the shortcomings of my ideals. They told me that even when the journey is hard, that does not mean the adventures they had gone through were not enjoyable.” 

Ei steps closer to Wanderer, “What I mean is, it should be fine to rest here for a while before searching for answers.” 

The look on Wanderer’s face isn’t any less unamicable than before. 

“It might just surprise you,” says Ei. “I found a wonderful store in this world, I suggest you visit with me when- when I have the funds for it.”

Ding!

[New objective: You must reach a 5% favorability with Ei by the next two weeks.] 

Two weeks, and this system expects him to be happy about the goddess's favor. Two weeks for a measly 5%. He just knows that this is going to take a very long time.

Ding !

[Reaching 100% favorability with Ei will unlock the key to what you wish for the most. The system will only end after Kabukimono has fulfilled their desire.]

“Are you alright Wanderer? Your stiffness does not seem usual for your constitution.”

Wanderer doesn't hear her at the moment. At the mention of his own name, he froze in place z He for sure erased that old name of his from Teyvat history for good. For The Unnamed System to know that name…how, why? How far does its roots go? 

Without warning, he hadn't noticed the curious hand that reached to touch the back of his neck. At sudden contact he immediately smacked it away. 

“What are you trying to do?!” 

“That symbol…” What? Concentration was etched on Ei’s face, though as intense as it was, it faded away quickly.

“I,” she sighs, “I apologize for touching you unprompted. That was inappropriate of me. It seems I…was mistaken.” She has a real knack for being aware of her mistake and then pretending it wasn't there in the next second at lighting speed. She recomposed herself so that Wanderer could manage to ignore what just happened. He made mental notes to never let his guard down around the Raiden Shogun.

In a very far corner, Wanderer misses the very subtle scriptions of text.

Favorability  +1%

Chapter Text

The sun has already set. They both walk into a park with very little headlamps, making them difficult to see for the average human. He can't leave the Shogun unattended since she would leave off to some place else and stir up trouble—that wouldn't be good for Wanderer’s physical and mental health. If she gets into trouble again that spells more trouble on him than it will be for her. 

“It might be a better idea to split up. We can find more resources that way-”

“No.” He shut her down. “I know what you are. You're going to that as your excuse to rob even more people. Then I have to get you out of it,” He crossed his arms to signify he won't be convinced elsewise. He doesn’t give Ei a chance to let a sound out.

“Just, stay here. Don't. leave.”

She gives him a narrow look as if to say “who do you think you are to order me around”. In the end, she gives in anyways. It’s dark out, and she won’t be able to explore the city, so she has no reason to wander.

“Fine then, go. Leave me and see what you can do on your own. Hmp.” 

He flies off to do whatever he planned to do–which Ei was not informed of–but to save the Wanderer peace of mind, she decides to comply and stay seated on the metal park bench. He is her only connection back from Teyvat, as well as knowing the Denro Archon, she’d like to remain amicable with him. 

A few minutes pass without event, Ei doesn’t bother to count the time as she observes the large buildings she could see in front of her—they were almost as pig as the Shogun Palace. She was interrupted when she sensed a person approaching her. 

“Excuse me miss, what are you doing up at this hour?” They got here faster than she expected. She turned to look at the person, a very scrawny looking man. She has a feeling he wasn’t as ordinary as he seemed to be. 

“I am waiting,” she responded.

“A date? That person doesn’t seem to be very mindful for leaving a lady alone in the park by herself,” he chuckled. 

“No…not a date–an acquaintance,” she corrected. She thought she should ask the man why he too was outside in the night.

“Me? Just having a late night walk. I came to check if you were okay.”

“I am,” she says bluntly.

“I-I see, then have a wonderful night, Miss.” The stranger looks at her one last time before walking away.

The nights in this world were very quiet. Even at night in Inazuma city, the lights never turned off. 

She takes this opportunity to meditate.

He’s in a discreet corner of an alleyway, just so nobody notices him. Wanderer discovers the only way to get back to Teyvat would be to complete Kabukimono’s desire . He won’t admit it, but he wishes it was Nahida instead of the Shogun. He's willing to actually strive towards that goal had it been the Dendro Archon, but it’s not, so he curses. Was this fate’s way of punishing him for his sins, he jokes and laughs out loud. 

But he has a plan. He’ll make the Raiden Shogun like him, but that doesn’t mean he has to like her back. Luckily, he has all his memories intact—and she doesn't—which will make her trusting easier and him not getting attached very easy.

“Hey, system,” he calls out. To a passing stranger, it might just look like he was talking to the air, and to Wanderer, he was indeed talking to the air. 

The system did not answer him, and he was left looking like a fool. Wanderer can only huff at this. Either it can only show up at a specific time, or there are conditions for it to manifest, he has to find that out for his own sake. He tries thinking of codewords, actions, anything that could be related, but none of them work out in the end. 

He hears footsteps shuffling around the area, and quiets himself. It’s not his business, nor his intent, it was purely accidental that he happens to hear some secret evil plan that some stupid goons had spilled out.

“Good, we’ve got them tracked. After the parents leave for work, we’ll take the children.” 

Kids. You don’t mess with kids in front of Wanderer.  He hears them walking away– oh, not so fast.

Pinpointing their location just by hearing them, Wanderer uses his anemo powers to fly above the criminals, not so fast that it blows everything in his path way, but fast enough that the three goons barely had enough time to realize he was floating before them.

“Who are you?” one of them yelled, he stuttered slightly. 

“Tch, a hero, of course. Told you to be quiet, damn idiot.” They immediately got into defensive stances.

“Never heard of this guy before, we could probably take him on together.” One of them pulled out a switchblade, the other pulled out an item that was shaped like a pistol, and the last one pulled out a shiny electronic device—Wanderer recognized that it was used to communicate with another person from seeing other people use it on the streets.

“Don’t kill him, we can’t make the hero suspicious,” said the one with the device, he must be the leader of the trio. He was scrolling for something on it, but Wanderer was smart enough to stop him letting whoever know that their plan had been foiled. He sent out a weak blade of wind, effectively knocking it out of the man’s hand and breaking it.

“What the fuck! Don’t just stand there do something!” 

The man holding the ‘pistol’ was quick to aim at him, but Wanderer was faster in whatever projectile came out from it. Electro projectile with a spring?

The man with the knife lunges at him, which the puppet had easily dodged by flying upwards. 

“Heh, I can fly you idiots,” he mocked them, effectively eliciting harsh glares. He was going to make sure he enjoyed this. 

What was unexpected of course, was when one of them jumped off the ground up to his level. It almost had him caught, though he quickly dodged, however, the man did not fall back to the ground. He was instead, hanging onto the wall with what he noticed to be claws .  That’s when he noticed the prodding ears and fur that wasn’t there before. It wasn’t even a second before the wolf man began lunging at Wanderer again at fast speeds. 

Tch, that’s quite handy.

Just as the wolfman was close to scratching him, Wanderer grabs his reaching hand to help spin himself onto the wolf man’s back before swinging down a leg to knock him back on the ground. 

The two men on the shifted so they would get toppled, they stared in awe at the display of having their strongest be defeated. 

“Those were some nice tricks there,” the puppet dispells his flight and plops next to the disarmed man he had knocked down. “What other types of tricks do you have? I won’t fly this time, if that makes it more fair for you two.” He was quite sarcastic in that remark, angering the criminals even more.

“Fucking heroes. I hate them all,” snarled the leader, he put on a pair of gloves before crossing his arms.. The two remaining criminals looked at each other, before making a coordinated move to attack him at the same time. Wanderer catches both of the leader’s fists, “You might want to let go,” the man smirks, “oh wait, you can’t!

Testing his theory out, he found that he couldn’t remove his hands from the gloves, causing the man in front of him to laugh, “Do it!”

His comrade placed a hand on Wanderer’s shoulder—he was about to use the body he caught to strike—but instead of retaliating, he was curious as to what the other planned to do. A surge of electricity surged through Wanderer's body. The smirk was wiped off the leader's face when he didn’t react at all. 

…

“Wh-what?!” The men were both stunned; he was not affected at all. 

“Pfft. Was this all you guys got? Laughable.” And Wanderer laughed. “Oh, it feels so good to finally have something to laugh about.” 

Activating his vision, he used his wind powers to swirl the electricity to both men, they became so stunned they couldn’t even scream. 

After they both trampled to the ground Wanderer up to the emitter. Seeing that he was one with the electric powers, he was not affected as much and still conscious. He stiffened upon locking in on Wanderer’s footwear.

“I’ll give you a chance to suffer less; tell me, what were you going to do with those children?” 

-

“You’re back. I was starting to wonder when.” 

Wanderer huffs in response. He does that a lot, Ei thinks.

~!~

[Reminder: It has been 5 hours since your objective has started. ]

[331 hours remaining]

So that's how it is. He’s figured it out now: the system only becomes reliable when it comes to the Raiden Shogun. Wanderer just wants to go back. He swears that he’ll do whatever Buer says without question if he can go back right now. 

Fine then, I’ll play your game. If the system wants him to win the shogun’s favor, then he’ll do it–under his circumstances.

But–how will he gain her favor anyways? The fact that she threw him away at first glance was already telling of the difficulty of this matter. There is nothing that would please this deity. There’s nothing that this goddess of eternity could ever love, feel, or care about. 

He doesn’t want to ask this. 

He really doesn’t.

He cringes. He asks away anyway. “Hey, what’s your preferred meal?”

-

“Where are we going?”

“Finding a place to stay.” 

Wanderer stops and turns back to look at Ei. “And what the hell is up with your clothes?” 

“A nice girl gave them to me.”

He raises his brow at her. He brushes it off a second later as it wasn’t surprising to see people giving out free stuff to pretty looking people. 

‘If you are looking for a place to stay for the night, I’m afraid we won’t have many options. We have no money.” 

“Actually,” he counters, “ I do.” He pulls out a bill in between his fingers.

“Where did you obtain it?” 

“You don’t need to know. I just found it.” 

“Hmm.”

They manage to find a place they could afford for one night: a public library. (It was called an internet cafe, but a library was the closest thing they could compare it to.)  The criminals unfortunately didn’t have a lot on them when he looted them.  This was better than finding a hotel or inn to stay at since they were barely tired, and the internet cafe was plentiful in knowledge and resources. The sign said ‘open for 24 hours all week!’, meaning that they won’t be kicked out at any time. 

This place was perfect.

After paying the fee, Wanderer and Ei were guided to their very own booth; they were sharing it. Thank the stars there was enough room for one of them to stand. 

“That device; I’ve seen it before, what does it do?”

Wanderer steals the seats and starts pressing the buttons on the keyboard. 

“It’s called a computer. You can search up the information from the ‘internet’,” he answers, “It’s like Sumeru’s dismantled Akasha.” 

The first thing that Wanderer searches up is the market. This makes Ei curious, but he’ll never tell her that he’s planning on becoming rich so that he could manipulate her through food. It might seem like a foolish plan, but considering she was arrested for food, this simple plan just might work out for Wanderer in the end. 

An article catches Ei’s eye.

“What’s this?”

  Junko Pop is releasing their newest unlimited edition of the Number One Hero: All Might! Predicted to be hugely successful in sales.

They click on it, but having no proper context of this world, the knowledge they receive falls flat. That is when Wanderer finally decides to research the history of the world. Boy, would Buer love this place. Being a history nerd himself, he thinks he could get drunk with all the free information he could simply get just from one search. 

Ei became bored and fell asleep on the cushion after realizing that Wanderer would not lose his interest on the computer. 

For the next hours that he had been researching, there have been many questions he gathered that the internet could not answer, but stars above did he find a wonderful place that could indefinitely help him. A place where people can ask questions and discuss various topics with each other and become more knowledgeable: Reddit.

Although he has no relations and business in this world, he can’t help but be intrigued at his history and culture. Although he wants to go back as soon as possible, there is a string in his heart that wants to stay in this place and learn about it. It’s the scholar in him that Nahida has etched onto him. 

It makes him excited. Just the entertainment of it all, and the thought of the Goddess of Wisdom’s reaction to all makes him let out an ecstatic giggle. 

He’ll stay for a few weeks. Just a few weeks, he tells himself. 

Chapter Text

Wanderer doesn’t care about the looks he is given as he walks out the restaurant door. 

To hell, what’s wrong with wearing a big hat in public?

Despite the time striking 6 AM, the city was still shrouded in a blue darkness. It was the best time for him because no one was around to bother him. He was holding a paper gift bag with a case of fresh deserts in it—the bag wasn’t his idea, it was one of the cooks who offered to do so despite him declining. 

As he nears the edge of a building, he hears footsteps. Wanderer didn’t stop walking despite that until he was face to face with the guy. (More like face to chest.)

“Well, would you look at that? Those are some pretty high quality clothes that you’re wearing.” the guy crossed his arms to appear imposing. “What do you have in your bag there? I think you’re wealthy enough to not feel hurt if you lost whatever that is in there.”

What is it with him to be meeting criminals left and right, Wanderer thinks.

“Sorry, you can’t have this.” He says impassively. Wanderer just wants to get back to his research immediately at this point.

He hears shuffling from behind and suspects that he has been followed for a while by two people . He sighs. “Look, as pretty as I may look, I am completely broke. I spent all of it already.” He doesn’t believe him and lunges at Wanderer, easy he thinks.

Just as he readjusts his hat, the bag flies out of his hand. 

“See you never!” the thief quips. His partner reveals himself and transforms in a motorbike. They quickly escape from Wanderer’s sight. At the sudden realization that he was no longer holding it, he clenches his fist. 

“You…” he immediately flies after them. They were fast, but there’s no way they’ll be faster than the wind itself. 

“What is it?” asks the motorcycle. 

“Tch. It’s just deserts. We should have bargained for more.” 

“You BASTARDS! I NEED that.”

Their musings were interrupted by a Wanderer who was coming towards them at high speed.

The top guy urges his motorcycle partner to go faster.

“I am! If I go any faster you’ll topple.”

He encourages him anyway. “If we get caught now, it’ll be the end of us anyway, just do it!”

So Motorcycle does, but he quickly loses his control and runs into a trash can, it flips high above the ground before gravity forces them down. 

“Ahhh!” They both scream. Motorcycle crashes into the ground and de-transforms, the other guys take a little longer to fall. 

“Oh dear god-”

He was saved. One foot above the concrete. Thankfully due to some wind, his legs were suspended for a second long enough to not break upon contact with the ground. Seeing that the man was okay, Wanderer drops the guy to walk over to the bag of deserts.

Oomf!

Wanderer deeply growled; they looked completely ruined, the desserts! He didn’t have enough currency on him to buy a new box. 

“Do you two have any idea what you’ve done?” His back was still facing them, but just from hearing his tone, the two thieves still laying on the ground shivered in fear. 

“Don’t blame me for this,” he stalks towards the man he had prevented from being splattered, “you should have known this was going to happen.”

Wanderer steps his foot in between his shoulder blades. The man feels a pressure forming on the inside of him, something was preventing him from getting any air. He wheezed and coughed until there were tears spilling in his eyes.

Am I going to die?

Suddenly, he was able to breathe again, raking in every ounce of air he could get. He wheezed, gasped, coughed as his stunned partner could only watch in horror.

“Take this as a warning to never steal from anyone ever again.” Staring at the bagged deserts in his hand, Wanderer frowns and walks away.

Although he is no longer the Fatui Harbinger Scaramouche, his murderous tendencies did not cease despite wanting to turn a new leaf. He hasn’t changed at all…

“Stop right there!” A modulated voice—someone new has arrived.

Wanderer mentally curses and imagines himself pulling on the locks of his hair.

“You have been caught by the Pro-Hero: Ingenium!”

He hasn’t caught him yet though.

“I have seen your quirk, you must know what that means. Abusing it to hurt others is not correct,” says the hero. He didn’t hurt them. They did that to themselves. That is what Wanderer exactly tells the armored hero.

“You are to be taken into custody, please don’t try to resist.” What is he going to do if he gets away anyways then? Wanderer smirks.

“I apologize, but before you wrongly arrest me, I must tell you that these two thieves have wasted my precious time. I’m afraid I don’t have time to tend to you as well, hero .”

“Then I am afraid I must use force to restrain you.” Ingenium gets into a running stance. 

“And I’m also afraid that won’t ever be possible for you.” Tipping his hat, he takes a glance at the hero. It was only when he was going to take flight did the hero teleport in front of Wanderer. His hand would have caught him if it wasn’t for Wanderer bending his body to kick himself away. The hero didn’t teleport, his legs were just extremely fast, he noticed.

“How old are you?” The hero asked. “You seem quite young, maybe a few years older than my little brother.” 

Wanderer frowns at this. 

“I can’t stand to see someone as young as you get into trouble just for this…”

Wanderer interrupts him. “What time is it?”

“Huh?” 

“I asked: what time is it?”

6 hours and 24 minutes, the hero told him. 

Wanderer scoffs, “Instead of trying to catch the impossible, why don’t you try to get those criminals in check and not me?” 

Ingenium tries to retaliate, but Wanderer uses his leg to kick a gush of air towards, forcing the hero to rebalance and lose his chance to prevent his escape. 

“Ingenium, sir!” His sidekicks finally arrive, albeit a bit too late. 

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” he reassures them. “Unfortunately, we might have to report this as a case of a getaway.” 

“Huh, someone got away from you?” 

-

He arrives back at the internet cafe, and after a thoughtful contemplation, it might be about time he changes his outfit. As much as he likes it, it has brought him more trouble than he had imagined. An unpleasant decision, but a much needed one, if only for a short period of time.

Sitting back in his chair, he sets the ruined deserts on the desk by the speakers.

“I smell…something sweet.” She’s awake, how miraculous. The first time Wanderer saw her sleeping form, he thought it was enough to traumatize him; she needs sleep? He quickly accepted it as it was easy to forget that she was in the room with him.

Her eyes immediately set on the bag that he had just placed down a few seconds ago.

Without any words exchanged, Wanderer throws it at her which she easily catches. 

“Oh my…” Her typical voice raised up an octave or two. Anticipating that she’d be angry, Wanderer turns his chair back to the computer screen  groans, preparing to defend himself through an explanation.

“You got this, for me?” (Why does she sound so touched?) Of course she would be angry, for who would have the nerve to serve the Raiden Shogun such ugly snacks.

“Mmm! This is just- simply divine!” What?

Wanderer turns the chair around to find that EI has already started to consume the deserts. What . His eyes must be deceiving him. The Raiden Shogun is…smiling? Happiness and pure bliss radiates from her alone, and Wanderer doesn’t know if he’s more shocked or disgusted. 

He turned his chair back to the screen; he didn’t see that. Nope. Just as he reaches for the mouse, Wanderer hears a chime.

Does she hear that too?

A few seconds later, he sees the image of a number come into view on the edge of the mouse pad:

Favorability +3%

“What, you’re gonna give me a reward if I finish it right now?” 

…

[Hint: Stalling the objective, displeasing the target or distancing yourself from the target will gradually reduce the favorability you have earned. You must use your remaining 327 hours wisely.]

He speaks a little quieter with a tinge of anger, “So what?  I’m just going to be her damn servant for the god damned meantime?“

3 percent, just 97 more to go. In just the 16 hours in this world, he has only managed to elicit a mere 3 percent out of her. 

That’s right, he reminds himself. He doesn’t have to like her; she just has to become trusting of him. He assures himself that he’s planning on staying in this world for longer anyways, the shogun is just another side quest.

-

Wanderer figures that he’ll eventually need a job. Not a full one, just a small gig, enough to fulfill the Raiden Shogun’s needs and pay for his booth in the internet cafe. 

He doesn’t mind delivery; his anemo vision makes that pretty easy-breezy. He doesn’t dislike cats, so cat-sitting is an option, and no way will he be carrying bags for a rich brat or snotty woman.

But in such a modern economy in this world, who would accept people for odd jobs and menial tasks they could do for themselves. 

Wanderer searches the internet for some jobs, but unfortunately for him, they all need a form of identification—something he doesn’t have. Smuggling and running away to another nation would be so easy in Teyvat, but this world was hardcore on IDs and certificates.

He and Ei could live in this small computer booth for the rest of their stay in this world (Wanderer himself wouldn’t mind), but forcing her to stay in such a space for a long time will just be like keeping a loud, dirty parrot spreading dust from its cage. 

A job…a job…identification…identification.

Those words cycle through his mind, distracting him from focusing on the online textbooks. 

“Your mind appears to be troubled, what stirs you so?” Ei gets up from her and sits down on the invisible electric stool she made for herself. 

“ Have you ever worked a day in your life—at all?” He jabs at her.

“I am shogun, a shogun should have duties. You should know that.”

“Oh I do, it's just,” he makes a bitter-sarcastic smile, “I don’t remember the last time you actually did your job; correctly.” 

Favorability —1%

Curse you too, Shogun .

“Just so you know, I have been providing this place for both of us. And don’t you think I’ve been treating you quite well so far?” 

“You seem to belittle me, Wanderer.”

“Are you going to smite me for that?”

The look in her eyes tells him that was considering it, it was because she couldn’t deny his hospitality that she forgave his remarks. After all, this situation was probably way harder on this scholar from Sumeru than it was on her. 

“Hmp. Then it must be repayment that you are looking for-”

“I don’t need anything from you.”

Insulting . This puppet was insulting her. As if her title of “Raiden Shogun” or “God of Eternity” did not phase him one bit, like the fact that her god status did not matter to him at all.

“Seriously, I work under the Dendro Archon. You are nothing special.”

Favorability —1%

Words don’t hurt her. A single mortal is no worry of hers. But the truth always does, but Ei mostly only knows how to deny it.

“Don’t you think that insulting me might cause the diplomatic relations between Sumeru and Inazuma to be obstructive? You say that you work under God of Wisdom, but she fails to discipline her close subject?” She was retaliating on part of her sister’s pride; the Raiden Shogun was her title, she won’t let just anybody be dismissive of it. 

“For the past 500 years Kusanali has been helping her people despite being confined to a prison. Even being weakened, she uses all the power she has to help those in need as much as she can. Did you not know that she has even helped some of your Inazuman children in their endeavors as well? 

“They all prayed to the Raiden Shogun for her blessing, but she didn’t answer them. When the God of Eternity failed to answer them,  who do you think was there to receive them?”

Her eyebrows furrowed, that was not something Ei could proudly answer. She was shell shocked in silence when she realized she had nothing to refute back with. 

“You are right.” She admits. “Kusanali is a wonderful god; benevolent, wise, and intelligent. In just her 500 years of existence, she has come to understand mortals on a plane that even I could not reach. I am an incompetent God if compared to her.”

She closes her eyes in acceptance, this was something that Ei herself still struggled with even when the Vision Hunt Decree had ended. She did not announce a public apology to those that had been hurt by it because she deemed it to be useless and ineffective. Because of her indifference, she could tell that many people came to secretly despise her. Nobody tells the Shogun anything because they fear her power. Almost nobody in Teyvat is aware that their capable ruler 500 years ago has been replaced by an unsuitable warrior god.

There is deep disgust that stirs in Wanderer’s chest. He hears her words, her voice, her solemn face but everything she says, Wanderer struggles to completely process.  She’s admitting that she’s wrong, she’s accepting of the facts, she–

‘I want to change.’ 

EI finally opens her eyes to see Wanderer scrolling down on whatever is on the computer screen, not looking at her even despite her sincerity. 

“...At least, you’re self aware,” he mumbles.

Wanderer hears the chime.

Favorability + 9%

[Congratulations! You have completed the first main objective! You have a grace period of 12 hours before your next objective.]

Chapter Text

“Why are you here?” 

“I am going outside as well, do you need to be so hostile about it?” 

“To do what?” He asks her. Really, she doesn't need to go out at all, if she asked him he would be capable enough to get anything for her.

“To see the world of course. You don't expect me to stay inside like a pet , do you?” 

He scrunches his nose, taking her words into consideration.

“Besides, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. No need to be wary of me.”

Wanderer pinches the bridge of his nose. “You got arrested. Yesterday .”

“That was a one time thing, it won't happen again.”

He squints. A simple reaction to her statement that EI deliberately ignores.

“If I may ask, what are your plans for this outing?” Her stance suggests she was quite proud of herself, though Wanderer quickly shut down such thoughts she had.

“Need I remind you that you got detained within the first few hours you arrived in this world?”

She frowns, “That was a one time thing, I’m sure it wouldn’t happen again.”

Wanderer reluctantly believes her, hoping that she has learned her lesson and won't make the same mistake again.

He was about to argue with her until he realized he could easily earn favorability by setting her free from troubles. If she didn’t cause any trouble for him, then he doesn’t have to waste his time going to her—a win-win situation, his triumphant plan visible with the malicious grin he formed.

