Chapter Text
Kazuha needed coffee.
He had been up well past midnight the previous night obsessively preparing for his course load, and it didn’t help that his roommate (whose name both the university and said roommate had not offered him yet) was somewhat of an obnoxious snorer. Kazuha’s ever-sensitive senses were not helpful in a college dorm room. If only he had been allowed to live off-campus for his first year here, but even transfer students were not exempt at Harbor State.
As he was walking, lost in thought and the inability to navigate a new campus, he ran into a twenty-something girl with long, brown hair and they both tumbled to the ground.
“Aiya, I’m so sorry! What’s your name? Mine’s Hu Tao!” She wore a large grin and a baseball cap with an embroidered ghost holding a coffee mug. “Are you new around here?”
Kazuha couldn’t figure out this girl. Usually, he would be able to sense if there was something wrong with someone. But… she was kind, and didn’t seem to be a serial killer, and he was a new student with a poor sense of direction for once in his life. So, he answered her. “I am. I just transferred from Narukami State. My name is Kaedehara Kazuha.”
“Oh, first day jitters! Well, welcome to Harbor State! You know what could solve those jitters? A buy-one-get-one signature cold brew at the Hu family business, All Souls Brew!”
She shoved a paper coupon that seemed to appear out of thin air into Kazuha’s hand. Kazuha’s shocked expression and lack of response led the girl to add, “The legends aren’t true, don’t always believe what you see on the internet!”
This just made Kazuha more weary of the shop. “What do you mean?”
“Oh, that the place is haunted, bewitched, full of ghosts, built on an ancient portal, et cetera. Nothing major! Just some college students trying to pull an elaborate prank!” Hu Tao’s smile was genuine, somehow. She said that students were pulling a prank on the shop — but was she pulling a prank on him right now?
Regardless, Kazuha didn’t believe in folklore, nor did he believe in ghosts, ancient burial grounds, or supernatural occurrences of any kind. Not after what he had been through in the past. The little ghost on the coupon made him think the ‘legend’ was part of the appeal of this coffee shop. Thus, he thanked Hu Tao for the coupon, and made his way towards the shop, which was only a block down from his first class after he inputted it into his phone’s GPS. Thus, he figured he’d give the cold brew a shot — after all, if he liked it, the next one was free.
The shop lived up to its name and almost looked like a haunted house. Miss Hu, you are sure doing a poor job of shaking off the rumors, he thought to himself. He grounded himself in the surroundings. It smelled, and looked, and sounded, like a coffee shop, albeit a slow one. His senses had never failed him before, so he grabbed one of the ornate silver door handles and went inside.
The inside of All Souls Brew looked just like the coffee shop he frequented at Narukami State, though with a Halloween filter overtop. Ghost paintings and fake cobwebs dotted the walls, and the interior was very poorly lit by chandeliers and sconces. A few students were sitting inside. One student with long purple hair sat with her laptop typing away — though how she could already be studying on the morning of the first day of classes was besides the point. Kazuha walked up to the bar and spoke with the older man working the counter, showcased Hu Tao’s coupon. The man placed a ghost-shaped stamp on the card, and Kazuha paid for his (somewhat overpriced) signature cold brew.
“Are you new to campus?” the man said as he handed Kazuha his coffee. The man’s eyes struck him as strange — amber, with a hint of all-knowing and years of experience. His voice was deep, with wisdom, and Kazuha wondered why such a man would be working at a college coffee shop.
“Yes,” Kazuha said, wondering why he was making small talk with the barista. “I am Kaedehara Kazuha. I just transferred in starting today. I ran into Hu Tao on the way to my first class and, well, I can’t resist a coupon.”
“Well, Mr. Kaedehara, welcome to Liyue Harbor.” Kazuha finally read the name on the chalk tag on the man’s chest — Zhongli. “I hope Master Hu did not scare you off the place. I’ll see you for your second dosage soon, I presume. Do be sure to start your drink… off premises.”
Kazuha nodded, and as he turned away, he chuckled at the strange thought that Hu Tao had put into his mind, that Zhongli had somehow reinstated by being… an older man working as a barista. Was there something actually strange about this place? Why had Zhongli wanted him to drink his cold brew outside? Do not judge a man you just met, he told himself. He checked the time on his phone — 10am. His class started at 11. He had some time to kill, and could only spend so long pacing the English building looking for a classroom. Thus, he found a seat, against Zhongli’s advice: a high-top next to the window with a long row of outlets and free seats, three seats down from a student whose hair was dip-dyed green.
Before Kazuha could take a sip of the cold brew, the student interrupted him.
“Who are you?” he stated, matter of factly. “And why are you sitting down?”
Once again, Kazuha recounted his backstory to the boy, who revealed his name as Xiao.
“Do not stay here too long,” Xiao said, without specifying. “It’s dangerous. The memories…” He shuddered. “I can’t escape.”
“I have a pretty keen sense of danger, and a horror-themed coffee shop doesn’t strike me as dangerous,” Kazuha remarked. Which was true. But the more he interacted with these people, the more he thought this was an elaborate ruse, and he was about to end up on a prankster’s YouTube channel.
“Well- just- be careful.” Xiao turned back to the book he was reading, and did not say anything else. Kazuha took that as a cue to finally try the coffee.
The cold brew was sweet, almost sickeningly so. It had a small ghost drawn onto the surface in caramel, plus whatever other sweets they had unloaded into the mixture. He could tell there was some coffee inside, and he anticipated ordering a different mix next time, but this would do for today.
But instead of waking him up, this coffee seemed to do the opposite…
When he snapped back to reality, he was outside All Souls.
His senses perked up. He was not in Liyue Harbor anymore.
Or… wait a second… was he?
