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Ayato takes a deep breath as he finally puts his foot on Liyue’s ground.
Liyue is still as lively as ever, just like what he remembered years ago. But yet, the changes are apparent, still, how the new stalls and make-shift market is now swarming the harbor with colorful banners and various scents of street food.
Ayato’s feet are itching to run to each stall, to see and buy everything in sight. As he stares at a seafood stall in the distance, he gulps visibly. Surely, there must be enough time for him to stroll around, right…?
“Master Ayato, we have to meet the Qixing right now.”
At the voice of his manager, Ayato depletes quickly. Apparently, no, there’s no time. Sighing, the young master nods his head and offers him a sweet smile. “Alright. Lead the way, please.”
His expression remains calm and guarded. His intense cold blue eyes make people think he’s a very serious and unapproachable person, thus making them unconsciously make way for him.
What they didn’t know is that though his demeanor regards him as someone too powerful, what’s truly going on in his mind right now is just him picturing himself eating a nice plate of steak and seafood skewers.
“After the meeting,” says Ayato to one of his guards with his soft voice, “I wanted to take a rest at the inn. Can you make sure it’s ready by the time I finish?”
“Of course, Master.” the guard smiles back at him.
Working with Ayato, he thinks, is great. Especially when they’re in an abroad business like going to a foreign country like this. His Master looks happier, almost unburdened. He would be acting way more casual when there’s no pair of eyes scanning him every second like he always experienced back in Inazuma.
In a foreign country like this, Ayato can pretend easily. He can almost feel like he’s an ordinary person who’s just traveling across the world for fun — not someone as powerful as the head of a clan who’s here for foreign relations business.
When they reach the entrance of the Qixing office, they are greeted by Ganyu, the secretary whom Ayato knows very well by now.
After he bows a little, he smiles. “Good day, Ms. Ganyu. I’m glad we can meet again. You look dashing as always, milady.”
Blushing, Ganyu bows to him too. “Thank you for the compliment, Mr. Ayato. Come, Tianquan is waiting for you.”
The guard stands outside of the office, keeping his eyes trained to the shoulder of the Head of Yashiro commission before the door gets closed.
Ayato keeps his hands linked behind him as he’s being ushered by Ganyu to meet Ningguang. Upon seeing the expensively-clothed lady, he bows down and greets her. “It’s always nice meeting you, Lady Ningguang.”
The Tianquan lets out a small smirk. “Let’s get down to business, shall we?”
*
Even after he’s escorted safely to the inn, those scents of seafood skewers back in Liyue harbor still lingers in his mind.
He planned to sleep the day away, especially after the business talks with the Qixing went especially smooth. He’s grateful for the agility that the Qixing staff has, everything is done rather quickly that he only needs to jot down his signature on a pile of papers.
Tomorrow, he just needs to attend a business dinner with Keqing. It is just out of politeness, Ayato knows, but norms and customs are important to Liyue’s tradition. So, he takes no time to accept it. Liyue’s cuisine is not one to miss out on, for sure.
But the thing is, what Ayato truly craved for ever since his arrival is the street food stalls on the Liyue harbor. He knows that if he really wants to, he could just ask his guards to buy it for him. Or, he could ask them to accompany him. But he doesn’t want any of that. He knows very well that the people will look at him wearily, and it makes them move away.
He just wanted to blend in with the people. Not receiving strange yet scared looks is truly a pleasure for Ayato.
It seems that this craving can no longer be denied. And so, he opens his door and finds a guard standing idly in front of his room. “Hey,” he greets, surprising the guard, making him flinch. The young master giggles. “Sorry. Anyway, you can rest in your room. Or do whatever you want to do, really. I don’t need guarding.”
“But Maste—”
Ayato musters his sickeningly sweet smile to the guards. “No need to worry. I don’t need to be monitored for now. I will just sleep the day away, so really, no need. I won’t stall around anywhere,” he smiles again, knowing full well that no one can really deny his smile. “I will call out your name if I do need anything. You and other guards should rest while you can. This is an order.”
