A light rain was still falling beyond the courtyard.
Everything was hazy.
White sakura and fine silver droplets scattered together across the weathered threshold until flower and rain could no longer be told apart. The night blurred around them, late blossoms tumbling through the drizzle in quiet confusion.
Listening to that rain among the sakura, one's thoughts seemed to settle of their own accord.
A quiet mind was conducive to thought—and to memory.
Sara knelt upon a cushion beside the kotatsu. Its orange firelight played across the fine profile of the cool and taciturn warrior. Her eyes half closed as she gently chewed a golden-brown piece of fish tofu, then tilted her head.
The last time she had tasted this flavor was on that clear morning after the heavy snow. The first time had been much longer ago.
When the mountain forest she had called home was destroyed, Kiyono Raimei had taken her in. Here in this very shop, he had made her first bowl of Kiyono Tofu.
It had been raining softly that day as well.
The little tengu had huddled beside the kotatsu with her head lowered, staring curiously at the man with wide eyes... Now that she thought of it, eleven years had already passed.
The flavor had not changed.
She had tasted Kiyono Tofu made by Yae Miko before. It had been delicious, but somehow different from the flavor in her memory. The tofu prepared by this boy today, however, was familiar.
The soft tofu melted upon her tongue and slipped warmly down her throat. A cold rain was still falling beyond the window, yet warmth spread through every limb of her body.
So warm... warm enough to make her want to cry.
"Well?" Kiyo Seigan asked.
Kiyono Sara stared absently at the bowl of Kitsune Udon. "This..." she murmured.
Miss Yae Miko propped her cheek upon one hand. Her narrow fox eyes curved into crescents as she studied Kiyono Sara with a mischievous smile, then spoke before Sara could answer.
"Doesn't it taste just like Dad used to make?"
Her voice rose slightly, brimming with wicked amusement.
...What the hell was she talking about?
What did she mean, Dad?
Dark lines seemed to descend across Kiyo Seigan's face.
Stop taking liberties with the poor woman...!
This colonel was obviously not someone to trifle with.
"..."
Kiyono Sara appeared faintly embarrassed. Her expression remained composed as she shook her head. "Please do not mock me."
"Then what does it taste like?" the fox lady asked with a smile.
Kiyono Sara paused before answering.
"It is different from the dish Lady Guuji makes... There truly is a slight difference."
"And what does this Guuji's tofu taste like~?"
Miss Miko's fox ears drooped languidly. A faint light gleamed in her pale violet eyes, and she looked exceedingly pleased with herself. Leaning lazily against Kiyo Seigan's shoulder, she prepared to say something else outrageous.
The firelight lent a faint flush to her cheeks, as lovely as sunset brushed across a clear sky.
Her red lips parted. A thin breath of warmth drifted through the air, lightly tickling Kiyo Seigan's neck.
"Does this Guuji's Kitsune Udon taste just like Mom used to make?"
...
The tofu shop fell silent.
Outside, the light rain pattered against the eaves with a clear, hollow sound. It was the only sound left in the room.
The shadows across Kiyo Seigan's face deepened.
What did she mean, Mom?
Kitsune Onee-san, what in the world are you saying?!
He had already told her to stop taking liberties with Sara. How had she somehow recruited an accomplice and made it worse?!
Kiyo Seigan knew that the pink-haired fox was forever doing and saying the unexpected. Put kindly, she was unconventional. Put less kindly, she was an unconventional menace. But he had not known the depths of her shamelessness until today.
Wasn't she afraid the samurai would make her commit seppuku on the spot after an insult like that?
The only person whose expression had darkened further than Kiyo Seigan's was Miss Lumine.
Storm clouds had gathered over his face. Hers had become a full-blown tempest.
Like a small lion with every hair standing on end, she forcibly pried the fox lady away from Kiyo Seigan's shoulder. Loose strands of hair cast deep shadows across her eyes as she glared at the languid Miko, gritting her teeth with an audible crack.
"What nonsense are you talking about?!"
"Would you like to be this Guuji's second daughter too, Blondie?"
"You...!"
The pink-haired fox and Blondie began bickering again. Kiyo Seigan hardly reacted. This had already become part of daily life at the tofu shop.
