Chapter Text
Things had started to go south when master Takayuki had returned to the Kujou mansion.
It had been an awful day, as they all tended to be as of late – a monotony of disdain and mistrust from the citizens, who refused to collaborate with the Tenryou commission even for the simplest of requests.
If she remembered correctly, that day, after personally coercing doushin Shikanoin on patrol with her – the only way he would ever be made to patrol – they'd come across a scuffle between a merchant and their customer in Hanamizaka just before noon. It was hard to even get anybody to explain the situation – the customer, a man, held his son by the hand as he argued, and when detective Shikanoin had tried to cheer him up with a smile while Sara tried to break up the fight, the boy turned away and the situation de-escalated quickly.
A hurry of people returning to their tasks and throwing them diffident glances, renouncing the spectacle just so they could avoid their common enemy – to show that they did not need their lowly help.
Kamaji, bless his soul for trying, was fighting a futile, losing battle to restore the Tenryou commission's and the Kujou clan's names.
"I would usually cheer if work dematerialized itself in front of me like that but... yeesh." Shikanoin made a theatrical face, putting his hands up, "Makes you feel underappreciated."
"There's nothing to appreciate about you – you barely work." Sara bit venomously, the situation starting to grind on her nerves. Of course, she knew she could not regain the trust of the people so easily after encouraging them to toss away the lives of their children in the name of the Shogun, and especially after it proved to be a worthless endeavor.
"Someone's in a bad mood." Shikanoin muttered as he kicked the ground, then followed her as she resumed their patrol through the streets. Sara did not deign him of an answer, deep in her thoughts. Lately, it was starting to feel like drowning helplessly as the current slowly drug her under.
"I'm sorry master Takayuki is getting out of jail, madam. I swear, we're going to turn a blind eye to it if you decide to keep him in a little longer..."
Heizou instantly regretted his bluntness as the general turned around and glared at him with such focus that it was clear she was trying to melt him down on the spot. It would be fine, usually, because he did recognize he might be considered annoying by some (classless) individuals, but madam Kujou's golden glares were infamously frightening and she was giving him quite the performance. He swallowed thickly and averted his gaze, joining his hands behind his back instead.
Of all the days to get caught slacking off... how did he get so unlucky?
Even then, there was a silver lining to the situation – which was that he could intervene in case general Kujou finally snapped and indulged in some well-deserved bloodshed before returning to her forsaken home between the peaks of mount Yougou.
He really thought she deserved it, honestly, after everything she had endured, but she probably wouldn't be able to forgive herself for it.
As a martial artist of incredible prowess and unsurpassed genius, he was definitely the best choice to try and stop her.
The rest of the day had slipped by like any other – follow the general as she stomped her way through the city (in a bad mood), lunch together to the tune of five flavorful onigiri (in a slightly better mood), and then return to the police station for the daily paperwork (ugh, paperwork).
He would normally flee the scene as quickly as possible by calling for a bathroom break, but, as already stated, he was the only courageous man standing between Kujou Sara and the complete annihilation of Narukami island, so he would have to do... paperwork.
The general even glanced up at him multiple times as he sifted through his very overdue pile of documents, puzzlement overcoming her bad mood as she watched Heizou pick up a brush with a defeated sigh and start to – Archons forbid – work.
A truly chilling omen.
"Are you alright?" Her curiosity finally won, and doushin Shikanoin simply nodded a begrudging 'yes'.
Far be it from her to dissuade him the one time he decided to actually earn his pay; she had other things on her mind anyways.
First and foremost, the dread she felt about master Takayuki returning to the mansion. Her stomach started churning violently as soon as she remembered – the last time they'd met she'd beaten him with the help of the traveler, and since then humiliated him by exposing his dealings with the Fatui, and Kujou Takayuki was an angry, vengeful man. She hadn't even had the courage to visit him during his stay in his cell at the police station – Masahito had made up every possible half-hearted excuse to avoid going, and Kamaji had gone once just to return shaking and with a pale face.
