The Raiden Shogun was sulking, curling up in the corner of the Tenshuukaku.
She had been going through a lot as of late, from understanding her emotions to gaining five hundred years worth of memories that mostly was just accumulated loneliness all in one after a rather dangerous meeting with an Abyss Herald.
Now she couldn't even go to see her dearest, because he was leaving her!
"Sorry, Raiden Shogun, but I have to fulfil a promise I made to assist someone in Liyue." He had told her with a kind smile that caught her off guard.
Lately, she had been rather worried that he didn't like her in any way whatsoever, but it seemed that he wasn't quite against her existence.
"I believe we should have some ground rules if you're to try and have your own independence." Ei said after she had managed to fix her voice settings finally from yet another unfamiliar language.
"What do you mean, Your Excellency?" The Puppet asked as her creator continued to tinker with her.
"We share the same body and I don't want you to try to engage in any coitious activities with that man." She spoke in her own monotonous tone as if her vessel couldn't tell her state of mind due to her passive ability to sense any abnormalities in her creator's psyche.
It was incredibly troubling for The Puppet, knowing that her own feelings were mixing into her creators own feelings and there was no way for her to prevent such a thing.
She was feeling it again. An intense heat emanated from her chest, making her wish to lash out against who she felt like was wronging her, but she calmed herself down.
"Shogun?" Her creator called out her name, snapping her from her trance.
"Ah, yes, of course, Your Excellency." She responded.
As her creator began to explain that she was now on a curfew and would not allowed to have a boyfriend (or girlfriend) until she was at least a thousand years old, the Puppet began to zone out, wondering what the man who had given and then taken her heart was doing.
What will she do if she learned he died in his battle against the return of the god?
She had offered to lend her assistance but he had shaken his head, telling her that someone named Lady Ningguang would not want a god to get involved in this battle.
This had her momentarily seeing red, wondering why he cared about some other ladies opinion that wasn't hers.
She didn't think it so, but she now realized how much of a disadvantage she was at in regards to claiming her samurai.
Even now her creator was beginning to think about Kazuha more and that by itself was enough for her to worry as well as that lady with the claymore she had seen him with.
Yae Miko also seemed to have a high opinion of him, leaving the only electro vision carrier that didn't hold him in such high regards being Kujou Sara.
Keeping her heart steady, the five hundred year old lady could only try and maintain herself from thinking about any dark thoughts of being alone.
In the end, her emotions had only had half a month to truly develop.
She could only hope that Kazuha wasn't getting involved with any more ladies.
Liyue
"I don't approve of you!" Lady Keqing of The Liyue Qixing shouted authority the moment Kazuha had reached the steps of the Jade Palaces stand in after it had been destroyed.
"Ah…" Kazuha sweatdropped at the situation as he looked up towards the purple haired ace of Liyue who didn't seem to have a high impression of him.
Perhaps this was just how things went with Ladies of Electro.
"Oh my, it seems you're rather disliked here. What did you do?" Mini Miko asked atop his shoulder.
"I'm not quite sure, but i'm sure she'll tell me." He shrugged as the lady in purple walked up to him, crossing her arms as she gave him a disapproving look.
"While I understand you're here to help, I don't think we need someone to just half heartedly join. We can handle things here and we'll figure out a more consistent way to communicate with The Crux Fleet." She had an authoritative tone as her eyes locked with his.
"Hey, we didn't ask to assist in this way. This was requested by Ning." Beidou spoke up, unfazed by the girl.
"Captain Beidou, I apologize, but it just seems unfeasible for me to accept your companion here. While I understand what is to come, it is rather unrealistic to simply have him join and for us to get him up to speed with everyone else only to have him leave."
"Oh, don't start with that. You guys barely keep anyone here for three months before they run with their tails tucked between their legs and trust me. Kazuha here will be your best worker within a week!" Beidou clapped Kazuha on the back with a large grin as she praised him.
"Captain, you praise me too much." Kazuha chuckled lightly, earning a glare from the purple haired lady.
"Urk. While it is true that we have issues maintaining our workers, it is prudent that people come in here to at least try to be here long term. I don't believe someone who's planning on leaving soon anyways will be a boon here and will likely just hamper our work." She scoffed, looking away.
"Keqing. Are you giving my guest a hard time?" A soft soothing voice carried over the conversation, having the three turn their heads to see the elegant and regal beauty that was Ningguang.
"Of course not, Lady Ningguang. I simply just do not see why we need this man's help if it's only temporarily. We're running behind as is, so slowing down to get him up to our speed is just not optimal." The feisty young lady explained herself.
"Ah, but I believe if Captain Beidou here's word means anything, we can find ourselves fully capable of putting trust within this young man." She waved her hand dismissively towards her argument.