Everyone else wore expressions that grew darker by the moment, yet Kiyono Sara—the actual subject of the joke—remained unexpectedly calm.
Kiyo Seigan was astonished. Miko had taken such liberties with her, yet Sara showed no reaction at all, almost as though she had tacitly accepted it.
As though it really did taste just like Dad used to make.
Kiyono Sara ignored Yae Miko's strange remarks. She merely gazed at the steaming udon in a slight daze, then picked up another piece and placed it in her mouth.
She closed her eyes and lowered her head without speaking.
Her prolonged silence began to worry Kiyo Seigan. Had his cooking failed after all? He ventured cautiously, "Does it taste bad?"
"Hah..."
Sara pressed her lips together.
She looked up. The boy's open, earnest face was reflected in her brilliant golden eyes, and a profound confusion rose within her.
Confusion.
Kiyono Sara had never seen the Pillar General as a boy. She had never known his youthful disposition and did not know what kind of person he had been when he was young.
She was the Pillar General's adopted daughter, but she had spent only ten years of her life with Kiyono Raimei. In her memory, the Pillar General had always been solemn and imposing. In that respect, she was different from Yae Miko.
She knew nothing of the Pillar General's youth, just as most people never truly knew their parents.
Parents were not born as parents. They, too, had once known their own hour of splendour in the grass and glory in the flower.
That was precisely why Miko and Kiyono Sara saw Kiyo Seigan so differently.
Besides, Kiyono Sara was a taciturn and scrupulous warrior.
Of course she would not decide that the person before her was Kiyono Raimei merely because of one bowl of Kitsune Udon. That would have been absurd, far beyond the bounds of ordinary reason.
Most importantly, she had spent too little time with Kiyono Raimei. Ten years was a long time, yet against the span of two lives it was as brief as an instant.
Yae Miko was different.
Miko and Kiyono Raimei had grown up together. She had been the first friend he met in Inazuma. Even Her Excellency Narukami had spent far less time with him than Miko had. After all, Ei had remained within the Plane of Euthymia for a century, passing a hundred years without seeing him once.
That was why Sara lacked Miko's instinctive recognition, and why her judgment had gone astray... Perhaps it was also the source of her regret.
There was still a faint sense of wrongness within her, as though something were trying to remind her of the truth. In the end, however, reason prevailed.
"Boy." She paused and regarded Kiyo Seigan seriously. "You win."
"You mean...?"
"It is delicious." Kiyono Sara nodded, her golden eyes conveying complete sincerity. "I am very pleased. You have won."
"Then..." Kiyo Seigan's next words died upon his lips. His eyes widened in surprise.
Sara remained kneeling. Her pale hands folded over her knees as she lowered her straight back until her forehead touched the cold tatami.
The posture was called dogeza, the deepest expression of apology.
"I am sorry," she said earnestly. "My arrogance led me to insult you. I have lost, and I submit myself to your judgment."
Kiyono Sara was an exceedingly serious young woman and an exceedingly serious samurai. She adhered strictly to the honor of bushido. To her, the outcome of any duel—even a cooking duel—was sacred and inviolable.
The defeated had to accept defeat.
Her solemn candor only left Kiyo Seigan terribly uncomfortable. At a loss for what to do, he stammered, "Ah... Don't do this. Please, get up... I don't want anything. Being allowed to stay here is enough."
"Just let me remain here—in this tofu shop." Kiyo Seigan smiled. "Don't drive me away, and I'll be satisfied."
"Your generosity shames me." Kiyono Sara slowly straightened. "I give you my word: no Shogunate troops will trouble you again."
"If you're ashamed, then do us a favor."
The fox lady chose that moment to speak. She truly excelled at taking every advantage offered to her.
"Sara, my dear daughter, do us a favor."
"...Please do not mock me," Kiyono Sara said darkly.
"Look into the Fatui's plans—especially those of the Harbinger called La Signora," Yae Miko said. "You are Ei's personal guard. Finding out a few closely guarded secrets should not be difficult."
"Closely guarded secrets?" Kiyono Sara looked puzzled.
"Anything concerning this fellow." The fox lady pointed at Kiyo Seigan. "Find out why La Signora wants him."
