Morosis

Class 3A, High School Building, Tatarasuna Boarding School, Kannazuka, Inazuma

The Tatarasuna Boarding School is one of the most prestigious boarding schools in all of Inazuma that rose to fame after three years when one of its brilliant alumni, Nagamasa Mikoshi, had taken over as its Head Master. Its history even dates back to ancient Inazuma— back when war was still prevalent and Tatarasuna was considered to have the largest smelting facility. It was the home of the best swordsmith families in all of Inazuma who have crafted their respective sword arts and were personally taught by  Raiden Shogun, believed to be Inazuma’s major deity.

After the war, Tatarasuna has continued to flourish into a beautiful town with its own schools and museums that boast its extensive history. 

‘But it pales in comparison to Narukami,’ a certain indigo haired individual thought, looking around and observing the polished empty hallways, devoid of any signs of life. However, faint voices could be heard from within closed classrooms signifying that classes are currently ongoing.

Suddenly, she felt goosebumps running along her legs. 

“Fuck, why is the uniform so damn short?” Said teen mutters in irritation as she pulls on her skirt, trying to cover as much of her thighs as possible. 

Their uniform wasn’t even that special either. Just the standard sailor uniform with the school’s colors, any colored socks/stockings of choice(as long as it isn’t an obnoxiously loud color like red), and school shoes. 

‘God, how could they even survive having this much…exposure down there?’ 

“Whoever designed the uniform for girls is a fucking pervert,” Kuni grumbles waiting for the professor to call her to come in, this time fixing her hair because she wanted to look her best and definitely NOT because she’s anxious.

A voice calls out, catching the attention of the student, “Raiden Kunikuzushi-sama…san?” a professor asks in uncertainty when he peeks out of the room, clearly looking for her, gesturing the student to come in, “Come, introduce yourself to the class.”

Kuni rolled her eyes internally at the overly formal way of address but still flashes a fake sweet smile at the professor, “Just ’-san’ would be okay, sensei.” 

And just as expected, collective loud gasps and murmurs erupted in the class the moment she stepped in. Almost everyone in the room was enamored and waited with bated breath as the beauty stopped in the middle of the raised platform, just up front the classroom, some boys even going as far as blushing and having their mouths open upon seeing her gracing them with her gaze. 

Kuni basks in the attention for a moment before looking at one person she was looking forward to seeing the most. 

And when she does, she flashes her a confident smirk, before bowing her head slightly, “My name is Raiden Kunikuzushi. Nice to meet you all.” 

“Raiden?”

“Isnt that..?”

“Crazy, they even look alike so much. Wow.”

The professor clears his throat loudly, “Quiet down. As you can see, Raiden Kunikuzushi…-san here is Raiden Kabukimono-san’s sister. She was delayed with her admission because she was sick for quite a while. I expect all of you to treat her well and welcome her just as you have all done for Kabukimono-san.”

An enthusiastic chorus of ‘yes’ rung out and the professor nods in satisfaction before turning towards Kunikuzushi.

“You may sit at the empty chair beside Shikanoin-kun. He’s the boy with the burgundy hair at the back.” 

Kuni nods and proceeds to look for the student with the aforementioned description, while subtly eyeing her twin from across the room. However unlike her, Kabukimono seems to be in shock and is blatantly looking at her as she ventures to the back.

She almost missed her table if not for the shock of burgundy hair she finds in her peripheral. 

“Shikanoin-san?” Kuni asked, almost immediately looking at the the guy who was blatantly eyeing her in curiousity. 

“Yup. Thats me,” the boy confirms with a friendly smile and a wave. 

‘Too friendly.’

Kuni nods before sitting down. And when she finally has a chance to directly look at her twin, Kabukimono still remains in shock and disbelief. Kunikuzushi almost snickered from ‘how stupid’ her twin looked but instead settled winking playfully back. Kabukimono’s shock only morphs to confusion before turning back when the professor finally started his lecture. 

Amusement fills the indigo eyes as an evil plan began brewing in her mind, ‘I won’t let any guy take you away from me, Kabu-chan. Not until I saw for myself what kind of person they are.’ 