"Ugh… Fine. If both Lady Ningguang and Captain Beidou are so insistent on having you here, then i'll acquiesce, but you better take our work seriously. A lot has been happening so far and with The Avenger of the Vortex coming… we have much more work beyond just the simple paper work." Her face loosened, letting them glimpse at a fatigued expression.
"Do not worry, Lady Ningguang, Lady Keqing, I promise to do my utmost best before and after we defeat this sea god." Kazuha bowed politely, his upbringing as a noble shining through which led to a slightly better impression from the two ladies.
"How polite. I only wish Beidou had some levels of decency." Ningguang chuckled, before she turned to her close friend. "Speaking of which, why don't we go over what is to come for a bit, Captain Beidou? Keqing, could you please show Mr. Kaedehara here around?"
"Sure." She gave a simple answer and a nod before walking immediately into the temporary headquarters of The Liyue Qixing without giving him a second glance.
"I do apologize, Mr. Kaedehara. She's been rather agitated with how much work she's been given on top of the exhaustion. I'm sure she'll warm up to you quickly." Lady Ningguang gave an honest apology, before flashing him a regal smile. "I'm sure you'll manage though, don't disappoint me~!"
"He'll be fine. I'm sure Kazuha here will have Lady Keqing wishing he'd stay by the end of the month. This guy has a way with women, yet he'd rather just wander." Beidou didn't seem particularly worried for him at all as Ningguang raised an eyebrow, giving a teasing smile.
"Ah? Do you know from personal experience about his way with women?" She asked, getting Beidou to laugh loudly.
"Hah! Me? This guy would sooner serenade me before trying to get with me. Sorry, but not in a million years. I like a tougher and stronger guy, not someone who struggles to lift a few boxes of fireworks that a girl half his size could lift easily!"
As his own Captain switched from praising him to making fun of him, he decided that he should probably go follow Keqing before he lost her.
"Pfft. Is that true? Here I thought samurais and pirates were supposed to be really strong." Mini Miko giggled atop his shoulder as Rosalyn stayed behind him.
"Kazuha… Don't worry. I think you're really strong…!" She tried to encourage him, but he had already taken a few hits to his pride.
"Rosalyn! You can't be too nice. Otherwise, he won't try to improve himself! I understand he's busy with a lot of paperwork, but that doesn't mean to ignore personal fitness!" Mini Miko chided.
"But if there's really a lot of work for the next month, he won't have any time for exercise." Rosalyn thought aloud with a worried look.
"You haven't seen him too much yet, but despite all the work he apparently has, this guy likes to drink and write poetry. If he wanted to, he could easily squeeze in some personal upkeep on himself. He hasn't even cut his hair in months, i'm sure. If it weren't for that adeptus he hired, he would have to cut out meals to even try and finish his work in time." Mini Miko tugged on his hair, getting him to wince.
"How did my life end up here?" He thought before he finally caught up with Keqing.
"You're too slow. You need to move efficiently if you're going to want to help us." She reprimanded him, but didn't linger, immediately having him follow to give him details on where he'll be working and what is expected of him.
"While the work you will be expected to do is something generally spread out among three people, it is unfortunate, but even if you're new, you'll be expected to be working three times the normal amount." She explained, going over the many tasks and documents that'll be on his desk.
"She's trying to intimidate you. I don't know the work standards of this place, but it would take an entire department to run through all of this." Mini Miko stood atop the stacks of papers in one of the offices.
"Ugh. This reminds me of the Academy…" Rosalyn stood beside another stack as Keqing kept talking.
"We can't afford to have someone quality check, so unfortunately, i'll be really trusting that you don't end up having us burn down, so please… If you can't do this, just leave. We'll understand." Keqing gave him a look that was half serious and half pleading.
"Seems she's just a hard worker with no personal anger towards you. Why don't you try and prove her wrong, Kazuha~?" Mini Miko giggled as she floated back towards his shoulder.
"Ahem. Lady Keqing, while I understand your sentiments over the matter, I will still be here to assist as I have promised to, so please just believe in my capabilities." Kazuha bowed politely towards her, hoping to gain some good will.
"Well… It can't be helped. Just understand how serious this is. We have a lot of things coming and we can't afford any mishaps. We're tight as it is." She sighed before giving him another glance. "Where are you staying anyways?"
"I'll be sleeping outside at a reasonable distance so as to not disturb anyone." Kazuha replied with a warm smile, causing her to give him a look of disbelief.
"Outside? Where? Are you planning on putting up a tent right outside the home of Lady Ningguang?!" She exclaimed.
"Ah? No. Of course not. I wouldn't want to draw unwanted attention. I'll simply be finding a nice tree to sit in to enjoy the midnight breeze." He looked offended at the thought of doing something out in the open to draw others views.
