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**Part 2 will be following soon bc the word count exceeded 8k when I tried to do one chap**
First off, tysm everyone for loving this story I started as a dare from a friend. I didnt expect any of my fics to even get over 1k reads at most but here I am 😭 4k votes 100k reads and over 500 followers wtf
“I feel like a fucking celebrity in this town ✨✨”
-Bayonetta
This is in the same au as the christmas special chap. I wrote this in a hurry after waking up one day and rolling off my bed after seeing my own story’s status for the first time in like 3 months so pls bear with me. I won’t drone off any further, let’s get on 😍
–
[☕︎☕︎☕︎]
☁︎
A thousand eons away
two centimeters close
–
A thousand eons away, that’s what he now felt from his past name and life.
The boat to Snezhnaya had left around three days ago from Ritou, separating the young puppet further and further from his motherland. His fair face was hardened with a scowl with dark bangs covering most of his features. He never joined in for any meals served on the boat, didn’t approach anyone, merely standing by the railings day or night for those three days. It would normally take almost a week to reach the land of ice for regular rides, but Snezhnaya’s advanced technology had shortened the trip drastically.
He was promised of what his creator had failed to see him worthy of. He no longer believed the filthy mouth of mortals, but at the same time, he decided it would be a better spending of his time than wandering around pathetically in that wasteland of thunder. Kunikuzushi was left behind there, left to rot and die. Now, he was going to become a blank slate. A beautiful, flawless white page of paper that was pure enough to hold the divine gnosis.
The puppet felt a white spec land on his pale skin, but it dissapeared the moment it hit his arm. When his indigo irises looked up to the pale gray sky above, snow was gently gliding down. Although he failed to notice at first, it had become significantly colder. Not that he was effected much. A few cheers could be heard from the other side of the boat by Fatui soldiers who were more than ecstatic to come back home. Home..
“Ladies and gentlemen, the main docks to Snezhnaya is not ten minutes away now. Please make sure your luggage is secure and hang on tight until the end of your trip.” Kunikuzushi sighed as he finally looked up from the choppy black waters that were showing bits and pieces of ice floating on it, he finally took view of the so called city of love. Even from a good distance away, it was a sight to behold.
Tall buildings that were much more differently styled than traditional Inazuman homes stood proudly in the ground. The city seemed to glow with the artificial light sources that shone off everywhere. Strange machines and unfamiliar structures reflected upon his pupils as he watched with interest. A wail of icy wind sifted through his silky locks as he squinted his eyes for a moment. He couldn’t tell if the breeze was a warning, or a welcome. His lashes fluttered slightly as a single snowflake landed right above his eyelid.
As the ship approached closer to the docks, there was a small crowd of people waiting. Probably friends or family who came out to welcome their peers. The puppet scoffed at the thought as he crossed his arms and made his way closer to the exit. He was told that soldiers would be sent to escort him to the Zapolyarny palace in order to face the Tsaritsa. What would happen if she suddenly decided he didn’t carry as much worth as she originally thought?
No. That wouldn’t happen. He was meant to be a god carrying the supreme gnosis as none other than his hear. Surely, even the lowliest of gods couldn’t be blinder than his creator to not see his purpose, his potential, his being.
Everyone left the ship one by one, as they nearly slipped the moment their feet hit the icy ground. If given the opportunity, he could probably stand there all day and watch people stumble and fall as their companions gasped and helped them up. Maybe not the last part.
Staring at the fluffy coat given to him by the Fatui general back in Inazuma, the puppet sighed and placed it over his shoulders. His traditional Inazuman clothing without any sort of protection against the biting cold would probably attract unwanted attention among Snezhnayan folks. Not that he needed the warmth, but humans were creatures disgustingly sensitive to the littlest change or difference. The fur hood was much heavier than the veil he draped over his head back in Inazuma, almost as if it was trapping him under the weight. He debated taking it off, but decided against it.
He would rather have himself trapped and suffocate rather than be left uncovered and vulnerable.
~
“So you are the abandoned puppet of Beelzebub.”
