“That is not the way you should hold a spear!”
“How are you going to carry out the Shogun’s will like this?!”
“We apologize, General Kujou Sara!”
These grunts and roars of the Tenryou Commission’s army are constantly heard all across Inazuma City on a regular basis, so much so that citizens who have never seen or met the leader of that army, the daughter of the Kujou Clan, are already aware of 3 things about her:
Her martial power, her devotion to the Raiden Shogun, and the strict expectations she holds herself and her soldiers to. Most find that these 3 things are all that’s worth to know about Sara, herself included.
She is nothing but a weapon, and she is more than happy to be used as one all for the sake of Inazuma’s greatest ruler.
It was the middle of a calm and peaceful afternoon in the training grounds of the Tenryou Commission, where once again, Sara observed her hardworking soldiers with great focus, throwing in stern but helpful comments of feedback and advice.
One would think that her soldiers would constantly be scared shitless due to her demanding and aggressive presence, but with that fierceness, there comes a strong dependability that can make anyone instantly trust her with their life while on the battlefield. They are aware that she is the reason why Inazuma’s military is thriving the way it is now, and they respect her and rejoice because of it.
Amidst the clanging of spears and swords, of bows hitting the very centers of targets, of patriotic yells echoed throughout, there were tiny and odd footsteps approaching. Just anyone wouldn’t have noticed these close-to-silent sounds, but Sara isn’t just anyone.
She brushed it off as a bird settling in on a tree or some child passing by, but those steps were getting louder and louder, and Sara grew all the more cautious. Almost everyone in the nation knew not to disturb the routine practices of Inazuma’s army. Just who would dare disturb them if not an intruder? Most of the guards who would usually patrol the perimeter are stationed somewhere else as well, so it was up to Sara to investigate this. She pulled out her bow and arrow and her senses led her to the entrance of the Tenryou Commission.
Sara instantly looked down in alert and instinctively prepared to fire.
Sara had to process what she just heard.
There Ushi was, standing on all fours, staring at her with that blank look on his face.
It was the pet of that damned Crimson Oni.
Sara sneered and relaxed as her bow and arrow dissipated into the air, but before that relief could even fully settle, she realized the sight in front of her. She felt her eyebrow twitching and face reddening from gradual anger.
At last, something other than grunts and roars were echoed from the Tenryou Commission all across Inazuma City, but no one should be surprised that the difference would turn out to be Arataki Itto, the very Crimson Oni that Sara despised.
Maybe their rivalry is the 4th thing people take note of when it comes to Sara.
Describing Itto as a troublemaker is a grave understatement; he is a child trapped in an Oni’s body.
Onis are already generalized to be rowdy and loud, and Itto was that but on steroids. From playing tricks on small children by engaging in beetle-wrestling, to wreaking havoc because of the simplest and easiest jobs, and even throwing a trashy festival without the approval of the Yashiro Commission, Arataki Itto has done it all.
With Sara being an integral part of the Police Station in Inazuma, she has had to arrest him on multiple occasions for the pettiest of reasons.
“Look! Kujou Tengu keeps on visiting me; is my charm too much for even her to resist?” Itto exclaimed and laughed mockingly to his gang that one day where they had nearly destroyed a playground from trying to play on the swing sets. Don’t ask, not even they knew how it happened.
“The only thing that you draw towards yourself are jail cells. Get in these handcuffs, Crimson Oni.” Sara could barely hold herself back at the sight of the expensive slide split into two halves, let alone at his preposterous words.
“Oh, c’mon. You stole my Vision! What else more do you want?”
“The confiscation of your Vision was due to the guidelines of the Vision Hunt Decree issued by the Raiden Shogun. Did you think your desire to keep your Vision would outshine her desire to abolish it? And I no longer see the problem when that Decree is now repealed and your Vision has already been returned to you!”
“Okay, you know what, talk to me when your boner for the deity calms down. Besides, I had to get my Vision for myself! And it was at the bottom of that statue! It should have been right at the very top in between her eyes so everyone could witness my awesomeness! And after all the heartache you put me through, the least you could’ve done was kneel before me and hand over my Vision on a silver platter!”
“I would rather spend the rest of my days on Seirai Island getting zapped by Electro Specters than ever kneel before you!”
At that point, the two of them had their foreheads pressed together, steam practically blowing out from their ears in rage. The Arataki Gang behind Itto and Sara’s subordinates from the Police Station wanted to scratch their heads in incredulousness.
That frustrating interaction was just one out of the many they have had.
Now, there looks like there is to be another one now that his pet bull seems to be lost.
Sara sighed and briefly considered just plopping Ushi down in the middle of nowhere. After all, Itto losing his valuables isn’t her problem.
