Cold Steel - Inazuma Gaiden

XXIV: The Children of Dawn

The cold winter winds still blew ever strong even as a new dawn broke on the nation of thunder and lightning. Solid ice and powders of snow continued to pepper the slightly ajar screen door of the abandoned building, currently occupied by two guests from the mainland. Formerly warm hearth turned cold after the lit fire extinguished itself just a few hours before daybreak from the lack of additional fuel to keep the cinders burning.

Steel and amber eyes calmly observed the small gap between the broken screen door and the outside world, noting the faint, pale light of morning bleed through the arguably inadequate protection against the elements. If Kamisato Ayaka had to guess, the sun was yet to rise, given the bluish hue the illumination that entered the house had. For the time being, she only had the sounds of both the weather and lacquered wood being slid in-between the folds of Inazuman fabric to entertain her, courtesy of her companion quietly fastening his blades back to his obi and his back respectively.

Merely two weeks ago, the lady of Clan Kamisato would've been asleep at this hour, and especially at this unfriendly weather, though being the acting head of the Yashiro Commission in her brother's absence, and the fact that she'd lived her entire life within the warm and safe confines of the Kamisato Estate, Ayaka was more than acquainted with the daily schedule and routines of not only herself, but also of those serving under their banner. For example, she knew that duties at the manor wouldn't usually begin until at least half-an-hour later, where the staff - and most particularly, Thoma - would start their morning duties by either waking up the rest of the in-house employees to prepare for the changing shifts. Starting from the guards, then to the rest of the estate's housekeepers.

Being a woman of an important position and duty in her clan, the Cryomancer regulated her very being to follow especially strict timetables. She'd always remember that, no matter how drained or tired she was the night before, she will still wake up before the first rays of the sun touch the highest peak of Mount Yougou. Following a simple and quick breakfast, her eyes would meet nothing but the uninteresting walls of her abode's main chambers for the rest of the day, presenting her own smile with no teeth as she mingled with both fellow nobles and the local commoners alike.

Whether it's discussing further plans to remedy the problems within the borders of the mainland, discussing plans for ongoing and/or future festivals, she would always be regal, composed, pragmatic - holding both of her mind and her tongue, concealing her own innermost curiosity and desires to follow her heart, even as opportunities to form new friendships with other people of her age presented itself, and brushing off even the most unexciting or nastiest notions with an ever-present polite and kind smile on her face.

That's how she dealt with things after she was prematurely made the clan lady following Kamisato Kayo's untimely passing, that's how she dealt with things after the first batches of conflict started during the Civil War, that's how she dealt with things after Inazuma entered a period of fragile peace, and that's how she would deal with things for many years to come, just like her mother and older brother who took up the responsibilities of managing the clan before her own coming of age. That's how she would deal with things until she too expires in the coming future.

At least, that's what she used think.

In truth, after discovering the diary of Tsubaki, absorbing herself with the entries left behind by her late mother, it turned her worldview inside-out, upside-down. While she had no problems in admitting her own servitude for the nation she's born and raised on, she still had her own yearnings to discover new horizons, to break free from the bondage placed upon her simply by the name she carried.

She felt like a blasphemer for even manifesting such thoughts. But it was something that she couldn't deny.

Kamisato Ayaka internally wished to be like Tsubaki. A carefree woman who had strong longing for a life beyond the cage and the burdens of social expectations, a woman who took interest in both the culinary and fashion world of the nation, a woman who could easily gossip about the latest, passing trend with no care in the world. She wished to become a woman that her mother tragically failed to be, for the former lady's sake, as well as her own.