s a nice morning when Ei wakes up, ignoring the fact that apparently there was a storm raging last night. Fortunately it's not caused a huge problem aside from making a morning much busier than usual to clean the mess.
The only thing she found unusual was the fact that General Kujou Sara was found unconscious outside, in the garden with a few bruises on her face nonetheless. When she first received that report she first thought that General Sara had been attacked by some intruders but Shogun convinced her that General Kujou was probably just being hit by something hard that the storm carried away that caused her to fall unconscious.
Ei can trust her words, both of them can detect anyone who enters and exits from Tenshukaku. She needs to visit Sara after breakfast with Makoto, Ei hoped she was already awake when she visited her. Ei hopes the breakfast that Tenshukau provides would be satisfactory to Makoto.
She walks to Makoto's guest room with the intent to invite him to have breakfast together. It's not taken her a long time to reach her destination. Ei wonder if he is still asleep or already awake. There is only one way to find out.
Ei lightly tap the wooden frame of the door. "This is me, Ei. I just want to invite you to eat breakfast together, only if you want to."
For a moment there was only silence before. "Wait, give me a moment." The sound of Makoto from inside the room.
It's not long before the door opens to reveal Makoto already wearing his usual clothes and Kasa hat. Proudly showing his large gold ornament that contains his Anemo vision is pinned along a singular very familiar gold feather.
This time, Ei's eyes noticed the feather clearly different from before where her mind somehow quietly sets aside the thought of it. It's something she already noticed but easily ignored. Ei doesn't know where this familiar feeling comes from but it's not the time to find out or perhaps never will. The thought of that disappears from her mind at the next moment. For right now her attention is for Makoto.
"Good morning." Ei greeted him. Makoto answered back with his own Good morning. "I hope you enjoy your night stay here."
Makoto just nodded in response. Ei believe that the answer is equivalent to "Yes".
"Let's go to breakfast, you must be very hungry right now." She smiled at him. Smiles come naturally for her these days especially after meeting Makoto. But for a moment she can see Makoto just frowned for a reason and in the next moment it's gone.
"Is something wrong?" She tries to ask him. Worried if something was bothering him but Makoto just shaked his head.
"Nothing, you don't need to worry about that." She can detect from his tone that Makoto stressed about something but what?. Last night he didn't look stressed at all. "Just let's go take our breakfast."
"Fine but tell me if something is wrong, okay. I'll be a bad host to my guests if I provide a bad experience."
"I respect that but truly nothing wrong happens to me, let's just both of us go." Makoto tries to reassure her again but it's still not enough to convince her but it's enough to make her relented to make him talk about what troubles him.
"I understand but please tell me anytime."
Makoto nodded.
"Then follow me." Ei walks to the dining room followed by Makoto behind.
It's already been a long time since she had breakfast with other people with few exceptions like Miko, the Traveler or Nobles or whatever equivalent to that.
She looked at Makoto who was silently eating his own food. His expression from before still bothered Ei so much.
It's time to lighten up the mood. Or what Miko sometimes says to her when she is in a gloomy mood, mostly when she is dealing with the bureaucracy and politics of Inazuma.
Which can be summarized as the nest of both 'poisonous' and 'venomous' people. Ei don't know much about the status of internal politics of other nations but she sure it's definitely much better than here in Inazuma.
Barbatos and Morax nations have competent and caring leaders that take care of their nations. Because the former never want to take a position of power or leadership and the latter retire and give the responsibility to mortals.
Kusanali is also competent and supported by many right now.
And the rest Ei can't say if she knows much.
"Is the food acceptable enough for you, Makoto?." Ei asked curiously if he found the food lacking or if it's good enough for him. She wonders what students like him normally eat when still in Sumeru.
Makoto stopped putting other food in his mouth before looking at Ei. "It's very tasty, I kinda miss the taste myself." His only response to her question.
Ei agreed with his answer but…
"But it must feel weird after all in Sumeru, Inazuma goods must be hard to come by right? but here you can easily find it." Ei don't know if Inazuma goods are even sold in Sumeru, but even if they're sold, the price must be an expensive one. It's something she needs to look upon after her vacation is over, she decided. Who knows talking to Makoto can make her want to do her duty more or perhaps she just wants to make Makoto easily have access to Inazuma goods. "Makoto, did you perhaps miss Inazuma cuisine?"
