Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

clink!
everyone’s sake vessels clink together in cheers, a satisfying crunch of glass as everyone takes a sip. it’s not the first time such a sound has erupted inside of komore tea house this night however, this is what, everyone’s fifth shot? it’s reached a point where all the lightweights — arataki itto, gorou and kaedehara kazuha, are completely wasted. the air in the room is thick and heavy, yet beckoning and comforting, the cool night air of the echoing cosmos lightly illuminate the daffodil glazed room, chuckles and exchanges soaring into the air from the group sitting on the wooden floor. shikanoin heizou calmy leans against a wooden crate, half drank sake glass in one hand and a detective novel in the other, kuki shinobu sits cross legged atop the crate, frantically scrambling and thrashing through arrays of documents heizou hasn’t dared ask about yet.

the event is lively and friendly, everything in jest, not a drop of dismay in sight, except for kukis cloud of troubles in the corner of the room. yoimiya, thoma, tomo — a knocked out kazuha laying on his lap, kokomi, a panting gorou with sweat dripping off his whole body and a completely mind numbed itto all sit together in a circle, sharing hearty laughter over tcg and fiery shots; despite being the hosts, the kamisato siblings haven’t even made an appearance yet, unless you count ayato occasionally popping his reserved head in. it’s not out of the ordinary however, kamisato ayaka is known for staying locked up in the estate all day, almost like some sort of mysterious whimsy princess.

itto is practically half dead at this point, the oni walloping and thrashing around on the floor, yoimiya sparking safety fuses around him, much to everyone’s surprise and amusement. gorou just seems almost floppy, kokomi holding him up a little as sweat pours off his bright red face, his caramel hair sticking to his forehead as he tries to push it aside. kokomi places a iridescent tcg card down, crisp and glowing as it touches the pile of cards, thoma frowns.
yoimiya giggles in delight as her firework shoots sparks of bright, erratic colour, dancing in the air like moths to a flame.
“you know, at this rate we might have to take them to aisa bathhouse.” yoimiya remarks through a lighthearted chuckle, indicating to gorou and a hollering itto, which of whom was making non existence onikabuto battle.

tomo rolls his lilac tinted eyes, lightly prodding at kazuhas damp forehead. “oh archons, not again, interacting with yumemizuki mizuki was an ironic nightmare, even worse when yae miko decided to stick her blasted little pink furry head in.” shinobu winces at the mere mention of miko behind her demonic like mask, her violet eyes bruised with worry.
“maybe even a no drinking zone has to be employed…” kokomi muses, repeatedly besting thoma in tcg.

tama, a nimble white cat crawls out of tomos black shirt, curling up on the pile of tcg cards, scattering iridescent rainbow light all across the room, the ruined game creating beams of shimmer. nobody seems to mind, anyone sober coos in adoration before reaching out to pet her fluffy coat. thoma laughs.
“didn’t we say you’d stop bringing her here?” he jokingly reprimands. “and honestly, kazuha might have to be added to that list too.”
tomo boasts a wicked grin on his dimpled face, scarred nose crinkling up.
“how nice of you, the owner of this place is a literal dog.”
“and tama should get the pass for being cute.” kokomi chimes in, her and yoimiya both scratching tama behind her ears as she purrs.
thoma nods.
“i suppose so…”
“what, so you’re saying kazuha doesn’t get the pass too?”
thoma elbows tomo in the shoulder, entombed by a torn red haori.
“you’re the only one here that likes kazuha in a gay way, don’t forget that.” thoma snarks.
tomo scoffs. “that’s rich coming from the guy with some interestingly non heterosexual words about the yashiro commissioner.” tomos words of mockery are perfectly timed with ayato popping through the ajar door. thomas green eyes almost seem to flare up.
“oh?” ayato queries, swiping a strand of his sky blue hair away.
“go fuck yourself.” it’s almost abnormal hearing such a cheery, sunny person utter such profanities, yoimiya whispers something to kokomi, the priestess listening intently.
“even heizou can back me up.” the doushin nods through a snarky laugh.
tomo continues to run his fingers through kazuhas hair, even in his slumber.
“well well well…” he smirks.
heizou even seems amused, just as it seems like thoma is about to make some flailing attempt to land a blow on tomo, he feels a gloved hand tug at his burgundy tresses.

heizou glances up at shinobu, her worried and weary face framed by green bangs, eyes stricken with concern. her trembling hands clutch onto the last page of the documents she had been frantically flipping through. she clears her throat.
“i need a breather.” she rasps exhaustedly. “come with me.” shinobu jumps off the crate, her heels clanking against the wooden flooring, heizou tucks his novel away and follows her out the door. itto somehow manages to scream “BYE SHINOBU!” at the cream coloured peeling wall instead of his deputy.

heizou sighs as he follows shinobu out of komore teahouse, the tension in the air almost choking, the warm lights of the teahouse begin to be drowned out by the nights euthamia, black wind and purple glow, dancing with the stars surrounding him and shinobu in the cool breeze. his pale face, moles under both of his sage eyes twist into a look of curiosity as shinobu leans against a creaky metal railing; heizou follows suit.

heizou feigns hiding his surprise as shinobu takes off her rattly mask, the opulent purple sheens in the dark, the mask once used to veil her porcelain yet slightly blushing face and soft pink lips. she withdraws a small box of cigarettes and a match from her hip, scraping the small wooden matchstick against the coarse metal. the match sparks into commotion as it merges with the cigarette. shinobu sighs.
“it’s always so rowdy in there, isn’t it?” she muses quietly — raising the cigarette to her lip and taking a lengthy drawl.
“it’s amusing, certainly. being calm in there feels like we’re some set of tired parents.” heizou remarks.
shinobu glances at him, violet pouring into green, small blooming flowers on an eternal field.
“don’t push it.” she says as she separates her mouth from the cigarette, offering it to heizou; he gladly obliges.

“indirect kiss!” is some foolish statement his ridiculously cocky older brother would chirp at such an act.

“good thing we’re out of there, hm? i have some tedious work to do tomorrow anyway.” heizou isn’t lying, his tasks are certainly arduous.
kuki laughs solemnly.
“the only thing i have in store is making sure ittos hangover doesn’t get him into anything stupid.”
“something tells me that’s not what you brought me out here to discuss.” heizou’s voice is calm and teasing, but stern at the same time.
“hm?”
“my intuition never lies.” heizou takes a puff of the cigarette, melancholically watching the flickering flame smoulder into ash.
shinobu sighs.
“want the papers or an explanation?” the sound of paper rustling in her hands is deafening.
“whatever’s your wish.”
it’s almost comical how open shinobu is with heizou. the arataki gang is a force that a talented and strong detective like heizou should probably be keeping hourly checks on, but since they don’t do anything necessarily immoral, they’re off the hook, and besides, heizou trusts in shinobus diligence. despite the warmth and joy the night evoked, kuki still seems distraught, she’s overworked and in a world of her own sick frenzies unfortunately.

“you know how i told you in a while im going to depart to liyue to pursue higher education?” heizou mentally prepares himself, his body tensing up, shinobu has dedicated so much to leaving her family and pursuing her own life, he can’t even begin to imagine what has happened to lead her plans astray.
“well, miyuki gave me these papers, it seems yae miko has some sort of punishment for me… she found some sort of… legal loophole.” shinobus stammers are choked and strained.
heizous eyes widen.
“what?”
“she found a way to keep me bound to the duties of a shrine maiden.”

Chapter Text

“she’s what.” heizou’s voice is flat, shaking with concern. he fiddles with the two glassy gems fastened to his belt.
“yeah, it’s hard to explain and all, but she wants me back as a shrine maiden, for whatever reason… she gave me 2 weeks to find a way to void the contract, and after that i have to go back to the shrine.” kuki fights to keep her voice from cracking.

“so, have you?”
“no. she has this contract here, it shows my name clearly signed that ill be devoted to the shogunate and the grand narukami shine until the day i let out my last breath. i don’t even know why lady yae gave me that two week notice, she knows there’s no way out of this.”

yae miko’s at it again…

“archons… this is going to need a lot of explaining shinobu.”
“im aware.”
shinobu sighs and cracks out another cigarette, lifting it to her mouth. the sky is a watercolour array of swirling blues and scattered incandescent. the night is silent excluding the soft crackling of shinobus burning cigarette, the soft rustling of swaying trees and the faint yelling from komore teahouse. in the day, kuki’s hair is normally a leafy shade of like green, but illuminated by canopies of beguiling moonlight, its pale. pale like the misty part of auroral rays, pale like mystic fog. her attire that’s demonic yet sturdy, it has an ominous, fearful undertone to it — even seeming black in the dark. shinobus cheeks are flushed a bright red, a red so vivid it seems like even prodding her would set your hands ablaze in a stinging afterlife. kuki has made it abundantly clear that being a shrine maiden isn’t the life for her, so what does miko want?

“ill explain to you, but it’ll take a while, and ill need some sort of way to manage to worm my way out of this contract.”

heizou is already plotting a lot of rather simple solutions, but knowing the guuji, with her cunning demeanour and despicable plans, no simple solutions will be able to solve a problem curated by her.
“could you— you’re trembling.” heizou declares sternly, staring directly at kukis twitching hand, shaking as it heaves up the measly cigarette.
“what? heizou… im fine…” kuki murmurs under her breath.
heizou places a hand on shinobus shoulder, scooching up to her, the warmth of his hand radiating on shinobus skin.

“hey listen, it’s alright, if you’re not in the right mind to explain — so be it. i can still help you, don’t worry.” heizou gently strokes kukis neck. her flailing hands slowly start to falter on the cigarette, the blazing bud falling onto the ground, the sound of her foot stamping the flame into oblivion echoing in the silent night.
“how so?” kuki whispers.

“just come to the police station tomorrow whenever you can, im sure we could figure this one out.” heizou reassures,
“didn’t you say you had a whole pile of work waiting for you?” kuki seems skeptical, a puzzled look on her face. “and how charming aren’t you.”
“i could free up my schedule for you, we’re friends after all? archons forbid i want to help you.” heizou shrugs, a snarkily smug smirk playing on his lips. he isn’t technically lying about his workload, less of a load, the few things he has in store is just sheets upon sheets of extremely vapid work. inazuma being crime free for ages is a good thing, until it makes heizou’s day to day life a boring chore. atleast he can count on the arataki gang to absorb all the lingering boredom in the air, and he can count on their deputy for…

“alright, i’ll see to it, i trust you on that.”

for a moment, the two just stand there, alone in the night, sharing cigarettes and talking whilst leaning on eachother for more than physical support. the moment is sweet and serene, empathetic and raw.

until it’s all broken by a cacophony of ruckus straight from komore teahouse.

shinobu drawls, running her gloved hand down her frigid face warmed by the blaze of embarrassment, maybe fluster.
“oh god, itto’s done something stupid again hasn’t he.” she sighs. heizou chuckles.
“i can come with you if you want.” heizou proposes through a smirk.
“do you seriously wanna deal with itto? i think im doing you a favour by not dragging you along with me.” shinobu mutters snarkily, crossing her arms.

“i suppose so, you must really care about me to spare me from his antics, hm? how flattering of you shinobu.” heizou muses, mockingly holding his hand to his heart, his fingers ruffling against the fabric.
kukis mouth hangs agape.
“it’s not like that— you know what, we’ll talk tomorrow, see you heizou.” kuki declares, a faint ghost of a smile playing on her face.

heizou leans against the rickety fence, not knowing whether to feel dazed or humoured.

the door to the police station creaks open almost ominously, like he’s entering some sort of forbidden channel. his fingers satisfyingly click against the levelled cogs, the cool, blue hued lights flickering into commotion, bathing the police station in its afterglow. each band of gold is reflective, each streamlined glass pane a window of mystery. the station is silent so early in the morning, eerily silent, deafening silence. heizou’s feet scrape against the abrasive flooring panels, briskly scooting past his coworkers offices, depositing his lunch on the small deep brown table next to his own homely little office door — the box making the narrative of just a measly potted plant slightly less uninteresting, and continues walking down the narrow hallway.

one of the other doushin stop him in his tracks.
“checking out the inmates already heizou?” the man asks, not bothering to remove the fixation he holds on his newspaper.
“what more can i do? i fear without any dire criminal cases, my work is rather lacklustre.” heizou sighs in response, continuing to walk down the hallway, turning the rusted wheel that opens up the back door of the station.

the feeling of the outdoors hits him like a bullet, and then in reoccurring waves of solace. the grass is vehemently green, almost like greater lord rukkhadevata had decided to become inazumas saving grace and cleanse the land of the ungodly amount of crackling electro. the wind is the perfect temperature, sakura and lavender blossoms whirling through the air. the horizon is picturesque, azure sheets of airy clouds everywhere heizou looks. too bad such an invigorating day has to be wasted on piles upon piles of stamping paperwork until his arms give way. atleast, that’s the type of comment he would make if kuki shinobu isnt going to show up and give his day the drowning dose of mesmeric bliss it needs.

heizou wanders down into the confinements, the steps that just a few moments ago echoed around like an earthquake are now an afterthought, due to a certain someone’s wailing and aggressive banging on the floor. every single other cell is empty — of people, not of grime and dinged up battery.

itto dramatically rolls on the floor like a lunatic, his luminous hair, coveting the shapes of his angular crimson horns becoming more and more tangled and ragged with each roll. even with the lingering hungover fatigue, the one and oni still somehow manages to be as insane as ever.

“HEIZOUUUUUUUUUUUU…” itto hollers, slumped against the cold steel bars, slowly being consumed by rust. his ebony nails gripping onto the cylinders like it’s the last piece of the person he loved most shattered soul. his forehead drips, a chaotic yet blank look in his eyes. dusky circles creep under his eyes, seeming like a fashion statement paired with his vermillion eyeliner. heizou leans against the wall, swinging his baton between his fingers.
“itto, why are we acting like this is the first time you’ve done something stupid whilst intoxicated and ended up in jail?” heizou queries, his wine red hair pressed into the wall.
“BUT I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT I DID THIS TIME…. and im tired, and thirsty… and i think i may be rolling in a pool of my own vomit.” itto wails, his insanity falling into clarity with each passing moment.
“okay, one too many details.” heizou mutters under his breath. he walks over to the shadow of mystique next to ittos cell, a small iron cage with a soft mewling sound omitting from it. he prys it open, and his eyes widen as he looks inside.

the cacophony of colourless metal is only disrupted by a small, sodden furball shivering inside the cage. tama squirms inside the cage, yearning to escape. she looks up at heizou innocently, a glimmering, endearing look in her crystal eyes, but not with the same slash of familiarity the cat offers up to tomo or kazuha. heizou gently scoops up tama, the fluffy furball resting in his hands as he slips his baton back onto his belt. he walks up to itto’s cell, tama instantly scrambling away from the oni, all the bits and pieces start to merge together in heizou’s mind, like a meticulously crafted puzzle destined for him to solve.

“itto, what i think you did is probably something like this; your drunken stupor hobbling self probably chased tama down the streets, screeching whatever nonsensical things that brain of yours can catalyse before getting reported for being a public nuisance and then dragged here.” heizou explains, scratching tama behind the ears.

“i did WHAT?” itto gasps, holding his head to his hands. “no way right there’s no way i could do that ahahhahaha… i could never… tomo’s gonna kill me isnt he.”
heizou can’t help but start to crack up.
“perfect assumption. don’t forget about shinobu coming to bail you out and then proceed to reprimand you for a good 15 minutes or so.”

itto — rather comically, bangs his head against the bars.
“yea and ofcourse you would know about shino— aha wait nevermind.” itto murmurs, gulping down a glass of water.
heizou isnt at all surprised when tomo barges through the door, his brows furrowed and purple scarf breezing in the cool air. heizou just offers tama to him, the cat settling in his shirt.

tomo takes a sharp exhale. itto just frowns.
“itto you fucking—“
it goes on like this for quite a while, legnthy enough to the point where kazuha — which of whom was lingering in the doorway, is now laughing to the point where it seems like he’s going to need medical attention. tomo’s rant was legnthy enough to the point where it somehow manages to get sidetracked multiple times, tangents leading into itto sobbing on his knees begging for forgiveness.
“itto— i was only joking… you don’t need—“ tomo just sighs, running his hand down his face before turning around, grabbing kazuha by the wrist and heading for the door.
“you can deal with that. see ya heizou!”
heizou isnt even bothered, he’s too busy cracking up himself.

even as faint as they are, heizou can still recognise a set of footsteps he has grown to become accompanied to, the steps aligning with the pace of his brain.
“hold on, ill be back itto, you just keep… doing that.” heizou gestures to itto laying on the floor, completely stunted.

shinobu leans against the counter, feuding with the officer passively. her pale skin, adorned with jagged scars, seems almost glowy today, sharp mask clasped to the contours of her face. her green locks are captured in a spiky ponytail — a ponytail that almost resembles those red flowers that would bring thoma to tears everytime ayato gifted him a bouquet of one. heizou always admired such a form, for whatever reason. shinobu holds her head in her hands, mumbling something to herself.
“how much is the bail fee?”
“180,256 mora.” the officer is completely careless, sipping at his tea like he’s in a trance. shinobu tries to hide her annoyance, her fingers relentlessly drumming against the counter.
heizou leans against the wall next to shinobu, crossing his arms over his chest, his shirt flapping lightly.
“i think 80,000 would be more suffice if you ask me.” heizou muses.
“and why is that shikanoin?”
“petty crime, alcohol provided and supervised by the yashiro commission, didn’t alert that many slumbering houses before getting arrested, the owner of the animal getting chased already came to pick her up, i think almost 200,000 is a bit drastic, wouldn’t you say?”
the officer finally looks up from his newspaper before sighing and begrudgingly agreeing, extending his hand out in front of kuki, waiting for a mora bag. kuki starts to scramble, when the officer isnt looking, heizou withdraws a small pouch and slips it into shinobus hand.
“50k.” he mouths to her, smoothing out the darkened strand of his hair.
the proceedings finish up, jingling sounds of slick mora grinding against each coin as the officer dumps the bag into a box, paying kuki and heizou no mind.