When he sees the blush starting to creep on the guard’s cheeks, Ayato knows he wins. “I—”
“Have a nice rest.” Says Ayato, winking before he closes the door.
Inside, he rummages his bag to find casual clothes he had brought in secret. I’m getting that seafood skewer, no matter what , he thinks. Wow, even thinking about it makes his mouth water.
Ayato carefully eavesdrops the guards outside, to make sure that they’re gone before he gets out. Outside, he hears the rustlings of the guards. Maybe he should wait a couple more minutes just to be safe.
When he’s about to open the door, he hears someone mutter quietly, “ Holy archons, Master Ayato just winked at me.”
“So.. he’s still frozen over that ?” Ayato giggles just as quietly.
“That would be 500 mora, sir.”
Smiling widely, Ayato reaches into his pockets to pay for the food he just ordered. “Here,” he gives out 700 mora to the seller. “Please keep the change. Can I add more sauce, though?”
The seller gawks at him. “Ah, sure, sure, sir,” she hurriedly pours him the sour sauce onto his skewers. “You can have five more sticks with the money, sir, are you sure?”
“I’m sure, I’m too full anyway,” he smiles. “Thank you for the food. It’s really delicious.”
The lady behind the stove smiles with a star-struck expression in her eyes. “Thank you, sir! Waah, what a sweet candy to the eye you are, sir. Where are you from?”
“Ina—” he shakes his head and crosses his legs as he sits on the stool. “I’m from the village nearby.”
“I see, I see. I’ve never seen you around before.”
Ayato is honestly appalled. He doesn’t expect it to work, but turns out wearing casual clothes and untidy hair really makes him look like a commoner. The only striking feature is his blue hair and height.
“Yeah,” Ayato casually lies, munching on his skewers, “I don’t really go around town.”
After thanking the seller once again, he stands up to leave.
Now that he has the freedom after sneaking out from his guards, he decides to spend his precious time strolling around every stall there is.
He thinks about getting his sister a gift. Maybe Thoma would like it too. Or even Yae, maybe she’d love Liyue’s literature. With this intention in mind, he guides himself to the bookstore upstairs.
The bookstore is rather an open-spaced store. A casual place with a few bookcases with shelves filled with stacks of books. The scent is somewhat strong, Ayato takes notice; maybe it’s because the books are rather… old.
He greets the woman, Ji Fang, who looks at him with weary eyes. He awkwardly smiles and adverts his gaze. Her stare is a bit scary, even for him. She looks like she wants to say something, or to see if he does something suspicious.
He ignores her and walks around the bookshelves, eyeing the spine of each book. A book caught his attention and he ought to pick it up. Before he can read the blurb, her voice rings out: “Pay before you read!”
Ayato jumps in surprise. He turns to her, nodding and smiling awkwardly. “Yes, ma’am,”
A snicker is heard from the row in front of Ayato. He raises his eyebrow, did they just laugh at me?
He peeks his head out to the bookcase in front of him to see who’s mocking him, and he finds a man holding a book, staring back at him through the pages. Ayato says nothing, but he sighs.
The man has a really captivating pair of eyes. It’s brown and gold, almost like it’s adorned with freckles of real gold. Though he only stared at it for a minute, he feels dizzy already. He shakes his head and goes to pay for his book.
“Who is that person?” he asks after he paid for his book.
“Who?” Ji Fang looks around. Her eyes find Zhongli, who has a book in his hand. “Oh, he is a consultant in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor.”
That doesn’t answer his question. So, he asks again, “His name is…?”
A cough behind him startled Ayato. “Why don’t you ask me yourself?”
He immediately looks behind him, and words stuck in his throat. “I—”
The man says nothing after that. Instead, he goes to the reading corner and sits there with his book.
“How is it that he can read the book before paying and I can’t?” whispers Ayato.
Ji Fang laughs. “Oh my, you must be new here,” she says. Ayato scrunches his forehead. “He has a membership.”
Right….
“Is there nowhere else to sit?” ask Ayato as his eyes scan for a place to sit that’s not in front of the man. He’s far too embarrassed.
“Nope, sorry.”
Ayato thinks this might be the battle of dominance.
