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“Well, well, well! Isn’t it nice to see the two of you out and about,” Mizuki teased as she approached the archon and her familiar.
“What, is it really that odd to see us strolling the Shogun’s city together?” Miko shot back.
The baku giggled before answering, “Not odd, per se. I just figured you guys were more the stay-at-home type when it came to dates.”
“Down, Miko. No need to be so defensive. She’s just trying to greet us,” Ei chastised. The kitsune playfully rolled her eyes at her in response.
“So, what brings the two of you down from Tenshukaku?”
“My familiar here insisted on going shopping, and I’ve been holed up in my office for some time now, so I figured it would be good for me.”
“Not all of us can handle being alone for excruciatingly long periods of time like a certain someone, dearest,” Miko said.
Wanting to be helpful, Mizuki asked, “Looking for anything particular? Maybe I can steer you toward the right stalls.”
“That won’t be necessary,” the kitsune interjected. “We’re just browsing. I’m trying to get an idea of what other interests she has besides katana.”
“Oh, that’s right! Your birthdays are coming up in a few days!” The baku practically yelled.
Ei’s eyes widened. “A few days?”
Miko narrowed her gaze. “Do not tell me you forgot. We’re only a day apart.”
“F-forgot? Of course not. I just didn’t think it was that soon…”
“Really? Because it sure sounds like the event slipped your mind.” The guuji’s ears flattened in disappointment. “You forgot about our birthdays. No! Worse than that! You forgot about my birthday!”
The archon held up her hands in an attempt to calm her outraged girlfriend. “Miko, don’t cause a scene! How many times do I have to tell you? I didn’t forget, I just…lost track of time.”
Crossing her arms, the other woman sniped, “Oh, so I suppose that means you already bought my gift?”
The silence she was met with spoke volumes. Mizuki was starting to wish she had never approached them.
Miko’s rage echoed through the square. “Oh, wonderful! And here I am trying to find something perfect for you, like a fool!
Her girlfriend pinched the bridge of her nose. “Love, can we please talk about this somewhere a bit more private? People are starting to stare.”
“For archonssakes! It’s all about you, isn’t it?” And with that, she stormed off.
Feeling partially responsible, the baku gently touched Ei’s shoulder. “My apologies. If I’d have known, I wouldn’t have…”
The shogun cut her off. “It’s quite alright, Mizuki. It’s certainly not your fault. If anything, it’s mine. I’ve been so busy as of late, I thought it was a few weeks away, not mere days.”
Debating whether to divulge what she knew, the baku decided it was best to inform her. “You know…Miko usually keeps to herself when it comes to her innermost thoughts, but I believe that outburst was more about her fears of you forgetting her rather than the specific day.” She let out a heavy sigh. Seeing as this was for the sake of her friend, she determined she could bend the rules of confidentiality just this once. “Don’t tell her I told you this, but her nightmares include scenes of you leaving and never returning and you forgetting about her when you came back from the plane of Euthymia.”
Ei felt her heart rate increase. “I thought we had moved on from that incident. We talked and I apologized for the way I went about that…situation. She told me she had forgiven me.”
“She has, yes,” Mizuki started, “but there’s a lingering fear within her subconscious that cannot be overcome with a simple apology.”
The archon quietly pondered the baku’s words. “Thank you. You’ve given me much to think about, but I do believe I know the perfect gift.”
———————————
The fateful day arrived, and Miko decided it was beneath her to hold a grudge too tightly. When she was summoned to Tenshuukaku, she dutifully answered.
“You called for me, your grace?” There was still a trace of venom in her words, but the shogun was prepared to tread carefully.
“I figured we could still celebrate together. Unless...you’re still angry with me.”
“So now you remember. How convenient,” the kitsune huffed.
Ei bit her tongue to stop herself from rising to the challenge. “I never forgot, darling. I told you as such, but you have a habit of not listening.”
The other woman bore her fangs. “I’ll have you know-”
Attempting to deflate the incoming argument, the archon calmly interrupted her. “Look, I had all of your favorite foods and desserts brought in for the evening. I even pulled a few strings to procure your favorite wine from Mondstadt. Lisa sends her well wishes, by the way.”
The guuji scoffed. “That damn Mizuki. She just can’t help but meddle in an old friend’s affairs, I suppose.”
