Work Text:
With a warm summer breeze flowing through the air, two kids are seen at the bottom of a small hill, surrounded by luscious grass, bushes, and the scent of sakura petals whirling nearby. One indigo-haired boy lays down peacefully on the ground, his silver-blue eyes contently closed and enjoying the sun’s rays. He wears a purple and black rose kimono, made from the finest Silk Flowers imported from Liyue. The other boy sits elegantly, his feet criss-crossed and hands playing with the tips of grass blades growing near his feet. He, too, has a kimono on, but patterned with various orange and red maple leaves.
They’ve just successfully snuck out of Tenshukaku for the 5th time this week, getting away from the stuffy adults that always ordered them around day and night. Now camped out behind the palace walls, the two boys seem to be quietly enjoying the summer weather.
A soft voice breaks the silence. “Hey, Scaramouche, why don’t we climb to the top of the cliff there? I want to teach you how to write haikus.”
“Don’t wanna.” The dark-haired boy responds, eyes not bothering to open. “Plus, I’m hungry.”
“Well, it’s better than just laying around and doing nothing when it’s so pretty out. You’re coming with me whether you like it or not.” Kazuha gets up and grabs the boy’s wrists, dragging him up the hill.
“Hey, hey! I was doing just fine on the ground!” Scaramouche struggles against Kazuha’s grip, flailing around, but ultimately succumbs to Kazuha’s powerful strides. He scrambles to get to his feet and catch up to Kazuha’s pace.
Halfway up, Scaramouche realizes that his feet weren’t quite awake yet, and in a fruitless attempt to reawaken them, he stumbles upon a clump of strategically placed grass, losing his balance. Curling his body into a tight ball, he feels himself falling over. What Scaramouche does not expect, however, is to bring Kazuha down with him. So down the two boys go, tumbling all the way to the bottom of the hill where they first started.
Scaramouche feels the world spinning and he sneezes out tiny pieces of grass. “Ugh…”
When he opens his eyes, Kazuha is already up, crouched over above him and fists on his hips, pretending to be angry but there’s obviously a mocking smile on his face.
“Scaramouche, stop being so clumsy!”
“Hey! It’s not my fault, stop going so fast!”
“Ok, turtle.” Kazuha teases.
Scaramouche pouts, still on the ground. “I’m not a turtle!”
Trying to prove himself, Scaramouche grabs hold of Kazuha’s wrist in the same way and starts striding up the hill again. A few moments later, Kazuha pauses, and Scaramouche looks back at him with confusion.
Kazuha giggles. “Just wanted to let you know that you still have a bunch of grass in your hair and dirt on your face.”
“Huh?” Scaramouche exclaims. He fumbles around and manages to tug a few grass pieces from his hair, but smears the dirt on his face in the process. Kazuha’s smile only brightens, but he says nothing more of the matter.
When they finally make their way to the top of the cliff, both boys are out of breath. Thankfully, the wind is cooler here, ruffling their unkempt hair, and they rest a moment while enjoying the scenery. Behind them, Mount Yougou looks breathtaking and they can see all the way to its peak with the clear skies. The ocean waves are also louder here, accentuated by the splashing of the water on the cliff’s rocks beneath them.
Kazuha folds his kimono gracefully and kneels down on the grass, a product of hours upon hours of strict etiquette classes. Scaramouche rolls his eyes but follows suit.
“Alright, in order to get inspiration for your haiku you must be attentive to your surroundings and feelings. Rid your mind of any rambling thoughts and concentrate on the outside world.”
The boys fall into silence, with only the wind and ocean’s waves caressing their ears. Soon after, however, Kazuha takes a deep breath.
“Sakura petals
And salty waves remind me
Of my summer home.”
He then turns his head to his left and stares at Scaramouche as if to say, “Now it’s your turn.”
As if there was a single coherent thought going through the dark-haired boy’s mind at the moment.
Scaramouche clears his throat as his fingers cling onto nearby grass blades for dear life. Was he thinking that they would give him some type of inspiration? As if. But Kazuha’s gaze was unrelenting and he had to think of something quickly. Suddenly, a deep rumble erupts from Scaramouche’s belly and his body darts up in unbridled excitement. Counting the syllables with his hand, he mutters:
“It is pretty here.
But I’m very tired
And very hungry.”
A moment of silence passes but the look on Kazuha’s face is delirious. His mouth tugs up into a massive grin at record speed and he soon tumbles over in a fit of giggles, laughing and wheezing incessantly. He almost falls down the hill again but manages to balance himself and catch his breath after a long minute.
“Scara, that was the best haiku I’ve ever heard.”
Scaramouche’s cheeks turn red and he looks away, trying to find something remotely interesting to glance at in the endless ocean. “Hey! Don’t make fun of me!”
Kazuha pays no mind to the other boy’s whines. “You didn’t even do it right! It’s 7 syllables on the second line, not 6.”
If Kazuha didn’t notice the deep red tint on Scaramouche’s cheeks before, he definitely did now. Scaramouche was as red as a Jueyun Chili on a hot summer day.
He pouts. “I forgot, ok?”
Kazuha snorts. “Here, let me write another one. It’s about you.”
While Kazuha may have thought the look on Scaramouche’s face would be one of happiness and anticipation, instead, there was a sense of dread and fear.
Scaramouche groans. “Hmph, don't mock me or anything!”
Kazuha rolls his eyes. His head turning up to the blue sky in a brief moment of reminiscence, he muses once more.
“A warm afternoon
Is wasted if spent without
My best friend ever.”
The bright smile that appeared on Scaramouche’s face would be one that both remembered for years to come.