And there's no hiding it – Kujou Takayuki also hates her especially, so he will make it his life's mission to ruin her as soon as he’s free, or rather on house arrest.
Sara took a deep breath when she noticed she'd started shaking, the words she'd been trying to read echoing hollowly in her mind and mingling together without a logic. She swallowed around a dry mouth, then started again.
It was fine. Takayuki could destroy her life if he so desired – she owed it to him and the Shogun after all. But she needed to conclude the peace talks before that happened. She needed to do this one good thing, then she'd go down in silence.
She'd expressed the urgency to Sangonomiya, during their last meetings. Ever the observant strategist, she'd started to notice the hasty way topics would be brought up, solved (often with more concessions than necessary) and put aside.
It was hard to point out politely, but Kokomi did not wish to take advantage of the general's hard work after all of her earnest help.
"General, I don't feel comfortable accepting this offer." It had made Sara's golden eyes snap up from the scrolls on the desk for the first time in the whole meeting. The fatigue in them made Kokomi cringe inwardly.
"I don't make promises I can't uphold, Sangonomiya." She'd lowered her eyes again, hastily jotting down notes.
"I'm sure the Kanjou commission can afford to cough up the money to restore land trade routes between Narukami and Watatsumi," with all the money they scammed off of travelers and citizens during the Sakoku decree, it was between the lines but Kokomi didn't need or want to rub it in Sara's face, "but that's too generous. It's inappropriate that I have the costs fall on you alone when we will both benefit from the deal." Us more than you, you could leverage way more than this, Kokomi also didn't need to say.
A lull in the conversation as Sara considered how to convince her allowed her to continue, "Please, I will have my assistants draft some numbers about what we can feasibly offer, and we can discuss a better deal next time."
Sara grimaced outwardly – emotions always showed clearly on the general's face – but nodded in agreement.
"The offer stays open if you change your mind. Next we should discuss customs duties. I was considering-" Sangonomiya stopped her with a raised hand.
"Would you please leave us a moment?" She turned towards the scribe and the assistant supplying her with scrolls, who, caught up in their work, exchanged a look before bowing and exiting the room.
Sara stared in befuddled silence, slightly miffed about the interruption. This would slow down her plans.
"Sara, I like to believe that up until now we've had a prosperous collaboration – I admire your earnestness to cooperate with me to further the interests of not just your faction, but mine as well. And I'm truly grateful – any other individual in your place would be giving me as much of a hard time as possible. I believe that we've come to know and respect each other through this journey..." the priestess brought her elbows to the table and rested her cheek on one of her hands, the intimacy of the action catching Sara off-guard, somehow, "...so, please, will you tell me why you're trying to cram months of work into a meeting? I want the peace to last and I can't afford to extort things from you as you're offering so stubbornly."
A mix of conflicting feelings battled on the general's face briefly before a slight slump of her shoulders signaled the conclusion.
"...my apologies, Kokomi."
"I hope you haven't grown tired of our meetings." Kokomi tried to lighten the mood, but Sara's face instantly fell to reveal an apologetic look.
"No! Of course not. You're the only person it's easy to work with. Even when we disagree, you're always..." the general shook her head, interrupting her immensely intriguing train of thought, "I meant no offense, truly. My apologies." She repeated, bowing down her head rigidly and dispelling whatever emotion she'd let surface just a few seconds before, much to Kokomi's dismay.
"It's alright, you don't need to apologize. I was... teasing you. I'm just worried about-" lie, say you're worried about the peace talks, she bit her lip to suppress the thought, "about you. You're behaving unlike yourself."
Sara lifted her gaze a moment but never met her eyes.
"My... my time is running out." The sentence made her stomach uneasy as it sank to her feet, "Master Takayuki will be released next month, and I fear he will try to influence and take over the peace talks once he is free to do so."
Sangonomiya fidgeted with her brush, eyebrows knit together delicately as if the news had upset her. Probably because he would make her life harder, and she knew as much.