“Come now, don’t be so hard on her. We may have spoken a bit after you left so abruptly, but this was all my idea. I didn’t mean to make you feel as if-” Ei stammered as she rubbed the back of her head. “Miko, I could never forget about you.” She shoved a small package with a bow atop it in front of her. “Archons, you know I’m not good with words like you. Happy birthday.”
Eyeing the gift suspiciously, her familiar slowly started to unwrap it. She removed the ribbon to reveal a tattered old book with the characters 日記 etched into the cover.
Her face dropped. Did her girlfriend seriously think she didn’t already have hundreds of empty notebooks scattered about her own office at Yae Publishing House? “A diary? How original.”
“Open it,” the shogun encouraged.
Miko did so, and her eyes widened when Ei’s handwriting was revealed on the first page. As she flipped through the pages, not a single one was left blank. From top to bottom, characters lined the ancient paper. Confused, she looked up, wordlessly inquiring for an explanation.
“This diary contains every thought I had about you over the 500 years we were apart. I never stopped loving you, let alone thinking about you. It was torture to be away from you. Even when I tried to empty my mind to meditate, you were the sole thought that tore me away from eternity. The only way to keep going was to write down what I felt.”
Thumbing through the pages, the kitsune stopped at various entries along the way.
Day 5
The hardest part about all of this is not being able to hear Miko’s voice. If she were here, there’s no doubt she’d be teasing me about working too hard. I’ve never wanted her to scold me more.
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Day 60
What’s the point of training if she’s not here to watch me? She was never as sneaky as she thought she was, despite being a kitsune. Of course I noticed her peeking through the cracks in the walls of the dojo. How she’d stare at my arms as I swung my katana over and over again. I can still picture her little smirk she’d try but fail to hide behind her hand.
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Day 730
Archons, how has it only been two years? I wonder how Miko is holding up. I’m sure she’s up to her usual antics of scaring all the shrine maidens into submission and tormenting unsuspecting visitors. Your mean streak was always more entertaining than threatening, my dearest little familiar. By now you’ve probably erased me from your memory. I couldn’t if I tried.
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Day 182,500 - Final day without Miko
500 years have passed. I still remember every smile, the sound of your voice, the way you laugh. The soft touches we reserved only for each other when we’d sneak away for some time alone, away from duty, away from the world.
Of course she’d be the one to come and save me from myself. I’m too much of a hard-headed buffoon to see there’s so much more to this life than eternity. For what good is eternity without her by my side? Archons, I want nothing more than to reach out and touch her, to remove any barriers between us, physical and emotional…
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Her vision was blurred by unceasing tears. She forced herself to stop reading and met Ei’s gaze. “You missed me so much you almost wrote your own smut. Perhaps you do have a future with Yae Publishing House.”
The shogun smiled. “It was hard not to when I’d been celibate for 500 years, and then you suddenly appeared. If Lumine and Paimon hadn’t been with you, we might have never left.”
Miko shut the diary. “Well…I suppose I owe you an apology. Clearly, I had nothing to worry about.”
Rising from her seat behind her desk, Ei approached her and kissed her forehead. “Whenever doubt creeps back in, read a few of those entries, and I’m positive you’ll have a good night’s sleep. Or, you could just turn over and talk to me.”
“And here I was thinking there’s no way you’d even come close to outdoing my gift for you.”
The archon cocked an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“I was so mad the other day, I figured you didn’t deserve anything. But now, I’m convinced you’ve earned the best gift of all - me.”
She leaned forward and kissed the shogun gently at first. When she felt her ease into it, Miko slid her tongue past her lips. Pulling back to catch her breath, she said, “I acted rashly the other day. Forgive me?”
“It’s quite alright. You wouldn’t be you without a flair for the dramatic. I hope you’ll pardon me for losing track of time.”
“Ugh, enough talk. All that matters is I know you care. Let’s move on to more important matters,” the kitsune purred as she kissed down her girlfriend’s neck. Her slightly elongated canines pierced the tender skin.
“Ah! I-I’ll take that as a yes,” the archon half-moaned.
They struggled to deftly untie the sashes of their kimono, wriggling out of the heavy fabric that separated skin from skin. For a moment, Ei considered warning her lover that they should be more careful lest they trip, but quickly decided against incurring her wrath further - once her familiar got started, woe be upon anyone who tried to interrupt.
Miko pounced and pinned her to the futon once they reached the bedroom. Running her hands along the shogun’s battle-toned body, she thanked the archons that Ei hadn’t stopped training during those 500 years of solitude. Her lithe fingers traced every scar and muscle, eliciting a groan of frustration from the now impatient woman beneath her.