“What are you doing here, Kuni? And why are you…dressed like this??”

After classes and the ring of the bell for lunch break, like magic, Kabukimono appeared beside her twin and dragged her away from the classrooms before their curious classmates could swarm the newcomer.

They ended up in a secluded corner at the backyard of the school, usually just visited  by the school gardener once in a while, and away from prying ears. 

“The explanation is just as you see,” the older twin shrugs, sitting cross legged on the bench that was for some reason, in the secluded garden, “I went here because you suddenly abandoned me and left me in Narukami. You really thought I won’t follow you?”

“But…but that doesn’t explain the clothes! And your hair! ” Kabukimono gestures wildly at her sibling’s uniform, her voice progressively getting louder with absurdity of the situation, “…And sister??? But you’re my twin bro—“

“Shhh,” a dainty finger lands on Kabukimono’s lips as Kuni hisses and draws near, looking around to confirm no people have heard the outburst, “Not so loud, you idiot! I wouldn’t have done this if it weren't for you, you know.”

“???”

“Promise me you’re gonna hear me out before you start yelling or cutting me off, alright?” 

Identical indigo eyes looked at him in suspicion before he received a nod. Kuni finally drops his finger and sighs, recounting the tale of how he got here.

A week ago, Tenshukaku, Narukami Island, Inazuma 

“What do you mean she ran away?!” Kuni could only stare in shock at what Ei said while drinking her morning tea on their dining table.

Makoto, who was spreading butter on her toast, instead answered sweetly, “It is what it is as what Ei said, Kuni. Kabu-chan went to get the man of her dreams!” 

 “Man of her dreams, my ass! She’s a naive dumbass and you let her go to a boarding school that’s literally on a different island??? What the hell is wrong with you?!” 

“She was the one who kept insisting I let her go there. She took care of all of the documents for her transfer and even took care of her flight and living arrangements there. She isn't as unreliable as you think,” Ei finally looks at her younger brother after a sip, “she knows what she’s doing and is determined to do so. Who am I to get in the way?”

“You’re her guardian, OUR GUARDIAN! You HAVE the authority to get in her way if it’s for her sake!” Kuni spits, gritting his teeth.

“You’re being unreasonable, Kuni.”

“AND YOU'RE BEING IRRESPONSIBLE! I mean, really? Going after a man? Aren't you worried she’s vulnerable there? You let her go somewhere dangerous!” 

“Kuni,” Makoto says, standing up from her chair to go to where the young one stands before laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, “It’s not as dangerous as you think. We’re close friends with the principal there and I asked him to look after our Kabukimono. We’re not THAT irresponsible. Tatarasuna Boarding School is also known to be one of the safest schools out there on top of their top notch education.”

“I also asked Nagamasa to run a background check on the guy Kabukimono was pursuing. He’s a very decent guy and Nagamasa-san even said he’s one of the kindest students in their school.”

“But…but she could have told me…” Kuni mutters as he stares petulantly on the floor, pouting.

“Its precisely because you’ll be against this is why she didn't. She knows the only one who can be as stubborn as she is, is you.” Makoto rubs his shoulder comfortingly before handing him a letter, “she asked me to give this to you once you learned about it.” 

Kuni takes the letter, carefully opening it to read its content, 

[Dear Kuni-niisan, 

First of all, I’m sorry. 

I know my decision seems to be very sudden to you. But trust me when I say I have thought this through for weeks already. I wanted to tell you, I really did, but I also know you would have been adamant in refusing to let me go to Tatarasuna. And I know you’d do that to protect me which I will always be thankful for. BUT I want to know more about him and also go on an adventure past our homeland. 

I’m sorry that you have to learn it this way but I promise I’ll be back! I never break my promises! I will take care of myself and I will call you lots once I have settled here so we will always get in touch! 

So don’t worry alright?? I’ll be ok. :) I love you and take care!

-Kabukimono] 

Wisteria eyes suddenly glisten, tears threatening to fall before Kuni sucked in a deep breath to stop them from falling.