The howling snowstorm outside that wailed against the stained windows, begging to be let into the palace was not even on the scale to be compared with the cryo archon’s stare from her throne. Two guards with slightly different uniform stood beside her with silver lances in their grip, although they were probably more of decorating purposes rather than actual protection. Like the extra gold coins of the pile. Shining and beautiful, but only supporting the blinding diamond crown sitting on top of them all.
Her pale blue eyes gazed with interest as she looked into the puppet’s eyes. They were like the unceasing storm of Amakumo peaks, or like the forest fires that scorched through Natlan every once in a while. Despite kneeling down on one knee, he fearlessly stared at the goddess as the guard who escorted him sweatdropped. She knew that gaze better than anyone else.
One that no longer had anything left to lose.
The Tsaritsa exhaled a breath, the blue lipstick upon her soft lips like the last bit of the sky before it was clouded by a storm yet to come. “The Fatui’s desire now in reach is to bring down and make a laughingstock of the false divine illuminating down from above. We will take any and all force it takes to bring true liberation from the shackles of the Primordial two.” She spoke with unforgiving eyes. The puppet didn’t react, but he obviously didn’t understand what she was speaking of. With a raise of the eyebrow, she glanced at one of the commanders who stood saluting on the sides. “You will be a valuable asset upon our goal. But of course, nothing comes in this world without compensation.”
From the large platform floating mid air in the throne room, a shining object descended down. There were two seats facing one another, and a board of chess going on the table. The board that missed exactly seven pieces. Kunikuzushi’s eyes widened suddenly as the goddess held a large chess piece in between her thumb and index, twirling it around. “In price, we will prepare the stepping stones for what you were denied from what you were fated for since the beginning. What I ask for in return, is your service upon the Fatui until then.”
The puppet drowned in all kinds of thoughts. It would take years at the shortest to get the electro gnosis in his palms even with the help of this organization. Years he would have to be enslaved fulfilling filthy duties related to the divine and humans. Days, months in a foreign country with all eyes drawn upon a puppet from overseas. But time was his greatest spare change, something he had infinite amount of. If it took days or centuries, he would remain the same as he was before.
Beelzebub was right, he was not meant for eternity. No, he will surpass the concept of eternity and laugh at it.
He will become a god, if not beyond that.
“This seems like fun.” He sarcastically spat out as he continued to stare at the archon ahead of his figure. Her hair was such a light shade of blonde it was practically white, along with pale complextions that lacked a single spec of impurity. A true, pure image of a goddess. “I guess I’ll entertain you until I get what was rightfully mine back. What am I supposed to do?”
The Tsaritsa’s lips curved slightly upon his responce. She crooned her head to the same one who she glanced at before. Kunikuzushi turned to see what had caught the attention of the archon. Along the sides of below the small staircase that led to the throne were around a dozen people on each side lined up in a perfectly straight line. They all had similar masks covering the upper half of their faces, covering them of what little expression they wore. Black coats with white fur by the neckline and head were draped over their shoulders with the infamous four edged insignia glistening in the light.
Among the tall, impressive figures who loomed over like pillars, one of the heads drastically dropped low from the line.
“Major commander L/n.” Upon the call of the Tsaritsa, the noticeably tiniest figure among the many stepped forth with right foot in front of another, as they stomped one of their legs on the ground and saluted. Pale H/c hair that was messily cut with the longest bits reaching a little below her shoulder peeked over the pristine white fur. “Upon her majesty’s orders.” The voice was definately higher pitched than one of a grown male.
“Your origins trace back to Inazuma, correct?” The Tsaritsa placed her hand on her chin as she leaned the elbow to the arm place of her seat. With a court nod, the figure raised her head. “That would be the case, your grace.” They shared a stare for a few moment before the major looked back down upon the ground. Heavy silence layered the massive throne room, many eyes peering down upon the three main figures in the conversation. The female who just stepped out just seemed like an ordinary mortal with nothing too impressive about her. She was around five commanders ahead of his own figure, her black boots standing firmly into the ground as though she was facing a blizzard that was going to blow her away.
