As an Árai foreigner, Shiori almost fit in. His skin was too dark, but his veil concealed that. His hair was covered, so the red didn’t show, but it was black and rich. As an unknown foreign priestess, visiting their high priestess outside of warfare, Shiori raised servants’ whispers in every footstep.

Before their boat touched shore, Umi had listed the behavior and customs expected in Saikasu to the best of her memory. Be conservative in the home of the high priestess, she’d said. Take nothing and give nothing. Do not let anyone read you.

But Shiori kept his umbrella tilted back and his wrists loose, even as he was escorted through the paths of the inner courtyard. Let them see his foreignness. Let them see the angel who came to judge them.

-The Stars Went Out

Shiori goes to have a passive-aggressive chat with the high priestess of Saikasu, for plot reasons, believing he is an angel. Who knows, one day he might even do it in a cleanly-written way. I’m having trouble getting this scene sequenced right, so it doesn’t read very well. I’ll sleek it down and add more flavor once I know what needs to go where. Yuck.