Ren, in his newfound freedom, had taken to exploring Inazuma City on his own. The Shogun's pendant, tucked discreetly inside his tunic, was a silent, invisible shield, granting him a confidence he had never known before. He loved the vibrant, bustling streets of Hanamizaka, the district of artisans and entertainment, its air always filled with the scent of strange, delicious street food and the distant, rhythmic sound of a blacksmith's hammer.
It was on one of these solitary strolls that the usual, cheerful chaos of the district was pierced by a new, much louder, and far more indignant sound.
"KUJO SARAAAAAA!"
The roar, so full of a theatrical, bellowing rage, made everyone in the street stop and turn. In the middle of the main thoroughfare, a towering figure was striking a dramatic pose. He was an Oni, tall and incredibly muscular, with two large, crimson horns protruding from his wild, white hair. He wore an ostentatious, open-fronted kimono that showed off his chiseled abs, and a massive, spiked club was resting on his shoulder. It was Arataki Itto, the First and Greatest Head of the Arataki Gang.
"DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU FEATHERED FIEND?!" he bellowed to the sky, as if the Tenryou Commission's general could hear him from across the city. "YOU WILL RUE THE DAY! YOU WILL RUE THE DAY YOU STOLE THE VISION OF ARATAKI 'THE ONE AND ONI' ITTO! I WILL HAVE MY REMATCH, AND MY VENGEANCE WILL BE LEGENDARY!"
The surrounding shopkeepers and citizens just sighed, a collective, weary sound of long-suffering familiarity. It was just Itto, on one of his usual, post-Vision-loss tirades.
Ren watched from a safe distance, a small, amused smile on his face. He had seen Itto in the game, but the reality of his personality—a being of immense physical power with the dramatic flair and emotional maturity of a five-year-old—was far more entertaining in person.
Itto's dramatic monologue, however, was cut short.
A smaller, much more composed figure with green hair and a mask covering the lower half of her face, strode up behind him, her expression one of utter, weary exasperation. This was Kuki Shinobu, the long-suffering Deputy Head of the Arataki Gang.
BONK.
The sound of her fist connecting squarely with the back of the massive Oni's head was surprisingly loud and solid.
"Ow! Hey!" Itto yelped, his dramatic rage vanishing in an instant, replaced by a look of childish indignation as he rubbed his head.
"Boss," Shinobu said, her voice a low, tired, and incredibly dangerous monotone. "You are causing a public disturbance. Again. We are going home. Now."
Before Itto could protest, she grabbed him by his ear, a feat of surprising strength, and began to drag the towering, now-whimpering Oni away, apologizing profusely to the onlookers as she went. "Sorry for the trouble, everyone! He just gets a little… passionate sometimes."
The impromptu street theater was over as quickly as it had begun. As the crowd began to disperse, chuckling to themselves, Ren turned to continue his walk, his smile now a full-blown grin.
But his path was suddenly blocked.
Two Tenryou Commission guards, their faces grim and their armor gleaming, had stepped in front of him. Their eyes were not on the retreating Arataki Gang, but on him.
"You, boy," the lead guard said, his voice a stern, official bark. "We are on patrol, enforcing the Vision Hunt Decree. Surrender your Vision."
Ren blinked, his amusement vanishing, replaced by a quiet, calm surprise. He had been so used to the authority of his pendant that he had momentarily forgotten what life was like for everyone else in this nation. He had tucked the pendant inside his tunic before his walk, not wanting its divine glow to be glaringly obvious to everyone he passed. Without its visible authority, he was just another face in the crowd.
He looked at the two guards, at the unyielding, dogmatic certainty in their eyes, and he felt a flicker of the very oppression he had discussed with Ei.
"I don't have a Vision," he stated simply, his voice calm and truthful.
The guards exchanged a skeptical look. They looked at his beautifully-made Liyue attire, at his strange, otherworldly features. Outlanders were always suspicious.
"Everyone says that," the second guard sneered. "Let's see it. Hand it over, or we'll take it by force."
They took a step forward, their hands moving towards the hilts of their swords. Ren stood his ground, his mind calm. He knew he could handle them. A simple, non-lethal flash-freeze would end this confrontation in an instant.
But he didn't have to.
The guards looked him up and down, their eyes scanning his belt, his collar, his wrists. They were looking for the tell-tale, glowing gem of a Vision. And they found nothing. There was no Pyro, no Cryo, no Electro, no element of any kind on his person. He was, to all outward appearances, completely and utterly normal.
The lead guard frowned, a look of confused frustration on his face. "There's… nothing here."
"Maybe he's just a normal kid?" the second guard muttered, looking a little embarrassed.
They were in an awkward position. They had aggressively accosted a child who, it seemed, had broken no laws. To press the issue further would be to risk looking like bullies and fools.
With a final, suspicious glare, the lead guard grunted. "Hmph. Fine. Be on your way. But we'll be watching you."
They turned and stalked away, trying to regain some semblance of their lost authority.
Ren watched them go, a new, profound understanding settling in his heart. He had just experienced, for a brief, fleeting moment, what it was like to be a normal person in Inazuma: to be presumed guilty, to be subject to the whims of an unyielding, unquestioning authority. And it only strengthened his resolve. He had to help Ei see this. He had to help her change it.