Crossing his arms to exude a confident aura, doesn’t bother to look at her as he gives her ‘permission’ to go out on her own. 

“Well, since you asked so much I might be willing to let off your mistakes.” 

On the other hand, what Wanderer wanted her to do, Ei was truly never going to comply in the first place. It was out of respect to him as someone in the same situation that she agreed to comply with most of his wishes, but as a deity she found it somewhat uncouth that he was going so far as to order her around even when he knew of her true identity. 

“I don’t suggest you…go into random stores in hopes of getting free stuff again.” 

Ah, she did walk out that one time. But if she wasn’t punished for it then what’s the big deal anyway?

“I’ll be job hunting for a while. Stay on your toes if you see any mech-armored people.”

With that, Wanderer walks the opposite way on the sidewalk as he moves his fingers to tilt his hat only to realize it wasn’t on his head. He lets out an annoyed scoff at the end of the road. Why can’t he just wear his hat in public? 

—

He’s been hearing a lot of ‘happy hero day’ out on the streets. Everywhere he goes he always hears that phrase being spouted out. A day to commemorate Heroes and the work that they do he suppose. Every store that he enters has a poster on their wall to highlight the special day, and as someone who was native to the world, he felt a tad bit alienated.

Wanderer exits a store with a handful of papers and a feeling of doubt that he could immediately land a job on the day of his job search. Searching the web online, he has had certain ones on his mind that would need any IDs but to his detriment the owners always shoved a stack of papers in his face telling him he needed to sign them. 

It irked him very much, because in Teyvat he had gotten jobs for free just by asking. Why does this world have such a complicated system? The most troubling for him was they all demanded to know his number. When asked about it, Wanderer let them all know of its absence in his possession and then received a look of confusion and contempt in return. “I thought younglings these days would have been more in touch with technology,” says one of them.

If it was so crucial to have one, then he needed to get one in his hands.

“Excuse sir, but it appears you missed the landing of a job.” Spoke a petit voice. A child’s voice, directed at him. 

He found it was a little girl standing a perfect 10 feet from him. 

“Surely, you must be desperate?” 

Wanderer deadpans. It bad comes to worse, he could always stick to Plan C: punching up criminals and borrowing their cash and continuing on living in that internet cafe. He wasn’t that desperate. 

“And? Why are you prying?”

“I have a proposal. I was observing from afar and noticed that you became even more glum at the mentions of a phone number. To get straight to the point, I am willing to help you get one,” she says.

So, from what he’s understanding of her, she's offering him a deal at the cost of something. What kind of kid is going outside and making deals with strangers? A rich kid he concludes. Presumingly because she was way too well-spoken for her age and the style of her clothes were way too formal and high of quality that of those he would see kids wear.

Well, she probably has a lot of money so Wanderer didn’t feel bad at all when he agreed to listen to her offer. He’s just helping out a child like anyone good person would.

“What’s the catch?” 

“I need an accompanist. Someone to come with me to the festival.”

And she picked him, why? 

“You appear fairly young, but mature enough to pass as an older sibling or relative. It is perfect to go outside with suspicion.”

The puppet mentally chuckled. He likes kids in general, but after spending time at the Akademiya, he found that he really likes smart and intellectual kids—even if they have an ego most of the time. 

Sure, he doesn’t see why not.

“I do have questions of my own for you, but I’ll gladly take this opportunity. I hope you’re an honest kid”

Her serious and no-nonsense expression is broken down into one of wonder and joy—a smile. 

“I promise!”

—

All Might stares down at the two of them, it was a huge board built on top of the entrance to the amusement park, something so simple but the little girl’s face is full of awe and excitement at such a display. “Wow” she lets out.

“You’re paying for the tickets, are you?” 

She looks at him confused, but then remembers something.

“Of course, you can’t pay because you have no money. That’s why you were looking for a job.”

It is secretly a jab to Wanderer because it sells him to be incompetent. She assures him though that she will give him the money of course, it’d be weird if the little kid had to order tickets in his stead.

“I’m not robbing you, am I Miss Momo?”

She shakes her head, “The tickets are cheap, it wouldn’t leave a dent in my family’s supply. And, just call me Momo.”

A rich kid confirmed. Now for the most pondering question on his mind.

“Why not just hire a bodyguard then, was it more expensive than it was exhausting to find some random stranger on the street? That’s quite dangerous.”

She pouts, “Of course not. It’s just…I don’t want my first festival to be accompanied by hired professionals who only care about protecting and nothing else.”

Technically, Wanderer is hired. He wonders if she realized how that contradicts her wishes. What about her parents, couldn’t they take her instead?

“Mom and Dad are too busy and can’t be bothered to care.”

(It’s something he’s seen and heard thousands of times in his long lifetime: wealthy parents sheltering their children inside and never letting them go out to see the world. Typically, this comes out from a place of love and care, but those parents never seem to get it right. As a result, he’s seen lots of them rebel in one way or another, sometimes to the detriment of themselves. In the past during his time in the Fatui, some of his missions required bringing back runaways from high class and influential Snezhnayan families—he was always successful. 

If he was asked how he felt about them now, it would be a semblance of regret; those who ran away from their families, he recognized, were only trying to gain their freedom but because of him it would never be a hopeful venture for them to find themselves again. If he ever heard of updates about them, it would be that they were forced into marriages or never—likely that they never saw the light of day again.

Thinking about this, he reminiscent about all the times he once wondered what it’d be like to be the Raiden Shogun’s son. Maybe she might have been protective, caring, or maybe proud.)

“I’ve never been to a festival before.” He admits to her. It was true, he never attended any festive activities in his life even though that might have seemed unlikely with his former Harbinger status. (On those days where the Tsaritsa ordered a holiday to take place, he would instead always stay cooped in his office, planning the day he would become augmented as a god.)

“Really? But aren’t you…how old are you anyway?” Her speech becomes a lot more casual than she once spoke. 

“How old do you think I am?”

It takes her about a minute for her to find an answer. “Uhm. Based on the style of your clothing, it is popular with teenagers and young adults…so you must be 17!” 

He grimaces internally, should he take that as a compliment? 

Not that he cared about how old he was, but there wasn’t any point in telling her the truth about him, so he replied with a sarcastic sounding truth. 

“Actually, I’m over 500 years old.”

The nine-year old certainly didn’t believe him, mumbling out an unimpressed remark at his ‘joke’.

They were bantering too much already, and Momo had become anxious with the 3 minutes that they spent at the entrance. Not wanting to upset her, they finally entered the park. 

—

Wow. Children are allowed to ride this? A structure that ranges from five-hundred feet above ground and maybe over a thousand feet long. 

“This is what they call a rollercoaster,” explains Momo. “Specifically, it is named the ALL MIGHTY PUNCH! , it’s so big that it has to be deconstructed and rebuilt each time Hero Day comes into season! I want to ride it.”

There are practically stars in her eyes, it worries him because this coaster gives him an eerie feeling. Obviously because it doesn’t look safe, but he has a bad feeling about it for some reason. 

“If you’re scared, we don’t have to ride it right away,” she says to Wanderer, he doesn’t miss the crack in her confident demeanor. Good, she should be afraid because childrens are not supposed to go on that thing. The cart on the rail passes them and he could hear excruciating screams hollering away at light speeds. 

She will definitely not ride that train. 

Momo first brings him to a smaller ride. It’s less popular as he recognizes this being in the kids section. It’s nice, he thinks. 

“There!” Momo points, “A merry-go-round!” She runs up to the carousel and Wanderer shortly runs after her.

The girl anxiously looks around for something, though Wanderer was quick to catch on that she was checking to see if there were kids her age. 

“If you ask me, I think this ride is perfect for you.”

She gasps, “Are you saying that I’m a baby?”

Yes–well, no not exactly. He has more of a piece of mind when he imagines her riding this one. 

“No, but you obviously want to ride it.” He says. It was true, she really couldn’t deny the anxiety she had to get on it, but there was also the nervousness of being an older kid and being not socially acceptable to ride a carousel.

“If you’re just going to stand there and be pushy about it we won’t be able to have fun at the festival.”

‘We’. That’s right, she wanted to have fun with another person too. But now she’s just being a—

Wanderer walks away from her and into the gate of the merry go-round—Huh?

Momo gawks at him.

“Are you coming, or not? I might get lonely without a friend,” he teases.

It was about to start, and it was now or never that Momo rushes to him just right before the operator closes the gate. Finally coming down from her nervous wreck, Momo sees the children already getting into their places with the help of their parents, and her breath hitches. 

Maybe she doesn’t want to ride after all, she thinks. But Wanderer shuts that thought down when he forces her to be the one choosing the seats. So in a panic, she chooses the remaining horses on the second level. Quite miraculous for her that they were the only ones on top.

After Momo gets onto her horse, Wanderer hops onto the white one behind her. And then, the carousel begins moving. 

An innocent melody plays as the machine steadily spins, they could still hear the laughter and giggles of the younger children below them.

“This is actually quite nice,” he exclaims. Indeed, it was. The purity and innocence of it all warmed his heart, so much so it almost hurts him. He was almost lost in his feelings until Momo finally let out a word.

“Have you never gone on a merry go-round before?” she asked.

He’s never actually seen one, he admits.

“What! Your parents never took you to one before?” She looks at Wanderer wide-eyed, like it was a crime that he had never gotten such an experience, but after a few several blinks she comes to a melancholy conclusion. A quiet ‘oh’ leaves her lips. She feels like she made the room awkward. She wants to apologize, but doesn’t know how-

“Pfft—” He almost lets out a flow-blown laugh, but stops himself before it happens. “Says you,” he retaliates.

Like he is laughing at her, her mood ignites again. “M-my parents took me out to a merry go-round. Once,” she says, although not so proudly. 

Wanderer sighs, “My mother-” he probably shouldn’t be telling a child that, so he switches the story. Letting out a chuckle, he thinks back to the time Nahida forced him to enter that Akademiya darshan competition. 

“My aunt forced me to enter an academic competition.”

Momo blinks, confusion on her brows. “Uh…is that the same thing as riding a merry go-round with your parents?”

He hums, “Maybe not, but it showed that she trusted me very much. Although I didn’t end up winning, she thanked me anyway. Now hush, the ride’s about to be over.”

That story doesn’t correlate with hers at all, but instead of dwelling on it, Momo listens to him and tries to enjoy the rest of the ride.

-

So many stalls, so many options. The festival was huge! She was thankful Wanderer was by her at almost all times else she’d already be lost. Glancing around she finally makes the decision to go to the stall with stuffed hero plushies. Wanderer only really recognized the All Might ones.

“Hey little girl, want to try winning a prize yourself?” the vendor asked. It was simple: pop the moving balloons with darts. Confidently, Momo nodded her head and accepted the challenge. She paid the vendor her fees and stood on the stool settled in front of her.

Wanderer noticed how she precisely positioned herself, and that was when he became sure that she was definitely winning. The biggest prize was the All Might plushie, and even Wanderer worried that if she won he might have to carry that. Unfortunately for him, she aimed to get it and he could do nothing to stop her. 

“I just have to pop the golden balloon right?” A single small balloon. She was already smiling.

On her first throw, the balloon did not pop—even though Momo had aimed for its critical spot. So on her second dart, they both assumed that she didn’t use enough strength. 

“Oh no,” after two failures, she was starting to doubt herself.  But with Wanderer’s encouragement, she uses all her strength and accurately throws darts and — it bounces off the rubber like it barely ticked the inflated piece of plastic. 

“Oh darn,” she groans. It didn’t pop. 

“You don’t look very sad at losing,” Wanderer comments.

“It’s really not a big deal, I could ask my parents to get me one, or even better, I could make it at home myself.”

Wanderer lets out a huff, “Of course, why didn’t I expect so.”

He pulls out a few papers of cash and hands them to the vendor, grinning. “Let me have a try.” 

The vendor gives him his darts but he only takes one of them before casually walking to the throwing spot. Like a magic trick, he spins the dart with his fingers. They’re not very sharp, not very heavy, and the feel of them is very cheap. Momo is amused at how he spins it so effortlessly.

Finally giving his attention to the wall of balloons, he doesn’t bother going into a stance, his eyes only register the golden hue before letting go of the dart between his two fingers as he swipes his shoulder. 

Pop!

Momo’s jaw unclenches and fall to the ground at Wanderer’s effortless win. “How did you do that?” she almost screams.

“Maybe you’re just not strong enough,” he smirks.

“I'd like to assure you that as the Yaoyorozu heiress, I am stronger than even most adults.” She counters. 

“Anyways…” he turns to the vendor whose face was now as pale as the moon, “my prize?”

Wanderer sticks his hand out, patiently waiting for the man to get going. He grumbles, and reluctantly hands him the ginormous ‘cute’ All Might plushie. 

Wanderer grins, and Momo laughs. People are staring at them with envy from faraway. 

“I can’t believe you actually got it!” She laughs even more, excitedly sticking her arms out, waiting for Wanderer to hand him the prize.

“What?” He asks, feigning ignorance of her unspoken request.

Momo blinks two times, “I thought you were getting it for me?” She cocks her head to the side, brows furrowing as she begins to feel a bit let down. 

He grins at her reaction, trying his hardest not to laugh at her. “I thought you said it didn’t matter, ‘you can always make it at home’.” 

Defeated, she puts her hands behind her back and looks away from him. Maybe she was wishing she never spoke those words, as she pouts begrudgingly. 

“One…two…three. Catch!” 

“What—”

She accepts that he did warn her earlier, but she still wasn’t prepared to be caught in a hug with the ginormous All Might doll. 

“Ahh!” On instinct, she embraced the giant plushie thrown at her as her body was pushed down by gravity. But the impact that she braced for never came at all, whereas on the other side of All Might was Wanderer who held him from the neck. 

Curiously, he tilted his head to see if she was alright. She was still a bit shocked so Wanderer pulled on the doll to help her stabilize.

“What did you do that for?!” The doll was so huge that as she hugged it, she had to turn her small body to the side just to make eye contact with Wanderer. 

It was finally then that he snapped. 

He couldn’t hold it in him any longer to not laugh. 

That was rare of him, to laugh with pure joy and not contempt. When was the last time he had felt like this? Since four-hundred and fifty years ago? Since then, he has never felt so free until this moment. 

Momo herself is caught surprised at her stranger-friend’s burst of laughter, her feelings of embarrassment now replaced with his shared sense of joy, and after taking in his laughs, she too begins to erupt with laughter. 

Chapter Text

They went everywhere, to all sorts of rides, games, stalls, and whatever seemed fun. Wanderer was forced to carry the doll for Momo or else she wouldn’t be able to see anything—for the short while she did, it was amusing to see the stares she caught, one’s of bewilderment and awe.

On their way exploring more of the festival, they met a group of ‘street interviewers’, a funny concept in Wanderer’s opinion. 

“Hey there little one!” they happily approached. No way were they going to miss the little girl with an All Might doll that was bigger than her whole figure by two times.

The female interviewer leans downward, holding the mic in front of the young raven girl. “Who is your favorite hero?” she asks as if the display of it all wasn’t there.

“All Might…” 

“That’s wonderful! What do you like so much about him?” 

That was the interviewer’s first mistake. Momo being the young intellectual she is, was happy to explain all the (logical) reasons why the number one hero was the best in intricate explanations. (She secretly has a small complex thinking that she was a bit better than children and most adults by liking All Might for more than his fanfare.)

To escape her vigorous rambling, the interview turned to ask Wanderer for his opinion. Not expecting this turn, he spat out the first name that came to mind. 

“Er…Eraserhead?” 

“Oh. A name we’ve never heard before. What do you like about them?”

They’re really pushing it. But he humors them anyway. Why does he remember Eraserhead? Well, after Raiden’s arrest, he drilled her for any information of the person who had been able to capture her. Miraculously, she heard the receptionist back at the detention center mention their code name: Eraserhead. With this information, he tried digging up more information about him, but on the surface, he only found that he was a Hero and “underground”.  But even with as little information he had, he liked how Eraserhead didn’t try to be in the spotlight. (It may also be that because of him, he was able to make the Shogun owe him. And maybe—just maybe for that incident.)

“He’s cool. I guess.” He says with a mischievous gleam in his eyes. After having his take, the interviewing crew found it sufficient, and finally left them for elsewhere.

“Eraserhead, what’s he like,” Momo asks. Not having any reference of his physical form or feats, he bulls(hit) is way out of with a lie and assumption…based on the bright and colorful personalities of the majority heroes.

“He’s…very friendly.”

Momo gives him a deadpan stare, “All heroes are friendly. Or do you mean he becomes friends with anyone he sees? There’s a lot to gauge just from that description alone. That’s too shallow and unspecific…”

Oh, and here is Momo who is picking apart his shallow opinion on a hero he has only known about for about a day at most. 

“…I like All Might because he’s kind, he does his job with the utmost care, and does not discriminate against anyone he will help. I very much aspire to become a hero like him.“  There were practically stars in her eyes around the time that she finally finished rambling.

“You’re quite passionate about this…hero stuff.” 

Momo gasps, “Who isn’t? Well—you it seems.” 

He shrugs in response. “Have you ever been saved by a hero before?”

Momo shakes her head, no. Being born into one of the richest families in the world, her safety was the utmost priority in her life. Despite her brilliance, her parents have opted to keep her sheltered at home, not yet understanding the desires of their daughter. 

“Have you?”

Likewise, Wanderer responds in the same way. “But you could say I was defeated by one.”

“Is that metaphorical or…”

“It’s reality.”

She still doesn’t believe him

—

This is the fifth time she’s been stopped on the streets. Being respectful, Ei doesn’t disrupt the woman in the black suit. 

“Miss, have you considered becoming an idol?” 

She’s not unfamiliar with that term, albeit she has no idea what it is. 

“An idol of worship?” If so, then she has already become one.

The woman lets out a laugh, assuming that Ei was just a too-sheltered, wealthy rich daughter. 

“You could say that. But more importantly, idols inspire people. Through dance and song y’know. I see that you have huge potential to make it as one!”

The recruiter, Ei realizes is brimming with excitement and fawn over her. 

“You are…oddly desperate.” 

Their breath hitches. 

Truth be told, she has been stalking Ei from the moment she saw her, but there was always an air to her that made the anxiety-prone recruiter from approaching her. From her perspective, Ei was quite the beauty, though there was something aloof with her that made her even more charming. This attracted a lot of attraction to her as she watched the purple head be approached by agencies of different media—modeling, acting, and idol. This was a sign, she was a catch. 

“W-well, if you’re not big on idols, an Internet personality certainly suits you well!” Please, please, please, she begged internally. She needed at least one good catch to save her life, if she didn't it would be the end of her dead end job. Yes, she felt guilty for thinking of others as a money making tool, but others have had it too well that she needed to be selfish as well. 

Please, Kami-dear. 

“Say, does this idol-ing perhaps have free dessert?”

A chance for her, yes!

“Of course!” Not wanting to lose Ei, the recruiter (rambunctiously) lists all of the ‘benefits’ for coming to her agency. Catering, pay, holidays, whatever that can make her consider her agency from all the others. Unfortunately, she did not look too impressed with the listings

In Ei’s mind, she needed a job to assist her stay in this world, as well as to understand the workings of human life (and to lessen Wanderer’s burden). It was quite easy actually; the jobs came to find her. The hard part was finding one that was suitable for her, while also catering to her needs (or wants). Up to this point, after all the offers, Ei thinks that it may be time for her to decide where she wants to go. 

She takes out a business from the pocket of her coat. That modeling company sounded like it had nice conditions. Apparently, it was the brand co-run by a hero. But, the recruiter for that agency was off putting to Ei in the way they spoke, “It’s competitive, you’d be lucky to even get scouted.” 

Having seen the logo on the card, the recruiter’s hope dwindled. But with nothing much to lose, she was not going to give up. 

“Wait! Before you decide, I have a proposal. Why don’t you come and see the studio…”

It seemed no matter what, she was not swooned. But—

They both hear a low growl coming from the indigo.

“That has…never happened before.” Ei announces, a tad bewildered.

An opportunity.

“Let- let me treat you to a meal! I’ll even prepare you some dessert!”

At the end of the proposal, her eyes lit up in intrigue. She was feeling pretty peckish, and with nothing to give for payment, Ei gladly took the opportunity to have a free meal with no repercussions.

—

“I wished I had a camera on me, I could savor this moment forever.” Momo comments after an agonizing wait for the ferris wheel to reach the highest point. What was revealed at its peaks was a striking sunset

“It's not like you’d never be able to come back again.” 

Of course she'll come back—when she’s older and capable enough that her parents would finally allow that, is what she tells him.

Some distance away Momo hears screams. That when she turns to look, and sees the faces of the riders, their faces full of pain, anxiety, excitement, or happinesses.

“You still want to ride that?” Wanderer quirked his brow. 

Yes, she mentally noted. There's deep anxiety dwelling in her stomach, but she accepts it because it is a challenge to her. 

“If you're worried, don't be. I'll catch you if you fall.”

It took Momo three blinks to process before she started laughing at that. She wasn't a little girl anymore, so to hear those comforting sweet nothings again was akin to joke for her.

Wanderer himself wasn't so pleased with the reactions he promoted, and instead plunged himself deeper into the hole he dug..

“If I were to say that I was scared, would you believe me?” He in fact was worried, not for himself but for the young child sitting from across. 

Momo considers his words deeply, “Well, maybe. You don’t look like you’d be scared, but you can never know how someone is feeling based on their looks. Actually, you do look like a scaredy-cat.”

What does that mean?

“But if you are scared, don’t worry I will  protect you!” Momo proclaims, proudly.

Ah, this is why he dislikes humans. Their adolescent forms are so pure and full of innocence that it is always hard for him to not feel any ounce of emotion for them. So, he smiles. 

“Sure, I’d like that.”

His past has taught him not to indulge in emotional escapades, or seek the sentimental, but it has been so long since then that maybe, just maybe this once, just on this single day he shall let himself be free of his sins and doubt to embrace this innocent warmth. 

—

By the time their feet touched the ground once again, it was time for Wanderer to wonder: why has no one come looking for Momo? Did she not run away to come here? If he were to be honest with himself, he had too much fun that he forgot to remain alert.

From the color of the sky alone, he gauged that it must be the early afternoon, plenty of time to notice that your child has disappeared. Unless you’re inadequate as parents, he mused. 

And despite the hours passed since morning, the number of people inside the park never dwindled. Perhaps today might be the worst for heroes because of the traffic—ironic considering today was a celebration of them, Hero Day .

It also appeared that Momo was onto a realization herself, that today wouldn't last forever, that she would be in big trouble after returning home. She would be punished in some way, presumably being grounded for days on end. 

She's smart to know that her parents have already caught on to her, it is only a matter of when they will find her. She is aware that her family is wealthy, and that with money they could even buy off real heroes to search for her. It is a miracle that she has been out for this long. At least if she rode ‘ The All Mighty Punch’, she won't have any regrets. 

“Let's go there! I want to ride it now.” So, Wanderer allowed the child to drag him towards ‘The All Mighty Punch’. 

(A clunky name if his opinion was asked. The concept was: All Might releasing a punch. Wanderer thought that it would have been better to name the ride based on an actual move from All Might.

The architecture and technicality was something he could appreciate, it was not a wonder why this ride was so popular and sought out. From what he could see from the side, a giant All Might mechanical doll held a pose from the other side of the rails, as the riders strapped into their seats, the machine would activate. Just for show it would pretend to punch the train cart before it launches off at high speeds. It’s a bit choppy, but was amusing to watch nonetheless.

The line was long, but Momo was willing to spend a couple thousands more for the exclusive-premium “Fast Pass” that no normal family could afford. This was something Momo would never forsake knowing she was rich.)

“You look like you were born ready,” Wanderer teased, smirking lightly at her serious expression. She doesn’t say anything, and only responds with a curt nod.

Wanderer is appreciative of the safety harness despite how restrained he feels. Momo sits strapped in the very front seats next to a young woman, while he sits behind the lady, just so he can see Momo’s reaction. 

Metal bars close above each individual chair. Momo hears a chain of clicks behind her before hearing the roaring steam of the giant All Might animatronic. It’s moving, though she was unable to see it from her seat. 

She grits her teeth and smiles nervously. Listening carefully, she attempts to try predicting when she will blast off. It comes agonizingly, even more so than the ferris wheel that really did take a long time.

One , it’s become louder now, maybe because the start of the ride is so fast that it has so many compressors. Two , she could imagine the animatronic revving up its arms, preparing to strike the cars. Three , complete silence. And then–

The cars were ejected.

