𝒮𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒾𝓉𝑒𝒶

❥𝙲𝙷𝙰𝙿𝚃𝙴𝚁 𝙵𝙸𝙵𝚃𝚈-𝙾𝙽𝙴

Thirty hours had passed from the exact time that the battle plan had been decided. Kokomi and Gorou were frantically rushing around in preparation while soldiers got some last minute practice in.

The shriek of arrows flying through the air and the screeching of the strings of bows being pulled back to ready a shot echoed throughout the grounds, but still, Gorou thought it was too quiet.

Something was missing.

He couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, but he shook his head as he corrected the stance of the soldier beside him and his finger placement on the bow.

Meanwhile (Y/N), with a sack of stolen rations slung over their shoulder, whistled as they walked back towards the city since there was nothing else to see in the Watatsumi area. It wasn't like they were going to assist in the battle either— that was not their intentions and not their problem, but they did already help give advice on what to do and now they would continue their traveling.

Letting the knotted sack fall off from their shoulder, (Y/N) grabbed it before it could hit the ground and cupped their hands so the cloth fit snug within their hold. Maneuvering it so that they were able to hold it with only one hand, they moved their other one to fiddle with the knot and untie it as they continued walking.

When the knot finally came undone, they looked inside and shoved their hand in before moving some items around, grabbing the snack that looked most appetizing to them at the moment. They pulled it out before beginning to eat it while leaving the cloth open since their hands were full.

"Have you heard about what happened at the 100'th vision confiscation ceremony?" A voice questioned, slightly muffled from the distance they were from (Y/N), though they were able to hear what was said when they strained their ears.

(Y/N) stopped walking and looked over towards where they heard the voices to see two women sitting side by side on a bench a little outside the city. They hadn't planned on going in the city and just around it, so running into them was a stroke of luck since they wanted to know as much as the other lady did.

The lady leaned forward to listen to her friend, curious to hear some development while (Y/N) placed their bag on the ground and got closer, hiding their frame within the shrubbery around.

"No, I was out of the area at the time. Why did something go wrong?" She asked with a glint of interest in her eyes, a sparkle that showed nothing but her enjoying the mischief people were causing lately.

The woman with the news nodded her head, a similar sense of curiosity in her as she spread the information since she didn't have all the details and wanted to know more as well.

"Yeah, this blonde foreigner stood up against the Shogunate and took the vision she was taking from Thoma."

As if the name were familiar, the second woman gasped as both of her hands shot up to cover the lower half of her face.

Speaking behind her hand, she quickly asked,

"Thoma?! Oh my-- tell me he's okay."

To ease her worries, the woman's reply was instantaneous without missing a beat in between breaths.

"He is. Despite all odds, they both managed to escape. They got away with not only disrupting the ceremony but even attacking the Raiden Shogun. That's a whole death penalty, it's insane."

The woman beside her who had a hand over her mouth and (Y/N), who was still hiding in the bush, despite the latter not knowing who the hell Thoma is, let out simultaneous breaths of relief.

The second woman however couldn't help but retain her worry.

There were no doubt bounties on his and the foreigner's heads now, and that's not something so easy to avoid. There was no doubt the next time they ran into the Raiden Shogun, their heads would be rolling on the ground with a leakage of blood following.

Nevertheless, the defiant news excited her as she was a fanatic of all things rebellious in this nation. She could tell you everything you needed to know about the rise of the Sangonomiya rebellion to the recent prison perpetrator event.

"I feel this is only another step towards the advancement of rebellion in this nation. This is news worth celebrating, I'm beginning to gain faith that things will change for the better soon enough."

They both began to relax, no longer sitting at the edge of their seats as they leaned back and took in the tranquil and comfortable weather.

"We all are, but we shouldn't let our guards down either. Could have been a fluke for all we know." The first woman said with a shrug, and seeing that was the end of that conversation, (Y/N) figured that was enough eavesdropping.

(Y/N) was too engrossed in the conversation, they hadn't even realized the bag that they placed down that held all the rations they stole were eaten by the local seagulls.

The birds squawked in delight, loud and obnoxiously in thanks for the meal, but when (Y/N) turned to finally look in their direction, they could only sense murderous intent.

Before the birds could feel their wrath, they flew away in frightened squeals, flapping their wings harshly all at once making loud fluttering noises and small gusts of wind explode around them.