Before the sun fully rose up on a beautiful clear sky, I was on the roof of the Kamisato Estate in order to begin clearing some of the ice as was requested of me from Lady Ayaka the night before.

"I was joking about Dragonspine... But why is there still so much ice?!" I wiped the sweat off of my forehead as I paused for a quick break to catch my breath.

'With my polearm in hand, I expected this to be quick work.' I gripped on to the weapon even tighter as I looked at the amount of work I had left. 'But I suppose with the amount of rain that was coming down, there was no way for Lady Ayaka to control how much of the building she tried to freeze to stop the rain from coming in. In other words, she went overboard with her Soumetsu.'

Most of my morning went like this, clearing off the ice the best I can by flames without going too far as to burning the already weakened roof. The hot sun starting to show itself was already a dramatic change compared to the intense weather the entirety of Inazuma had to deal with yesterday.

'I wonder how Aranea is doing? Did she manage to get enough sleep? She must be getting hungry, so I better do my best up here and begin breakfast. Plus, I have to finish this up before Lord Ayato returns from his meeting.'

Some time later, I had finished melting away the last of the ice on the surface of the roof and climbed back down to the ground. The sun hasn't fully settled up in the sky just yet, so I made my way back into the house and went inside.

As soon as I had washed up and headed towards the kitchen, there was a familiar scent in the air.

"Hey, what's going on here? Isn't it my turn to cook?" I asked before I saw who I was talking to.

"I think this is a rather nice change of pace. Don't you?" A familiar voice answered which took me by total surprise.

In the kitchen, wearing an apron that made him look out of place, was the head of the Kamisato Clan.

"L- Lord Ayato?!" I was caught off guard when I saw him. "What are you doing here?"

"Well... I live here." He stated in a matter of fact voice.

At his answer, I realized I was being too suspicious and he might start asking questions.

'I need to cover for Lady Ayaka as she had asked of me.'

"Did you just get back?" I managed to ask him.

"Who knows?" He gave a vague answer, clearly enjoying this.

"You know what I'm asking. Because... I'm wondering if... If you saw-" I tried to ask, not wanting to say too much in case he has no idea.

"Wondering if I saw what the people of Mondstadt would consider as Dragonspine on half of the roof?"

Covering my face with a hand, I sighed.

'Sorry my Lady, I wasn't quick enough to get the job done before your brother came back.'

"If you're wondering if I'll say something to her, the fact that I saw you working so hard to clean it up before I got here has earned my respect. I won't utter a word." Lord Ayato told me with a nod of his head as he put the finished food on the counter on separate plates.

"Whew, that's a relief. I mean, that amount of ice wasn't going to defeat me."

"I'm sure that the two of you protected this place the best that you could last night. After all, the fact that she went all out like that tells me everything that I need to know."

"Yeah... Last night... About that..." I began, not knowing how to even begin to explain everything that has happened in his absence.

"Thoma?" He asked me, becoming serious when he noticed the change in my demeanor.

"Yesterday, because of that storm, Ara-"

"Good morning!" A new voice joined in. "Brother? You're back!"

Walking into the kitchen, Lady Ayaka was accompanied by an unfamiliar person. It was only their outfit that explained to me why they were here.

"Good morning Thoma, and Lord Ayato." The kind doctor greeted us.

"As soon as I awoke, I asked Sayu to request for medical aid." Ayaka explained to me. "Now that the weather's cleared up, it was safe to travel."

"Doctor, you're here? Thoma, has someone been injured from yesterday's events?" Ayato asked, concerned.

"It was for me." Aranea spoke up as she walked into the kitchen.

When she made eye contact with me, I walked up to her without forming the words that I wanted to say first.

"You're awake!" I said without thinking, shaking my head at that. "I mean, of course you are... I mean, were you able to get any sleep afterwards?"

"Yeah, I was. Thank you, for helping me." She tells me, her smile contagious.

Seeing Aranea in person like this, I could see a huge difference compared from last night until now. A fresh bandage was placed over her head wound. Her pale skin from before now looked like her normal color had returned, she seemed completely refreshed. I caught myself staring at her and turned to look away before she noticed.

"Nice to finally you meet you in person, Lord Ayato. I was called here to check on your guest who was affected by the storm outside yesterday." The doctor began to explain.

"Thank you, doctor. What were you doing in the storm?" Ayato asked her, taking the apron off of him and facing Aranea.

"Honestly, I can't remember much of it. It was like I was in some sort of trance... I don't really understand much of it myself."