But her euphoric thought was cut short when one of her attendants approached, peering down curiously at Ushi.
All it took was a glance from Ushi for the attendant to immediately fawn over him.
“My Archons, Madam Kujou Sara! Is this strange creature your pet?” They awed over him and frantically tried to search for their Kamera to take a photo.
Ushi seemed to sense this and after a moment of thinking, posed.
Sara scoffed at the sight. “Go and tell my soldiers that training ends early today. There seems to be an inconvenience now…”
The staff member seemed to have been reminded of Sara’s burning stare, and insantly bowed. “Yes, Madam Kujou Sara!”
They scrambled back to their post leaving Sara and Ushi alone again.
“Why are you here?” Sara exasperatedly asked as she crossed her arms.
“Moo.” Ushi said in response.
“Why am I talking to a bull…” She muttered.
“…Okay then, where is your dreadful owner?”
“Stop mooing as if I can understand you!”
“This is getting nowhere... You’re lucky you’re cute...”
“What, I can’t find animals cute?”
Sara giggled at her ridiculous banter with Ushi and his tail swished joyfully along with her laughter. Wait, what?
She stopped herself. Ushi stopped himself as well.
It’d been a long time since she genuinely let out a laugh. Why is a strange creature the cause of it?
Sara shook her head and composed herself. “No matter. Come with me until Itto storms into the Commission. Oh, what fun it’ll be…”
At her drained expression, Ushi mooed some more, and that was enough for her to smile a bit more again. She could have sent him to the Police Station and not even have to encounter Itto, but she somehow found Ushi to be a comfortable presence.
It was convenient that the head of the Tenryou Commission, Sara’s father, was absent today. Things had been tense between the two of them ever since Sara had discovered his dealings with the Fatui, but her father trained her to be a warrior, not to play around with small animals. Sara almost never struck away from his ideals because they forged into her own, but in rare times like these, she asked herself, what’s the harm in spending more time with this cute Ushi?
But as Sara and Ushi were heading inside the Commission, large stomps shaking the ground underneath them interrupted them. Sara sighed; it did not take much of a genius to figure out who in the world that was.
Ushi turned around as he had recognized the noise, and scurried to hide himself in a nearby bush. Sara raised an eyebrow, why would-
Arataki Itto roared out into the sky. His bold eyebrows were furrowed, his face was red from anger, and his red eyes ablaze with justice. Even Sara had never seen such a crazed outburst arise from him before.
"You can arrest me and my besties all you want, you can beat me in fights all the time, and you can even take my onikabutos, but you DO NOT steal my Ushi!" Itto cried out.
"It should be 'my besties and I' instead of 'me and my besties,' you idiot Crimson Oni. Learn proper grammar before you trespass into my abode!"
"I don't care about grammar! All I care about is my Ushi!" Itto's voice cracked a bit, and Sara paused at this. That was when she realized that there were tear tracks on Itto's cheeks. This dumbass was really crying over losing his pet when his pet was right near him?
"And why would you assume I have him?" Sara asked, keeping in mind that Ushi was hiding himself for a reason that was not known to her, but Sara respected him enough to keep a secret.
"Why wouldn't you have him?! I wouldn't put it past you to steal my baby!"
"You are absolutely hilarious to think that I would ever waste my precious time in trying to bother you! Go retrieve Detective Heizou to solve your petty problems, and besides, it seems you're the one at fault for not keeping an eye on him!"
Itto gasped, "How dare you! I had to respect Ushi's space because he was angry at me! And then I noticed he was gone too long..."
Ah, so that’s the reason.
Sara scoffed, “I wouldn’t push it past you to anger even a small animal with your-“
Now it was Sara’s turn to gasp. Itto had grabbed her hands and grasped them tightly in his own. She looked up in panic and saw the desperation in his expression, but she couldn’t stop focusing on how warm and big his hands felt on hers.
Sara’s hands were calloused and hardened from countless training sessions and battles, and in the back of her mind, she always thought it was slightly upsetting how it could never go back to how delicate and soft they previously were.
But the feeling Itto was giving her, with his hands enveloping hers and almost swallowing them whole, it made her feel so small and fragile. It’d been a while since anyone had ever held her hands so firmly... yet gently...
Wait, was the idiot Crimson Oni being careful with her?
Her face reddened, not from her usual anger, but from embarrassment. She didn't like this blooming feeling in her stomach; it was feeling warm just like how her hands were.
She wanted to pull away, but he wasn’t budging at all.
“W-What are you doing, you idiot Crimson Oni.” She managed to mutter out, too speechless of the situation.
And of course, Itto was oblivious to it all and sobbed, too caught up in losing Ushi. “Please Kujou Tengu! You’re the only one who can help me find him!”
