Click, click, click...
A series of faint, delicate sounds vaguely reached her ears. They were quiet and almost hypnotic. Why? Because at that moment, she was asleep. She did not know how she had ended up falling asleep, but as the sounds beside her gradually drew closer and became clearer, she slowly opened her hazy eyes. Within her blurred vision was a figure colored in gold and crimson.
It was Yoimiya...
She closed her eyes again for a moment, letting her muddled mind recover from having just woken up. Then she opened them once more, her vision becoming a little clearer.
What entered her sight was the blonde girl sitting quietly on a stool beside the bed, working on fireworks. Perhaps Yoimiya was too focused, because the quiet opening of her eyes did not attract the girl's notice. From where she lay, she could only see that exquisite profile beside the window, seemingly veiled in golden gauze beneath the sunlight.
"...Haa."
Yoimiya seemed to be using chopsticks to place grains of gunpowder one by one into a round casing. Her movements were practiced and meticulous, without a single unnecessary motion. After finishing that sequence, the girl raised a hand to wipe the sweat from her forehead, then looked up and met her gaze.
"Shogun-sama... you're awake?"
The girl deliberately lowered her voice.
"I... fell asleep?"
She moved the furisode covering her sleeping face aside, revealing her true appearance as she shifted slightly where she lay on her side atop the bed, her tone somewhat bewildered.
"Mm... It must be boring watching me make fireworks, right?"
Yoimiya nodded, then looked a little embarrassed.
"Haa... It's fine. I like quiet surroundings..."
She slowly shook her head.
"Did I disturb you earlier?"
"You did, but I didn't mind..."
The corners of her lips curved as she answered. Propping herself slightly on one forearm, she rested the back of her hand against her cheek and lay elegantly on her side facing Yoimiya. At the same time, she lightly drew the furisode of her kimono over the thigh exposed beneath it, while the flawless curves of her delicate body were precisely outlined beneath the fabric by her posture.
"Hehe..."
Yoimiya smiled upon hearing that, then turned her attention back to another unfinished firework in her hands.
"...So this is what an unfinished firework looks like?"
Lowering her eyes toward the round casing in the girl's hands, she asked softly.
"Mm... After this, I have to add the gunpowder piece by piece, but these are only the most basic designs. Look, these are all ones I specially made."
Yoimiya placed several differently shaped designs she had just finished onto the bed for the woman to examine.
"..."
She picked one up and fiddled with it for a while before looking at the girl sitting in front of her, who had already resumed working.
"You and Ayaka... are quite close?"
She found a topic to talk about, and her pleasant voice, neither too loud nor too soft, sounded through the quiet room.
"Mm, we're very close... I used to do business with the Kamisato family fairly often, and over time, I got to know her. She's very gentle and understanding. Most importantly, she's always willing to listen to me talk and hear everything I have to say. She never looks impatient at all, and she always answers me very seriously, even though I'm such a chatterbox. Hehe."
Yoimiya smiled.
Perhaps that was what a refined young lady from a distinguished family was like?
"Mm-hm... What else? Tell me. I'd like to hear it."
She pursued the topic with interest. She had never asked other people about Ayaka before, especially someone like Yoimiya who was close to her. She wanted to hear whether Ayaka had another side she did not know about.
"Mm—oh, right! Once, we talked about the summer festival until really late. We were both exhausted, so I invited her to take a bath with me to relax. But when she heard that by 'taking a bath,' I meant a lot of people soaking in the same pool, her face instantly turned bright red..."
Yoimiya's eyes lit up as she remembered something, and she began telling her about an amusing incident that had once happened between her and Ayaka.
"Haa... That was when I realized a noble young lady can't use public baths."
Yoimiya sighed with emotion.
"..."
She listened in silence...
No wonder Ayaka had suddenly gone out of her way to emphasize the matter of "taking a bath" to me back then. So that was why. Hehe... honestly.
"What happened afterward?"
She continued asking.
"...After that, she invited me to bathe at the Kamisato Estate. Just the two of us."