Ei curious, is Makoto perhaps missing Inazuma cuisine? Perhaps she can try to make a trade or two connection to Sumeru. She perhaps needs to ask Miko before that after all she already went to Sumeru before.
"Not that much, but it just makes me remember about someone who always complained when I cooked Inazuma dishes using fish or seafood." He answered. But Ei can see a longing in his eyes. "She always shows displeasure when I cook my specialty dish for her, it's funny seeing her reaction. Perhaps I should bring her dried squids as a souvenir."
"Huh, so Ei, what other souvenir should I give to her to not make her too upset?." From the way Makoto explains this person, it's someone he has a close relationship with. It's clearly not his mother because he remembers what the Traveler said to her before. So perhaps a friend or even someone much closer to him. Without Ei realizing it, she feels jealousy toward the one Makoto talked about. Jealousy she herself doesn't realize.
"Hm, I don't know much about that but Miko told me that the charm sold in her Shrine is quite popular among tourists but if it's not perhaps what you are looking for, perhaps Dango milk like the one you buy before."
"Dango Milk, huh." Makoto frowned, almost disgusted upon hearing that, but Ei doesn't know why he makes expressions like that, after all Dango Milk is delicious. "That's definitely something she likes but are there other things you can think about? I already send her that before"
Something other than delicious Dango milk which can be a souvenir. It also begged the question how he preserved it to send to Sumeru?. Another question for another time.
"Light novel?." He definitely does not hate but it's a different story when he knows who distributes those fantasies full of selfinsert.
"No, I don't like seeing her reading cheap stories like that." Nothing wrong with cheap stories if they can entertain you.
Ei thinking again. "What is this friend of yours like?."
"Sweets are definitely the kind of food the girl likes, she definitely loves her sweets that i can confirm." Ei stared at Makoto who, without realizing it, formed a small smile on his lips when he spoke about the girl.
"He undoubtedly likes that girl." Proved how Makoto's expression changed when spoke about her. Is that girl perhaps not a friend but his lover perhaps?.
Makoto suddenly stared at the empty space in front of him. He looked trying not to show that he was confused. Confused by what?. In the next moment Makoto returned his attention back to her.
"What? Is there something on my face?." He asked. Ignoring the fact he is the one that made the confused expression in the first place.
"Nothing, it's just you looking confused by something before." Makoto just scoffed hearing that.
"It's just me remembering something annoying, nothing more."
"I understand…" So it's just something not important or so he says. "But really you can tell me if something is wrong with the service, I'll be a bad host if I ignore or cause discomfort to my guest ."
Ei asked him again.
Makoto smiled tiredly. "Perhaps there is one thing but I'll tell you after breakfast and we need to talk about it privately, if it's fine with you."
"That…" Not a big problem for her but curious what he needs to tell her about. "Sure, let's talk about it in my bedroom."
That place Ei can think about is suitable for what Makoto asked her.
Makoto frowned again.
"Is it fine for us to talk there? I mean it can cau…"
Before he can explain, Ei intervenes with saying. "It's fine, there is nothing much more secure and private in this place than my own bedroom."
"I mean it's fine with you then yes."
Ei nodded happily while gesturing at their breakfast. "Then, let's continue our breakfast, make sure to finish it."
She wonders what Makoto wants to say.
Makoto looked at his empty bowls. It's filled with a simple dish but is refined and nutritious to start the day.
He is already done. It's good enough for him, the only thing he can complain about is the fact that the green tea itself is not too bitter. How can anyone call this green tea if it's not bitter at all. But in the end he decided not to utter the complaint about that, it's an insignificant thing, easily something he can ignore.
Makoto already formed a plan with Tsukiko when talking with their mother later. The plan itself not proved that it would succeed but better than nothing.
His mother already can detect his wariness -or perhaps fear?.- before and asking about what is wrong with him, he knows it's a good opportunity to make them talk somewhere privately.
But really?.
In her bedroom?. Was she that much of an airheaded woman?. To invite a man she just met for a few days to her room.
A ruler who was a single woman suddenly invited a man to her room?.
It's a prime source of gossip and rumors.