“whatd he even do this time?” shinobu frowns, stepping down into the confinements.
“be a public nuisance, pretty expensive bail though for some reason. did you bring the contract?” heizou asks, his keys swinging around his wrist. kuki nods.
“phenomenal. wanna do the honours?” heizou smiles, handing shinobu the keys.
“you treat me too well, don’t you?”

itto tries to pretend he can’t see shinobu, glancing at heizou pleadingly. shinobu’s hands fiddle with the jangling keys, the barred door swinging open.
“ohhhhh heyyyyyyy shinobu…! how have you been….!”
“itto.”
itto grabs shinobu by the shoulders, shaking her rapidly like some sort of tempermental child’s tantrum.
“SHINOBU IM SORRY!” he wails, seemingly in his own world.
“boss, it’s fine— you know what, just go, the gang is waiting for you.” kuki sighs, unfazed.
“BUT THIS IS THE 5TH TIME THESE PAST 2 WEEKS, I THOUGHT YOUD BE MORE MAD.” itto screeches.
“boss, it’s fine, really.” shinobu mutters, forcing itto to turn around and pushing him out the door.
itto’s thick eyebrow raises slightly.
“huh? are you not coming? ohhh, you and heizou are probably—“ itto doesn’t get to finish his sentence before one of the arataki gang members pull him out, shinobu blushes behind her mask as her and the doushin walk out.
“hm, wonder what he meant by that one?” heizou mutters — imitated confusion laced in his voice.
“yea yea…” kuki waves away the question as they walk up the stairs, heizou’s hands cupping around the ornate knob of his office door, the door swinging open ambiently.

the air is stale yet beckoning, empty yet welcoming. heizou dusts off the pile of curling sudoku pages sitting asymmetrical on the edge of his desk. he licks his unlawfully chapped lips, the silence in the room radiating through his eardrums.
shinobu hands him the contract, he flaps it in the air, straightening it out — it is not, in fact, hard to read, he just does that for dramatic effect.

heizou sits down in the wooden stool standing stationary next to his desk, kuki joins him, sitting in the other chair next to him, occasionally peering over the side of his shoulder to catch a second glimpse of words that had left her so distraught the previous night. heizou skims each page — leaving subtle murmurs of analysis hanging in the air, the paper crispy as it tears through the air with each flip of the contract that does not need to be 15 pages long. most of the statements are rash and outlandish, words about devotion to the grand narukami shrine and just insignificant things, yet heizou reads it all. his eyes linger on the last page, a stifled gasp escaping his lips. shinobu looks away, her fingers combing through her bangs.

“what the fuck… is this even legal?” heizou mutters before glancing at shinobu — who wouldn’t meet his gaze. he reads the page again and again, and again and again, ingraving each perfectly formed letter into his brain.

the writing is objectively beautiful, each swoop of the brush perfectly penned onto the paper, a mark of beauty in a sea of white. if only the words were as beautiful, a proclamation of love or something.

the kuki clan, as well as any other clan is obliged to betrothe any of their eligible daughters — past, present and future to the role of a shrine maiden under the grand narukami shrine so long as she has not voluntarily joined under the condition that the head of the clan signs this contract.

and then, the ever so messy signature of one of shinobus parents finely placed onto the signature line.

“wait… surely, you’re not obliged to this, since miyuki is already a shrine maiden?” heizou queries, looking deep into shinobu’s eyes, glistening orbs with a violet cast shimmering in the cool light.

“this contract was signed when i was way younger, this is what made me a shrine maiden in the first place, but after leaving, i just expected yae miko to let it go, I didn’t think she’d be so stingy about her shrine maidens.” kuki explains breathlessly.
“but, it’s in your hands, surely the easiest way to void it is to tear it to shreds?” and if that plan doesn’t work, he has another one, and another, and he’ll launch them all with a mischievous glint in his eyes and a smirk plastered on his face.
“the thing is, yae miko said that she had gotten the raiden shogun to make amends with the god of contracts himself, meaning that this contract is practically indestructible. i do have my doubts though… yae miko isn’t one of the most trustworthy government officials.” shinobu clarifies, her voice trailing off.
“guess we could test how durable it is, want a heart or a flower?” heizou utters out nonchalantly.
“excuse me?” kuki asks, not rudely — but suspiciously.
her inquiries are shut down when heizou starts folding the last page of the contract into a excellently crafted origami heart, each fold precise and elegant, each crease the pinnacle of calculation, or maybe even heizou’s natural flare. he hands it to kuki, her face seemingly admiring it, for just a moment.

a flash of golden glory splutters up into the air, leaving the two blinded momentarily, when the conundrum quells into just a small scatter of glittering gold, the contract is perfectly a rectangle once again, not even a ghost of the heart it once was.
“huh, so the guuji was being genuine.” heizou remarks.
kuki lets out a puff and leans back in her chair, her arms raised up to stretch.
“have you thought to tell the gang about this?” heizou asks, setting the contract that was more of a bringer of misfortune than anything else onto his bronze hued wooden desk.
“no, i don’t want to put any of them in jeopardy, im starting to think yae miko has set up some sort of punishment for me, or maybe she’s leading me into becoming the architect of my own prison.” kuki sighs, almost looking defeated, yet keeping the brave look of resilience sported on her face. maybe she’s having immeasurable pools of despair and agony consuming her from within.

her words bounce around inside of heizous head, like a cluster of string that he’s meant to untangle. the air feels stiff inside his office now.
“no, i don’t think it’s that.” heizou finally says, much to shinobu’s surprise.
“hm?”
“im fairly certain the shogunate is lacking in numbers — by that i mean strictly rigid picture perfect devotees. they might be planning some immense political change that requires as many officials as possible.”

shinobu analyses the conclusion, her face seems to twist into confusion, yet at the same time understanding.

“and why’s that?” she asks.
“so you don’t trust my intuition?” heizou asks, feigning clutching his heart as if it’s about to slip out of his ribs. “it’s deductive reasoning, it’s probably an extreme change, one that could change the lives of many for the better or worse, hence why they need so many people on their side in a way that isn’t rooted in fear.” he fiddles with the tri commission badge fastened to his shirt, adjusting his sleeves.

“no it’s not like that, i do trust your judgement. i think i do know what theyre planning — vaguely.”
heizou tilts his head slightly.
“when i went back to komore teahouse last night and walked back into the room, the only people there were yoimiya and kazuha -- i did see tomo running out though. i just assumed that itto and gorou had been taken to aisa bathhouse, but on my way out i recall the kamisato siblings, thoma and kokomi all discussing some sort of decree the shogunate is planning to implement.” shinobu recounts, furiously prodding at the contract.
“so i suppose this calls for an investigation then?” heizou grumbles. “theoretically, the best places to look for intel is people with connections to the shogunate and the grand narukami shrine. we could both investigate on both aspects; then present everything to yae miko and try to negotiate her voiding the contract.” he beckons, looking into shinobu’s blank eyes.
does this count as treason?
heizou doesn’t know — one of the few things that he doesn’t. all he knows is that he wants to help his friend.
“it’s plausible, but i don’t think i can be let onto the shrines premises without miyuki or anyone else dragging me to miko.” kuki rubs her eyes and lets out an exhale. “i still have yet to explain it to her.”

heizou glazes over the rough, scruffier up caramel panels of his wall, interrupted by an occasional shelf stacked with novels and what not. even in a situation like this, shinobu is as content and reliable as ever — or atleast that’s what a subtle glance indicates. shinobu’s perfectly formulated ponytail is slightly disheveled, her stature slumped as her violet eyes are glossed over with a certain look. her eyes are r faintly red and puffy. maybe she deals with this behind closed doors in the dead of the night.

“i don’t want to be a shrine maiden, heizou.” she finally says, interrupting a silence that heizou didn’t even realise seemed eternal.

it’s not like this is new and innovative information for their dilemma. he’s heard of this from her before, every time she mentions her time in the shrine her face dulls, even behind a mask that should cover anything the heart truly speaks, but eyes scream what lips fear to whisper. even though shinobu is one of the most capable and reliable people heizou knows, the shrine is abundantly clear, not her sanctuary.

heizou remembers a very specific night. the two of them were just sitting in komore teahouse alone long after the whole of inazuma had descended themselves into the solace of sleep. it was a standard, typically immemorial night — air warm and fuzzy, faded yellow lights basking them in canopies of radiance. the two of them probably got way too drunk, the taste of sinister yet sweet sake on his tongue way too intoxicating to not overdose on. he remembers shinobu suddenly showing him a small picture. a picture of her. the shinobu in the picture was in a shrine maiden outfit, perfectly poised on the spiralling wayward towards the shrine, framed by flurries of peachy sakura blooms and proudly standing tori gates. even though the two looked exactly the same, the one in the picture was missing the same sort of glint shinobu has in her purple eyes. it’s interesting really — how dull and blank shinobu gets inside a place of elation and worship and virtue. embarking to liyue after all her hard work means everything to her, and the shrine means nothing. heizou doesn’t even remember what they were intending to do at the teahouse that night originally, or most of the nights events at all.

what he does remember is the two of them ending up on the floor very drunkenly kissing.

heizou remembers that specific part a little too well for a drunk man.

he remembers it all, the feeling of her soft lips crashed against his, the warmth of her pretty fingers pressing into the frigid skin of his face, the feeling of her hair within his hands. heizou doesn’t even know if shinobu remembers, or if they both silently agreed to never mention it again. and they were back to just friends, nothing more, nothing less, and as heizous friend, he is going to help her.

heizou looks into shinobus blank eyes, fervent violet fading into a dim husk. he reaches out and pulls her into a hug, much to her surprise. her body is warm.

“it’s alright, it’s something im sure you can handle.” he whispers.
“i can handle the arataki gang’s antics, not yae miko.” she murmurs back, lightly toying with the ends of heizou’s wine red hair.
“you’re smart, won’t you admit that?”
heizou taps kuki on her temple.
“but im sure you can figure it out, you’re reliable and intelligent, i have no doubts in that, those traits are part of your charm after all.” he remarks.
“oh stop it you, you’re trying to imply im as intuitive as inazumas beloved prodigal genius detective himself?” shinobu retorts, waving the comment away.
“maybe, that’s for us to figure out, hm?”

Chapter Text

the skies are unnecessaryily bright, almost like it’s artificial, a manufactured canopy of blue. each cloud is perfectly calculated, each segment of slight sheer flurry of colluded poof seems fake. the day is too perfect, like each aspect of the horizon has been formulated to correction. the dawn of lights in the faded inazuma city seem distance from such a height, the spiked shrubbery adorning byakko plain an afterthought. heizou’s been walking up the cycling spiral of eternal stride for way too long. he pants, leaning against a tori gate with dangling tassels swaying in the gentle frolicking breeze, lapping against the slick film of drying sweat dripping off his forehead. it’s the peak of summer unfortunately. the scent of the sweet sunlight glow is fresh on his skin, swirling sanctums of sakura blissful and sweet to inhale. his legs feel incessantly morbid — almost like they’re going to slip off his bones and collude in a pile of mumbled flesh.
he scans the skyline, and he spots her. he walks up to miyuki, her pin straight ebony locks blowing in the gentle winds. he greets her politely, his baton slipping back into his belt.
“ohhh! you’re shikanoin heizou! shinobu has told me a lot about you!” miyuki gushes.
heizou laughs lightly.
“has she now?” he asks, scratching the back of his neck.
heizou wonders if interrogation is a good tactic, this is what him and shinobu agreed after all, he investigates the shrine, and she investigates the tri commission.
“so what brings you to the shrine today?” miyuki asks eagerly, her hand flapping away a small sigil.
heizou’ feet rattle against the stone pavement as the two walk up the shrine’s steps.
“oh, nothing much, i just have a few questions for you regarding the shrine, it’s for an… investigation of mine. i’ll have to ask if i can share the details about this case.”
that piques miyuki’s interest.
“hm? and what may that be?” she asks, wearing a puzzled expression on her face.
“oh nothing much, just, do you recall a contract signed with your family about all daughters being entrusted to the grand narukami shrine?” heizou queries cautiously, hoping he’s not treading on a sensitive topic.
“ohhh, that old thing! it’s nothing much, it was signed over a century ago, by my likely great great great grandfather, since it’s an old tradition no one has ever budged, what about it?” miyuki explains politely.

an old tradition… such knowledge could prove to be useful.
“no one’s ever betrayed the contract you say?” heizou muses, miyuki nodding along. “interesting. have you ever recalled seeing the contract degrade or deteriorate in any way, tears, folds, creases?”
“no, not at all, it’s always remained pristine and perfect, with some sort of youthful glow surrounding it.” miyuki says, almost in awe.
“not a single crease, no folding, no tears?” heizou asks, rather perplexed at the explanation.
“yes, absolutely, any other questions?” heizou is honestly surprised at how willing miyuki was to comply with such questions — over the course of his detective career, there’s been multiple times when he’s been conflicted whilst choosing between civil conversation during interrogation or beating the shit out of people who wouldn’t talk. the commotion of heizou’s feet climbing up the step whirs into silence as him and miyuki reach the very top of the shrine, and he realises he doesn’t actually have any more questions for her anyway.

“not for now atleast, it was a pleasure speaking with you, miss miyuki.” heizou dismisses warmly with a slight bow of his head.
“okay, do tell shinobu she should consider dropping by!”

heizou walks further into the small shrine, fluttering congregations of blooming blossoms swirling at his feet, the scent of wispy morning dew flooding his brain. his calculated green eyes scan the shrine, looking for a sign of yae miko, but no bright pink heads pop out — yet. he lightly frowns, his brows furrowed as he strides into the place where the sacred sakura is kept under lock and key. heizou marvels at the sight of it, feathery swoops of brilliant sakura draping off each swirling branch entangled with the ethereal sight of the ley lines. a cemetery of sakura that still beams with pulsing life.

he looks around for yae miko, at the sight of someone else, his frown falls so far down his face it feels like it might fall off completely.

sango angrily tugs at her chestnut bun, the tight ball letting out stray strands of amber, her face flushed red and her teeth bared as she stares at her journal, her brown eyes shifting into balls of pooling rage. part of heizou still wants to mess with her, even if he knows she’s going to either punch him in the jaw or start combusting into a fragmented mess on the floor.

“oh hello sango! what are you doing here? heizou asks innocently, the natural charm in his voice spiking significantly.
“you— fuck off shikanoin!” she seethes, slamming her journal shut.
“what’s the issue here? last i checked your branch of the detective agency hadn’t received any business in months, surely you can’t be stressed over non existent cases?” he coos.
“you… why aren’t YOU receiving anything.” she hisses through her teeth.
“hm, im not sure myself.” he remarks casually, crossing his arms over his chest. “there hasn’t been much crime in inazuma, has there?”
“there’s been a sudden spike, ofcourse you wouldn’t know since you’re too busy doing archons know what!”
“who are you calling lousy?” the spike in crime seems… interesting, to say the least. after all, things have been pretty calm for a while now, but heizou easily deduces that perhaps the decree shinobu mentioned had been in the works for months, and that now that the government’s plan is becoming more aware that people aren’t taking a liking to it.
“SHUT UP SHIKANOIN!”
“my my… what do we have here?” interrupts a voice from behind them — a familiar voice. a dulcet, charming one that still holds a sinister edge to it.
heizou cocks his head towards the owner of the voice first, sango silently fuming next to him.

yae miko’s golden headpiece menacingly glints under the shimmering sunlight, her peachy pink hair flapping lightly in the breeze. she flicks a small novel in her hands, the sleeves of her kimono dancing with the movements of her hands.
“such trivial arguments over nothing i see? hm, this simply will not do.” chastises miko. “we mustn’t be arguing so loudly in a sacred place like this, the shrine is a sanctum of serenity, not an elixir of entropy.”

heizou fixes a pleasant smile on his face, lightly smoothing down his belt.
“oh, lady guuji, do forgive us, that was simply a frivolous matter.” heizou apologises profusely, shooting sango a piercing glare. “lady guuji, if you don’t mind, would you take some time out of your day to aid in an investigation of mine?”

yae miko raises an eyebrow suspiciously, her picturesque smile shifting into a blank expression.
“hm, how so?” she ponders for a second, “perhaps i could allocate some time for that, is this fine young lady here going to be accompanying you?”
an unbridled sense of worry bubbles in heizou’s mind, concern erratically spiking in his blood.
“no, she’s doing her own thing, don’t mind it.” heizou reassures, cautiously fraying out the dark crimson streak in his tresses.
“hm, i can live with that.” miko snides, gesturing for heizou to follow her. sango seethes as he walks away, a ticking time bomb ready to explode a variety of kicks on him fusing up in her own ball of rampant, rabid rage.

the inside of the shrine is eerily reminiscent of the darker depths of the police station, ominous casts shrouding him in darkness, a cacophony of mist only interrupted by small candles flickering in and out of their own sanctuary of dimly evoked light. ropes hang from the ceiling, looming ghosts echoing whispers that threaten to drop onto heizou’s head. why must a place of worship seem like the type of place you’d be beaten to death?
heizou pats down his hair, trying to quell the unruly burgundy mess situated on his head, thank be to barbatos.

“sit.” miko half beckons, half orders, indicating to the small cushion situated on the floor. heizou obliges, sitting on the pillow, his clothes rustling slightly.

“what brings you here, shikanoin heizou, is it?” she asks, drumming her fingers against her arm.
heizou vigorously nods.
“that would be right, i just had a few questions for you regarding some things about the shrine, i doubt it’ll take much out of your day.” heizou clarifies, trying to clear the fog coveting his thoughts in his brain.
“oh? and what reasoning do those have?”
“just for a private investigation under the name of the tenryou commission, my client specifically asked to keep things as confidential as possible.” he casually explains, trying to quell the strain in his throat.
“so no insight for me? my my… i do love a fair share of gossip, alas… ask away.” miko remarks, dismissing her thoughts.

