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The Irodori Festival is almost drawing to a close and Yashiro Commissioner, Kamisato Ayato certainly cannot wait to finally have a chance to get proper rest. He's been running around from place to place, been through many sleepless nights to make sure that the festival goes as smoothly as possible, and finally seeing the happy faces of the festival goers melts away the fatigue that had culminated from the past few days.
Also seeing his sister, Ayaka enjoy herself fully in the company of her newly made friends puts his heart at ease. Ayato remembered how lonely Ayaka looked before she met the Traveler. Sure, she had Thoma to keep her company but due to her status making friends with people around her age was difficult to say the least.
And Ayato was barely home due to work...
So he was eternally grateful to Aether for taking such good care of his little sister and for bringing a genuine smile to her face.
A small sigh sounded beside him as the Raiden Shogun cradled a half empty bottle of dango milk in her hand. Ayato couldn't believe how he nearly forgot that the Electro Archon herself is just casually standing right beside him. Earlier Aether had bumped into the Shogun and decided to invite her into their little group, after reassuring the rest that 'Ei is pretty chill', as Paimon eloquently stated, she too had joined them.
Aether truly was an incredible person.
So as the rest of the group went out to find more light novel stands to peruse from the pair had opted to stay behind, Ayato's reasoning was simply because he had used up all his social energy just by being surrounded by people and just wanted to hang back and relax for a while. Ayato wondered if the Shogun were the same… he took a quick sip of his boba tea, relishing the cold sensation it brought him.
Ayato could see, despite the Shogun's ever youthful face, the eyes of a weary soul that's tired beyond belief. How those eyes had witnessed countless nations rise and fall, has seen comrades and enemies die before those purple eyes that glow like the lightning that protects his nation.
The Commissioner knows he could never fully understand the life and pains of being immortal, but he can recognize that tired look on her face. He sees it clearly everytime he looks at his own reflection.
"I wonder...if you would've enjoyed the Irodori Festival, Makoto..."
It was barely a whisper, but it was there, like a faint crackle of thunder in the distance.
Without thinking he spoke aloud, "Makoto?"
The Shogun stilled, as if remembering her companion standing beside her. Ayato couldn't help but feel that he had overstepped his boundaries this time, how careless. "I apologize for overstepping, Your Excellency." he bowed in apology. But what's done is done, he supposes, the worse case scenario the two would just stand there in awkward silence.
A moment passed and the Shogun shook her head and answered, "... She was my twin sister."
A sister, the Raiden Shogun had a sister. This was the first time he's hearing about this fact.
She continued. "She was the previous Electro Archon before I took her place," the Shogun clutched the half empty bottle with her slightly shaking hands, "she was no fighter, so as her Kagemusha I was the one who fought in her steed, in the shadows, while she ruled Inazuma in the light."
"What happened to her… if you don't mind me asking." Ayato asked, but he feels he already has a clue what the answer was.
"She was killed in a battle five hundred years ago...leaving me to pick up the pieces."
An eerily familiar tale, similar how after the death of both the heads of the Kamisato Clan, all the responsibility fell for Ayato to bear. Even the fact that the Shogun and her sister had to split rulership was very reminiscent of how he and Ayaka functioned their respective parts in the Kamisato Clan.
He could feel the tension leave his shoulders and breathed out. "I suppose we have something in common."
The Shogun casts him a curious look, "Is that so?"
"Having responsibility suddenly fall upon your shoulders, bearing the pain and confusion alone as you struggle to make sense of it all." Ayato gazed downwards, seeing the crumpled maple leaves beneath his feet, "Is the same song and dance I experienced when both heads of the Kamisato Clan perished...leaving me to be the only head of my family."
The Shogun nodded solemnly, her purple eyes cast downward.
"But I'm incredibly lucky that Ayaka and Thoma were there with me, every step of the way." A small smile crept up his lips, finally he looked up, blue eyes meeting purple. "I couldn't imagine what it would be like if they weren't there."
Ayato clenched the hand on his side. "While you have to bear that grief and burden all on your own."
Ayato saw how she flinched ever so slightly, but he couldn't help but see his past self in her… a version of himself where he was still stuck in that pit of loneliness and confusion that was created in the aftermath of his parents' deaths. At that moment he no longer saw the person before him as the Electro Archon but as someone who has been worn down relentlessly by an eternity of grief.
"...You don't have to face it all alone, I'm sure Lady Guuji is willing to lend you a hand and The Yashiro Commission will fulfill its duty faithfully along with the rest of the Tri-Commission." For a brief flash of moment they were the only two left moving as the rest of the world turned quiet.
Ayato's piercing blue eyes meet the Shogun's gaze. "Please, Almighty Shogun, let us help you reach the vision of Eternity you and Makoto had dreamed of."
The Shogun's eyes widened before softening back to a look of fondness. A small laugh left the tired god's mouth, it was the first time Ayato had heard his god's laugh.
The bustle of the streets returned as the world moved again.
"I see...so this is what she meant." The Shogun smiled, her shoulders sagged as the tension from them left. "...I'm looking forward to working with you, Ayato."
"As am I, your Excellency."
"Please just call me, Ei."
"Then...I'm looking forward to continuing working with you, Ei."
Ei nodded as the two fell back in a comfortable silence. It was not long that Aether and the rest returned and had relayed most of their little adventure around the plaza to the two.
Aether gave Ei a handful of sweets he bought from the food stalls and Ayato could see how her eyes lit up upon seeing the sweets. To think that their archon had such a massive sweet tooth.
He took another sip on his boba tea, he forgot about the drink entirely during their little chat, and he swore the drink tasted a lot sweeter than before.
Inazuma was finally on its way to progress.