He can already picture how in a few days later there is a rumor about Electro Archon deciding it's time to conceive an heir and do it with some foreigner. He should reject her idea in the first place but the feeling to know much more and be closer to her stops him from saying no to her.
Makoto is curious but at the same time hates that he personally knows nothing about his own mother. He hates his feelings toward her.
Thankfully the next moment he can take control of himself. Now it's time for him to think of useful things.
"It's already 42 points out of 300." It's quite a development in less than a week. But far from safe. He already got another 1 point during breakfast.
Playing a good boy to his own mother feels right but also disgusting and repulsive too at the same time to him.
Should he play more aggressively with her?.
No, it's better to play safe for now. He doesn't know how Ei see him right now, an acquaintance or a friend. Indeed, he was invited to stay at night in Tenshukaku, for many it's someone who only has special privilege and importance to Shogunate.
But here, he is just a mere humble wanderer and student from Akademiya. He was neither a Harbinger, Dendro Archon helper nor a Forgotten puppet. He's just someone.
Makoto doesn't know if it's because of the 'window' or what. But… he felt thankful for the experience. No matter how much he wanted to deny it.
Ei never sees him as her son but at least she can see him as someone she cares about. It's enough for Makoto the Wanderer. But not enough to heal the old wound he only can bury down deep inside him.
He stared at his mother, still slowly enjoying her breakfast. Unaware both about what Makoto wanted to talk about with her and what he did to her General last night.
Kujou Sara, the woman herself, is quite a durable warrior. Not durable enough from his punches though. He didn't feel bad or guilty when he threw her away in the garden during the middle of a storm. Makoto knows there is a risk that she remembers that the one who attacked her is him but Tsukiko can vouch for him if Ei starts to suspect him. Really he doesn't worry at all, Makoto doubts how Kujou can remember about how she ended up there in the first place. A combination of punches from him and Electro shocks her to the head to mess with her brain from Tsukiko. He was the one who asked Tsukiko to do that to Sara, Makoto also saw how she was almost reluctant to do that to her general, well. Almost.
Sara's entire body was already wet thanks to the storm, so she cannot be burned by the Electro shocks and therefore no physical evidence, if there is a trace of Electro energy it can be written off as her own.
Not perfect, because nothing is perfect in the first place but good enough to cover his crime against the General. It's not a crime if no one knows about it or remembers about it.
But even if Ei finally discovers that, Tsukiko can still help him.
Makoto finds it ironic that almost all his crimes go unpunished because the world forgot about it. And those who remember don't see it fit to punish him.
So, he continued his life to this point.
"Makoto." He minds returning back to the real world as his mother calls his name. "Please, follow me."
She apparently is already done with her breakfast when in the middle of his thought.
Makoto nodded, stood up and followed her mother silently to her bedroom.
But there was something in his plan that he didn't tell Tsukiko.
Makoto smirks when he thinks more about his mother's reaction later.
Ei and Makoto are in her room right now. Ei don't know what Makoto needs to talk about privately. One thing for sure that's clearly disturbing him is proved by how he acts during their breakfast time before.
"Now, we are finally here, you can tell me what has been bothering you since the beginning." Ei asked like a caring friend. like how she asked Miko when she was upset about something. For her now, she decided, Makoto is close enough to call as a friend. Not as close to her and Miko obviously.
There is a significant gap between someone you just befriended less than a week to a hundred years loyal friend, who is patiently waiting for you to come back to her.
"I…" Makoto is hesitant about what he wants to say to her. Whatever he wanted to say definitely weighed heavily on him. What a poor young man.
"Don't be afraid, just say it." She tries to assure him. "I will even help you if I can."
Makoto looked at her before he tipped his head to cover his face from her. Ei doesn't know what that means.
"I know about your secret." He finally said what he wanted to say.
"Secret ? What is he talking about?." Ei don't really remember having a secret aside from the one her closest friends, the Traveler, Paimon and others Archon already know. Does Makoto truly know those secrets?. She needs to make sure of it first.
"Can you elaborate what you mean by that?."
"I know your secret that you keep from the Inazuma people. You are not the one that allowed the Fatui to cause havoc in Inazuma, at least not directly. It's your puppet, Raiden Shogun." He explained. Ei closed her eyes and didn't know how she needed to deal with this.
