Subconsciously Flawed | Genshin Impact OC Story

03

"It isn't likely that he'd join us then. If he's under the Grand Narukami Shrine's protection, he must be similarly devoted to the Shogun..." Gorou looked disappointed, eyes glued to the ground and lips pressed into a frown.

"Maybe," Kokomi says, "He does not seem like the loyal type."

"Really?" This egged on his curiosity about him.

"Yes. Actually, I had hired him under a different name to explore some remains on Yashiori Island."

"You mean...?"

Kokomi did not answer Gorou's question, but he took her silence as a yes. She calmly continued.

"I sent a letter of request, promising a decent sum of mora if he sent back what he found. He swiftly went to work, exploring the remains, finding remnants of the past that I had longed to see and experience for myself... And when he was done, he sent back a letter with his apologies, saying he would not disclose with me his discoveries and that our deal was off. I had tried to contact him after that to convince him otherwise...but after the 4th letter went ignored like the last 3, it was clear that he didn't intend to change his mind."

"That sounds horrible! I'm so sorry, Your Excellency.

"Don't be. I suppose he just found something that intrigued him enough that he wanted it for himself."

"Do you...resent him for it?" He questions her nervously, a bit wary of the fact that she said this all with a straight face.

"No," she answers honestly with a shake of her head, "I don't think I could hate someone trying to find self worth within the fossils and bones of old times..."

...

A soft groan escapes his lips as he stirs awake. The  bright sunrise flashed in his face immediately as he opened his fragile eyes. It took a bit for crimson irises to adjust, but the sunrise looked beautiful. As unlike him as it was, he could always spare hours watching it beneath a shaded tree. But unlike other times, a soft silky blanket was wrapped carefully around him. He shifted his hand a bit on the grass and felt the soft pillow at his side.

"Oh good, you're awake!"

A voice followed by excited footsteps ran towards him. He looked back to see Gorou coming up to him, a bag swung over his shoulder. Mitsuki's tired eyes lingered over the bag in curiosity, and the General noticed this.

"It's something I was asked to move. But get ready okay? We have a long day ahead of us!"

Gorou started jogging to wherever he needed to get that bag delivered, leaving a ticked off Mitsuki to mentally debate on throwing himself off the edge or going back to sleep. He ultimately decided to give this work a shot...after all he hadn't technically done anything, and it was silly to assume he'd have nearly the same amount of time for exploring as he had before...

Though...it still pissed him off.

He picked up the blanket and pillow from the ground and headed over to throw them in Gorou's nearby tent, lazily and without concern for where they landed. He could deal with it later.

He stood outside the tent, leaned against a wooden post and staring blankly at the vast area before him. Passerby's could compare him to a statue that you would be too scared to get near to, worried that it could make some sudden jarring movement. Nobody could really tell what was running through his head nor guess from the lack of expression.

"Okay," Gorou's voice was what finally moved him, "I'm back!"

"Alright, what are we doing first?"