I finished Kagero and Orochi's support stories and I can totally see why people ship them so much!! They have so much chemistry too 🥺💞
Because I'm a multishipper and enjoy bisexual dilemmas, here are some thoughts for my personal Fates timeline.
Kaze, Orochi, Saizo and Kagero grew up together and spent a lot of time hanging out as kids since their families served the royal family. Despite them all being very close friends, there was an obvious stronger connection between Kagero and Orochi. When Kagero was training, Orochi would be there for moral support - when Orochi was gathering herbs, Kagero would be there to serve as an extra pair of hands. The diviner in training was the extrovert who adopted the weird emo introvert as her bestie, and everything was great when life was simple.
However, as time goes on, the priorities of adulthood started taking more and more of their free time. Because Ryoma was present in most battalions sent out to try and rescue Corrin, Kagero had to be there for him as his loyal retainer. Not only that, but she also had her duties to train new army recruits as to not leave them at Saizo's mercy, who never cut them any slack. They started to grow apart, the once best friends who spent almost every day of their childhoods together were now lucky if they could find the time to have lunch in the same hall.
Kagero was in love with Orochi way before she even knew what love was. The admiration she felt for her was way more than as a best friend - the way she yearned for her when she was gone, or reminisced their younger days playing at the brook when in need of comfort. It will be unsurprising to note that Kagero has always been notoriously bad when it came to expressing her feelings. Since young, she's always had a natural predisposition for secrecy, and the ninja training only further solidified her firm belief that her life was pointless and expendable. Her sole purpose was to protect Lord Ryoma and the royal family, Kagero was never allowed the luxury of choice and was perfectly comfortable in this timeline, or so she would say if someone asked her.
Growing up in a heteronormative family and culture made her place great importance in passing down her heritage. Her family needed to continue their tradition, so she ignored these feelings for many years. No matter how much she wanted to kiss Orochi, they were never meant to be. No matter how much she craved her touch, those arms were not hers to hold. Even though they've always been physically affectionate with each other growing up, there was always that longing for something more that sometimes nagged at the back of Kagero's mind, only for her to neutralize those thoughts as if pulling out a weed.
Orochi felt similarly towards her, although not as intense. Any thoughts she had about trying anything other than her typical playful flirting had her panic at the possibility of her not reciprocating. Deep down she knew Kagero felt the same way towards her as far as friendship goes, but the larger their distance grew, the more romance became an afterthought. The fact Kagero wasn't good at demonstrating her feelings had Orochi caught on a spiral where she was deeply insecure about change. What if she soiled the best thing she's ever had, what if things became irreversibly awkward? The possibility frightened her too much and there was no happy prediction that could give her enough courage to try altering fate.
Then, Corrin was rescued, and they all started to spend time together again at the camp. Orochi grew closer to Kaze, and in their playful banters and silly little games, they fell in love. It was the perfect turn of events - they looked like they were made for each other, birds of a feather with a kind of chemistry that rivaled even the most heartwarming novels. Everyone gossiped about them, everyone was so happy they got married. Kagero loved to see how happy Kaze was making her, Orochi really deserved that happiness after everything that she's been through after the death of the queen. In her head, she was certain that keeping those feelings to herself was the best thing she could've ever done for Orochi.
In her heart, however, she could still feel that weight sinking in every now and then, watching them from the shadows while she wondered what could've been if only that was them instead.
