Cold Steel - Inazuma Gaiden

VIII: Wintry Songbirds and Where to Find Them

Her older brother would not be coming home after all.

Ayaka stared solemnly and rather longingly at her empty courtyard, her icy-blue steel eyes tracking the falling snow that entered her vision, but her mind in particular was just blank and empty. She was zoning out, again. And to think that the Frostflake Heron used to hold herself to a higher standard than being so... emotionally vulnerable.

She knew that it was purely due to security reasons that Ayato had to be relocated away from the manor to an unknown location, unknown even to his own sister. Now that the agents of the Tsaritsa, the Fatui were already on the mainland and having possessions of their plans and other important documents pertaining names and locations of important individuals, he'd decided that he would go into hiding and keep working from the darkness, behind the scenes - such as commanding the Shuumatsuban and managing the clan's resources as well as redirecting the few able-bodied fighters and agents they had to continue scouring Narukami and the smaller islands surrounding it for Fatui activity.

He even directed her to do the same - to abandon the Kamisato Estate and follow him into the shadows for the time being. The Yashiro Commission's Headquarters was a static, incredibly large, and incredibly prime target - and as the thief had proven a few nights before, its security could be rather easily breached - even by just a single man. She shuddered to think if multiple highly trained Fatui agents with their fabled powers of the Delusion started laying siege to the lightly-guarded headquarters.

At the moment she was yet to give her brother an answer. Should she come to a final decision, she could just easily call in one of the clan's agents from the Shuumatsuban to relay her message to clan head of the Kamisato, and she would be escorted off-site to join her brother.

Ayaka was faced with a dilemma. She knew that the situation was incredibly dire, and the nation was practically already under an indirect invasion, but at the same time her options to do something about it was limited. She could not just submit a report to the Shogunate, as an investigation could take too much time and also potentially expose the clans for planning what was essentially a revolt.

Even employing private investigators like the Bantan Sango Agency could prove disadvantageous as they simply did not have much proof to go on, and there was no way a few detectives would be able to touch a case that involves foreign military presence in Inazuma, especially with their own few resources. Explaining their current situation to any sane individual would just lead them back to conversing with the government.

At the same time, she really couldn't wrap her head around the idea of her leaving her station, the Kamisato Estate. It was more than just a Headquarters, it was her family's home for generations, leaving it behind to seek personal safety would just leave a bad taste in her mouth. Not that she got anything against her brother, in fact, the Shirasagi Himegimi was more than relieved that her brother understood the gravity of the situation as well as his responsibilities as the Clan head and sought safety and act through proxies in the shadow.

Ayaka was far cry from having an ingenious mind like her brother anyway. Despite her status, she felt like all that she'd been offering to the people was... simply her kindness and sympathy. And she knew that kindness and sympathy would not be able to correct the predicament they were in, especially considering their enemies would not share the same feelings towards them in return. She was no tactical leader, no brilliant strategist.

She was just a confused young woman, not knowing what to do. She felt the irony, despite the situation and the clan demanding her to act as their beacon, a pillar, a paragon of strength and resilience as they sailed over to regions and future unknown - she instead wanted nothing to do with them. She wanted to explore the Inazuman winter instead, go on a pilgrimage and climb up the treacherous steps up the Grand Narukami Shrine to celebrate the year's end with her friends and family, maybe also invite the Traveler to also go with her.