"Shiki, have you ever played temari?" Ayaka asked.
"...No." Shiki paused. She knew what temari was, but she had never played it.
"Then... Shiki, would you like to play temari with me?"
After speaking, Ayaka brought out her hands from behind her back, and in her right hand was a colorful temari.
However, its surface was a bit rough, looking as if it had been stored for a long time.
"But I don't know how to play temari!" Shiki said.
Ayaka smiled upon hearing this: "Hehe, temari doesn't have exact rules like a competition, you know. Just as Shiki said earlier, you can play it however you like."
Then Ayaka threw the temari in her hand towards the girl. Shiki subconsciously caught it, gazing at the somewhat old temari. She seemed to see a small figure playing in the courtyard.
"Come, come, come, let's play temari..."
A tender and ethereal voice entered her ears. Shiki suddenly looked up, and that small figure gradually transformed into the appearance of the white-haired girl before her eyes.
'Was that... Ayaka's childhood?'
On the continent of Teyvat, yearning is a very mysterious power. For example, artifacts imbued with yearning often possess peculiar effects.
This temari, which represented Ayaka's childhood, had undergone ten years of accumulation, and in a sense, it was also an artifact.
And Shiki, through the unique characteristics of her body, saw the other party's childhood through the temari.
Releasing her hands, the temari fell freely and then bounced back into her hand. After a moment of silence, Shiki threw it back.
"Indeed... is it boring... Yes, after all, it's a child's toy..."
Ayaka caught the temari, her expression involuntarily a little downcast. They had both grown up; childhood toys would eventually become uninteresting.
However, just then, a pair of fair hands gripped her palm.
"Actually, I think it's fine, but you must have kept this temari for a long time, right? I saw your memories on it, and memories shouldn't be used for play..."
Shiki's tone was very serious. Such an item should be carefully treasured. If it accidentally broke, wouldn't that be terrible?
"Memories... can be seen too?"
"Of course. This temari must be very important to Ayaka, right? Precisely because of this, yearning has become a tangible thing, thus it can be directly perceived."
"But it might also be because my body is quite special. You know I can teleport via Waypoints. Memories are recorded by the ley lines, and through the ley lines, I can read the memories contained within this temari."
"Ah? Then did you... see what I looked like when I was little...?"
"Yes, you were very cute~" Shiki smiled.
Ayaka's face flushed. This was like your childhood photos being dug out and someone praising how cute you were like crazy. Anyone would feel embarrassed!
"Shiki!"
The mortified Ayaka raised her tiny fists as if to strike. Shiki quickly explained, "Only your back, I didn't see your face!"
"Hmph!"
Upon hearing this, Ayaka lowered her fists, but still let out a cold snort and turned her head away, looking as if she was angry and wanted to be coaxed.
Unconsciously, Ayaka had already shed the shackles brought by her status. At this moment, she was just an ordinary girl named Ayaka.
Shiki looked at the sulking Ayaka, feeling a bit at a loss, because in her impression, Ayaka had always been a well-educated, noble, and elegant person.
But perhaps this current appearance was what she should be like at her age?
Displaying an inappropriate demeanor at a corresponding age wasn't called growth; it was called tragedy.
Premature maturity indicated a premature loss of elder protection, and Shiki was well aware of this.
Growth is often an instantaneous thing, not closely related to age.
Shiki's parents on Earth died in a plane crash, and at that time, she had only recently celebrated her fourteenth birthday.
When attending her parents' funeral, she didn't feel much sadness; instead, her heart was at peace.
It wasn't until she returned home, looking at the empty house, listening to the roaring sound of the washing machine coming from the bathroom late at night, and the half-empty bottle of drink left in the refrigerator...
No one said welcome home to her. When she returned, the lights in the house never turned on, there was no hot meal on the table, and she couldn't hear the sound of TV programs while doing homework.
When she finished a day like this, tears streamed from her eyes like broken pearls.
Precisely because she had experienced it herself, Shiki understood what Ayaka had gone through to have her current personality.
'But speaking of it, how long has it been since I was like that before...'
Looking at Ayaka's back, Shiki fell into deep thought. A healer cannot heal herself. She could help Ayaka find her former self, but she couldn't convince herself.
Suddenly, Shiki felt a cool touch from her hand. She came back to her senses and saw that Ayaka had turned and taken her hand.
"What are you thinking about, Shiki?"
"Nothing, just wondering how much of Inazuma will be left after it's cured." Shiki shook her head.
"Just yesterday, I was attacked by the Tenryou Commission's ninjas. Although their primary target wasn't me, they still made a move against me."
"Attacked? How dare they!" Ayaka exclaimed.
"Then, did you leave any evidence? If accurate, it would be enough to give Kujou Takayuki a hard time."
"I didn't leave any survivors, but I did leave the bodies, and this." Saying this, Shiki pulled out the dull, lifeless Vision from her sleeve.
"A Vision left by a dead ninja, but since its owner is dead, it seems to be useless now." Ayaka said, looking at the Vision in the girl's hand.
"Hmm, yes, but I once heard that a Vision can be re-lit, but as for how to re-light it, I'm not sure. Perhaps it's when a person's wish is strong enough?"
On this point, Shiki was still somewhat uncertain. In the game, Kazuha, because he urgently wanted to protect the Traveler, resonated with his deceased friend's Vision, and with both Anemo and Electro powers, he withstood the Raiden Archon's attack.
The starting point was to protect the Traveler, and to protect the Traveler, he had to withstand the Raiden Archon's attack. From the subsequent complete loss of light from the Vision, it seems the wish to withstand the Raiden Archon's attack was resonated.
A brief flicker, then dissipating due to a different wish, is very reasonable.
"Can a Vision that has lost its light still be re-lit?" Ayaka asked, expressing her confusion.
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