Before she could think more about this, 'someone' talked to her.
"Ei" The puppet called her name. "You don't need to think about punishing Makoto, it's I who caused him to know about my preserence."
"Shogun, what do you mean by that!?." Did Shogun go rogue again? "Can you explain that?.'
"Last night I personally met him without your permission." Why? Why does Shogun go without her permission at all and so that was what Shogun was doing when she was sleeping last night. "But why?."
"Just a curiosity that turns violent but we resolve it between us." What the!?, she can feel the headache start forming. "What does that even mean, Shogun?."
"I can explain it but there is no need to punish him for what knowledge he possesses because of my recklessness." Why is Shogun thinking that?. "Why should I punish him just because he knows about my secret? There is no need to punish him, especially if it's your fault but I still need to talk about that with him first, so please let me talk to him." Ei not asking Shogun, it's an order for her.
Ei sighed before returning her attention back to Makoto. "I just talked to Shogun and apparently she was the cause of you knowing about her identity. Is this true?." She is serious right now but not to the point of being intimidating.
"Yes." Makoto answered, clear and straight to the point.
"Can you keep this a secret between us?" She asked.
"Yes."
"And then promise to me by whatever oaths, contract or anything that matters to you that you keep this secret a secret until the end of your life or when I deem myself that you don't need to keep it a secret any more. Can you do that?." Her words are like a Warrior, General and Judge at the same time even when she doesn't mean it like that.
"Yes." He answered harder.
"Do you really mean it?" She asked.
"Yes." He answered harder than before.
Ei can feel his sincerity and determination to keep his promise to him. But only time can prove it.
"Sorry if I sound scary." Ei gave him a small smile but Makoto answered it with a smirk. "Sorry about Shogun too."
"Not at all, in fact it's quite an entertaining experience." She doesn't know if Makoto really mocked her or just teased her. "I read about how you in the past were apparently more than a warrior but also a General too."
"Yeah, that was necessary for me to lead many warriors at that time." She remembers those grueling years. The only reason she can endure that is because of her sister Makoto and their friends. They share the same happiness and sadness together.
"But also written in there that she is also a master of politics, a gentle but firm goddess." Ei tried to make her face to not show any emotion. What is Makoto trying to do right now?. And what is the purpose of that?.
"So I make a hypothesis that there are two goddesses that have similar appearance that worked together to make Inazuma what it is right now. You are a good and gentle goddess but somehow I feel this is just a new development, you also don't feel like a master or even good at politics and it is also supported by the Traveler that you also have a sister." He stared at her eyes with a knowing look. "A twin sister."
"Really what are you trying to do, Makoto?" Ei asked warily. "Are Shogun telling you this too?"
Makoto teasingly smiles. "Nothing, just retelling something Na-Kusanali once told me."
And that moment Ei became aware of what Makoto was trying to do. He already knows all of that. The fear and wariness about her secret revealed instantly gone and replaced by shame that she was played by him. She can feel the artificial blood rise to her face and heating it.
"Hahahahaha…" Makoto laughs as he looks at her expression.
This transgression can't be something she can ignore.
Punishment must be carried out. And she knows what punishment befitting this.
She pinches both of his cheeks for how dare he play such a dangerous prank on her.
But deep down she is happy.
Short story :
"Dad, why do you call mom, mom too?" Asked his youngest daughter to him. He turned his attention from his other much older children who were training the basics of swordsmanship to her, who sits beside him while holding a doll who looks like her. She looked exactly like him aside from those eyes.
"Why are you asking that question, dear?." He finds this interesting, his other children never asking about this before. While young, she has an mind of adult but still childish like many children her age.
"Nothing, Father, I just want to know, I call her mom because she is my mom but why do you call her mom too sometimes." Such curious child.
There is nothing wrong with answering her question right?. Now or later, she will find out. After all, her siblings already know his true relationship with their mother. That was quite a shock to them but something they accepted in the end.
"Because she is my mom too."
He can hear the sound of blades swinging stop when he says that.
"I see." Her only answer before she continued to play with her doll again.
"Dad!, you don't need to traumatize your other child!."
"Why!?."
"Huh, he really does it."
