Chapter 04.
Avoiding the past

For many years, Kaedehara Kazuha avoided getting close to Inazuma City. And not only because he had never really had a specific issue that led him to that place, or that being a wanderer with an Anemo Vision with him, delving so close to the very heart of the Tenryou Commission would be by definition foolish. The most important reason, and at the same time the most secret, was that being in those fields brought back bitter memories of his previous life.

The lands of the already declining Kaedehara clan were not far away. His childhood home was surely at that time abandoned and in ruins, or perhaps not even that was left. He didn't know exactly, and he preferred to remain ignorant for now.

But fate always had interesting ways of working, as Kazuha had already experienced it firsthand. Just under a week ago, his path crossed again with one of his recurring traveling companions, the wandering samurai that everyone knew simply as "Tomo." The meeting was, in theory, fortuitous, although Kazuha certainly had his doubts...

Anyway, Tomo had asked to accompany him on a quick trip to Inazuma City, being a bit insistent on it. And even though he refused to give further explanations as to why beyond "I need to take care of something, and I could use your help," Kazuha ended up accepting.

To be fair, the platinum-haired wanderer didn't insist too much on his friend to be clearer about the "something" he was talking about. After all, most of the time, any excuse that could keep Kazuha moving on and had a course to follow was enough. And as usual in the trips they made together, Kazuha used to go where Tomo considered best. Eight times out of ten, the samurai seemed to make the right choice; the other two… well, they were still alive, and that was what mattered.

After a few days of travel, they arrived at Inazuma like two regular travelers and blended into the crowd. They are hidden under the straw kasa hats that covered their faces, long dark capes that hid their swords and, of course, their visions from curious views. In hindsight, perhaps that appearance might have made them look more suspicious...

As they walked down the main street, Kazuha noticed that his companion looked with unusual childish curiosity at everything around them, from the people to the buildings and roadside stands.

"Wow, there seem to be more people around here than the last time I came," Tomo mentioned, walking a few steps ahead of him. "I also don't recognize many of these places. I think I remember once eating in a restaurant that was there," he commented, pointing to a building on the side of the street. "But I think now it's something else… a tailor shop? It seems that not everything can be kept as eternal and unchanged as the Almighty Shogun would like. Not even in her own city."

He finished his comment with a loud, almost mocking laugh. Was that some kind of joke? If he had said it in front of the wrong person, he might have been accused of being insolent and disrespectful. Luckily, Kazuha was not even close to being one of those people.

"Where exactly do you need to go, Tomo?" Kazuha questioned him, a little apprehensive. "Maybe you really have forgotten the layout of the city, because in case you haven't noticed, we are getting closer and closer to the Tenshukaku and the headquarters of the Tenryou Commission."

And you didn't really need to know the city by heart to realize it. The more one advanced down the main street, Raiden Shogun's imposing palace, towered above everyone, became much clearer to the eye in the distance.

"I know, I know," Tomo answered, waving a hand in the air lazily. "I just want to take a look at something I've been hearing too much about lately."

"What thing?"

Tom didn't reply. And though the smile on his face remained, it felt a bit…wistful.

After advancing for a while, the flow of people was reduced, and they were able to walk more freely. Just as Kazuha had warned, for an instant, it seemed that they were indeed heading straight to the palace's gates, and the three armed guards in front of them. When they were already a few meters away, Kazuha felt the instinct to take his friend by the arm and quickly pull to force him back. He feared that it was one of those two out of eight occasional near-suicidal follies crossing his mind. However, Tomo's attention seemed not to be on the palace but instead on what stood out enormously right in front of it.

Tomo veered slightly to the right, standing almost in the shadow of the huge winged statue that lay majestically several meters from the main entrance of the Tenshukaku.

The infamous Statue of the Omnipresent God, the maximum representation of the Eternity imposed by Raiden Shogun… and the oppression that her Vision Hunt Decree opposed on her people. It was in the form of an androgynous being with a robe and two enormous outstretched wings emerging from its back. In it were embedded dozens of visions confiscated from dozens of people as simple decorations, although some would call them trophies.