It was so fast. So fast it didn't feel bad at all. It was like she was flying. A few seconds in and Momo had begun to forget her anxieties. Her jaw loosened, and the corners of her lips tilted upwards.

She doesn't think she's ever felt so free before.

Laughter spills out of her mouth, every twist and turn of the coaster makes the sound waves echo. Despite almost all people on the ride opening their mouths to make a sound, Wanderer stayed somewhat collected. It was the feeling of being locked up and forcefully dragged down like a doll that was slightly unpleasant for him, but hearing her laughs allowed him to relax a little bit.

The cars rapidly descends as it approaches the biggest upside down loop. It needed to gain massive speed to ensure that it would successfully go through the loop. Because of the ride’s older model, Momo was at first scared of this part, but later found it no trouble after prepping herself with similar rides. 

The train ramped up so quickly that Momo hadn’t even realized she had passed the curve until she blinked. Suddenly, everyone was upside-down, the feeling was exhilarating. Anticipating the descent, she held on tight to the handle bars on the safety harness. 

Except, that never came to be. 

The front wheel tripped into something that wasn’t visible, causing the whole train to go slightly off rails and creating a string of clacking sounds. With sudden shock only hitting the first train, Momo instinctively shut her eyes, she could feel all the hiccups of the train, and hear the screeching friction much more deeply. 

Was that supposed to happen?

Despite its slight  slowdown, the speed of the train was still just as fast. Right as the car began to circle down the thunderous volume of a crash erupted from the fronts, cascading as a shockwave all the way to the back of the train. Everyone could feel it. 

Can she open her eyes now? 

So she did. Like it was on command, the metal bars that were supposed to contain her flipped open, and so did the safety harness. The woman sitting next to her screamed as she noticed this, her hands trying to reach out to the child, but it was already too late.

She was falling .

End of Act I: Part One.

Chapter Text

A sharp scream erupted through the thick silence from above, alerting Wanderer just to see exactly how Momo had fallen out of her chair. Immediately, he tries to pull himself out only to remember that he is still locked into his chair. 

Those slight seconds of hindrance were enough to be dangerous to the extreme. There were no heroes around, the people from underground observed from a far, pulling out their devices to record the event. None of them were moving to help . 

Shit! Shit!

No more seconds left to wait, any longer and Momo would be splattered on the ground. He no longer bothered to retrain himself, using his true strength and all of his anemo power to break through his harness, faster than he’s ever gone he flies straight down. Not caring at all about the comfort of the leftover passengers.

She was no more than 10 feet off the ground before Wanderer urgently came in to swoop her, using some of his anemo powers to make it more comfortable.

“I got you.” He assured me, his voice hushed and panicked. 

Momo slowly snapped out of her daze, her head turns to look at her savior with shock plastered all over her face. She was visibly shaken at the realization she was almost close to her possible death. 

He descended down to give her some sense of stability, but even so she held on tight to his shirt suggesting that she didn’t want him to let her go…

He tried to comfort her to the best that he could, “You’re okay,” he affirmed. 

It did not take very long for heroes to finally show up to help. Those short minutes to the outsiders seeing the accident were likely hell to those stranded upside down the roller coaster, Wanderer could feel for them. Momo had gotten better enough to stand on her own, but was immediately taken by a paramedic, Wanderer was not allowed to follow them which frustrated him a lot. He wanted to cause a scene, but being considerate of Momo’s currently vulnerable mind, he respected the professional’s decision and backed off. 

With the acknowledgement  that his “employer” was no longer in commission, the outside world began to sound like muffled white noise. What a terrible turn for a day that was so fun and unassumingly innocent. Momo’s day was ruined, and that left an itchy feeling in his chest. Was there something he could have done to help?

Blinking himself back to reality, he looked for Momo, but she wasn’t here anymore. He asked the nearby paramedic and was told that a hero had taken her away back to her parents. 

But she left her doll. That big, stuffed All Might doll. It was still left sitting by the waiting seats. With the wind, he swiped the doll towards him. His moment of contemplation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps.

“Excuse me, sir. You are under arrest for illegal usage of a quirk, as well as property damage and…and kidnapping.”

He turns around to take a look at the announcer, a hero by the looks of it.

“What?”

—

Ei found it unnecessary to "audition" when she was invited in the first place.

That was standard protocol, but with Ei’s beauty and eccentric behavior, there was no way the higher ups would refuse, the recruiter assured. 

Ei was too mature by appearance to be an idol, so she took her to the general auditions. At the very least, she could land a job in modeling. As an ordinary employee, the recruiter was not privy to attend the auditions, so she waited outside in anticipation.

After about 15 minutes, Ei walks out. 

“How was it?” the recruiter asked nervously.

“I think it turned out well,” responds Ei, “but they gave me a large stack of papers.”

“Eh?” One quick look was all she needed to see that they simply weren’t just papers, they were contracts .

“What?! That many offerings on the first day?” She was ecstatic. This was her chance to finally become a big name. She quickly informed Ei of her opportunities. 

“Wh-what, you got an offer to become the face of a new reality show in production!” The recruiter flips through the papers and gasps, “You were even invited to be the host of Hero-Meet Gala !” she exclaims, feeling like she might even faint. She is really curious as what the indigo 

This was a good thing, EI assumes. Not only did she land a job, but they appear to be a good one based on the recruiter’s reaction. 

“Then, do I start working now?”

“Not exactly, you have to sign a contract to work on them. And besides that, the agencies offer out the same jobs to different talents in case there are others who are more suitable or if they refuse or something along that matter,” they explain.

“So that means I am still not guaranteed a job,” EI confirms to herself. 

“But that’s alright,” the recruiter budges, “you just need a good manager!”

Ei’s un-reaction prompts the recruiter to explain more. 

“In short, let me be your manager,” they smile, trying to appear the most confident they can.

“But aren’t you just a recruiter, though?”

The recruiter lets out a choked huff, “Oh, I actually signed to be a manager but it turns out that they found me too incapable to manage their precious talents. So here I am, finding my own client and hoping they stay with me…” she looked dejected trying to pull it off as a joke, but the very next second she clasps the goddess’s hand in hers. 

“Please, I am super desperate. I already know you’re too good for me, but please consider me!”

The thunder goddess sighs as she see tears forming at the edge of their eyes. 

“You promised me a meal. And dessert, miss…” Ei crosses her arms, waiting . It didn't take a second for the recruiter to catch on.

“Chinatsu! Chinatsu Hisako.” The life in her eyes is replenished by relief.

“Miss Chinatsu, I hope you keep your end of the promise. In fact, I was most looking forward to this meal,” Ei sighs.

If that’s the case, Hisako might have the perfect place in mind—the best place she could afford with her budget, of course.

—

“Wanderer.”

It is always that name. He had been the second detective to come in and interrogate the young man. This was a low profile case, but because it involved one of the wealthiest families in Japan, the urgency of this interrogation was high. 

Wanderer , no matter how many times or slyly he tried to approach, he would always receive the same answer. Wanderer’s insistence with that name was so sincere that the detective could  almost be fooled. The previous detective even searched it up just in case, but found no substantial info.

“And your family name?” 

Nothing. He started to become frustrated, the young man despite being in front of him was not in the room at all—like this was all a minor inconvenience to him.

“I’m serious, my name is really just Wanderer.” It was nonchalant, unserious even.

“What about your family?”

But he did get a reaction from this one, a concerning one to the detective. His dark blue eyes stare back at detective’s. He was thinking too deeply for a maybe simple question.  How old was he anyway? Maybe a teen. Did he run away from home and not want his caretaker to find him? There was sympathy in the detective’s heart for the boy. 

He believes that there was no malice in him to become friends with the Yayorozu’s only daughter, and nor did he think  it was immoral that he broke the law to save a human life. But still, he was here.

“Let’s take a break,” the detective says, breaking the (nonexistent) tension in the room. “Would you like something? Allis free of charge, of course.”

Wanderer’s eyes move to stare back at the detective, acknowledging his words, but not considering the offer. (It was then that the detective realized the boy had never blinked once throughout the interrogation, and he secretly found it eerie.) 

“Alright then, someone else might come back for you. Just want to let you know.”

—

Closing the door behind him, the detective hears his partner shuffle out of their seat. He shakes his head to confirm how the interrogation had gone. 

“I don’t think we need to bring in Detective Tsukauchi, I’m sure even he wouldn’t be able to find a thing out of that boy; he won’t even answer.”

“Uh, a boy–?” his partner quickly clears their throat. “But, have you heard that the Hero Public Safety Commission wants to meet with him?”

He has, and their makes everything all the more complicated. How will everything turn out in the end? Whatever it is, he feels concerned for the young man still caged in that room.

—

[Favorability -1%]

What the fiddlesticks. He’s been gone for half a day and he’s already losing favorability? How? Why? What?

[Suggestions: greet the Raider Shogun every morning. Make her dinner every afternoon, make her a gift—these can increase familiarity to help increase favor .]

Get. him. out. of. here. 

“You seem to stare into nowhere,” says someone, making their entry known.

Great, someone is here again to ask for his name.

 “Hello, ‘Wanderer’,” spoke a woman in a dress suit.

She goes to sit on the stool across from him. “I am a secretary from the Hero Public Safety Commission , do you know what that means?” 

The hell is that? 

“Well, we maintain order and peace in society by managing the affairs and regulations of heroes.” There seems more to it than just tha.

In a low voice, “What are you suggesting?” 

The secretary smiles. “We want to have you in our program.”

A look saying ‘why’ appears on Wanderer’s face, and the secretary doesn’t need words to understand; was a quick back-and-forth ‘conversation”.

“Because of your admirable strength and courage,” she says, then digs through her bag to find one of those rectangular devices. She finds something on it before showing the screen to Wanderer. It was of him and the moment he broke his bindings to save Momo.

“I’ve been told you don’t have a legal identity in this country, it causes me to come to many assumptions.” She crosses her arms, and tilts her head to observe Wanderer. “You don’t look that old. How many years do you have?”

He should lie.

“Thirty.” He responds curtly.

“And your full name?” The urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

“Look,” he evaded, “even though you asked, I don’t want to join—at all.”

Even with his deliberateness, the secretary paid no mind to him. “You say you are an adult, but are you sure? If so, you are to be punished fairly as the law says. But if you admit to being a minor, your punishment will be exempt.” 

“I am an adult.” He frowns. 

“You have no parents, no family or friends? If not, then what does it matter to the world if you were to disappear?” She asks innocently.

“Are you threatening me?”

She smirked, “Surely you must know that in this world the value of your identity relies on those who can vouch for you. If not, the system sets you to be ‘trash’ by default.”

Darn it, he just wants to be back at that Internet cafe. If he at this moment wishes he had never gone outside at all. This is all her fault. If he didn’t have to care about that archon he would never be in so much trouble right now.

“What will you do?”  Wanderer asks.

“Nothing. We won’t lose anything, but you—you will lose your freedom. If you were underage, you could be put into foster care, or the HPSC could take you. But otherwise, because of your crimes you will remain here for a while, probably 3 to 20 years.” She is confident that even if he escapes, he will never truly be free. The heroes would make that possible, and his comfortable stay in this world would be no more. “And, because you don’t have a legal identity, you won't be able to appeal it in court.”

[!] Warning. This will cause your character to become inactive. Inactivity will trigger account erasure. 

By erasure, does that include his being too?

[Yes.]

(…)

He fights the urge to pull in his hair. This thing is going to end him—literally. This is all her fault. He doesn’t bother to regret the actions that brought him here any more because it brings him no stability; it is useless. There is no way for him to escape without becoming an enemy to this society: a villain. He’s lived that life once, was he really okay living it again, even if his motivations are different?

He doesn’t want to be in this organization. Their secretary’s attitude towards him is enough to drive him away. Shady organizations…he certainly didn’t have much fun in the Fatui aside from the drama and tea. Other than that, his overall experience was not pleasant. He’s tired of joining hand shady allies , of being a puppet, being controlled .

The secretary hums, tapping her fingernails on the table, waiting for any reaction from him.

Fine then .

Gritting his teeth—hard—he finally gives in. “I know someone.” He admits reluctantly, “She can…she can vouch for me.”

“Oh? Who are they?”

The feeling of her name on his lips leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

 “Raiden Ei.”

—

By complete night, Ei returns to the internet cafe to find that Wanderer did not come back. It is a trivial thought to her, assuming he still had business to attend. The goddess moves on to contemplate on how to pay the poor Hisako back for treating her as her expression became more and more drained each passing hour of her punch-dinner.

She finds herself sitting on the same bench of the park where Wanderer left her stranded in. It turned out that the place was quite close to the cafe, so she walked there hoping that Wanderer would be back to share his findings by the time she came back. 

Ei opens the paper bag of treats given by Hisako, considering eating them now before they go stale. They were handmade, the art passed down to Hisako from her family heritage—it was what convinced Ei to appoint the recruiter to be her sole manager.

The place is quiet at night, there are no distractions and finds it to be a sanctuary. She takes a deep breath, “I can get used to this air…” as a sakura petal blows in the wind, brushing past her cheek and onto her lap. 

“A blossom…it’s like you're still here with me, Makoto,” she says with tenderness.

That is when she has an idea to keep the little, plain, Sakura blossoms as a memoria. “Oh, are you to remind me of my duty as the new Archon?” She chuckles lightly, she indeed has been slacking off if she could admit to herself. “There is a problem though: I can’t seem to find my way back,” she jokes. 

“I…I’m not running away. I promise.:

 Wanderer’s words echo through her mind, along with the vow she made for herself. I want change. But did she? It has only been about a day but she can no longer wait for something to happen, she must take matters into her own hands and find a solution. It troubles her mind to wonder how Inazuma must be faring without her protection that even meditation is difficult to maintain.

A warm breeze blows at  her—a person. Ei tenses, but quickly relaxes her body to display that she was not alert.

“Excuse ma’am, are you—“

Though her head moves rigidly fast, causing the person to still as she proceeds to analyze them.

“—Raiden Ei?” He cocks his head, smiling confidently as if telling her to ‘chill’.

So he knows of her. 

She relaxes her mind, and disappointingly glances at the bag in her hand. She doesn’t answer his question, opting to comment on a feeling she had.

”So that was you. I had thought you were just a small curious bird, looking from afar.” He was almost a bird, with his small little wings in the back that appeared to look crimson-colored in the night. His blonde hair reminded him of that frail man she saw the first time she meditated here. The coincidence was quite amusing to think about, in her opinion. This one though, did look a lot younger. 

“If I may ask, how do you know that name?”

He let out a small breathy chuckle and smiled devilishly.

“Oh, would you like to know?”

Chapter Text

Stay inside, they told her. You’re grounded, think about what you did, they say. She was swiftly taken away when the heroes found her, it didn’t take very long before she faced her parents again. There was worry on their faces, but anger and disappointment were the most prominent. 

She was sent home immediately against her protest. 

She knew this was the most likely result and came to terms with it long ago, but the worst part was not being able to thank her friend. She wonders how he fares after that accident. She hopes those people were okay and rescued by now. Her mind has already spiraled enough by now that she has become mentally exhausted. 

Her parents haven’t come back yet, they left home in a hurry after ensuring that Momo wouldn’t leave out of the blue again. What business do they have this time?

Probably just shaking hands with a new business partner. She shakes hurls the blanket over her head. She’ll have to wait for the morning to come.

—

After the blonde male leads her to the building, Ei is escorted by two men in suits, and glancing around, she sees that she has caught the attention of many. They lead her to a metal door which they open and gesture for her to enter. She does, and is immediately met by Wanderer’s glare after his brief moment of surprise.

The secretary lets out a throwaway comment, “Oh wow, someone did show up."

The goddess glances back and forth between the woman and the puppet, trying to grasp the current situation. Silence ensues, but Ei makes the effort to break it.

“I must say, what a sudden turn of events,” she says, trying to tease Wanderer. “I say that I wouldn’t get detained again, but here I am in a similar place for a very reason.”

He scowls, not very pleased with her attitude, but refrains himself from making any negative movements. It is quite dire for him, because although the Shogun can say that she knows him, she has no evidence of being related to him whatsoever. 

“Hello, I am Yuu Kazumi, a secretary for the Hero Public Safety Commission. And you are Miss Raiden I presume, related to Mister Wanderer here, yes?” If there is nothing to prove of their relation to the other, their similar appearance to each other was enough evidence to tell. 

“Excuse me Miss Kazumi, but could you leave me and her alone to talk for a bit? Please.” Wanderer interjects, a sense of urgency in his eyes. Kazumi nods, and leaves them alone, her smile suggesting she was having a blast seeing these turn of events.

The door shuts soundly, and Ei was the first to ask questions. “What happened?” she asks. There was no more of that fun and light heartedness in her voice. She saw seriousness in his eyes, and felt it too should be of her concern. 

“How about we help each other out,” he proposes. 

She quirks her brow, “This feels different from the time you helped me from that detention center.” 

Because it is this time. They were let go because of unserious matters, but this time it is involving an important branch of the government. There is no easy escape, unless they wish to become enemies of this society. 

“It’s simple; I got arrested.” he answers the question from earlier. “I hate to do this, but you’re the only one who can confirm my identity.” It’s like he’s speaking in code words. What is he trying to say? Why does he say it like that? What is trying to hide? That they are from another world?

“Why hide it?” she questions.

“Don’t you remember a very special traveler? That’s why.” They need not to be entangled in this world’s affairs. They have no connection to this world, no obligations or needs, it would be unwise to inform prominent figures of their world. If such words of their true identity were let out, it would obviously cause social unrest. Judging from just their name alone, “public safety” would not let them go easily. It is quite easy to be caught in conspiracy, and Wanderer has lived long enough to know that such assumptions can potentially destroy a nation. 

“We both don’t have an identity here,” Wanderer reminds. With just the two of them, it can quickly spiral into a hostile mess with the HPSC, if this is not solved by the time being they are likely to be perceived as ‘threats’. Surely, the Shogun must understand this as a political figure of her own nation.

“You raise some fair points,” she admits. But how are they going to convince them when they are obviously not of this world. The lack of social cues and its culture is what Ei believes will be the unfolding of whatever idea Wanderer has. 

“But, I think it could ease some hostility on both sides if we are honest with them.” If they are caught to be not of their world, it might likely be worse. “We can work together with this organization to help find our way back.”

“And what if they don’t? What if they want to keep us here for their own gain?” What if they consider them to be less than them or so that they won’t even be treated as humans, that maybe because they weren’t born here, the laws of this world simply won’t apply to them. They’d have no protection or advocates.

“You can say that, but we have no idea what they’d do with us. They have not gained our trust yet” Wanderer counters. 

There is hesitance on her face. “You too have not completely gained my trust,” the Shogun states, in which Wanderer responds with a low stare. 

“I’m in the same boat towards you too,” he scoffs, smirking bitterly.

[Favorability -2%]

Ei sighs and forces herself to calm down. “Why not trust me? You do know I am a god.”

“That is mainly why,” he shrugs, ‘but I just don’t like you in general.” 

There is a tick under her eyelids.

[Favorability -2%]

Darn, he’s halfway back at ground zero. Sometimes he just can’t control his mouth, but he is not one bit afraid of the glare sent his way, secretly amused that is.

“Then what shall you suggest, Wanderer ?”

“I need a legal name, apparently someone can’t just be called ‘wanderer’ and needs a full name. You’ll have to address me by that name.”

“What will it be?”

Just as he was about to answer, his throat freezes. A name for himself? What should his name be?

He absolutely has no idea what his name should be—no, he just has to pretend to go by that name, so any name would be fine. 

Creak.

“Time’s up.” The secretary interrupts. ”We can’t have you guys using up all your time to scheme and escape—not that I believe you would try to,” she jokes, mainly looking at Wanderer as she spoke. “Can I presume that ‘Wanderer’ has informed you of his predicament, Miss Raiden?”

She nods. 

“Good. Now let’s get to business,” says the secretary, clasping her hands in a jolly manner. “I’m sorry that this room is quite small, but worry not, the police department will provide you two with a much bigger room.” The secretary’s eyes flicker with unknown emotion.

“There is a long night ahead of you both.” as she says this, her smile does not reach her eyes.

—

What was unknown to the main players was that the recording of Wanderer had become viral within just the span of a few hours. 

LittleMinx9 comments: Wowo, that was super scary. It’s insanely crazy that guy managed to save her in time 

| — LuxLuxLux responds : Who was that guy? Does anyone have information about him?

 | — breadluver responds : I don’t know who the guys was, but I believe the little girl is Yaoyorozu Momo.

  | — monamouresttoi : Yaoyorozu?! 0w0 The lawsuit is going to be insane.

The streamer who sat next to Wanderer became instantly popular due to having the most explicit clip. He was bombarded with emails and messages about scheduling interviews, but has yet to answer any of them. 

Meanwhile on another thread:

“Guys, I was there when it happened. The guy who saved her was actually arrested, I saw it happen.” commented a user.

“WHAT. WHY?” 

“I think it’s because he broke the law: it’s illegal to use your quirk in public.” replies another user.

“Well that's extreme. He saved her life.”

“That’s just how it is. If everyone were just allowed a free pass to disregard the law just for saving a person’s life then it would negate the whole system in the first place. It’d be chaos.”

“That's a pretty shit opinion.”

Nezu laughs in his office chair at the online discourse. Humans and their moral rightness; the arguments against one another were always entertaining to him, a favorite in his pastime. In his opinion, it was truly unfortunate that the boy had been apprehended by heroes. He was admirable in his disregard towards the law to save the life of another. 

Typically, Nezu is picky about what interests him, but seeing how heated the online discussion has become on the topic, it has drawn him in to become curious about the unknown hero. When more of the situation comes to light, and if this continues, he may have to personally get involved himself. 

—

The interrogation will continue, but with a break in between. This time, they were separated from one another in case they planned things out together. Ei was taken to an undisclosed room, whereas Wanderer stayed at the lunch center, with supervision of course. 

Not that Wanderer minded, but it was hard to ignore the footsteps walking towards him: the detective from earlier. 

“Hey, kid.” Wanderer’s face is set in stone at this point, he thinks he might have an easier life to just accept the false label. 

“What is it?”

The detective, surprised by his voice, is caught off. “Ah, you finally spoke.” 

“This is the last you’ll hear from me if that’s all you have to answer.”

The detective quickly clears his throat, “I didn't mean to make you feel shame for that, my apologies… I come here to tell you that you don’t have to worry, everything will turn out alright in the end.” 

Why does this detective care so much?

“Did the HPSC secretary threaten you?” She did. “They haven’t actually been permitted to take on this case yet, so they were kindly asked to leave for the meantime, you won’t see them for a while.”

Wanderer let out a small huff. This was a good reaction for the detective. “I’m not allowed to say this out loud, but I’m on your side.”

Huh?  What is this guy going on about?

“It must be really much of a culture shock coming to the mainland,” the detective says, trying to comfort the ‘boy’. 

The piece finally clicks in Wanderer’s head; the detective thinks he’s from another island. Actually, this could go well in their favor, a feasible explanation why they don’t have proper identities in this world. If only he could speak to the Goddess of Thunder right now—before she messes things up even further.

—

“We’ve searched databases for your name, but Detective Tsubasa proposed that you may have migrated to mainland Japan from a small island and that is why you two don’t have don’t have official papers,” spoke her interrogator. “That is the main problem that prevents this case from being pushed forward, but we can help you set that up.”

Ei decides to go with the flow and see how this will turn out, “Ah, yes.”

With her confirmation, the interrogator writes something down in her notebook. “If I may ask, what is your relationship with ‘Wanderer’?” 

They don’t even have a relationship. They are somewhat business partners by circumstance, and that is what Ei want to say, but she considers the trouble it might bring to him if she spoke the truth. So how does she answer without troubling herself and him both

“He is my…my…” He is akin to a child with his behavior, no? “...a child.” Ei mutters. (She wonders who raised him to become so bitter and disrespectful.) 

The interrogator blinks. “Uh, how old are you Miss Raiden?”

Uh-oh, that was not something she was prepared to answer. “Three thousand- th-thirty?” her response sounded more like a question than a firm answer, fortunately the interrogator interpreted it to be something else when they gave a comforting smile at her.

“Tell me about your island, what’s it called?”

So she tells her about Narukami Island, how beautiful the mountains were, the shrines, the scenery, the ports. “It perpetually snowed sakura blossoms, there were so many of them that they’d get stuck onto electrogranum particles.” She continues on about how the island is surrounded is currently uninhabited islands due to past wars, about how she and her sister built it, how her she and her friends lived peacefully for many years until—

Until she died. And everyone along with her. 

Her breath hitched, and so she forced herself to take a deep breath before continuing. 