“i was just curious, regarding those… conscriptions about certain clans entrusting their daughters to the grand narukami shrine, how exactly were those made, are they still relevant now?”
miko’s face harbours nothing but intrigue.
fuck.
she knows, doesn’t she?

“oh, that old thing, im sure it’s still relevant, as many clans still choose to follow it’s request, even after all these years.”
heizou tries to hide his annoyance, he would’ve hoped she’d say something along the lines of “oh since it was signed a century ago nobody actually cares about it anymore, isn’t that good for your investigation?”
“and for how it was made, hm, i honestly can’t say, i suppose it was manufactured and blessed by the geo archon himself, hence making those contracts impenetrable, the raiden shogun herself personally saw to that.
“interesting. do you ever have any records of someone betraying the contract?” heizou presses, momentarily pondering how fruitful spewing the exact same questions he bombarded miyuki with is going to be.
“hm, i don’t recall, unless you count the people who died.”
heizou stares at miko blankly before pressing at his temple. trying to think of a way to void the contract is strenuous, arduous even. he tries to materialise a way that isn’t going on a whim and telling miko that he knows exactly what the shogunate little plan is.
“just wondering, has the shrine been experiencing a lack in numbers recently?” heizou asks cautiously, the same way he’d step around time bombs.
“why im glad you asked, we certainly have — as much as i lament it. as of late, we do need some more members of the shrine, so such a decline is not only bizarre, but also disappointing.” miko explains, her eyebrow raising slightly as heizou makes haste in pulling out a notebook and furiously scrawling down her words to exact.

“might i ask, what makes the lack of shrine maidens so disastrous?”
miko pauses, her face fixed to a stunned expression.
“that matter is confidential currently.” she states firmly.
“hm, alright, that’s all the questions i had for now lady guuji, i do appreciate your cooperation.” heizou breezily says, a half genuine smile sported on his face.

on his way out, his eyes catch a glimpse of a golden beam.

a small stack of sharp paper, glimmering with radiant gleam shines under the dim light. heizou can’t help but try to investigate it. miko flickers over with a frolick of dancing sakura petals and pink tinted lightning spires trailing after her like a haunting shadow.
“uh uh uh! this is for shogunate officials only, dearest.” miko sneers, whisking the paper away.
“lady guuji, i am a shogunate official.” heizou retorts, a besting smirk playing on his face.
miko pauses, a scorn on her face turning into a graceful smile.
“well then. not for your eyes.”

heizou masks a frown, promptly leaving the room, the cold sweat engulfing him dissipating from his body entirely.
sango charges up to him, seeming like she had just aged two decades in the span of 10 minutes.
“what was that about.” she barks, jabbing an accusatory finger at heizou.
“private investigation, can’t tell you.” he casually replies, brushing it off like it means nothing at all. the very few leads he got do in fact mean way more than nothing at all, god, those few loose strings could be the breaking point for someone’s whole life path.
sango groans before storming off in a fit, heizou just shrugs before walking back down the endless wayward path of misery — better known as the walk down to the bottom of the shrine.

heizou’s feet only feel slightly less blood squelching as he reaches the bottom of the shrine, his breath ragged and heavy as the midday sun scorches down on him with it’s incandescent rays of glory, the clouds seeming fainter and fainter.

shinobu’s presence makes the agonising pain biting at him slightly more tolerable.

shinobu leans against the mossy wall of mount yougou, corrosions of sakura flailing around her, her ebony oni mask clasped to her belt as she lifts a cigarette to her lips. heizou struts over and leans his head on her shoulder, shinobu’s lime hair rolling onto the top of his head.
“im never climbing up to the shrine again.” he whines through a yawn.
“imagine how i felt having to do that every day.” shinobu chimes. “and possibly for the rest of my life.” she adds that with a hushed matter of fact voice, but a small tremor manages to break through.
“gotten any leads shinobu?” heizou asks, subconsciously tucking a stray strand of her luminous green hair behind her ear.
“i got a little here and there, but not much regarding the contract beyond potential intimidation and what not, and you?” she asks, flicking his hand softly.
“how can i be surprised that the talented shinobu herself has managed to gather things, wow shinobu… you truly are so dreamy…” heizou mocks the act of a love struck boy.
“what interesting findings.” kuki snarks, smoothing down heizou’s collar, she bites the inside of her cheek — she always does, perhaps she assumes heizou can’t notice.
“i’m only playing, don’t you know? truthfully, i only managed to get a little bit of intelligence, but it is useful — miko isn’t going to budge just yet.” heizou feels mildly disappointed, miko sure isn’t making this easy for him — by now, he would’ve already done a background check on every person involved and their relatives for fun.

heizou pulls off, and the two begin to walk down to the summery fields of byakko plain, blooming flowers barely fluttering on the horizon.
“how much intel did you get?” heizou asks, fiddling with his wallet. he spots a small food cart in the distance — odd enough to start your business right at the edge of mount yougou instead of a less shunned place on the streets of inazuma city, but individuality isn’t a crime, is it? and besides, he desperately wants a taste of whatever heavenly thing that woman is deep frying.

“not much, but it seems like im not the only one yae miko has called back to being a pretty little shrine maiden. i recall some girl crying at the horrid news that yae miko had cut her life short by sending her to the shrine, some inazuman’s are more blunt when it comes to expressing their blatant distaste to the shogun as a whole.” shinobu retorts. “so in short — the shrine probably needs a lot more members for whatever they’re scheming, but we already knew this, so i doubt it matters.”
“it’s conformation, yae miko herself told me that the shrine had been experiencing a lack of members recently.”
“have they? i don’t really see why they would be, i’ve met a fair share of people who would join the shrine voluntarily.” shinobu replies.
“they probably need more, i did get some information about voiding the contract from miyuki and yae miko, but if it proves to be fruitless then we can just continue with the idea of putting everything we find together and trying to negotiate with miko.” heizou explains, a slight shift in his voice as he discusses the plan.
that gets shinobu intrigued, a small spark flickers into her glistening eyes, a smile curled on her lips.
“really?”
“would i ever lie to you?”

the cart is small and rickety, yet fluttering paper signs dance in the wind. the girl timidly fiddling with her slender fingers behind the counter is seemingly around heizou and shinobu’s age, her pin straight copper hair framing her flushed face. a bundle of rice cakes bubble in the vat of frying oil, the scent is sweet and savoury as it wafts up his nose and practically engulfs his brain. heizou hands a small pouch of mora to the girl — much to her delight.
“just two will be fine.” he says smoothly.
“o-oh archons… this is far too much, it’ll take eons for me… it’ll take ages to count the change.” the girl bashfully waves away heizou’s request.
“then just keep it, i appreciate the benevolence, chivalrous really, but im telling you it’s fine, i don’t have a problem with you having it.” he reassures.
the girl just hurriedly nods before retrieving two sticks from the dripping oil and wrapping them in a thin sheet of paper.
heizou smiles and thanks the girl before him and shinobu walk off.

“do you do that with everyone?” shinobu asks, a slight hint of annoyance lingering in her voice.
“do what?” heizou replies, scratching the back of his neck.
“the sweet talking.”
“i wouldn’t call it that.”
“archons…”
“i’ll only sweet talk you if that’s what you prefer.” he snides, staring into shinobu’s intensely vibrant eyes.
a vehement shade of vermillion flourishes on kuki’s face before instantly disappearing.
“it’s not like that…” she trails off.
“what, you jealous?” heizou teases, a wicked little smirk boasted on his face.
“wipe that smirk off your face.” shinobu smiles, jabbing heizou in the ribs.
“won’t you shut me up then?” heizou looks into kukis eyes, and oh god that look…
their faces are tantalisingly close. too close.
shinobu parts her lips, almost to say something — something that never enters the world.

shinobu backs away slightly, a lingering blush present on her cheeks.
“what did you say you found about the contract again?” she diverts.
“a lot.” heizou offers the rice cakes to her.
“hm? what’s this for?” shinobu asks curiously.
“for you, who else would it be?”
shinobu sighs and shakes her head.
“i haven’t got an appetite recently.”
“i wonder why.” heizou snarks as shinobu pops out another cigarette.
“suit yourself.”

god, it’s so much more than that.

the two of them just idly stand in the luscious greenery of byakko plain, flowers creeping in on them as the breeze laps at their faces. heizou quickly polishes off both of the rice cakes.
“the contracts are indestructible for one, so destroying them isn’t an option. yae miko assumed they were made by the geo archon — key word assume, so im guessing the shrine maidens have been a fundamental factor of any inazuman political change for ages.” heizou starts.
“so the contract is like a vision basically?” asks shinobu.
heizou slightly tilts his head, pressing his finger against his temple.
“what do you mean by that? you’re saying it like you’ve tried to destroy a vision personally.” heizou queries, his gaze lingering on shinobu.
“not me, but yoimiya told me when she first got her vision she just assumed it was a fancy new lighter and slammed it against the ground to get the sparks going, she also told me when tomo first got his he tried every possible way to destroy it — for both it never worked; no wonder why they’re siblings.” she sighs.
heizou laughs.
“other than that, miyuki also told me that contract was signed a century or so ago, so supposedly we could waver it as invalid now, implying that your current living family don’t want it anymore.”

shinobu thinks for a moment before sighing.
“it’s a good idea, but even giving any indication about this to my parents they’ll just say that they do want that.” she murmurs, her vehemently purple eyes dimming into oblivion.
“it’s not like we can’t use it as a negotiation tool.” heizou adds.
“so i’ll get to work compiling things then?”
heizou nods.
“another thing, my… colleague, sango, she told me that she’s suddenly been getting an outburst in cases, but i haven’t gotten shit.” heizou mopes.
“hm?”
“it’s peculiar, sango said she’s been getting loads of cases but i haven’t gotten anything in weeks, there’s a sudden crime spike, but it’s truthfully not apparent anywhere.”
“do you know what type of crime?”
heizou shakes his head.
“it’s telling, but it’s likely it’s more government crimes because ive been around the city and hanamizaka all day and haven’t seen anything out of the ordinary.”
“stellar observation, but if the shogunate’s plan — whatever it is, is actually going into fruition, then maybe it’s only at the stage where political figures are putting in their input; most of them probably not liking it.”
“and yet we still don’t know what it is…” shinobu drawls, smothering the wasted flame of her cigarette.
“relax shinobu, it’s only the first few days since you got the contract, it’ll be fine.” heizou reassures, placing his hand on her shoulder.
“should we ask ayato then? i’m starting to think the decree they’re planning wasn’t intended to be leaked beyond the heads of the tri commission until much later, and me overhearing it just being a happy accident.” shinobu proposes.
“i don’t see why not” heizou says. “we’re not far from the kamisato estate anyway.”

they start to embark to the estate. it gives heizou time to think. way too much time for his own good.

to some extent, he knows that going to this much extent to help shinobu is probably treason at worse, but is it? he’s not going to drop the case, because to do that would be to drop a friends hope, a friends life, a friends freedom, drop it like it means nothing at all.

but she means so much to him.

it hurts to see shinobu just thinking about the shrine, heizou notices everything, the way the radiance of her fervently violet eyes will be engulfed by nothingness, reduced to ash at just the mere mention of going back there is sickening. heizou doesn’t even realise how hard he’s staring at kuki, the scars on her waist, the slight blooming of vermillion on her face, the fluttering of her evergreen bangs in the softness of the winds beckons. everything. the sun pours down on them, bathing them both in it’s swirling cascades of afterglow.

above all else, he wants to help her.

shinobu is undoubtedly smart enough to handle it on her own, but he’s not one to back down this far into a case — and at the same time, heizou can’t help but feel like there’s something hindering their plan entirely. yae miko is basically mocking his ingenuity, tearing apart his intellectual prowess into a mangled mess of shreds like it may as well have never existed.
heizou fixates on the mask hanging at shinobu’s waist for far too long, then back at her eyes. the sharp details of the oni’s fangs, each ferocious detail cautiously embedded into the thing. the mask fits her perfectly, even though he’s seen it way too many times, it’s hard to properly imagine her without it, materialise the possibility that she’d be forbidden to wear it in that god forsaken shrine. heizou doesn’t know if shinobu would forgive him if their plan doesn’t work, and he doesn’t know if he’d be able to forgive himself, maybe he’s turning into the criminals he’d built a career on vanquishing.

archons above, what do you call this feeling?

“heizou?” shinobu finally asks, her voice eerily strong, almost like it’s rattling inside heizou’s eardrums.
“hm?” he scratches the back of his neck.
“you seem like you’re in a world outside of teyvat, anything on your mind?”
without warning, heizou just cups shinobu’s face.
“i should be asking you the same question, shouldn’t i?” he smirks, the charming edge prominent in his voice.
shinobu elbows heizou in the ribs whilst biting the inside of her cheek.
“in just about 5 seconds you’re going to get electrocuted.” she says, derisive laced in her voice.
“if it was your doing i think id be fine with it.” he smiles.

the kamisato estate is nothing short of elegance, polished stone walls and immaculate brassy lining the place from top to bottom. heizou sunnily greets every guard working there, shinobu just offering them a slight nod. they walk past each perfectly tamed flower pot all the way up to the front door.

heizou relentlessly bangs on the embellished lacquer door of the kamisato estate.
“thomaaaaa!” he says in a singsong voice, swinging a pair of handcuffs around his wrist. “open up! or i may have to drag you out in the name of the tenryou commission.”
shinobu just rolls her eyes, an evident smirk betraying her nonchalance – she promptly slips on her mask.
the door swings open, a half awake thoma rubbing at his sleep crusted eyes, disheveled hair running down his face.
“heizou, what do you— oh hey shinobu!” thoma mumbles warmly.
“oh relax thoma, i was only joking.” he smugly defends himself, his handcuffs being confiscated by shinobu.
“hey, wait—“
“you deserve to be chained up to itto at this rate.” she says scoldingly
“now you wouldn’t do that to me, would you?”
shinobu scoffs.
“and here’s to thinking the genius, knowledgeable shikanoin heizou could handle the arataki gangs antics. maybe it was just wistful thinking.”
“maybe you’re the only member i can handle.”

“so… what reasons do you guys have for being here?” thoma still sounds bright as ever despite his weary yawns.
“get to that in a second, why exactly are you half dead? it’s two in the afternoon.” shinobu says, indicating to the ever glowing sky above them.
thoma stifles a yawn.
“ayato and ayaka had a bunch of meetings with the shogunate recently, i had a ton of things to attend to.” he explains, combing through his matted hair.
“makes sense, don’t sweat it, is ayato and ayaka here right now?” she asks.
“eh, ayaka is on another meeting with yae miko — then she’s going to stop by yae publishing house to pick up a new light novel, she was talking about how a legend of sword volume 5 just released, don’t expect her to be here for a while; as for ayato, he’s here, i doubt he’d mind. why do you guys need him anyway?” thoma says.

“private investigation, but i guess sooner or later we might have to tell you anyway.” heizou mutters.
“ah, i see, well just go on in, im sure ayato wont mind, i might pop in if i manage to force myself to freshen up.” thoma yawns. “oh yeah, shinobu, do tell itto i’ll have a rematch with him some other time.”
shinobu nods, and her and heizou walk into the estate.
the air is significantly cooler, thin and breezy with each of their steps as small peeks of outdoor light graze them through the windows.
the embellishments on the door of ayato’s office glint under each light, him and shinobu reflected in warped spirals in the thin golden rims. heizou’s foot taps against the wooden floorboards rhythmically. he knocks on the door in accordance.
“oh? and who might that be?” ayato’s serene yet sturdy voice is muffled by the door.
“thoma.” heizou chirps. shinobu runs her hands down her face in an “are you serious” manner.
“the door’s unlocked heizou.” ayato says.
heizou swings open the door, shinobu entering with much more composure.
ayato sits at his desk neatly, each stack of abundant paper organised at the edge of the table, ink wells and letters at his left. small pots of sakura petals await his side, he beckons for the two of them to sit.

“and what might i be requested for this time?” ayato asks whilst signing off the stack of forms with the calligraphy brush he meticulously holds in his gloved hand.
“we have a few questions for a private investigation.” heizou says, his baton swinging around his fingers.
“do you? go on, ask away.”
shinobu’s voice cracks for a second.
“about that decree the shogunate is planning to implement, what is it exactly?” shinobu asks cautiously, like she’s treading on floating glass in a pool of lava.
ayato’s steady hand sharply falters, his pen thudding as he places it on the desk, he clasps his hands together sturdily.

“you weren’t meant to know about that, not yet atleast.” he sharply declares, a cutting edge in his voice sparking up.
“forgive me won’t you? just a couple days ago i overheard you, ayaka, kokomi and thoma discussing some sort of decree back at komore teahouse, i wasn’t going to intrude, but it does prove useful for our investigation here.” shinobu says defensively.
“might i ask what’s it about?”
shinobu glances at heizou, he’s already looking.

they both explain everything, from the contract to the interviews to their plan to get shinobu out of it, ayato muses momentarily before placing his silk entombed hands on the table.
“it’s a sound plan certainly, but i must advise you that yae miko can be rather tricky, especially when it comes to this sort of matter. as for the legalities, i wouldn’t say opposing her is illegal, as she did give you the opportunity to do so.” ayato finally says. “as of now, i can’t disclose what decree the shogunate is planning to implement, but the time will come.”
shinobu drawls, heizou just sighs.

“when exactly was the plan intended to be released into the public?” heizou asks.
“hm, in about 1-2 years. it’s staying between the tri commissions direct affiliates for now, as for the general consensus, it’s… not good, to say the least, not everyone agrees, but the shogun does get the final stand. we’ve been instructed to try and get as many inazuman’s on our side, hence the situation between shinobu and the shrine.” his explanation makes kuki shudder.

“alright, good enough for me, that’s probably all we could get for now anyway. thanks ayato!” heizou chimes before him and shinobu promptly leave.

the air outside that was once so pleasantly soft now seems incessantly dense, like walking through requires twenty knives to break through the barrier. stormy leaves strike them relentlessly as the scent of fading sunlight dawns on them.

