"Are you sure you will be alright on your own?"
The captain of the Crux voiced her worry. She had picked up the man from Liyue who looked like he had lost all hope in life. She cannot in good conscience just leave him there so she brought him up to her ship, hoping that she or someone from her crew would be able to get him to open up.
It didn't work. Their ship sailed to Inazuma and the depressed man requested to be left here. She would have refused his request, she wouldn't mind helping him with his troubles if only he bothered to be frank with her about what's troubling him, but he never once told her anything about himself other than his name.
It takes two hands to clap. Likewise, she cannot help the man if he doesn't want to first help himself.
She ultimately chose to respect his wish. To be left here alone in Inazuma was the only request he repeatedly asked of her in the time she and her crew had gotten to know him. They are all very worried, to be very honest, but this was his only request to them and they were unable to turn it down.
They left him with whatever they could part and believed would be of help to the man before their ship left Ritou: mora, food, a good sword for self-defence, some change of clothes. The depressed man thanked them for their kind act before he continued to aimlessly wander the land of eternity, having no aim nor goal nor purpose.
"I am Keqing, but I don't remember meeting you before. Have we met?"
The haunting words of the woman said by her in this cycle who he once loved and who had loved him in his previous cycle finally hammered the truth of his reality into him. To be forgotten, to be erased, to never be able to embrace a permanent future: that is his fate. He's cursed to forever wander without a purpose and to lose everything and everyone he had preciously gathered every single time.
He's grateful to Beidou for taking him in, but truthfully he wished that she left him to just die like a street rat in this sixth cycle. What meaning is there in life if he tried to love only to lose it all? What meaning is there if everybody he fought to protect, to love, and who would do so for him in return never remember him? He really couldn't stand it when these people wearing the same faces he once knew and loved repeatedly asked him who he was and where he's from.
To make things worse, there's no end to these cycles. This phenomenon, the endless cycle of introducing himself to people who he already knew again and again, will keep repeating in a neverending samsara. What truly made him despair was that there's no end in sight.
He walked wherever his bruised feet took him to. Inazuma was a land that he had never visited before, which was partially the reason why he asked to be dropped off here. It's truly beautiful, having a peaceful beauty to it that he hadn't seen in the other nations which he had been to previously. Things here seem to be calm, still, and unchanging, which brought a very small semblance of peace to his otherwise heavily troubled heart.
He unknowingly arrived at the entrance of Inazuma City, having crossed Konda Village and the Byakko Plains without realising when he had done so. He knows naught how long it took for him to reach here but he had arrived at the city he knew the Electro Archon resides, the exalted ruler of this land, the Almighty Raiden Shogun.
Would she have the answers he seeks? He wondered, but his question faded together with his consciousness as he unceremoniously collapsed at the foot of the stairs that lead upwards to the city.
He hadn't eaten anything for close to three days, nor had he found the motivation to fill his stomach in his depression. Looking back, it truly was a miracle how he made his way to Inazuma City at all, especially with how prevalent the vicious ronins are in the outskirts.
" – awake! He's awake!"
If he were to describe his life in the sixth cycle, it's like it passed by like a dream for him. It started off from a horrifying nightmare until it gradually eased into a peaceful dream where he could finally wake up from it to face his reality. Many things and events in this cycle passed by in a blur for him and he had no idea for how long he had already lived in this cycle. Similarly, he had no idea how much time had passed between the time he vaguely remembered collapsing at the entrance of the city to when he finally roused.
The excited voice of a young girl was what his ears registered when he finally woke up.
He honestly couldn't remember how his first interactions with the girl went nor how long did it take for him to slowly wake up from his nightmare. Looking back, depression was something that he would never wish anyone to ever experience like he had gone through in the sixth cycle. He just understood that over time, he was gradually grounded back to reality through the sincere efforts of the cheery girl with an optimistic outlook on life.
Naganohara Yoimiya, the girl who he will forever remember as the person who pulled him out of his funk and allowed him to grasp onto the courage to keep moving forward once more. She has his eternal gratitude.
"Morning Xun! Hungry? I prepared breakfast!"
Many things in this cycle took place as if he was in a dream. Like how he couldn't recall just exactly how he made his way to Inazuma City from Ritou all alone, he couldn't recall how long he took to be a functional human being once again. Yoimiya learned of his name because one of the Crux's crew who was worried for him left a brief note within the small bag that they left him with before they departed from Inazuma, which also gave Yoimiya a brief idea of who she's dealing with. That note was why she believed he hailed from Liyue and he never corrected her misconceptions.