"I tell Mom."
"Aunty Miko!!! Papa wants to traumatize our little sister!."
"What a nice and caring family." Makoto thought about seeing their reaction.
Chapter TextAether sighed again when he finally wrote down another report of damage caused by the storm last night.
He doesn't expect this apparently the one Miko asked him about. Aether was already wary that she asked him to search for information about Makoto or something similar. He doesn't cut off as an informant after all and if he does, it's definitely sour his relationship with Makoto if he is lucky or 'few' broken bones if Makoto is pissed enough.
But that doesn't mean this is also an easy task too. Writing down many reports, especially with detail and description of damage, and checking it and talking to the public and individuals who were affected was tiresome with how many were affected.
Fortunately for them it's only a minor damage that can be fixed in one or two days like shattered windows or broken roofs.
Especially with the mora Miko promised him. But still his fingers hurt writing down so many reports, especially using Inazuman Language. Which he does not commonly use.
Aether looked at the floating Paimon who was happily munching on a Fish skewer that was given for free by one of the food sellers.
"How does it taste, Paimon?." Paimon looks at him while still munching on her food, at least one of them enjoying this moment.
"Tasty." She answered ignoring the fact how full her mouth was.
"I see." He wants to hear much more description of the taste but Paimon is Paimon after all.
"And Ayaka you don't need to accompany us." He turned to White haired princess of the Kamisato clan who walked beside them as she watched the mess that the storm last night caused right now be cleaned.
She turned at him. "It's fine, it's part of my duty to see and evaluate the damage that the storm caused."
Ayaka answered before something took her attention. Another damage that she silently wrote down in her own report.
He saw a few workers passing them bringing a lot of equipment together to someplace. Clearly something that needs to be fixed.
" Right, it's part of the duty of being princess in a Clans." Aether felt proud of her answer. Unlike the other clans he met in the past, Ayaka and her brother, Ayato are truly role models of someone in high position.
"How about your lesson today?." A question born of boredom, simple curiosity or he simply has nothing to do besides checking and writing many reports.
"Its something I already rescheduled for another time. Right now it's better for me to do this." She replied. Ayaka then turned to look back at him again. "After you're done with this, do you want to have a sparring match with me?"
Aether can see a soft blush on Ayaka's face when she says that the girl clearly doesn't know how to keep her emotions in place, not like Aether blamed her. It's natural for girls around her age. But still a sparring match after this, it's not a bad thing. It can keep his skill still sharp. Plus he and Ayaka can bond over swordsmanship. He still doesn't want their relationship to develop to something close to romantic, keeping their relationship platonic still the best between them.
He smiled softly.
"Yes." An answer that made Ayaka smile in return.
"Alright, then let's finish this job."
"Yeah, Paimon will help too."
After all, while it is not an easy job for both of them. It's something they can endure.
Just time consuming.
But it's worth it.
Ei stared at Makoto, now both his cheeks reddened because of what she did before. It's a punishment for playing such a dangerous prank on her.
"You know Makoto, sometimes I wonder how with this kind of attitude you can gain trust from Kusanali herself when you use such information to play a prank on me." Ei sighed, tired but at the same time absolutely astonished by what her new friend did.
"Hah, because she just simply too easily trusts someone." Makoto said that but yet there was no bad intent or malicious intent from what she heard. One of the parts of his personality that she finds charming. He sounds harsh or violent but deep down a caring person.
He reminds her of herself sometimes.
"You know I can hurt you or worse right?." She asked with annoyance in her tone, even if he is aware about the danger when play such a prank on her it doesn't mean he would be safe. Just because you know it's dangerous doesn't mean that it instantly became harmless, it's just common sense.
"I know the risk but you definitely should see your face, hahahaha…" He laughed again, apparently punishment before still not enough to make him understand.
" He is such a charming young man right, Ei." " Oh, shut up, this is all your fault in the first place" Ei can feel the headache grow much worse than before. She feels relieved that she doesn't need to find a way to make sure Makoto doesn't talk about the information aside from the vow he makes. But on the other hand, Ei is uncertain whether she should tell Miko of this or not.
" Definitely not, Miko probably played a very annoying prank on him to test him or something." Ei finds Shogun's reasoning logical and quickly agrees with her. While she is still annoyed by Shogun, that doesn't mean she is ignoring good advice from trustworthy people or machines.
