Hey there. Long intro ahead.
Here is a Kokomi centric piece I've been working on.
I'm really into her character, Kokomi is a pretty interesting one Mihoyo came up with. There's a specific ground to work with that I like, as a writer, with more intriguing themes rather than what they did with the "Here is a sob story that'll make everyone feel empathy for me" character from the opposite faction.
But I digress.
This is going to be a really wordy fiction. Both because it's very much like a reflection of her character to have a verbose narration (she's a bookworm!) and because it also fits my writing style, so that made me go just ham on it.
With that in mind, do not expect many dialogues for the time being. That may change later on, as I plan to involve more characters.
I understand if it's not for you, but if you're willing to give this a go, I'd be delighted and I hope you'll like it.
You might want to give a look at my other ongoing Genshin fiction with 2 chapters, involving the upcoming character Itto and Sara. I'm writing chapter 3 slowly but surely.
As for the due credits; the art on the cover is from steamed_tofuu over on Twitter, and was used with their consent. It is literally what sparked my itch to write about Kokomi, a really mesmerizing rendition of the Divine Priestess.
"Where may I find her Excellency? I wish to discuss a strategic point about the Perch unit patrolling route of the east coast. The war may have ended but a few Nobushi remain, and we're never too cautious about those."
A soldier of Watatsumi island, clad in armor with typical Inazuman fashion and holding a spear, shoots a question at Gorou, army General of the same island. The loyal young man sports pointy animal ears, brown hair with white streaks and a tail with the same gradients; a unique look that one can distinguish from all the other inhabitants of the archipelago.
"Mh? Oh, Yoshihisa. Her Excellency has gone on her daily walk. She wishes to be left alone for the time being, but rest assured, I will relay your inquiry. It is true that we have to stay alert."
Gorou's tone in his answer has some semblance of a soft inflexion, as if he was a family relative looking out for another. Even if Sangonomiya Kokomi retains many secrets only known to her, as her trusted ally and closest thing to being a confident, Gorou knows a lot about her.
Her habits. Her needs. Her strengths... and her weaknesses.
"Ah. Yes, of course. Thank you, General. I'll be on my way then."
Soldier Yoshihisa retires, after a quick bow, leaving Gorou to his own thoughts.
'Her Excellency... must feel awful. As weird as it may sound, the end of the Resistance's main reason for existing also tolled the bells of tiresome activities for her. She has been taking more and more time away from the shrine, alone. I stand powerless... I wish I could do something. Anything!'
He grits his teeth, frustrated at his own incapacity to help the one he respects most.
Indeed, unknown to the majority of people, the Divine Priestess, Sangonomiya Kokomi, has a peculiar and personal system to manage her own mood and energy levels. All of it being derived from her special upbringing and tastes: from her youngest days, ever since she was taught to read, she has been spending an incredible amount of time reading war treatises, military texts and battle strategy compendiums. Her seemingly innate knack as an astute strategist comes from that background, but it also comports its own share of shortcomings. Namely, socially speaking.
Kokomi always avoids crowds whenever she can, interacting with people is extremely taxing to her, as she has never been close to anyone for most of her life. Her head buried in books, she has only known the scent of pages and the sight of martial words neatly aligned before her. Every time she has to attend to her duty and speak with people, her energy levels are drastically reduced to the point of not being able to do such social activities for extended periods of time. That's where her tendency for walks through the cerulean sceneries of the island, from its forests to the seasides, comes from. Her alone time. A time to recharge her batteries away from the stressful, busy schedule she is subjected to.
Despite her incredible performances as head of Watatsumi island, and of the Resistance, her young age remains a fact. A fact that people used to worry about, at the time she was introduced as Divine Priestess. And even if that worry was washed away by her competence and confidence in her craft... it doesn't change anything about her literal existence.
Kokomi is akin to a budding flower, still in the process of maturing simply as a normal, human girl.
A girl who's currently having a dive in the northern sea, thoroughly enjoying the company of the bubbly, muffled sounds underwater, the parade of fishes pacing about in the vastness... and the tranquility of her idle thoughts.