“we’re getting nowhere with this.” shinobu finally blurts out.
“yes we are, we have loads of leads, don’t we?” he says, resting a hand on her shoulder as he recounts everything they know.
shinobu stills before glancing at him.
“so all we can do now is just continue searching for anything beneficial and compiling it all?”
“why wouldn’t we?”

heizou absorbs shinobu for far too long once again, the faded yet bright look in her eyes, the way the oni mask sits perfectly on her porcelain face.

heizou feels a tickling sensation at his calf.

“what the fuck—“
a raging spiral of flurrying sakura petals graze the two of them at the heels, the rhapsody dissolving into a patter of blossoms laying admist the grass, interrupted by nothing but a small pink envelope sealed by a talisman, crisp and pure at the edges. heizou lurches down and reaches for it, the feeling of shinobu’s gloved hands gentle as he hands it to her. the meagre rustling of crunchy paper seems deafening admist the surging silence of the impending sunset.

shinobu unfolds the letter, straightening it out for visibility’s sake.
“…fuck” she murmurs, staring blankly at the page.
time is ticking shinobu. in that curly handwriting of yae miko herself.

“oh for archons sake…” shinobu huffs.

Chapter Text

heizou looks around for a wall to bang his head against — he takes in the sight of intricately carved opulant steel and a rusted wooden tree with rot eating it from the inside; neither of those sound particularly pleasant. as a mediocre substitute he just rests his chin on shinobu’s shoulder and swipes a cigarette from her belt — he has no lighter on him either, so all he can do is angrily chew at the end of it and hope some of the nicotine spreads from his tongue up his brain and engulfing him to numbness completely. give it to yae miko to not make anything easy. heizou’s gloved hand finds shinobu’s waist before he speaks between bated breath.

“how did she even manage to get this here?” heizou drawls.
shinobu folds the letter back into the envelope rigidly, so stiff it seems like the paper is unparalleled to any swordsmith’s blade.
“no way what the shogunate is planning is so bad lady yae is getting this stingy?” shinobu snides — gently prodding at the side of heizou’s head. even as she tries to keep her words stern, a faint shudder still breaks through.
“we’ll figure it out shinobu, i have faith you will.” heizou murmurs, brushing hair out of his eyes.
shinobu sighs and gently twirls a strand of heizous hair around her finger.
“it’s not that im worried about, im just slightly puzzled on how in teyvat yae miko even got it here.” she murmurs.
“i doubt it’s necessarily worrying.” heizou concludes, rolling his neck slightly. “youkai magic or something of the sorts, theoretically you could note this down as distressing nuisance and coercion.”
“could we now?”
“are you calling me a liar?”
shinobu just chuckles before walking away from the estate, dragging heizou along with her.

“so where to, my lady?” heizou says sardonically in the stupidest voice he can fathom.
shinobu laughs breathlessly before elbowing heizou in the ribs.
“my favourite gentleman, never say that again.”
“relax… i was only kidding!”

shinobu assesses the sky, falling clouds gently swaying against azure, the scent of blossoming flowers sent astray from the shrine towering above them and the faint scent of summer’s end’s grassy dew pleasant and pale.
“i’ll go back and try compiling everything we’d found so far, it’s not much, but it’s a start.”
heizou sighs.
“every day this goes on it seems like we have more questions than answers…”

it’s not wrong though, it’s already been five days since yae miko dropped the bomb on them, only eight more days — and the fact that yae miko is now choosing to pester them isn’t helpful. it feels like they know a lot, but at the same time, they know absolutely nothing.
“so, back to hanamizaka?” heizou proposes, shifting to walk alongside shinobu — his feet shuffling against the grass.
“i don’t see why not, i’ll go check up with itto for a second and meet you back around hanamizaka.” shinobu sighs.

they begin walking, idle chatter lingering between them as they try to do anything but tread into the idea of their circumstances — if yae miko wants to pester them and piss them off at the same time, so be it, all they can do is be unbothered. heizou wonders how preposterous the thought of the kitsune herself having eyes on them truly is as he walks. theoretically, chances are low — but not impossible, and besides, it’s yae miko, so the low chance is probably multiplied by a millenia.

heizou sighs as his heel grazes the moss engulfed pavings of hanamizaka, waving to shinobu as they both go their seperate paths. for a moment, his heart constricts and sinks at the same time. he misses scampering through the silky summer grass of byakko plain alongside shinobu, both of them batedly trying to ignore the problems, running away from the blaring sun and the azure sky and everything gleaming that inhabits it. heizou glances upwards at that sky, painted feathers of slinky clouds masking the warmth of the sky. it’s sickeningly warm, the air dense but smooth enough to slink through it. it’s like the summer is planting small echoes of it’s existence before fading into the open arms of autumn’s crisp auburn bloom. heizou kicks a flurry of sakura petals as he walks, occasionally catching a glimpse of copper with each inch he emerges closer to the police station.

“shikanoin, i have a case i’d like you to take.”
the voice of his coworker radiates relentlessly inside heizou’s head as he walks into the police station, the cool air embraced by the scent of stiff paper and the wall’s peeling opulence washing over him and drying off the small beads of sweat rolling off his forehead.
“what kind of case again?” heizou casually asks, leaning over the table.
“allegedly, there have been government officials trying to tamper with future plans for inazuma, the perpetrators have yet to be found, so as of now we’d like to get you in on the case.”
heizou stills for a second, then his brain rushes straight back into it’s whirring commotion as everything starts to click.
“wait, what kind of plans?” answer it… and things will be so much simpler for me…

the officer clears his throat hoarsely, coughing into his clenched fist.
“well… i can’t tell you that…” he nervously mutters, drumming a finger on the reflective timber.
heizou tries to keep his frown from tearing his face in two, he can’t say he feels anything besides immense disappointment.
“ah, i see. even if i take the case?” heizou presses, anticipation rising up in his veins.
“even if you take the case.”
“well… coincidentally i just so happen to be pursuing an investigation of my own, so i guess i’ll have to decline this one.” heizou cooly declares, feigning minor dissatisfaction.
“shikanoin, it would be really helpful if—“
“sorry sorry… can’t do that one im afraid, and besides, i have some other matters to attend to right now, so can’t do that!” heizou chimes before bolting out the door.

the officer calls out to him, but those attempts are futile, heizou trailing further and further away as the bellows of his name shift into whispers carried in the sunlit blisters of the wind. it’s only been what, twenty or so minutes since he and shinobu departed back to their seperate ways? but he’s already bored, and shinobu is quick enough to get her bearings by then anyway.

heizou grips the rusted railing down the staircase to hanamizaka, his free hand fumbling with the contents of his pocket — since he’s already here, he may as well give shinobu some time and make a stop to yae publishing house.

heizou gently pats down his ochre hakama and pulls out a small mora pouch sealed by a ragged rope. the quaint walls of yae publishing house are inhabited by nothing but stacks upon stacks of books that tower upwards, almost blocking the beauty of the horizon itself. heizou walks up to the storefront and leisurely picks up a copy of “a legend of sword” volume 5, his fingers brushing over the light novel’s cover — embraced by newness. he wasn’t originally interested by the novel series at first, but after ayaka, kazuha and even his older brother — the same guy who would only reach out to berate him was constantly recommending it to him, he decided to give it a shot.

heizou gently places it on the wooden counter, the cashier ringing him up and beginning to make small talk.
“you know, the author has actually finished the series by now, and we just managed to import some copies of volume 5.” he says, wrapping the novel in paper.
“has he?” heizou doesn’t know much about the guy, all he knows is that inazuma likes his books an ungodly amount.
“absolutely so, even with lady yae managing to get the yae publishing house at the top of mr zhenyu’s exportation priority, we’ve been getting stunted a little, we used to get them a month after the latest volumes were published in liyue, but now it’s been pushed back to three months.”
“interesting…” he mutters under his breath. “why do you think that is?”
“don’t really know, apparently there’s been a sudden rise in thunderstorms around
ritou’s border.”

heizou thinks for a second. sudden border issues?
he mentally jots that down before thanking the man and leaving. his hair flutters lightly in the wind along with his stride, a flash of copper peeks out from the corner of his eye, he ignores it.

the ends of heizou’s hakama fray in the wind as he strides, his feet clicking against each rattled stone he steps on. shinobu leans against the wall, itto doing… something as she takes another breath of her cigarette, the scars on her body hushed over by shadows — stray ends of her sage tresses framing her face and ornate oni mask hanging at her belt. those scars… heizou never felt like it was the right time to ask of their origin, and perhaps he never will.

“HEY! HEY! shinobu! i was just thinking—“
“bad move boss.” she mutters, scratching the bud of her match against the matchbox; the flame stretching upwards and scorching the coarse cigarette. the flame dims as she inhales the smoke.
“hey what does that even mean— can i have one?” itto perks, poking at a particularly glossy onikabuto.
“itto, you can’t even handle 2 shots of sake, how in teyvat are you going to handle a cigarette.”
heizou’s feet graze against the concrete pavings, dense wind and warm air lapping against his face and flaying his shirt. shinobu removes the cigarette from her mouth and hands it to him. the taste of the bittersweet nicotine spreads over his tongue.

“you really want one huh?” she remarks, heizou nodding at a vigorously waving itto. shinobu offers up a fresh cigarette to the oni, he lights it, almost in a trance with each flicker of embers and takes a puff. then coughs — incessantly at that.

“WHAT THE FUCK—“ he splutters through jagged coughs. “HOW DO YOU PEOPLE—“ itto spits on the ground. shinobu just sighs and smacks itto on the back.
“good one boss, real good one…” she murmurs, pushing him away before turning to heizou.
heizou gingerly tousles his burgundy hair, stray strands billowing in the wind before speaking.
“would i be wrong to assume you’re done with anything you said you needed to do?” he chimes.
shinobu pops her cigarette into his mouth and slips her mask back on, the click echoing as it fastens to her face.
“you can answer that one shikanoin.” she snarks, heizou walking alongside her.
heizou takes a drawl of the cigarette, the exhaled fumes wisping up into the sky in ashen tongues.
“you said you were gonna put everything we’ve found so far together, right?” heizou asks, dettatching the cigarette from his lips and tucking a stray strand of kuki’s hair behind her ear.
“and i did, come with me.” shinobu replies, but her words are halted when a girl falls flat on the pavement, right in front of them both.

“shit! oh— uh…” she laughs awkwardly, pushing her copper curls away from her face, smearing a small cut on her grazed cheek. copper. the same girl from the rice cake stand. weird coincidences, hm?
“aha… miss kuki shinobu, wasn’t it? i’m oh so terribly sorry…” she rambles, furiously fumbling for her bag. out of the girl’s bookbag falls a small blueprint of a statue.
“the statue of the omnipresent god”
heizou thinks for a second before mentally scrawling that one down.
shinobu just sighs exhaustedly and hands a small bandaid to her, she dabs her bloodied cheek and sticks it on.
“and mr… shikanoin, right? i’m sorry about that one.” heizou is slightly taken aback.
“no need to worry, and heizou is fine.” he politely says.
“alright alright, ill be off now, thank you for the bandage miss kuki!” she calls before running off — that copper of hers bouncing in the wind.

heizou glances over at shinobu for a split second.
“fuck’s up with her?” shinobu bluntly asks.
“id be a little flustered to if i was in the presence of kuki shinobu herself.” heizou says.
“charming. but seriously, how the hell did she know my name?” shinobu cautiously asks as they round around the arataki gang’s abode, pink flaring up at the edges of her face. heizou prods at his temple for a second.
“likely she’s affiliated to the shrine, i wouldn’t sweat it too much.” heizou concludes.
“alright…” shinobu responds, pushing her office door open.

“this is a cute little place you have.” heizou remarks, taking in the polished walls of kuki’s office and the stacks of perfectly straightened books adorning her desk. shinobu just chews the interior of her flushed cheek as heizou sinks into the chair next to her, she slides over a file into his hands.
“mind if i take a peek?” heizou chirps.
“you’re saying that like we’re not in this hellhole together.” shinobu says, placing her mask on the table and brushing out her bangs.
heizou flips through the files carefully, reviewing everything they’ve found together. it’s meagre and basically nothing. he adds his knowledge about the importation issues and the federal crime case; it still seems redundant.

heizou and shinobu stare down at their findings.
“this is not enough.” shinobu says flatly. “we need to know exactly what they’re planning.”
heizou grinds his teeth together.
“well ayato won’t be giving us any hints, will he?” heizou asks, the question withering into a statement as it leaves his lips.

it’s that lifeless look again.

heizou prys the dangling vision off his belt, the fabric of his hakama rustling slightly as he withdraws it and places it on the table next to shinobu’s mask, the glowing hues of teal radiating on the ebony steel.

“they’re trying to close off the border, that’s a start.” shinobu says blankly, heizou leaning his head sideways on the desk. shinobu drags her chair closer and bonks him on the head.
“hey—“ heizou baffedly protests.
“as i was saying, they’re probably trying to do something like that.” she continues.
“so controlling inazuma, got it.” heizou concludes unenthudiastically yet enthusiastically.
“we’re getting completely nowhere with this,i may as well be turning myself into a chandelier by now.” shinobu mutters.
“then we figure things out, i have no doubt you can do it.” heizou reassures, tucking a strand of her lime tresses behind her ear — she stills slightly at the gesture.
“you know, you don’t have to do all this for me.” shinobu gently says.
heizou pokes at the scattered documents his head rests on, the shuffling of papers audible in his ears and radiating relentlessly in his brain.

“it would be a crime not to though, i can worry about you, you know?” heizou replies, shinobu lightly toying with his hair.
“i don’t want to drag too many people down into this prison with me.” kuki sternly says.
“don’t act like im not the one who offered shinobu…” heizou trails off.
“you’re a lost cause, huh?”
“you said you didn’t want to be a shrine maiden, what’s wrong with me fulfilling that?” heizou thinks of the shinobu in front of him right now, stern and reliable yet also gentle and nurturing, that glint of contentment present in her violet eyes — then back to the shinobu back at the shrine thats face harboured nothing but anguish, then at the cascading fields of cloud illuminated grass staring back at him out the window. that expanse looks freeing, and he wants that freedom for shinobu too.
“ive seen you at the shrine you know, i think i like you a lot better when you’re out of that wretched place.” heizou remarks, his words stunning shinobu into oblivion.
“you… have…?” she asks cautiously — heizou raises his head and nods slowly, his hair straying in the air.
“maybe i do need you then, and we need some form of stronger evidence for this…”

“what you need is a break.” heizou rashly proposes.
that piques shinobu’s interest — fervent pink blooming at her cheeks as she glances up at him.
“you worry too much about me, yae miko isn’t going to allow for that…” she waves off the idea, trying to push the blush away from invading her face.
“you do need a break shinobu.” heizou declares sternly, that sternness breaking into jest at the edges.
“i can live without a break.” shinobu urges.
“oh? so you can’t live without me, hm?”

crimson streaks down the sides of shinobu’s face.
“i was only jokingggggg! im sure you’re fine on your own.” heizou says.
heizou gently reaches out to brush the scars on shinobu’s waist, scrapes of bloodied flesh grazing his hand and casting a vermillion afterglow on his knuckles.
“awfully affectionate now, mr shikanoin?”
“i’d like to call this one admiration.” heizou responds. “you never truly explained how you got them, anyway.”

that one feels like heizou’s dancing on the thinnest of ice. no matter how close the two of them will ever get, even daring mentioning them feels like standing directly under an array of hanging knives religiously sharpened to blades that could pierce the toughest of skin.

shinobu pauses for a second, chewing the inside of her cheek.
“it was my mother.” she says it solemnly yet matter of factly at the same time — like it’s just something she can shrug off and leave as an afterthought. “she didn’t very much like the idea of me leaving the grand narukami shrine.” shinobu explains, and even through her facade of nonchalance a slight tremor breaks through.
“she did what.” heizou bursts out, staring right at shinobu, eyes widened to the size of the universe as his sage eyes pour into shinobu’s violet gaze.
“it’s nothing really.” shinobu brushes off, gnawing at the inside of her cheek like her life depends on it.
“you could’ve told someone, you know?” heizou says weakly.
“that was in the past heizou, i dont want to burden you.”
heizou doesn’t know what to think. the thought of that even happening to her has his heart constricting and threatening to shatter his ribs and rupture his flesh. even if shinobu is free now, what’s telling she will be by the time yae miko is pounding on their doors with contract in hand?
heizou pushes the thought to the back of his mind — it lingers around there like a ghost, malevolently deteriorating his entire train of thought until it dissipates completely.

“you’ve got nothing except me in that head of yours, don’t you?” shinobu snarks, likely trying to divert the conversation.
heizou pauses, crimson waves creeping up his neck.
“are you flirting with me?” he quickly asks.
“i expected you to be able to figure that one out.” she calmly says, crossing her arms slyly.
“oh shinobu… i didn’t expect you to be like this, you know?”

shinobu’s efforts are completely futile. heizou almost resents himself for thinking of such an outcome. just the thought of shinobu not being the way she is now sickens him to the stomach and has each of his veins surging with acid.
heizou shuffles everything on the desk to the side before tugging shinobu in for a hug. shinobu stiffens and melts at the same time, her head gently resting on his shoulder.
“i think i can promise you won’t have to deal with that or the shrine anymore.” heizou slowly mutters, his oath hanging stiffly in the air above them.
shinobu blushes slightly.
“i like that idea.”

someone like her doesn’t deserve such anguish at the hands of people who should be the bearers of freedom. heizou stares at shinobu for far too long. the way her eyes gleam under the rays of light, each article of lacquer clothes hanging around the contours of her scarred body, her face lightly flushed in the air. heizou almost feels guilty for being able to be so close to someone like her, someone as reliable and stern and sweet as her.
she smells like the sweetened version of naku weed.
even thinking of her being pushed into a position in the shrine seems like a distressed version of a ruptured reality. heizou sighs deeply, his eyes fixated on shinobu’s gaze. he doesn’t know what he thinks about her to its fullest extent — whatever shinobu holds under that gaze of hers, he doesn’t even know what he thinks the most of her, hell, if he can even think at all. guilts the most tangible one. heizou doesn’t even know what he’d do if their plan fails.

her gaze softens slightly as she speaks.