"If it wasn't for Thoma, who knows what would've happened to you yesterday." Ayaka spoke up.

"It's true." The doctor said with a nod of their head. "Being out there like that in such weather, plus the fact that your body temperature was dropping, it was nothing short of bravery on this young man's part to go out there and risk himself from what I heard to get you to safety."

Suddenly hearing that made me slightly embarrassed.

"No, I'm sure anyone else would've done the same." I said, shaking my head. "As long as you're okay, that's enough."

"Doctor, I thank you for making the trip here so early in the morning. I will see to it that all expenses are paid." Ayato said.

"Wait. Are you sure?" Aranea asked him.

"Yes, I insist. You're my guest. Don't worry about it." He tells her with a smile before turning to the doctor. "Come. I will walk you out."

"Doctor, wait." Aranea stopped the two of them from leaving. "There's something I must ask of you first before you leave."

"Yes?"

"Thoma was hurt yesterday... His hands..." She trailed off as her guilt from last night carried over.

"I told you that I was okay." I tried to say.

"Thoma, what happened?" Ayaka asked me with concern in her voice.

With all eyes on me, I decided to take off my gloves and show the palms of my hand to the doctor instead of trying to dismiss Aranea's worry.

"See? There's nothing to worry about like I said." I said as the doctor took a closer look at my hands.

"These burns... How did you manage to get electric burns like these?" The doctor asked me.

"...During the storm." I said, choosing not to say exactly what happened.

"Thoma..." Aranea said.

"It doesn't even hurt, so I'll manage." I finished saying as I put my gloves back on quickly. "If I have to, I'll come see you."

"It doesn't look to be serious, but I'll take your word for it. There really shouldn't be any lasting damage from something that superficial." The doctor said, understanding and not pushing the topic further. "I'll be on the way back to my office. Because of yesterday, I've had a significant rise in the number of patients at the clinic."

Lord Ayato walked the doctor out. After the two of them left the kitchen and I approached both Lady Ayaka and Aranea.

"What did the doctor say?" I asked.

"I'll be okay with a bit of rest." Aranea answered, which relieved me of my worry. "It's good that the doctor said you weren't seriously hurt."

"You didn't mention anything about that, Thoma." Ayaka spoke up.

"Well... It's from how it happened." I said, looking over to Aranea.

"Yes, I need to talk to you and your brother. It's about something that occurred last night."

"Something that you need to talk to me about as well?" Ayato asked when he came back into the kitchen and walked up to the three of us.

"I'm the one who did that to Thoma." Aranea confessed.

"You didn't know what you were doing." I tried to say.

"You did? How exactly did it happen?" Ayaka asked, not understanding.

Without saying a word, Aranea hesitated at first but then sighed to calm herself before she reached into her pocket. Pulling out the Electro Vision she gained the night before to reveal it made both of the Kamisato siblings stare at it wide eyed. Ayato took a step back in shock and Ayaka just froze on the spot as she was speechless.

"I... I didn't expect this." Ayato admitted, breaking the silence.

"Brother, do you know anything about what this means?" Ayaka asked, noticing his reaction was different compared to hers.

"I do." He answers. "I'm just surprised that you've received an Electro Vision, too."

"Too?" I caught what he said, implying he did have an idea of what was happening in Inazuma.

"I was summoned to meet with the other heads of the Clans before the weather got as terrible as it did. It was because of our Electro Archon." He began to explain. "It started with the current holders of Electro Visions, who noticed a kind of change happening before others did. In fact, Kujou Sara herself first brought this up first and reported it."

"So it was because of something happening with the Archon." I said.

"Yes, and there's more."

"There is?" Ayaka asked her brother.

Ayato looked over towards Aranea and took a step back from us.

"Perhaps we should continue this conversation another day. Lady Aranea, how about some breakfast?" Ayato asked her as he made his way to the plates of food he prepared earlier. "I'll walk you home myself so your family doesn't have to worry."

"U- Uh thank you." Aranea answered with a slight surprise at the change of conversation.

'There's probably more that he's not telling us, but he must have a good reason.'

"He's right. You need to let them know you're alright since they haven't seen you since before the storm." Ayaka spoke up, possibly thinking the same as me and picking up the hint.

"Best to not let the food get cold!" I said, clapping my hands together. "After all of that extra work." I added in which then earned me a playful shove from Lady Ayaka.

Twitch: Enrita11

September 25th, 2023