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Shogun stands at the balcony at the roof of Tenshukaku, her eyes on the pink sky of rising sun, waiting for someone to arrive.
Soon enough, a speck appears in the distance, increasing in size as it gets closer to Shogun.
Kuni lands gently beside Shogun after a few seconds, in his hands is one of the new Fontainian Kameras. Shogun has to suppress a smile at the sight of Ararycan perched on Kuni’s shoulder, holding on for dear life as they go through the air.
She never truly believed in the existence of those mushroom-like creatures until Kuni showed up from Sumeru one day and the little one showed itself.
Honestly, she should’ve known better. There are magical creatures and species all over Teyvat, herself being a part of one.
“Hey- get off. We’re here now.” Kuni says, and although his voice is sharp and biting, they all know that he doesn’t really mean it.
“Hat-nara brought Ararycan to Purple-nara! Ararycan thanks Hat-nara.” Ararycan says, and jumps off Kuni’s shoulder onto Shogun’s.
“Hat-nara?” She questions. The last time she saw the Aranara he’d called Kuni Blue-nara. Ararycan starts patting her hair and brushes it away to see the purple mark on the back of her neck. She supposes that he’s only curious of other Archons.
Kuni blushes and looks away.
“Buer signed me up for the Akademiya.” He spits out, crossing his arms. “She put my name as ‘Hat Guy’.”
Ararycan takes this moment to jump off Shogun’s shoulder and go over to tap on Kuni’s back, his little blue flower spinning rapidly as he floats.
“Lord of Verdure gave Hat-nara the name of ‘Hat Guy’, so Aranara calls Hat-nara Hat-nara.” He says simply, and then drops into the ground, presumably to report to Nahida.
Shogun fails to hold back the first breath of laughter, but manages to play it off as a cough. Mostly.
She feels Ei’s consciousness looking closer at the situation, and hears her laughter in Shogun’s mind.
“Don’t laugh.” Kuni orders.
“Sorry.” Shogun says. “But Mother is.”
Kuni makes a hmph and turns around.
“Well, don’t expect another visit from me for a while now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll be so busy with my thesis that I have no time for you for another four years.” He says loftily.
Shogun pokes the blue mark on the back of his neck, a perfect match to her own.
“I highly doubt that.” She says. “If Nahida - and she wants you to call her that - thinks that you can do that along with your duties to her, then she must think that you’ll be fine and have plenty of time.”
Kuni’s still facing away from Shogun, but shc definitely knows that he’s rolling his eyes at her.
“Whatever.” He says. “ Nahida wanted some Inazuman light novels since the Akademiya banned most fictions and she’s trying to get new material put on the shelves. Also snacks.”
Shogun smiles and hands him a purple feather.
“Well, don’t take too long. You still have to return this to me when you get back.”
Kuni finally turns around and grabs the feather to let it sit beside his golden one.
“Sure. Bye.” And then he leaves.
Shogun allows herself to bask in his presence for a few more seconds, and then heads downstairs to begin her work for today.
The Tengu, Kujou Sara, should be here today with a report on the lingering Fatui presence in the islands. She’s ordered them to leave, and they’re taking their time to do so, so Shogun’s hoping that the military power of Inazuma is better motivation.
…
Kuni takes his vision and hides it within a fold of his clothing as he reaches the doorway of Tenshukaku, while still hidden in the shadows.
He’s not quite ready to be implicated with the Shogun just yet, hence the secrecy.
But once he’s in the market streets of Inazuma City, he makes a beeline to the Yae Publishing House. Hopefully, the people are used to his sporadic shopping sprees for Nahida enough that they don’t act so weird around him today.
Ever since someone saw his electro symbol and he - unaware of how it probably weirded out others - told them that he was created with it, everyone's acted strange around him. It's probably unrelated though. Most humans have never met someone who's always had a birthmark like his.
Normally, Kuni would avoid the publishing house at all costs, the memory of her thoughts on his existence a little sharp to deal with comfortably, but Nahida wants some new books. (He ignores the fact that she probably sent him on this mission to help him get used to her presence, seeing as she’s the Head Shrine Maiden and he’s the Dendro Archon’s helper and that they, if not soon, will eventually have to meet one day.)
