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7:39PM, Bushui Plain, Liyue.
What was that sound? That quiet, yet squeaky sound which could've been an insect's scream for help.
No. Keqing was mistaken. Because as she listened a little longer, she noticed that it rather sounded like music.
"What instrument could it be?" she asked herself, but then questioned why someone would even play an instrument at this time of the day, at a place like this. She knew that there was a Stonehide Lawachurl around so it was definitely way too dangerous for a visionless person.
The purple haired woman decided to go to the direction where the sound was coming from.
"Maybe it's a treasure hoarder?!" she mumbled quietly, but as she thought a little longer, she shook her head, "Hm, probably not. They're always in groups. Sounds like they're alone.."
As she took one step after another, she briefly looked down and paid close attention to her shoes, quickly realising that the sound of her heels on the stone- paved ground could've revealed her presence as well as the trees and high bushes that unconveniently blocked her view. Though, it wasn't surprising that nature was fetching everything back. This place on the edge of Bishui Plains shouldn't have been visited in ages since more monsters came and inhabited the nearby area.
It really must be someone brave. Or maybe it was an animal?
Keqing took a couple more steps, listening to the music which got louder and louder as she moved nearer. Suddenly everything around her was silent. Keqing stopped moving at that very point to focus on her ears.
She heard one step, two steps, three steps.. The steps were getting faster and faster and the sound was becoming louder.
"One with nature!"
As Keqing recognized the strained voice of a young man, her inner alarm clock woke her up and yelled danger nearby. Whoever this person was, he must be in a fight now.
The woman didn't care about her dress being tattered by the poking sticks while she was making her way through the bushes. She didn't even notice how her tights were ripping a bit, making an unpleasant ladder.
As she was almost at the place of the event, she heard the jangling sound of a sword being used.
"Wind strider!" was the loud battle cry that made Keqing flinch a bit. A young man with dark red clothing and hair almost as white as snow suddenly stroke in the air, being carried by the wind only for just moment. He disappeared as quickly as he appeared over the bushes, while Keqing deducted that this man had an anemo vision.
Keqing hid behind a tree and watched the fight that was happening between the man and some Hilichurls. She was impressed how fast he could handle his weapon, almost as if he was rather performing an act of art.
He's definitely not from here, she thought after examining his clothing closely, he must be from Inazuma.
He defeated a few Hilichurls all at once with the power of the wind. A quick slash made the last Hilichurl dissolve in dust, being carried away by a light wind breeze. The look on the man's face eased as he put his sword back inside of its holster which was attached to his side.
Keqing didn't move a single muscle and for some reason, she thought he could even hear the slightest move.
"Hm? Who's joining me at this beautiful evening?" the man said with eyes closed, his hand slowly grabbing the handle of his sword.
Keqing widened her eyes, panicking a little. She thought she was found that very moment but a quiet sigh of relief made it's way out of her mouth as she witnessed more Hilichurls running in their direction.
This was her chance to leave! But.. why did she want to leave? No time for an encounter? No need for help? He seemed like he could handle this situation well, alone.
But she was strangely curious at this particular person.
Why was an Inazuman man strolling around this area all alone, playing some music? Did he get lost? Did he just want some him-time? Or perhaps, was he a runaway?
These questions were overwhelming her, but Keqing wanted to take this chance to leave and turned around with a quick momentum, only to be lifted by strong wind force and getting carried to the place of act.
However she looked at that moment, with messy hair and tattered tights, she landed on both of her feet with grace. She then looked to the serious face of the man who's already positioned combative.
"Will you hold still or will you fight?!" he asked without even warding his glance off the enemies.
The purple haired woman reacted quickly, summoning her sword which was already electrically charged. She could feel the heat coming from the electricity around her blade.
More Hilichurls were suddenly coming from all directions, forming a circle around the two warriors. There were also Samachurls and Mitachurls among them.
"What's your name, swordsman?" Keqing asked while approaching him back-to-back to have a good view on half of the crowd.
He smirked. "It's Kaedehara Kazuha. And now focus!"
The red monster stopped moving as it got electrocuted by her lightning stiletto. One hit was already enough to make the Hilichurl fall into dust.
Kazuha on the other hand, had some trouble fighting an armored Mitachurl while getting shot by cryo-charged arrows.
Keqing noticed his painful groans and took a quick glance in his direction, screaming "Are you alright?!" while trying to fade out the ferocious sounds of fighting Hilichurls.
The young man let out a strained scream while moving his sword so fast not even eyes could pick it up.
"I have a plan!" he then answered. Well, it was not an answer to her question but there was no time.
They didn't even have to talk about the plan, a single serious glance was enough to let Keqing know that the next step was a massacre.
"As one with WIND AND CLOUD!" Kazuha screamed while he exerted a single slash that stroke with the force of the winds and maple leaves being swooshed around.
Keqing reacted quickly as some enemies gathered closer to them. "With sword comes shadow!" was her battle scream before blending into the shadow of her blade and slashing the enemies with plenty thunderclap-blows.
The circling drafts, caused by Kazuha's elemental burst absorbed the elctricity of Keqing's attack, lighting up the nearby area in a light purple color for a short moment. The swirl-effect made sure to kill all enemies inside the radius, again, causing them to fall into nothing.
One single Hilichurl with bow and arrow was still alive, not showing any sign of fear. However, he was dead quicker than one could look. Kazuha threw his sword with one thrust and it flew directly through the enemy's head. His movements looked as elegant as Keqing imagined him to be.
