Ethereal [discontinued]

二

"This is an invasion of privacy, don't you think?"

"No, it isn't, besides, I knocked several times and you didn't respond."

"Because I was having my beauty sleep."

"You had plenty of rest."

"It's only seven in the morning."

"That's already late by my standards, now, get up!" Sara flung the covers off their body, eliciting a shrill cry as their only source of warmth was taken away.

"Okay, okay! I'm up! Geez! Why are you in such a hurry anyway?"

"The sooner we find this companions of yours, the faster I don't have to deal with you ever again."

"Awe, I thought we had something going on between us!"

Sara scoffed. "Keep dreaming."

"Okay, I will."

"Wha— hey! No going back to sleep!"

***

Kujou Sara despised her new job.

She's the general of the Tenryou Commission for crying out loud! She's supposed to lead troops to seize visions or stop whatever the Resistance is plotting! Not babysit a grown ass adult!

Unfortunately, it's under Her Excellency's orders, so Sara had no choice but to swallow down her pride and nod her head obediently.

After all, she is loyal to the Shogun's will. She does not dare question it, no matter how absurd her new assigned task was.

"Sara, what's that?" Y/N pointed to a statue of the Electro Archon near Musoujin Gorge.

"It's a statue of our archon, the Narukami Ogosho."

"Neat," they ran off from Sara's side and towards the statue, not caring about the raging storm threatening to strike them at any second.

"Hey don't run— ugh." The tengu facepalmed, it's their fault if they get struck by lightning and got blasted off the cliff, or worse, died. Surely, the Shogun wouldn't bat an eye to it, right? They've only been around for a week.

And yet, those seven days they were treated like they were the Shogun's spouse or something. Roaming inside Tenshukaku like it was their own house, having one or two guards accompanying them whenever they go if Sara wasn't available...

Just what makes them so special that the Raiden Shogun deemed their presence worthy of her attention and care? When they did absolutely nothing to gain such thing.

Sara mentally slapped herself. Is she really getting jealous over this?

Yes, yes she is.

A clap of lightning brought Sara's attention back, just in time for her to witness Y/N falling off said cliff after being struck.

Her blood went cold as she quickly summoned her wings and flew over to them.

What she didn't expect, however, was for them to suddenly teleport to the other side of the cliff in a flash of purple. Sara stared at Y/N, her wings flapping behind her as she desperately scrambled her brain for some kind of answer on what just happened.

"How— What did you— How did you do that?" She asked, landing right next to them.

"Dunno."

"What do you mean 'dunno?!' You literally just used electro energy!"

"Like I said, I don't know. All I did was touch the statue and bam! I got struck by lightning."

"... There's no point in trying to understand you, is there?"

"Nope!" they said, accentuating the 'p'.

"Ugh." Sara pulled them to their feet, only for them to immediately fall back down when she let go.

"Ahaha... I kind of sprained my ankle during the fall."

"What are you implying?"

"Carry me, pretty please?"

"No."

"Pleaseee?" they pouted, doing their best impression of a pleading puppy.

"...Fine."

...

"I think we should just put missing person posters instead of scouting the islands one by one."

"You're only suggesting that now?" Sara grouched, palms fixed firmly under Y/N's thighs as they head back to Narukami island.

"Ehe."

"Don't ehe me, we just wasted several hours walking aimlessly, only to come to a conclusion of putting missing person posters."

"I'm sorry, okay? My brain is still groggy from hibernating for centuries."

"I can tell... wait, how old are you?"

"I lost count after hitting two-thousand." They replied.

"You've lived for over a millennia, and you still have a mind of a child... good to know." her tone dripped with so much sarcasm that even the usual oblivious Y/N noticed.

"Hey! I have my reasons on why I act the way I do."

"Oh really? please indulge me why then."

"Nah, I'd rather not bring the mood down. I mean, this place is gloomy as it is." They gestured to Yashiori island, the rain pitter-pattering on their heads. "And besides, I doubt you'd gain any merit from such trivial knowledge."

Sara could make out a hint of melancholy in their voice, making her feel a little guilty. "Alright, I won't force you to talk. But, if there is anything on your mind, there's no harm in telling me."

"Hm? Does that mean you care?"

"You managed to gain the attention and care of the Shogun, so there has to be something in you to achieve such feat. If she cares about you, that goes the same for me as well."

"That so? hehe, thank you Sara."

The rest of the trek back was quiet, much to the tengu's surprise.

Maybe she shouldn't judge a book by its cover after all.

<Notes>

Sorry this doesn't have Ei in it, I just wanted to establish/flesh out Sara and the reader's friendship first.

Next chap will probably involve a certain pink fox ;)