Once he’s there, Kuni scans the shelves. It must be a slow day today, as the people give him plenty of room to breathe.
Nahida didn’t tell him how many books he had to buy, but Kuni also knows that in order to bring these back, there’d have to be some kind of ship to carry all of them.
Honestly, he’s kinda curious as to how Nahida will bring him back. He’d flown straight to Inazuma on a daring test of his vision, and landed utterly exhausted in Ritou.
Probably that’s how Shogun knew that he was coming. The Kanjou commission was quite shocked when he touched down.
At least he wasn’t held up by them too long. Kuni even found a high-quality hotel to stay the night in.
Right now though, Kuni places an order for two stand-alone books of each genre and two series of each genre, to be held there for safe-keeping until Kuni knows when he’s to pick them up and bring them to Sumeru.
That should be enough.
The girl manning the store looks a little worried at the size that the box grows to, and Kuni helps to push the box into a corner while the girl places a PAID sticker on the side and tells him that he doesn’t need to pay for it, Al- um, Sir.
There. Kuni thinks. Done.
He doesn’t see how the girl deflates after he leaves, her hands on her chest and taking deep breaths when her Archon leaves the store. She knows that Yae Miko is said to be good friends with the Raiden Shogun, but she didn’t think that the Raiden Shogun would visit the store, and under a disguise as well!
…
Next, Nahida wanted some snacks. She didn’t specify what type, but knowing her child-like appearance and her sweet tooth large enough to rival Ei’s, Kuni can take a guess.
He goes straight to Shimura’s, and frowns when he looks at the menu.
All of the snacks here - other than the salty Sakura Shrimp Crackers, are dishes, not snacks. Very hard to transport and even harder to keep fresh.
If Nahida wants to eat Inazuman food, he’ll have to cook these for her.
“Hey, Boss.” He calls to get the old man’s attention. “How much for the recipes?”
Shimura Kanbei, the owner and only worker, freezes for a second, looks Kuni up and down as if scrutinizing him, before speaking in a slightly shaky voice.
“W-what recipes do you want?”
Kuni doesn’t hesitate.
“All of them.” He says. “Or, as many as you can.” he amends.
Shimura shrugs shakily ( really, this old man probably should retire if he’s this tired that he shakes during business ) and goes over to a drawer, pulling out a thin stack of paper.
“I-it’s good to hear that young people are learning how to cook, f-from an old person’s standpoint.” Shimura says. “A-a few weeks ago, a blonde outlander asked for all my recipes as well.” The old man pauses, freezing in his work. “O-of course, this was after you- ahem. After the Sakoku Decree was lifted.” Shimura shuffles them all into a neat stack, and ties them up with a thin piece of twine.
Kuni feels that familiar well of anger and gratefulness whenever he hears that name start to rise. (He does not, pointedly, think about the stuttering. It’s just another one of humanity’s weaknesses showing.)
“Thanks, Boss.” He says instead, and hands over some mora. “This should be enough to cover costs.”
“I- um, th-th-thank you. I-if you want more recipes, K-kiminami Restaurant has- has a few.” The old man says, seeming like he’s about to collapse any second now.
Kuni has to look at the man for a second longer.
“Are you all right?” He asks. Shogun would probably kill him if one of her subjects keeled over while talking to Kuni. Not that anything like that has happened before, it’s just… unpleasant to think about.
“Y-yep!” The man yelps, shrinking even more. “A-all good! Haha, n-not like a-anything’s shocking or anything…” his voice trails off at the end.
“Uh, thanks Boss.” Kuni says, and then leaves. He chalks up the entire interaction with the old man as another incident of Inazuman oddness.
Shimura Kanbei, releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding the entire time.
To think that the Raiden Shogun herself would buy his recipes!
She has come by before in disguise, but very sporadically, and often only bought a small thing.
Shimura Kanbei, in all of his years as a restaurant owner, has never, ever impressed his Archon enough for her to buy his recipes!
…
His visit to Kiminami Restaurant results in much of the same interaction. He’s starting to think that Inzauma just doesn’t have snacks, only strange people who stutter every other word and turn interesting shades of red, ranging from pale white to deep crimson.
…
Kuni eventually doubles back to the Katheryne stall near the stairs, giving the puppet a wide berth when he hears a voice advertising custom combinations of food.
