Chapter Text
That fucking bitch.
Honestly, Scaramouche wasn’t at all surprised that Childe bailed out on him, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be annoyed at the ginger. Come to think of it, when wasn’t he annoyed with Childe. He could already feel the wrinkles from frustration on his face starting to form as he read the texts on his phone.
Childe 1:05
Hey so I kind of wanted to have a single room for myself so…I got one! Now we can both get our own separate rooms!
Scaramouche 1:05
You fucking dumbass
Childe 1:06
What the fuck is pissing you off now?
Scaramouche 1:06
That means that I have to get a random roommate
Childe 1:06
Wdym?
Scaramouche 1:07
Are you deaf or just stupid
Childe 1:07
We’re literally just texting
i can’t hear you
Scaramouche 1:07
The point still stands
Childe 1:07
I still don’t get it
Scaramouche 1:07
How tf did you get into college with negative iq
Childe 1:09
Hey! I- I-
Well at least i have a bf
Scaramouche 1:09
That’s just bc you pay him a bunch
mf rich people
Childe 1:11
Huh?
Scaramouche 1:11
Nvm
You’re too stupid to understand
Anyways that means i’ll fucking have to get a random roomate bc you left
Childe 1:11
No i was your roommate and left so now it’s just you in the dorm dumbass
Scaramouche 1:12
How tf did you get stupider after i explained it to you
Childe 1:12
You’re the one who doesn’t fucking understand dumbass
Scaramouche 1:12
Nvm i give up on explaining it to you
Childe 1:13
Hey! Wait! I needed to tell you smth!
Scaramouche 1:13
Stfu im going back to sleep
Childe 1:54
Oh…i get it now
Scaramouche couldn’t tell if Childe was really just this dumb or he actually knew what would happen but didn’t care.
He already knew that Childe paid his way into Liyue University, not that it mattered much to him. He could care less about how people got accepted into this school as long as he was allowed in.
Honestly, Scaramouche was willing to go anywhere that would take him. He only had one condition. His school needed to be in any of the 7 nations of Teyvat except Inazuma. He had lived in that archon forsaken place for the past 18 years of his life and he was ready to move somewhere where the weather wasn’t complete shit all the time.
He had applied to at least one school in every nation including Inazuma (though that was just because Ei forced him too). Surprisingly he got accepted into all the schools he applied to including the prestigious Liyue University. Out of all the nations Liyue was definitely his first choice. Culturally it was the closest to Inazuma because of the proximity between the two nations when Inauzma was compared to the rest and he had been to Liyue many times on vacations so he was somewhat familiar with the nation or at least the capital, Liyue Harbor.
Although he didn’t want to admit it, the main reason he had gone to Liyue Harbor was because that was where his friends were going.
Somehow Childe had been accepted, probably using his family’s money along with Signora who definitely had the smarts to get into the famed school when she applied herself. As for Scaramouche, he was quite surprised when he had been accepted.
He was one of those kids who never studied for anything or paid attention in class, but was able to obtain straight A’s without any effort. He expected to get into an at least decent school, but not into Liyue University. His mother, Ei, was always pestering him about doing extracurriculars. Supposedly they were all that colleges cared for now. He didn’t know nor did he care. He got accepted into Liyue University without doing any.
Actually, one of the reasons that he wanted to get out of Inazuma was his mother.
Ei had raised him as a single mother from when he was born. He didn’t know much about his father nor did he care. Ei never wanted to talk about it and he knew to respect her boundary on that.
He knew that his mother tried her best to raise him, but their relationship was strained.
He knew that she resented him in some way.
She had never meant to have a child, especially with someone who obviously didn’t love her enough to stay around.
He could tell she still had some issues with trust. Her relationship with Yae Miko could only be described as rocky at best.
She had been in the prime of her life when she had Scaramouche or rather he had been named Kunikuzushi then.
He knew that with his birth, all of her hopes and dreams were crushed and swept away into a closet never to be opened again. She never openly said anything to him about regretting having him, but he could tell that she harbored some bitterness against him.
He wasn’t any child that would be able to replace all the prospects of hopes and dreams of young life. She was always disappointed in him. Maybe she was disappointed in herself too. She always told him that he was doing something wrong or he needed to be doing something else. He stopped trying to satisfy her demands years ago.
The only time he felt he truly made her satisfied was him was when he told her about his acceptance letter. Even then though, she didn’t give him any outstanding praise. It was just a simple casual, “Oh…good job!” and then she had gone back to browsing whatever she usually did on her phone. Not even a hug or anything, Scaramouche couldn’t remember the last time she had given him one. He didn’t need it anyways.
He knew it wasn’t his fault, but he knew it wasn’t her fault completely either.
Getting away from her would be some kind of escapism. Getting out of Inazuma would be some kind of escapism.
The good memories he had in Inazuma had long passed. He couldn’t remember the last time he felt actually happy about something. It probably was back when…aw forget it he was long gone anyways.
