Chapter Text
Summer might be a bit intimidating or scary at first because of its immediate energy radiating out of nowhere but know that its purpose is for something good. There's nothing to be scared of.
—
Now that the sun has set and the folks have started warning travelers to stay vigilant when walking outside the vicinity of the city, you aimlessly wander in the outskirts, hoping to see something that would spark your interest other than the Kairagis who are just waiting for the right time to terrorize the citizens of Inazuma.
On the first night of your stay in an unfamiliar region, you decided it was a good idea to split up with the traveler for a few hours.
The sound of something crackling and popping had caught you off-guard which caused you to take a few steps back, frantically looking for the source of the sudden noise until something from above captured your attention.
It was a white light quickly ascending from below, followed by a hissing sound, as if it was in a haste, briskly wanting to be one with the heavens.
Your eyes grew wide at how a single light managed to cause an explosion and now owning a bright color as the other lights followed, creating a glorious sight in the sky.
You thought the stars themselves only complimented the darkest time of the day but you were proven wrong.
The constant noise from the burst of colors brought you back to reality.
Oh no. No, no, no. The same words echoed in your mind, unable to think straight due to the unpleasant memories that were starting to linger around your mind.
It was indeed a satisfying sky to behold but there was one problem.
Stop, please. Your hands were busy covering your ears in an attempt to drown out the sounds.
You hate loud noises.
It reminded you of home.
A figure stood below the scene, admiring the show in silence which sparked your curiosity but instead of approaching them, you started to walk away from the ruction as your eyes remained on the silhouette.
—✿—
The thump of your friend's beetle had brought you back to the present, a little startled.
You take your onikabuto away from the table, leaving a red-horned oni whining and a few children confused.
"Hey! We're not done yet!" The oni, known as Itto, huffs and points at your beetle. "Put 'lightning queen' back down!"
"I'm surrendering. 'Fierce hurricane' is gonna lose anyway," You feign a yawn as if you were bored to hit his nerve.
The children circling the two of you hide their giggles at your comment.
Under a hot summer day, what would be the best activity for you to do other than having an onikabuto fight across Yae Publishing Bookhouse near the mask rack for the kids' entertainment with a childish oni?
"Why you—! That's not fair! I want a rematch!"
"No, thank you. Just take your win," You smile at him, eyes lighting up when you lose your focus at your friend to see a certain strawberry blonde-haired lady approaching from behind him to examine the commotion that you and Itto have caused.
"Now, who do we have here," She places her hands on her hips, each giving a glance of the people who were with you. "The people who lit the fuse being a gang leader and a writer? Very unusual, indeed."
An oni and a gang leader being Itto and the writer that she mentioned being you.
It wasn't like writing was your job. You just picked it up as a hobby and decided to write a book one day. The book was published but it didn't sell well. You didn't care much although after that, you never wrote a novel again. For you, it was too much of a hassle.
Now all you do is go on trips in different places to avoid your admittance on being untalented for having a poorly made book with no more plans in life.
"Yoimiya, what a surprise," You greet her as you patted your onikabuto's shell, "Did you need something?"
The person who's been setting off fireworks day and night, being stated as the best pyrotechnician, and is titled as "the queen of summer festivals": Yoimiya Naganohara.
People all over Inazuma love her and rightfully so. She's known to be kind, caring and a bit of a chatterbox to almost everyone in the city—even the Raiden Shogun acknowledges her hard work.
That unusual night with the light show didn't turn out to be as normal as you thought since the mysterious person you saw standing below the scene that day turned out to be Yoimiya. It was your first encounter with her.
As always, she was there to test out the custom fireworks she made, oblivious of your presence and had to chase you to apologize for the sudden scare.
"You, of course," She laughs. "Silly, did you forget? We're supposed to eat lunch with the traveler today."
Thanks to the traveler's hard work—which was an understatement—the Sakoku Decree was put to a halt for the better. Now, people from all over Teyvat are welcome to visit the nation once again—including you.
Who wouldn't want to visit Inazuma? It's been one of your dreams to come here for a vacation.
You've only met the traveler a few times back in Mondstadt and only thought of her as someone who would only pass by and quickly disappear in your life. But when she paid you a visit one day and told you about Inazuma, you realized that she would be sticking in your life much longer than expected.
You weren't complaining though, it's the traveler for Celestia's sake!
"Oh, that's right," You stare at the sky for a second, trying to recall your plans for later. "I actually did almost forget."
"Well, you're lucky I'm here to remind you."
"I am." You agree with a nod.
Although being a pyrotechnician, Yoimiya is still known for getting along with a lot of people—and truth be told, that included you as well.
Once the sky has returned to its usual calm presence that night, you clearly remembered the sound of her footsteps nearing you as she called for your attention.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry that startled you!" She exclaimed, gently placing both of her hands on your shoulders and continued to ask questions until you reached the guest house where you were staying at.
You were a bit weirded out by her at first because she didn't want to leave you alone unless you reached your place safely—as if you didn't have a vision and a weapon of your own.
Due to the long walk you had shared with the strawberry blonde-haired lady, she got to learn a bit about you—like your discomfort towards loud noises, why you're here in Inazuma, who you're with, and where you're staying at—which was a creepy question without context.
Which brings you to the next four days' events where you slowly got to know other people with the help of either the traveler or Yoimiya.