“My sister, she…she passed.” Even though Ei has come to accept her death as it is, it is still quite painful to have to have to tell another soul about it. After telling her about this (albeit with some concealed information), Ei finally brought her eye to meet the interrogator’s, only to be met with a pain-saddened look.

“I am so sorry for your loss.” The interrogator’s words are full of empathy and understanding, to receive something like that…it makes her feel at ease. Maybe Wanderer was too vigilant. But she excuses his cautious outlook on life, because like her, something must’ve happened to him that made him so pessimistic. She’d be a bit of a hypocrite to call him out like that when she has only slowly started to change her views. 

“It has been so long since then, I have come to accept her farewell in the world,” Ei contemplates. 

“Am I correct in assuming that Wanderer is your sister’s child?” the interrogator pushes.

“No, Makoto never had any children,” if that was even a possible thing for them both anyway. If she had left a child behind, surely Ei would have found them. But…

…your sister’s child?

Sister’s child..sister’s child…her sister’s. 

That is…not entirely impossible, Ei thinks. Wanderer and Makoto—they share very close physical traits, especially their eyes. Even if she wanted to deny that it was all a coincidence, the ornament that hosted his anemo vision was all it would take to convince her so; it belonged to the Raiden Shogun — Raiden Makot o, and there was only one of it in all of Teyvat. Ei wanted to bring it up to Wanderer to ask why he had it, but could not find the proper words to tell him. But he was a puppet, Ei had known from the moment she saw the back of his lower neck, a symbol of the electro insignia reflecting the one on the Shogun’s.

The evidence was there, and that makes her regretful. So for all these years, she did not know that her sister had left a creation behind, why didn’t she say so? 

Ei thinks back to that interrogation room where she noticed how troubled he was when he wanted to decide on a name. ‘Wanderer’, she could only guess where that name came from, and it wasn’t hard for her to conclude that he for nearly 500 years was unnamed by her sister, left to wander the world without guidance. 

Makoto, did you help bring me here so I can meet him? Or maybe Miko knew the whole time, but hid from her—she was quite close with her twin before the tragedy. She’s not sure what compelled her to speak up, but something tugged at her to speak now, or never it’d be never. It was a small regrettable moment to not confront him about it, but the revelation of it all made her too emotional to behave rationally. 

“Makoto. His name is Makoto.”

Chapter Text

When Ei denied Makoto being his mother, it seems she forgot to correct the officer that she wasn’t his real mother. But in any case, saying so would cause more suspicion than needed, so she didn’t comment about it.

It leads the archon to wonder if the puppet knew of his own origins. She couldn’t ponder long on her thoughts because she was still being questioned. They squinted, harshly. “Is all the information I wrote down correct?” They proceeded to repeat what Ei told her.

She’ll explain to him later. Recalling her previous readings of the young puppet, he was always quite vigilant towards her, he was a free spirit and valued his decisions very much, she had a feeling he wouldn’t be very pleased with her to make choices for him. At this moment she hopes he would understand that this is a necessity for them both, at least, that is her excuse.

“Yes.”

—

[Favorability +20%]

[Congratulations, you reached a new milestone! You have the option to—

Excuse him for his profanity, but truly what the fuck . 

Okay, so let him figure this out: one, he does not need to be around the Raiden Shogun to be able to gain favorability, two—he is still processing. The fact that he gained so much in an instant scares him more than he would celebrate. 

He has a total of 25 percent of favorability. That much in a day? He shakes his head, the system is trying to fool him into a false sense of security. He knows good things never come for free in reality.

—

From faraway behind a corner, his stalker perplexed at his stranger reactions. ‘Wanderer’ seems to be thinking too hard about something. Hawks have been told that the pair might have been migrants from one of Japan’s smaller islands, and yeah he wouldn’t disregard that thought. The way Raiden Ei spoke was almost quite too formal, something he could see that would fit her well. She was interesting to him for noticing his presence that he had spent all his life masterfully hiding it all for her know. He became one with the wind, not even pros or sensory quirks could find him as easily. But—

“I thought you were a small curious bird.” There was no bluffing in her tone, her eyes did not lie, and she said it like it was of no importance to her, like he was nothing . It was baffling to the young Keigo who’s ego had been built up for years only for a lady to pull him back again. It honestly irked him, while simultaneously he was also curious about that woman. Unable to see her for the time being, he opted to find out more about her acquaintance—in the cafeteria, currently empty but him. 

He’s not doing anything, he’s just sitting there, thinking—or maybe scheming? He has been sitting in that corner seat for a few minutes and while Keigo could be patient enough to wait things out, he reigned that it would be more interesting if he provoked the information out of him instead. He was not allowed to interact with his potential partner due to his association with the HPSC, it would cause big trouble for him and his associates if he were found out—the chances were slim anyways so with very little caution, he discreetly walked towards his target’s back.

They were quite slumpy and tense, why not lighten the mood with a lighthearted prank? Keigo grinned. 

—

Legs crossed, arms crossed, scarily deep in thought, Wanderer was quite startled to see his bang flutter in his peripheral vision. There was no wind in this area, so how could that be possible? Did he unconsciously activate his vision? No, he held a deep mastery of if already so his next conclusion jumps to—

“Boo!” from above his shoulder a young man attempts to scare him. Wanderer was not phased at all though. His body didn’t even move, only his irises that glare at the obnoxious person cheekily smiling at him. Wanderer didn’t sense him. And that makes his eyes sharpen. Like that would make anything better as it only made the blonde think he was in control, spurring on his teasing ideas.

The blonde man—or should Wanderer say kid—huffs disappointingly. “Still not relaxed?” they teased. Wanderer’s lips turned into a frown. “Okay. I guess not.” they chuckled. 

“Would you be so polite and get off my shoulder,” Wanderer grumbled. The blonde teen lets out a small laugh before moving to sit across the puppet.

“I’m Hawks, what’s your name?” 

Wanderer's left eyelid twitches, clearly unpleased with the antics.

“Let me guess, you’re going to say that you have no incentive to speak to me. But don’t worry, I’m friendly!”

“Does sneaking up on a person without them noticing count?” As shown in his eye, something clicks in Hawks’s mind, a confirmation of some sort. This only makes him more suspicious in Wanderer’s eyes.

“Hmm. We’re about the same age I believe.” Hawks tilts his head, playfully humming as he observes Wanderer. “You look a lot like that woman…” His yellow brows furrow before he comes to a shocking epiphany.

 “Oh, is she your mom—?” Wanderer’s blank stare cuts him off, his frown staying intact. 

“—ooh, auntie!” Even with the stranger in his face, the puppet’s mind still wanders to the system. 

“Hush. You’re distracting me.” He says that, but he really does need a distraction. His nonexistent brain is hurting from all confusion and thinking.

“From what?”

Everything , Wanderer almost blurts. Instead of looking the blonde in the eyes, he averts his to check out his costuming; a black, sleeveless top and black gloves. Seeing this, Hawks’ smile widens.

“Hehe, you’ve finally noticed. We have a similar fashion sense.” He chuckled. “It’s cool to see we’re so alike. I was told that my look is too daring and show-off-like,so I’m quite glad to see someone like you. Maybe we could be friends.”

Wanderer won’t lie, they are almost wearing the same thing—he should have kept his robe on because this Hawks boy might not have noticed and then maybe he wouldn’t have bothered to talk to him. He was trying to gauge why he was here, not trying to find commonalities with him. 

But wait–

This might be the only chance to gather useful information if the Raiden Shogun makes anything turn out for the worse. Wanderer’s not an impolite person if he says so, he may as well talk to this person and find out what’s up with him and this place.

“Sure, maybe then. If you answer my questions first.” 

Now this is what makes Keigo smirk. “Of course, go ahead.”

“What are you doing here at a place like this?” Wanderer was trying to go for the casual way youngsters speak to each other.

The truth: he was here to accompany Kazumi, the secretary, mostly because she told him the higher ups wanted to bring another kid in to be his partner. It stirred his curiosity immensely. He was so close to debuting as a hero, what need was there for a partner? But after seeing that clip of him, he was interested. Kazumi proceeded the negotiations without him, and only once was he asked to look for a person in the dead of night: that woman with dark lavender hair and piercing eyes.

Kazumi left the detective center without telling him any of the results—she might have if he asked at all. She let him be after realizing he wouldn’t be returning with her, not prying into Keigo’s new objective. “Don’t get us in trouble,” she said. 

So, just to be safe he made a white lie on the spot. “I’m only visiting. I’m going to work with these detectives in the future.”

Wanderer was surprised at how short his answer was. For someone who seemed as lively as him, he didn’t seem super eager to talk about himself. But maybe he was a slacker when it comes to work, so he let his suspicions go and concludes that he must be a young trainee looking to work here. Being too cautious would make himself suspicious.

“What’s the job?” Wanderer raises a brow to look at least interested. 

Like a switch, Hawks’ tone becomes much more enthusiastic. “I’m going to become a hero! Ahem . Correction: I am a hero.” He smiles patiently for Wanderer’s reaction…which was a look of intrigued, but not very impressed. This makes him want to grin at the lackluster response, it is so unusual because kids his age would be fuming with jealousy, or excitement. If they were an ordinary kid, they’d ask him how. If they were a kid taking the hero course, they should ask what hero school he is attending. The occupation of a hero is widely worshiped by the masses no matter the age, and all children and young teenagers feverishly desire to become a hero themselves. 

(The market in today’s age is oversaturated in Keigo’s opinion. Teenagers with such craze and ambitions ultimately find ways to enter a hero school or program and those don’t have 100 percent entry rate so they look for ways to get recommended—like asking a training peer to vouch for them. This is what he learned from observation, not that he’s experienced this himself—he is not to be public until another year.)

Well, if he is related to that woman at all, why is he surprised at his indifference? 

“You know, people would be more surprised upon hearing that.” 

“Should I be? It’s not surprising that you might find an aspiring hero. This society really likes to praise high to the sky. Everyone wants to be one.” The image of a certain ebony-haired kiddo pops into mind.

“Don’t you want to be a hero?”

“I was arrested by one. So, no.” 

“You are quite cynical. Everyone I meet outside is so…bright and happy.” Each second with  violet hair makes Keigo more and more convinced that he should join the Hero Public Safety Commission. They’d be quite the hefty duo, with Hawks’ optimistic-carefree attitude, and his (he still doesn't know his name) grounded-pessimist vibe it’d be a bestseller in Japan.

“That’d be just a waste. With a quirk as good as yours I’m surprised no one told you to become a hero.”

The two hear footsteps echo from the hallway, as well as the faint sounds of a person speaking. “I’m going to ask the chef to cook something for you and your son. Please sit in the lounge and wait…”

Hawks hums, he was hoping to chat more with violet hair but it seems he has to leave before he gets questioned and caught. Getting up, he bids farewell to Wanderer. “Who knows, maybe we’ll see each other again on another day.”

—

After sorting out some papers, and signing some document, the interrogator finally has the incentive to let Ei know her name. Apologizing with a sincere bow.

“You must be hungry, why don’t we go to the cafeteria. Our building has a cook that can make delicious dishes, you should have some.” Ei gladly accepts this and is led to a break area, is it there that she reunites with Wanderer. He glances back at her, feeling her stare.

“Makoto,” she calls out. He winces, she must be reminiscing about a dead friend—he’s read records about them, though none of them were named ‘Makoto’ if he recalled correctly. His eyes roll up to meet her, and his breath hitches if he had any. It was her face; eyes, brows, lips. That look of serene fondness, it almost chokes him—painfully suffocating. Admittingly, it makes him feel disgusted to see such a gentle expression on the Shogun. 

He ignores it.

“What happened? What did you do?” Straight to the point, precise and sharp.

“They asked me some questions.”

“And?” She was awfully slow and quiet, he noticed. It set an uneasy feeling in his chest.

“She needed our information to have our documents verified. Be able to be legal citizens in this world, finally.” She says, her voice soft and gentle, so unlike the others times when she spoke to him with sternness and professionality.

“ Our information?” Wanderer inquired. 

Ei pauses for a long second. She walked the hall thinking millions of ways she could tell Wanderer the truth. Millions of ways, yet she is standing in front of him, unable to speak a single word. At her silence, his eyes became sharp, almost a glare but not yet. 

“Makoto,” she whispers, so quietly that it came out like a breath. “You are…” Makoto’s creation.

Impatient and filled with anxiety, he interrupted her thought. ”Don’t tell me we are—we are fucked.” 

“No,” she blurts, “in fact, we are in a better situation. I followed your wishes per say and did not reveal our true origins…and I told her you were my son.”

Wanderer lets out a huff in relief. And I told her you were my—

His head flips up so fast someone might think it’d come off. 

Mouth tilted down and then shutting close, this happened for quite a few seconds before turns away from the archon to compose himself. 

He scoffs, and bitterly grins. No, of course she doesn’t know. It was impossible for her to know, so it’d only make sense that she made up a complete lie to fool them. It was her way of aiding Wanderer, it was her way of allying herself with him—even if he rather be free of relation to her. She didn’t truly think of him as her son, totally not.

Good .

  Then what of that additional 20 percent favorability?  

“Do you not like the prospect of being under my guardianship?” 

That’s correct.

He lets out a laugh, one that could be interpreted in many ways. Confirming to himself that this current mother-son relationship is a fake, Wanderer is able to move on from his panic and turns back to face her.

“You still haven’t elaborated on what’s going to happen to us.”

—

Hisako fumbles getting her key to insert into the keyhole. It is terribly pressuring for her to have insanely pretty people start behind her back, it’s like she’s being judged. It feels like an eternity before she hears the click—her saving grace—and is able to twist the door handle. 

‘W-welcome!” She starts enthusiastically. “To my really cheap and shabby apartment,” she moans. She switches on the lights, unable to even luminate the rest of the living space. It is clear that Hisako works hard to keep the place clean and kempt, but the coloring of the wall paper and old stains on the carpeted sections makes those efforts to be in vain. 

“Like I said, my flat only has a single bedroom. I-I live by myself so I hadn’t thought of getting a—oh please come in! How impolite I am!” She scrambles to let the Raidens in. She laughed nervously, “Please make yourself at home.” 

Wanderer—or perhaps he should go by Makoto—steps inside, he could definitely say that this is a downgrade to the internet cafe. 

Hisako goes on with her mini-tour, she has a small corner near the front door for a kitchen and two other doors that lead to the bathroom and a bedroom. 

After a brief discussion, it was decided that the two women would share a room: Ei would sleep on the mattress while Hisako would use the convertible shair, and finally, Wanderer would reside outside with the futon. 

It’s a quiet and uneventful night, Wanderer sits in a meditative stance, quite a contrast to what had just transpired for the whole day. Everything happened in a flash, from the fun he had at the festival with Momo (he really hopes she’s alright), to getting jailed, being asked to join a shady  government organization, and…to becoming the (fake) son of the Raiden Shogun. 

“And, oh, your name is…” she hesitated briefly, “ Makoto .” 

‘Makoto’ meaning ‘truth’ and ‘sincerity’.

It was quite strange to have a name forced on him. Wanderer accepted this to be his fake name, a name to cover his true identity, a name that was just some letters on a piece of paper. Nothing meaningful, nothing more. He didn’t ask to be given a name, he didn’t think he’d deserve to have his own name after committing terrible atrocities. Despite Buer’s insistence, telling him he deserves to have one for having a true change of heart, he was terribly adamant about having to earn it himself. 

So for codenames, titles, nicknames, they phase through him at regular; he pays no mind to them at all, merely accepting them for the present moment then discarding them for another future—previous identities he could not keep. Always changing, and staying nevermore.

So why ‘Makoto’? He wants to ask, but he tries not to think hard about it, that it may have been a just random thought in the Shogun’s head that led her to choosing the characters, thus, just another throwaway name. Even though 400 years have passed, believing that he has let go of the past and moved—which he did, he has no desire to seek the Raiden Shogun or confront her—it still stings his heart for his sole creator to remind him of past events and the memories that follow, he is not an unfeeling puppet after all. Especially when she is wholly unaware of what it meant to give him a name. 

It is not hard for Wanderer to acknowledge that all his pain, longing, goals, and experiences all root back to her. If she had never created him in the first place…

He never forgave her, nor will he say that he stopped disliking her. To Wanderer, the Raiden Shogun is a cold and merciless god.  Whether she has memories of him or not, he chooses to cease his anger for the betterment of himself. Wanderer feels that it is meaningless to curse a person when they can not even understand where your curses come from, so during his time in Sumeru, he did not spare a single thought for the Archon of Eternity, until The System had forced him to. 

That is why he has nothing to say to her. When he was younger, he used to think of all the things he’d say to the god when he’d meet her, all the things he wished from her, or curses to shame her name. But those hopes of ever meeting her faded a very long time ago, never resurfacing ever again. That Kabukimono, his old self, would be thrilled to be in the shoes of ‘Makoto’. And maybe that foolishly vengeful version of himself too for a whole different reason. Wanderer himself? Not exactly thrilled, or all that spiteful—okay, maybe a little spiteful.

But all of this thinking circles back to the thing that started it all. A name. Something forces his mind to imagine himself centuries ago, with her words echoing in the background, ‘ your name is—’

He lets out a quiet groan, telling the dust how much he dislikes analyzing emotions. He doesn’t understand what makes Buer so interested in them, it’s giving him a headache, and he’s a mechanical puppet for goodness sake!

[!] . . .     . . .     . . .     . . .     . . .   

In Wanderer’s worlds, the bright light of the system blinds him, but in the world outside, there is no light reflected from his eyes. The periodic ‘beep’ of The System echoes in his ears, but to the world the apartment is dead silent. This is the longest Wanderer has seen the The System process. But finally, the beeping sounds stop, and words begin to form.

[Kabu…]

[Kabukimono finally…]

[Kabukimono finally rests.]

[Kuniku…]

[Kunikuzushi awakens.]

His brows furrow, another name he erased. But what could it mean this time? First, Kabukimono, which The System told him about ‘Kabukimono’s desire’ and now it mentions ‘Kunikuzushi’. If The System were to bring up another name again, he could easily infer what it would be if his assumption was correct. But everything is still so unclear, he couldn’t possibly make a move with the lack of information. If only he could ask The System, but he already knows how helpful that would be. 

Wanderer expects there to be a new mission for him, but there is not. He is only given the brief announcement before all turns black, and he is forced to face the darkness again. 

With the sudden silence, he could hear sets of breathing. The Raiden Shogun has actually fallen asleep. Yes, he’s seen her sleep before (her ungraceful form flopping on that couch back at the internet cafe) but he was too distracted by his research to fully care. He envies her, a body and mind like although indestructible, is monotonous and draining even if he never feels tired physically. It has him wishing, if only he could sleep and clear his mind too. 

Chapter Text

Hisako had already awakened, evident by the empty chair, even though it is her own home, she has taken the courtesy to clean her resting spot up. 

Her muscles are stiff, setting her feet on the floorboards, she stretches her upper torso, exuding a quiet groan. That was something that she enjoyed doing with the body she had. Soon enough, her stomach grumbles, quite too loudly to her embarrassment, making her quite thankful for being the late riser. Being hungry was something that she certainly didn’t enjoy, but quenching such hunger was an addicting feeling she came to learn.

Everything is so awfully quiet that it makes Ei realize how tiny Hisako’s room is, how small it makes her feel when she compares it to her palace. 

The goddess’s full weight presses onto the floorboard causing squeaks and creaks each step she takes, which were horridly loud in this very quiet morning. Opening the door, Ei finds her two companions sitting across from each other on the floor, already conversing. Ei’s attention naturally wants to find the face of her newfound ‘son’.

Hisako spoke first, “Oh, you’re awake, Miss Ei.”

“What’s going on here?” she probes, trying to light up the sullen mood in the room. “Planning to do something without me?”

“No, you need to hear this as well,” says Wanderer Makoto, staring at the wall behind Hisako.

There was an extra cushion on the floor, and Ei joined them without question. 

Ei glances at her manager, “You look serious.” 

Which she responds no later than a second. “Well, the situation isn’t as dire now, but it could get really serious in the near future,” she says, attempting to hide the nervousness in her voice. 

Ei blinks at her, still waiting.

“Okay—so I quit my job, and I have no way to pay off this month’s rent. I’ve missed two payment deadlines in the past already so that means if I miss this one we’ll be getting evicted.” She was too ashamed to look Ei in the eyes as she admitted to unfortunate circumstances that would impact her client (and her associate). 

“But before we get to the solutions,” Wanderer interrupts, “you should tell me what you were doing when I was on business.” He shared a glare towards the electro god.

“Gladly,” Ei responds.

To recap, she started off from when they departed from the internet cafe, to how she was getting offers from strangers on the streets, it was until then that she met Hisako, who convinced her to come to the studio she was employed at with food on the line. It was there that Hisako found out about Ei’s valuable charm, and begged to become her manager. 

“That’s all?”

Not quite, exactly. She didn’t sign a contract with Hisako yet because she didn’t see the value of contracting with her. For a meal, she promised to come to the studio, but for the sole contract with Hisako…

“You—you signed with her because of desserts?” His voice came breathless, appalled at the behavior this God was emanating.

“Uh, it’s not just dessert, it’s my family’s traditional recipe!”

“She proclaimed she would be my ‘dessert maker’ for life if I helped her. I’d say you should try them, you might understand why I just had to comply.” 

No thanks, thought Wanderer. He disliked sweets. (If she wanted a ‘dessert maker for life’ he wondered why she couldn’t just have asked him—not that he would ever say yes.)

“Why don’t you share your story? I'm very curious as to why you were caught by authorities.” 

“Another time,” he evaded.

Hisako anxiously chuckled, fidgeting with her fingers like she was building up courage to say something.  “So, uh. Question—how are you two related?” 

“He is my son,”  Ei replied, quite excited—too excitingly. It even caught Wanderer off guard by how eager she was to say that.

“Oh-no no no no no. How?” Hisako spoke in disbelief. Her reaction surprises EI who cocks her eyebrow at her like she was the crazy one. In her mind, she could no longer get Ei to become an idol at this point, and she could no longer sell the idea of Ei being a pure, single lady anymore to take advantage of the trend. Due to both of their inexperience no agents would offer them any projects. She was going to have a flow blown breakdown.

Hisako, after failing so many times, was so desperate to make profits immediately to stabilize her life that this reaction was something she believed was overdue.

—

Alone, by herself, Momo makes the trip down to Musutafu South End Police Station, in hopes that this very first trip, she’ll find her friend. 

Luckily for her, she would find herself conversing with the detective who supposedly took on her friend’s case. All she had to tell him was that she was the ‘victim’ for the receptionist at the front desk to introduce her to him. 

Her first words upon meeting him were “He’s innocent! He’s been wrongly accused, in fact he-”

The detective was quick to calm her down though, and informed her that the charges her parents had filed were dropped, he was free. 

A small “oh” fell from the little raven’s mouth. 

“He’s been let go, so don't worry."

“He…has?” The detective nods. Quite shocking, after all it was her parents who pushed the charges. “Do you know where he is?”

“I’m afraid not. But they did call someone to pick them up.”

They, Momo notes.

“Can you check the phone records for the number?” 

“We could, but I’m afraid we can’t disclose such information for you, even if you’re the heir to the Yaoyarozus.”

“I see.” She frowned, deeply saddened. She might never be able to see him again and thank him.

“I just remembered something. Please wait here for a moment.”

A few minutes pass and the detective comes back with a very familiar object. 

“All Might!” Momo exclaimed. The detective gently lowered the doll to her, worried that its size might crush her. 

“He said it was yours, you forgot it.” It was more like she was dragged away without a say and had to forget about—until she found out about her friend’s unjust imprisonment. It leaves her feeling unfulfilled and empty. If this is the end result of making her very first friend—that is not a relative—then she would be sure to enact some petty revenge towards her parents. Some justice needs to be served, if not for him, then for herself.

—

“I’m going out,” Wanderer declares. Being in this small apartment room with his creator and a very wimpy human makes him feel stuffy and trapped. 

“Oh, okay then. Stay safe- uh Sir Raiden.” 

Closing the door shut behind him, allows him to embrace the silence of these halls. Raiden , he’s considered a Raiden now. He shakes his head and walks towards the stairs, he shouldn’t be thinking about her, whatever deal she signed up with Chinatsu is their business and theirs alone. And his connection to The System is his own thing to deal with, even if that involves the Raiden Shogun. 

The morning is bright and cloudless, and he finds himself sitting on a metal bench after wandering aimlessly for a while, a perfect moment for The System to show up and ruin his peace. At least finally, his questions could be answered. 

[New Objective: Reach the 50% Favorability milestone to unlock the next chapter in your guide.]