Sure, he had fun with Childe and Signora, but it was never anything exceptional. There was always some kind of sadness or not even sadness, just dullness lurking on his brain like a parasite that never went away. He saw everything through gray tinted lenses. Nothing was shining vibrantly anymore.
Maybe leaving Inauzma would change that, maybe it wouldn’t.
Whatever the case was he would have to deal with his new roommate.
Fucking Childe.
Fucking rich people.
He didn’t understand how someone as smart as Zhongli could put up with someone as dumb as Childe. It just didn’t make any sense at all. Despite what he said earlier, he could tell that Zhongli did actually like Childe for his non-existent attributes, not just his money. Either that or he was just really good at hiding it.
Of course Childe would switch dorms two days before it was move in day. Scaramouche wouldn’t have time to find another roommate before then. Hopefully if he got lucky enough he wouldn’t get one, but universities always tried to suck all their students into the black hole of debt so they would pack their dorms as tightly as possible.
His flight was tomorrow night. It was a red eye. He would arrive in Liyue around sunrise. That meant he only had to deal with Inazuma for a bit more than a day.
He needed to pack…but sleeping seemed more appealing right now anyways.
And of course he had to have the weirdest fucking dream in a long while.
It was some random ass playground.
He could tell it was somewhere in Inazuma still since the sky was purple and the musty smell of damp wood chips reached his nose.
It was midday, the sun burned holes through the clouds.
On the playground there was a golden yellow tube swirl slide, a set of monkey bars, the usual set of swings that always looked like they were going to fall off the next time someone used them, and a creaky blue seesaw to the side.
Beads of sweat roll off of his forehead. Despite the supposed recent rain, he can feel the heat’s stickiness cling to his clothes. He’s simply dressed with only a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. Just the usual.
He took shelter from the sun under a nearby tree along the outskirts of the playground. It was empty, there was no one else except him there. Good. He didn’t want there to be anyone else anyways.
There wasn’t much to do here. And he wasn’t going to go playing on the playground.
After a few moments of fishing around in his pocket, he couldn’t find his phone. Great.
He was in the middle of some unknown playground with no entertainment. He’d still rather stand under a tree with nothing to do than go ride the swings under the burning heat of the sun. Maybe he could take a nap now anyways. The summer heat always made him feel that all too familiar restless drowsiness.
The ground was still slightly moist when Scaramouche sat down, his head supported by the sturdy trunk of the tree. The gentle winds played with his bangs while carrying the scent of freshly cut grass.
The sun disappeared from his sight as did everything else when his eyelids shut close. Right now all he wanted was to be carried away by the gentle summer breeze.
He awoke quickly with a start.
It hadn’t even felt like he had slept for more than a second, yet he felt completely refreshed.
The burning summer heat was gone, instead it was replaced by the autumnal winds running with the leaves across the ground.
He could smell the faint scent that comes before the storm. That slight muskiness mixed in with floral notes.
He looked at the tree above him. How much the leaves had changed between the seasons.
Sparkling green leaves were replaced by bright crimson ones hovering in the wind above him. A few already turned brown as they made their descent to the ground.
The sky was reddish orange, almost amber. The sun rested upon the ground before giving its final leave for the night, only to come back the next day. It was the same vibrant crimson of the leaves.
Everything had a reddish glowing haze around it which was unusual for Inazuma that always reflected a mild violet in the air.
The abrupt change of seasons did not surprise Scaramouche. It was always like that in dreams. No matter how odd they are when looking back, in the moment it seems perfectly normal and expected. That was just how the mind plays tricks.
Another gentle breeze swept over the playground rustling a few of the leaves from the tree above. One of which landed into Scaramouche’s awaiting lap.
It was a maple leaf. Burning crimson lay in the center while the tips of the leaf turned more slightly orange.
He looked back to the playground now. He could see rust building up along the sides of the play structures. The paint jobs were more faded now or it was just the dimmer light. Everything glowed warmly, not burning bright as before, but just a subtle glow. Scaramouche thought it was nicer.
Honestly he couldn’t remember the last time he had just gone outside and sat like this before. It was probably months, no, years ago. The last time had probably been with…
The wind started again, still gentle. The leaves swayed in the tree above. More floated down into Scaramouche’s lap. They stayed there and Scaramouche didn’t mind.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. He just sat there under the tree observing the sights around him. The autumnal sun almost seemed nostalgic.
More leaves had piled up into his lap over time. The wind had grown stronger with time, but it didn’t dare to blow any of the leaves out of his laps, only tickling the tree’s branches a bit until more leaves fell.
The sun had almost set now. The clouds gathered over the sky hiding the stars for tonight. That familiar warmth began to fade as the cold began to creep in. the gentle winds became more annoying than playful now as the leaves were all blown out of his lap and up into the air where he couldn’t reach.