Lumine was the one who introduced you to Arataki Itto when you were strolling on the bustling streets of Inazuma City with her and just coincidentally bumped into him.
Now in some random circumstance, you brought yourself into this, playing with children and Itto who constantly makes up new nicknames for himself.
"Itto, do you want to come along?" Yoimiya places a hand on her hip, patiently waiting for the oni's reply.
Before you walked over to Yoimiya's side, you gave your beetle to one of the kids as a keepsake for them even though you spent two hours looking for "lightning queen".
Itto declines her offer, saying that he still wants to play with the children but by the looks of it, he just didn't want anything to do with Yoimiya right now.
Lumine once mentioned to you that the two would somehow end up having silly showdowns when they're playing with the kids so maybe he's restraining himself from starting any fuss.
"See you!" You wave to him as a farewell but he only replied with a playful grunt, acting like he was still mad at you for being "unfair".
"So, how do you like this place so far?" Lumine asks during the meal at Kiminami Restaurant.
You were sandwiched between the traveler and Yoimiya, seating-wise. The food that were served on the table looked foreign to you. Paimon says it's called a sashimi platter—she's the one who ordered all the food for you.
"I've been enjoying the sceneries and interacting with people so, I guess you can say I'm having fun. I still prefer staying at your home though," You reply, focused on the chopsticks that you were almost getting the hang of using.
By home—you meant her magical teapot. She obtained it from an Adeptus in Liyue as thanks for saving the city from harm. She says that when you touch it, you get transported inside the item, which reveals a vast space that included a house. You haven't been inside before but now you really wanted to check it out.
"I told you, I only declined so you can live the full traveling experience," She smiles and averts her attention to her food, "Here, try this."
As you received Lumine's offer by taking it with your chopsticks, you glance at Paimon who was sitting beside the traveler, expecting her to tell you the name of the food that the traveler was offering you.
For the past five days that you've been staying here, it was natural for you to only have little knowledge of the dishes served here in Inazuma—unlike Paimon who claimed to have eaten all of the special dishes here in the span of one week.
Paimon proudly crosses her arms and says, "That's sakura tempura. It's a dish deep-fried food with marinated sakura blossom petals included in the batter!"
"You really do know a lot about food, Paimon," Yoimiya smiles in awe, her head turned to where Paimon was floating.
"That's just because she eats a lot," Lumine teases.
"Hey! I call it educational eating!" The floating child replies in defense.
As the two started to bicker, you turn to Yoimiya who was peacefully watching the emerging chaos and asked about her plans after lunch.
She then tells you that she was going back to her working routine—testing fireworks, making fireworks, delivering fireworks, and everything else that includes fireworks. Even if she wanted to, she can't take you with her when she's doing her job because she knows that you don't like being anywhere near noisy areas.
"You're so hard working, Miss 'Queen of the Summer Festivals'," You chaffed, slowly resting your elbows on the table. "When will I see you again after this, hm?"
"Who knows?" She lets out a small laugh.
The last time you saw her was two days ago at a village in Inazuma City as you were feeding the strays beneath a large sakura tree with a stranger while she was delivering a custom made firework to one of the residents.
To be fair, you did get to constantly see Yoimiya ever since you ran into her on your first night here.
"Geez, there's more to Inazuma than just Yoimiya, [Name]," Paimon butts in but then looks at the traveler for a question, "Hey, should we take her to Watatsumi Island? Let her chase crabs and collect unagis or something."
You raise a brow at her suggestion. She was starting to treat you like a child—but it would be fun doing those activities in the shore.
"I think Watatsumi Island is too far, Paimon. Maybe next time. Why don't we start with Chinju Forest?"
"That sounds like a great idea," You nod at her in agreement.
You haven't been there before because you were a bit scared to travel alone. Just the thought of being in a woodland that has legends about demons residing in it brings chills down your spine. From afar, it always looked like the sun never sets or rises there, as if it was forever enveloped in eternal night. But, if you were fortunate enough and the plan to visit the forest takes place today, maybe you can pay the Grand Narukami Shrine a visit.
"So, it's settled then! To Chinju Forest we go!" The floating child cheers and began emptying her bowl in a hasty manner.
The walk to Chinju Forest was long and it almost bored you until you and your friends made a stop at a big statue who's name was Iori. Paimon and the traveler tried talking to it but it didn't reply. They said that maybe he was shy because you were there but you shrugged it off and continued to wander with them.
"You and Yoimiya have gotten close, huh," Lumine mentions out of the blue once she finished off a Fatui Cicin Mage, leaving you and Paimon cheering for her victory. She swung her sword so fast and easily that you didn't get the chance to jump in the action. "It felt like forever when you first approached us to talk about her and saying that she 'really creeped you out'." She chuckles as she dusts off her clothes.
You playfully roll your eyes at her, "Please, it's only been five days and she followed me all the way to the guest house that night; how was I supposed to word it out?"
"She followed you because she was worried about you. You don't get to see someone freaking out over fireworks everyday." Paimon retorts. "But at least you got along with her in the end—you got along too well though."
"You don't think it's a good thing?" Lumine asks.
"It is a good thing! But Paimon thinks it's going to end up... not so good."
You shake your head with a smile, not believing every bit of her concern, ready to prove her wrong.