"...?"
Kokomi instinctively stopped as well and looked at the woman beside her. Her hands naturally folded together before her abdomen, while her eyes took on their habitual searching look.
"Kokomi... there's something..."
The Shogun began with a complicated expression.
"Mm? What is it?"
Kokomi answered softly, her tone gentle and patient.
"You two... Haa... How should I put this?"
Halfway through, the Shogun still found it difficult to say aloud. Talking about something like this felt embarrassing, even awkward, and it sounded strange no matter how she phrased it, leaving her conflicted for a moment.
"...Us?"
Kokomi tilted her head slightly.
"..."
The Shogun remained silent.
"What's wrong?"
Kokomi walked over, took her hand, and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"Haa... Let's sit down over there first."
She suggested.
"Mm, all right."
Kokomi nodded obediently and followed her over, sitting beside her on the steps beneath the torii gate.
"...Is this about Miss Kamisato?"
Kokomi guessed.
"It's about you and her."
The Shogun answered.
"..."
Hearing that, Kokomi had a vague idea of what this was about, but she was still not entirely certain and waited for the Shogun to continue.
"Ayaka told me before... that she... she likes me... in that way///"
Even saying that much made her blush. As expected, discussing this sort of thing aloud was simply embarrassing.
"Mm... And then?"
Kokomi showed no surprise and asked patiently.
"She said you do too..."
The woman's tone and expression both seemed somewhat unfamiliar with the subject, as though she had only just begun coming into contact with such things, leaving her visibly uneasy.
"Mm—then what else did she say?"
Kokomi asked curiously.
The Shogun then repeated everything Ayaka had said before. Throughout the retelling, her face remained adorably flushed. She was embarrassed and awkward, yet still forced herself to recount it all, while Kokomi watched her the entire time with a calm, indulgent expression, occasionally nodding lightly.
"—That's what she said. Something about... the two of you sharing me... Isn't that strange?"
The Shogun asked.
"...Do you think it's strange? Then... do our feelings make you uncomfortable?"
Kokomi nodded before asking.
"...What?"
The Shogun froze.
"Do our feelings for you make you uncomfortable?"
"I... don't know. But right now, I don't feel uncomfortable about it. If I truly disliked it, then we probably wouldn't even be talking like this, would we? I would've distanced myself from you, and I wouldn't have agreed to team up with you either, right?"
Although she did not understand it clearly, the choices of her heart would not lie. She knew that she did not dislike it. If anything, she actually felt an additional sense of intimacy with Kokomi.
"I see... As long as you don't dislike it, that's enough. If you feel our feelings are placing a burden on you, you can tell us at any time."
Kokomi visibly relaxed.
"No, I'm not worried about my own burden. I'm talking about you two. Are you really all right with this?"
She looked again at the girl sitting beside her.
"Mm? Us?"
This time it was Kokomi's turn to be confused.
"Both of you are placing all your feelings on me..."
"Why can't we? You're our god... Naturally, we would both look toward you."
Kokomi countered.
"That's not what I mean... I'm saying... Haa..."
She sighed, unsure how to explain what she meant, and simply stopped speaking.
"I understand what you mean. Just as Miss Kamisato said, you are the noble Raiden Shogun. Naturally, someone like you will receive people's love and admiration. So why can't Miss Kamisato and I fall in love with you as well? Even if it's together? Even if we... share this precious 'love' between us?"
Kokomi raised a hand to stroke her cheek, tilting her head slightly as she smiled at her with tenderness.
"Do you two understand what doing this means?"
The Shogun's brows instinctively furrowed as she turned toward Kokomi and asked with unusual seriousness.
"...? I don't know. Please tell me directly."
Kokomi slowly shook her head, gazing into her eyes as she answered gently.
"This body is a puppet. It is the creation of a god, and also a divine body. This body is different from that of an ordinary person."
The Shogun emphasized her point with this example.
"...We both know that. But... what does that change?"
Kokomi looked somewhat confused as to what she was trying to say.
"W-What do you mean, 'what does that change'...? Don't you understand yet?"
She sighed helplessly.
"..."
Kokomi silently shook her head.
"Forget it. I'll say it plainly. This body is nearly five hundred years old now, and that number will only continue to grow. Six hundred, seven hundred, even over a thousand... But what about you?"
"...!"
Kokomi's eyes shifted. She was not surprised by their difference in age. Rather, it was the Shogun herself who startled her. Had she already begun thinking so far into the future?
"You're only human... You have lifespans of barely a hundred years. To a long-lived being, a century passes in the blink of an eye. Do you understand what I mean?"
This time, she directly placed both hands on Kokomi's shoulders.
"...You've already begun thinking about things like this? Do you usually think about them in your heart as well?"
"I—"
Whoosh~
Before the Shogun could argue, Kokomi pulled her directly into her arms and pressed her face against her chest.
"Mmph~"
The Shogun gave a muffled hum. She struggled slightly for only a moment before going still, quietly breathing in the long-missed fragrance unique to this girl.
"Don't think like that anymore, Shogun-sama. Please, don't think about these things. They won't happen anytime soon, but thinking about them now will only bring you endless sorrow and pain. So please don't think about things like this anymore, all right?"
Kokomi stroked her hair and brought her lips close to her ear, whispering softly.
"..."
The person in her arms remained silent.
"Shogun-sama, if you keep thinking this way, you'll only make yourself suffer. So... promise me that you won't think about these things anymore."
It was rare for Kokomi to speak to her in such an admonishing tone.
These words should really have been spoken to the Shogun by Lady Ei, but for now, Kokomi would say them first.
"But... by then, you two will..."
The woman in her arms seemed to stubbornly tighten her grip on Kokomi's clothing, her voice trembling slightly.
"No. You don't need to worry. A hundred years may truly pass in the blink of an eye to you, but to us, it's an incredibly long time. So... don't worry, Shogun-sama. We'll walk forward together with you."
Besides, there was one very important thing Kokomi had never told the Shogun, something concerning her own origins. Namely... she was not human, nor could her lifespan be measured according to that of ordinary humans. Mm, for now, that was all that could be said.
Elsewhere, while Kokomi held the Shogun in her arms, Ayaka stood beneath a tree behind a flowerbed opposite them, resting her folding fan beneath her chin as she listened to their conversation... Although their voices were quiet, the forest itself was so tranquil that she could hear everything clearly.
"...Well said, Miss Sangonomiya."
She smiled faintly.
"Beneath the barrier of Eternity, Shogun-sama's heart is actually very fragile... We need to protect that sincere 'heart' of hers."
It seemed she had been right to trust Kokomi... Come to think of it, she truly wanted to play a game of chess with her sometime.
"Ayaka, there was nothing down that fork either. Just a few baskets of potatoes."
Yoimiya returned from the branching path and reported what she had found.
"Mm, thank you, Miss Yoimiya... Let's search the other side."
"Got it~"
The two of them left the area.
"...?"
Kokomi raised her eyes and glanced toward a distant corner, narrowing them slightly before lowering her gaze again to the Shogun, whose breathing had already evened out in her arms, and smiling indulgently.
"Are we still going to search?"
The Shogun asked in a muffled voice against her chest.
"Mm—whatever you want... If you want to search, we can. If you don't, that's fine too. I'm not particularly interested in the prize."
Kokomi answered.
"Then let's keep looking?"
"Of course."
Kokomi released her and stood up from the steps. The Shogun rose as well and looked at the branching paths before them. Trusting their shared intuition, the two casually chose one and headed down it.
Come into my arms, Shogun-sama.jpg