Cold Steel - Inazuma Gaiden

XXIII: Celestial Homefront

"Are you sure that you are not aware of the identity of this... 'Izanagi-san', Nobutada-san?"

She watched the young man to her side react to her question ever so slightly, his amber eye shifted from watching the dying embers of their small fire to return the inquisitive gaze belonging to her person. Their eye-contact lasted for a few seconds, until her companion threw his own glance back towards the lit hearth, expression both hardened and thoughtful while not betraying whatever he's keeping inside of him.

Though subtle, she could tell that he wasn't being silent to ignore her query. In fact, from the newly-formed creases along his forehead that did a great job in blending in with the fresh scar just to the top of his unseeing left eye - she could tell that he was being genuinely thoughtful of the notion. From the stress marks along his cheeks and his temple, it seemed as though the straw hat was not exactly pleased with the lack of answers he found within.

Eventually, he did emote his muted frustration with a light shake of his head.

"The name doesn't sound familiar," Nobutada answered with a plain sigh. "Sorry, I know I'm not exactly being helpful here."

A huff was the response he got coming from the lady in white. "Why are you even apologizing?" Ayaka asked, sounding almost amused. "...It's only a question out of curiosity, it certainly isn't worth risking delving deeper into, considering that was your second encounter with the... unknown kind."

"You were the one who asked," He pointed out dryly. "How about you, Ayaka-san? Being a clan lady and all, you must've at least made your rounds with the locals - commoners and nobles alike. Does the name ring any bells on your end?"

A single shake of her head was the lady's response. "Unfortunately, no. I don't recall ever hearing anyone with the name of 'Izanagi' my entire life," Ayaka noted analytically. "It sounds distinctively Inazuman, and yet at the same time - it also sounds incredibly foreign to our naming conventions."

"It's... certainly an eccentric name, that's for sure," Nobutada agreed, amber eye narrowed to focus on the flying embers.

"Eccentric... would be one way to put it," Ayaka replied evenly. "I for one, thought of it to be a highly peculiar name," She paused briefly, letting the silence to take over between the pair before she added.

He shot her a look. "...The difference between either terms being?"

She smiled. "One is more polite than the other."

The young man's eyes rolled. "Sure. You keep telling yourself that, Ayaka-san."

"Maybe I will," The Cryomancer's humored look deflated back to neutrality. "Still, if you really don't know of this 'Izanagi-san', then that means you basically just spoke of their name out of... reflex?"

His pressed lips indicated that he wasn't pleased with the lack of answers. "I don't know," He answered after giving out a long and vexed sigh. "I genuinely don't know," The young man repeated. "I wish I know who this 'Izanagi-san' is, but... my entire life I only know of Jisei and the other kids."

"Settle yourself, Nobutada-san," Ayaka warned carefully. "I'm not sure if the answers you seek is worth it, especially if it takes you peering into something that's brought over by the Tatarigami."

Nobutada's amber eye peered over to his side, while the edges of his fingers grew redder as they gripped harder on the cheap and rough fabric of his haori. "That's the thing, though. I'm not even sure if... whatever happened to be back then was because of the plague."

The lady in white noted the hints of anxiety on his tone with the narrowing of her steel eyes. "...Meaning?" She decided not to mention the light, jittery movements of her companion.