Archive of Our Own ^beta

Many years ago...

A tickling sensation awoke Ayato to his mother gently brushing his hair. When he saw his mother awake, Ayato shot up from where he sat at her bedside, his lips wobbled, tears welling up in his eyes, “Momma, are you okay?”

His mom chuckled, “I’m fine Ayato, I only felt dizzy earlier.”

Ayato didn’t respond and only sniffled into his mother’s sleeves. “Dad said you didn’t sleep a lot because the baby was kicking you...they should get a time out.

A laugh escaped the his mother’s lips, “It’s okay if they do it, you used to do it too when you were a baby. It’s natural Ayato, you’ll learn more about it when you get older.”

Little Ayato slightly puffed his cheeks out, knowing he couldn’t argue about this with his mother.

Sighing, his mother reassured, “I’ll try not worry you like that again, okay?”

“Okay,” the boy muffled into her sleeves.

Of course, it was difficult not to worry little Ayato since he was a sensitive child. When the manor had a sudden flurry of activity and his mother and father were missing, he was instantly worried. When he tried to find his parents, the aunties and uncles around him tried to distract him, but he wasn’t going to be deterred!

But when one of the aunties told him that his mom and dad were going out to bring his younger sibling back, he settled a little. If his mom and dad were going to do that, then he would be patient, but why didn’t they bring him too? He could help! Still, he decided to stay in the garden and impatiently watch the fish in the pond.

Years later, Ayato still remembers promising his parents that he would protect her when they first showed him his younger sister. Not that he had to due to familial duty, but because felt a protective instinct rise within him, telling him that he should protect her because she deserved to be happy, even if he had to do things he hated.

And then his parents had died.

When he received the news, he recalled feeling angry, devastated, and most of all, scared. How was he going to be a good leader of the Kamisato clan? How was he going to change the way people looked at his clan in disdain? How was he going to protect his sister? His distress was so great that both his sister and Thoma could tell that he was crumbling inside despite his refined facade.

So when his sister approached him one day, and said that she wanted to become the Lady of the Kamisato clan, Ayato felt even more stressed. Inside, he knew that his sister would one day want to take on the mantle, but he still wanted for her to live a carefree life. When she takes the position, she would be the target of even more kidnapping attempts and assassinations. He didn’t want her to be scarred by those, but he also knew that he couldn’t stop her, especially not with that determined look in her eyes. Therefore, he proposed that she fought him in a duel. Should she meet his expectations, he would give her the position. Ayato wanted to ensure that his sister could protect herself, even if her guards fail to.

He could not entrust his sister’s training only to the teachers, he had to ensure that she received the best training she could, so he too taught her how to wield the sword among many other weapons. The sight of his sister so determined to learn to become strong and take on the position still worried him yet also made him feel proud. His sister was maturing and he knew that he could not protect her as much any longer. Still, he was going to do his best behind the scenes, to make sure that his sister’s life would not be entrenched in pain and suffering.

Of course, when the day came for the duel, his sister greatly surpassed his expectations. On that day, he gifted her weaponized accessories that she could practically use. A fan with hidden blades, beautiful scenery carefully painted on it to disguise its true nature; a delicately sculpted jade flower hairpin inlaid onto strong metal for a makeshift weapon; and a beautifully engraved metal bracelet with a hidden space that housed poison and needles. He hopes that she will never have to make use of the weapons, but in the case that she does, at least she will be slightly more protected. Besides these items, he decided to gift her a set of books that he knew she wanted for a while.

However, it was not the items he gifted to his sister that mattered the most, it was the position that he, Kamisato Ayato, the head of the Kamisato Clan, conferred to Kamisato Ayaka. By giving her a leading role in the clan’s affairs and an official entry into high society, he was sending his little sister into dangerous waters, where a plethora of opportunistic people would seek to exploit her. No matter how prepared his younger sister is based on her apt demonstration, as an older brother during such turbulent times, his worry for her will never dissipate from his heart. 

As time passed, his sister grew into a beautiful lady who was adept at navigating Inazuma’s upper echelons of society. From time to time, Ayato felt worried about what his sister had to deal with on a daily basis since he knew that there were many people who were difficult to navigate around. However, the Kamisato leader rested his worries to the best of his abilities, trusting that his sister will be able to handle it. After all, should she ever truly encounter a situation that she greatly struggles with, she will seek help. While he may have been one of the only few protecting her for a period of time, he knows that she now has many more connections who will gladly help her with little condition.

He only wished that he could’ve done more as an arrow pierced him in his left shoulder. A sharp cry rang out from somewhere around him, but his head was already muddled by the wounds he suffered during the past few hours. Sharp pain sprang from the arrow wound, but it was not much compared to the pain radiating throughout his entire body.

The Kamisato estate had suddenly come under attack by an extremely strong and mysterious force—a force that not even Ayato could perceive until only moments before the attack. He could only guess at this point that it was an opportunistic attack by a clan that sought to take power over the Yashiro commission from the Kamisato clan. Clearly they must’ve had outside help, though he does not know why they might have helped them.

Ayato felt something trickle down his cheek. He opened his eyes, stinging from the blood to see long blood-covered blue hair billowing in the battle’s breeze.

“Bro—r! We ha— to —-, w— won’t be abl— to hold do— thi— estate!”

Ayato squinted, trying to make sense of the words. His head felt foggy, where was he again?

As a sharp clang rang out from above him, he could hear the distant sounds of pained groans and fighting around him.

Alarm rose within him—he was on the battlefield, why was he resting?

But still, he felt so tired, and the iron scent and stickiness nauseated him further.

He truly felt so tired, so tired that he couldn’t lift his head from the shoulder he rested on.

Was that his younger sister? He should wake up. Why does he feel so tired? Why can’t he open his eyes? They felt so heavy. He should be left behind. He can’t help anyone in this state. He felt so tired, would it hurt to sleep a little?