"Good idea but we still need to talk about what you did before." Ei can hear a moment of silence before Shogun answers her with "yes." Shogun sounds upset but yet her voice doesn't show any but Ei still did feel it like that. She wonders, since when Shogun feels so 'alive'.
"Hey, what about Shogun ?." Ei returned her attention to Makoto.
"We need to talk about what she did but don't worry too much about it, I just need to discipline her." She answered honestly, she doubted that it would cause another battle between them for five hundred years.
"Huh, that…good." Ei can hear relief in his words.
"I wonder what you two are talking about." She was curious about what Makoto and Shogun talked about behind her back. "It's something important perhaps?."
Makoto chuckled. "Nothing important, she is just curious, she is inspecting me with those eyes and perhaps some physical interaction without my consent." Makoto gave her a look that she didn't understand.
"Why does it sound like Shogun did something inappropriate to you… she was not doing something like that right?." She really hoped Shogun was not at all and why Shogun was still not saying anything right now.
And Makoto burst out another laugh hearing that. "Hahahaha, you should look at your face."
Ei can feel her face heating up when she realised she fell to another prank of him.
"I-i just worried if Shogun forced you to do something you don't give consent to." Why is it so easy to lose control of her emotions easily when she is around him?.
That face is similar to her sister but yet the personality easily changes from sweet boy to annoying prankster.
"i mean you know Shogun and I, we share the same body so… you know." Uh she feels very embarrassed now. She hopes Makoto understands what she means by that. "And I need to take responsibility for her action against you because I am her master."
" Uh, I can't think clearly with this heat."
Makoto raised one of his eyebrows when hearing that. He finds that very interesting.
"Huh, should I tell Kusanali that Electro Archon is apparently just a lonely woman and wants some action." Ei doesn't understand what Makoto means by that, but she really just wants to erase that smugness from his face for some reason. "She probably found that very… human, somehow."
"I am lonely, yes but I have Miko, Aether and Paimon…" Ei hesitated. " And you too if you don't have a problem with that.
Makoto just stared at her. But she can see in those eyes of his that are full of emotion, thinking about what she just said to him.
"You are lonely too." He finally said it. There's a sadness in his tone. "Yeah, me too."
Makoto huffed. "I have been lonely for almost my entire life you know, but all of that changes when I meet Nahida." Her name not her title? So he is that close with her. "Of course a few things have happened before between us. But she still accepted me and without me I realized it suddenly. I have made a few people that willingly call me their friend still they are mere acquaintances to me. But still there is a new connection."
"I understand your feelings." She responded when hearing his stories. Makoto just chuckled hearing that "Yeah, you probably did, Aether sometimes tells me your stories."
"He's such a great friend, right?." Ei Hope the Traveler reunites again with his sibling.
"Friend? Huh, you can say it like that."
"And what do you mean by action?" She asked, still not truly understanding the meaning of what he said before. Loneliness was something she very much understood but "action"? She knows what "action" means in general and by definition but she feels that not what Makoto means, she doesn't know what that truly means in that context.
"Pft hahahha…" it unfortunately just made Makoto chuckle again.
"I am just asking!." She pouted when Makoto laughed her off again.
"Sorry, sorry it's just you really broke what my mind already made about you. it's just so damn funny i cant hold it." He answered as he wiped a tear from his eye. Ei can somehow see Makoto looking much less…tense. Weird, she never saw him being tense before so why does she think like that?. "I really need to learn more about you than what I hear from mere rumors and start to learn more about you from trusted sources like the Traveller."
"So, you want to know what "action" means, is that right?." Now that familiar grin is back. Ugh started to regret asking about it. What was Miko once said to her again before curiosity killed the cat right?.
"Well perhaps when your mind is a little bit adult we can have this conversation again." Oh no he teases her again. Is she that fun to tease?.
" Yes, based on what Miko implied from many conversations between you two, you are very much fun to tease at least for Miko." " Not now!" Really Shogun too these days is much more talkative.
"I am an adult with an adult mind." Ei replied. "There is no need to keep it from me."
"pfft, "adult mind" she said." Makoto scoffed.