That monument made Kazuha more uncomfortable than he thought it would when he heard about it. The air that swirled around it felt thick and sad as if it carried with it the melancholy of the owners of all those visions.

One more compelling reason for not wanting to be there...

"I don't know why I thought it would be bigger," Tomo muttered suddenly, actually sounding a little disappointed. "What do you think, Kazuha?"

"I find it unpleasant," exclaimed the Kaedehara boy with marked disdain.

"Yes, I assumed you would say something like that," laughed the wandering samurai, apparently somewhat amused by his companion's words.

Tama, Tomo's little white kitten, poked her head out from inside Tomo's black kimono, resting her big blue eyes on the solemn statue that aroused so much interest in her owner. However, she seemed to share in part the same feeling of repulsion as Kazuha, as she almost immediately tried to hide her head so as not to see it directly. Tomo raised his hand, delicately running his fingers over the cat's head, trying to comfort her.

"Do you think this is how the Shogun sees herself? Or is she trying to represent something else with it?"

"I won't try to pretend that I can understand what the Shogun is thinking," Kazuha replied nonchalantly.

"I guess I won't either," Tomo commented, his tone oddly animated. "I don't think I've ever asked you directly, Kazuha. But tell me, what is your honest opinion about the Vision Hunt Decree?"

The young swordsman was a little surprised by the question, but he didn't have to think long before answering.

"Obviously, I have no intention of giving my vision to anyone, and especially to fulfill Shogun's absurd whim," he murmured slowly, bringing his hand closer to where the turquoise orb was hidden. "And if someone comes for it, I'm willing to fight to stop them. Though I'd rather avoid getting to that first."

"Wise words, my friend. Wise words…"

After a few seconds of reflective silence, Kazuha noticed out of the corner of her eye a couple of Tenryou guards coming out of the main gates of the palace. They began to walk down the street; they would pass relatively close to both in a few seconds.

Kazuha adjusted his kasa, lowering it further to cover his face, and started walking.

"We have to go," he told Tomo in a low voice. Tama meowed in the very next instant, possibly showing her agreement with the proposal.

"Yes, that would be for the best," the wandering samurai added and turned to his traveling companion, following close behind.

Fortunately, the two guards didn't seem to notice them.

They both walked in silence until they re-entered the crowd.

"Tell me we didn't come all the way to Inazuma just to see that statue," Kazuha commented. He sounded generally calm but with a slight trace of complaint peeking through his words.

"Of course not!" Tomo answered, accompanied by a couple of loud laughs. "But it was a tourist site that I was interested in seeing face to face. You won't deny that it was at least interesting, will you?"

Kazuha had no desire to answer that question but rather to get some answer to his.

"So what exactly did we come here for?" he insisted again.

Tomo raised his gaze to the sky and placed a hand on his chin, assuming a thoughtful pose perhaps a little exaggerated.

"Well…"

Before he could answer anything, if he really intended to do so, a tumult of people at the exit of the city distracted them, as well as some shouts coming from it.

"Oh, what's going on there?" Tom commented curiously.

"Whatever it is, it's sure to catch the attention of the guards at any moment," Kazuha warned. Still, his words fell on deaf ears as Tomo calmly began to walk towards the crowd anyway.

Kazuha, a bit resigned, just let out a small sigh and followed closely behind him.

As they approached, what they both saw in the center of the commotion was a man wielding a flaming sword and fighting with three Tenryou guards. That, of course, made Kazuha a little nervous.

"Let's go before they notice us," said young Kaedehara.

"Wait a minute," Tomo said with an oddly serious tone.

Kazuha didn't understand the reason for that request. Still, he waited anyway, a little uncomfortable for having to witness such an insufferable scene. Watching the Tenryou Commission strip another innocent of his vision was not exactly a show idea for Kazuha. And, in fact, it made his chest boil with an anger that was not pleasant at all.