“But I literally said retrieve Detective Hei-“
"My Archons, he's in the bushes!"
Itto instantly let go of Sara's hands and dived himself into the countless bushes surrounding the Commission. Sara could've told him at least which bush Ushi was hiding in, but she remained distracted and overwhelmed by the lingering feeling of their contact. She didn't like how unfamiliar it felt, but she didn't want it to subside at all.
But alas, Sara's exasperation overtook her flattery.
She looked over with a grimace at Itto's excited expression. He was swinging his ass back and forth with Ushi in his arms, singing a victory song. Looks like he finally found him.
"Oh, Ushi! I promise to never make you angry again!" Itto nuzzled his cheek into Ushi's, savoring the feeling of finding his best friend again.
Ushi may have been upset before, but he couldn’t help but relish in this feeling as well.
Sara sighed at the touching show of affection and crossed her arms, “Ushi waddled his way here and I happened to see him. I never stole him at all. In fact, you should be glad it wasn’t another Tenryou Commission official, someone who would’ve gladly kicked him all the way to Mondstadt. He hid in the bushes all on his own, and I just happened to understand his decision of wanting to avoid someone like you.”
Itto looked over at Ushi, “Is that true?”
Itto scoffed and muttered while looking away, “You still can’t get me to do it…”
Ushi shot him a glance, “Moo!”
Sara raised an eyebrow, intrigued at how Itto could even understand Ushi in the first place let alone bicker with him. "What the hell kind of argument did the two of you have to even warrant this kind of foolish behavior?"
Itto let out a nervous chuckle at her question and Ushi rolled his eyes.
"Oh, Kujou Tengu, you wouldn't get it at all! Anyways, thanks for finding my Beefcake. Maybe you aren't such a panini." Itto laughed, quickly changing the subject.
"What the hell is a panini?"
"You're such a panini for not knowing what a panini is."
Ignoring Itto, Sara looked over to Ushi.
"Well, I'll see you later, dear Ushi." She waved her hand goodbye and smiled at him, "I didn't think any of Itto's companions other than Kuki Shinobu were actually competent."
Sara was fully expecting a remark back from Itto, but when she looked up at him, all she saw was a surprised yet blushed look on his face.
He looked... different... but in a good way...
Wait, her face is heating up?
She immediately turned away and headed the other direction into her home. His burning stare added onto her realization that her attendants who were in close proximity possibly witnessed their whole scene... Curse that stupid Oni!
She heard him and Ushi walking back into Inazuma City, and once she had make it inside the Commission's doors and into her room, she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding.
Sara wasn't an idiot, she was aware all of the symptoms she was experiencing were signs of affection and attraction, and she didn't hate it no matter how foreign it felt, but she hated how it had to be him.
She hates how it has to be Arataki Itto who addresses her as other than Kujou Sara, daughter of the head of the Tenryou Commission, Kujou Sara, the strongest weapon in Inazuma's army, Kujou Sara, the most loyal follower of the Raiden Shogun, those 3 things anyone ever knows her for.
Sometimes, it felt so good to be called Kujou Tengu by that damn Crimson Oni.
Unconsciously, Sara brought out her wings. It'd been a while since she felt them, let alone see them. It felt nice to stretch them across her back and admire the shiny black feathers she adorned. A reminder like this, a reminder that she was not a human but a Tengu, felt relieving and oddly validating. If this was another day, she may have been upset because of her inability to properly fit into human society, but at the moment, her feathers seemed beautiful to her, and she cherished them with all of her heart.
Curse that Oni for making her feel this way.
"I still don't know how you could ever escape from my loving arms and walk into Kujou Tengu's rat nest." Itto sighed, laying on a patch of grass with Ushi by his side.
They were in Chinju Forest after Itto retrieved Ushi back from Sara, admiring the fireflies lighting up the sky and the vibrant sakura blooms littered all over the ground.
"Was that really your way of matchmaking me with her? You failed." Itto huffed.
"You're right... She did smile and say my name for once... Who knew she could sound so sweet?" Itto giggled like a schoolgirl.
"You didn't have to get mad at me though for refusing to ask her out. Do you know how stone cold she is? She would never like an Oni like me..."
"I know that for sure! You may be an all-powerful exorcist, but don't doubt Arataki Numero Itto!"
Ushi shook his head in disbelief. If he was so sure he was the best out of everyone, why was he so insecure when it came to Sara?
He was sick of the back and forth between the two of them, and he could very well tell that even with all the fights they had, they had always craved something more with each other. Too bad they were so far stuck up their own asses to even realize that, but no matter, Ushi supposes that all of his efforts will be worth it in the end.
"Hey, what are you thinking about in that little head of yours, Beefcake?" Itto peered down when he noticed that Ushi was silent for too long.
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