31 Strings

The darkness, the pain, the chaos. Beruka was used to work under pressure, to feel strangled, taking on these foes was nothing to her, taking on the horror that called itself Anankos was nothing to her. She’s less used to the feeling of relief that fighting by Kagero’s side gives her. The ninja nods her way, and Beruka remembers she has a more personal motivation to come out of this battle alive. Maybe that was ridiculous. She hasn't looked for her personal benefit in gods know how long, but plenty of things withing her have been changing since she met the hoshidan retainer.

Usually, it was those around Beruka that tried to reach out to her rather than the other way. She found talking useless, dangerous even since delicate details like weaknesses and strengths could accidentally spill during conversation. Not mentioning that she always found it hard to express herself; those how spoke to her once didn’t tend to come back. But, surprisingly, it was Beruka who sought Kagero first. The assassin piqued an interest in the ninja when things were tenser between their armies. Some of the hoshidans had taken to spying on the Nohr's army back then, which prompted the nohrians to act in retaliation. Somehow, Beruka found herself locked in a game of chase with Kagero, following after each other, studying moves, testing abilities, silently daring one to drag the other from her hiding spot. Their little game continues even after their lieges have reached an agreement, it becomes something akin to practice. Beruka thinks they might just be having fun at some point. Gods, she couldn't recall the last time she let something entertain her this much.

The weirdest thing is that never cross a single word, not until they finally confront each other directly when Kagero discovers Beruka location. Their encounter results in a quick match, a very close tie. The hoshidan acknowledges Beruka’s skill, she does the same, and both walk away. But Beruka doesn't want their contact to end there for some reason she can't explain.

The assassin finds Kagero again once, while she paints, and stick around to watch her, quiet. She only opens her mouth to praise the figures the ninja creates, the words leaving easier than Beruka herself expects and that's enough to open terrain. And the more they speak, the more Beruka sees everything they share. Kagero understood what it meant to work in the shadows, covering your hands in blood that would never come off. But she also had hope for the future, something that the assassin already had forgotten about, something the ninja attempts to give her back, telling her how she believed there was something else for her, for them. Beruka doesn't know at which point do they become so close, doesn't notice when she becomes so comfortable with Kagero. She doesn't know what is it that Kagero moves within her.

One day, Kagero promises her that, after their last mission is over, she would take her to Hoshido to met the town of Shisaragi, to walk through the forests that surrounded it, and it that Beruka finds another motivation for surviving.

The clean skies, the bright sun, the leafs on the trees swaying in the wind. Beruka doesn't remember the last time she felt at peace like this. She was forced to stay calm in order to carry out her job, so staring death in the face every day wasn't such a difficult thing, but she never felt genuinely at peace. But here, now, walking through this forest by Kagero’s hand, she could breathe, she could believe there was something other than a life of blood for her.