"La Signora is looking for him?"
"Truth be told, this fellow is an undocumented stowaway, and the Fatui have issued a warrant for him."
Yae Miko had decided to reveal part of the truth about Kiyo Seigan to Sara.
"His name isn't Kiyomizu Seigan. His real name is Kiyo Seigan."
Only part of the truth, of course.
Since Sara had failed to guess Kiyo Seigan's true identity, Yae Miko naturally had no intention of telling her. The Pillar General had made too many enemies over the course of his life. If they learned that he had now become a boy, trouble would inevitably follow.
The fewer people who knew, the better.
More importantly, Yae Miko no longer wanted the tiresome entanglements of his past to ensnare him again. That old bastard who wouldn't die had served as the Pillar General for five hundred years. It was time for him to retire.
Yae Miko did not consider herself one of those tiresome entanglements from the past. The shameless fox had always applied her standards selectively.
She studied Kiyono Sara.
Sara was worthy of trust.
A warrior of such uncompromising integrity could be trusted. Besides, she now owed them a considerable debt.
Faced with an unknown enemy, they naturally had to use every resource available to them.
"I will investigate," Kiyono Sara said with a slight nod.
"One more thing." The fox lady's ears drooped. Beyond the lattice, pale sakura drifted through the rain. She watched them in silence for a moment, then said abruptly, "Don't tell Ei about this either."
"You do not wish Her Excellency Narukami to know...?"
"That's right."
Miko nodded. "Don't tell Ei any of it—not about Kiyo Seigan, not about the Fatui's plans, and not about La Signora's purpose."
The Ei of the present felt like a stranger.
Utterly unfamiliar.
In this matter alone, Miko did not trust her.
"I am sorry, but I cannot readily agree." Kiyono Sara shook her head. "I am now a retainer of Her Excellency Narukami. I cannot deceive my liege."
"If you don't lie, it isn't deception," Yae Miko argued glibly. "As long as she doesn't ask about any of this, simply don't volunteer it. You can manage that, can't you?"
Sara bit her lower lip and nodded with difficulty. "But what if Her Excellency asks me directly?"
"Then tell her. If that truly happens, I'll be relieved."
Yae Miko gave a faint, self-mocking smile. "But why would she ever care enough to ask?"
"She is still the same Ei—the Almighty Narukami who sits atop Tenshukaku. Lady Narukami has never once looked upon a mortal."
Whether that mortal was Kiyo Seigan or Kiyono Raimei, it made no difference.
Like a child, she would always wait for someone else to come find her.
Miko kept that thought to herself.
And so the matter was settled.
The rain was ending as well.
Night had deepened, and the udon bowls were empty. It was time for Kiyono Sara to say farewell.
White sakura had gathered thickly before the threshold, pure and clean as snow.
After slipping her white-socked feet into her wooden sandals, Sara pushed open the door and stepped onto the soft petals. Something made her turn and look back at the old but welcoming shop.
The boy named Kiyo Seigan leaned against the doorway. Noticing her gaze, he raised a hand and smiled.
He wore a plain white kimono mottled with the shadows of sakura. The night was dim, and he stood with his back to the light, leaving his face indistinct.
His blurred silhouette seemed to overlap faintly with someone else's.
Familiar, yet strange.
It was only an illusion in the end.
Kiyono Sara parted her lips. She suddenly wanted to say something, but the words stopped before they could emerge. After a long while, she finally asked, "May I come and taste your Kiyono Tofu again?"
"Of course." Kiyo Seigan smiled gently. "The doors of Kiyono's Tofu Shop will always be open to you—provided you bring money."
"...That's good," she whispered.
"What did you say?" Kiyo Seigan had not heard her.
"I said that the weather is cold, and it has just rained." Kiyono Sara raised her voice. "You should put on another layer."
"Oh. All right."
"And one more thing."
She did not know why. Even to her, the next words seemed strangely illogical.
"Don't ever take up smoking."
Put on more clothes. Stop smoking. The words came from her conversation with Ei earlier that day.
"You should put on another layer too," Kiyo Seigan said with a smile. "Until next time, Kiyono Sara."
"Until next time, Kiyo Seigan."