Ei stood upon the high dais of Tenshukaku, gazing down at Kiyono Sara before the hall, and was suddenly struck by something like a daze.
Or rather — a sense of familiarity.
As though she had seen this before.
A faintly cold breeze brushed against her cheeks.
Snow fell like scattered cherry blossoms, drifting lazily into the hall, melting in an instant — while on the steps outside, a finger's depth of snow had already gathered. It was the season when the world was draped in white.
The color of snow and the color of sunlight blurred together, making it hard to see clearly.
But the first time Ei had met him was in the height of summer.
It had also been in this ancient, solemn hall of Tenshukaku. She had stood upon the high dais then, too.
Back then, she was not yet the Narukami who commanded the thunder of Inazuma.
She was her elder sister's kagemusha — a shadow warrior, a warrior consumed by the pursuit of the sword.
Ei still remembered the sky that day. The scorching sun stirred restless waves of heat. The air was thick and unclear. What lived and breathed were the green leaves of tall trees and the hoarse cries of cicadas. The warm wind was like a painting.
Late-blooming, pure white cherry blossoms carpeted the long stairway — just as today's fresh snow did.
That day was the Grand Martial Audience.
Consumed as she was by the martial arts, she had attended the tournament in her elder sister's place.
Unlike a formal duel before the throne, the Grand Martial Audience was a gathering of Inazuma's warriors for seven days and seven nights of combat before the seat of Tenshukaku. The victorious warrior would receive a reward from the Narukami — an honor beyond measure.
He, too, was not yet the Pillar, not yet the general, not yet the thunder of Inazuma. He was still a boy.
Wooden sandals stepping upon the blossom-covered stairs, the hem of his long kimono falling naturally at his feet.
The border was embroidered with patterns of serpents and sake. Long sleeves hung down, revealing two slender, pale arms, one hand gripping an ancient, heavy tachi.
Sandals upon blossoms, trailing the long tachi behind him, he ascended the steps.
The murky sky was pressed low by clouds. Cherry blossoms tumbled and swirled in the gusting wind.
On either side knelt rows upon rows of warriors — hair bound, armor donned, clad in black kimono — every one of them watching him with eyes full of shock and awe.
Kiyono was the champion of that year's Grand Martial Audience. At only sixteen years of age, he had defeated every warrior in Inazuma.
The boy slowly pushed open the heavy doors of Tenshukaku. Blazing sunlight flooded in. And just as Kiyono Sara had done today, he dropped to one knee.
"The reward you seek." She had spoken plainly then, without much thought. "I already know what it is."
"— To become a personal retainer before the Narukami's throne."
"But I'm afraid not."
"I have no need for a retainer, nor have I ever had one."
Her tone was calm and natural, her eyes carrying no excess of emotion. She simply said, as a matter of course:
"No one can withstand a single stroke of my blade. Therefore, no one is worthy of guarding me."
"The path of Musou requires no companion."
The moment those words left her lips, the blazing sunlight seemed to extinguish. The air fell silent. Dark clouds massed across the leaden sky, and distant thunder rumbled.
The majesty of the thunder was absolute.
She was Ei — a god, and more than that, a warrior. A warrior possessed a warrior's pride and reserve. A warrior did not need another warrior's protection.
Let alone — a mere mortal.
"Musou, is it... As expected of the Narukami."
"You love the martial arts, don't you? I can feel it — you truly love this path. But sitting up there on the dais watching warriors fight, you must get terribly bored."
Before the majesty of the thunder, in that suffocating atmosphere —
The boy did not give up. Nor did he retreat. On the contrary, he slowly raised his head. His frost-silver eyes were clear and bright, and he broke into a fearless grin:
"Then, Your Grace — let me see your Musou."
"To witness that single stroke with my own eyes — that alone would make this life worthwhile!"
"If I can withstand your blade —" He straightened his body, drew his spine upright, and faced the thunder. "— then grant my request."
An exhale.
He drew his blade — the boy crossed the line, and before the throne of the Narukami, he unsheathed his sword.