Chuckling seductively, the guuji teased, “Always so needy for me. It’s hard to believe you didn’t go mad without my touch.”
“You’re all I thought about…every moment of every day….ohhhhh,” Ei hissed as she felt her girlfriend’s fingers carefully slide between her folds.
“Mmm, I know it now, dearest. And I will spend the rest of our eternity together reminding you that you made the right choice in coming back to Inazuma. To me.”
“Fuck eternity. I could die right now, and it would be enough…as long as you were in my arms,” Ei whimpered.
Miko growled hungrily at her response. She lifted one of the shogun’s legs and looped it around her waist as she aligned their cores together. “As long as I’m your familiar, neither of us will be dying anytime soon. We’ve got 500 years of lovemaking to catch up on, after all.”
She shifted her body against her, grinding down to apply pressure to both of their clits. The slick sound of their arousal mixing and reducing friction caused them both to moan loudly at the pleasure that coursed through their veins like lightning. The kitsune continued to swivel her hips, quivering as she increased her pace.
“Come with me, Ei. Let me hear how much you missed this. Missed me,” she panted as she raced toward release. Her girlfriend writhed as her climax wracked her body, uttering Miko’s name as if it were a mantra to ensure she would never again have to live without her. The guuji rode her to her own orgasm, gradually slowing once her head stopped swimming.
“Figured it was only fair for me to come twice,” she said as she brushed a lock of sweat-drenched hair from her forehead.
“T-twice? A bit presumptuous, don’t you think?” The archon taunted.
Her familiar clicked her tongue in distaste. “Presumptuous? Were you not already planning that as the second part of my birthday gift?”
It wasn’t unusual for Miko to be a brat, but given these specific circumstances, Ei felt it necessary to tame her. Good thing the kitsune liked it rough. Wrangling her from where she sat, the shogun pulled her into her lap, facing away from her.
“My mistake,” she whispered harshly in her ear. “But we’re doing this on my terms.”
Chuckling darkly, the guuji replied, “Oh? And what did I do to incur the shogun’s wrath?”
She felt Ei’s calloused palm creep to her throat before squeezing ever so slightly. “Let me count the offenses. Throwing a tantrum before listening to reason. Doubting my devotion. Biting. Topping before I could…the list goes on.”
A rumble started in Miko’s chest, and the archon felt it vibrate against her fingers. So predictable. The digits of Ei’s other hand trailed down the other woman’s ample bosom and she felt her nipples perk in response to her touch. “I could leave marks of my own, you know. But I don’t think that would be suitable for the head priestess, now, would it?”
“What purpose would that serve? I’m already yours,” the familiar purred huskily. “A physical mark is nothing compared to the brand you’ve made on my soul, Ei.”
Her words struck her directly in her heart. “Your devotion is admirable and deserves to be thoroughly rewarded, my dearest little fox.” The archon wrenched her lover’s legs open further with her own as her hand journeyed between her thighs.
She gripped her girlfriend’s neck and turned her face so she could kiss her. Miko hummed in approval at the feeling of Ei’s tongue in her mouth and her fingers now delving into her opening. There was a possessiveness to her movements, but her touches were still tender.
The archon traced her lips, spreading her slick to her sensitive bud. Her fore and middle fingers moved in steady circles against the bundle of nerves as she drew out needy whimpers from the kitsune.
“That’s a good girl. Relax. I’ve got you,” Ei murmured reassuringly. Miko opened her eyes and stared into pools of deep purple. For once, she found herself at a loss for words. The hold the shogun had on her firm, as if to tell her she’d never let go again. She chastised herself for thinking too hard and instead gave herself over to the rush of pleasure that came with the release only Ei could give her.
When her body finally stopped shaking, her girlfriend lowered them back down into the soft cushioning of the futon beneath them. They cuddled closely together, neither wanting to ruin the peaceful quiet of each other’s presence.
“Miko…what would you say to us keeping a shared diary?”
“My, Ei. Is this your way of telling me you have a secret endeavor to join Yae Publishing House?”
The other woman laughed. “I haven’t the ambition to do such a thing. I just thought it might be nice for us to exchange it whenever we part for our respective duties. The old one I gave you is full of regrets. This new volume would contain nothing but hope for our eternity.”
Kissing her cheek, the kitsune said, “I’m only teasing you. I love the idea. Hmmm. "Our Eternity." Perhaps your real talent lies in bestowing titles.”