"Master… the Tenryou Commission still refuses us passage."
Thoma returned to the Komore Teahouse, his expression troubled as he reported.
For the Shuumatsuban at large, the loss of Kamisato Ayaka might not count for much.
But for Kamisato Ayato alone, it was as though the heavens themselves had collapsed.
He and his sister had grown together since childhood.
Ayaka—and the Kamisato house itself—were the most precious things in his heart.
Now she has vanished for a week.
Not once had she appeared.
No matter how many reassurances Kujou Sara gave, his worry only grew deeper.
Especially with Tenshukaku's gates barred tight— no one entered or left, save Yae Miko of the Grand Shrine, and Kujou Sara herself.
Even she admitted: she had not once laid eyes upon the Shogun inside.
That fact alone gnawed at Ayato.
Was Inazuma's god already dead?
Was the so-called "god within" nothing but a sham?
What if the stranger from abroad had left long ago, and all this was a hollow pretense?
Speculation ran wild, but truth was another matter.
And Ayato lacked the courage to confirm it himself.
What he feared most… was that Ayaka had seen the truth, and been silenced for it.
Or else— a possibility too dreadful for him to dwell upon.
"This time, I'll go myself."
Until now he had sent Thoma to apply.
But no longer.
Ayato resolved to face the god directly.
No matter the outcome— he had to know of his sister's condition.
And he was not alone in this resolve.
Lord Kujou Takayuki of the Tenryou Commission had also come.
Ever since the Shogun's silence, his unease had grown.
Yae Miko's ceaseless shipments to Tenshukaku only deepened the mystery.
Takayuki wanted someone to hold up the sky of Inazuma.
But he would not be left in the dark.
At the gates of Tenshukaku, he found Ayato waiting.
Though once rivals, the times were different now.
Inazuma was in crisis.
Its god was unseen.
Without the truth, neither man could rest.
"It's been some time, Lord Kujou."
Ayato did not like this elder statesman.
But like it or not, both were heads of two of the Three Commissions.
"It seems we share the same thought, Lord Kamisato."
Takayuki's tone carried the faintest disdain.
The Kamisato had long declined, and this young man's hand upon it only worsened matters.
As an elder, as head of the Tenryou, he bore a natural air of superiority.
Still, before Tenshukaku's gate, courtesy must prevail.
The Kamisato clan was diminished, yes— but not erased.
Thus, with no need for words, the two lords advanced together.
Aside from the Shogun and Yae Miko, they were the highest in all Inazuma.
Surely that granted them the right to audience with a god.
"Forgive me, my lords," Kujou Sara stepped forth, barring their way.
"Without the god's permission, none may pass within."
"Sara," Takayuki frowned, "I have urgent business for the Shogun."
But even he did not dare force his way.
This foster daughter held no small weight within the Tenryou and the shogunate's army.
"Then present your matters to me, my lord," she answered firmly.
"I will see them delivered to the Shogun."
She could not let them through.
Not with Yae Miko's warning, nor with Ayaka's private counsel echoing in her mind.
Ayaka had told her plain: if handled carelessly, this could shake all of Inazuma's rule.
The change would not be to Commissions or clans— but to gods themselves.
That thought froze Sara's heart with dread.
So she clung to her duty.
Even she herself, aside from delivering meals, had never once stepped within Tenshukaku.
And now, even faced with two clan heads, she would not yield.
She stood her ground in silence before the gates.
Not even urgent reports from the war front could draw her away.
"No room for compromise?"
Ayato saw the steel in her eyes.
She truly meant to admit no one.
"This is a matter of utmost gravity! I must report directly!"
Takayuki's eyes bulged with anger.
Even this foster daughter dared stand equal to him?
For one obsessed with authority, it was an intolerable insult.
"Soldiers!" Sara's voice rang like steel.
"If anyone attempts to force their way into Tenshukaku— strike them down! Alive or dead, it matters not!"
Compared to the Shogun's divine right, the Kujou clan was nothing.
Even if her order doomed her own house, Sara would not flinch.
Takayuki's face went rigid.
The soldiers' spears leveled against him left him no recourse.
"…Then, Lady Sara— might I at least see my sister?" Ayato spoke at last.
Entry mattered less to him than Ayaka's fate.
So long as she lived, all else was bearable.
"…Forgive me," Sara replied.
"Unless it is mealtime, even I may not enter.
But if Lord Kamisato so wishes, I can send word to Lady Ayaka.
Should she wish to come out herself, you may see her."
Yet Sara doubted Ayaka would emerge.
She surely knew the truth within.
And if it were as dire as Sara feared, then Ayaka herself would choose to remain unseen.
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