The Naganohara family could have just left him to die since he's none of their business, but the goodness in them burned just as brightly as the fireworks they craft. That positive attitude that runs in this family was what shaped Yoimiya into the girl she is and ultimately, saved his life.
No, not life, but lives. Without them, he would not have been able to take that single crucial step forward to face the tribulations in his future cycles.
"Morning," he recalled greeting her that morning. He forever remembered that transient moment, for it was the moment she finally managed to elicit a verbal response out of him after god knows how long. He remembered how elated she was, how her face visibly lit up in joy, and how her entire family celebrated this mundane affair like a national festival. He's grateful that they never treated him any differently nor shunned him like many others did when they saw his sorry state before he collapsed at the foot of Inazuma City awaiting death to claim him. They took him in when they were not obliged to, cared for him when they had no need to.
He owed them many lifetimes of gratitude.
Her family didn't really trust him to be left alone to his own devices, afraid that he might do something foolish behind their backs, so Yoimiya ended up bringing him along wherever she goes. Through her, he met many other people whom he also would eventually get to frequently interact with in his future cycles if it brought him to Inazuma: Heizou, Shinobu, Itto, Sara, Ayato, Ayaka, Thoma, just to name a few.
Like many other events in this cycle, he couldn't remember exactly how long it took for the depressed cloud in his mind to start to clear. That cloud is still there, weighing heavily on his mind, but it finally started to part a little to allow the sun rays to peek through in a small glimmer. He couldn't remember just when he had gotten accustomed to her incessant chattering, her joyful laughter, and actually felt a little odd if he didn't hear her voice every few minutes. She's like the sun, burning bright with joy and full of life. She's loved by everyone on Narukami Island and he could understand why people say that they believe summer will not be the same without the Queen of the Summer Festival.
He learnt many things about her without him meaning to, because she has this strange ability to keep talking forever, a skill which he could never grasp or comprehend. He remembered the most precious present she gave him and he took care of it like the world's greatest treasure, a Naganohara firework note that detailed the formula of the firework that she created for him and him alone.
"Our family has a long tradition in which we will give every client who orders customised fireworks a note. Its contents can only be understood by our family, and it records the specific formula of the fireworks that were ordered. Whether ten years or a hundred years pass, our family can make exactly the same fireworks as they did in the past so long as the client brings us that note. This is your very own note so take good care of it, okie?"
"I prefer snacks to entrees. I always go from stall to stall during festivals, eating as I go. By the way, are you any good at making snacks? I'll trade the dango I made with you. Here, have the big ones!"
"The loveliest fireworks go along with the most wondrous moments. Tiny little emotions that can easily slip away are captured within these fireworks and passed down in a different form. The notes we give our clients are like a key that awaits those who wish to open a gate to commemorate the past. We at Naganohara are the keepers of that gate."
"It actually doesn't matter what I do. What matters are the people I work with. I'm not too sure if you are actually listening to me now but when I'm with you, even simple things like watching the scenery or kicking a small jar about make me happy. Talking to you never gets old, after all. Heh, you make a very good listener too although I wish you would start speaking soon. People always say I talk too much… Hehe, don't you think we make a great pair?"
"Fireworks are not eternal, but I believe that the wonderful emotions behind them should walk alongside Inazuma into eternity."
He very rarely spoke and the functions of his vocal chords seemed to have deteriorated severely due to his extremely long periods of silence, but his mind was slowly healing all because the girl with optimism brighter than the sun never once gave up on him. She was that small ray of sunshine that stubbornly tried to peek through the dark clouds in his mind and he's grateful for being able to meet such a wonderful person at the lowest point in his life.
Her optimism and everything she so readily shared with him prompted him to start thinking over his experiences and his actions. He started to reflect on himself, and he felt so deeply ashamed for what he did in the fourth cycle, after he broke into Nahida's consciousness and just left her at the continued mercy of the Sages instead of saving her like he did in the third, all because he was shocked at the revelation of the nature of the samsara that he was thrusted into.
He's not fit to call himself Nahida's friend, and he inwardly vowed to do better whenever he had the chance to rescue Nahida again, in whatever cycles that would lead him to her again. If possible, he would try to save Junjou too, although the circumstances surrounding him are much more difficult to resolve and it will not be easy trying to get through "Scaramouche" to finally reach the "Junjou" within.