What, just because that man is exceptionally pretty and his eyes looks really captivating and his voice is so deep and rich and velvety, doesn’t mean he rules the wor—
“Come, sit,” the man says, suddenly looking up at Ayato. Oh, archons. “Your legs must be tired.”
“Thank you.” Ayato huffs. He thinks he must’ve hid his embarrassment well enough, but the blush is still ever-so-apparent on his face.
He has no choice but to read his book in silence. He even forgot that it’s supposed to be a gift to Yae, but he finds himself opening the seal and reads the book first.
Fifteen minutes after getting lost in the book, he unconsciously starting to say things out loud, his habit of having an internal monologue gets out as he comments, “This isn’t the right portrayal of Inazuma at all,”
“That’s because it’s fiction,” a voice answers him.
“Yeah, bu—” Ayato looks up, realizing that he’s still in that man’s vicinity. “Ah. Yeah, you’re right.”
The golden eyed man smiles at him, lowering his book to look at Ayato properly. A hint of curiosity sparks in his eyes. “How do you know Inazuma so well?”
“I’m from Inazuma.”
Ayato answers it too fast, and when he realizes he has spoiled his identity, his eyes widen in panic. “I—”
“That makes sense,” the man chuckles. Ayato notices that this man exudes an authoritative aura to him. He somewhat reminded Ayato of the Raiden Shogun. He continues, “You do have Inazuman lilt. Your wandering eyes, too. There’s so much to see here, in Liyue. Make sure you get to see all of them before you get back.”
“How do you kno—”
He puts his book down on the table, and pushes it closer to Ayato. With a smile, he says, “This book is a nice read. It tells the story of Liyue. A historical fiction, but its history is well written and stays true. You can have it.”
Ayato looks at him, allowing himself to once again stare at those beautiful eyes. “Woah, thank you, Mr…..?”
“You’re welcome,” the man answers. He completely avoided the question, didn't he? “I have to go for my duties. I hope we can meet again some time.”
That man smiles at him, his earrings dangling prettily. Pretty, like everything that he is.
Just like that, Ayato makes it a promise to go meet him again, at least once before he leaves for Inazuma.
*
The next day, he uses the same exact method of persuasion to his guards.
A wink from Master Ayato is an efficient tactic to be used for an escape plan, Ayato notes.
After changing into another pair of casual clothes and messing with his hair a little, he gets out to stroll around the Liyue harbor. Those skewers are truly the best dish he had for a while.
He orders five sticks of seafood skewers, and then calmly munching on it when he hears a familiar voice beside him. A velvety, cool and composed voice of a man rings out in the middle of the crowd, and it makes Ayato pause his munch.
“Sir, sorry, we can’t sell this to you if you don’t have mora.” the seller says to him.
When Ayato looks up to see who she's talking to, his eyes widen. That man from the library.
Not a hint of shame is shown in his expression. Instead, that man looks very convincing and he exudes such a powerful aura to him.
“Oh, mora…” he says calmly, like it’s an honest mistake. “About that… I’m pretty much out of mora.”
From this view, Ayato notices that this man is exceptionally tall, and his composure seems so steady and calm. He still thinks he might be a military personnel sometime in his life.
He decides to stand up and approaches the seller. “Uh, hi,” he says, the seller who has a stinky eye toward the man turns lovey-dovey eyed to Ayato. “If it’s possible, I can pay for his stuff,” Ayato offers a gentle smile to the seller and the man, who looks mildly surprised seeing him. “Is that okay?”
The seller looks confused at the two men. But she obeys anyway, packing up some stuff that the man has ordered. Ayato paid for the stuff, and thanked the seller.
Upon receiving his package, the man looks rather enamored. “Very well, thank you for your kindness, mister….?”
“Kamisato,” he answers, smiling until his eyes turn into crescent moons. “Kamisato Ayato. Ayato is fine.”
The man smiles back at him, his smile is so subtle yet so warm. “Okay, Ayato. My name is Zhongli,” his smile gets bigger each time he’s talking to Ayato, “How am I to repay this kindness of yours? Surely you're not giving it for free, are you?”