Kuni’s curiosity is peaked.
He goes over to the young man with an orange shirt by a food stall and looks over the food.
There’s lots of the usual, and some of the… unusual.
The vendor - who introduces himself as Tomoki while bowing in greeting - tells him that Kuni can pick any two of the items to have them combined.
Kuni thinks that the unusual stuff is the successful combinations.
Now, how to make it so that Nahida enjoys it…
Something sweet, perhaps, and Kuni’s eye catches on the three round tri-color balls on a stick.
Dango it is.
“Er, dango and…” Kuni starts. Tomoki hurriedly grabs the dango and accidentally drops a skewer of the rice balls while Kuni thinks, but Kuni ignores it. If the stall owner wants to be a clumsy food-seller, that’s not his problem.
What else to put…
Kuni thinks about Nahida.
Would she enjoy the takoyaki?
Probably not. She doesn’t really like seafood. Kuni might need to get something more childish to suit her child-like appearance. And as revenge for her putting him in a situation where he has to be near something that’s in Yae’s control.
Perhaps milk will suit Nahida.
“Milk.” he finishes.
The vendor nods multiple times quickly at the combination, and then takes the dango off the stick, mashes it up until it reaches a syrup-like consistency, and mixes it into the milk.
Not really how Kuni expected it to go, but the end result looks fine, if a little sweet.
“H-here!” The vendor says a bit loudly. “Ah…”
Kuni hands him a handful of mora and takes a small sip.
Bleugh. He thinks. Too sweet. But perfect for someone like Shogun. Or Ei.
Kuni thanks the man anyway, and then tells him that it tastes really good. Hopefully, the next time Shogun comes around, she’ll enjoy it.
The vendor thanks him for the suggestion, nodding all the while (Kuni’s a little worried for his neck), and sets to work making more.
Kuni rolls his eyes at the sight, knowing that this man is getting all worked up over plain sugar, but he doesn’t comment and simply leaves.
Tomoki can cry! The Shogun likes his idea! The Shogun likes the combination of dango and milk! The Shogun likes Dango milk!
Gone are the days of hopelessly competing against larger food stores!
Gone are the days of standing around a food stall waiting for customers!
He can feel the jealousy radiating off the store owners around him. Ha, the Shogun chose his stall to visit on her excursions in disguise!
…
Kuni eventually returns to Tenshukaku, flying over the unsuspecting heads of training Shogunate members.
“Kuni.” Shogun says in greeting. “How was your visit? Did you find what you were looking for? Did you terrorize my people again?
Kuni nods, pauses, and says a flat no to the last question. Then he waves around the recipes he got from Shimura’s and Kiminami Restaurant as an answer to the middle. The first, he ignores.
“Is there a kitchen in Tenshukaku?” He asks. “I’ve got to practice.”
Shogun raises an eyebrow at him.
“Surely you know of my inability to cook?” She asks. “There aren’t any kitchens within Tenshukaku. I also don’t need to eat.”
Kuni rolls his eyes.
“I know that you don’t. But you could learn how to cook. It’s a basic life skill.” He says, while flipping through the ingredients list for them. He automatically throws out the ones with seafood and looks at the rest. Most of the ingredients can be bought at the Grand Bazaar, so Kuni doesn’t have to buy groceries in Inazuma.
Shogun nods, catching the few pages that threaten to blow off the balcony.
“I suppose this is rational. I don’t suppose you could leave me the ones with seafood here so I can learn?”
Kuni nods.
“Wonderful.” Shogun says. “One more thing. Nahida sent Ararycan back to tell me that she’s going to be here in a few days to say hi and discuss the removal of Fatui from Sumeru.”
Kuni stops what he’s doing and looks at her.
“Nahida’s coming?” He asks.
Shogun nods again.
“I suppose when she leaves, you’ll go with her?” She asks, taking the discarded twine and tying it idly around the pages she wants to keep.
Kuni thinks for a minute.
“Yeah, I gotta get the books back to Sumeru somehow. It’s also more efficient that way.”
Shogun agrees.
“Well until then, the guest bedroom is always open for your visits.” she offers.
“I’ll take you up on that.” Kuni says, and hands her back the purple feather.