"V-Vision Hunt… Decree…?"
Again, he did not know how long had passed until the sudden implementation of this decree. Yoimiya's shocked voice when she first read the notice pinned on the public bulletin board was something that he believed he could remember for a very long while. That event that would heavily affect Inazuma's path for the next few years finally jolted him a little, enough to temporarily pull him out of his depressed funk when he vaguely recalled what this entailed. The Sakoku Decree should also be implemented soon. The eternal storm surrounding Inazuma would be present for a long while.
His mind was already on the road to recovery then, so his memories regarding this period were a little clearer than the rest. Yoimiya secretly assisted vision holders by helping to distribute realistically fake visions. He helped out a little too when he felt better and more in control of his mind and body, which initially surprised Yoimiya when he suddenly acted much more normally but she readily welcomed the change and the improvement to his mental health with that usual beaming smile on her face.
"Do you know that when I first received my vision, I used it as a flint and then chucked it into a storeroom and forgot all about it until my father found it and told me that it's a precious item that I should keep safe? Haha, at least it didn't get taken back by our dear Archon… yet," she told him in secret one fine night where they sat outside the porch of her home where she invited him, or more like pulled him over, to admire the starry night sky together. She's accustomed to rarely hearing him speak a word, she had kept a count of the number of words he had actually spoken in the period of time which she had gotten to know him and she could confidently state that it's definitely less than the fingers of her hands combined.
He's accustomed to having her chat his ears off. He became her quiet listener and he likes being her quiet listener.
Yoimiya continued to help the affected vision holders in secret by assisting with the distribution of fake visions. He knew that there's no way the girl would not find a way to help because that's just who she is as a person. What she's doing is dangerous, because what she's doing directly goes against her Shogun's decree and if convicted, could very possibly lead her to her early demise if the Tenryou Commission that's enforcing this decree wanted to make an example out of her to keep the people of Inazuma City under a tight leash through fear.
He's starting to make a full recovery. His mind felt much clearer, his mood better, his body healthier. In short, he's no longer in a depressed funk. He finally starts to make peace with himself, his previous experiences, and his previous actions. He understood that the samsaric road ahead for him will still be fraught with sharp thorns but he found himself having the courage to brave through it once more. He had a certain girl with an unhealthy love for pyrotechnics to thank for.
He recalled that fateful afternoon where he briefly separated from Yoimiya. She had sent him away to help her make a grocery run. His recovery was noticeable and she's no longer worried about him accidentally or intentionally hurting himself if she lets him out of her sight for a short period of time. He had no idea where she had disappeared to nor what she had done in that same timeframe but she was nowhere to be seen when he returned with those bags of groceries. He waited a little longer at where she told him they would meet. She didn't show up.
He noticed that a crowd had started to gather towards the direction of the Tenshukaku. He initially assumed that a festival might be held there and was why people gathered in that direction. He did not know what eventually spurred him to follow, but that's what he did. He followed the crowd which eventually gathered before the Statue of the Omnipresent God built in front of the Tenshukaku. He heard the murmurs and a certain sense of foreboding struck him when his ears captured Yoimiya's name being mentioned several times.
He pushed his way to the front and his heart dropped to the pit of his stomach when he saw the girl that's so full of life and optimism, bound and forced to kneel in front of the statue like a criminal with her head held low. Two samurais armed with odachis stood and flanked her, looking more like executioners with their getup and choice of weapon that they were armed with.
The groceries that he had bought were already long forgotten and dropped somewhere. A soldier from the Tenryou Commission began to read Yoimiya's crimes to the public. She had been very careful with her actions but she had distributed so many fake visions that it ultimately caught the Tenryou Commission's attention. To them, her crimes were unforgivable and had desecrated the Shogun's will. Her vision would be seized under the decree.
And her life shall be forfeited to uphold the Shogun's pursuit of eternity. This is no festival, this is a public execution.
He couldn't remember many things in this cycle, but he clearly remembered how calmly he strode out from the crowd after that soldier finished reciting Yoimiya's list of crimes. Murmurs rose and countless fingers pointed at him, identifying him as the mentally unsound man who was noted to follow Yoimiya around.
"Let… her go."
His voice was cracked and sounded scratchy from long periods of misuse. He himself was surprised that he was able to even voice a single coherent word because it hurt his throat so badly to even try and make a single sound. He subtly repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fingers under the concealment of the long sleeves of his yukata, warming them up for what he knew to be an inevitable battle ahead. His body had been in a long period of misuse and is not in a good shape for combat. He thoroughly regretted not getting out of his depressed funk earlier because if he did, he might be in a better shape to rescue Yoimiya.