Yoimiya answered.
"Has she ever mentioned me?"
"All the time~! Even when we were bathing before... Uh... although I was the one who asked about you first, she immediately started talking nonstop. She said so much that even I wanted to meet you."
Yoimiya shyly scratched her cheek.
"Pfft... Is that so..."
She could not help laughing.
"Um, Shogun-sama... Is it really true that you've been with Ayaka ever since she was very young...?"
"Indeed. I began looking after her when she was eight years old, and I only finally let go once she was capable of shouldering half the Kamisato family's responsibilities herself. She truly suffered a great deal back then. I couldn't bear to leave her alone... It's already been ten years."
Perhaps it was also because of those years that Ayaka would sometimes still act like a child in front of her. Yet conversely, she herself was much the same... In front of those she was exceptionally close to, she would lower every defense and expose her truest, softest, and even most vulnerable side to them. That was why she showed such dependence whenever she was in front of Ei and the others.
Thinking about it that way, perhaps Ayaka and I really were brought together by fate.
"So that's how it was... Haa..."
Yoimiya was moved as well.
Just how deep must a bond cultivated since childhood become...? Thinking back to the focused expression Ayaka always wore whenever she spoke about Shogun-sama, perhaps I can understand now that the White Heron Princess has a vulnerable yet sincere side hidden in her heart as well.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Oh, right... Are you going to the Akitsu Festival tonight?"
Feeling that the subject had become somewhat heavy, she changed the topic and turned the conversation toward the girl herself.
"Me? Mm—yeah~! But I'll have to wait until the fireworks show is over before I can go... There'll still be some cleanup afterward, so I probably won't make it in time to join the first group of visitors."
Yoimiya rested the chopsticks against her chin and thought for a moment.
After all, it would be her first time attending a festival like this. There had to be plenty of fun activities there, and merely thinking about them made her look forward to it. Unfortunately, she was responsible for the fireworks show, so she would not be able to make it there in time. And their Naganohara fireworks display was even serving as the opening performance! It was sure to be lively.
"What about you, Shogun-sama? Will you be going?"
"Mm... I'll be attending with Ayaka."
She answered.
"That's—so—nice—! I want to go with you two too... Haa..."
The girl flopped against the edge of the bed and puffed out her cheeks.
"Then just finish your work faster... I heard the festival will go on for quite a while."
She answered.
"Haa~ I guess that's my only choice... Ah, no! I still haven't finished the fireworks~!"
The girl suddenly remembered that her hands had stopped moving again and immediately picked up the half-finished firework casing.
"Am I distracting you?"
She only realized it afterward.
"Huh? No, no... It's my own fault. I always get distracted... Hehe."
Yoimiya immediately shook her head.
If I don't say anything, then you won't get distracted, will you?
She thought to herself.
"Shogun-sama..."
Not long afterward, Yoimiya spoke again. This time, however, there was a restrained delicacy to her tone that drew her gaze.
"What is it?"
She asked.
"I'm not dreaming right now, am I?"
Yoimiya looked at her and blinked, asking the question in an adorably earnest way.
"You are dreaming."
She answered mischievously.
"Huh?!"
The girl visibly froze.
"Pfft... Just kidding."
She could not help laughing before finishing what she had left unsaid.
"Ugh—you can be so mean~ Haa... Hehe. But... now that I think about it, this still feels unbelievable. Inazuma's god, Shogun-sama herself, is lying on my bed watching me make fireworks. I wouldn't even dare dream of something like this."
Yoimiya brushed the bangs from her forehead, a smile curving her lips. She raised a hand and clasped the back of the Shogun's hand where it rested on the bed, gazing at her as those brilliant golden eyes, dazzling as fireworks, filled entirely with her figure.
"You're exaggerating. I'm not some transcendent being untouched by mortal life. I have hands and feet, just like you."
She shook her head and corrected Yoimiya.
"Mm... But the more you're like this, the more remarkable I think you are... I finally understand how Ayaka feels whenever she talks about you."
Because you really are so gentle...
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