After a bit of fighting, the man with the flaming sword seemed to have a clear path to escape. However, they saw with surprise how two arrows suddenly hit the man in his shoulder and leg, and he fell to the ground wounded.

That gave Kazuha a small shock.

"Do you want to intervene?" Tomo commented slowly beside him.

Kazuha turned to look at him, a little surprised by the question, but then he looked down at his own hand. He was holding the hilt of his sword tightly. He hadn't even realized when he had moved it, as if it had been done by mere reflex.

And looking at his partner again, Kazuha immediately read in his eyes that if he decided to jump into action, he was more than willing to support him. Even Tomo's hand had already been placed on his respective sword as well, waiting for him to give the indication.

However, something else caught their attention and calmed their desire to fight a little before he could answer. A person had emerged from the crowd, approached the wounded man, and crouched down beside him.

"Don't move, please," that person whispered to him slowly, a young girl with long blue hair, wearing a long blue and gold outfit over which she also wore a breastplate armor. "They are serious injuries; please don't move, or it will make them worse..."

Kazuha's startled crimson eyes stared directly at that person, as perhaps everyone else's had. And just like them, the girl's identity did not go unnoticed by the young wanderer, although… in a very different context.

"Ayaka…" he thought, surprised, feeling his whole body numb from that sudden presence that appeared before him like a diffuse ghost.

Despite the years, he had no problem recognizing her. She had become a grown woman (and a very, very beautiful one). However, she was still overflowing with that bright aura that had always accompanied her since she was a child. And the air that blew around her continued to feel fresh and sweet.

After a few minutes, the intervention of General Kujou Sara put an end to the fight, and a tall blond man, who Kazuha remembered as a servant of the Kamisato clan, took it upon himself to get Ayaka out of trouble.

The people began to thin out, and Kazuha knew they would quickly be exposed if they didn't move; not only for the Tenryou soldiers but also for that person…

Saying nothing, he lowered his hat again and began to move stealthily through the crowd, but this time back into the city to be lost in the flow.

"Kazuha?" Tomo muttered, noticing how he walked away like that. He squinted at the mysterious blue-haired girl once more and then walked up behind his friend. And he realized almost immediately that he wasn't the only one.

"Lady Ayaka!" someone shouted behind him. And when he turned over his shoulder, he could see that same girl running in his direction. However, she passed by his side, spinning him around with impressive agility, and continued forward without noticing him at all.

The blond-haired young man who accompanied her passed a little later.

"Wow, that is really interesting," Tomo muttered to himself, smiling. Tama, peeking out from inside his kimono again, mewed in apparent approval.

By his side, Kazuha wasn't even sure what exactly he was running from. He knew, of course, that he had many things in his past that he was not proud of but with which he had learned to a greater or lesser extent to make peace.

The noble Kaedehara Kazuha, samurai and head of a respected clan, was for him more like the vague character of some story that had nothing to do with him. And that also included the people and things that came to have some kind of relationship with that person.

But Kamisato Ayaka was a notable exception to this.

The moment he saw her, everything came back to his mind as if he had been back in that courtyard making that haiku in his head, or in all the other subsequent afternoons that the two of them spent together. And he felt as helpless and foolish as that child was, realizing again that they were both the same person. And his whole body and mind screamed at him loudly that he had to get out of there immediately, that he couldn't face her.

Or, rather, he didn't deserve to do it...

He stopped after a few minutes, leaning his back against the sidewall of a store, and took a deep breath.

Maybe he was exaggerating. Maybe she hadn't even seen him. And if she did, maybe he hadn't recognized it. And even if she had, surely Commissioner Yashiro's younger sister had much more important things to do than chasing someone who might have resembled a person she met years ago.

However, as he discreetly turned back to the street, his heart nearly stopped at the sight of the young noblewoman standing in the middle of the street a few meters from him, gasping for breath as she glanced to the sides. When she was about to look in his direction, Kazuha quickly hid by going deeper into the narrow alley between the store and the adjacent building, managing to remain unnoticed.