“That idiot…” 

“Oh Kuni,” Makoto draws him close, embracing him in comfort, rubbing circles on his back, “She’ll be okay.” 

“Easy for you to say,” Kuni mutters before burying his head on Makoto’s shoulder, “You and Ei have never been separated. What do you know about how i feel?”

“We did get separated in uni though,” Ei answers, “She went to a different career path from mine.”

“But you guys still went to the same school!”

To this, his older twin sisters stayed quiet, “It was just a coincidence that the uni we went too offered the same programs we wanted. And we both didn’t have much choice but to stay close in Narukami, Kuni…you know we’re both heiresses to our family.”

Right. Their prestigious family, Raiden.

After their parents death when Kuni and Kabukimono were 10 years old, both Makoto and Ei were entitled equally to be the heiress at the of 18. It was a good thing they were both close enough to not have greed over the title and have accepted equal roles in running their family’s business. Makoto became the center public figure while being supported by Ei in the shadows.

Their family is considered to be the richest, illustrious, and most respected family in all of Inazuma dating back to the Shogunate period. That is because their family is rumored to be descendants of the Raiden Shogun, a god, and were basically considered as royals because of this lineage. At present, however, the Raiden family owns a big conglomerate expanding in different businesses although majority of it mostly on energy and power utilities. 

And yet Kabukimono turned away from all of that, just to pursue a man??? 

Kuni cannot accept this. He has to stop this foolishness. He has to see for himself if the guy was truly worthy (probably not, probably never!) of sweet and kind Kabukimono’s heart! 

Kuni pulls away from Makoto’s hug, before an idea strucks him like lightning, “Let me enroll in the Tatarasuna too!”

“…What?” 

For once, the older twins were dumbfounded and shocked.

“You heard me! Let me enroll in that boarding school!”

“Kuni…” Makoto starts before Kuni cuts her off.

“I’m only gonna look out for her! I can't just stay here, not knowing what guy she’s going after! And you both know I'm more responsible and reliable between the both of us.”

“You sure you’re not going there just to drag her back home?”

‘I will.’ 

“No, I won't,” Kuni lies easily and smoothly, “I’ll just look out for her and comfort her if she gets dumped.”

“You don't know if she will get dumped, you know.”

“That's besides the point!” Kuni looks at his sisters, pleading, “Let me help her!”

The older twins looked at each other for a minute, as if trying to telepathically talk and land on a decision.

“It will be hard to have you enrolled, since classes already started two weeks ago.”

“And there’s the issue of your dormitory too. ”

“Didn’t you say you have connections? Can’t you pull some strings to let me in?”

Once again, a look of contemplation passed between the twins before Ei eyes him seriously, “There’s also their entrance exams, Kuni. One of the hardest in Teyvat.”

“And you think I won't be able to pass that?” Kuni answers sarcastically.

But they all know he’s right. Kuni was more intelligent (more cunning even) compared to Kabukimono. If she can do it, there was no doubt Kuni could pass too, probably even with flying colors.

“Alright…we’ll see what we can do…” Makoto concedes before going back to the table, “Ei will talk with Nagamasa-san about this. He’s kind of lenient regarding these matters but…” she turns back to Kuni, “Promise us you won’t be there to cause trouble, okay? We have asked too many favors from Nagamasa-san already.”

“I won’t!”

After a couple of minutes on a phone call, Ei finally hangs up and looks at her younger brother troubled, “He’s willing to let you enroll and take the exams but there’s still a problem.”

“What is it?”

“There are no more rooms in the boys dormitory. Only one room in the girl’s dormitory is available.” 

It took a couple of minutes before Kuni realized what that meant, “ What?? Then where will I live??”

“We..we don’t know yet.”

“Can’t I just share the same room as Kabukimono?”

“Even if you’re siblings, they have a strict rule that only girls should be in the girl’s dormitory so you’ll probably be rejected.”

“Then what about a hotel? Don’t we have one in Tatarasuna?” 