“You are to train him until he is ready for further…. Encounter with Il Dottore. Share your knowledge upon basic combat and the traditional language of Snezhaya, the time frame is as long as it takes the two of you.” The goddess eventually ordered with a small, unnoticeable glint in her eyes. “I have faith in you, major. Do not dissapoint me.”
With a bow, the commander closed her eyes shut. “Her majesty’s command is my duty fulfilled until death.” She spoke out like a robot, her face unreadable underneath the mask.
With a small conversation between her and an unfamiliar blue haired man with a bird-like mask in a language the puppet could not understand, the meeting ended shortly after. This time, it was the same woman before who escorted him out. Upon walking from side to side, he discovered that her height was to the point she was at least a few centimeters shorter than his own. How did such a frail mortal find herself in this dump of ice?
They walked in silence as she guided him through twists and turns of the castle. Pictures of unrecognizable individuals and the Tsaritsa hung all around the polished walls of the enormous palace like eyes that watched them every few steps. Kunikuzushi scorned at the lifeless portraits as he turned his attention down to the ground. Hearing a small jingle of metal, he raised his head and met eye to eye with the individual.
“This will be your temporary dorm until further orders, come to me if you happen to lose the keys!” He nearly flinched at how drastically her voice had changed from back in the main hall. From formal and composed, to whatever she was now.. E/c eyes practically burst in sparkles as she handed him a single metal key around the size of his palm. “Im major commander L/n Y/n at your service. Our training will consist of the prime basics of hand to hand combat, and the learning of ancient Snezhayan. Six days a week, Sunday off. We will probably start tomorrow- oh my manners, what’s your name?”
She had somehow droned the entire sentences out in less than five seconds.
“….None of your business.”
“Well, it kind of is mine if I’m supposed to follow around and teach you for the next while. Let’s not forget I have maybe an adorable number of over 200 soldiers under my division, so a name might be useful. Don’t know about you, just a thought. Who knows?” The girl spoke out as she raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I stayed away from Inazuma for too long that I began to forget how people think like over there.” She shrugged softly as if she was genuinely speaking of another possibility. The puppet’s eyes slit into two straight lines with annoyance as he sent a glare into her direction. Ignoring the imaginary daggers sent to her direction, the commander only smiled.
“Alright alright, I’ll be out of your face.” He watched with suspicion as she turned her heels and began to walk towards another hall with her hands lazily behind her back. Just as he was about to turn the key into the hole in the doorknob, she suddenly turned around and waved dramatically to his direction. “Have a good night, mini lavender melon!”
He nearly snapped the metal key in half.
With that, he slammed the door shut in frustration as his back slid down the wooden structure until his bottom hit the cold floor. The room was a regular one person place with a small closet off to the side, a single bed, and a table with a simple chair. It wasn’t like he had anything to unpack or do until further, so he locked the entrance behind him and flopped down onto the surprisingly soft bed. Though he technically couldn’t feel physical fatigue, today was too much to comprehend.
And that major commander…
He scowled as an image of her cheeky smile bubbled up in his mind, dismissing the thought away. Whether her act was genuine or an act to get him to trust her, he didn’t know yet. The puppet was not human, but know enough to decipher cheap smiles thrown without effort and genuine laughter. What was frustrating was that her enthusiastic tone and the excitement in her eyes seemed like the realest thing in this pristine palace of ice.
Closing his eyes, Kunikuzushi let his mind go blank as he simply laid there for the rest of the night. The white moonlight gleamed through the icy pane of the singular window.
~
“Hey hey, rise and shine! The sun is already in your eyes.” A familiar voice chirped as a series of knocks followed. He opened his eyelids and got up from the mattresses, unlocking the door, greeted by a pair of e/c eyes. She waved and offered what seemed like a small pile of neatly folded clothes to his direction. “This is the uniform assigned to you. Tell me if anything doesn’t fit, I’m sure we can get a child size custom made for yo-“
He slammed the door in her face after snatching the uniform in her hands. Just what did that lowly mortal think she was??
Begrudgingly, the puppet hesitantly changed out of his white and purple garments. He stared at them for a while before eventually folding them and placing it in the closet. The uniform was nothing remarkable, a vest styled black coat with deep maroon details that was maybe a size bigger, plain pants, and a mask to cover his face. The Fatui emblem seemed to be all over the article of clothing as if a constant reminder to his reality now.