“you’re also criminally close to me, mr shikanoin heizou.” shinobu points out, her voice snarky at the edges whilst putting extra emphasis on his full name. “and you’re staring. hard.”
heizou observes his surroundings for a second, he batedly sucks up a breath at the realisation that she’s right, just like she always is. the pleasant scent of naku weed is almost tickling his skin.
heizou closes the distance entirely by planting a soft peck on shinobu’s cheekbone.
shinobu blinks slowly before staring right into heizou’s soul.
“did you like that? because ofcourse i—“
“shut up heizou.” shinobu smirks before shutting him up herself.

heizou has so much work to do, he doesn’t have time for this, does he?
just another postponed case… he’s used to being like this, doing anything but what his job calls for. employment may as well be a chore anyway.

“good god…” heizou breaths slightly against shinobu’s lips.
shinobu slings over him, heizou pushed back into the cushy velvet of his seat, his neck lurching back and pressed into the top of it. shinobu’s hands find the back of his head, fingers woven through strands of burgundy. she tastes sweet yet bitter. bittersweet. like the beckoning sting of naku weeds and the faint scent of the air on summery sakura nights. blush stings the sides of heizou’s face — warm and fervent as shinobu keeps threading through his hair. heizou’s hushed breathing radiates warmth on shinobu’s lips as he grabs the back of her head and pushes her further into him.
“fuck—“
shinobu’s gentle strumming through the back of his hair turns into violent gripping as heizou sucks on her bottom lip. shinobu tilts slightly, her grasp on the back of heizou’s head solidifying whilst heizou continues to suck on her lip. heizou’s hair brushes against shinobu’s knuckles, the fabric of his hakama flapping slightly. heizou leans back — shinobu’ tongue colliding with his as they twirl around eachother. heizou rolls over dragging shinobu down with him onto the floor, both of them hitting the timber boards with a heavy thud.

“my hand—“ shinobu whines against heizou’s swollen lips before he shuts her up.
heizou leans back into shinobu’s hand pressed against the floor, she withdraws it and brushes the top of heizou’s head instead.
they kiss as much as their breath physically allows it.
shinobu heaves against heizou’s lips, lightly nipping at the corner of his lips as he runs his hands through his hair.
“won’t you get off me, hm?” heizou raggedly snides, his body fully pressed against the floor, shirt sticking to the ochre timber. the air is knocked out of his lungs as he lightly gasps under her, his breath heaving and jittered.
shinobu halts to glance up at him.
“i would, but you like this, don’t you?” shinobu remarks, kicking his shin before continuing to dot small kisses along the side of his face — lining his jawline perfectly.

heizou laughs slightly before stopping shinobu in her performance and tugging her upwards, stealing her next breath from her momentarily as he bites at her cheekbone, planting kisses down the sides of her cheeks and wrapping his tongue around hers. shinobu rests her chin on his shoulder, staring right at his sage eyes, softly flicking one of his moles. the pain slightly stings under his face — shinobu’s fingers are frigid. so abhorrently frigid. the cold bites at his flushed face. every slight brush on his skin feels like electricity is being sparked down his veins and surging through his soul. heizou hungrily kisses shinobu again, softly thumbing at the edge of her jaw — slightly prodding into the nook of her neck. shinobu brushes her lips against heizou’s neck as he kisses his cheekbone again, that godforsaken place that started whatever they’re doing now.
shinobu lightly drags the tip of her tongue down heizou’s neck and plants a kiss on his collarbone.
“shinobu… people will know you know…” heizou murmurs.
“im well aware of that heizou, what a shame someone decides to wear a crop top on a daily basis.” shinobu snarks.
“im so getting fired for this.” heizou sighs breathlessly.

heizou’s fingertips run through the stray electric green strands of shinobu’s bangs, the deputy herself scraping her teeth against heizou’s neck.
“god…”
shinobu vehemently bites on heizou’s neck, spotting varying degrees of agressive kisses down every inch of his neck to the point where it’s all red and blushy and incessantly swollen. his neck throbs relentlessly, flushed varying shades of scarred vermillion as shinobu keeps trailing kisses and bites down his neck. the blaring light swinging and dancing and prancing above them just adds to heizou’s internal reverie. good lord is she talented.
heizou’s neck aches, the doushin running his hands down the side of shinobu’s face, his touch gentle and soft as he lightly pushes shinobu against the chair, her neck rolling into the silken velvet, she glares down at him.
“really felt the need for this, huh heizou?” shinobu mutters, lightly kissing his forehead.
“you just… tore up my neck i think i can do this, can i?” heizou asks, rubbing at the hickeys blooming at the underside of his chin.
shinobu’s lips curl into a smile as she tugs heizou in to kiss her again, her tongue trailing around his, heizou dragging her tongue across her face and moving downward to bite at the side of her neck.
shinobu grabs the back of his head, tugging at his wine red hair as she trails kisses down his forehead gently. heizou nips at her neck, thumbing the warmth of her cheek and lightly prodding at the pair of lips now slick and heavy. he basically shreds the flesh on her neck, scraping kisses all over every inch of it.
shinobu lurches her head back, heizou breathlessly wheezing as he nuzzles into the swoop of her collarbone.

was he really just agressively kissing her five seconds ago?

heizou glances up at shinobu, her violet gaze softening as heizou gently runs a hand through the back of her tresses.

he certainly feels… something for her, and she definetly feels the same.
and if their plan fails, he’s going to feel even more guilty. he can’t keep failing people like this, people look to someone such as him for comfort and contention and answers, and if he presents them with nothing then he may as well be nothing.

a strand of heizou’s hair rolls onto shinobu’s shoulder, his fingers lightly thumbing her flushed cheek.

a knock on the door booms through the entire office, radiating around heizou’s ears so deafeningly the sound itself may well knock him down into shrapnel.
heizou glances up at shinobu, she sighs and scooches up onto the seat, her figure melting into the chair as her once so rigid and strict self just slumps over now. heizou reaches up onto the desk and fishes his vision back into his hand, the gem cool on his warm palm.
heizou leans on the chair for support, dusts himself off and wraps his hands around the doorknob — the feeling of intricately grooved embellishments feeling alien on his fingertips after they had been adjusted to think of nothing but kuki shinobu and only kuki shinobu.
he likes the idea of her name being engraved into the back of his mind with silver lining, not her as a shrine maiden though, that idea’s sickening.

heizou whips the door open, the feeling of an impending sunset striking him glaringly, sun melting down onto him and frying his sage tinted eyes, summer’s nights whispers lapping at his flushed face and drying off the sweat trickling down his neck. his shirt flutters in the breeze — slapping his weakly swollen neck. the trees themselves seem to mock him almost, small flurries of sakura tauntingly lingering admist lush bushes of greenery.it burns almost. like the sunlight itself is going to melt his bones straight off his flesh
itto stands in front of him, dazed and perplexed as he prods at a gleaming oniksbuto.

“hang on— why the fuck do you smell exactly like that perfume shinobu always uses?” itto exasperatedly asks.
“hm?” heizou mutters innocently, scratching the back of his neck. “wouldn’t you like to know?” he didn’t even realise he had somehow managed to contract shinobu’s scent in the process.
“what do you even mean by that?” itto screeches.
heizou just laughs, a blush creeping up the sides of his face.
“STOP BEING MYSTERIOUS. YOU'RE THE ONE MEANT TO SOLVE MYSTERIES NOT MAKE THEM!” itto bursts out.
“you’re saying that like im slacking off on my job, i have my own mysteries to investigate.”

“oh hey shinobu! i thought you dissapeared or something!” itto chirps enthusiastically, heizou half kicking him into shinobu’s office. they really didn’t discuss much about their plan did they — they just got too caught up doing whatever you call that. he’ll come back around whenever itto leaves.

heizou’s feet feel stiff yet elated at the same time, his legs carrying him way too fast for his own good as he scampers across the concrete floors and exhaustedly leaning against the iron gate, desperately trying to catch his breath — the taste of shinobu and the faintness of sakura infused air heavyily lingering on his tongue.
a squandering flurry of sakura petals tickle his calves once more, and for a second he feels shinobu kicking him again.
the mesmeriser of sunset casted sakura magic swirling and dancing in the breeze quells into a small patter of scattered blooms masking the pavement, the enevelope starkingly pale. rigidly pale, grotesquely pale.
what does yae miko want this time?

heizou bends down and picks it up, rapidly unfolding it with his swift fingers, the feeling of paper callous on his fingertips, his eyes weakly widen as he reads.
“how frivolous you two are, i suspected ei to hire people less likely to slack off on such a job. i could’ve sworn my previous letter got the time constraints across — my intuition isn’t that sharp i suppose.”
heizou doesn’t know if the fact that yae miko somehow managed to figure out they’d spent the last hour or so aggressively tearing eachother’s necks apart is worse than the fact that yae miko somehow has eyes on them is the first place.

“so mr shikanoin, did you get the message this time?”
heizou almost jumps out of his skin as he slowly turns to meet yae miko’s eyes.

Chapter Text

yae miko wears that smirk of hers like it’s some sort of twisted trophy. that god forsaken smirk harbouring absolutely nothing — she may as well brand “im absolutely insufferable” on her forehead with a hot iron. she just stands there, gently combing through her strawberry tresses, her smirk not moving an inch.
“i asked a question — wouldn’t you be a dear and answer it for me?” miko trills, taking a step towards him, her sandals grinding against the pavement as she does.
“lady guuji…” heizou greets cautiously. “i didn’t expect to see you here!”
miko snickers.
“that wasn’t an answer mr shikanoin…”
heizou tentatively rubs his throbbing neck, trying to avoid that despicably violet gaze of hers. he can’t help but see shinobu in those eyes, even though he doesn’t want to — even though he can’t. he can only permit himself to see her in anything but yae miko.

“oh, right. i did get the message the first time.” he politely replied, his eyes darting around aimlessly.
“that answer was wrong.” miko says sternly, flickering behind him and slapping him on the back of the head with her ornate fan. heizou glances back at her, a flurry of sparkling tongues of electro and fluttering petals circling her entirely. her brows furrow, eyelids covering the eyes heizou refuses to meet as her smirk still stays perfectly frozen on her face. heizou is positively baffled. how the hell do you even get a subjective question wrong?
“ah, i see. then do me a favour and enlighten me on what was the correct answer.” heizou requests nicely.

“you weren’t meant to answer that question at all.” miko declares, a cunning edge sparking in her voice.
“excuse me?” heizou just stares right at miko with nothing behind his eyes. “do forgive me lady guuji — but were you not just pressing me to answer that?”

“ah, so i was…” yae miko remarks, flapping her fan open and cooling herself off, her tresses lightly flowing in accordance with the wind. “nonetheless, your answer was ultimately wrong. a shame… i had heard from my informants such high regard of you, i suppose they were wrong. i didn’t expect someone like you to be such a slacker.”
heizou is nothing but taken aback.
he physically recoils as miko jabs an accusatory finger at him, gently brushing his swollen collarbone.
“so lady guuji, wouldn’t you be so kind to answer my own questions?” heizou lightly presses.
“no.”
“alright…” heizou stifles a groan of annoyance.
“to answer your question, you weren’t supposed to answer at all because you shouldn’t be involved in my endeavours at all.”
heizou doesn’t know if he wants to give yae miko an uppercut or blow his own head off — or both, in that exact order.

“you seem a bit perplexed… my my… hm, accompany me for a stroll, i shall answer any inquiries that smart little brain of yours may have.” yae miko demands — not offers.
“i do appreciate the offer, but i do have some pressing matters to get back to…” heizou explains, subtly shuffling further and further away from her with each syllable that leaves his lips.
“that was an order, not an offer.” yae miko says sharply, the edge of her words sharpened so meticulously it leaves a sting in heizou’s ears. “and besides, isn’t it such a lovely evening? it would be a shame to squander such an enticing night.”

heizou stares up at the sky momentarily. it is rather pretty. the type of pretty poets would spend eons rambling about. heizou just glares in stunned awe, the sight of fading sunsets blooming in sparks of radiant canopies way too pretty to enjoy with yae miko. the strands of colluded golden clouds just engrave into the back of his eyelids as he blinks. he kind of misses shinobu already — despite the fact that she’s probably having a moment of clarity and going through twenty packs of cigarettes within minutes.

“you’ve been awfully quiet, mr shikanoin. aren’t you going to accept?” miko presses, her lips curling into a wicked little smirk. heizou can’t say he feels anything besides impending dread. he grinds his teeth and swallows.
“i don’t see why not.” he mutters flatly, his fingers thumbing the interior of his pockets, the fabric gritty yet smooth on his fingertips.

“splendid.” miko says far too enthusiastically — her smirk not even threatening to drop. “come now, the moon will be up soon.”
heizou begrudgingly aligns the pace of his stride with hers, his eyes locked on the scattered dew glazed petals crumpling at his feet.
“i do find your dedication to this… investigation of yours rather commendable mr shikanoin.” miko muses, leading heizou out of hanamizaka and onto the lush grassy path to who knows where. “you put all this effort into helping that kuki shinobu of yours, interesting… interesting…”
heizou traces the edges of the stiff pink enevelope in his hands, yae miko’s kimono gently flaps against the wind with each step she takes. heizou can’t even process what she wants. taunt? amusement? coercion? threats? heizou has spoken to miko, what, once, twice? and now she’s officially established any further interactions are going to be a living nightmare.
“i guess you could say that.” taunting probably.
“that said… you two seem to be rather off the mark as of now… an interesting pair, the type straight out of a novel.” yae miko coos, looking heizou up and down. “just like the type of novels they sell at my dear publishing house, what did you think of a legend of sword volume five? or did you just not have the chance to read it?”
how the fuck does she know that? and the exact one too? why would she know such an insignificant detail?
heizou bites down thoughts he’d prefer not to voice, his stomach churning into oblivion with each step he takes.

“you seem to know a strange amount of information, lady guuji. care to share the source?” heizou prys, trying not to be blinded by the blaring glare of yae miko’s perfectly carved headpiece gleaming in all its golden glory.
“oh trust me dear, i have my ways… all of that must stay between me and the sources themselves.”
“as i was saying, you two, an interesting pairing. i find the way you two work together rather admirable, yet also lamentable.” yae continues, heizou’s frown playing on his lips. “tell me shikanoin heizou, do you think you have a place in this investigation?”
heizou blinks slowly for a moment.
“i’m just casually investigating it.” he responds, hoping he’s not detonating a large scale combustion.
“are you now? you do seem to have uncovered a fair bit about what you aim to seek. that is, i do hope you refrain from dabbling with the grand narukami shrine’s endeavours in the future. after all, these are my shrine maidens.” yae miko rasps, taking a slight step closer towards him with a vigorous wave of her slender hand — the grassy fringes now scraping heizou’s knees.
that one makes him sick. no way in hell she actually thinks like this, right? the thought of yae miko viewing shinobu as just another puppet in her twisted display is utterly sickening. acidity crawls up his throat, heizou retching slightly as he forces himself to swallow it, the foul taste lingering on the back of his tongue. she knows too much, far too much. things that she should not be able to know — then again, it’s yae miko, the woman who everyone and their mother revers as cunning and callous and somehow beckoning no matter how hard you try to evade her echoing calls.
“i find it rather comical, hilarious actually. even when i tried to inform you on the clock that’s hanging in the distance, you two go ahead and do absolutely nothing to help your case.” miko pauses to squeeze the side of heizou’s hickey ridden neck, pain blooming at his flesh with each meticulously sharpened nail miko drives into his skin, the pain jolting down his spine and surging through his blood. “the marks are already appearing on you. how cute.” miko coos, the teasing edge spiking in her voice with each syllable.
heizou keeps his composure from slipping out of his grasp entirely.

“i’m aware lady guuji… im aware…” heizou half heartedly mumbles — fervent blush stinging the sides of his face. he mindlessly begins drumming the sides of his baton, the metal sleek under his touch.
“well im glad you are, it’s certainly invigorating — the conclusions you and shinobu have gathered, that is.”
heizou snaps.
“you’re so insistent on keeping people bound to the shrine, why’s that?” heizou says, glaring at miko so hard it feels like his eyes are burning up.
miko just cackles, barely silencing her amusement as she clasps a hand over her mouth.
“oh my… you really thought i’d tell you?” she pauses her speech just to laugh harder. heizou considers seeing if his vision is strong enough to blow his brains out. “good lord… you people really do get so foolish at the best of times.” yae miko squeezes the side of heizou’s flushed neck again.
“you say it like it’s my doing, what kind of familiar would i be if i didn’t abide by the shoguns will?” miko chuckles, glaring at heizou with that violet gaze and a slight twitch of her pointed ears.

well isn’t that great, was that question too outlandish? rash enough to land him a job as a comedian? maybe he is pathetic, or that’s just how miko makes everyone feel. lackluster, incompetent and inferior.