His insolent act of defiance was inconceivable to the whole of Inazuma that worshipped the Raiden Shogun. Inazuma is a nation who really revered their archon and in all his lives that he had lived, in the nations which he had stepped into, he had never seen a nation whose archon's will and ideals seeped so deeply into her people where it felt like it was ingrained in the very roots of their souls. The Shogun is loved by her people and the Shogun loves them in return, it's just that their archon also happens to be the stereotypical character of one of those badly written novels who tends to have the best intentions and interests for others, but often making mistakes in executing on what she believed to be right.
Above all, the people truly believed that the Shogun's will cannot be challenged. How could one challenge the Almighty Shogun? Those who attempt to do so should take a short trip to Musoujin Gorge to see for themselves the fate of the god who last challenged her authority and rethink their decision.
He knew that this is a battle that he cannot win but he has to win, for the girl and her family who saved him from a fate worse than death.
Yoimiya struggled the moment she spotted him coming to her rescue, she tried to speak but her mouth was gagged and he couldn't hear her pleasant voice. He remembered trying to give her a comforting smile before returning his attention to the soldiers who stood in between them. He couldn't remember what they were shouting at him but he knew that he was instructed to leave.
Everything is for the Almighty Shogun, he vaguely remembered the soldiers of the Tenryou Commission proclaiming while Yoimiya knelt there like a sinner.
He remembered the rage that burned in his heart. Does the Raiden Shogun even know of this execution? Was she really the one who approved it, be it explicitly or implicitly? He wanted to publicly question if Yoimiya's planned execution was the will of the Raiden Shogun or the will of the corrupted Tri-Commission, but his impaired voice could not support what he wanted to vocalise. His arguments could not be put forth.
It's fine, he had always been a believer that actions speak louder than words.
One soldier moved to accost him and forcibly moved him away from the stage. He finally made his move.
Everything thereafter was a violent whirlwind that blurred. Swords were drawn, shouts were voiced, screams were heard, and bodies started flying. He remembered feeling so relieved that the skills he had learned and polished for five cycles had not dulled. He reached Yoimiya without breaking a sweat and promptly freed her.
"Go," he told her before turning back towards the direction of the Tenshukaku. The infamous Kujou Sara already had her bow raised and an arrow aimed at him, having been drawn here by the commotion.
"Xun–"
"Go," he told her, but not before reaching into the pocket of his sleeves and returning her that one firework note that's only used for customised fireworks. This recipe was created for him by her and he does not want her gift to be tainted by the strifes of the mortal world.
This cycle was his first time in Inazuma, but he had learnt enough from his past experiences to form his own conjectures about the current situation. His goal is to save Yoimiya, but simply bringing her out of here would not save her life because she would eventually be hunted down and be forced to live a life on the run. That is not a life he wished for her to live.
He understood that he would first need to understand and take into account the political and power structure of the Shogunate and the Tri-Commission in order to save the girl who became the light of his dreary life. He strongly believed that this execution was the work of the corrupted branch of the Tri-Commission, but he did not have the time nor evidence to prove it and honestly, it didn't really matter where this order came from, even if this order really came from the Shogunate directly.
Ultimately, there's one person who could supersede everything and every order in Inazuma, and he happens to know the method to be granted an audience with her where nobody could interrupt their conversation until a conclusion has been reached. To his knowledge, that's the only way in which he could save Yoimiya.
He held the katana that he wrestled from one of the samurais from earlier and calmly strode towards the Tenshukaku. Yoimiya ran after him and soldiers moved to obstruct him, but he dispatched them with incredible ease while keeping the girl safe under his free arm. He could see how shocked Yoimiya was, she never knew he was a skilled fighter, she never knew he had fought battles far beyond her worst imaginations because he never told her.
"Go," he told her, trying to commit the image of the girl's face to memory one last time. He looked up again and found that Kujou Sara's aim had never strayed from his head, yet she never fired her arrow. "You will… be fine."
"But you–"
He smiled and fondly ruffled her hair. He strained his wretched throat to convey his gratitude.
"Thank you, for everything. Things will… end soon."