“Consider this as my gift back to you, since you’ve gifted me with a really good book yesterday,” Ayato answers instead. “But if you want to.. you can repay me by giving me a tour to Liyue. Surely you know every inch of Liyue, right?”
A smile is blossoming on Zhongli’s face. “A tour, you say? Of course, the pleasure is mine.”
If smiles are flowers, Liyue just witnessed two blossoming flowers just now. “That’s really great,” he says. “Can you show me the places that were written in the book you gave me? I’m really curious to see it with my own eyes. The description makes it sound so lovely.”
“You are,” Ayato looks at him, bewildered. Zhongli coughs. “I mean, it is indeed lovely. Where do you want to go?”
With the amount of sudden warmth and comfort this man’s presence can bring, Ayato nearly says, I will go wherever you want us to go. But he holds his tongue, it is far too cringy and needy of him, wow. He couldn’t believe himself. “Hmm, Qingce Village piqued my interest the most.”
“I can accompany you,” Zhongli says. “You’re very lucky, today is my day off.”
“I am lucky, indeed.” Ayato says, trailing beside Zhongli.
…. Turns out, he’s not all that lucky. And it’s not a coincidence that it is Zhongli’s day off. No, because Hu Tao is running all around Liyue’s harbor screaming out Zhongli’s name, as he went absent when she needed him to meet his client.
What a man, Zhongli is.
*
Qingce village offers him a view so beautiful he had to rub his eyes to make sure he’s not staring at a painting. It is that beautiful.
Ayato tells Zhongli these exact thoughts, and Zhongli laughs. “I knew you’d like it here.”
“Yeah. Though it’s a bit tiring going up here, I’m not disappointed at all,” says Ayato, smiling. “Thank you, Zhongli.”
Zhongli rubs his shoulders, making him feel the sudden electricity. “I told you it’s my pleasure, no?”
From the tail of his eyes, he sees someone approaching them.
An old woman, standing idly in some sort of a lodge or town hall. When Zhongli catches sight of her, he bows and greets her. “Good afternoon, Granny Ruoxin!”
Ayato bows along, and walks closer to her.
“Ayato, this is Granny Ruoxin. She’s the community leader here. She used to be an actress in Heyu Tea House a long time ago,” Zhongli introduces him. The old woman looks at Zhongli with eyes full of adoration. “How are you, Granny?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine. Good,” she says with a raspy voice. “What are you two doing here?”
“I wanted to see Liyue’s scenery, Granny,” Ayato says. “Also, nice to meet you. Back in Inazuma, I advised the officials to make a tea house, too. The name is Komore Tea House. I made it because I loved tea, especially milk tea. Have you tried it?”
Zhongli looks at the side of Ayato’s face with an unreadable expression. It’s like so many things run on his mind, but if Ayato were to pick an emotion that best represented his expression right now, it would be endearment.
It seems like the both of them have one thing in common: their love for tea and all about it. Seeing them talk makes Zhongli feel all warm inside, like watching a reunion of old friends.
After spending an hour or so, they went back to the Liyue harbor. Seeing as it is already nearing dusk, Zhongli proposes that they go to a secret spot that overlooks the harbor. “What do you say?”
“I would like to go,” Ayato looks at him excitedly. It’s obvious that he has fallen in love with Liyue. (And maybe, just maybe, also with the man with golden eyes and velvety voice who introduces him to Liyue, but Zhongli doesn’t need to know that yet.) “But I have a dinner planned just after dusk. I’m afraid we don’t have much time.”
There’s a pang of disappointment in Zhongli’s chest, but he smiles instead. “That’s okay. We can spend more time here some other time.”
Ayato smiles.
They both sit at a wooden bench near the Liyue harbor, in a tall mountain just above the Qixing office. The view looks just as beautiful, he can see almost every light in the harbor.
“That ship is arriving,” Zhongli suddenly fills the silence. “See the flag? That means that ship is bringing tons of precious stones.”
The cypress trees behind them are swinging loudly, and the air is starting to get cold. “That one, with white flags, is carrying livestock.”
Ayato nods, looking out at the sea. “Can you give me business advice, Zhongli?” he jokes.