“you also know an incessant amount of details, lady guuji. why’s that?” heizou seethes.
“hm? now what may you be talking about, dear?” miko asks way too benevolently for her own good.
“but yae miko, i could’ve sworn you had every detail of my life pinpointed on a corkboard complete with red string, no?” heizou retorts, sparing miko a besting glance.
“hm, i suppose can only say i have my sources.” she muses quietly.
“and why do you seek for such knowledge?” heizou asks, curling the ends of his darkened strand of hair.
“i am merely devoted to my archon, as you should be — a good start is staying out of the shrine’s endeavours.” miko seethes. “as for what i hope you gathered from this encounter… stay out of the shrine’s endeavours, and drop that case of yours you hold so dear too.” she snarls before flickering away into thin air, staggering spikes of violet spiraling into the whispers of sunset — she disappears with a flash of electric whimsy, leaving a rush of fluttery sakura blossoms in her absence.
heizou doesn’t even know what to feel for a moment, a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes is sported on his face, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

what the actual fuck was that?

he can’t keep doing this.
yae miko herself told him to stay out of it, but then again — can she be trusted? if he continues working on it, then he’s basically failing everything he’s worked for — stooping as low as the criminals he’s sworn to vanquish. but if he doesn’t, he’s failing shinobu. he offered to help her, she accepted, and she deserves it. but he’s seen it all — the way her eyes shift into nothing at the mere mention of going back to the shrine, the way the blank expression playing at her lips will just sink into a faded frown, everything. he can’t, he just simply can’t. but then again, wouldn’t helping her come with dragging her down? shinobu isn’t a criminal, if anything, he is. he can’t just taint someone like that forever, she’s way too perfectly reliable to bring down with him.
heizou swallows, his throat nagging at him in protest.

what can he do besides keep going? shinobu would much prefer that, after all.

he stares up at the sky again, the lingering presence of sakura infused electricity leaving a ghost on his arms, the air far too thick to bare. nightfall is creeping in, ever so slowly. the faint outline of stars start to cascade upon the green fringes, like the sun itself is in utter shambles as it creeps further and further down into the earth, silently begging for the moon and stars to take its place. it’s pleasant, who would hate something as pure as a late summer night, anyway?

heizou prods at his temple for a moment. the memory of a brief mention of meeting back at komore teahouse for drinks flashes into his brain. the date calculated and strong in his mind, tonight, or in better words — right now. heizou takes a sharp exhale, atleast that reminder is a better thought than aimlessly pondering about his own circumstances. a distraction. but at the same time, yae miko is making it clear there’s no times for distractions.

heizou begins to tread his feet through the darkening grass embraced by nightfall. yae miko is a liar anyway. and he needs some alcohol in his system.

heizou’s feet lightly scurry over the concrete of inazuma city, his pace timely enough to reduce to a standard walk. he sighs breathlessly, the flashing lights of a slumbering inazuma city only broken by occasional hums of chatter and the small lanterns that would leave any part of the street out of its vicinity shrouded in darkness. heizou gently runs a hand through his wine red tresses, taking a sharp turn down the wayward path to komore teahouse.
a faint scurry of feet masked by a building alerts him, he whips his head around, surveying everything in his sight — a faint outline of ringlets catches his attention.
the copper haired girl drops her notebook into her bag and steps out of the shadows unceremoniously.

“oh, um, aha… mr heizou, i was just loitering, no worries here…” the copper haired girl stammers quietly, fumbling with her fingers.
heizou scrutinises every detail of her face, her eyes harbouring nothing but worry.
“are you… alright? i can arrange for you to see a doctor—“
“no, no, no… it’s fine… i’m just waiting for my boss.” she takes a swig of a small vial, her hands trembling as she raises it to her quivering lip. “would…you like some? i have an extra here — it tastes good, i promise.”
heizou assesses it momentarily, the glittering crimson liquid is significantly darker than the one she’s drinking right now. it’s not passable.
“i appreciate the offer miss, but there’s no need, i’ll leave you to it?” heizou says with a couple steps back.
she tucks a copper strand behind her ear.
“yea… right.. right…”
heizou resists the urge to roll his eyes.

that girl… what’s up with her?
she’s always so jumpy and jittery, human nature, supposedly, but something in heizou is telling him there’s more to it.
heizou’s feet click way too rampant against the pavement, the click of his heels ungodly sharp. komore teahouse hums with the slightly cacophonous pulse of chatter, the quaint roofing almost invisible under the moonlight, stone walls masked into the darkness, only illuminated by the wake of speckled stars.
shinobu leans against the wall quietly, arms crossed with a smouldered cigarette perched between her gloved fingers, light trails of fiery ash falling off it. the cigarette may as well be for aesthetic display, completely futile against her oni mask plastered on her face — which ofcourse, it is. heizou catches himself staring for way too long, the moon and the stars and the manufactured lights all fight to cast different radiance on her hair, the rhapsody settling into the palest of greens.
even in such darkness, her scars are still visible.

his feet click against small crunches of brittle leaves as he strides on up to her.
“oh shinobu, now what might you be doing here?” heizou smirks at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“interrogating me now, hm?” shinobu snarks. “im here as a responsible adult, i’ll just be around, don’t worry.”
heizou leans back against the wall next to her, she glances at him quizzically.

“aren’t you going to go in? i could’ve sworn they were waiting for you.” she asks, slightly puzzled.
heizou shrugs casually, his shirt lightly flapping in the cool night breeze.
shinobu tilts her head back slightly.
“i just might have to drag you in myself.” she says flatly.
“but you know i’d be happy with that one, i’m fine with anything you do.” heizou chimes, offering shinobu a snarky glance.
shinobu tugs her purple scarf over her hickey bruised neck, chewing at the inside of her cheek behind her mask as she does.
“aren’t you just insufferably charming.” she remarks, flicking one of the moles under his eyes.
“but you like that fact abt me, don’t you shinobu?” heizou prys, the smirk playing on his lips almost audible. he licks his lips before speaking again. “i couldve sworn just a few hours ago someone liked me enough to—“
shinobu reaches over and grips him by the collar — even admist the darkness, heizou can see the crimson rising up her neck.

“hey—“
kuki’s gaze shifts slightly as she parts his lips and pops the cigarette into his mouth.
“i might just beat the shit out of you.” she mutters. the feeling of her cold fingers lightly brushing on heizou’s face is all too familiar — the kind of familiarity that softly kisses you on the forehead and basks you in the gentlest waves. the same kind of touch that would aggressively beat him and gingerly comb through his hair all at once.

heizou takes a lengthy drawl of the cigarette before handing it back to her, the taste of ash lingering on the top of his tongue.
“a shame then.” he pouts. “ill catch you later?”
“maybe, maybe. meet me tomorrow when you can. and make sure itto doesn’t have more than one drink.”
“whatever you say shinobu!”

heizou pushes open the rattan door of the teahouse, the slight sound of twinkly bells jingling above him muffled against chatter.

“why are you so late?” thoma asks casually, pushing a strand of ginger out of his eyes as he ushers heizou in.
“work stuff, it’s all boring, i wouldn’t bother with the details.” heizou shrugs. he’ technically lying, but that all depends on whether or not you consider being taunted and threatened by yae miko vapid or not.
thoma pauses, his eyes widening.
“what the hell happened to your neck?” he asks exasperatedly.
“i fell down the stairs.”
tomo pops up behind him and raises an eyebrow whilst adjusting the lopsided torn sleeve on his arm.
“it was shinobu, wasn’t it?” tomo asks through a bitter laugh — his question more of a declaration than a query.
“hm? now why would you think that? what are you even trying to imply here?” heizou mutters, scratching the back of his neck as all the blood in his body shoots up to his face.
“do you think im fucking stupid, heizou?” tomo bursts out. “it’s written all over you guys faces! even arataki “the reason why beans grow in the ground is because they come from hell” itto figured that one out.”
heizou aimlessly stares dazedly at him, way too stunned to speak.
thoma interrupts the bone shattering silence with a stifled laugh. heizou just punches him in the gut.
“wait—“ thoma wheezes between laughs as tomo just chuckles beside him.
heizou just crosses his arms and leans back against the wall.

“hm, i don’t see what at all is so funny, care to enlighten me?” heizou mutters, feigning nonchalance.
tomo cackles before stopping himself. heizou almost bashes his knee in.
“well isn’t that a little mean?” tomo scoffs.
“may as well fuck me sideways, why don’t you?” heizou snickers.

tomo and thoma just stare at him completely befuddled for a moment before kazuha drags tomo away by the collar.

“still don’t know what that one’s about.” heizou mutters under his breath.
thoma glances at him for a moment, his eyes sickeningly green.
“oh yeah, itto also downed the drink we saved for you in one second flat. sorry about that…” he explains warmly.
“did he?” heizou says mindlessly before realisation strikes him across the face. “wait, he isn’t completely drunk, is he?” heizou asks, slight panic breaking through his calm voice.
“uh, not really — if he is then we can all take turns trying to detain him.” thoma slips out, mindlessly swishing around the sake in his glass.
“don’t do this to me… if he gets back in jail then i have to deal with shinobu berating me too.” heizou complains, rubbing the back of his neck as he does.
“you look like you’ve already dealt with shinobu a bit.” thoma laughs under his breath.
heizou kicks him again.

“oh fuck you—“
tomo promptly pops up behind thoma again and swiftly drags him away, muttering some intangible thing about “itto’s actually lost it” and what not.

it’s surprisingly empty inside the teahouse, ayato and gorou are nowhere to be seen. heizou glances around, the air thick and heavy yet warm and beckoning as it laps on his flushed face — said air eerily reminiscent of the night that started this whole thing. kazuha sits on the darkened timber barstool, staring out at the small window letting in strands of dashing moonlight that fights with every drop of the warm breeze laced with intoxication. heizou sits down in the seat next to him, his back pressed against the wall lined with different bottles of alcohol. heizou just sighs and rests his head on the counter, stray burgundy strands rolling off the side.
“shinobu’s gonna kill me.” he mutters under his breath.
kazuha offers him a pitiful glimpse.
“you know, we thought you cancelled on us, too. he says, holding his glass up to heizou in cheers. heizou accepts, sake swishing around harmoniously with the crunch of mesmerisingly clear glass. heizou almost takes a sip before a sudden thought to stay off the alcohol strikes him like a bullet. he obliges for the sake of his intuition.
“did you?” heizou asks, grasping for a bottle of water as a substitute.
kazuha nods.
“we wouldn’t have been very surprised if you did, honestly, i’m more surprised you actually showed up.” kazuha admits, taking subtle sips out of his glass as he does.
“and why’s that, you think i’m going to get myself into trouble?” heizou sardonically remarks.
“not that… ayato and gorou both cancelled last minute — they said that they had some sort of meeting to attend regarding the politics of inazuma, not the most obscure thing from them.”
heizou instantly shoots his head up and straightens his glass, his gaze fixated on kazuha so adamantly it seems like a single glare can pierce through him.
“say that one again, won’t you kazuha?” he asks demandingly, leaning on his palm.

“do you actually, or are you just being figurative?” kazuha questions far too elonquently for the context, his torn sleeve swaying as he reaches to refill his glass.
“aren’t you so poetic — the second option.” heizou says smugly.
“ah, i see. i don’t know what exactly they’re talking about, but considering your position just a question or two should be able to guise enough.” kazuha explains.
heizou prods at his temple with intent running through his blood. looks like he has someone to talk to tomorrow.
tomo and thoma drag itto back into the main room, thoma quite literally choking him as he pushes him onto a barstool.
“now that we’re all actually here, who’s down for the hotpot game?” thoma exclaims cheerily.

heizou just stares at him, blatant discontent pooling in his eyes. itto hollers and slams his head against the table and then tilts his head back repeatedly like it’s some sort of carnival game. shinobu is absolutely going to tear into heizou the second she hears about this.
“we are not playing that hotpot game.” tomo orders sharply — authority radiating off his voice as he holds down itto by the shoulder.
“why not?” heizou says smugly, thoma nodding along with him.
“last time we all got food poisoning and itto started crying.” kazuha adds, slumping against the counter.

“uh, i don’t remember that one.” thoma admits sheepishly.
“ofcourse you didn’t.” kazuha mutters calmly, thumbing the empty sake glass barely out of his grasp.

they did end up playing the hotpot game — after way too much bargaining and lost bets. and that game was utter torture.
it got so bad that itto yet again started crying and kazuha had to drag tomo out after he was halfway about to vomit. sure, the game was a living nightmare and should never be concocted if thoma’s the one deciding which ingredients go to who, but atleast it’s some sort of distraction to heizou’s internal chaos. it’s hard not to get lost in the moment of friendly yet sadistic laughter and fiery shots and the whimsical scent of alcohol dripping off the air. atleast, for a moment, he doesn’t have to worry about his own things.

heizou regrettably polishes off the hotpot bowl his hand weakly grasps, the empty bowl trailing final drops of murky soup onto the stainless countertop now ridden with half eaten toppings.
“there. it’s finished. where’s my mora.” heizou asks through an exhausted drawl.
thoma laughs.
“tomorrow, i’ll get ayato to fund it.” thoma chimes.
heizou cleanses the tip of his tongue with yet another glass of sake, the arduously vile taste now finally cleansed from his tongue. he chugs an entire glass of frigid water and can almost feel the lingering essence of it floating around him in nagging spires. he gave up on staying off the alcohol — more so gave in. the once so blaring yet warm lights now just seem like giant orbs of incandescent radiance plaguing his vision, everything seeming incessantly fuzzy as heizou flailingly gropes around the table for his belongings, jumping off the barstool, the sound of his feet colliding with the timber heavy in his eardrums as it radiates and bounces around malevolently.
“thanks for the drinks thoma!” heizou bites back his slurred speech. “see you!”

heizou just leans back against the wooden wall as the night air engulfs him completely, the once so vivid stars now seeming far away as they parade alongside the moon admist the starlit sky. everything seems somewhat blurry, except for shinobu, that is. he can see her completely perfectly, her violet eyes bruised with slight worry as she glances at him.
heizou just flops into her open arms, her gloved hands gripping him tight yet endearingly as shinobu gently combs through the ends of his hair.
“how much did you even drink?” she asks concerningly.
“not that much if i remember… correctly… just mix that with the aftermath of the infamous… hotpot game.” heizou rasps against her shoulder.
“how many drinks did itto have?” shinobu demands.
“more than one. go ahead and punch me whilst im not sober enough to feel it.” heizou slurs.
shinobu just softly flicks one of the moles under his eyes, that gesture strong enough to momentarily bring him back to sobriety.
“have you… been here the whole time…?” heizou rasps. “i might just have to arrest you for loitering.”
“will you now?” shinobu snarks with a raised eyebrow, gently holding heizou up.
“now you know me shinobu… why would i do that?” heizou smiles giddily.
“i went for a walk, needed to clear my head.” she mutters.
even admist his drunken stupor he can see the eternally present blank look in her eyes.
“shino…?” he asks quietly, straightening himself up to look at her dead in the eye. “you’ve been… off lately, something on your mind?”

“you’re one to talk.” she says with mild bitterness — heizou laughing lightly in response. he can’t be laughing. he’s so utterly drunk. and now he has to deal with this and shinobu has to deal with it too. the guilt churns in his stomach and threatens to splatter out whilst shattering his bones.
“do you want to crash at my place? i have a spare bed.” shinobu proposes. heizou dazedly glances up at her, his knees weakening as the blush starts blooming on his face and spreading down his love bruised neck.
“my place isn’t… far. i can manage, although i do appreciate… how much you care for me, it’s… touching, really.” heizou blurts out, alcohol seeping through his veins.
shinobu laughs, gently tugging at the ends of heizou’s wine red tresses.
heizou stares up at her for a moment, his eyes glossing up as he shifts under her touch, her touch is surprisingly tender yet callous all the same.
he reaches upwards to cup her love bruised cheek, gently prodding at her cheekbone.
“can i…?”
shinobu nods before tugging him in.
“god…”
heizou’s eyelids feel weak as they fall over his sage eyes, shinobu gently sucking on his lip as he just melts in to her, memorising the taste of her all over again.
“i’ll… meet you tomorrow…?” heizou murmurs against her lips.
shinobu gently strings her fingers through the back of his hair, heizou gripping onto the back of her neck and pushing her further into him.
“sober up first, i have a lot to talk to you about.” she says, pulling apart momentarily before her tongue collides with his.

what were they before this? acquaintances, friends at best.
heizou likes this arrangement a lot more though.
and shinobu probably likes it too — atleast heizou hopes.
why did they even kiss anyway?
heizou falls back against the wall as shinobu just kisses him harder. it hurts to think, he’ll contemplate that one tomorrow. they’ll talk tomorrow and he’ll think tomorrow.

his mind flashes back to yae miko as he begins to dot kisses on the side of kuki’s neck. she wanted him to stay out of it, but complying with her wishes would mean being uncomplacent with shinobu. it’s his job to help bring people to either justice or freedom, and for her, he’s willing to do both.
what do you call this feeling?

atleast it’s a distraction. and since yae miko wants their plan to fail, he’s going to need a lot of those.

————————————

yae miko’s feet click rythmitcally against the polished floorboards, her footsteps almost like a melody.
“shogun…! how are you…?” miko chimes, beckoning the shogun in for a hug — her reciprocating by staying completely stiff. miko rolls her eyes at such uncomplacent behaviour.
“where’s ei.” miko asks under her breath, trying to keep the smile plastered on her face from cracking.
“what do you need, yae miko?” the shogun asks flatly, not an ounce of emotion in her voice.
“i want to talk to ei.” miko seethes.
“you cannot talk to ei.” the shogun replies.
“yes i can.” miko snarls.

the shogun remains stunned for a second, her fervently blank eyes turning null as she just stares right through miko.
“you will be permitted exactly fifteen minutes inside the plane of euthymiya.” the shogun finally obliges, her face remaining perfectly stoic and unmoving.
“why thank you dearest shogun, i’ll pass on your regards to ei if you’d like!” miko calls with feigned benevolence, the shogun just nodding in accordance.

a cold fraught lashes miko at the face as she steps through the rift, fluttering fragments of the world above nicking her at her feet, smooth skin now ruptured with those blood red ebony fragments. miko glances around, her eyes stretching from the guttural ground speckled with dust up to craning her neck just to glare at the immense amounts of crimson stained tori gates. everything is so grotesquely crimson, the air itself unmoving, frozen fractures garishly biting at her skin as she walks through the rhapsody of fog.

it’s almost surreal to see ei instead of the shogun.

shattered moon shards spiral around in the distance, slowly fading with each crimson remnant of what once was so bright. miko’s steps grit against the dust colluded floor as she walks up to ei. ei just floats there, lingering eerily with one foot barely suspended off the ground, her violet braid swaying in the empty breeze. she's nothing but stoic, completely utterly stoic.
“ei?” miko asks slowly.
ei opens her eyes as slow as miko’s words. at the sight of miko, that once so bright flare pops up in her eyes for a mere second, and then it just fades and fades and fades until miko can’t see it anymore.
“m-miko…?” ei’s voice cracks hoarsely, a clear indicator that she hasn’t spoken in months. surely it’s been a boring existence doing nothing but eternal meditation admist eternal silence — it sure has been a boring existence for miko without ei.