A guide, huh. “If you’re supposed to be a guide shouldn’t there be a page of rules or conditions for the user to go back to?” It refuses to answer him again. But an idea pops up in Wanderer’s mind that it might not be that The System is outwardly refusing him, but that it just can’t respond to him. Is there a keyword perhaps that he has to say in order to be heard? If so he has no idea what it’d be. Darn you and your damn system, previous Lord of Dendro . 

Even with his negative attitude towards The System having its way with him, he was quite intrigued with the mystery of The System, why and how it came to be. And why him? Maybe Nahida has some answers—actually, this might all be her fault, she was supposed to take care of him in his most vulnerable state, he trusted her and look where that got him. But how does that explain the Raiden Shogun being in this world with him in her physical form ? So many questions and no sources to help answer them. 

So for the meantime, Wanderer lets out a tired sigh and  comes to an agreement with himself that he’ll comply with The System for now. 

For his new task as given by The System, it was to “enact revenge on the Shogun and gain her acknowledgement” whatever that is. Well, he might have an idea for why that might be. It’s apparent that The System has data concerning his past identities or him as a whole. Wanderer suspects this must have been caused by the tampering of the leylines to erase himself from Teyvat which The System happened to be able to collect discarded information. 

If it’s like he assumes, The System is trying to make him relive and enact his former identities—although in a very abstract way that is unlike what his former selves have done. 

He has not been given a deadline for that, satisfied with his interpretation, Wanderer doesn’t pay it much thought. Instead, he’s now contemplating on what he should and should not do to prevent getting arrested again. A grumble erupts from his throat. After that fiasco with the HPSC, he rather Ei not get in trouble and fall into the wrong hands.

Oh, and maybe he should start using the name “Makoto”. It might finally be able to stick, if he forced it enough— might . Where did she get that name from…

—

The door clicks shut, loud enough to draw the two women's attention to Wanderer. He shuffles in nonchalantly, with an unreadable expression on his face

“Oh, you’re back Raiden.” Hisako says, with more confidence than last time. "Please forgive my crash out from earlier," she chuckles, nervously.

“Me and Chinatsu have a plan. We are going to open a ‘YouTube channel’ and a ‘social media account’.” Ei smiles, believing this to be a workable idea. 

A YouTube channel?   Wanderer has found that they were quite popular in this society, many individuals have found success with the platform and made good money, but with so many people opting to go into this field, the chance of success is narrowly slim. They have many competitors. 

“So it’s like business. Do you even know what to do?” He inquired.

Hisako perks up immediately. “Of course! Like a small business, it’ll be slow at first but most important of all is promotion! We’re going to start off with creating multiple accounts on popular platforms to extend our audience reach.”

Wanderer hums, “Sure, but do you know what to do ?” 

“Not exactly, to be honest,” she sighs, “but Miss Ei and I have come up with some enticing concepts…but we want to keep things realistic and achievable.”

Wanderer crosses his arms, preparing how he should announce his thoughts as Ei stares at him intently. 

Hisako cocks her head. “Do you have something you want to say in this matter? It’s your mother who will be the face of this.”

The twitch on his lips reveal some indiscernible emotions that was evoked by Hisako’s statement, but it’s quickly brushed aside the declaration right after.

“No. It has nothing to do with me. I won’t be back for a while. That’s all. And stay away from trouble, will you?” He glares at Ei. But really, he doesn't trust that she would heed his advice, she's a god after all, and he's known (judged) some of them to have big egos, including the Electro Archon. 

“Makoto…Wan- does that mean you won’t return for the night?” Ei's gaze softens, she speaks to him so gently, it secretly freaks Wanderer out. She's playing too hard into the role.

“But you’re a minor, you can’t stay out like that.”

He scoffs at them, “Don’t think too much about it, I know what I want to do.” 

He was barely in the room for 2 minutes before he left again, leaving the manager appalled, and Ei in contemplation. 

“He’s your child, is he not? You’re really just going to let him go like that?” 

Ei only hums in return. 

She feels that she has no right to control him when they both have just met each other very recently. Truthfully, she’d like to get closer to him, but this is something she is content with at the moment, he is the very last gift from her dearest sister. Say, was Miko not closer to her sister? Why didn’t she tell her about him? Maybe this was that sly kitsune’s way of revealing it all to her. 

-

A shop. Wanderer wants to open a shop that specifically sells weapons. There is a hollow feeling that envelopes his chest at just the thought of following through with his plan. At first, he berated himself for even thinking of using their techniques to forge such weapons, but it mellowed out to become a promise when he realizes that if he can do it, then that mean their precious art or forging won’t be forgotten; the Kaedehara clan’s Isshin art of forging.

The clan that Nishu belonged to, and it was all because of Wanderer’s doing that caused its downfall. No matter what he wishes, Wanderer can’t reverse what he did no matter how much he regrets it,  the only thing he can do now is honor his dear friend’s name, and the clan members which he took the lives of.

He walks along the sidewalk and lets it lead him anywhere, troubled by the thought of how he could make his plan become reality. Right, he needs a place to set up his business, but that too is going to cost him a lot of money that he does not have. He looks at a street sign: Musutafu Mall. 

Musutafu City, with its huge population of people, business is likely to become successful if a person could open a place there. But Wanderer is not looking to make it big or successful, only that he wants to find an audience that could appreciate the Isshin art. 

Glancing at the direction the sign points, the puppet hums in intrigue. A mall was something he had never heard of before, but it’s quite popular seeing as many people are walking that way. 

Only one way for him to find out. 

Chapter Text

It took the internet by storm, an accident, miracle caught on camera, and here he is, the head of Yaoyorozu is holding his phone up to display the video clip. It's a scarily amazing video, Ingenium thinks, a terrible accident that could have turned out a disaster but was prevented due to the admirable bravery of an unnamed hero. (Say, wasn’t the metal supposed to be able to withstand high wind speeds, how come that boy had been able to break through?) But the thing that has spiked his intrigue was the person of interest once he realized it.

"Wait, I know that kid!"

Mr. Yaoyorozu's eyes shot wide, "You do?" He breathlessly urged.

"Actually, I met him in person. He injured some petty thieves and even evaded my sidekicks." 

Yaoyorozu nodded. "I want you to find him," he states before sighing tiredly. "My daughter has run away again, and I suspect she is off to find that boy."

"Of course, I can do that. Do you have any clues or information to help with this search?" 

Yaoyarozu hands him a thin folder that Ingenium suspects contains the boy's personal information and other details pertaining the his previous charges. "He is not a criminal, please don't treat him like one."

Inside his suit, Tensei frowned, "We would never, what makes you say that?" 

There was a distant look of contemplation before the head revealed his reasonings. "My runaway daughter has opened my eyes to the truth. Just this morning she figured out that her mother had pressed charges against that poor boy, before she left us she barged into our room, and sternly she said we had wronged someone when all they did was save her. I really worry for her, so please find them. I would just like to thank her hero." The proud standing appeared so small, so very contrary to his appearances in public where he stood with pride and self-assurance. Tensei couldn’t help but let out a small smile at the older man’s change of heart, and also for the fact that he’s probably the first person to ever look so down.

With a firm bow, Ingenium says his farewells as he leaves through the door. The first thing that he does is open the folder to reveal his target’s profile.

Raiden Makoto

Date of Birth: 01/03/2xxx

Age: 17

Sex: Male

Quirk: Unknown

It had his picture, a short description of his birth place and that was all on the page, nothing more, nothing less. Ingenium furrows his brows, why is there so little information about. Ah- he missed a part that had been printed in a rather tiny font; he was a recent migrant. That makes some sense why he doesn't have a home address or phone number so in this urgent matter he quickly accepts the reasoning. 

Last appeared in Musutafu, which means he couldn't have moved far. Ingenium is confident this might not take very long, he has a lot of sidekicks after all but truthfully, he feels guilty that the young Makoto is being hunted without his knowledge—almost like a criminal— but he hopes the teen would forgive him despite his poor experiences.

In his office, Momo's father reflects back on the moment she had her outburst.

"Why, Mother? And how could you allow it, Father?"

"He influenced you to take on unwise challenges. We have security footage—evidence."

Her face morphs into fright, still for a few seconds, and then it dissolves into anger.

“Mother, that decision too is very unwise.” Momo shifted her glare to her mother. “First of all, he saved me. Second, you guys didn’t think to let them ask for my side of the story? Third, it was not his fault! Everything was not his fault.” Her small form trembled, whether from anger, or the fear of retaliating against her parents for the first time, it was unclear.

“He tried to kidnap and ransom you, that would be bad for the family name. This is not fitting behavior of an heir, young lady!” Momo had always been a respectful child, never raising her voice or making any complaints, so it was quite a shock to Mrs Yaoyarozu for her daughter to barge in without knocking. Still, she refused to be intimidated.

“The rollercoaster broke because the staff were too lenient with its maintenance, not because he sabotaged it. I fell out first because I chose to sit in the front, not because I was targeted by him.”

Before her mother’s lips could open again, Momo was already prepared to interrupt her. 

“He’s innocent! After all, I invited him to stay with me. And you know what? I think that’s the best decision I’ve ever made in my life because I can truly see who my parents are: selfish and ugly humans. You’ve wronged him, and how he’s going to suffer in jail because I wanted a friend.”

By this time, Mr. Yaoyarozu thought it would be time to intervene, hoping to ease his child and forget about the matter. She’s just a child, he monologues, a typical child’s tantrum. This was the first time Momo had shown such a side to her, and he had hoped that she would have grown to express her feelings in a more mature manner.

“It was for your safety, Momo.” he sighed.

“You don’t care for me at all! You only care about how the public will think of you, you only care about business deals. You only want a puppet .” She looked straight into her father’s eye, a true testament that defied the very rule of her upbringing; never look into an elder’s eye .

She then ran out the door, no words left to say to them, like they weren't worthy to hear anymore from her.

It was suddenly all so quiet, they—him and his wife—could only sit in the silence that Momo had left them. For the first time in a while, Mr. Yaoyarozu could feel fear creep into his heart. Her last words struck an old wound in his heart, something he had deeply hidden away a very long time ago. 

A puppet.

Was that really how he viewed his own daughter? Was that really how he should think of her? After all, he didn't think his own father had thought of him any more than just that. A puppet. Someone—a thing—to fill in the seat as the head of Yaoyarozu. Memories of his childhood flood into his mind, the emotions along with them, feelings of doubt, longing to be seen, acknowledged and loved—accepted. 

He finally realizes it, he has been making his dear child live like himself all along. His empty, unsatisfactory life. It had been like that, from the moment of her birth he had planned out her life to be his sole heir after learning of his own infertility. 

He is seeing it all over again, that lonely process of being the heir, but this time through his daughter, but this time he’s the one who holds her by her feet and that realization hurts his soul. 

It dawns on him that his daughter might be stronger than he ever was, for speaking out, not like him who stood still in life and accepted the role he would be given, he kept it all inside, no matter how much he wanted to scream out. 

“Misaki,” he voices, “I’m cancelling the meeting. Please call my secretary.”

That was the moment that he knew he should apologize, and sure things became right. 

—

"Aren't you at least worried about your child?" Hisako nervously asked.

"I believe he can handle himself." Ei responded, way too nonchalantly, that it didn't ease her manager's worries in the slightest.

"He's a minor." She emphasized.

"A minor?" 

"He's under 18! He’s still just a child. Are- are you sure he's yours?"

"Ah, I see,” EI responds with a quiet giggle. It's almost exhilarating to pretend to be a mortal, but it truly is when others actually believe the pretense.

"Yes, he's--17. Currently." Such a blatant lie, Ei had to control herself to prevent a smile from slipping.

At this, the manager could only respond with an exasperated sigh. She's only known Ei for a day and two, really not long enough for her to pry into her private affairs, so she lets it go, for now at least.

"Well, after seeing that video, I guess we don't have to worry about him going missing..." 

She took a deep breath, clasping her hands together, Hisako put on a determined look, excited to finally begin her managing career.

"Well then, Miss Ei, why don't we start by creating your profile. Then, we can take those contracts."

---

He followed a group of young ladies holding handbags who were walking towards the huge building. It wasn't the best of plans considering that the gals would glance back at him and giggle. By the time they reached the entrance, he had departed from them completely.

If he had lungs Wanderer might have said that the sight would have taken his breath away. 

The 'mall' was huge.

So it was an indoor market that connected shops to each other. And it had many levels, colors, commodities and probably even more than what he has seen just by standing by the doors. (Because he stood for so long, just staring at the interior, he was given a glance by people passing by like he was the weird one.)

There was no shortage of people: a group of friends chatting along as they entered a shop, a child being dragged away by her mother, people carrying bags with different brandings on the; it was like almost all the edges of this building had no empty corner. He thinks this place might be important in trying to understand the culture and values of the common people of this society.

One last glance, and Wanderer finally let himself wander. He took a look at the itinerary board by the front, and decided it was best for him to explore alone. 

One thing he notices is how busy Hero spaces were; cafés, restaurants, book stores, toy stores, clothing - from what he observed, anything that represented or included a well known hero has traction. 

Heroes. Again. (His scholarly mind kicked into play, as he wondered how this society  developed heroing as a concept and career—another deep dive on the internet is what he notes before averting his attention off a group of friends holding paper cups with All Might's face plastered on them.)

"Excuse me, miss," Wanderer begins as he steps inside the shop, one that looks like it had not been visited for a while. It was a pet supply store, strange that it was here when business was unlikely to be big considering other places the mall has to offer "How did you get your place here?"

The presumed shop owner cocked her head at his question. "Is that supposed to be an insult, youngster?"

He ignored the youngster part. "No, not at all. I just would like to find a place to open my own business as well." 

"In what?"

"Sword making, and other items—forging you could say."

They furrowed their brows. "So young, and you're already trying to open your own business. Why don't you just try and convince a smith owner to give you their title?"

"My technique is different." And it's more than just selfishly wanting to own a business

They smirked, "Don't ask me anything about weapon smithing or stuff like that, I have no idea. But I can tell you that for this shop to open, I needed to sign lots of papers. And also--a license to ensure my validity and the safety of my own products. But really, swords? Spears? In this time and age who even needs those?"

That's a thought Wanderer failed to consider. In Teyvat, this venture of his would have more likeliness to be successful, with adventures travelling the wilderness some would look to find great smiths to forge them a fine blade for protection. In Inazuma, to celebrate and worship their martial god, weapons made by great blacksmiths would be presented at a niche festival every year, not to mention dojos and cultural fanatics. So in short, there is a demand for weapons forging in Teyvat, but in this world where heroes serve to protect creating peace and the vastly different cultural philosophy, his dream currently appears to be very dreary. 

He, is as human as he can be for jumping into his desire as soon as he thought he could honor his dear friends in that way. But now he might be feeling a bit foolish for thinking so. The way he had thought about it had been so wrong, he should not have expected this world to be so like Teyvat at all, and it baffles him how easy it is to project.

Instead of standing around, Wanderer sits on a settee to be discreet, contemplating on his next move. The system flashes before his eyes, unbeknownst to people walking by. The name ‘Kunikuzushi’ is first in the order of words presented to him, a reminder that he has to somehow ‘enact revenge against the Raiden Shogun’ while also maintaining the favorability he has garnered with her. 

Can he skip this stage? What’s gonna stop him from not doing so in the first place? It’s too much of a hassle. But Wanderer believes he’s got an idea of what the system wants from him; to live out the desires of his former identities. But they were all him . They were all his desires (in the past) so why does the system count them as different individuals? A theory he has is that the deletion process of the memory of him became divided, in which each division became classified with his former names that resonated with each section most, when they all came back into one vessel (him) the system could not tell that that all the collective data was a singular person. 

So now he has to fulfill the wishes of his past selves or else the system deleted him. Not that he knows for sure, but he’s not going to test that. Though, that still doesn’t explain why the Shogun is at the center of it all. 

In the corner of his eyes, Wanderer sights a familiar object moving around. Something yellow, something, blue, something red. 

The All Might doll, what’s it doing here? He blinks again, then twice. And then it finally dawns on him. What a coincidence that he finds her here, and so soon after his release from jail too. 

He shifts to sit on a couch facing away from his trouble, crossing his arms and legs to appear smaller, while also remaining prideful and confident. It’s a good thing he decided to remove his more colorful garments, in a way that wouldn’t draw attention to him. People would think that he’s waiting for someone. 

And he is…for a certain someone to pass. 

He tries not to pay too much attention to the footsteps behind him, opting to assume that they’re such strangers passing though.

But—

“I’ve been looking for you,” said a voice that Wanderer definitely knew.

He remains unmoved on the outside, but he’s silently grumbling internally. 

“Don’t tell me that you knew I’d be here.” That would raise certain alarms.

“Not exactly. I was looking for you throughout my day, and finally I did.”

Momo goes to rest the doll on the chair next to Wanderer. It was by luck that she even happened to find her friend in the first place, and a bit of the strategy she had planned to enforce as a way to find him, but thankfully she found him before it could come into full play. 

“I made a list of which places you might appear in from most likely to the least.” She didn’t think he’d be at a mall considering the fact that he did not have a job. 

That is quite the persistence, Wanderer thought. It somewhat troubles him that a little girl would try to find him. Why?

The answer was simple, coming from a rich girl; he is her friend.

"Plus, I've never got to pay you back for accompanying me at the festival. Fortunately, I've been hoping to see you again so I've already prepared it for you."

Momo reached into her bag and pulled out a white box.

"Ta-dah! Here is the latest model; it runs real fast, has a vast multitude of tools, long battery life and can charge up faster than ever." She gestured to the box on her palm, it was like she was making a pitch for Wanderer. She then pushed the box into Wanderer's hand, forcing him to take it. 

He observed the phone box, not thinking that she was seriously going to pay him back. 

But like she read his mind, "I don't lie. Heroes don't lie~." 

He grinned, "Thanks."

There was something bothering Momo as soon as she saw Wanderer getting himself lost in the mall.

"What are you doing here? You don't have money." 

He let out a sound mixed between a scoff and a sigh, and turned his head and made a pretend offended look toward the raven. "Don't mention my financial situation, I'm fully aware." It was something he had planned on fixing immediately until he got distracted. The mall was somewhat fascinating, and besides, he doesn’t need human necessities to survive, it’s only because of that pitiful manager who happened to find herself tangled with that Archon that urged him to take things into his control.

Momo might have misinterpreted it because there was a change in the expression on her face, turning into one of sympathy.

"Hey, I've wanted to know for a while now...your name, would you please tell me?"

(A question that surprised him—of course she would want to know.)

"Wa-" Wanderer was what he had almost instinctually said but- "Makoto."

"Makoto..." she voiced out loud.

"-is what she calls me." 

A visible confusion spreads on her face, but Wanderer made no attempt to help it.

"Don't you have a family name too?" Momo spoke too soon, maybe he really doesn't, and that would make her rude and inconsiderate. 

"As much as it pains me to say it, I have the same surname as that... Shogun . Raiden." He answered.

Makoto. Raiden.

Raiden Makoto. 

That's a pretty cool name, Momo thinks. As for the 'shogun' that Wanderer mentioned, that was quite the—peculiar—figure of speech, assuming it to describe someone he knows as a tyrant, maybe a relative of some sort, an authoritative figure in his life, someone probably older. The way he said it had a taunt to it, and she immediately assumes a mother based on the inflection of his voice, like only for someone that was close to him in some way, too close to home. She makes lots of assumptions alone from that, like how maybe he's had a strict upbringing or maybe his mother is a trouble maker, perhaps a deadbeat mom? A single mother? Did he get kicked out of his home? That would be terrible.

She shakes her head, again, she was making too many judgements.

"You don't need to look like that. In fairness, I believe she's been living quite well for someone who's a shut-in." The jab at whoever that person was was served with a slight bitterness on the side, it was subtle but Momo caught it. Ah, so it indeed is a relative.

"Then you're just like me." Momo interrupts, looking up at the puppet earnestly. His eyes widens and she had no idea how much those words mean to him.

 'Just like me', how such words can bring upon beautiful and melancholic memories is lost upon Wanderer, memories of a young little boy he lived with, a child who passed too soon for their age—he and the boy both were like each other; abandoned, nameless, lonely .

But Momo continued on, not having caught his expression before it immediately went away. "My parents live a very good life, they have money, status, anything they could have with money, they even have me, their only daughter. But not only that, they want more from me! I have perfect grades, perfect athleticism scores, perfect handwriting, fine negotiation skills, and that's still not enough to please them. Even if I excel at everything, I doubt they would bat an eye for me. In the end, I'm just a puppet to them." She rants to Wanderer about her true feelings, her frustrations, her hurt, her hopes and Wanderer sits still, deeply listening to a child who realizes how lonely they are. 

"That's why I'm going to become a hero.” She looks up at Wanderer, revealing how serious she is about her dream and not something childish like all the other children would hope to be. “I'm tired of giving more to my selfish parents so I'm going to give to the people of the world instead." Wanderer smiles at that. His heart warms at how pure her intention is, it is so honest and sincere with emotion, so innocent and kind—he really is touched by her by her motivation.

"Although, they don't know about that yet," she reveals. "I can't wait to see their faces when I show them." 

"I believe you'll be a great hero," he says—not to reassure her because he knows she will, and he doubts a girl like Momo would need constant coddling.

She thanks him. A second later she cocked her head to the side like a bird would when confused. 

"Are you looking for something at the mall?" 

Wanderer shakes his head, "No. I've got what I wanted."

In response, she blinks curiously at him, waiting. It took only a few seconds until  Wanderer lets out a reluctant grumble. He doesn't want to shoo her off after hearing of her home life, and she doesn't seem to have any meaningful places to go to as well, but added to the opinion that he'd be a hazardous influence on kids, this leaves Wanderer in a troubling conundrum. They're friends now, so it shouldn't hurt to tell her the truth, right?

Her stare is insistent, but a frown is starting to form on her lips.

That finally convinced him to give in.

"I want to open a place...to display a certain art, it's special to me." Even if his plan will be troublesome to implement, it's become a personal goal for him, because forget a business, forget about money. He would pour in his heart and soul for this project of his, because it had hit him that he'd been a fool to try and profit off the Isshin Art, that would not honor his dear friend at all—he has thought long and hard about it.

"I can-" Momo tried, but Wanderer cut her off, knowing she had the grift of giving. 

"No, you can't help me with this." 

"But I want to!"

"That would be terrible of me." Really, it would be. Having a child of all people help him out? And the wealthy one at that? He'd be taking advantage of them, if her parents found out, he'd have more charges than just kidnapping and ransom. 

But Momo thought otherwise, he saved her life and she wanted to show him how grateful she was, and because he is also her friend. But Makoto is quite the person even with his sneering exterior. Momo could tell he was prideful, that is where his refusal comes from but at the same time she could tell he was also being kind and considerate.

Momo is an honest child, he’s helped her once, and then again. Having unable to repay him back makes her feel restless with his refusal. She won’t let this go. 

One way or another, she’ll find a way to help him for sure.

“I have an idea!” Oops- that’s not how she wanted to word it. As quickly as she spurted, Makoto was also quick to say no again.

Momo fluttered her eyelashes, pretending like she didn’t slip up the slightest. “Actually, I was thinking of opening my own business, I really just want you to help me?”

That sounds way too suspicious, he thinks. Why him of all people? Momo must have seen the squint in his eyes when she lets out a ‘hmph’.

“I trust you plenty already,” she says to clear the doubt in himself. “ I really do just want to open my own business, but I need a partner willing to look after my back. You already know why I won’t ask my parents,” she explained.

Makoto remains silent, like he’s trying to find the clues, anything that hints at trickery.

“Please, you’re my only friend,” she begged. 

Makoto squinted harder at her, before relenting and letting out an exasperated sigh. “Fine. How may I be of use?”

The little raven hid her grin. A hook, line, and sinker.

Truthfully, she had never even thought about opening a personal business until Makoto had mentioned it. But with the realization she would not have to rely on their money, while also helping her friend, she resolved herself to set this in action—hit two birds with one stone. And she's completely confident in herself on this endeavor.

---

"Let's create an email account," Hisako exclaimed. She says it's crucial; a headquarters for communication and that it also secures a person's online accounts. It's quite fascinating for Ei, that any messages from simple to complex can be sent to anyone no matter the distance just with a click on a button — there's no technology like that in Teyvat that she is aware of.

Hisako pulls out a small tablet that happened to be foldable, setting it up on Wanderer's empty cushion. Opening it, she pressed a button by the corner and it lit up the upper half. 

"Wow," Ei let out. Hisako's brows furrow at this before sheepishly letting her own thoughts known.

"It's not the best product. But it works fine for what we'll be doing!" It was more like she was trying to convince herself than the discreet goddess. "It'll- it'll just take a little while to load things up."