He stared at himself in the small mirror on the wall, and pulled up the hood. There were fluffy black fur along the shoulders and neck meant to keep the wearer warm from the biting cold. After debating for a while, he kept the mask hung on the side of his face and soon walked out. His expression dropped the moment he saw the woman waiting for him outside the room. “There we go. Does everything fit?” She lifted her face up from whatever she was looking at before, as she slid the object into the pocket of her coat.
Her eyes widened slightly as she approached him, inches away from his face. The puppet was too stunned to do or say anything in protest as she took the mask off the side of his raised hood, and practically smashing it on his face. “Have you gone insane?! You’re going to get shot out cold if the agents see your face-” She interrupted herself half way, realizing her actions.
The commander coughed awkwardly while rubbing the back of her nape. “Sorry about that. It’s just that soldiers beneath harbingers aren’t allowed to take their masks off within the premises of the palace. Just be mindful from now on.” She explained in an apologetic tone. Kunikuzushi blinked for a moment, as the situation finally hit him. “It’s.. Whatever.”
Commander L/n looked over her shoulder as she gestured for him to follow. She took the day to show him around the areas of the palace he was permitted to enter at his current rank. She had to often snap him out of his daze, but otherwise it was uneventful. Everything looked disgustingly perfect, not even a single piece of dust on the ground was to be considered filthy. Torches lining the smooth walls hosted blue flames that flickered softly, dying down for a moment the second it attempted to jump higher than it was confined.
The two were currently visiting the indoor training arena. Maybe a dozen or so of agents and geochanters were training together, while the commander went off explaining the schedules of the days the arena was open to certain ranks and positions. He paid little to no attention, but stared as an agent dissapeared into thin air and reappeared behind the chanter, striking his shoulder. “-on. Hey, mini lavender melon!”
The puppet blinked and looked over to his companion. She tilted her head and stared back at him. “Are you good? You’ve been staring at them for the past ten minutes.” He shrugged and turned around as a signal that he wanted to move on. Sighing at his unwillingness, she jogged after his retreating figure. Their movement seemed to catch the attention of the soldiers who were now sprawled or sitting on the ground, seemingly taking a break.
Suddenly, an agent in a brighter red uniform materialized out of the thin air. He snatched the hat placed on her head and began to run to the opposite direction of the arena.
She turned around and finally noticed the running figure. “Andrei, you little rat- get back here!” The commander ran after the male, although she seemed she wasn’t trying that hard. Everyone else who were previously training were laughing their stomachs off at the sight, one coughing as he choked on his water. The agent eventually hid behind his fellow teammate who happened to be a geochanter. His laughing stopped in dead when she grabbed the staff out of his peer’s grip. “W-wait I take it back, I’m sorry comman- OW!”
She gently whapped the side of his head with the staff while yelling something in Snezhnayan. But everyone could tell that she wasn’t meaning whatever she was saying, the corners of her lips tilting up each sentence. Others were shedding tears while rolling on the ground, laughing at their teammate who rubbed his sore head as he sent a glare towards their direction. Kunikuzushi watched the whole event happen with a blank face and observed from afar. Despite their notable differences in position and title, the commander seemed comfortable with the soldiers and vice versa.
She sighed sarcastically and walked back over to their direction, leaving behind the group with a small smile disguised underneath a disappointed expression. “Haha, sorry about that. Let’s get going.” Someone wolfwhistled among the group behind the two, as she slowly crooned her neck towards them, lifting her mask to smile at them as a vein popped in her forehead.
Everyone paused their laughter and bowed. Apologetic or sarcastic, only she could tell.
“It seems subordinates have taken a liking to you.” The puppet commented as the two began to roam the chilly halls once more. She awkwardly smiled and rubbed the back of her nape. “Maybe.. But I can’t blame them, all the other majors are so boring and scary! I tried to invite one of them to a group dinner with my division once, and they lectured me for half an hour straight.” The commander sulked sadly at the memory. He raised an eyebrow before looking ahead of the empty halls once more. Every once in a while, they would pass by soldiers who would salute at her and move on with their duties.