Zhongli laughs at him, “I would tell you one thing or two about business in Liyue,” he says, “One, never ask for business advice to a man who does not carry a single mora in his pocket.”
Ayato laughs out loud, his shoulders shaking. “Funny,” he says after taking a few breaths in between his laugh. “What’s the second advice?”
“I have no idea just yet,” says Zhongli, his eyes sparkling with playfulness. “You have to ask me in two weeks.”
Ayato goes a bit quiet at that. “Ah, it seems that I don’t have much time. I’m leaving tomorrow.”
“That’s exactly why,” Zhongli looks at him, still in his silly tone and smirk. “You have to come back here again, and ask me then.”
The young master looks up at him. His intense blue eyes staring deep down into the abyss of golden freckles that are Zhongli's eyes. “Can’t you write to me through a letter instead?”
“I would love it more if I can see you again, but that works too,” Zhongli says. “You endeared me, Ayato.”
Ayato feels himself blushing. “You, most of all,” Golden eyes staring at his blue ones, “You fascinate me.”
He lets out an awkward cough. Then, he says, “A letter it is, then. It’s quite unusual for me to write, or even to receive a letter, however, I don’t hate the idea. Feel free to send me letters, Ayato. And so, expect me to send you letters from now on. I shall be happy to receive one, and to write to you lots more.”
A comfortable silence engulfs them.
Ayato smiles. “You know what, Zhongli. I have this new trick to sneak out from my guards,”
“What is it?” asks Zhongli.
Then, Ayato goes quiet. Zhongli raises his eyebrow and—
Ayato winks at him.
Zhongli goes rigid as stone, then he mutters loudly, “Oh, fuck. ”
Ayato throws his head back and laughs, “Archons, don’t swear.”
“I am the archon,” Zhongli inaudibly says. “Wow. That makes sense. I get why your guards let you out.”
The younger man teases him by wiggling his eyebrows.
When Zhongli finally sobered up, he said, “You charmed me to no end, Ayato.”
Ayato smiles. I hope you are.
*
They take a quick route to go back to the inn, considering that Ayato’s guards must’ve lost their minds trying to find the lost young master.
“Archons, they must think I’m abducted or something,” he says worriedly. They take longer strides and faster steps. Upon reaching the intersection of the inn, Ayato stops him. “I’m afraid we have to part ways here, Zhongli.”
He nods as Ayato continues, “Thank you for the journey we had today. Truly, it is such a memorable experience that I don’t think I’d forget. I didn’t expect to have met you and seen everything I saw on this trip. My sister would be thrilled to hear all about it. Thank you for the book, too, I will make sure I keep it safely.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Ayato. Have we might meet again in the future, I shall be here to walk around with you again,” he offers him a smile. “Have a safe departure tomorrow. I truly wish to meet you again. Come back to Liyue when you have time,”
“I most certainly will, Zhongli,” he promises. Either to Zhongli or to himself, he doesn’t know. “Where can I meet you again?”
“Here. Or in Wangsheng Funeral Parlor. You’d find me there,” Zhongli looks at him, there’s a glint of sadness, but a hopeful gaze is overshadowing it. “That, but most likely, I would find you first. The seas of Liyue have known you, they will deliver the news of your arrival to me real fast.”
“Thank you so much, Zhongli. I w—”
“ There he is! Mr. Ayato! There—” A scream is heard in the distance.
Ayato closes his eyes, he knows they’ve seen him. He wishes to say more things to Zhongli, but he realizes he couldn’t. Not with all those guards chasing after him.
“I should take my leave,” says Ayato. His voice is evident of disappointment. “I wish to see you again some time. Please be careful on your way back.”
“Same goes to you, Kamisato Ayato,” Zhongli smiles at him, “I wish you a good night.”
And with those temporary farewells, they go to their separate ways.
There’s no time to be sad, or to regret things.
Not when the both of them are sure that this encounter will be reunited once again.
There’s nothing to be sad about, not even the unspoken words—
because deep down they knew it all along, from the very beginning.
The goodbyes are just temporary.
They’ll meet again like they always do.
***