And so, they set up all their accounts, specifically with the name "Sakura Dango" per Ei's choice, which Hisako thought to be cute and a recognizable name to remember—with the thought of this woman and her obsession with sweets .

“Chinatsu, if I could ask, why go through the trouble to make a slow growing YouTube channel if I can just sign these papers?”

“That’s exactly the problem: contracts.” 

“I’m familiar with contracts. I’ve signed them before.”

“But you’re not very familiar with the entertainment industry right? You have to make negotiations to make sure you actually benefit from the contracts. Getting locked into a one-sided contract is terrible . Besides, those ones that you have given are just auditioning contracts that want people who sign them to keep quiet about a company’s new projects, that doesn’t mean you’ll be guaranteed a place or role in any of those projects. That’s why we have to take a route that’s in our control.”

“I see…” 

Hisako waits for Ei to ask for something again, but she becomes too quiet that it starts to unsettle her. 

“Uh, are you okay Miss Ei?”

The archon’s eyes don’t rise up to meet her manager’s, instead she continues to gaze down in deep thought. In what felt like an eternity later (in which Hisako had to agonizingly wait), she finally opened her lips.

“How long will it take for us to grow?” Her sharp purple eyes stare back at Hisako’s, making the fellow redhead still. The way Ei spoke felt so solemn and urgent that it instilled a doubt into her being. 

Hisako couldn’t look into Ei’s eyes as she gave her the truth. “I don’t know. If we’re unlucky, then maybe even years.” 

Guilt pang in her chest, she had taken on a gamble, but without disclosing the reality of it all to Ei.  

“I see,” Ei let out. Hisako imagined a look of disappointment on her face, maybe betrayal and disgust.

“I’m sorry—” Was she going to leave her now? Insult her in the politest way possible? In the next few seconds, those fears didn’t exactly become true.

“—Mrs. Chinatsu. I’ve been dishonest to you the whole time.”

Caught off guard, the redhead let out a squeal of confusion. “What do you mean by that?” she quickly uttered.

Ei hinted her the truth. “By the time those years would have gone, I too would have already returned home by then.” 

Really, she had never planned to stay in this partnership for longer than half a year at most, estimating that a solution back to Teyvat would be found in due time and hoped to sustain herself in the meanwhile with whatever decent pay she could get.

She was the Archon, the protector of Inazuma, her duty is to the people. There was no reason for Ei to tell a mortal such as Hisako this, but living in her hospitable quarters with nothing to give back to her had the god feeling a twinge of guilt. Not to mention, they were already down on their luck with their financial situation which they had hoped to mend with the help of the goddess by letting her sap their already dry resources—money, food, and bed. Although they are complete strangers, Ei’s not completely heartless. If luck does not come by in the month, Hisako won’t have a place of her own anymore. 

“What do you mean by that? You’re going to leave? Where?” Hisako asked, though it sounded more like begging than anything.

Home. 

“A place where I belong.” She simply replied. That phrase seemed to break Hisako as she teared her saddened eyes away from Ei and toward the ground. A multitude of thoughts passing in her head that the goddess was not privy to.

They remain quiet for a number of seconds much to Hisako’s embarrassment, but it allows Ei to contemplate on the matter at hand and acknowledge her thoughts and the feelings she had repressed about Hisako. Dare she admits it as an omnipotent god, but she’s been quite too curious about the redhead—Ei curious about all mortal life, but being the deity she is has not allowed her to truly satisfy that curiosity. Humans and mortals come in her lifetime, all of them never staying too long to matter in her eyes in her great life. Their life span and the way they live have never been more different from Ei and her fellow high ranking yokai companions, and even they did not survive the test of time. So why should she indulge in mortals when she has never answered their prayers, yet they revere her so much either way? (The pain that the decree had brought to her nation is always a reminder that Sanganomiya Kokomi would never let her forget.)

But here she is, the mighty God of Thunder letting herself stand so humble, sitting on a cheap and impoverished cushion in the living space of a shabby apartment room, facing a mere mortal. All people of Inazuma know her face, so Ei would never have imagined that she’d be viewed as an equal to a mortal. 

So she smiles.

“I didn’t say that I was leaving now.” She tried to lighten the tone of her voice, hoping to brighten up the redhead. “I signed a contract with you, so I definitely can’t leave.” 

Hisako flinches. Snapped out of her devastation, she almost let out tears of joy. “You don’t actually want to leave me?” She breathlessly said it so in disbelief that even with Ei’s almost non-existent emotional intelligence, she had to question what her manager had gone through to say it like that.

“I am quite lost about the media of this world, so please understand that I am in your hands.”

Hisako didn’t bat an eye at ‘world’, instead she was to the moon at the assuring thought that Ei trusts her. She trusts her to be capable and confident, and Hisako could almost lunge at the older lady but refrains from doing so by finally letting go of the welling tears. 

“We’re going to make our debut today!” Hisako smiles so brightly that  it is shared with the goddess as well.

She has never thought of mortals to be disgusting beings. Weak for sure, and fragile nonetheless, but never as likeminded and equal individuals. (More so like insect's, but precious insects, akin to lovely pets that she must take care of.) 

The realization has finally dawned on her: the title of Raiden Shogun does not exist in this world. Archons become more powerful the more people worship them, but with no one to believe in her in this world, she is as human as she could be. It’s a fact that she should be terrified of, but instead it makes her feel warm.

Yes, she is closer to her people like this more than she could ever be by residing in that high palace.

Chapter Text

One week later.

Aizawa Shouta was tired—actually, he still is.

From being called back to meeting rooms with Detectives and late night patrols, it was apparent he hasn't had a proper rest in a long time. A new string of missing children just popped up very recently, which had also so boldly taken place in the huge city of Musutafu where the heart of heroes reside, it raises alarms as to how kidnappings could ever happen in the first place. They don’t want the masses of civilians finding out. Because of this, the government had to directly order a large selection of underground heroes to take part of the investigation—discreetly of course, as to not alert the perpetrators. 

But today, Shota is off work for all 24 hours, another hero had been invited to take his place in the meantime. He's not the type to rest, as it makes him feel uneasy considering the case at hand. That and how the police department and collaborating heroes have yet to find new clues where the children have gone. 

Hizashi had suggested he take a day to clear his head, even if he’d prefer not to. Clearly, he knew Shouta wouldn’t have budged even with his input and that had taken a long period of bugging the gloomy man before he gave in to the blond’s urging. 

But now he has nothing to do.

Even though work should be off his mind at the moment, Shouta can’t help but think back to the missing children reports, his feet bringing him wherever through the park. Thankfully, he was able to snap out of his trance when a certain utensil—a fork—came flying towards him, if it wasn’t for his training he may not have been able to dodge in time. 

That was not ordinary. The purple hue he means, and also the electricity that radiated off the metal. A unique purple hue that he’s seen before.

Shifting his head to the source, he found a familiar face. 

Her, that lady, again .

He didn't expect to run into her again. But this time the purple haired woman was not alone, next to her was a young woman with a terrified look on her face, they appeared to be having a picnic at the park. 

“Miss Ei!” The red haired woman's arms jumped out in fright upon seeing Shouta stand in the direction where the fork had flung. “You…you’re not supposed to use a fork like that…” she wailed. 

“That was unintentional.” A look of confusion spun on the older woman’s features, and that sparked some curiosity in Shouta. If it wasn’t for that, he might have thought the lady recognized him out of costume and wanted some payback for intervening her dine and dash. 

He sighs and turns to the pair. “The usage of quirks in public is strictly prohibited by law. I’m sure you already know.” 

“Oh-yes!” The ginger-haired lady stands up to give him an apologetic bow for her companions, who was starting to reel in his presence. 

“Oh, it’s you again.” She comments, her demure voice seems to halt the wind.

Shouta is not a stickler to the rules, and with how desolate this area of the park was, the chance of any harm being done would have been none if he hadn't drifted into the area unintentionally. He reprimands her once more for using her quirk, before walking away.  As for the fork, it met its end at the bottom of a pond. He frankly doesn’t have the energy to deal with a mildly troublesome civilian.

Although, meeting her for the second time has become a trouble for him now as he finds it difficult to forget the unique woman. Not that he’ll see her again, hopefully.

—

“My fork…” Hisako whimpered for the loss of her precious metal fork, a utensil that was a rarity for ginger with her dissolving finances. Well, almost dissolving finances. Makoto had suddenly come back after a week of disappearing (Hisako was constantly on the verge of panic attacks just thinking about him), and plopped a stack of the month’s worth of rent cash onto the kitchen counter. 

“I can’t have you go down right now,” he spoke, peering at Ei with sharp eyes. He turned his back to leave, but before that Ei called out to him. 

“What have you been up to?” She inquired, her voice soft and gentle. Makoto stood in place, his head twitched as if contemplating on telling her or not. 

“I’ve been offered a business proposal,” he says, opting to give in since he thought it would only be fair to tell a familiar acquaintance. “Just focus on doing what you’re doing.”

The door clicks shut, and glancing at Ei, her eyes droop, and a thin line purses on her lips. He left so soon, it didn’t even give them enough time to register the information he relayed. 

“Miss Ei…” Hisako could only imagine how Ei feels, but thinking how awkward it’d be to speak about it, she makes no comment. Still, curiosity blemishes in the ginger, desperate to know their story, hoping that in the future she’d be close enough to ask without offense. 

In her opinion, the Raidens’ relationship is very strange. Ei, who is Makoto’s mother, lets him go out so easily with an unconcerned face, but yet there is a sense of yearning in her eyes when he leaves. Makoto walks out without a care for his mother’s opinions. He’s detached, and doesn’t bother to hide distaste towards Ei. 

Upon arriving at the police station, she found them both together. Ei, with a smile, and Makoto, bearing wide eyes with an empty expression. (The similarities in their appearance should have been a major flag, but at the time Hisako had no idea of their relations.) 

Makoto is indeed a troubled child, but Ei is also no different from him. 

Secretly, Hisako hopes their relationship mends, and that they’ll get along again—again as she assumes they were once a happy family before now.

Hisako picks up the small slab of cash left on her kitchen counter. Counting it, she found it was worth over her rent’s worth, and shared the wonderful news with Ei. 

“Look! We won’t be evicted after all!” 

Thank you, son of Ei! 

At the same time, she hopes he didn’t do anything questionable to get the money. But maybe, perhaps, Makoto does care for his mother in his own way; he just won’t admit it. Thinking that their relationship isn’t that terrible, Hisako relaxes and gives Ei a smile. 

“We reached 100 subscribers on YouTube, why don’t we celebrate?”

So they went to the park. Hisako borrowed an oven from a restaurant that let her use it free of charge to make sweet and delicious snacks and dessert. From home, she prepared two simple sandwiches. Ei needs a nutritional diet, while the ginger could care less about herself.

“Dango.” The violet lady let out before eagerly grabbing the end of the stick and instantly indulging herself. The look on her face looked like she’d become reborn again, her life flashing before her eyes—Hisako has seen this before.

“Is that ‘cake’?” Ei wondered, eyeing a slice of lusciously layered bread and custard placed by the wicker basket. 

Hisako blinked. “You’ve never seen cake before?” 

The archon puckered her lips, she was clearly intent on wanting to try it out as well. “No.” 

Hisako sadly smiled. She had bought the tiny slice with the very little amount of extra money she had. It seemed like Ei never had the luxury to try cake before, and selfishly, she wanted to have it all to herself, but the sympathetic and people pleasing side of hers edged the red head to let Ei have it. 

Giving the older lady the thumbs up (with a painful, forced smile) Ei picked up the fork. Only for it to tremble in her fingers, and curiously she let it go…flying towards an unassuming man and Thank God he didn’t get injured.

Hisako had Ei use the dango sticks instead. She’s still thinking about her fork.

—

“What’s this component?” Momo pointed to a steel component of some sort. Apparently her friend, Makoto is a boy with many talents, he makes blueprints, he can build mechanical tools, and possibly even build a perfect sword. That’s what he’s trying to do right now, as she closely observes him. Momo’s not quite familiar with how to forge a sword, but Makoto’s eagerness with sword forging has piqued her own interest.

“A component…” he seldom paid her mind, he fanned the flame, too engrossed in the task of getting the correct temp set. 

The doors slide open, and someone walks though. Momo squints at them and hops off the stool to look at something else. 

The clacks are revealed to be Mr. Yaoyarozu’s as he comments on how the studio looks. “Wow, you really made your own Makoto-kun. Please use this room to your hearts content.” He smiled brightly as he said that, it’s too genuine that it weirds the puppet out instead. 

He hums in return. “Yeah, sure.” Albeit short, the memory of his time he spent in jail hadn’t magically disappeared, and it was apparently the Yaoyarozus who enforced it. He’s still not quite forgiven them yet, even when they’ve been trying so hard to appease him with luxury gifts, or gratuitous amounts of money. Momo is on the same page as him, she’s still refusing to converse with her parents and it’s a week by now.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, please ask.” That bright smile again. Wanderer’s not even looking at him and he could feel it.

“Sure,” he mumbles, not thinking about it at first until a thought pops in mind. “Actually, there is something you can do for me. You mean anything , right?”

—

Footsteps reverberate along the pavement of the long, dark hallway, getting closer and closer to the metal door. 

It opens for him, and the man in light robes confidently strides through it, entering into an even darker room where moonlight does not shine through. 

“Well, well, what brings you here again, Doctor?” a deep voice echoes throughout the room, telling of a man that should not be faced light, a man with authority and power . “Have you come to check back on your Gnosis ?”

The Doctor smiles contently, “Not exactly, I’ve come to pick up what I’ve  exchanged with that. And…” His head tilts towards the green glow in the glass, “...I’m simply curious about your progress so far.”

The disfigured man laughs, “Oh, Doctor, you’ve given me quite the venture. I appreciate it, quite very.”

By that, the man sitting in the chair means that nothing has progressed. 

“Are you afraid I might find the secret to it before you ?” He’s making quite the assumption, Dottore muses. But truly, he’s confident the man before him would not be able to find the  truth of the item he handed in for a trade. 

Arrogantly, he disregards the man’s last question, he doesn’t care at all. 

“I see, then I look forward to seeing the results again.” With that Dottore turns his boots, and with a loud screech, closes behind him.

He smirked, considering that the other man seemed quite eager for Dottore to spill his secrets and information, but the scientist didn’t relent. Not that he would ever tell him the truth. 

More intriguingly, he has a bunch of new subjects to attend to. 

Chapter Text

It was strange. 

She’s been getting out of control, her elemental abilities seem to behave out of their own without her instruction. Something makes her feel that she should be alarmed, and she doesn’t exactly know why. 

Ei traces the palm of her hand, the sensation of soft skin would have startled her the first time, but now the action is to remind her that she’s no longer in a puppet body. Her skin is cool as she touches it, but with godly senses, Ei can feel the warmth of blood flowing inside her. Say, does she also bleed red too?

Her stupor is disturbed when Hisako pops up from her cushion. “Ei-san, I got a super important email! It’s legit—I checked.” It was like the redhead magically appeared by her side when she propped the laptop for Ei to see. “We got invited to a game show! It’s super popular too!” she exclaimed with much mirth.

“Although…I wonder how they got ahold of my email, I don’t remember ever having subscribed to the network,” Hisako mumbled.

“A game show?”

Hisako sat the computer down on the wooden floor and cleared her throat. “Since you’re not familiar, I’ll explain.” She leaned down to type on the key board, pulling up an extremely colorful webpage. “Creator-Corner: It's a really popular live-broadcasting show in Japan. Its original popularity stemmed from inviting a super popular foreign YouTuber which caused their view count to rise. It started 8 years ago, and still remains fairly popular! They used to only invite informally known influencers who wouldn’t typically get opportunities to appear on formal TV, but now it’s all open to actors, models and even celebrities—to everyone!”

“So, we’re going to be on a popular TV broadcast? How nice, your dreams are going to come true, Miss Chinatsu.” Being really the only human she has interacted with, Hisako has found a place in Ei's heart. In this very strange, new world, she was there to ground her, and help guide her through it. Whenever she was lost and confused, Hisako was right there to explain it to her. Ei could admit that her presence has made her feel at ease, made her forget her doubts and worries. 

“No,” Hisako huffed teasingly. “You’re the one who’s going onto national TV, Ei-san.” 

“You’re not coming on with me? You may handle the most in the background, but are we not partners?” Besides, if Ei was going to one day disappear on her, she hoped Hisako would find her own ground in success—this would be a chance for the young woman to open new areas of opportunity in the future for her own self. Reading the email, the invitation didn’t just restrict to Ei, but the entire team behind ‘SakuraDango’.

Hisako’s mouth opens her throat, her words continuously getting caught in her throat. But she manages to blurt something out.

“No, I can’t go on with you…”

“Why not?” Ei questions. From what she had observed, Hisako has been incredibly passionate about content creation, and although she tries to hide it, Ei could see her looks of longing whenever she posted online after her photoshoot and recordings. She wishes that could be her.

“I just can’t, really.”

Was she scared of public attention? That maybe she wouldn’t be liked by the masses? Hisako could be overbearing sometimes, and maybe a bit clumsy, but those moments are made up by her dedication and compassion. And yes, Ei thought she was adorable.

“Alright then. I will agree to go on to the show.” 

Hisako gave Ei a relieved smile, she nodded and returned to the laptop, reading out the email more thoroughly. She filled out the information form, and let Ei know that they would be meeting with the producers in two weeks. After few minutes of clicking on the keypad, Hisako smiles.

“You might want to hear this; we finally reached one-thousand views on our first YouTube channel!” 

The archon’s ears perked upon hearing the number. “That’s quite the number.” 

At that, Hisako sullen. “Not enough to make us money or become monetized…There are so many more creators with a much larger viewer count than this. The comments about you are entertaining though, want to have a look?”

Ei answered truthfully, “Not really, no.” Being the ruler of a nation, comments are always going to be something she’ll be a part of, but she doesn’t have time to listen to any of them, not when they’re simply junk spouted by the zealous few that make their rounds through her court at times. Nevertheless, she had never let the thought of another person affect her spirit by any means.

“Oh, really? They’re not being mean, not yet at least.” Hisako hummed.

“Since you’re enthusiastic about it, I’ll check them out then.” 

The manager smiled, and scooted closer to Ei. “This person’s comment I think was quite funny.”

LOLOL This gal’s a boomer or ancient, how could she not know ChocoMights? It’s the most popular chocolate in the country.

Her brow furrowed, “A boomer?” 

“Ah, that…” 

“And, ‘how could I not know?’ Of course I wouldn’t know, I’m not from this world in the first place!” So much for thinking that nothing fazes her, she let an internet comment get to her.

“Miss Ei,” Hisako stuttered, “that person was only trying to make a joke! They weren’t being serious.” 

“Is that so?” Ei sounded sarcastic.

“If you don’t like that one, don’t let it get to your head. Look at this one, it’s fairly kind.” Hisako scrolled down and pointed to a shorter comment. 

Wow! Ei-san is so pretty and adorable. So entertaining I want to see more!

This comment made Hisako’s heart swell with pride, she was so smug about it she almost replied back to appreciate the comment, but then remembered it wasn’t actually about her or her place.

Ei hummed smugly, “Nice choice, watcher.” she said, crossing her arms proudly.

Hisako giggled at her antic, “You’re so entertaining Miss Ei, I’m sure by no time you’ll have many loyal fans by the time we exit the game show.”

—

On the insistence of Mrs. Yaoyarozu, who wanted to deeply apologize and thank him, their company agreed to build a monumental building for Wanderer to display his works. With the help of money, the building was completed in the span of 13 days, it was phenomenally fast. Quirks and technology in this world are incredibly fast, but Wanderer could infer that it’s a need in this society due to unintentional accidents with quirks and villain attacks (though those were seemingly rare). 

(He recalled the mass destruction of a villain attack from eight years ago—it was one of All Might’s greatest feats recorded. Miraculously, the city that was damaged from the battle was able to recover quickly due to national support in just the span of a month, and just like that the world moved on.)

Wanderer hadn’t really asked for a building this big, he had expected a decent sized 2-story building but they really went overboard. So now he has to inspect the whole building and decide on where to display the isshin art—really, he would have been alright displaying the sword art in some special museum. 

The building is his, apparently. Momo’s father hadn’t been stingy at all in handing him the papers of ownership to him—wow, he’s donating a whole building, almost the size of Ingenium’s agency to him, for free. He could ask for help in handling the placements, and decor but that opened another can of worms where he’d have to contract people. Like if they accidentally broke something, would they have to compensate for it, or the labor hours, or about injuries on the job—he was not going to waste a day to draft something for that, and Yaoyarozu told him that he can’t just order his workers on a whim. He did suggest hiring freelancers, but Wanderer being the one man army that he is, thought that he could do the job much better and faster than anyone else.

The building was completely blank and empty, not even security cameras were installed except for the outside of the building. It was illegal to use a quick in public; but this place has yet to be open to the public, he was in his own private domain and managed to quickly check every nook and cranny of his building with the flight of anemo. If Momo didn’t believe it, Wanderer could tell how much they loved their daughter if they were this thankful to him for giving him such a tower, even if they were emotionally neglectful.

He landed near where the entrance doors of the building were (the doors were covered with curtains), looking straight ahead at him the sight reminded him of when he entered the mall. As for the design…thankfully the architects made it look more like a museum than a corporate tower. He looked up to the glass panes that reflected the sunlight, ten stories up from where he stood, it was intricately crafted to look like the lotus flower on his clothing. Now that he actually thought about it, was starting to give him a headache; to manage this whole building all by himself? What was Yaoyarozu thinking?

But he sighed, perhaps he was thinking about this all the wrong way. Maybe this building could find another usage than just being a museum. Oh right, he had wanted to open a business to make his stay in this world convenient and free of restrictions, but he already has one of the richest families in Japan indebted to him, so what use is a business to him. But Yaoyarozu was a sharp man, if he continued to feed off his family’s courtesy they might really think his prime motive from the start was to really kidnap their child.

All of a sudden, his pocket vibrates loudly, it’s impossible to ignore so pulled out the phone that happened to not fall out during his speed flight. A number he doesn’t recognize appears on the screen, and he pressed on the blue icon with a telephone to answer, curiously intrigued. 

“Hello, is this Makoto?” The voice from his phone echoes throughout the building, and Wanderer instantly knows whose it is.

“Yes, what is it Momo?” He answers.

“Are you busy right now?” There was some hesitance the way she asked it, it seemed she understood it had only been a day since the construction had been completed and felt somewhat guilty for calling him right there.

“Not really.” He answered honestly. He was going to take this slow, in a month he’ll have everything settled, he thinks. So while he had this project lying around waiting to be opened, he had other plans to research more about this world and a way to get back. Unfortunately, that also reminded him that he has a mother. 

“Great! I was wondering if I could come over!” She wasn’t really asking—she’s gotten too comfortable with him.

“I don’t have a place.” 

“You’re right, it’s one of my family’s penthouses, so I don’t actually have to ask…but I’m letting you know I will be—”

“I’m not going there for a while. I’m working on the building.” He elaborates before she could ask. 

“Alright then, I want to discuss something with you, so please have a room prepared for me,” she said playfully.

He smirked, little brat.

—

“Rent: check. Taxes: check. Groceries: check. Bills: check.” Hisako crosses out a list on her notepad, then turns to count the leftover money from Wanderer. She’s been able to go stress-free the whole week, so no way she was not going to be shameless and spend it on necessities. She would never spend it on herself though, it was Makoto’s money which he obviously rendered for his mother. 

“Ei, we’re going shopping.” She turned to the goddess, she was drinking tea, her mind not in the room right now. “Uh. Hello Miss Ei?”

She blinked, finally back to reality. “Yes, Chinatsu?” 

“I’ve been thinking…” She eyes Ei, she was wearing one of Hisako’s bigger pair of pajamas, it was seemingly a tight fit for her. “We should probably find you some suitable clothes to wear. We have a live game show coming up, we can’t look sloppy!” She said enthusiastically.

The pajamas weren’t uncomfortable for her, but she didn’t disagree that it would be informal to not wear a designated suit for the big day. 

“I know we’re supposed to be going shopping for clothes, but how bout we explore the city? You haven’t been here for long and I’ve been keeping you locked up around this block for a long time.”

“Thank you, Chinatsu. I would enjoy that.” Being stagnated in one place has never been a problem for Ei, she could stay resident in this small room for centuries and it wouldn’t pester her one bit. But the thought of exploring a new place sounded adventurously exciting. Some fresh air would be nice, and it’s been quite a while since she’s last seen Wanderer, he had on her mind for quite a while, and it was inevitable that her heart had a longing for the last bit of connection to her sister. Deep down, she was hoping that she might coincidentally cross paths with him again.