“Helloooo? Teyvat to Kazuha!!” a strange voice said, and he opened his eyes to a floating humanoid creature.
———
“Aiya, not again! I swear, Mr. Zhongli, I didn’t do anything to him!”
“I know, Master Hu.” Zhongli was intensely staring at Kazuha.
Kazuha was awake and inside All Souls Brew. Xiao was still there, reading the same page out of the same book. He noticed the students were doing the same tasks they had been. The girl with purple hair — suddenly he knew her name was Keqing — was still typing on her computer. A younger girl with a long braid — he knew her name was Qiqi, somehow — was still watching something on a tablet.
And yet, Kazuha’s brew was still in his hand, but it was no longer cold.
He put it down in shock. His cold brew should still be cold. He got it two minutes ago.
“Now, Mr. Kaedehara,” Zhongli said, “would it be alright if I asked you some questions?”
“What time is it?” Kazuha asked. He should know that. It was 10am two minutes ago.
“It currently is…” Zhongli looked at a phone. “3 o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday the 27th.”
Kazuha disputed. Then he looked at his own phone. It was 3pm and three days had passed, somehow, though it felt like no time had passed since he sipped his coffee. Or, had time passed? He also realized that this meant he had already missed most of his first week of classes… and he noticed the texts from Beidou, Ningguang, Heizou, Beidou again, and his no-name roommate…
“You are doing a wonderful job of asking the questions for me,” Zhongli quipped.
“What?” Kazuha was still taking it in.
“You just went through the underground… portal to Teyvat, an alternate dimension. And now, you have emerged.” Zhongli said this as if it was the most normal series of words to ever come out of someone’s mouth. “The patrons who you see here may have also experienced the same fate. Some mortals get trapped here for some time while they… experience Teyvat. Hence why you may remember that I advised you to sample your cold brew off of premises.”
“I must’ve forgotten to mention that part in our meeting…” Hu Tao looked distressed. “Aiya, why do I always forget that part!?”
“Might I remind you that you said the rumors were an elaborate prank and that I shouldn’t believe this place is haunted,” Kazuha said. “And I was kind enough to believe you.”
It started to come back to him in fragments. He had seen friends he knew from Narukami — Ayaka, Heizou, Thoma, Yoimiya — but they were… different. And so was Narukami.
And he had met people from Harbor State in a different Liyue Harbor. He had only heard of Xiao, an adeptus who fought demons, and he couldn't remember much else. He also saw his blond roommate with the mysterious lack of a name. Did he think Kazuha was dead? Walked out for Monday morning classes, didn’t return, didn’t answer his phone? Maybe he’s just happy to have the room to himself?
“Anywho, what’s done is done, right? Did you at least like our signature cold brew? It changes up every month!” Hu Tao was back on her marketing soapbox. Zhongli did not look amused.
“I… didn’t.” Kazuha hated disappointing the girl. “It was too sweet for me, if I can be frank with you. It tasted like Lucky Charms.”
Hu Tao looked confused. And thus, so did Kazuha.
“Is it… not sweet?”
“Nope. This month it’s caramel topped, that’s what changes every month is the topping. A little bit of sweetness! But other than the topping, it’s just our standard cold brew. Our food scientist has a very gentle touch with the flavors when she wants to!”
“I can affirm, the taste is simply cold coffee with a dash of caramel. I made yours myself, the same as I’ve made all our cold brews,” Zhongli added, though he looked less confused than Hu Tao. This just confused Kazuha more. How could a caramel topping have made a normal cold brew that sweet? Why would a coffee shop have a food scientist? The silence was pounding in Kazuha’s head.
Kazuha cleared his throat and stood up from his chair. “I, ah, had a rather pleasant time meeting you all, but respectfully, I really should figure out what the fuck just happened.”
“I can understand.” Zhongli nodded. “If you have any questions, come and find me. I, ah… have had my experiences with the realm of Teyvat myself.”
Kazuha realized in an instant why this man worked at this coffee shop. He knows the secrets Kazuha now knows. He slung his book bag over his shoulder and grabbed the door handle. He didn’t throw away the now-three-day-old cold brew — he figured Albedo might be able to pull some mad-scientist shit if he could reach his friend in Mondstadt.
But then, strangely, once he exited the coffee shop, his coffee had disappeared.
He had the urge to check his phone for the time again. 10:15AM, Monday, August 24th. None of the missed calls or texts he had noticed earlier were there. The only notification was a random, “got drinks for tonight” text from Beidou.
“What the fuck,” he said, out loud, staring at the pixels on his phone.
A girl with spiky hair and headphones around her neck noticed him, and flagged him down. “You’re new around these parts?”
Kazuha somehow knew her name, and, he said her name, out loud again for some God-forsaken reason. “Xinyan.”
“How the hell do you know my name?”
“Hey Xinyan!” Paimon had said to call the girl’s attention across the street. She turned around and waved, smiling at them all. “Hey Lumine, Paimon, and oh, Kazuha!” Xinyan had replied, “Haven’t seen y’all since the islands! Hope you’re not too bummed out that it’s over. I assume I’ll see you at my concert with Yun Jin next week.”
“I have no fucking idea,” Kazuha said, and gave his ten-second introduction once again, with the added I-drank-a-cold-brew-that-tasted-like-Lucky-Charms-and-subsequently-went-to-an-alternate-dimension on top. He didn’t even know how to phrase that time moved at a similar pace to the outside world, yet he had lived three days inside.
“Word of advice, Kazuha — don’t go in there again,” she said, and after a second, she added, “If you’ve ever heard the song Hotel California, that’s about what it is in there. My friend went in, but she can never leave.” She kept walking away from him, leaving him alone with his rapidly-pacing thoughts.
Well, at least he had enough time to make it to his 11am…?
Damn, he still needed coffee!