"Yes, she saw me," deduced the wanderer, drawing the most logical conclusion. "And she recognized me..."

But, if that was the case, why was she following him? Why was she looking for him so insistently?

Did she perhaps want to reproach him for what had happened? She would have the right to do so, and perhaps only because of that, he had even considered going out and confronting her.

Although also… What if she wanted to hand it over to the Tenryou? After all, she was still a Kamisato, a representative of the Yashiro Commission, and a servant of the Raiden Shogun. Her duty would be to see that his vision was taken and placed with the rest in that obscene statue.

"But she doesn't know I have a vision," he told himself, quickly remembering that he had gotten it long after they last saw each other. And even if for some reason she knew or had heard about it... the Ayaka he knew as a child would definitely not do such a thing. Even if she held a grudge against him, she wouldn't be able to cause him such harm.

However, she was not the Ayaka he knew; she was left behind about ten years ago.

Peering out again, Kazuha could see the servant who was accompanying Ayaka, who seemed to remember now that his name was Thoma, approaching her. They both spoke quietly to each other, though Kazuha managed to faintly hear Ayaka say:

"No one… I guess I just imagined it..."

Saying so, Kazuha managed to catch disappointment and even sadness in her voice. And having been the cause of those feelings in her again, squeezed his chest so much that it almost pushed him to come out and show his face. Again, however, he gave up the idea.

The two started to walk back the way they came, so Kazuha hid further into the alley so they wouldn't notice him. Still, when Ayaka passed near his hiding place, he was able to observe her in greater detail. The sharp shape of her face, the singular brightness of her eyes, the swaying of her long tail of light blue hair that fell on her back, and the grace of her steps and movements. And, of course, again, that fresh and pleasant air that swirled around her, feeling like a soft caress on his cheek.

Yes, she was definitely not that girl he had known so long ago... but there was still enough in her that he could recognize without a problem. And, apparently, in him too.

Ayaka and her companion walked away until they were out of Kazuha's sight. He sighed with relief (and perhaps a slight disappointment) and went further into the alley, intending to go out to the back street.

It was better this way. Nothing good would come for either of them to meet again like that.

"The great Kazuha hiding from a girl, who'd say?" he abruptly heard someone else in the alley next to him. Kazuha jumped in surprise, marking his distance in a nimble leap and immediately placing his hand on the hilt of his sword. He relaxed a bit as he recognized that the stranger was, in fact, Tomo. Although not so much when he noticed how his friend looked back at him with a mocking smile. "Did I really surprise you? I thought doing it was impossible. It looks like that young lady distracted you too much."

Kazuha sighed and withdrew his hand from his sword to stand more relaxed.

"Where have you been?"

"Me?" Tomo exclaimed wryly, pointing a finger at himself. "You were the one who ran off without saying anything, remember?"

"I'm sorry," Kazuha muttered, bowing his head a little in apology. "But we'd better get going before something else happens."

Given the indication and making sure that neither Ayaka nor Thoma were to be seen in the vicinity, Kazuha left the alley and began to walk back to the city's exit, albeit by a different route.

"Is that all? Are you really not going to explain anything to me about what just happened?" Tomo muttered sardonically as he followed behind, to which Kazuha replied with a simple, resounding:

"No."

"Okay…"

Both swordsmen began to walk side by side in silence and without any mishap to entertain them anymore.

Author's Notes:

—To name Kazuha's friend, I have decided to take the name "Tomo," which is the most popular among fans, although it will be taken more as a nickname than a real name. I have also decided to take the name "Tama" for his cat and consider it a female as I have often seen that fans like to imagine it. Tomo will be an essential character in the story. Due to the little that is known about him, I have decided to base myself on what they have been told, but above all, take some liberties; not only in his name but also in his personality, his way of thinking, his past, etc. that surely did not agree with the idea that some people had of him. Even so, I hope my version of this character is to your liking.