—

Momo poked her head out from the curtain, the building’s center was engulfed in a warm light, the sun was starting to set and Wanderer hadn’t turned on the lights yet so it was a bit dark. In the middle of the reflected light, she found Wanderer sitting on a stool, there was a maroon-colored sofa across from where he sat. It’s safe to assume that he definitely took that from the penthouse. 

“Welcome,” he already knew she was there.

She flipped the curtains and walked over to the seat reserved for her. “You haven’t done much with the front yet, I see.” He hasn't done anything with the whole building at all, actually.

She sets her backpack down beside her, pulling out a tablet and a pen. Did she need help with homework or something? 

“I’ve been thinking: there’s very few heroes in the world that can use flight, even more so in Japan.” What is she getting at here, he wonders, but he lets her finish speaking before he should question her.

“That’s why I think we should develop a tool to give flight to heroes.” She clicked her tablet awake, showing Wanderer her ideas; blueprints of a backpack that gives the wearer the ability to fly (a jetpack it says), mechanical wings, shoes, wristbands and things of the sort that someone could wear to fly. She came up with quite a lot of ideas, it impressed him. 

He wanted to ask her why she thought of this so suddenly, but like she read his mind, she blurted, “Because you were the only one who could have saved me there.” He blinked, taking in her words much more seriously. 

“The thing is, a lot of the people on that roller coaster had to wait a long time to be rescued, if we had tools of flight then maybe they would have been rescued faster. I’m sure the time it took waiting to be saved was terrifying for them. There were many heroes at the festival, but none of them had flight and could only wait on the ground, so they were useless.” 

What a good child, he thinks once again. “I like your idea,” he admits. “So you’re asking me for help because I can fly, correct?” Momo nods eagerly, confirming his inference.

“This place is perfect for testing. It’s empty right now so there’s less likely for damages.”

Huh? Momo was glowing from her stomach, and then she pulled something from underneath her shirt.

“I’ve already made my own prototype, I call them…air walkers!” She presented a pair of shoes to him, mostly made up of rubber and steel, there also looked to be some visible wires. “It looks messy right now because it’s the first product.” She tried to defend.

“And here I thought I was going to help produce your very first one with my own input. You’ve already figured it out,” he commented.

“Not yet, I have not got them to be tested on real people. Only you are able to since you can prevent yourself from falling injured with your quirk, so I asked you first. That, and you’ll be able to tell me how it feels compared to your natural quirk.”

He didn’t correct her about his “quirk”. 

“I can do that. But first, do your parents know about this?”

“Not yet.” She responded immediately. 

“Okay.” he blinks. There is a cycle that he’s seeing, and at this point he doesn’t want to question it anymore. He’s wondering which sidekick is going to come along this time.

(With the alarming amount of sidekicks under Ingenium, Momo and he were found that very day. Ingenium was also on the scene when this happened, and remembering the hero from a previous encounter, he abided to go with him to his agency. Last time they interacted he somewhat (unknowingly) used his abilities illegally, that’s what Wanderer thought he was being taken in for but for some reason Momo had to come along too. Thankfully, he was not going to jail again.)

"If you're ready, please wear these, I can accommodate for size if it is a problem."

Chapter Text

Wanderer inserted his feet into the boots, although he was a puppet he could still feel sensations and what he felt right now was his soles being squeezed tightly. If he wasn’t a puppet he’s sure his bones would have been crushed. It’s apparent that Momo had only created a model for her own size, and hadn’t figured out a way to make the technological component work with the sizing. 

That was exactly what he conveyed to her. Momo nodded her head, and frowned. 

“You guys have cars in this world, I’m quite surprised there hasn’t been a way to make flight accessible.” 

“Quirks aren’t resources.” Momo refuted. “It seems like people forget that the earth still has the same exact materials even when the first quirk appeared.”

If he considered what she said, maybe this world wasn’t as technologically advanced as he thought, but he commended the achievements of it due to how they thrived even with limited resources. If Teyvat tried, it would not be difficult to achieve “modernity”. If he looked at Fontaine, he could almost say that their technology was greater than this world’s. 

An idea popped into mind. He realized he forgot something he wanted to do. “I wonder, have the people ever touched the sky?” 

Momo gave him a confused look, but answered him anyway. “We have airplanes. Yes?”

“But what about beyond that? Has anyone ever gone past the earth’s barrier? Touched a moon?”

She was quiet. “No…” 

The sincerity in Makoto’s voice made her wonder if this was more than mindless musing. And the way he used “you guys” was truly eccentric, but she heard he was from a distant island and brushed it off as to why his dialect and vocabulary were so out of the norm. 

“Enough of that.” He changed the topic. “I don’t think these boots will work the way they are now, what of your other devices?”

Wouldn’t that “jet pack” turn out fine? It’s big enough to carry the necessary components, as well as maintaining a decent battery to last longer flights, plus it would carry more weight and is adjustable to many sizes. 

“If you didn’t know, jet packs are already a thing but…” 

They cost too much resources to make. They were big and heavy, and often took up space if stored, Momo reasoned.

“Another thing is that they’re difficult to control; you can’t control the directional output of a jet pack.” She also really just didn’t want to admit that jetpacks totally bore her. 

(“You would be perfect for support,” he mused.)

“So, how do I use these exactly?”

“You put the boots together. There are magnets that will activate the battery with the electrical charge. You can deactivate electrical current by doing the same method as well.” 

He put his feet together, and Momo was correct, he was able to float a teeny bit above the ground. 

“I must be too heavy for these.” 

She took notes on her tablet. ”How does it compare to your…”

“Extremely miniscule. It’s even more energy consuming to maintain a balance on these.”

Momo let out a huff of air, she was in deep thought, but she didn’t look the least bit deterred.

“Don’t think too hard about it, I’m here to help you with your research.”

Momo smiled, “You’re right. I guess I’ve been too absorbed in my own creations, I forgot to ask what you think—you are the one who can fly here.”

Wanderer hummed, thinking for a moment until an idea came into mind. Mondstadt, the city of wind and freedom…the people there couldn’t actually fly.  Though they were able to maintain long uptime in the air with the help of the wind. That was gliding, not flying. And his ability to fly…he’s not stingy, but should he really be telling a child about it?

“What were the references for your ideas?” 

Momo grinned, “Since I plan to (build the deceives for hero usage) I based it on some of the currently well known heroes. Ryukyu could fly, so I put down ‘wings’ on my list of ideas.  As for the shoes, I remember seeing a video of Ingenium launching himself up at such high speed that he appeared to be flying. I took that idea and implemented them as footwear.”

It sounded more like she was doing this more for the sake of fun than not.

“Well,” Momo continued, “I somewhat wanted to imitate you that day,” she bashfully confessed, a pink hue on her cheeks. 

“Have you not thought about it?” She asked. “Becoming a hero.”

The only time he had ever even considered to become one was when his freedom was being threatened—back in jail, in that interrogation room.

“No.” That was the truth. Him, a hero? He could never. In his opinion, heroes may be admirable, he'll admit, but they just give him the ick. (A traveller with blonde hair comes to mind. Perhaps he hadn’t gotten over his humiliating defeat after all.) They were just too optimistic with the world, and too quick to care about others.

“But your quirk is so wonderful, it would be a shame…”

“Not all heroes need a title to be one.” He murmured. Old memories flashed through Wanderer's mind of a dear friend, a friend who met a tragic end and was unfairly cursed by him.

Wanderer told her to go home for the night, telling her the next she came she should be more prepared. He used that as an excuse to escort her out. He turned around and crossed his arms, letting out a sigh—he has no idea why he does that. But the most pondering thought in his head at the moment was how he had so many things to do.

—

The cool breeze blew her bangs back, tickling her forehead. Ei fixed them shortly as she waited for Hisako to come out. Her hair was in a simple high pony-tail that Hisako suggested after getting a real look at Ei's long unbraided hair. “I can’t believe you have to braid all that hair,” she said.

Ei took in the world; the cool moist air after the rain, the yellow leaves of a tree falling off their branches, the fluffy clouds that found their place in the sky, and a puddle that reflected the world. She thought the simplicity and naturalness of it all was beautiful. It’s a humbling thought to think that mortals could live to see such a scene everyday when they wake up from their home, and thinking about it, a sunrise is beautiful no matter if you looked at it from above a palace or below. 

The door clicks behind her, and Hisako appears in a casual outfit, it seems she enjoys the cool. Seeing Ei eye her shorts, she consciously explained, “My apartment doesn’t have any air conditioning all year; I appreciate the cold now.”

The archon smiled while Hisako tip-toed around the puddles and moved on to another topic. “I’ve been thinking, you don’t have a phone yet, so why don’t we go to a phone shop first?”

Hisako pulled out a rectangular stone from her plain handbag—a phone, as previously explained. After a few seconds of tapping, she showed the screen to Ei. “If you’re ever lost, you can find your location on the map. It will be great for you since you're mostly new here.” 

It was a map, and a dot to pinpoint their current location. In the top bar, Ei saw the words “electronics store” which searched a walkable route toward their desired destination. At the very top left, she noticed the number “56%” and a half filled bar. 

“Yes, that is quite good.” This might be a useful development to make Inazuma more accessible and appealing to visitors from afar, when she gets back she’ll have to let her officers know about this. 

Hisako walked the opposite direction of where they would usually exit for food, allowing a new sight for Ei. They walked past some rundown buildings, the colors they passed by weren’t extravagant, with deteriorating paint and messy graffiti, but Ei found some charm to it. Hisako explained that there were no car roads around here, meaning that the residents in this area had no need to maintain appearances. 

“There’s no need to be ashamed,” said Ei. She’s lived long enough with Hisako to catch on to her habits, and her suddenly rambling out of nowhere was a sign that the redhead was nervous or trying to hide something. 

“Oh…yeah?” A serene silence filled the air once again, they could hear the faint chirping of the city birds. “Right. I got a place here for cheap because of this place’s aesthetic. I should be grateful..”

After what seemed to be a few minutes, the road ahead became brighter and brighter, it wasn't that the sun was fully awake, but the city happens to have an effect that made it seem like so. The warmth of familiarity shifted into overwhelming awe as Ei absorbed in the new environment. It was clean, technologically advanced, and fast-paced. Very much different from the humbleness of Hisako’s neighborhood. There were people everywhere, doing their own things, wearing exceptional clothing and going their own ways,

It would then come suddenly when Ei's stomach growled—not very much to her dismay. She’s learned that Hisako would be happy to feed her no matter what, and so the shame naturally dissipated.. 

“I totally forgot about breakfast! I was just so excited to go out with you, please forgive me!” She bowed multiple times in panic, it almost looked comical. People nearby gave the pair short glances before minding their own business..

“You’re right, breakfast would be nice.” Ei was so lost in taking in the world around her that breakfast was surprisingly the last thing on her mind. 

“It’s just…the food in this area doesn’t go for cheap,” Hisako muttered. “But then we’d have to walk back home again and that’d take at least 10 minutes. I wish I had invested in a bicycle!” She groaned.

Perhaps she should be feeling more guilty for putting her partner in such a predicament, thought Ei. For most of their relationship, she’s been catered to by the young woman and it has finally dwelled on the goddess’s conscience that she shouldn’t be so selfish. (It’s clear she had some sort of complex, but Ei didn’t feel like she should take advantage of that.)

“That is alright, Chinatsu. I can do with some snacks.”

Hisako snapped up, “That’s right! Thank goodness I bought some leftovers with me.” She shuffled through her bag and pulled up a bunny shaped treat wrapped in aluminum: ChocoMight—the memory of the YouTube comment still in her memory. Her mouth soured as the white screen and black text flashed through her head. Hisako offered the candy to Ei, and she snatched it, her mind reluctant but her will determined. 

The #1 chocolate in the world!

The words printed on the metallic paper seemed to mock her. In a blink, she ripped off the top part of the aluminum foil with the print, using her elemental power to disintegrate the foil out of existence. Finally, she then took a mean bite out of All Might’s face molded into chocolate. (Darn, it was quite tasty though.)

Hisako was now thinking that she perhaps should have brought a different brand. (From there on out, Ei will never let the hero live it down for her pride.)

—

With her hunger set aside, they were finally able to get a phone for Ei. The object felt extremely foreign in her slender fingers, she was amazed that everyone in the society always carried it around them. They were sitting on a bench as Hisako tried to show her the reins of using a phone. 

“You press this button here to turn on your phone, and then you press that button to unlock your phone. I’m so envious, I wish I could experience the feeling of unwrapping a new phone,” Hisako dramatically bemoaned.

Ei followed her instructions and the black glass lit up. She was in complete awe. This isn’t some magic, is it? Eagerly, she pressed the bottom button which led her to a colorful background and she noticed some stuck afloat icons. This thing won’t explode on her, will it? Cautiously, she traced her fingertip down down the screen, a bit startled when it started to wobble. Hisako let out a giggle at her reaction.

“Hm. This is an older type of phone, we’ll have to get you a sim card," Hisako says.  “Let’s go get you one!” She tapped in her device again. Apparently,  a sim card is needed to be able to contact people, without it she won’t be able to call others.

After a few seconds, Hisako got up, asking if Ei was ready to move. Getting her confirmation, she walked in front of her first and they soon found themselves at an intersection, vehicles came and went in all four ways. How were they going to go around this, I wondered. 

Ei stepped forward, maybe she could do something about this.

“Miss Ei, you can’t cross the roads yet.” Hisako called out.

She cocked her head “Really, who says that?” 

Hisako stares at her, mortified. She finally let out a nervous laugh, “Don’t you see? The light is a red signal.” She points to a pole with a mini-TV atop. Hisako herself loved to be relied on, so she didn’t mind Ei’s naïveté, but all the moments from the previous week had left her feeling more stress and concern for the woman who she had not yet learned to be a shut-in goddess. 

Upon learning of this, a swell feeling bubbled in Ei, thinking that it was quite a fine invention. Inazuma doesn’t have huge traffic or vehicles, so it is quite spacious, and trade is handled on the harbor and docks. But oftentimes she’s heard of accidents happen during festivals where the transport of goods had become disruptive to both the organizations and civilians. As a result, the companies in Inazuma  had to take long, inefficient routes outside the city and normal roads to transport their products. This can result in a loss of goods due to accidents happening on the road. An invention like that would be sure to lessen the costs and resources if introduced to her nation. 

While Ei was lost in her musings, that was when Hisako noticed something. From where they stood, they could see smoke rising above the buildings. 

“Huh. Must be a villain. I’m sure the heroes have it all handled,” she comments. 

When the lights turned green, Ei let her manager walk first as she was leading the way. 

But like the world was out to get them, it happened all too fast when Ei heard a sound that dictated high speed, and it was coming toward their direction. Noticable, but in Ei’s standard, it was not alarming to where she had to react to it. The Heroes got it covered, there was no need to worry and it seemed that Hisako didn’t notice it, so there was no need to startle her with such information. She raised a brow when she consecutively heard crashes and skirmishing, they were random and wild like an animal.  It must have been curiosity and intrigue that caused her to slow down her pace, it must have been her complacency, for never being challenged due to being a god that she didn’t let the fact that the disaster was coming straight at them register.  Her indifference to chaos around her is a part of her nature, nurtured around the loss of dear friends, and cynicism, so, it seems to have dulled her sense of awareness to the world. The little lives and actions of mortals do not matter in the measurement and control of the realm, those old thoughts she had held for over many centuries weren’t so easy to disarray when they were once a daily habit. (She was the God of Thunder; she created thunder and lighting so why should a little noise have her concern?) 

On what sounded like thunder, she turned head toward the rumbling and saw what looked like a car being thrown up into the air—thankfully there was no one in it—as it landed on the roof of a nearby building. The ground started to rumble and vibrate, it felt like they were in the middle of a stampede 

“That doesn’t sound pleasant,” Hisako jokes, trying to ease her nerves. The other civilians continued on walking, like the rumbling was just another daily occurrence. It was disconcerting how indifferent they were to the events going on around them, it truly made her feel alien when no one seemed the least bit aware of the sensations she was feeling. 

“We have earthquakes all the time, so this is nothing, really,” Hisako explained. She turned to look forward again, but slowed down when she saw a handful of civilians running away from the direction of the smoke. They were too panicked to explain the situation and were more desperate to get away from the scene than anything. The vibrations got bigger and bigger, until it started to shake the ground. Standing in the middle of the crosswalk didn’t feel appealing for Hisako anymore..

“Maybe we should get out of—”

She never got to finish her sentence. A huge gust of air blew her off her feet and she never even saw the villain that was head straight toward her, and nor did she hear the lavicious laughter emoting from their throat. But Ei did, and it was like the world slowed down—or perhaps the world was too slow for her. Before a second even passed, she was in front of Hisako, shielding her from the destructive force as she punted the villain in his chest with a single palm. 

Ei almost didn't reach her on time. 

Even Ei forgot about what was going on as she moved on instinct, the huge electro energy that she emitted shook the nearby towers. The villain would have been blown away, but Ei immediately grasped him by the clothing strap on his chest. An unintentional result of this all was Hisako and the nearby civilians crumbling to their knees onto the concrete; when the abundant kinetic energy had nowhere to go it sent a shockwave through the nearby area, as glass shattered and trees shook. 

“Miss…Ei?” Hisako’s voice trembled when she realized what would have happened to her had Ei not been there to stop the trajectory. The villain gasped, his eyes rolled back. 

“I-impossible…” he could hardly breathe, “I was…I was supposed to be the strongest…” he struggled to speak at all, his last remaining words were “he promised me…” before he completely went unconscious. She could hear other civilians calling for help and that was the queue for Ei to drop him. The sight before her was jaw dropping if she could describe it. 

The villain's body was no longer blocking her  anymore, allowing her to take in the sight. The sight of cars flipped on top of one another with humans inside them, and there was no mistake when she saw hints of dark red. The damage was not as substantial to her experience during the Archon war, but she was surprised this could have ever happened in the peaceful society of Earth.

She heard cries—from children or adults, there was no different. She heard screams of agony whether from pain of injury or the displacement of someone dear. The villain’s rampage left a fog of smoke and dust when the breeze rolled in. 

The pinky on her left hand twitched. It has been quite a while since she’s experienced something like this; the despair of loss, of chaos—of war.

What in the world is going on? 

She was snapped out of her spur when Hisako started wheezing, it was like she was coughing for air. 

“Miss Chinatsu?” Ei crouched down to her level. She wasn’t going to ask if she was alright—she clearly was not. In situations like these, she was at a complete loss of what to do. “The air right now isn’t clean, you should try to breathe in slowly.” 

Unfortunately, Hisako was not able to hear her at all, perhaps she had been too blunt. Ei reached a hand out to her but quickly pulled it back as quickly as she thought of it. Without the puppet to contain her power, who knows what would happen to Hisako if she directly touched her. But Hisako’s face was starting to go pale all too quickly, and Ei had to weigh her options; she needed to get her friend to help else she'd be harmed but there was a potential that touching her could cause even more harm to be done.

“Someone…” Ei uttered. Where were the heroes? The people kneeling on the ground were stuck frozen, they weren’t even injured, but yet they still found a way to be terrified to their bones. Help wasn’t going to come soon enough, Ei realized. 

An idea came to her. Ei lifted a hand to her chest like she was to dig into it, like something would have been sure to be there only to realize something: she was the sword. Ei was shaken, but Hisako’s whole body fell to cracked ground, and it was urgently rushing the archon—she’ll have to improvise. So in a quick manner, she gathered the electro energy flowing through her veins (too little for her own liking but it’ll have to do) and to the best of her current ability she lurched the fist full of energy toward the sky, hoping that the signal would attract attention. It somewhat imitated the effects of what it was like to draw her sword as lighting crackled around her.

Even though her powers had been weakened in this world, they were still nothing to brush off. Without the control of her previous vessel, Ei had to hinder her output or else the area would sustain damage. It was more painful than she had expected, the energy that was being pushed out her pores was immense, as it felt like she was being stabbed by a thousand blades. 

The electro energy caused the clouds to gather into a dark bunch, but she continued concentrating anyway not caring if it would rain or not.. A sweat slipped under her chin and felt her control slipping away as each second passed, and she soon ceased her actions when it became all too much for her to control safely, continuing on would be careless.

She let herself breathe. She didn’t know how far the destruction spanned, and knowing that help would not come fast enough was driving Ei up a wall. Hisako was barely conscious at this rate, and Ei was sure there were many more innocents injured and in need of urgent care. So who is going to come to their aid? The intersection was blocked messily by vehicles, glass and debris. It increasingly felt suffocating for Ei to have to wait for help in such an environment. Why did she feel so helpless? She was a god, could she really not do anything to help them?

No. She scolded herself, what was she thinking? She was an archon, how could she just stand around like this when she does have the power? So what if this isn’t her place to help? So what about the political implications of interfering in another nation’s business, let alone of another world? Ei was never a thinker in the first place, she always preferred to act with the maneuver of her spear—she was a warrior through and through—while the mind belonged to her sister. Besides, Makoto being the kind and gentle god that she was, she would have dove into another nation’s problems if it meant she could better mortal lives. 

Ei looked everywhere around her, there was glass everywhere, and Hisako shouldn’t be laying in the middle of the road. With a portion of her remaining energy, she gently lifted Hisako up from the ground, there was a clear spot nearby that wasn’t heavily affected by the shockwave, and with the brush of her free hand she shoved the bits of glass away and finally settled Hisako down in a position that wouldn’t be uncomfortable for her. 

“I’m sorry, this is all I can do for now.” Hisako was unconscious this time, but at least she was breathing. Ei took one last glance at her friend, and stepped toward the destruction.

Something needed to be done with all the rubble, she could at least levy that.

—

For the first time in forever, The System popped up, and it happened right as he was flying. He had to halt when it appeared right in front of him as it felt like he would have physically crashed into it. 

[Ei needs urgent assistance.] 

The text blinked in front of him, that was all it said, there were no options presented, like he didn’t have a choice at all in the matter. Frankly, he is still taking in the fact that he had not thought about the shogun ever since he slapped the pound of bills on Chinatsu’s counter. He had already accepted The System’s terms for the current mission, and it had left him alone for a time longer than he even expected. But it seems the system can never go too long without ever reminding him about his creator.

His eyes narrowed as he sighed, “What has she done this time?”

---

Bonus. Teeny Tiny, Anecdote.

The week before.

It was finally Hero Day, Izuku shot up from his bed, he was eager to get ready for the live broadcast on one of his favorite channels. Although he wouldn’t be able to go out this year, Izuku had already thoroughly prepared his All Might costume. He left his room buttoning up his shirt as he ran down the stairs, the smell of eggs reached his nose and his stomach growled in response to the stimulus. 

“Good morning Izuku,” his mother said energetically. She had known this was a big day for him, and had woken up early to make an extra special meal for him. Ever since the reveal of him being quirk-less, his mother’s attitude changed towards him. Contrary to what many would think, she became even more supportive of his hobby, but it felt like his mother was trying to compensate for something—not that Izuku would understand that as a young child. 

“Good morning, Mother!” He answered back.

The TV had already been turned on in the back, with a countdown on it suggesting when the broadcast would go live. He sat down at the kitchen table while his mother brought over the plates of food.

“Here you go, your favorite omelet dish made into All Might!” She paired it with miso soup and the bowl had been meticulously decorated to fit the vibe of his current interest: Eraserhead (which he had accidentally discovered upon clicking on a mysterious forum on a flash game site. That was how he found out that underground heroes really were a thing, and now he’s been obsessed with searching for them the past week.) 

He was ecstatic and dug into his breakfast. I wonder what heroes will be at the festival today. After finishing his breakfast, he busied himself with sketches in his notebook, recalling facts about certain heroes, and going back to update their costumes in his books. 

Finally, the TV screen changed, and switched to reveal the cast of ‘Hero-One’, the crew behind the channel, they were complete fans of heroes and dedicated themselves to making content for fans alike, they became legitimately popular after managing to get interviews with multiple heroes on the street. 

His mother took his dishes away while he jumped off to the couch.

“Careful, Izuku,” his mother reprimanded. 

The TV crew said their pleasantries, and went off their way into the festival-fair, the amusement ground never failed to celebrate the number one hero with how much merch was being promoted there. They met so many unique persons, one was wearing a full body All Might suit that even Izuku thought they were a professionally hired mascot actor—though it turned out to be a very enthusiastic fan; he told the audience to not tell on him for passing the gate without a proper ticket (he told on himself anyway). They met a body builder, he told the audience that he loved All Might so much he wanted to look like him. They met a college girl with a really nice hoody that was inspired by All Might’s costume. 

“Thank you! I made it myself.” She waved to the camera as they moved on to their next guest.