Makoto thinks for a moment before nodding slowly, “We do. However, that hotel is 30 minutes away by car so it will take some time. You can take the train but you’ll have to transfer to two stations. Would that be alright?” 

‘Fuck no,’ Kuni answers internally, already groaning at the hassle he will have to go through, ‘That defeats the purpose of me checking up and guarding that idiot as well.’

Silence descends upon the household and, for a moment, only the chirping of the finches and a lazy meow from ‘Shouki’, their housecat, could be heard, before a new voice suddenly chimed in, 

“Unless…”

The three occupants in the room jumped before turning around to see a pink haired woman sauntering in, taking a seat beside Ei on the round table nonchalantly as if she hadn't surprised the siblings.

“Where the hell did you come from?” Kuni asks rudely but the pink haired woman only shrugged her shoulders.

“From Ei’s room. We had too much fun yesterday, I passed out.”

“Miko…”

Kuni gags, “Eww, I don't want to hear about what goes on in there.”

“Anyway,” Makoto clears her throat before addressing the newly arrived individual, “you were saying?” 

“Oh right,” Said woman steals Ei’s teacup, taking a sip before humming, “Unless Kuni-chan here, you know…becomes a girl. He can’t go to the dorms right?”

“You were eavesdropping?”

Miko blatantly ignores him, opting instead to reach out for a piece of fried tofu on the table,  “Well…he does look alot like Kabu-chan, you know.” 

The older twins only looked in confusion at the obvious statement, “and…what of it?”

However, Kuni understood the implications behind the woman’s words,  “You don't mean…” 

A dangerous amused glint can be seen in Yae’s purple eyes, sending so much ominous chills down Kuni’s back which he refuses to acknowledge, “Oh yes, that's exactly what I meant, dearest Kuni-chan.” 

Makoto was the second one to understand the implications, “You want Kuni to… pretend to be a girl?”

“Yup, that's right.”

Kuni erupts in embarrassment and indignation, “What kind of bullshit is this?!”

“Miko,” Ei suddenly says seriously, making everyone stop before chaos ensues, “That's illegal. If he gets found out, the repercussions won't be pretty.”

“IF he gets found out,” Miko emphasizes, seizing Kunikuzushi up, “I get what you're worried about though. He curses like a sailor and he acts too much of a sassy brat.”  

“Fuck off.” 

Instead of getting offended, Miko only smirks at the weak childish comeback, “Kuni-kun may be a little rougher compared to Kabu-chan but honestly? He’s more graceful than the average boy if whipped into shape.” 

“Besides, He and Kabu-chan took the same etiquette classes, right? And they've always been joined to the hip so he must have witnessed proper etiquette for women too.”

Kuni could only stay silent because the fox was right. He did take some lessons with Kabukimono. However, he did not really pay attention during those classes because he couldn’t care less about etiquette in the first place. 

“It’s still too risky” Makoto tries to reasons out, “Sooner or later, somebody might discover that we have lied in legal documents. That might also tarnish the Raiden name.”

Yae Miko only shrugs again, unbothered, as she takes time to chew her fried tofu before swallowing, “They both were homeschooled anyway. And the public don’t really know anything about Kabu-chan and Kuni-chan. You two made sure to keep their identity under tight security so even now, everything about the ‘younger twins’ are just rumors from the streets.” 

“Well…just an idea anyway. It's either this or Kuni-chan stays here since he can’t stay in the girl’s dormitory and this brat is too lazy to go through the hassle of commuting or traveling…at least, if he pretends to be a girl, he gets to room with Kabu-chan.”  

“Fine. I’ll do it.”

It was almost comical and creepy how his older sisters turned to him in sync, shocked at his answer.

“I can pretend to be a girl. Something like that is too easy for me, it's not a big deal.”

“But if you get discovered…”

“I’ll bear the consequences and tell them it was my fault.”

“Great!” Yae Miko claps in glee while his sisters still continued to look uncertain and apprehensive at the idea

“Now go ahead and enroll me.”