He then calmly walked up the stairs that lead up to the Tenshukaku. The fact that Kujou Sara never once fired a single arrow was proof that she too, held some doubts about the Vision Hunt Decree and how it was implemented the moment Yoimiya's execution was publicly announced. Yet, her absolute loyalty to the Shogun also cannot allow her to simply turn a blind eye, which was why she allowed his acts of transgression as far as she did and in such a manner.
But she could not allow him to take another step further. This is where she has to draw the line.
"Halt. This is the Tenshukaku."
"I challenge the Shogun… to a duel before the throne."
His words struck everyone present like roaring thunder. Even Kujou Sara was shocked at what she heard. A duel before the throne is sacred, not just because it is a duel that will be held under the gaze of their Shogun, but also in its very nature of it being a deathmatch that would only allow one victor to walk out of it alive.
Most importantly, once the challenge is issued and accepted, it cannot be revoked, even if it's the Shogun herself. Such is the significance, sanctity and sacredness of a duel before the throne.
And this man… he issued a challenge… to the Shogun herself?
"Are you sure? This is your last chance. Turn around, and I will forget what you just said. As for the girl… I also believe that this outcome is also too harsh. I will try to plead for leniency from the Shogun –"
"She's… innocent… leave her out of this… don't hurt her… please," he told Sara before walking past her, which also indicated that he's firm in his decision to challenge the Almighty Shogun to a duel before the throne. He had to leave Yoimiya behind at the gates of the Tenshukaku, who was kicking and screaming as she desperately tried to reach him, but was firmly held back by the soldiers guarding the Tenshukaku under Sara's orders. Sara's unsaid promise to him to not hurt the girl until a conclusion can be reached was something which he was grateful to her for.
He was led into a room where the Shogun rested, a place where under ordinary circumstances, common folks like him would not be able to visit. The Almighty Shogun finally opened her eyes from where she sat on her throne after Sara respectfully excused herself, leaving the two sole occupants alone.
Finally, he could have his conversation with the Electro Archon, alone.
"You issued me a challenge to a duel before the throne."
"Spare the girl. She's… a victim of your flawed decisions… and interpretations of eternity."
"Oh?" The Shogun's interest was visibly piqued at his choice of words. "Flawed?"
"By the way, are you any good at making snacks? I'll trade the dango I made with you. Here, have the big ones!"
"Fireworks are not eternal, but I believe that the wonderful emotions behind them should walk alongside Inazuma into eternity."
"Eternity without transience… is like eating dango that's made without sweet glutinous rice flour. Bland, stale, tasteless… utterly horrible. You are the God of Eternity… yet you failed to comprehend… that eternity is the collection of countless moments... of the fleeting beauty of transience that made mortal life so worthy of living. You…"
He pointed his sword at the Electro Archon, the divine who had slain countless divines to earn her seat of power.
"... are tasteless."
Elemental energies burst forth from his body as he officially proclaimed the challenge he issued to her. Ei possess an unwavering will that he respected from the bottom of his heart – he vaguely recalled from his foreknowledge that she persevered in a never ending duel that lasted 500 years to put her faith to the test – but that trait could also backfire at times when it fell into the deep end of this spectrum, where having an unwavering will could make her an infuriatingly stubborn person.
Fortunately, he could tell that he had the archon's full and undivided attention with his speech and he knew that his words had the desired effect. He now knew that his words were heard, not just by the Shogun, but the divine being who dwelled within the puppet as well.
Just by that alone, he knew he succeeded. His original intention as to why he chose to meet the Shogun through a duel before the throne had been fulfilled. He knew that deep down the Electro Archon, the exalted Almighty Shogun is an archon who truly loved her people and that was exactly what he was gambling upon when he chose to issue her a challenge for a duel.
A duel before the throne is a sacred ceremony because it could not be revoked once the challenge is issued. He knew he would not be walking out of the Tenshukaku alive but he's content from the very moment he understood that his words finally reached the true archon instead of the puppet that ruled in her stead. Hopefully, this will be enough to save the cheery girl who pulled him out of his living hell.
"... You think your will is stronger than mine?" The Shogun ultimately asked in return as she slowly stood up from her seat and walked down the short flight of stairs to face him, her eyes gleaming in bright violet as the Eyes of Stormy Judgement began to lit up in a circle behind her back. He does not know how he knew, all he understood was that at that very moment he's not speaking to the Shogun, but the archon whom he wished his words could be conveyed to through this duel.