"That's not… You can't. Can't you just sleep at an inn?"
"I don't see why i'd spend Mora to sleep at an inn farther away from here, only to then take a longer walk back. I believe you told me efficiency was key." He tilted his head, giving her a confused look, causing her to become exasperated with him.
"You…! You're…! Sigh… Whatever. Just be sure to be on time and finish your duties." She seemed exhausted with him and she had her own work she needed to do. "If you have any issues, i'll be nearby…"
With that she walked off, massaging her head, leaving Kazuha with his two spiritual companions.
"So, are you two able to help me sort these out?" Kazuha asked, looking around at the small office.
"Mmm? What's in it for me?" Mini Miko asked, her tail waving elegantly as she laid like a cat on his shoulder.
"Uwaah… I don't want to." Rosalyn cried out, the piles of paper looking intimidating.
"The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can take a break. Neither of you can leave without me, so it'd be great to be able to wrap this up so we can experience Liyue in its full glory."
The heir gave the two a brilliant smile despite the hidden ultimatum.
"But… I've never even graduated from the Academy…" Rosalyn whimpered with a dejected look.
"Well, try to find something you can do, because it appears we're going to be stuck here for quite a while." Mini Miko sighed as she took a seat at the corner of one desk and began to go over finances.
Keqing
Keqing was diligently going through her work, trying to find any way they could save Mora while preparing for any potential losses that will appear in case of the worst happening.
No matter how you look at things, war was expensive. Outfitting your soldiers, making sure they have proper weapons, preparing rations and any medical supplies in case they get injured.
The Liyue Qixing was currently in the worse state they could have been in from reparations of the damages the Fatui has caused, the multiple incidents still happening from The Fatui and The Abyss Order, the upcoming battle against a god and the future plans they have in case they have to engage in actual war.
They had no allies and were in danger moreso with Rex Lapis' death. No… They didn't need any of the gods to keep them safe, they were strong on their own. However, with the Knights of Favonius allied with The Fatui and Inazuma being isolated, they were unable to find allies from either side, resulting in them being a standalone nation to fend for themselves if something were to happen.
"I'm so hungry… Is that guy still here? I hope he doesn't think staying late will make it seem like he's working hard if there's not that much accomplished…" Keqing thought, stretching out her back before standing up to go and check on their temporary worker.
She was vehemently against having someone come in to risk hampering their progress as having an experienced person slow down to help someone reach their level of work will overall reduce the efficiency, especially if they will only be a temp worker.
The light was still on in the newcomers room, showing he was still around, before she realized that it was deep into the night and she had worked away her entire day.
"Lady Ningguang and Ganyu seem to have turned in for the night and Captain Beidou must have gone off for preparations." She deduced as she reached the door to see their temp worker.
"Mm? Good evening, Lady Keqing. I figured you'd have left much sooner like everyone else." He was sitting at the desk she had left him at, still going through papers it seems.
"Huh? You're still awake?" She asked incredulously. Everyone on their first day tended to pass out eventually if they didn't just leave.
"Of course. There's a lot of things to go through. I wasn't told when my break times were, so I simply continued working." He gave her a confused expression.
"Urk." Keqing looked away with a guilty expression, having completely forgotten about things such as closing times and when they were allowed breaks, since she hardly ever took any herself. "W-well you should be free now! It's time to go home, so i'll be reviewing your work in my off time to see what you've made errors in."
"Of course. I'll be here as you do so." He gave her a warm smile, gesturing towards the work he was done with.
"Hold on…" She was surprised at what he was referring to as he seemed to have gotten through a sizable amount of documents. "You managed all this? You do know rushing leads to mistakes, right?"
"Of course, I assure you that these were done to the best of Inazumans standards."
"Hnn… I'll be the judge of that. If there's even one mistake, we'll have to let you go." She gave a stern look to which he simply smiled patiently.
"Of course, Lady Keqing, however. I believe it's time for me to depart. I hope there aren't any discrepancies with what I've managed today, but I will completely accept my dismissal if I am not up to your standards." He then stood up, picking up what she was surprised to see as a small young girl.
"W-who is that?" She asked in a fluster, having not expected for this young man to have a child with him.
The young girl was very small to the point where he was able to pick her up like a toddler. She was seemingly asleep while wearing a tanuki outfit, making her look rather cute, but the most evident thing was her close to white hair color that matched the person who was holding her in his arms.
"Oh, apologies, this is Sayu. I apologize, I hope it's okay for me to have her around as she simply just likes to sleep as I do work. I've already asked for Lady Ningguangs permission too." Kazuha gave an apologetic smile. "I promise she won't cause any trouble. She's a really well behaved girl."
The scene before her was giving her a headache, but really, she should've expected something like this.