Usually, she does not part from her priestess attire. She is used to getting in and out of water frequently with her garb, specially made for the occasion. But in times like these, she likes to shed her Divine Priestess "skin". She simply wants to be Sangonomiya Kokomi, as a person, and to feel the caress of the water directly on her entire body.
One would find the view completely natural, not even remotely close to being obscene or erotic. Her nakedness only reinforces the sentiment that she's a living form made to live under the ground that common people walk upon. Her salmon hair swaying at the discretion of the submarine currents, she holds her eyes closed and let the stream guide her body the way it desires it to.
It was, assuredly, her way of letting go of all the reins she usually has a hold of, exhausted of directing the helm of the island's life, so to speak. Her life, even. Entrusting everything to the sea is something she instinctively thinks as normal; her origins as a Sangonomiya, a clan which used to live below these waters, are surely to be taken into account to explain the presence of that feeling.
'The stillness... of my existence... it seeps into my soul.'
She is thinking, as her consciousness is drifting away before coming back, in a shifting fashion, as waves lapping against the shore before retiring whence they came from.
'I love the serenity... you bring to me.'
Expressing her love for the massive body of water, so essential to her, Kokomi is having what one would call an epiphany.
'If only we could go back to... what our ancestors knew... back in Enkanomiya... if only our God... Orobashi... was still with us...'
Orobashi no mikoto, the great God of the oceans, was the serpent which brought the Sangonomiya to the surface and protected their great ancestors. It taught them to farm and melt materials, for them to survive. But it was long defeated by the Shogun's Musou no Hitotachi, its remains laying all over Yashiori island.
The Raiden Shogun was still an entity she couldn't forgive for various reasons. One being the aforementioned Orobashi's demise. Another being her pursuit of eternity taking the form of the Vision Hunt Decree, which led many people to despair, to forget their reason for living... and even to spread death on Inazuma for everyone opposing it, especially when it came to the Resistance members. She may have retracted the decree and asked for time for herself, much like Kokomi often does, but her deeds are not so easily erased. These decisions prompted lasting effects on the life of Inazuman people.
Will she be able to be forgiven by the families having lost their loved ones? Will she be forgiven by those who err without purpose anymore? Will she be forgiven by Kokomi herself, for just isolating herself in her palace some more and leaving things be, without taking responsibility... while also stealing away Kokomi's appetency as a military leader. Her one purpose, she felt accomplished in, is now almost completely void of existing.
The Divine Priestess felt conflicted, guilty, remorseful. Confusion is now ever present in her mind.
Why would she feel sadness about the war being over? Surely, most of the Resistance members are finally at ease, being able to go back to their families, not afraid anymore that they might lose their life tomorrow. The minority which still held a grudge against the shogunate, like she secretly does, had made some trouble recently; but she aptly deflected their mutiny to come by creating a new unit in the army, a Secret Corps. Kokomi's morals have always directed her towards the path of happiness for her people. That much is true, has never been insincere and faked. It's precisely that which awarded her with a Vision, in the past. The issue only stems from the singular way she grew up: that, too, left lasting effects.
Not on the country, as it is the Shogun's case, but on Kokomi's life, as the girl she is now. Her life without battles to strategize over, units to dispatch, enemies to get intelligence about, brainstorming about the possibilities of an ambush, the position of the opponent's food reserves and weapon storage, the topography of the battlefield... and so on. What would she enjoy from now on? Her only respite is this very moment, when she is carried along by the tides in the deep cradle of the sea and its nebulous atmosphere.
'Kokomi. You're the worst, aren't you?'
Her mind tells herself. She tells herself. Not something as abstract as the mind. Kokomi wouldn't allow such a concept to be used as a scapegoat. Her very being is shaken right now.
'You're an abnormal piece on the board called Inazuma... No. Teyvat, even. Far from being the king or the queen, you're not even fit to be a pawn.'