Despite being the one in her shadow, he liked the sense of superiority. He could only imagine the kind of power the harbingers drowned in each day.
Another hour passed by. Kunikuzushi wasn’t tired, by admittedly bored of the seemingly endless tour. Y/n seemed to catch onto his half slit eyes of disinterest as she carried on her explanation behind the sculpture of the Tsaritsa in the courtyard. “—Oh look, it’s almost lunchtime.” She glanced at the clocktower nearby and back at him with a big smile. “Why don’t we go out for lunch together? I bet you haven’t tried Snezhnayan foods yet, my treat.”
He blinked at her offer and stared into her eyes. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do back in his dorm other than stare at the ceiling anyway, might as well as entertain himself for a little longer. “Sure.”
The major’s eyes brightened as she led the way to the main gates, where she shared a salute with the gate guards and walked out with bounce behind her steps. Kunikuzushi followed at a moderate pace, just behind her heels. It wasn’t ten minutes of staring at the gray pavement and listening to the repetitive clicks of her black boots hitting the ground when bustling sounds of a city came to his senses. Ahead, tall buildings of bricks and stone with street market shops set up occasionally on the sides, attracting the attention of visitors or tourists.
The city looked extravagant with all the fancy technology and well dressed people roaming the streets that were almost completely free of snow. But everything just seemed so… Gray. From the cloudy sky that cried frozen tears, gray. The cold pavement underneath his feet, gray. The buildings and structures, gray. Empty expressions upon people’s faces, gray.
Gray, gray, and more gray.
“Hello, anyone home?” She waved her gloved hand in front of his face softly, tilting her head to the side. The puppet shook his head out of the trance he was in. “You zoned out for a bit, we’re here! This is my favorite restaurant in Zapolyarny streets.” Y/n pulled the door open to a rather old looking building with faded signs at the front. The two walked in and felt the toasted air from the heater hit their faces. “Auntie, it’s Y/n. Can we get two of my usual?”
A middle aged looking woman with a headscarf and a white apron popped her head out from the kitchen as the two took a seat near the window. “You bet. I’ll throw in some blinis while I’m at it, fresh baked barely an hour ago.” Her voice sounded strong and somewhat masculine, as his companion smiled fondly and nodded. “You’re too nice.. But I’m always accepting free food!”
Kunikuzushi observed as the two mortals chatted happily amongst each other like old friends they probably were. The owner laughed loudly as the commander said something in a mocking tone in Snezhnayan, almost dropping the plates. He stared at the steaming dishes in front of them, and back at the spoon and the strangely shaped spear-like utensil. Where were the chopsticks? “Ah, are you unfamiliar with forks and knives?” Y/n seemed to noticed his confusion and caught his attention.
“Here, you see the spear shaped metal? You just have to grab it by the long side, and poke the food onto the spikey parts.” She grabbed the silver utensil and picked up a dumpling shaped food onto the edge. After observing her movements, he carefully copied the gesture. The fatuus nodded as he stared at the food. “There you go, it’s a lot simpler than chopsticks, right?”
He popped the food into his mouth, savoring the texture. It mostly consisted of meat inside, but a slight tangy sweet scent of onions arose. The shell itself didn’t have much taste, seemingly only used for holding the insides and toning the taste down a little. “These are called pelmeni, they’re one of my favorites other than desserts.” She spoke out while stuffing her mouth with the contents in her own plate. The lady from before chuckled at her friend’s enthusiasm and tossed a napkin to her, which she swiftly caught in the air. “Hey, is this a new recruit in your division? You’ve never brought him along before.”
Y/n finally swallowed the leftover food in her mouth. “Kind of. He just arrived in Snezhnaya yesterday from Inazuma, I’m in charge of training him for the next while.” The owner raised an eyebrow towards him in interest. “Inazuma? Damn, you must be havin’ a difficult time adjusting to this dump of ice and snow.” After that, she didn’t question the topic further and went back into the kitchen to wash the dishes.