Silence.
"No matter how cool I just looked, now I have to find my sword over there." he laughed and turned around. Keqing was expecting him to do exactly what he said, but to her surprise, he stood still with his back turned to her.
"But first.." he continued, "I have some questions." His voice was friendly-sounding, yet intimidating at that very moment.
"I wasn't spying if that's what you want to know." she quickly said in a serious tone before he could even ask a question. Kazuha turned around and Keqing suddenly noticed the beautiful bright red of his eyes for the first time. Despite the color being fiery and intimidating, the overall look of his face rather radiated a kind and warm energy.
The slightly taller man didn't notice how nervous she actually was but the green leaf, hanging down on a thin branch in her hair. He raised his hand, wanting to get it out of her hair, but he stopped mid-way because she flinched a bit. The purple haired woman realized what he was going to do and went through her pigtails embarrassed with both of her hands.
Kazuha watched the leaf floating down slowly, just to pick it up afterwards. Keqing then watched him stretching the leaf with his thumbs and moving it to his mouth to blow in the middle area.
What? She didn't understand what he was trying to do with a dirty leaf from one of the bushes she hid in.
"I was trying to impress you but-" he shook his head disappointed, "-why did it not work?!" He tried it again after tearing the leaf into a smaller piece and indeed, a quiet but squeaky sound was made. The same sound Keqing heard before. She was actually impressed about his talent but couldn't find good words to describe her admiration without feeling awkward.
"I thought it was an instrument when I heard you play. I would've never guessed it was a leaf."
"Not many people know about leaf whistling. I always call it my 'gifted talent by the anemo archon'."
Both of them were just looking in each other's eyes, even while having an awkward silence.
"Hiding inside the bushes really took your ladylike appearance." Kazuha said with a smirk and pointed at Keqing's ripped tights which caused her face to turn red in embarrassment. This weird encounter really couldn't get worse, she thought.
Kazuha then raised his hand once again, this time a bit slower.
"Uhm, may I?" he asked with an unsure tone to get her permission. She didn't understand what he was referring to, but nodded nonetheless. Her eyes widened as the man's thumb slowly stroked over her cheek to remove the dirt on her face. She felt her heart beating faster with every touch.
He was a stranger yet it felt like they have known each other for a while. Was it the intimacy? Was it the easy-going attitude and cheesy comments he made? She didn't know for sure. But she knew his name, Kaedehara Kazuha. Knowing each other's names was the start of a change.
"I am Keqing."
It was the change from being strangers to being acquaintances.
"That's a pretty name." Kazuha admitted with a slight smile on his face, "Keqing." The way her name was coming out of his mouth was giving her goose bumps. He even repeated it again, so quietly you could hardly hear it.
Keqing didn't even think about asking what he was doing here almost at night, at a dangerous place like this. Though, neither did Kazuha. They were both mesmerized by each other's eyes. Especially Kazuha, who never saw this beautiful diamond-shaped pupil in combination with the intense color of pink before. His hand was still resting on her face, he was frozen in place. At this moment it was very clear that both of them had a romantic interest for each other, but how to do the first step?
"O-Oh, I'm sorry!" Kazuha said after realizing his action. Not only his eyes and clothing were deep red but his face now as well. He couldn't keep the eye contact anymore and scratched his head, feeling a bit uncomfortable. "Ah right, my sword!" he then quickly added and went looking for it in the bushes where he threw it over.
Keqing tried to calm herself down by leaving a deep sigh before helping the man in red with finding his sword. While fumbling around on the ground, he kept on speaking, "You're quite strong, miss Keqing."
"Well, it would be a disaster if I wasn't. After all, I'm the Yuheng of the Liyue Qixing."
"I have no idea what it is but it sounds like you've got a big responsibility!" he laughed and kept on searching in the meanwhile.
"Indeed, I do." She then suddenly remembered an appointment she had this evening before her end of the working day. "And that's why I shouldn't waste time." she continued with a serious tone, "I'm late."
Kazuha got up from the ground. The look on his face screamed ‘You're really going already?!’, his disappointment being very obvious.
"Found it." Keqing picked up his black sword, decorated with beautiful red accents and handed it over with a slight smile.
"Let's see each other again!" Kazuha suddenly said while grabbing the handle of his sword with one hand and Keqing's wrist with his other one, "I bet you still have plenty of questions you want to ask me! I have some too! And I could even teach you how to leaf whistle! And-" While he was listing plenty of reasons to see her again, Keqing couldn't hide a slight smile. A wind breeze allowed some leaves to fall down behind the man. The scenery looked manificent while the sunset was peeking between the trees.
"Okay, fine." she interrupted his speech, "Does tomorrow sound good for you?"
"Yes, yes, absolutely. I'm free all day."
"Okay." Keqing looked down to her wrist as Kazuha loosened the grip. Awkwardness spreaded around them.
"I'll be at Liyue Harbor." Kazuha said after taking a deep breath out of nervousness, "I promise."
"At five?"
"Sounds good."
"Alright."
That's a date, she thought in her mind, not being able to speak it out loud.
"So.. that's a date?" Kazuha took the words from her mind but actually hearing it made her face turn red even more than before.
"See you!" she said as a goodbye and quickly turned around to go away, not even paying attention to his question.
Before Keqing couldn't be seen anymore behind the trees and bushes, Kazuha called after her with a bright smile on his face: "No answer is also an answer! I assume you're saying yes!"
Yes, Kaedehara Kazuha, it's a date.