Scaramouche didn’t even know why he had gotten up to run after them and try to collect them. It was futile anyways. His speed and height were no match for the wind. Away the leaves were carried up into the night sky out of reach to land somewhere foreign.
Scaramouche gave up. He probably looked stupid trying to chase after them anyways. Good thing there was no one around to witness it.
He didn’t know where he was now though. The playground was somewhere off in the distance along the darkening horizon. Night had fallen. Bitter chills cling to his skin as he could feel his bones shivering.
Eventually he decided on a direction to walk. It just felt right. Everything always felt right in dreams. No matter what he chose it would lead him to the same direction. It was a dream after all.
The landscape didn’t change around him, not that he noticed it much. It was just the same pattern of suburban houses as he walked down what seemed to be a neighborhood street. His destinations would be upcoming soon. Something in the back of his mind just tingled and told him.
He hadn’t even noticed before, but somehow it had started raining. Now in the storm, the winds didn’t hold back at all. They pestered his form as they swirled through the storm. Rain drops pelted along the asphalt street and sidewalk as they dropped and swam into the gutter.
Violent pitter patters could be heard as raindrops banged against windows. Scaramouche didn’t mind the wet though. He could deal with that.
It was the cold that really bothered him.
It nipped at his skin. The stormy wind seemed to blow straight through him as if he were just a paper cutout. He could feel the numbness building up along his arms where his skin was exposed to the brutal cold. His nose tingled in the cold.
Sometimes it felt colder in the rain than in the snow. It never snowed often in Inazuma but during the times it did there was a certain warmth to it. The rain only brought sorrow, yet snow brought some sort of life even when all of the flowers that Ei had tried to plant were buried under the white powder.
It was just now that he realized that he had gotten to his destination. His own house. From what he could see one of the lights on in the kitchen. Through the frosted glass, there stood a single silhouette of a woman. It was Ei. She seemed to be staring at something out of view. She only stood there unmoving. All was silent.
Contrastingly, next door there was another room with the light on. In it he could see a man and a child, presumably a boy. They looked vaguely familiar to Scaramouche, but he couldn’t tell who they were.
He could see the silhouette of the man’s mouth moving up and down rather quickly and aggressively. His hand also seemed to move along with his silent scolding. He could see that the man never touched the child but his hand always came awfully close. Ei had scolded Scaramouche before and yelled at him all she wanted, but she had never laid a hand or made any gesture of doing so before.
Before he even realized the lights turned out in the house with the man and the boy. A few seconds later another one of the lights in another room turned on. It seemed to be the same man again. His posture was slightly slouched now. His mouth wasn’t moving anymore. His silhouette was silent. Similar to Ei, he was looking at something. Though instead of watching calmly like she had, he seemed stiff in the way his neck was slightly bent forward unnaturally.
Then the lights turned out again.
Ei’s light still remained on and she still remained the same.
The rain had stopped sometime when Scaramouche had been watching the windows. He didn’t know when it had. The dull cold still bit as it did before though. Frost danced across his face leaving the tingly numbness behind.
The clouds had cleared now. The moon shone brightly in the sky, yet it felt out of place with the rest of the gray atmosphere.
It was a burning vibrant crimson. Something that seemed reminiscent of autumn, yet here it was watching over a stormy winter night.
He studied it in curiosity. His eyes focused on the celestial body as his vision faded everything else around at him. He was staring at it and for some reason he felt like it was staring back at him…
Ei’s fist banged against his door. He awoke with a daze as he tried to make it seem like he was packing. He had only a day left in Inazuma and he didn’t want to deal with another scolding.
“Kunikuzushi!” She called from the other side of the door. There was an obvious annoyance in her tone.
“What the fuck do you want” He yelled back as he rolled her eyes.
“Open up the door!”
Oh yeah he probably should do that. The door clicked open and the first things he saw on the other side was Ei’s phone. It was some news article. That was odd.
“The fuck?”
“There’s going to be a special moon tonight and I want to go see it tonight” she responded.
“Ok and I need to know that because…?” Kunikuzushi scoffed.
“Because you’re going to be going with me…tonight’s your last night before you move out and I want us to do something together.”
Kunikuzushi tried to think of an excuse quickly. He really didn’t want to hangout with his mom on his last night in Inazuma. “I have to finish packing”
“I know you’re just going to go back to sleep. Now c’mon I want to do something together for once. One last time, ok? I just want it to be normal”
She was right, Kunikuzushi was. He knew he wasn’t going to be getting out of it.
“Whatever”
Ei sighed before going back to wherever she had been before.
Kunikuzuhsi closed his door. It was just one night anyways. He went to go search for his phone somewhere on his bed hidden under the pillows and blankets and the stuffed animals that no once besides Ei knew he had. During his search he saw Ei’s phone. She had forgotten it in his room.
On the screen he read the article’s title.
First Blood Moon in Over 4 Years
Below was a picture of the last blood moon, except it looked exactly like the one that Scaramouche had seen in his dream.