“Hey, are you planning on eating all of yours? You’ve been poking at it for a while now.” The commander stated as she glanced at his full dish. He shook his head and slid the food to her direction, which she happily accepted. It’s not like he needed to consume nutrients in order to survive anyway.
After sharing an extra freebie of some kind of a flat bread with toppings on top, the two left the restaurant and back into the streets. His companion visibly cringed at the difference in temperature between the indoors and outdoors. An icy wind slapped them both across the face, as he remained the only one unaffected. She pushed down the maroon and black kepi down further on her head. Now that he thought of it, all the colours of the kepi at the meeting with the Tsritsa were different. Perhaps they symbolized ranks?
His azure eyes drifted to the circular crimson ornament hanging from her chest, acting as a huge button to connect the two sides of her coat on the top. A flame symbol in the middle of the translucent surface, he recognized it as a “vision.” The eye of the gods, given to those who have proved themselves worthy in the mortal’s realm. The connection between humans and Celestia, the closest thing to a gnosis in existence.
Maybe she would be more useful than he had originally thought.
~
For the next few months, Y/n and Kunikuzushi trained together as she taught him the language and history of Snezhnaya. She had found him to be.. Rather frail, but in a strange way. It was almost as if there was something that was blocking his full potential. Something he had no access to. She knew of his situation as a certain harbinger one day barged into her office and told her out of the blue. Actually, that was probably one of his segments. No one knows where that man’s prime ever is.
With their commander’s busy schedule, her division was practically put on vacation for the past while now. Y/n used this as an excuse to occasionally treat everyone who could come for meals or randomly give out snacks while training. As much as she was favored by the underlings, the major was genuinely respected in that. She was the same height as Kunikuzushi, if not smaller, but he had seen the way she fought during trainings with other commanders. He was still curious on one aspect. Why didn’t she use her vision in her fights?
If she wished so, she could scorch her opponent to defeat or at least utilize it to her advantage. Instead, she either always used her bare hands to fight. The only times she seemed to use it was to light campfires or portable stoves, which made the vision seem more like a tool of convenience rather than a gift from Celestia that granted her inhuman powers. When he asked her about his question, she only smirked and replied with a “I’m just too good to use my vision to win.” . He replied with a roll of his eyes and a meaningless punch on her arm.
Not only, that, she had proved herself to be rather laid back as she said, but he matched the word “lazy” for her. The puppet hated to admit, but he had grown familiar to the cheery commander. But he had also used to the fragility of humans. He couldn’t afford to get attached once more.
Currently, he was having a written exam of Snezhnayan grammers. Y/n was quietly working on her own papers on the desk a little bit away from his own, the time limit of two hours ticking away from her pocket watch. His brows furrowed at one of the words. Why was this damn language so ant-like?? It was somehow all written sideways from left to write, which made it even worse. He sighed and lifted up the paper, walking over to the female. She lifted her eyes from her work and tilted her head. “Done?”
“No. What does this word mean?” The girl crooned her head over and saw the one he was gesturing towards. “To lift up something. Find the grammatical mistakes in the entire sentence.” A lightbulb went off his head as he scribbled down something. She looked up with an impressed gaze as she stopped the timer on her watch. Both sides of his papers were filled with neatly written answers after snapping a total of five different quills. It wasn’t his fault these things were so much more fragile than wooden brushes used in Inazuma.
“Are you sure you’re finished? You still have over forty minutes left to spare. I reccomend checking over your answers.” “I already did.” She nodded and placed the papers somewhere in her rather mess of a folder. It was surprising how she somehow knew where each paper was placed in through that jumble of paperwork and meeting notes. “I’ll have them marked by tomorrow. Well, the end of an exam always deserves a celebration.” She pumped her fists up energetically as she hopped off her chair. “Let’s go to auntie Nat’s restaurant for pelmeni!”
Not giving him much of a choice, she grabbed hold of his cold wrist and dragged him through the palace. He wondered why she always ran off to the city like a newcomer when she got the chance, but only later he found out from other recruits that this wasn’t her normal schedule. Apparently, majors rarely got the opportunity to leave the castle unless they were assigned to expeditions due to their heavy amounts of paperwork. -Or unless they received special permission from the harbinger they were under or the Tsaritsa herself.