“why yes i know, what a pleasure to see me, isn’t it ei?” miko chimes, trying to wash the unease out of her mind.
“miko… what brings you here?” ei asks sombrely, her porcelain face seeming like it’s going to fall off with each movement.
“why now, what do you think? i’m here to have a chat with you! i havent seen you in ages, ei.” miko chirps, a shudder breaking through her charm.
“ah, i see.” ei says.
“that’s… all?” miko pouts, gently running her hand down ei’s sleeved arm.
ei nods before her eyes flutter shut and she returns to her meditation stance.
“ei, don’t be like that. i merely wanted to discuss that decree you wanted to implement.” miko says, a smirk speaking more than her words.
ei opens her eyes so quickly miko almost gets sent flying back.

“yes, what about it?”
“here’s the thing ei… are you sure such measures in the name of eternity is a good idea?” miko queries.
“yes. i don’t doubt my own choices and neither should you.” ei says coldly — her tone so cold it feels like there’s ice congregating on her words.
“ei. are you sure doing something that could potentially be so arduous to inazuma is a good idea?”
ei nods stiffly, her kimono sleeves fluttering as they cut through the emptiness of the air.
“inazuma has been declining for a long time, ei. what makes you think such an idea could potentially save it?” miko explains with a wave of her delicate hand.
“eternity is a drastic cause and it calls for drastic measures.” ei mutters, perfectly lost in her own reverie, completely oblivious to miko’s concerns.
yae sighs deeply and reaches out to cup ei’s face — her touch tender enough to release a flower from a cage but strong enough to knock someone off their feet with one singular swoop.
“but eternity is far too cruel a fate for you, ei.” she softly says. “what would makoto think of such a thing?”

ei’s eyes widen at the mention of her sister.
“did you speak to the kamisatos?” she profusely diverts.
“why yes ofcourse i did, lovely people those two. i do anything you request of me, my dearest, ei.” miko flaunts, prodding at ei’s cheek.
“and what did they think of it?” ei says.
“not great, it’s become a heated topic between many political figures, so bad some crimes have started to spark up.” miko explains.
“crimes?”
“yes… crimes. what else could you have thought i said?” yae says, twirling around ei and planting a small kiss on the side of her forehead.
“what type?”
“nobody’s directly tried to oppose it yet, but theyre not afraid to voice their distaste of the idea of the decree itself.” miko whispers. “that said, you did say you wanted to keep it between the high ranking officials, correct?”
ei nods again, miko lightly thumbing her neck as she does.
“here’s the problem with that, it has been breached to sone extent.” miko utters out.
ei just stares at her. miko takes the deafening silence as an opportunity to continue.
“one of the higher up’s breached it, i’m quite unsure who at the moment, i’ll be sure to get her to figure it out.” miko muses.
“her?” ei asks with a slight turn of her head.
“oh ei… acting so foolish now?” miko snarks, squeezing ei’s ghostly cheek. “you know exactly who i’m talking about, she’s very efficient!”

ei’s expression remains unreadable, so unreadable not even yae miko herself can decipher it.
“how many people know about the specifics now?” ei asks.
“ah, that. probably only the lower ranking officials, no ordinary citizen knows of it yet. that being said… two people in specific are trying to figure it out.”
ei cocks her head at that quizzically.
“kuki shinobu, that’s who. as your request, i’ve been trying to get more people under the shrines wing, but she’s being awfully stubborn. a shame, someone like her is rather intelligent, her talent is invigorating. if only she would comply with my requests then things would be so much easier, a shame… won’t you help your beloved out here, ei?” miko whines.
“why in specific her? would it be so hard to find other shrine maidens?” ei queries.
“well, it would. she’s one of the last few daughters who fall under that contract you got morax to make, you know…” miko claps her hands together, a perfectly pristine glistening paper with golden dashes and gleam falling off it like eternal rays of glory.
“this one.”
“i understand…” ei mutters.
“she’s got someone working with her too, shikanoin heizou is his name, or something equally as frivolous. both of them are somehow managing to disrupt this plan, as amusing as the mere concept may be.” miko scoffs. “so… what do you take of this?”
ei pauses for a second.
“speed up all processes. implement the decree as soon as possible. if eternity has so many enemies, then swiftness is the only way to combat it.” ei demands sternly.
miko is nothing but taken aback, all following thoughts and flirtatiously taunting remarks eradicating from her mind entirely.
“are… you sure? that seems like a rather preposterous idea.” miko reasons.
“i said what i said miko.”
“alright then.” miko mutters stiffly, unbothered to reason any longer. “thank you, miko. do make sure the plan comes into fruition soon.”
“ofcourse it will, ofcourse it will.” miko says reassuringly, but a slight shift in her voice questions her own devotion. “would you like a kiss goodbye?”
ei just smiles at her weakly.

the kiss is nothing short of riveting, and yet, it tastes like determination -- ei simply wont drop those foolish ideas of hers, will she?

Chapter Text

“now since when were there security breaches?”
heizou presses his temple a bit too hard. he shuffles between each case file again and again, scouring any key words that stand out to him and scrutinising every detail.
he wasn’t originally going to take this case, but since it may as well have some sort of benefit to him, where’s the harm in extra work? atleast it’s another thing he can defend himself with give it the chance that sango drops another anonymous tip into the police station’s mail box threatening to get him fired out of petty spite.
“exactly what i said, doushin shikanoin…” the officer exhaustedly sighs, reaching upwards to tousle the ebony hair masking his pale forehead.
heizou rubs his eyes, the bloodshot of them threatening to seep onto his fingers.
“so what im gathering from this, something that the shogunate has been keeping confidential has been leaked, and nobody knows who the culprit was.” heizou mutters, his elbow resting on the lacquer engulfed table.

the officer nods.
exactly what he and shinobu had assumed.
“and you expect me to be able to solve this case with little to no leads?” heizou continues, waving his ringed finger around idly.
“well… we would appreciate if you took the case, shikanoin — it’s not absurd to believe you’re one of the few people with the capacity to solve this.” the officer says, shifting the paper across the smooth table, the papers rustling together lightly.
“alright alright… i understand the jist of it.” heizou mutters, his eyes seeming like they’re lost in a completely different timeline.
“shikanoin… it’s crucial that you take this—“
“no, no. i’m willing to take it, i just need to know a little more details, as anyone would.” heizou says. “what’s the exact timeframe for this case? — what i mean as in when does the shogunate expect it to be solved.”

“i… can’t say, perhaps a month?” the officer mindlessly says whilst twiddling his calloused thumbs.
“i see. i can work with that.” heizou declares, his bloodshot gaze avoiding anything but the obsidian glazed ring tightening around his finger. “i’ll take it, i do have some other things to do though — i’ll try and speak with the kamisatos.”
“that would be much appreciated, thank you, shikanoin.”
“i’ll begin the investigation today, don’t you worry.” heizou remarks as he silently watches the officer walk off, his nonsensical ramblings hanging in the air.

it’s too early for this.

he hasn’t even tied his hair yet.
heizou fishes the coarse raggedy ribbon out of his pocket, the textured material chafing between his fingers as he does — said ribbon eerily similar to the one shinobu consistently wears, and places it between his teeth. he tugs the ends of his hair together and retrieves the ribbon, bundling it together and tugging the ribbon so tight it strains his fingers. he stares down at the case files scattered out on the table, rigid corners grazing potted plants as his sweating palms try to straighten them out. there’s an abundance of them; all surrounding the same topic — federal crimes. and heizou can only take so many of them. it should be fine.

he really should’ve accepted shinobu’s offer, huh?

heizou weakly reaches for a lukewarm glass of water risking falling off the table — the lingering taste of bile etched into the back of his tongue as the liquid runs down his throat. even after chugging the whole cup it still feels like his throat is violently shedding itself to pieces and dry pieces of skin clogging his breathing. he hurriedly stacks every relevant file atop eachother and slips them in a folder — then slipping that folder into his bag, the smooth plastic rubbing at the interior of his bag.

it’s so bright, so unbearably, unlawfully bright, and the way each light bounces and dances around in his head so badly it’s going to melt his eyes out of their sockets. he’s no lightweight, but at the same time, everything else piling on top of him adds a lot to the impending explosion that's going to strike him any moment now? he briskly walks over to the police station door, his hands gripping around the cooled brass doorknob. so all he has to do now is talk to ayato, talk to gorou, talk to kujou sara and then go find shinobu, simple, right?

heizou has more than one reason for taking this case now, and just the thought alone of having an ulterior motive for taking a case has his head spiralling on more than just phantom intoxication. taking this case could prove to be nothing but beneficial to him and shinobu’s own investigation, that said — yae miko did tell him to drop it.
he offered to help though, and he wouldn’t unless shinobu herself told him to.

heizou presses down on his temple again, the feeling of his heartbeat jumping up into his brain and pounding relentlessly to the point it’ll shatter bone evident against his pale fingers. it’s too early to think about this now. he has better things to think about.

the ideal perpetrator for the security breach is someone who is not only high ranking in terms of position in the shogunate, but also someone who’s exhibited signs of distaste towards the shogun in any means, whether it be through behaviour or policy.
heizou presses his temple again, he can’t really think of anyone that fits the criteria — kujou sara and ayato probably will, though.

all he can do is start investigating — and by that, go around and ask.

———————————————

“your work has been suffice, but not satisfactory.”
“i… isn’t that the same thing…?”
miko scoffs.
“no no no… they are much different… come now, guuji yae will explain it to you.”
“ah… uhm… aha… no no, it’s fine. i understand it now. just… what could i do to improve…?” she asks tentatively, curling a strand of her hair around her fingers.
yae miko weaves her fingers together menacingly, her elbows propping her up on the table — her figure entirely laced in mystique as her golden headpiece gleams mockingly in the faint light. it’s dark here, so incessantly, unnervingly dark. that darkness only intruded by the faint flickers of sakura scented candlewax breiefly illuminating the tassels in the air that almost look like blood encased nooses in this atmosphere.

“hm, it’s hard to gather a success criteria considering you are one of the few people willing to take this job. i must congratulate you on that, it’s commendable, truly. you must be rather devoted to be one of the minuscule amount of people who condone such a proposal.” miko admits slyly, her dainty porcelain fingers stretching across the table to grab a small wooden box, faint etchings of light crawling out of the seal.
“alas, i must say you have many grounds for improvement — although you have done well in terms of gathering intel, your performance in terms of being inconspicuous has been rather… my my… how do i say this without hurting you precious little feelings?” miko says through a half hearted pout.
“underwhelming?”
“no no no… do you think your beloved guuji yae is that heartless? i merely meant that it could use some work… you know… polishing! you know about that thing… improvement? seems like you my dearest — needs a lot of it. ”
she chews her lip.
yae miko smiles and slowly opens the box a tad bit too suspensefully. she pulls the vision out of the depths of the box, the cool gem cold and glassy on her palm.
“as i had promised, your compensation… “ she coos, anticipation dripping off her words. the fabric of her kimono rustle against the table as she grabs the girls hand and places it in her palm, forcefully wrapping her fingers around the vision.

her breath stills as she clutches the vision yae just placed in her hand to her chest, her heart pounding relentlessly as the violet hue beamed onto the fabric of her shirt.
“a-already…?”
sweat beads off her forehead and drips onto the vision in a triplet of liquid trickling down her pale fingers — the fingertips tinged yellow as she grips the vision like her life depends on it.
“hush now, i had to go through some rather unorthodox methods of acquiring that, i have a feeling you’ll need it to get the job done.” miko says, the box slamming shut with a loud clash.
“t-thank—“
“don’t, i am merely fulfilling my duty, why wouldn’t i do so?”

———————————————

heizou swings the door open, the heavy metal tearing through the air and threatening to bash against the brick walls. his feet click against each gritty sunbathed stone as he walks along the wayward path of the city, the wind streaming through his hair as he does. kujou sara wasn’t in today, unfortunately enough — it’s not unusual though, heizou figured that with all the conflict going on inside inazuma’s government, it wouldn’t be surprising for sara to be working overtime to keep things in check. all he can do is ask her tomorrow, but there’s a chance he won’t even have time for that. heizou glances around. there’s a significant amount of guards — everywhere, like swimming in the crowd everywhere. not just normal shogunate workers enjoying their afternoon break, the type of everywhere that has them standing guard at all times and bearing their blades at anyone slightly suspicious. it’s beffuddling. there’s no reason for this… right?

a week and a day left. yae miko wants him to drop it. bit too late for that one, hm?

heizou ponders for a moment, investigating this case won’t be the easiest, but ayato should be willing to give him enough, and if not — he’ll just have to do something absurd like tying thoma to a chair and waiting for him to cave.
it’s so bright, so unnervingly bright. the type of bright that is bound to be pleasant as the sky ruptures in strands of silken clouds ridden with the scent of fluttering flowers and loose petals rushing admist the warm summery wind. the ends of heizou’s hakama stray in the air as he pushes through bustling crowds of people, each quaint shop pulsing with chatter. heizou continues to stride down the street, thoughts rushing through his head until it’s all stopped when a familiar masked face piques his interest.

shinobu and chiori neatly start shelving packages into their proper places, chiori idly chattering to her as shinobu just listens, her lime ponytail glinting slightly under the suns blistering rays of shimmer. chiori hauls three boxes into her arms, her kimono sleeves fluttering in the breeze.
“need any help with that?” shinobu offers.
“oh truly, you’re too kind shinobu, but there’s no need. i’ll be having a lot of these to carry anyway — i don’t want to hassle you.” chiori gently reassures.
“are you relocating the store or something?” shinobu asks.
“i suppose you could say that.” chiori mutters under her breath.
“hm? what’s the occasion?”
“inazuma has been anything but welcoming as of late, calling this place a home has been more and more of a hassle… what a pain…” chiori harshly whispers.
“so you plan to leave?” shinobu asks, grabbing a particularly large box and handing it to chiori — which is now nodding violently.
“i don’t see a reason to stay. ayato has informed me of some rather devious stuff happening here, if that’s not a reason to leave i don’t know what is. my fashion career would excel in somewhere like fontaine or even snezhnaya.” atleast she’s blunt.

heizou walks by the fabric stacked shop, his pace hindering slightly as he meets shinobu’s eyes. her gaze softens slightly, her piercingly sharp pupils shifting into something more tender admist a sea of fervent violet. she nods at him before continuing her conversation with chiori.
“i’d be leaving inazuma too, if it weren’t for complications…”

heizou’s feet stampede against each grainy tile, a flash of copper capturing his gaze momentarily as the sky rains radiance down on him — his arms leaning against a darkened iron railing, his breath stiff as he flicks through the case files once more. it’s not long before his bated breath is interrupted by more than just thought — gloved fingers prying his bottom lip open and placing a lit cigarette between his lips, the ashen flame rising upwards and taunting his gaze.
heizou glances over at her, not even her hexing eyes can distract from the growing eyebags that frame them alongside her bangs.

a common habit of his that he unwillingly owns is the way he’ll constantly scrutinise every detail, no matter how standardly insignificant it may be.
everything speaks of something that runs far deeper than it should.
everything’s become dull, so sickeningly dull — ever since that god forsaken contract became a thing everything became dull. and heizou hates it, violently hates it. above all else, it’s arduous on the heart, not the eyes. from the soft brushing of ebony under her eyes to the way her skin seems ever so slightly more porcelain as it clings to her sturdy bones.

they’re both deteriorating, everything’s deteriorating at this point — if the politics are degrading then so must the people. everything’s becoming terrible, incessantly terrible, from the politics to whatever nonsense runs deeper.

heizou stares into shinobu’s eyes, to the point where it seems like his mere gaze can melt them away and swallow them into nothing. even with the faint daze that shrouds her vibrantly violet eyes, it still feels entrancing to him no matter what. that dusky daze, the way it colludes the reliable and ever so mischevious spark in her eyes, the way it’s off putting, grotesque, disturbing and somehow beautiful.
and it hurts him far more than he’d like.

and she won’t let him bring it up, because heaven forbid he stays observant when she’s involved.

he thinks about her more than the case, doesn’t he?

thinking about her so often seems like a trivial indulgence at times, and yet, it’s extremely enjoyable. enjoyable to the point where he wouldn’t mind his veins being replaced with such indulgences. it’s not like he has a choice though, with everything that’s been going on, having her in his mind eternally isn’t abnormal — nor was it ever abnormal. it still perplexes him all the same.

“you’ve been smoking more than usual, something’s off?” heizou remarks, scanning the case files as he gnaws on the end of the smouldering cigarette. he’s seen this before, the way she’ll momentarily start spamming cigarettes like it’s a lifeline the second something unbearable greets her.
shinobu sighs and shakes her head.
“don’t worry about it, you’re one to talk anyway.” she snarks, inching closer to him.
“are you sure? because—“
shinobu hastily prys her mask off and sharply turns to him, her hand finding the side of his face and gently brushing his flushed cheekbone.
“move your head to the side for me.”
heizou blinks gently and obliges. he sucks in his weary breath before she can steal it entirely. she kisses him gently — can’t even be considered a kiss, just a peck. it shuts him up, even though his brain is doing the exact opposite.
“i knew you’d do it.” she smiles snarkily.
“i trust your judgement — you may as well be more reliable than i am.” heizou chimes, leaning against the railing, his fingers lightly drumming against the tattered metal.

she smiles weakly before placing the ornate metal mask back on again, it clasping to the contours of her face with a solid click. shinobu’s evidently just trying to divert the conversation. heizou almost scoffs at such reluctance, but he can’t blame her either. the feeling of softness blooms on the side of his face, pleasant warmth brushing at his skin.
“have you sobered up yet?” she snarkily asks, plucking another cigarette out from her belt.
“relatively… relatively…” heizou drawls, his head slumped into the papers as he begrudgingly tucks them back into his bag. liar. every cloud and building still seems unlawfully hazy. “i wasn’t that drunk now, was i?”