"Ah, I see… Of course. I heard you were a ronin before becoming a pirate… This is to be expected. I'm just very impressed that you decided to properly care for someone despite your age." Keqing gave a look of understanding towards the boy who should've been exactly her age, but perhaps looks were deceiving.
"Huh? I guess? Well, I hope you get some rest soon, Lady Keqing. We'll be here first thing in the morning to continue tomorrow." Kazuha bowed politely before turning to leave, finding no reason to really prolong a conversation when they hardly knew each other.
"?"
Keqing was watching the young man depart, before she realized something.
"Wait!" She called out, causing him to turn with another look of confusion. "You're going to sleep outside at night with a child?"
"I… I guess?" She wanted to slap him when he gave a look of astonishment like there wasn't any other option.
"You can't sleep outside when caring for a child! Their development stages are some of the most important parts of their upbringing and sleeping in the wilderness will hamper that!"
"I believe there's been some miscommunication here, do you think Sayu is a-" He began but she cut him off.
"No excuses, what kind of father are you? You need to think about these things!"
"But I…!"
"No buts! It's already too late to book an inn unfortunately… Hm… It looks like you can borrow my home for a bit!" She declared with an authoritative tone.
"Lady Keqing, if you would just take a moment to listen…" Kazuha desperately tried to plead, but she wasn't having it, giving him a death glare that shut him up.
"Good. I'm quite rarely home, so it shouldn't be much of a problem for your tenure with us, unless of course, we have to let you go, but for tonight, please do rest appropriately."
Kazuha sighed in defeat as he was dragged by the purple haired lady.
"You know, you have a very bad habit of letting Electro women run your life." Mini Miko commented from his shoulder, looking rather haggard from the non stop relentless assault of paper.
"I'm just glad we don't actually have to stay outside… I don't think I can bear it like Kazuha does…" Rosalyn commented.
The boy didn't respond to the two, not wanting to have to explain why he was talking to the air while the member of the Liyue Qixing guided him out of the workplace to her home.
Omake
Gorou and Kujou Sara were working together to train their troops to properly integrate each other's methods in regards to their armies.
With the war coming to a close and the agreement of an alliance taking place, it was decided that the generals from both respective armies would cooperate to better work together in case of a future battle they'd have to work together on.
Lady Kokomi would have been the one to lead such exercises, but it appears she had been feeling rather ill as of late. While the people worried for her health, she assured them it was nothing physical, but something else as her behavior seemed to become rather strange, but no one was going to question their wise leader.
The only issue that came from this was the two generals' different ways of handling their troops.
"Good job everyone. I think it's time for a break now, so come back at thirteen hundred on the dot." Gorou called out over towards the mixed army, resulting in half of them giving a look of confusion.
"What are you doing, General Gorou?" Sara asked with a stern expression.
"I'm giving everyone a break. We worked really hard today and we've been up since six o' clock." Gorou explained, slightly surprised.
"They already had a chance to eat for fifteen minutes four hours ago and I noticed that quite a few members of your army weren't here either. Is there a flu spreading in Watatsumi Island?" She asked to which Gorou started becoming a bit more concerned.
"No? They're on vacation. They racked up quite a few vacation days while fighting for the army so now they're using it." He answered.
"Vacation days? What are we? Monstadtians? This is a military operation. We are running drills so that when we enter the battlefield, everyone will be on the same page. There are no vacation days, there are no breaks aside from needing to nourish oneself and there are no paid overtime. All that can be enjoyed once off the clock." The tengu spoke like a teacher lecturing a student, but Gorou could only stare at her in bewilderment.
"What? The Shogunate doesn't get overtime?" He asked with an incredulous look.
"That's right. We have a job to do and we are expected to stay wi- wait. Why? Do you?" She turned, asking him with a curious look.
"Ovetime? Yeah. Time and a half over forty hours. Time and half and a half for over sixty hours."
"Really?" Sara looked genuinely interested.
"You all don't get that? That's crazy, you work so hard." Gorou looked at her with some sympathy.
"Yeah… It's quite an eye opening thing to learn about…" She looked down with some contemplation.
"Maybe you should try and bring this up with The Raiden Shogun. Demand better pay and work hours." He suggested to which she shook her head.
"We're not unionizing, stop instigating." She warned.
"..."
"..."
"Tell me they at least provide a nice severance pay."
"Silence."
This one came out a bit faster, but I essentially wanted Kazuha to leave Inazuma for a bit to let things build up there for him to come back to.
Immediately getting into things while Beisht was on the way wouldn't do too well.
Regardless, hope you all enjoy that and no Snippets of the Past this time because I wanted to make an rvb reference.
If you do want to know how someone died, just message it and i'll get to them next.
Hope you all enjoyed!