"Pardon?." Now he mocks her. Either he is very brave or just stupid to say that right in front of her face. An Archon.
"Yes, you hear me right. You are…" He stopped thinking about the right words." a terrible Ruler but you are also a caring leader yet an egoist that is driven by sorrow and grief from what Nahida and Aether said about you but I believe you can make your Nation much better with the help from someone new but with experience and knowledge about your nation definitely can help you."
"Is, is that a compliment or an insult?." Ei is confused right now, she is never great with politics in general. So understandably she is confused by what Makoto said.
"Not both of them but a criticism that highlights your strength and weakness as both Shogun and Archon." Makoto explained further.
"And what do you mean by the last one, someone new but with experience and knowledge about Inazuma, who that can be?."
"Oh, you're really hurting my feelings." Makoto scoffed. What he meant by that. The headache started to become worse the more she thought.
"Huh?."
"It's me."
" Now it's your chance to grab him for our purpose Ei!" " Shut up!."
Tsukiko smiles right now or whatever close to that because the one in control of the body is Ei right now, somehow just somehow Makoto can be closed to her without much effort from her.
She wants to touch him, to let both of their skin touch each other. But patience is gold.
" Ei just say yes, think about the benefit Inazuma gains if Makoto helps us and we can also deepen the relationship between Inazuma and Sumeru through Makoto." Tsukiko explained to Ei. Her explanation is honest without any misdirection, just hidden purpose. Nothing wrong with her desire if it also benefits Inazuma.
" Shogun, just stay silent and give me a moment to think." While Tsukiko wants to complain to her 'mother' and shout " there is no point in thinking much more." She decided it's best for her to be silent as Ei ordered.
It's just a moment but Tsukiko can feel how the moment stretched to Eternity. She finds it very annoying or whatever word close to what she is feeling because of how pointless it is.
But then the moment she waited for happened.
Ei nodded. "Fine but I need to talk about this to someone beforehand."
Tsukiko hears that feel happy and yet at the same time furious, she already knows who this someone Ei means. She doesn't want the damn fox to claw her claws on Makoto at all. Her data show that Kitsune is bad news.
She wants to prevent him from meeting that kitsune but not know perhaps later and definitely before Makoto makes contact with Kitsune.
"I see, and who is this person if you have no problem answering it." Makoto asked, but Tsukiko had a 'feeling' that he already knew who Ei was talking about.
She can feel Ei emotion when Makoto asked her that. Some sort of rush of excitement. Perhaps a desire to introduce your friend to your other friend to make a bigger social circle or so based on what she, they read from one of many novels Miko makes them read that she records in one of many files in her memory.
"Ah, it's Yae Miko, I mentioned her name yesterday."
Tsukiko looked at Makoto through Ei vision. She is curious what his reaction is.
"Oh, I don't know she is such an important person to this matter." From his tone alone, other people perhaps can't tell that he hid hostility for Yae Miko. But it is different for Tsukiko who can detect the trace of hostility in his words.
"Ah, you know, while she doesn't show it much to the public, Miko is an expert in economy, politics or many Inazuma related things. Every time I need a different perspective or to search for a new opinion without being afraid of me, it's Miko that always helps me." Ei said. Tsukiko doesn't truly understand her feelings but she tolerates their relationship if it's not bothering her duty.
But sometimes it's just…bothersome for her when Ei was looking for Miko help when there was Shogun to help. Ei's own creation to help her. But then again, she can understand because her track record is not satisfying to Ei.
But preventing those two meetings is something she needs to do.
Fortunately the lines of the program to make that happen is something she already has.
"Uh, I don't like this." Makoto thought, meeting those damned pink pink is not something he wanted to do. Her habit of thinking that she is always in control and from what the Traveler once talked about her is still not changing at all.
But on the other hand, he already got another five points to his mother's relationship.
So it's not that bad of a situation.
But still, dealing with that rotten fox is a different story. Most Yokai are harmless to mortals but like humans there is an evil and annoying one among them. But there are also differences between humans and Yokai. For Yokai are beings that perhaps embody the essence of Eternity itself. No, No quite if they are, many of them are not merely forgotten to the shadow of histories.
It's their trace that they leave behind perhaps more fitting to the idea of Eternity.