“you were drunk enough to call me shino.”
heizou pauses. he doesn’t even recall that — hell, he doesn’t even recall the last time he used that nickname. him and shinobu were good friends when they were younger, that was the last time he remembered calling her that.
his memory is sharp. he remembers the exact occasion.

heizou trotted up the stairs of the shrine, his back resting against the red tinged railings, the cooling sensation of it blooming through his muted purple shogunate uniform and onto his skin. those uniforms were insufferably uncomfortable — way too many layers and barely a sliver of breathability between them.
shinobu idly leaned against the railings next to him, somberly gazing down at the hazy dusk far below. her frown was momentarily curled into a smile when she saw him — that smile instantly dissolving back into a frown in a flash.
“heizou?” shinobu had asked, positively puzzled, her shrine maiden garments fluttering softly in the frigid night gusts. “you said you were working.”
“you should smile more you know, i like it when you do.” heizou said, poking at the side of shinobu’s unmasked cheek. she blushed slightly at the gesture.
“you’re not gonna drop it huh? maybe for you i will, not in these conditions at least. what are you doing here anyway?”
heizou just shrugged and tossed her a pack of cigarettes.
“i can’t anymore, they’re not permitted on the shrine, purity stuff or whatever.” she hissed, sitting cross legged on the posts and gazing longingly at the slumbering inazuma city that’s lights never fully slept, her flushed face resting in her palm.
“oh? so old habits die really easily now?” heizou snarked, fiddling with the serrated edge of the cardboard.
“work’s been boring anyway, they’ve let me cut my shift short three times this week and it’s merely a thursday.” heizou admitted smugly, his head resting on shinobu’s knee, a strand of burgundy curling over the silken fabric of her kimono.
“so out of all places to go you choose the shrine?” shinobu said, eying heizou suspiciously.
“correction, i came to see you.” he smiled. “and besides, what’s wrong with me wanting to visit my favourite person?” he could’ve said shrine maiden, but it felt criminal to refer to her as something her heart doesn’t truly belong in.
shinobu sighed exhaustedly and slumped her head in her hands.

“how sweet, and besides, i have prayers soon, nighttime prayers in specific.” she groaned, her whining slightly muffled against the glossy silk.
she glanced up for a second and had her gazed fixed on something far into the fading horizon. heizou followed that gaze intently, his eyes wandering from shinobu to the scattering night sky barely illuminated by the flickering daffodil glazed lights of inazuma city that soared up into the air and masked the true beauty of the stars.
“do you ever get a break from this?” heizou asked.
shinobu shook her head.
“why don’t we just go there then?” he asked softly, subtly indicating to the city.
shinobu’s eyes widened for a split second.
“where exactly anyway? and yae miko would sever my head straight off if i even entertained that idea of yours.” shinobu muttered, gently flicking one of the moles under heizou’s eyes.
“anywhere you like, whatever that heart of yours wants.” heizou replied.
“oh stop it you, aren’t you meant to be doing anything but condoning slacking off?”
shinobu queried with feigned sternness.
“relax shino, i can be lenient sometimes. or if you really want i’ll have you handcuffed and locked up for even thinking of such a thing.” heizou said, holding back a wink.
shinobu just yanked at his hair.
“you’re positively insane.”
it feels almost criminal to remember shinobu as “the shrine maiden who never smiled”
and if they don’t find what the shogunate is planning soon, they’re going to be in the exact same scenario. four years apart.

shinobu clicks her fingers infront of heizou’s face.
“so we’re lost in thought now? i expected more diligence from the infamous prodigal shikanoin heizou.” she snarks — heizou playfully flicking her temple in return.
“god forbid i take a chance to think. i was thinking about you, you know.” he remarks slyly, his head slumped against the metal railings.
“really?” she asks, her eyebrows raised as if she’s scrutinising his words in her mind. a slight blush crawls down her neck, flushed pink blooming at the highest point of her cheekbone.
“oh? and what if i said i was admiring everything about you, hm?” heizou snarked, his fingers toying with the glassy pebbles chained to his belt.
shinobu chews the inside of her cheek and playfully shoves heizou’s arm. heizou always notices when she does, even if her mask remotely hides the action.
“you flatter me far too much for your own good.” she mutters, softly curling a strand of burgundy around her gloved finger.
“id be willing to go down like that.” heizou retorts. “what were you even doing at chiori’s anyway? you taking on a new job as a courier now?”
shinobu twiddles a fresh cigarette between her thumbs.
“not necessarily, i just saw she had quite a lot and decided to help.” kuki admits matter of factly.
“aren’t you phenomenally talented.”
“and aren’t you the sweet talker.” she snides teasingly.
“not like that, im just admiring that range of talent you have — you know?”

shinobu breathes out a laugh before returning to fiddling with the pristine cigarette between her fingers.
“what’s those papers you were looking at anyway? got anything interesting?” she asks, scooching in slightly.
“ah, that. i took up a new case, i’ll tell you more about it later. i have to go speak to ayato, gorou and then madam kujou.” he sighs exhaustedly, prodding at the grooves of the metal. chances are he won’t even get to speak to sara, for the past few weeks the only time he’s seen her is when she clocks into the police station to get some now headache medication — something’s certainly brewing, and he doesn’t like it in the slightest.
“aren’t you the lucky one.” kuki says sarcastically, lightly combing through his hair as she does.
heizou stares down at hanamizaka below — it’s quaint, each bustled scurry of people flickering in and out of the moss entombed streets and rushing in and out of small houses. it’s nice, freeing even. he stares up at the sky, the blurred clouds and mystique of blue seeming almost far away — the familiar warm sting on his face still ever so close. he feels stiff, so unnervingly, grotesquely stiff. it’s normal. fine. completely fine. way less than fine — the normalcy feels forced. it is forced. not even the presence of someone like shinobu can solve it.
heizou can almost feel the eyes of someone fixed on the back of his head, and it’s certainly not the familiarly comforting one of shinobu’s.
heizou swings around for a second, kuki’s fingers threaded through his hair sharply retract at the gesture, her eyebrows raised at heizou’s sudden jolt.
“heizou…? are you alright?”
her words bounce mindlessly around inside his almost empty head, each syllable echoing as it slams against the walls of his brain. he doesn’t see anything noteworthy, just the standard crowds flocking to rickety carts and stacked establishments and the occasional flash darting in and out of the crowd. it’s normal. so ordinarily normal, as normal as a leaf on the ground in the height of autumn. yet he can’t shake the feeling.
“nothing, nothing, just a sudden thought. call it intuition if you will.” heizou deflects.
“heizou, you can answer the question, you know?” shinobu says sharply, her tone breaking into even sturdier yet soft aggression.
“im only being truthful shinobu, just something.” he reasons, flicking shinobus temple.
“alright…” kuki drawls, not wanting to pry any further. heizou wishes she did.
“you know those annoying letters yae miko was bombarding us with?” heizou suddenly starts.
“hm? yeah, why?”
“have you gotten any since the first one she sent?” heizou continues.
shinobu shakes her head.
“just the first one, and you?”
“okay… i see. i’ll tell you later. i need time to think.”
“you and the word later.” shinobu snarks.
it’s silent, a good kind of silent. the silence that nobody would dare interrupt.
until someone does, that is.

“it’s a shame you left the shrine honestly… i missed seeing pretty girls like you whenever i visited.”
heizou sharply turns around at that, strands of hair whipping his face as he just stares at shinobu, then at the man, then at shinobu again.
shinobu swallows, her eyes darting around aimlessly before locking onto heizou.
“the gesture was… something. but i’d appreciate it more if you’d leave.” shinobu says, mindlessly drumming her fingers against the railing as the man just scooches closer with every step she takes backwards.
heizou steps forward, gently tugging at the man’s sleeved forearm.
“you heard her…” he mutters under his breath loudly enough to assert authority. “would it be so hard to leave?”
heizou’s seen this before; some people tend to be dense enough to touch shrine maidens in ways way less than welcoming in hopes that it would bring good luck. borderline assault in the worst cases — his older cousin always hated that aspect, and in the short time shinobu served the shrine, she evaded that uncomfortable torture, and heizou always felt content knowing she did.
the man glares at him wickedly, sickeningly wickedly. heizous stomach churns just looking at him. the man looks him up and down, heizou’s entire body tensing up at such a look.
“ah, so you’re one of them. leave.” heizou says sharply, rapidly swinging his baton around his fingers.
“why should i? for someone like her, no one would ever leave.” shinobu shifts uncomfortably, ushering herself next to heizou, her fingers resting on the knife tucked into her belt.
“aren’t you the lucky one—“ he rasps towards heizou before heizou cuts him off.
“don’t start on that conversation with me.” heizou seethes, crossing his arms together.
the man just ignores him entirely, the guttural creases of his grimy hands crawling up in writhing tongues as he reaches foreward and grips kuki’s shoulder, tracing his hand down and resting it on her scarred waist. he gives her skin an agressive squeeze before tracing up the side of her body.
shinobu elbows him in the jaw.
“fuck—“
the man groans, clutching his dislodged jaw and grunting as he stares shinobu down.
heizou walks up to him, staring him down the same way you'd look at an insignificant shard of glass lodged in the sole of your shoe.
“i assume you got the idea, correct?” he sneers.
the man glares up at him, eyes glinting grotesquely as shinobu walks up to heizous side.
“you—“
heizou punches him in the nose.
the man hollers on the floor, trying to gather his bearings as his head reels back into the hardened concrete, hair all dishevelled as it masks those unnerving eyes. the crowd almost stills next to him, bustling commotions drawing to a halt just to gawk, stare and even laugh and point at the man.
heizou promptly turns his attention to shinobu.
“are you alright! im sorry i didn’t—“ the apologies spew out of his mouth rapidly, but none of them seem genuine enough — none of them seem worthy enough.
“heizou, it’s fine. really. you don’t need to—“ she stresses, violet eyes darting everywhere possible as they fill to the brim with worry.
“shinobu?”
the man getting up on his feet cuts off anything else either of them wanted to say. heizou rolls his eyes and kicks the man in the shin, grabbing him by the collar and slamming him down on the floor.
shinobu glares at him.
he hobbles over, crowds diverting their tracks just to avoid the scene as the man aimlessly grips the air for support, his eyelids heavy as he does.
heizou fiddles with the loose pair of silver handcuffs hanging on his waist, the metal slick and cool against his fingers. the man’s eyes widen as he takes note of heizou’s mindless fidgeting, his dingy fists curling into balls at his side, heaving relentlessly whilst enraged shudders shake through him. he lunges foreward, fists swinging manically — heizou ducking as shinobu grips the attempted blow and twirls him around before kicking him in the lower back, heel driving into his flesh. he shrieks, wrinkled face harbouring discomfort as he collides with the ground again, only to be hauled up and dropkicked back into the bushes. blood drips down his nose and engraves into his wrinkles, cuts and grazes catching stray leaves and twigs adorning his skin — he groans, eyes hollow as he gets to his feet and rampantly swings towards heizou, heizou stopping him in his tracks with a firm grip around his wrist. he doubles over, kicking heizou in the shin and slapping him with his free hand. heizou materialises the thought of speckled grime crawling up the side of his face and retches a little.
shinobu bolts over and elbows the man right in the side of his head, gooey blood splattering out of his bruised nostrils and onto both of them. shinobu flinches slightly before dodging a flailing attempt to slap her too, her knee colliding with his hip.
he groans again, said groans shifting into a shriek as heizou grabs his wrist so tight the blood dissipates and flips him over, sending him crashing into the railing and limply draped over it. heizou gently rubs his bruised cheek, fresh stinging biting at the flesh. it almost burns, a faint flame engulfing the interior of his mouth.
heizou turns to shinobu, whipped air lashing at his face as he does.
“i’ll take care of it.” he mutters, smearing the thick blood on his shirt and flashing the pair of glinting handcuffs hanging idly at his waist.
“you sure? i can come with you if you want.” she asks, seemingly unfazed, but that imminent hollow look is momentarily ghosting through her violet eyes.
“you said you had other things to do hm? i wouldn’t wanna interrupt those duties of yours.” heizou says slyly, striding up to the man and pinning him down into the rusted railing, his knee pressed against his lower back.
“fucks this?” he groans. “idle chit chat?”
heizou punches the man in the shoulder blade hard enough to send violent convulses down his spine. using his vision would be fun, presumably. but he can save that for later.
“havent you heard the phrase about you having the right to remain silent?” heizou snides, leaning over and tauntingly smirking at the man.
“i guess i do.” shinobu muses quietly, offering heizou a small cloth, presumably to clean the blood with. “i’ll meet you later? after you finish up with whatever case you’re working on.”
heizou nods solemnly and clasps the handcuffs around the man’s tainted wrists, his hands being bound into surrender with one single click.
shinobu glances at him one last time before departing from the scene, her now loosened bun swaying slightly in the breeze of summer’s finale. something in him twists a little.

“are you two done yapping or shit?” the man hoarsely groans, spit flicking onto the pavement all disgustingly bubbly as it collides onto the stone. “why you even arresting me for… i didn’t do anything!”
heizou kicks him in the back of his knee, turns him around and forces him down onto the pavement, the crowd blankly staring back at him. the man weakly shudders, bloodied and battered grazings popping up on his knees.
“mhm, whatever you say. i’ll ask madam kujou and she can make a more sound verdict i guess.”
the man swallows.
heizou slams him down further into the ground, heel pressing on his shoulder warranting an ached groan from the man.
“so can i trust you not to run off and be kind enough to walk down to the police station yourself or do i have to drag you there with my very two hands?” heizou asks, his voice steady and almost charming — a thread of authority spiking up in his voice.
the man croaks out words as indecipherable as broken constellations and slumps down, his neck arched in peculiar clarity as he mindlessly stares up at heizou, his mop of mess slumped over the face that harbours a concerning mix of regret and tinged annoyance playing on his chapped lips.
“is that a yes?” heizou beams charmingly, as if pure sunshine is going to fall out of his mouth. “i don’t have much time you know… i have much more important things to deal with than the likes of you — i’m a busy man.”
the man looks pathetic. criminals can be so silly sometimes, not in the cute adorable silly way, as in the stupid abhorrent kind of silly that makes you want to physically recoil. his battered eyebrows droop as he straightens himself out.

“ah… i…” he stammers, words cut off as he tentatively grinds his pearly yellows together. his hands squirming against the cool steel of the handcuffs. heizou resists the temptation to kick him again.
“so… yes, or no?” heizou asks, smile barely cracking. he leans down to meet the man’s eyes, eyebrows furrowed as he glares at him.
“no answer hm?” heizou snarks. “i see, i see…” his words hand in the air loosely before he kicks the man up — him yelping in response and forcing him up onto his feet. “or, since you crave the attention of random unsuspecting women on the street, would you like me to go get miss kuki shinobu so she can drag you there herself?”
his eyes widen slightly, and for a mere second, something in him stirs. maybe it’s fear that flickers across his face, maybe it’s twisted enjoyment.
“uhm, well… mr doushin… there’s no need for that…” the man stammers awkwardly, eyes darting from side to side, the specks of moss crammed between shattered tiles now museum worthy levels of intriguing to him.

“fear, i like it. remember her name but don’t you dare say it — if im not mistaken this is not the first time you’ve been captured for an offence like this, correct?” heizou muses, tauntingly pressing down his temple in non existent thought.
“you didn’t answer my question you know, i’m still very much awaiting that answer.” heizou huffs, a twinge of annoyance cracking through his distasteful smile.
“yea, yea… right. i’ll walk boss, i’ll walk.”
“don’t call me that.”
heizou tugs the man up by the thin chain binding his wrists together and kicks him light enough to force him to walk but hard enough to send aches coursing through his spine in the process.

heizou glances around, his eyes drowning in the sight of everyone’s gaze stuck on him — everyone’s gaze to be specific. it’s like he just shot the shogun dead three times in her dubiously existent heart and twirled his hand whilst courtesying. his coworker departs from the rowdy cacophony of the crowd to walk up to him, sauntering and lightly shoving strangers as he does.
he pats down his coat, the coarse fabric creasing under his dry hands.
“shikanoin… you’re terrifying.” the officer breathlessly exhales, his glasses lightly glinting under the sun.
heizou shrugs. the guy fixes his crooked grin. it’s not like he’s particularly close with this particular officer — not like he’s close with any of his coworkers in specific; almost all his work is conducted alone, he’ll occasionally speak with others, namely kujou sara and shinobu for extra intel, but that’s the most of it.
“so, you’re gonna arrest him, no?” the officer asks, softly combing through his light brown streaks.
“eh, i’ve seen this guy before, he’s been in the police station about a dozen times for the exact same offence and almost always gets bailed out by his mother — a face only a mother can love i suppose…”
“i think madam kujou might scream at you — you had him beat real badly.” the officer chimes in, tentatively tapping against his hip.
“will she?” heizou asks casually, imitating surprise. he smears the clotted blood splatters dotting his shirt, it feels uncomfortably warm as it slides onto the grooves of his fingertips. “he showed signs of aggression first — miss kuki just did it as means of self defense.”

“fair enough, fair enough.” the officer shrugs, tugging on his hat mindlessly. “so… you’re bringing him back to the station, yes?”
heizou glances back at the man — the man in question pathetically squirming on the floor as passerby gape at him, half disgust, half confusion, half horror. heizou can’t tell if he wants to retch, scoff or laugh.
“i have much better things to do, but given i believe this guy’s case has been ongoing for months — i may as well close it now.” heizou drawls through a stern sigh.

“alright then, goodluck with that, shikanoin…” the officer breathes before turning away and sinking back into the shuffling crowd.

heizou turns sharply, the ends of his hakama frolicking lightly in the breeze as his calculated steps clank against the gritty stone floors. he glares down at the man and resists the urge to roll his eyes through a scowl. the man rolls over and looks up at him, unbridled fury pooling in his eyes, battery and bruise rolling down his face and denting in his wrinkled flesh. heizou kicks him in the shin again, soliciting another ached shriek from the man.
“get up. now.”