After a couple of minutes of hesistance, the twins sighed before setting off to talk to the principal to get him enrolled, leaving Yae and Kuni in the room. Kuni was about to walk away himself when the pink haired woman suddenly spoke,

“Do you still remember your etiquette lessons, Kuni-kun?”

“A little bit.”

“And what about Kabu-chan’s?”

“….”

“Oho, no good, Kuni-chan~ you know what this means, right?”

‘No, I don’t?’ Wisteria eyes could only look in confusion at Yae’s words. 

Yae’s smirk becomes even more shrewd, more evil, like a predator ready to play with her prey,  “Do not worry, I'll teach you manners myself. Time to freshen up your memory on how a proper girl should act ~” 

Something about her tone seemed ominous before the next words made him cold, 

“Oh! We’ll have some fun buying you some underwear and clothes as well, dearest Kuni-chan. Oh, and your skin is too rough, we’ll have to have you scrubbed up and smoothened and I know just the right place that will make you so pretty~”

Kuni could only gulp warily at his impending fate.

“And that's why I'm here.” Kuni finishes with flourish, “Though, I didn’t really need the hair extensions. But that bitch kept forcing me to put them on. They’re so goddamn heavy on the head, I wanna rip them off but Ei agreed they suit me and make me ‘prettier’. That bitch has Ei wrapped around her pinky, I swear to god.” 

“You…ughhh,” Kabukimono pouted, “I trusted Ei-neechan and Makoto-neechan to stop you from doing something foolish…why did they let you go??”

“Because they know it's better if you go home.”

‘Well I do. For some reason they don't think so.’

And it was evident that his twin also saw throught his lie, “Did you not read my letter? I won’t go home!…Not yet, anyway. So you should go now before you get discovered and we both get kicked out. ”

“I’m not going home without you,” Kuni says, tone serious and solemn, tears forming at the corners of his eyes,  “you know how precious you are to me…why would you leave me like this?”

Kabukimono softens as she hears the sadness and hurt behind her brother’s words before hugging him, “I know we’ve always been together. And I'm always thankful that you’ve protected me…but…”

“We’re not kids anymore. I want to see past the Sakura’s that have grown in our gardens, past the koi ponds and the Narukami’s city walls. I wanna see more of the world! And the guy I fell in love with. I want to be closer to him and to get to know him better.”

“Stupid Kabukimono,” Kuni snorts while burying his face on his sister’s shoulder.

Kabukimono chuckles, “The world is so much bigger than both of us. Don’t you want to see it too?”

“I don’t really care about it,” Kuni petulantly answers, “Narukami is still the prettiest anyway.”

“It wouldn't hurt us learning more about the outside though!” 

The ‘us’ he hears makes softens Kuni before backing away from the embrace and looking at her accusingly, “Big words coming from you! Weren’t you the one who abandoned me over some random guy! Do you know how offensive that is?? We’re family!! Why choose a random guy over family?!”

“He’s not some random guy!! He’s a good guy!!”

“When did you even meet the guy?? I swear I'll actually drag you by the ear to go home if you give me the whole ‘love at first sight’ bullshit.”

“…”

His sister’s rapidly reddening embarrassed face was quite telling enough. 

Mortified, Kuni's eyes widened, “KABU!!!!”

Her sister pouts at the admonishment, “See! This is why I didn’t wanna tell you!!” 

“Kabu! This ain't some fairytale!! You chased a guy because of love at first sight?? I will actually end you, you dumbass!” 

“You wouldn't understand because you’ve never been in love!”

Kuni almost wanted to eat dirt at the absurdity of it all. Just who in their right mind would even fall in love at first sight in this day and age????

Kuni stares at his twin, unimpressed, “You realize just how dumb you sound right now, right?” 

“Shut up, niisan,” Kabukimono could only stomp away in shame and annoyance at her brother’s blunt criticism, “Leave me alone if you’re just gonna do this! Hmph!” 

“You do know we’ll be rooming together, right?” 

“Whatever!” She gets a couple of stomps away, before she stops and calls out at her brother crankily,  “See you later then!” 

Kuni finally smiles.