But thinking about that does not change the fact that Ei plans to meet him with that damn fox.
"I see, at first I thought it would be those high ranking officials or something similar." Makoto doubts his mother would trust them again, not after their dealing with The Fatui. She is not that ignorant or at least what he hopes.
"Ah…" Fortunately that reaction from her, proved that she is not that ignorant about her own court. "Yes, there was something similar like that before. But I already picked other trusted people to replace them. Still, I trusted Miko's judgement about this."
"You really trusted your friend, huh."
"Yes, I trust her with own life." What a way to express your gratitude. No, perhaps that is the reason why that fox is the one truly understanding his mother.
"Oh perhaps you can talk about her now, I want to learn more about her before meeting her." Time to get some dirt on that annoying fox. "I am afraid I accidentally offended your friend. Guuji like her must have a high standard to even make Shogun like yourself consider her opinion."
Makoto almost puked when he praised the damn fox. But it's something he can resist to get dirt on her.
Ei nodded happily after hearing his request. She thinks for a moment before opening her mouth again to say.
"I have many things to tell you about her." He showed his Mother a happy smile. It's an easy thing to do and easily to fake. "Do you want to start from where? Her personality, favorite food or what, I can tell you many things ah, but of course I can't tell you about certain things."
"i have no problem with anything but if you give me permission I want to hear about something different from her current reputation."
"Different?."
"Like when she was perhaps an unruly child or cowardly or something along those lines." He asked. "Of course if you want to, I don't like to force others to tell me something."
"Ah, I have a few."
"Oh fascinating, I don't believe that I can hear her stories from Raiden Shogun."
"Ei." His mother said her name. She definitely doesn't like him calling her by title again.
"Ah, can't take a simple tease from me." He gave his mother a grin. Before she pours at him. What a childish woman but he can accept it as part of her.
Another of those 'windows' popped out again, he just gave it a quick reading "1+" and the 'window' disappeared. Apparently he can just make it disappear if he just gave it a quick read and thought it would disappear, in no time it will disappear.
What a finding that really helps him.
"There was a time that Miko tried to hide from someone she was really afraid of."
" Afraid." It's such a strong word. Is Ei being serious or not? He can't think that damn fox is afraid of someone.
"Hm, interesting, so who was this person?." Makoto asked, curious about who this person was.
"Ever heard of someone name Alice?."
" Alice? Don't tell me that Alice!?." If it's indeed true then it's reasonable why the damn fox can be traumatized.
"Alice? That Alice, the member of Hexenzirkel?."
"Yes," Ei replied."She once said that before, the last time she visited Inazuma."
"She really traumatized Miko when she was just a kitsune pup with her pranks, even to this day it's still affected Miko." Makoto can see some kind happy emotion swirl inside her eyes. Whatever it was must be a good memory to Ei, definitely different if it's Miko the one telling the story hell, she definitely never makes sure that story never surfaces to anyone.
"Interesting, please tell me more."
.
.
.
"I see."
.
.
"I can't believe it."
.
.
"Hahahaha…"
.
.
It's the most entertaining thing Makoto has ever heard. With this kind information he can…
Before Makoto can think more, Ei suddenly say. "Sorry but can I continue this later?."
"Ah, Sure. But why?." Makoto can't hide the disappointment in his voice.
"It's already time for lunch."
"Ah."
" It's not a bad lunch." Makoto thought after Ei and him were done eating their lunch in the palace. Right now both of them are walking beside each other in Inazuma city. " Especially with her, telling me more about the damn fox."
Makoto can see that many people are in the middle of cleaning and fixing the damage that the storm caused last night. People also bow and respect toward them, no, toward the one who walked beside him, Raiden Ei.
"It's such a mess, it makes me feel bad to take a holiday when this happens to my people." She said observes the surroundings. Definitely feeling bad about them.
Before Makoto wanted to say something to her something caught her attention.
From afar Makoto can see the Traveller and Paimon together with an oddly familiar girl.
" Huh, a date? Or something like that ." Not something Makoto wants to deal with, it's Traveler business not him.
"Ah, it's Aether and Paimon, Makoto, let's greet them."
Unfortunately Ei has a different idea.
Notes:Raiden Ei (48/300)