...
No one knew what happened in Tenshukaku that day.
All that was known was that in the height of summer, towering clouds gathered, and a vast flash of lightning flickered through the gaps between them.
Heaven and earth overturned — rising in an instant, extinguished in an instant. After the thunder passed, the world was once again gentle wind and bright moon, clear sky and fine air.
Ei looked down at him, without a shred of pity.
He was drenched in blood. Half his warrior's garb was torn away, exposing raw, bloodied skin. A massive wound had pierced through his shoulder blade and carved an opening across his abdomen. Yet he still stood. His spine was still straight. He still held that blade.
He still wore that fearless grin. The thunder had passed through his body, yet it could not bring him down.
As though no suffering, no matter how great, could ever destroy him.
He smiled, and his silver-grey eyes seemed to say: I win.
The boy was gravely wounded, on the very edge of death — Ei's stroke had held nothing back. She had delivered that blow in full, with the divine might that could lay waste to mountains and rivers.
To dare offend the throne, to draw a blade in Tenshukaku — one had to be prepared to lose one's life.
Moreover, Ei was a warrior. When another warrior offered up their life to challenge her, to hold back would be a desecration.
What surprised Ei slightly was that the boy survived.
He was still so small. Ei looked into his eyes and said:
"But you've miscalculated. And you've found the wrong person, mortal."
Ei spoke with a calm expression:
"I am not the Narukami. My name is Ei. I am merely my elder sister's shadow warrior — a shadow. If you wish to serve as the Narukami's guard, I can recommend you..."
"Then—"
Her words were cut short.
The boy said softly — in the summer sunlight, he collapsed into the fallen blossoms that carpeted the steps, his body crumbling down, sending petals scattering into the air —
"Then let me stay by Ei's side forever."
He said this, and closed his eyes in exhaustion, sinking into a deep sleep.
That was how they first met.
Ei looked down from the high dais at the boy who had fallen with a crash, heard his final words, and smiled — with a touch of helplessness.
Forever...?
Where in this world was there any "forever"...
What could a mortal possibly know of "forever"?
How presumptuous.
"Heh, a mortal... To eternity, you are but a fleeting life..."
But at the same time, she found it somewhat interesting. Found it somewhat amusing. Found things a little less boring. And so, she said softly:
"...Oh, very well. I'll keep you company for a while, then."
What truly happened in Tenshukaku that day, not even the court historians recorded. The people of Inazuma knew only that from that day forward, a new officer appeared at the Narukami's side — a personal retainer before the throne.
And he was the one and only such retainer in the entire history of Inazuma's founding.
Five hundred years passed after that. The boy of those days had long since become the Grand Pillar whose name shook the world.
But before the Narukami's throne, there was never a second retainer.
Though no one spoke of it, in the archives of the Yashiro Commission, the post of Personal Retainer still bore the name "Kiyono Raimei" — and it was the only name.
Five hundred years, unchanged.
Snow and sleet swirled through the air.
"Is this his wish? Or your own will?"
...
"It is the Grand Pillar's command. And it is my own decision."
...
"— His Grace the Grand Pillar wishes to resign from his post as your Personal Retainer, and recommends that I succeed him."
...
Kiyono Sara raised her head. Her brilliant golden eyes were calm, without a single ripple of emotion.
Her face was expressionless.
In a stillness that was nearly suffocating, time passed slowly. The sun shifted by degrees. The shadows of the pines and cypresses outside the hall rotated along the palace walls, climbing, until at last they fell upon the Raiden Shogun.
During this time, the Shogun kept her head slightly bowed.
"Then let me stay by Ei's side forever."
Resign? And now you say you wish to resign?
After a long while, the Shogun became Ei. She stepped out from the Plane of Euthymia.
Ei raised her head and said:
"...Tell him to come find me himself."
Snow melted upon the steps, a vast expanse of white — just as the white cherry blossoms that had carpeted those steps on that day long ago.
In the quiet sound of snow slowly seeping into the stone, Ei felt, for reasons she could not name, a stirring of irritation.