Berating herself, her indigo irises come into view, eyes unhurriedly opening. A melancholic, sorrowful look could be seen by anyone, were they to set their sights on her. Thankfully, no one but the marine life around her would witness it.
'I hate myself.'
It is the first time she's ever thought that. The significance of that comes a few seconds late. It was a shocking realization, as the widening of her ocular apparel can testify.
'It took so long... but I get it. I was only feeling normal... in an extraordinary, strife-ridden situation. I never questioned how I felt, in the heat of battle. Presently, peace is slowly becoming perennial in Inazuma, and for someone such as myself...'
For a while, she doesn't finish that sentence. She cannot. It would hurt again. That pain is new, the wound is fresh and stinging too strongly for her to bear.
'Even if I... we finally achieved what we always strove for... to be simply overseeing religious duty as the head priestess... and a Secret Corps, in case of emergency, is far too ordinary to fulfill the heart of the person I have become. I'm no fish or mermaid anymore. I've become... a shark. Like these rulers of the sea, through power, my soul yearns for ruling battlefields with military might. A shark does not need for love. Does not need for empathy. It trusts no one but itself. Just like me, and my aversion for social engagement. It solely believes in its strength, as I believe in my strategic knowledge. That's why sharks evolve so organically in the waters they live in. No aspiration, no desires... being at the top of the food chain is all they need to be satisfied. Preying upon fishes is their sole purpose, as it allows them to survive. My nutrition has added military operations to its regimen for so long that I forgot what it was to fast.'
She eventually pursues her train of thought, properly putting an end to it and to her solitary isolation in the aquatic realm.
As if on instinct, her body swims back to the surface while her head remains in the acknowledgment she experienced.
The shore greets her naked figure as she emerges from the sea, with intact gracefulness. The thing is... it's now in the dead of night. In the light-deprived depths, she could hardly tell time passing by, on top of her intense thinking session.
The pale moon floating in the starry sky shines down on her pearly skin, as droplets race down her curves with alacrity, a spectacle worthy of a painting that only mother nature bears witness to... or so it would seem, from the scene's location.
At a distance, General Gorou was posted against a nearby tree. After having worried for hours, his quest for her whereabouts ended after having seen Kokomi's clothing neatly arranged on the beach. He had settled there until she would be finished with her private time.
"Gah!" was the only exclamation he could blurt out, as his eyes quickly shy away from the view he was awarded by providence.
"Hyaa!"
Kokomi's surprised cry erupts from her mouth, noting his presence immediately. Snapping out of the mess her head was residing in, as she blushes furiously, the pink haired girl runs to her garb with promptitude.
After a few minutes to get properly dressed and arranging her hair, she approaches Gorou's position. The young man adorned with animal features is still turning around, his back facing her. His tail and ears are lowered, plausibly out of shame and remorse. The sight doesn't escape her eyes, which makes her heart beat all the more in her chest.
"D-Did you see...?! Please forget everything!" She says in a hurry, pressed by a whirl of emotion ranging from shame, embarrassment to maybe... burrowed, unassumed excitement at the perspective of being discovered in her birthday suit.
"I promise I didn't see anything!" Exclaims Gorou, in a robotic fashion, before adding a muttered "probably..." which doesn't go unnoticed.
"I feel humiliated...!" Replies Kokomi, in a very high pitched voice, hiding her visage behind her now gloved hands.
"Do not feel humiliation, your Excellency! Your body has nothing to be shameful about, it was as flawless as your instructions!" Blurts out Gorou, on the spot, realizing too late what he just said.
"AAAAAAH!"
Her extreme shyness takes over as Kokomi starts sprinting away from him, in the direction of the shrine, leaving him to his regrets.
Gorou looks after her running form, in a daze, shocked from his own words and of the effects they had on her.
After a time, the brown haired boy slowly gets back to his camp where the few men left on duty by the priestess are stationed.
On that night, Gorou and Kokomi couldn't sleep in the slightest, although for very different reasons.
One couldn't forget the stunning vision observed, the other too entangled in perplexed contemplation, once her abashment subsided.