"Only one way… to find out," he told her in return, his throat suffering in excruciating pain every single time he uttered a word. "The girl believes that the beauty of eternity… lies in that fleeting moment of transience. My eternity… will always… be one of suffering… so I wish… to protect her eternity. No matter what it takes… even if it… reduces my body into dust and…"
The insolent yet brave human who dared to challenge her to a duel before the throne began to cough uncontrollably and she patiently waited in silence until his cough subsided.
"My throat… hurts. Can we… let our swords do the talking instead?"
– Tales of a Hundred Cycles, Vol VI
.
.
.
A huge blast of thunder tore through the roof of the Tenshukaku that day. The man was never seen walking out of Tenshukaku alive, nobody knew what happened to him within those walls but they all understood that there's only one outcome for challenging the Shogun to a duel before the throne.
Yoimiya's execution was never followed through as though the Shogunate had forgotten all about it. The Vision Hunt Decree was eventually revoked a week later, although the Sakoku Decree lasted for much longer before it was eventually removed.
There was also a huge shuffle among the top brass of the Tri-Commission shortly after that duel before the throne took place in the Tenshukaku. The Shogun decreed that those that dared perverted the execution of her will in her pursuit of eternity would be punished, and Kujou Sara led the investigations under the Shogun's orders. The results of the investigations implicated all branches of the Tri-Commission except for the Yashiro Commission who was proven to be loyal to the Shogun's cause and had in fact, fought to repeal the Vision Hunt Decree several times only to be repeatedly vetoed by the Tenryou and Kanjou Commissions.
Just two months after the duel before the throne, after the extensive investigation conducted by Kujou Sara was officially concluded and the case was closed, the corrupted officials were all publicly executed right at the very same spot where Yoimiya was once bound to until she was saved by the man who dared brave the lightning's glow. The crimes that they were executed for were corruption and deceit to their exalted archon and to the people of Inazuma.
It was several years later that more details finally got out through word of mouth by soldiers of the Shogunate, saying that Yoimiya's execution was never the Shogun's will. At worst, her actions then should only result in her vision getting seized under the Vision Hunt Decree. It was the then Tenryou Commission, whose corruption had seeped into its roots until Kujou Sara uprooted it in its entirety, who was the true culprit behind that tragic event that culminated in that duel. Yoimiya's planned execution was the Tenryou Commission's attempt to better control the people of Inazuma for their own nefarious means by making an example out of her, decreeing her public execution under the guise of pursuing the Shogun's ideal of eternity.
Fireworks continue to be lit at every Summer Festival and the Queen of Summer Festivals still puts on a joyful smile on her face. However, there would be a special customised firework that she would lit only once a year in the evening after the sun had set and she would brazenly do so at the front of the Tenshukaku, literally right in front of the huge gates. Such a blatant act of disregard was obviously a transgression of the law and of the Shogun's authority but strangely enough, the soldiers of the Shogunate were given explicit orders by the Shogun herself to let the girl have her way on this special day.
"You are the God of Eternity… yet you failed to comprehend… that eternity is the collection of countless moments... of the fleeting beauty of transience that made mortal life so worthy of living."
Ei would occasionally recall those words from the human with a scratchy voice who dared to challenge her to a duel before the throne. It was less of a challenge of martial skills but more of a challenge to her ideals of eternity, a challenge which till date, she's still unsure if she had truly won or had lost.
"Eternity without transience… is like eating dango that's made without sweet glutinous rice flour. Bland, stale, tasteless… utterly horrible."
The chefs of the Tenshukaku were visibly confused when she asked them to make a plate of dango without using sweet glutinous rice flour, but they respectfully completed her order and presented it to her on a plate all the same.
She took a bite of the dango within her Plane of Euthymia.
It tasted horrible.
AN: For those who didn't read the AN of chapter 1, before flamers start flaming their confusions in the reviews, the purpose of this chapter is a gentle reminder that not all cycles will be posted in chronological order. I will try to make obvious indications which cycle each chapter is narrating about at the very beginning of the individual chapters to avoid confusion, but you can also refer to the chapter title to know which cycle the chapter is narrating about. The excessive updates should also slow to a halt by the end of this week. After which, I have no idea when I will be updating this story again.
This is also by far my most favourite chapter in this story out of the bunch that I had written. It just hits different for me. I may be a simp for Ei and Furina, but I also really really love Yoimiya whose voicelines have this mystical ability to always cheer you up after hearing them. I obtained her in the game by accident but it was an accident that I was glad had happened.
We need more characters like Yoimiya, be it in fiction or in real life.