"I'd rather you not deal with him – I'd rather he weren't involved in these treaties in any capacity. He will undo everything we've built until now, and – I want this peace to last. I can't allow it." She'd started shaking, thinking about Takayuki and the war had that effect on her. Sangonomiya was quiet for an uncomfortable amount of time until her frown dispelled, "I understand. I will try to request that you stay the envoy from the Tenryou commission, but we will pick up our pace for the worst case scenario." Some of the weight on Sara's shoulders disappeared, "Tell me what topics you'd like to go over and next time we meet I'll make sure to have all the documents we need to make the necessary deals."
The general nodded quickly, her fear and urgency obvious as she retrieved some scrolls emblazoned with the electro mitsudomoe from her bag and handed them over to her – Kokomi stared disapprovingly for a moment ( why are you handing me private documents ripe with state secrets? ) before provocatively handing over her own. Sara frowned at her for a moment before sighing, and they both went on to commit high treason towards their respective institutions, together.
The scrolls currently sat in a hidden compartment in her desk – of course she couldn't ever dream of hiding them in her house.
"General? Thank you."
Sara scoffed at the documents in front of her, shaking her head as if it would dispel the image she had just conjured for herself – Sangonomiya holding enough documents to have her executed by the Shogun herself without trial, and handing over the equivalent to her own hands.
"You... usually stay overtime a lot...?" Heizou attempted from his desk, pitifully massaging his hand as if using the brush for half a day had irrevocably damaged his nerves.
"I do. But you don't need to stay. I'm amazed you lasted until now." Sara answered, her mood somehow under control again, "I'm also quite confused as to why you decided to work in my office today, but... go home. Or... wherever it is that you go when you're not working."
"Alright..." Heizou stood and stretched, his joints popping loudly, "See you tomorrow, boss..." he groaned, sliding the door open and slipping out eagerly. Sara sighed as she pulled Sangonomiya's scrolls from the desk and weighed the simple pastel purple paper in her palm, lifting up the corner with her thumb.
He's coming to work tomorrow, too...? Times sure are changing.
The priestess' elegant handwriting made the scrolls feel like a piece of art, but the efficient organization of the topics was what made Sara sigh in relief, and sent a pleased thrill down her spine every time she looked at them. Now it was time to burn them. A few days ago, they'd met for the last time, going over the last additions and edits before Sara signed the contracts they'd made and the ones they hadn't – her name on blank paper, trusting that Sangonomiya would draft the agreed contract on the scroll as soon as she had enough free time for it. Under candlelight, because they'd had to work well into the night to have everything in order. A gargantuan effort on both parts, with no witnesses, that would hopefully see Inazuma into a new era of peace and prosperity. An era that could amend the blood that stained the sand of Nazuchi beach red and littered the expanse between Narukami and Watatsumi with dendrobii.
She probably shouldn't have trusted her former enemy to such extent, but if she had understood anything about Sangonomiya Kokomi it was that just like herself, the prospect of another war terrified her to the bone. That they'd caused and witnessed too much pain, too much horror, and that now they had to rebuild.
A dull ache settled into her chest as she used electro to spark a fire that quickly swallowed the dangling end of the scroll and illuminated the ink one last time before it turned to ash, settling delicately into the brass plate on her desk.
She stayed in her office until late, hoping to avoid Takayuki at their residence and drafting the report that informed Her Excellency that the peace talks had officially concluded, which she left on top of her desk, for her to hand over personally the next morning, along with the final copies of the treaties Sangonomiya had supplied through a messenger just that day.
The smoke from the scrolls stung her throat a bit, and the fire had warmed her face more than she was comfortable with, leaving a bad feeling behind.
When she reached her room, flying in through the window like a coward – just until tomorrow, just until Her Excellency knows – she spent a restless night deep in anxiety, fearing that her personal nightmare would open the door anytime.
And then the hallucinations started.