The Day of Thunder

Following the choosing of the Thunders, Sora had returned to the headwoman's house... mostly to get a moment to re-compose himself.

Because his eye, that FUCKING eye, had been doing the same thing it had done with the Kami all those years ago, every time he looked at a Thunder.

He'd been able to keep a straight face, but for a just one moment, inside the doorway, he closed it, and let his breath hiss out between his teeth.

FUCK.

Even as the sun went down in the evening… a light grew brighter from under the door.

There was a gentle knocking…

And a shining princess waiting on the other side of the door.

Sora opened the door.

And cocked his head to the side.

"Done something new with your hair, Kumori-chan?"

“It looks like my grandmother did.” She said with a soft smile.

“Can I come in?”

"Of course."

He shook his head.

"Had some harsh words for your Granny five years back. Glad she doesn't seem to be holding them against me."

“You’d be covered from head to toe if everyone held your harsh words against you.” She said with a smile.

“So… they’ve been picked…” She said to draw out the old man’s thought.

"A couple of surprises, but mostly in the form of people I didn't know. And based on the vision I got to share with everyone at the party..."

He shrugged.

"The future is in flux, but you don't need to be as smart as you are to know that. That's what this whole business has been leading up to. I hope Matsu and Ai can cooperate. I hope Zhe and Kenji can cooperate. I hope they get it done."

A pause.

"I hope we don't lose anyone else we care about, but that's the hope I find the hardest to hold onto. And of course, the rest of us will have our own job to do..."

She nodded solemnly at the last of his remarks.

“It hasn’t been easy thus far and it is sure to be worse tomorrow… You’ve done better than anyone could expect. We’ll be unified… even if they all resisted it kicking and screaming the whole way there.”

She paused and let out a long breath.

“It’s been quite some time that I’ve let others put themselves into danger for me without standing next to them… I have three cousins… and a man I care for deeply now doing that…”

She let out another breath.

"I'd tell you it gets easier to bear, but I'm a shit liar, and we both know it. So."

He gave her a sardonic grin.

"Just tell yourself that they're doing it for everyone, not for you, it'll make the gnawing worry feel less egotistical."

She nodded, “I get that it’s not for me specifically… But I am one of ‘us’. That’s always been the case… fancy name… or shininess… or not.”

She paused.

“I’ve accepted that its not my fate… that I have other things to do… But just barely.”

She offered a smirk.

"Well. I told Norikage, I'll be picking up his slack while he's in there, so... do me a solid?"

He adopted a rasping stage whisper.

"Try not to get killed, I'd hate for him to come back and find out I'd screwed up!"

She nodded somewhat timidly.

She had to be strong around everyone else… but with Sora she could open herself up…

“I don’t like this part…” She said softly.

“I’ve always said… ‘No promises… Let’s keep it simple…’ But freedom only helps you say goodbye.”

She swallowed once.

“I don’t want to say goodbye… I want him to come back… But I… know the risk and know what it most likely will cost.”

He took a ragged breath, then nodded.

"You want my advice? Tell him. Tell him everything, every fucked up, incoherent, lame word your heart feeds you. Because you'll regret it forever if you don't let him know. Besides... when we were running out the pit with Hisomu, it wasn't fear, it wasn't duty, it wasn't honor that made us dig in and outrun that monster and make it home. It was love. Hantei, White Moonrise, Seppun Dawei, Old Man Yamadono, me... we all ran toward the people we loved."

Kumori’s lips tightened and squirmed slightly as he finished speaking.

Her eyes went to the floor as she tightened a gulp in her throat…

And then a quick nod… as a tear escaped the corner of her eye and ran down her face.

For his part, Sora didn't say anything. And gave her a hug.

She returned the hug firmly… the warmth of Lady Amaterasu’s blessing and Kumori’s own love for Sora seeping out from her and into him.

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