There were currently eight harbingers. Kunikuzushi only knew two by name, Il Dottore and Pierro. The first was because he had introduced himself to him with an eerie smile some time ago, and Pierro because he was the harbinger who overlooked Y/n’s division. Many harbingers were rumored to be immortal, but newer ones were rising.
And he would be one of them.
“Kuzu, what are you doing?” A feminine voice popped his bubble of thoughts. Somehow, she had managed to figure out the name Kunikuzushi without him even telling her, and began to call him that ever since. Literally translating to garbage or rubbish in Inazuman. Well, it was better than mini lavender melon..
He was staring holes into his pelmeni on the fork for the past while now, unmoving and as still as a rock. Y/n looked to be holding in her laughter at his blank face. Without warning, she gently took the fork from his grip and placed the food through his slightly ajar mouth. “You’ll catch flies in your mouth if you just sit there like that.”
Kunikuzushi blinked as he felt a soft savory blob pop onto his tongue. His mouth instinctively closed shut as he stared at the commander ahead of him in disbelief, but she only smiled while leaning her cheek onto her hand. The pale gray light from illuminated the side of her figure softly, making her s/t skin glow. A closed eye smile decorated her face as her hair slightly covered her jawline.
She looked.. Celestial.
“You still haven’t noticed your plate?” Y/n gestured to his once full plate of food as he finally began chewing. Despite this being the first piece he was eating, the contents of his plate was gone. His companion flashed him a grin. “I sneaked your stuff and you didn’t even notice, are you alright?” Her expression turned a little more sincere. “..I’m fine.” He muttered while downing the rest of his tea in one sip.
She tilted her head and sat up from the seat while taking out a plain brown pouch filled with mora. Her eyes slit as she peered into the kitchen, finding the woman washing dishes. He quietly sat up and watched as she tiptoed her way to the small counter. Despite being one of the only and regular customers, auntie Nat, or she called the owner, always found an excuse to send the two off without paying. Y/n often pulled on her hair and muttered angrily to herself in Inazuman after yet again failing to pay for her share. “I see you there kid, and didn’t you say today was supposed to be a celebration for the shorty’s test?” A familiar tone called out from the kitchen. “Just go hit the road, my treat.”
“Auntie… This is the sixth time of your treat..” Y/n’s shoulder sagged as the anticipation left her. “L/n, I’ll lock you out next time if you drop that pouch on the counter. Now get going sweetie~”
The commander pouted angrily at the comment, and the sight reminded the puppet of an upset snow fox he often saw in the woods during patrols. When their white pelts fluffed up while hissing softly, resembling his companion at the moment. She huffed and turned around, gesturing him to follow. They reached the door, and she suddenly turned around abruptly just as she opened the exit. Y/n threw the mora pouch to the center of the counter, before grabbing his wrist and running down the snowy streets.
“Y/n!”
She laughed as she turned around and stuck out her tongue, pulling on the bottom of her eye softly. The two ran through the side of the street as the commander held down her cap to ensure it didn’t fly away. Kunikuzushi stared at the warm hand grasping on his pale wrist in a firm grip. His other arm dangled behind his figure as he ran along with the commander. Her hand was warm, but it was textured in all kinds of scars and marks.
He felt caught off guard. With how laid back she was during trainings and how he never saw her wield a weapon, he expected her to be on a more relaxed position in terms of combat. From the locations of the calluses, he could tell that they were from handling the blades of swords.
Niwa had the same calluses in the same spots as her.
His face fell into a bitter frown as they finally arrived back to the gates of the Zapolyarny palace. The rest of the day flew past by in a flash and before he even realized, he was closing the door of his dorm behind his figure.
—
To be continued
ALSO
https://spotify.link/JENRI9hTxDb
Playlist for notes is semi completed!! Pls give suggestions for it if you have any 😊 the concept is basically depressed music and bubbly kpop, ‼️‼️
making this playlist made me realize that i only listen to the same artists over and over again 😞
Pls point out any spelling or grammar mistakes bc I rushed this chap
6215 words
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