The camera then pointed to a very big All Might doll made of cotton. Woah, he would have loved to have one like that too. 

“Hello there All Might,” the interview put the mic to its mouth. “Who is your favorite hero?”

“Down here,” said a child-like voice. The crew laughed, causing Izuku to giggle as well. The camera panned down to a little girl with her hair tied into a spiky looking pony tail. She was pretty.

The interviewer giggled, and crouched down to the girl. “Sorry about that little lady, your All Might was just too dazzling.” 

The girl smiles in response to their compliment. “My favorite hero? Well, it’s All Might, of course. The most adequate hero of our era.” She was so bold and insightful with her explanation—even though no one asked—that it caused a warm feeling to envelop Izuku. She’s just like me, he thought, eyes sparkling with her same excitement. Even the crew could not handle her passion and instead panned their camera to her friend standing nearby to escape her barrage. Izuku didn’t even realize he was there the whole time. 

“And you, sir?”

He looked flabbergasted, “Er…Eraserhead?”

Eraserhead.

Someone else but him knew of him too!

“A name we’ve never heard before; what do you like about this Eraserhead?”

The young man was in thought for a few seconds. “He’s cool, I guess,” he said with a smirk. 

They gave them thanks for participating on their show, and the girl waved back at them. Izuku couldn’t pay attention to most of the interviews that came after. 

Call him dramatic, but Izuku wanted to scream. 

Chapter Text

There were cameras everywhere, he noted—it was something he figured out since he learned to install the security cameras at his building. The most important thing aside from rescuing the people was making sure not to get captured and noticed by cameras. As much as he would rather not use this power, Wanderer had to compromise his own ideals for the sake of keeping his identity secretive. A tingly sensation moves through his whole structure, purple sparks flicking a small radius of electro around his body. He halted his flight to land on a building, closing his eyes to locate each and every camera that wasn’t already broken. But all he needed to do was emit a weak blast of the electro power to disconnect them. This world was quite reliant on electricity, a factor that Wanderer found immensely useful since he could simply shut down the electrical mechanisms by cutting off the flow of electricity, and without much permanent damage too. It was like sending a signal to the electricity and asking them to rest for a bit. He had to be careful or else he would leave the emergency trucks useless and that would make things more difficult for everybody. 

A distance away, Ei senses a familiar energy, one she hasn’t felt in a very long time, similar to her own, but not truly hers.

—

Ei is completely at a loss. She should have stayed by Hisako’s side the whole time, but she couldn't just stand still and let Makoto do all the work himself, and so she went further into the destruction. By the time she returned, Hisako along with the rest of the people on the street had already evacuated, only professionals remained as they ran toward the damage and back with the injured. It calmed Ei to know that Hisako most likely was in the safe hands of public services, but it troubled her to know she had no way of contacting her friend. 

Ei checked her phone, it was surprisingly fine but she had no sim card, and Hisako never gave Ei her number. The archon frowned, and approached a medical truck where  some professionals were standing by. 

“Excuse me, but have you seen a young lady with red hair? She wore short-”

“Miss, you really should get away from the scene.”

They didn’t answer her questions, their minds too frantic with all the chaos that had happened half an hour ago  to pay her any attention.

“Hisako…” She’s fine. She’s safe, and sound. When Wanderer comes back, she’ll have to ask for his aid, after all this time of not seeing him he surely must have made some connections at this point, right? 

Heeding the professionals’ words, she heads back to Hisako’s place, Wanderer is likely going to sneak away immediately when the situation is stable so they’ll meet up at the apartment. Such a shame though, Hisako really was looking forward to buying new clothes for Ei. 

—

Wanderer suggested they go to the police to find wherever Hisako is staying, it’s quite ironic how they’ve found themselves back at the police station that housed their arrest. Though this time, it looked in shambles. The morning after the villain had attacked, news had spread that the villain had escaped from this very establishment; very apparent from the missing wall of stone from the building’s lower front. 

If they were going to ask for aid from this particular base, then now would obviously not bear any fruit as the area had been blocked off to ordinary civilians. The press has tried their due with no results as well, 

“We are not going to get anything about Chinatsu." Wander states like it’s already confirmed. They hadn’t even asked. “We’re not even her family, why would they share her information with us?” 

Hisako has never revealed anything about her family if Ei recalled correctly. In fact, she never really talks about herself at all, maybe about certain foods she liked or famous people she wished she could be. 

“You have her number?” 

Ei shakes her head. 

Wanderer’s chin finds itself between his fingers. He remembered the large pool of lighting from yesterday, that was how he managed to locate Ei—her signal really did work. “With that much electro energy, I'm sure there were remnants of it on the scene.”

It finally clicked—elemental sight. The concentration was too dense to get a regular feel of where the remnants traveled, but using elemental sight would allow them to see a clear trail of elemental residue.

They wasted no time going back to the scene which was unsurprisingly blocked off, but they didn’t need to be there since they only wanted to start at the relative area where the trail would originate from. 

“There are multiple trails,” Wanderer commented. 

“I may have unleashed my elemental energy in a populated area,” said Ei. “But, aside from the terrorist whom I had direct contact with, Hisako was the closest near me; there should be two strong trails.” Also adding on to that, Ei had directly used her power on Hisako.

Ei was right, while there were many weak remnants, there was a strong residue  of electro energy—the villain—and a fainter trail—Hisako’s. The others were too weak and already fading which made it easy to tell.

Without making it obvious, they exited the scene after tracing Hisako’s path. Walking alongside  the Raiden Shogun was awkward and demeaning after receiving a lot of stares. It didn’t show as Wanderer kept a stoic face. 

After walking a considerable distance, they were able to reach a small Hospital somewhere outside Musutafu, unassuming and generic. Wanderer wondered how much power the shogun had used if  the residue hadn’t faded after all that time..

He let out a reluctant sigh and entered the building with Ei. 

[Favorability +2%]

Walking up to the front desk with the archon felt childish to Wanderer. He can’t imagine the Raiden Shogun ever having a normal conversation with another person, so it just felt right that he had to escort her and assist her in normal trivial matters. 

“Hello-” Ei tried to speak but Wanderer budged in.

“We’re here to check on someone. Chinatsu Hisako is the name.”

“Ah…” The receptionist needed a few seconds to adjust to Wanderer’s bluntness, but understood and started typing on the computer.

“Yes, she is indeed stationed at this hospital. If I may ask, what is your relationship with the patient?”

“She housed us once. Miss Chinatsu basically babysits the woman beside me, but unfortunately her guardian is out of commission.”

The receptionist gave them a forced smile, likely not wanting to deal with their jokes at the moment. “I see…” they said hesitantly, “your patient is on the third floor, room 317.” 

“Thanks,” he says, making the first move toward the stairs.

Ei follows from behind. “That was quite rude of you.” It was an honest comment. Being that it has been a week since the revelation of Wanderer’s identity, Ei would no longer ignore his crude remarks after the initial burst of emotions she had—even if he was his sister’s creation. 

“I was saving the counter’s time,” he said.

“I meant about you cutting me off like that.” This time, there was an authoritative tone in her voice. This feels like the start all over again, it was amusing enough to make Wanderer let out an entertained huff. He had thought he would remain stuck taking care of the archon for his whole stay in this world, it seems he’ll have to thank Chinastu Hisako for dealing with the goddess in his stead. 

Although, now that he thinks about it, that might be the reason why his favorability has decreased by a little bit since last week. It wasn’t that he did something to displease the shogun, but rather that he didn’t do anything at all. 

(It had decreased by 4%, leaving him with 27% favorability with the 2% that he had gained earlier.)

Perhaps he should occasionally send her some sweets from time to time. If he continues doing that, then he’ll eventually get an easy 100%. The System never said he needed to complete his missions to further his favorability, if it records the Raiden Shogun’s emotions accurately then it can’t manipulate the archon’s feelings towards him. 

Wanderer had no fear; he had reached a point in The System’s ‘game’ where he wouldn’t be executed for not abiding to the Raiden Shogun’s wants. (Well, it never said that he wouldn't lose any favorability, only that he didn’t have to repeat objectives again if his favorability level fell down—that’s what the checkpoints are for.)

It didn’t take the Raidens long to reach Hisako’s room, just out of courtesy, Wanderer knocked on the door.

What they didn’t expect was for someone to actually open the door: a person in a uniform, he gave off the demeanor of an authoritative figure, reminding Wanderer of the detective who tried comforting him during his containment.

Wanderer didn’t say it out loud, but it was obvious he was thinking who are you?

“Oh, are you two close to Chinatsu-san?” The black haired man asked.

“We’re acquaintances.” Wanderer then looked at Ei. 

“She is a friend.”

“I see, Chinatsu-san has no close relatives as said, but she should at least have friends.” With that, the man steps aside. “I am Detective Tsukauchi, unfortunately, Chinatsu-san hasn’t woken up yet, so I can’t question her.”

A detective? What business does he have with Hisako? Tsukauchi, who saw their stares, gave them an explanation. 

“I’m not sure if you heard, but Chinatsu-san is a victim in a major accident south of Musutafu city.” Tsukauchi would be more surprised if they hadn’t with the amount of talk circulating around it.

“Is that so,” they both already knew, but Wanderer wanted to keep their involvement a secret. The detective nodded, his gaze shifted as if to consider something. 

“The thing is, Chinatsu-san may be a major witness considering how close in proximity she was to where the villain was taken down.”

Finally he left, but before that he had asked them to contact him if Hisako ever does wake. They were mostly thankful that he didn’t stay on the topic too long or else he might have started to suspect them. Sometimes, detectives can be sharper than they would expect. 

Wanderer let out a huff, “He seems too desperate for Chinatsu’s account.” While Ei had rested her body, Wanderer stayed up all night on his phone checking out the news and reports, based on the media’s reactions—outrage and fear—he could say that the Hero Association and police forces are looking for the hero who took down the villain to appease them. If they needed to name, why couldn’t they just plaster some unknown hero or big name to do it for them, why must they dig deeper? As for the media, the villain has already been taken into custody, so the best the media could right now is send their condolences to the victims whose lives were disrupted by the horrific incident, right?

Wanderer was clearly wrong upon diving into public threads that talked about the disaster, there were lots of criticisms about that police station—its security and how careless the staff were at handling the villain. Some of them even blamed the heroes. Most of the comments were civil and the anger mostly came from sympathy, but Wanderer thinks he’ll never see more human depravity than he’ll ever since discovering the internet. 

Damn, so you’re telling me that they allowed a villain to escape from jail?

They messed up. If they wanted to keep things under wrapped, they should have lied and told us an underground hero had done the job instead. 

Where’s All Might when you need him?

→Now that I think about it, his efficiency rate has gotten worse since 4 years ago.

→→Damn, I hope he didn’t get lazy

→→→Probably getting all the fame to his head lol :p 

Wanderer lets himself back to the present, Hisako's bed is blocked by a curtain, but the window blinds are open which allows the silhouette of the bed and her figure to be visible. Ei has already walked over to her side, Wanderer didn't feel like he wanted to see whatever face the Archon had on and remained in his spot. So while she was checking out Chinatsu’s condition, Wanderer’s gaze naturally fell to the clipboard hung on the wall beside the curtain—it looked like an information form of the patient’s condition and miscellaneous info.

He might as well figure out what's going on with Chinatsu, whose body has been in stasis for over 12 hours. 

He picked up the board and started skimming through the paper.

Patient Name: Chinatsu Hisako

Age: 23

Sex: Female

Date of birth: XX/xx/XxxX

Quirk: None/Quirk-less

Wanderer let out a noise of intrigue; he’s never met someone quirk-less in this world before—they were undoubtedly rare in this world, but with how little people use their quirks,this revelation didn't leave much of an impression on him.( With a vivid hair color such as hers, Wanderer would never have guessed she was without a power. )

His eyes finally dropped down to the description on the bottom half: in short, Chinatsu fell unconscious due to shortness of breath, she was fine, but her legs suffered broken bones. 

Another noticeable detail: The patient doesn't have a quirk, but is afflicted with an electrical affliction—doesn’t appear to harm the patient.

That just confirms that the people of this world can see their element abilities, or to some extent feel the properties.

“Raiden Shogun, I think you should know that your actions did this to her,” Wanderer spoke from behind the curtains. 

His cover was removed when the curtains were scrunched to the side—Ei did this without lifting a finger. Wanderer was a bit surprised at that, but Ei’s stare didn't leave him dwelling on it. 

“I see, but how so?”

“Her leg bones are fractured.” When the villain made contact with Ei’s pal, the ground shattered into a crater, unfortunately some of the energy was transferred to the redhead.

“How long would it take her to recover?” Ei was insistent.

“For a human, likely more than a month.” The Archon turned solemn, was she really feeling guilty for that? 

“That is not enough time.” Ei was quite worried about the day of meeting the producers of the game show, if Hisako misses that day then the two of them would totally miss out on being on it. Hisako would be crushed. 

Despite hearing her reasoning, Wanderer remained impassive.

“It's no big deal,” he said. After all, he was the reason why the two even got an offer to be on the show anyways. He could always ask the Yaoyorozus to find a spot for them again whenever Hisako recovered. 

Wanderer’s hand hovered above Hisako, his anemo energy swirling above her,  absorbing in the electro aura.

“What are you doing?” 

“You really are a god; you don't even realize how much your actions can affect the ordinary person—or people at all. Your body may be human, but your soul will always remain a deity.” Without explaining it to her, Wanderer was trying to dispel and cleanse the electro aura stuck onto Hisako; it could be potentially dangerous for her if she comes into contact with another element. He was thankful he had been given an anemo vision since that makes the cleansing process less hazardous—imagine if it was pyro (fire) or hydro (water). 

The removal of the aura would make it hard to trace it back to them, since Wanderer had confirmation that people could notice it—either with special quirks or with technology. He made the process slow so as to not swirl the aura out of control.

“I see, I had no idea.” Ei confirms that she should tell Wanderer about her physical condition.

“I have something to tell you, Makoto.”

His fingers twitched, this time he focused harder on his task.

“What is it?”

“I believe this vessel—my body is rejecting my divinity.”

Wanderer's eyes flickered to the Archon, confused on how he should react to her obvious concern. But he believes he should be concerned too, Ei is a god. If her vessel fails to contain her divinity, that would spell disaster. 

“Would that mean you’ll die?” He asked.

“I would assume so.” Her human body was slowly and continuously being consumed by her electro powers.

Whether a god was powerful or weak, they were beings with divine power and their deaths will always be sure to leave a mark on the land where they have died, and the Raiden Shogun was certainly not a weak God—if she died here, it could potentially destroy this whole country.

Alright. He's definitely concerned right now. Sure, if the Raiden Shogun goes ahead and dies that wouldn't matter to him, but it’s incredibly unfair to the mass innocents—this is why he hates gods. To think that he once dreamed of killing her and her nation through her death.

Wanderer scoffs when he finishes absorbing the aura. He can't believe he has to deal with the Shogun’s problem one after another and even then the secret to get back to Teyvat might be through her. Thinking about all this stuff collectively, Wanderer goes to pull at the strand of his hair—he doesn’t feel anything, but the gesture helps ground him.

“God damn it, I knew you were never that competent the moment you let the Fatui congregate in your factions.” The Raiden Shogun was blessed with the Guuji Yae, who secretly had held her nation together for years since the Ei had departed into the puppet.

Figure out your problems yourself is what Wanderer wanted to say. 

“It's not wise to speak here.” Wonderfully, he just happens to have private space no one can enter.

—

“Detective, you may want to look at this.” A message sent by a subordinate.

The detective was shown a video of the villain breezing through the streets like it was a walk in the park, they had an ecstatic expression on their face, like they were the freest man in the world. If the aftermath didn’t churn his stomach enough, seeing how it happened certainly did—it wasn’t pleasant at all to know there were innocent civilians in the disaster. It was a miracle there were no casualties. Who in the world had stopped this man? On the scene where the villain was found, the witnesses said they couldn’t get a clear look due to the shock and dust, most of them were trying to get away from the danger, while some became unconscious which left their memories inconsistent. It was protocol for a hero to report on the incident, but there was no record of it in the system, that meant someone from outside had done the job for them—albeilt carelessly. Despite all their efforts, the villain remains unconscious in a secured hospital with no news of when he might potentially wake. 

That very much complicates things. First of all, the public needs an explanation, someone to shift their attention to, but without a hero, the Musutafu south station police force has been facing harsh criticisms for the criminal having originated from their bases. All the cameras had been conveniently cut off, and only after a few hours did they return to normal.  It’s an incredibly troubling mystery as to how the criminal escaped. Igarashi Kita; had it been possible the villain was hiding his power the whole time? He had been captured by heroes, all reporting that the man showed no such strength or feats when he resisted them, it even appeared to be that he had given all his strength to get away from the but ultimately failed. 

This boost of strength: either an effect of his quirk—someone had helped him. 

Though with the help of doctors and scientists, they have found that Igarashi himself couldn’t have been so powerful all on his own. His coworkers have hypothesized this could be the work of another person's amplifying quirk—but that was too rare. With a blood test, the doctors found that his DNA had been interfered with. Some other special details that Tsukauchi  was informed of was that he had remnants of a quirk on him, likely from the person who had prevented him from continuing on in  his destructive venture. There was a strange sighting near the area too, videos spread online about the strange phenomena: purple lighting thundering from the sky—or was it from below? (He noted that a lot of the technology had trouble functioning after that.)

Detective Tsukauchi had lied in his chair for the whole evening that a firm knock on the door had jolted him out of his work trance. 

“It’s Toshinori, may I come in?”

He let out a relieved breath, “The doors unlocked.”

“I apologize for disturbing your work,” said Toshinori with a deep solemn voice. It sounded like something was bothering the currently boney man, perhaps he had some information to share. 

“You look eager to say something, Yagi.”

Toshinori nodded, “It’s just a feeling I had, but the incident looks too familiar.” 

Tsukauchi raised a brow at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I would love to say that I'm only being paranoid, but ever since his disappearance, I have been unable to be at ease.” 

Of course, ever since his battle with the villain All For One, Toshinori’s abilities have been impeding year after year, to the point where even he had to take breaks now and then. His efficiency rate has been dwindling since then, but no one has yet to question his status since his reports have remained high. 

“You’re worried someone must have noticed.”

Tsukauchi doesn’t focus much on the media, and Toshinori himself has reached a status so high that meager comments don’t faze him but…the man has a heart so big that even he feels guilty of things that were not his fault. Tsukauchi made sure to reassure the Hero about it. He can’t be at everyone’s beck and call.

“But I could have. If only…” If only he hadn’t sustained that injury, he might have been able to be right there at the scene. 

Because there was no one named to be responsible for the capture of the villain—not even the mention of there being a hero—people have turned to the country’s Symbol of Hope to explain the sudden event that intruded into the peaceful everyday lives of Japan.

Toshinori’s PR manager didn’t elaborate much, but they did inform him of the comments circling around just in case he was questioned in public about the incident. 

Tsukauchi sighed, “Don’t be foolish, you were in a whole other city, there was no way you would have got there on time with how fast the villain was.” It was true, but despite that Toshinori felt guilt regardless. 

“Yagi, you may be the number one hero, but you’re still human, it’s okay to take some time off. Let’s have a drink this evening, yeah?”

Toshinori smiled sadly, “You look like you need it as well.”

Tsukauchi wonders if the man before him is finally admitting that he does in fact need a break. He sighed. “My acquaintances who work at the place  have been asking me to help them, I owe them that much.” Though he doesn’t think this case will have much fruit, he’d like to remain hopeful.

—

Ei didn't comment about it, but she was impressed with the building. Wanderer led her into a small room where he stored the chairs he stole. (He couldn’t possibly ask the Yaoyarozus for funding.)

Ei sat down on the maroon couch while Wanderer stool across from her—this was somewhat of a way to be eye-level with each other.

He's not sure what to say. ‘Thank you for telling me about your condition.’

—No, never.

He can't say he’s been honest with her either. Tell her that there's a system forcing him to make her like him? That's insanity…but wait a minute, what if the Raiden Shogun is also being restricted like he is? 

“Let me ask: what were you doing before you fell here?”

Fell here? She didn’t fall at all, more rather it's that she woke up instead. One moment she was blinking, and then she found herself on top of a building. Between that moment, she was transferring her full consciousness to take control of the Shogun puppet.

But Makoto doesn't know that.

“It may sound strange to you, but the Raiden Shogun that appears in public eye is not actually the real—”

“I know that already.” He sounded like he didn't want her to finish that.

“––me.”

He already knows? A question of how begins to plague her mind, but perhaps because he also was a puppet that he could tell from just looking at the Raiden Shogun. Ei would have liked to ask how, but that wasn’t the most important question right now.

“Then explain this will be much simpler: My consciousness is ingrained within a sword that is placed into the Shogun Puppet that walks around Inazuma.”

“In short, you’ve never ruled or overlooked your people at all,” Wandered let out a short, deceptive laugh. 

Back on track—“To simply put it, I was trying to push my consciousness onto the Shogun, but that didn’t work so well since the second I blinked I appeared within this world. But, you told me you fell here instead.”

Wanderer pondered for a moment, “Or maybe that’s how it looked to me.”

“I arrived here first, so I had no idea what it had looked like for me—I can’t for sure say we came to this world in the same manner. While for you, you appeared from a whirl of anemo, your vision was on the ground.” 

Ei seemed to notice that Wanderer liked to react in ways that was signaled by his breath, this time he let out a huff. He revealed to her that he was a real puppet, and that the Dendro Archon was supposed to be taking care of him. 

“Well, I already knew that too; you being a puppet, I mean.”

Wanderer blinked at her harshly, almost glaring at her. 

“I apologize, I found that out purely by accident.”

That was just who he was, Wanderer had accepted that truth, but for Raiden Shogun to find out ‘purely by accident’ felt like a violation of his being—only a select few people know of his true attribute. He took an imaginary breath to calm himself, it’s not like he could hide anything from a god with heavenly senses.

Now that he was having an actual conversation with the Raiden Shogun, he felt a hesitance to tell her the truths. There were questions he’d like to have answered, but it felt empty to ask without giving a share of his own—that was how he functioned. So he didn’t at all. 

Why did you give me the name Makoto?

Why did you create me in the first place?

“Let’s focus on the most urgent matter at hand.” Wanderer had redirected the topic of conversation to the implication that Ei is a ticking time-bomb. It was both for them and the society in this world: Wanderer came to the conclusion that he needed the Raiden Shogun to go back to Teyvat, (he’s sure that the people of Inazuma don’t actually need the shogun to function well anyway), and people’s lives are endangered just by the Electro Archon being here. 

If anyone were to realize and find out, any organizations, anyone wicked…it’s not like they would exterminate her if they knew what would happen, or maybe they would want that to happen. But either way, they'd be an enemy. So even if he and the shogun managed to live a quiet life in this world without conflict or interacting with anyone else, the Ei’s condition would not make that last.

“You’re the God here, don’t you know of a way to mend your own physical condition?” 

Ei thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know for sure, but have you heard of the theory that a god’s strength is derived from the faith of their believers?”

He does in fact know about that, he too once wanted to become a god and searched well and wide of what it takes to become one. It’s a strange phenomena that only happens in Teyvat, will that even work outside? 

“I think I know what you’re saying; because you have no followers here you are more akin to a mortal than anything, so if you just increase your popularity, you might be able to gain enough strength back to stabilize your divinity.”

“That is the only way to prevent my vessel from deteriorating, else…” There is another way, but that would only be a last resort if it had to be done. “...that is the only way.” she confirmed.

Ei’s body has already deteriorated a week in, the rate is unknown but they could guess that it could begin to fester even more if they delay a solution. It seems like maybe they really do need to go on that game show after all. 

The problem was Hisako. She needed to be cured by the time they meet up with the producers, 

The system appeared before Wanderer again.

[OPTIONAL MISSION: Help cure Chinatsu Hisako before the deadline.]

It was an optional mission, so he won’t be penalized for ignoring it. Though, he wondered what reward he would gain from completing it. It was such a strange task given everything up until the system has made every one of his tasks centered around the Shogun. Perhaps it is because Chinatsu is her manager, and the only person who Ei must rely on to get into the show. With how abundant ‘quirks’ were in this society, surely he could find a doctor specialized in healing with their quirk.

“Raiden…” he struggled to say her name properly, as hard as he tried, the vowels coming out his mouth were regrettable. “Raiden Ei; you are going on that game show,” he said with a forced grin. He’ll make sure of that, for this world’s existence relies on the Archon’s success. 

As for what Ei was thinking, having her perceived nephew, or ‘son’ in this case call her by name was the strangest whiplash she’s ever gotten.