Chapter Text
“Alright, we’ll see you soon then kazuki!”
The seemingly young man faked a smile and waved goodbye to the group of scholars in front of him, returning to his normal, annoyed expression as soon as he turned around to leave the plaza.
It was another sunny day in sumeru city, and another day where kazuki had to put up with his peers and their attempts at socializing with him. Of course, it wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but his social battery tended to run out pretty quickly around them.
Today he had the misfortune to be forced to stay with them long after his social battery had ran out, so he was in a grumpier mood than usual. To avoid causing any trouble, he decided to head straight to the surasthana sanctuary and cool down there, that was until he spotted a familiar blue and white dress from under his hat.
Sure enough, it was her, the traveler. Their relationship had gotten better, but like any other person he knows kazuki still had his suspicions on her, and vice versa. Although the traveler, being the friendly girl she is, decided to say hello either way.
“Kazuki! Long time no see.” she said.
She then seemed to be taken over by an uneasy feeling as she glanced to the person next to her, “This is Kaedehara Kazuha… i believe i’ve told you about him before?”. The traveler tensed up as she remembered kazuki’s history with the kaedehara clan, and she hoped he wouldn’t end up causing a scene now that he’s face to face with the clan’s last descendant. Especially since said descendant was completely unaware of who this kazuki was and what he’s done.
Kazuki looked at the man next to the traveler. The red hair strands, the gentle smile, the katana at his waist, his piercing yet calm crimson eyes…of course…how could he mistake him for anyone else.
Kazuki stood still for a moment, then realizing he was staring at the boy for a bit too long, he straightened up and grinned.
“I’m kazuki. It’s nice to meet you, kaedehara”
Kazuki would never admit this to anyone, but yes, he has fantasized on meeting kazuha before. He’s thought about what he would say to him, how he would act around him and even what they would eventually do together (if it ever got that far). Yet now that it was really happening, he found it rather difficult to maintain his snarky and charismatic demeanor.
“A pleasure to meet you aswell, Kazuki” kazuha replied, closing his eyes and bowing slightly. His voice was calming, like a wisp of wind in cool autumn air.
Though kazuha didn’t show it, he was already interested in the man in front of him. Something about him immediately gave kazuha a strange feeling, yet he wasn’t able to determine why.
The traveler, now assured that kazuki wouldn’t do anything weird or dangerous, decided to explain the situation.
“Kazuha arrived in sumeru on the crux fleet not long ago. He wanted to take a look around the city since he can’t check in to his inn yet, but i have some errands to do and can’t show him around.”
The traveler sighed, “That’s why we were looking for someone at the akademiya that had some spare time… but we weren’t able to find anyone.” She then looked down gloomily as if trying to figure out what to do next.
“It’s really no problem if there’s no one available at the moment, i’ll just see if there’s any work i can do in the crux fleet before sunset” kazuha reassured.
Kazuki tensed. So kazuha was conveniently in need of a tour guide huh?
He knew he probably shouldn’t, he had awful social skills that were probably nonexistent now that he got in a supposed bad mood from his hangout with the other scholars.
But still, there was something so calming about kazuha, and he felt he’d regret it for too long if he didn’t take this opportunity to know more about him.
“I can show you around” kazuki stated. “I don’t have anything i need to do for the rest of the day anyway.”
The traveler looked rather surprised. It was very rare for kazuki to willingly want to spend time with someone who wasn’t nahida, and the fact that he was doing this with someone he’s barely met was even more shocking.
“Are you sure?” was all the traveler could say.
Kazuki glanced at her, looking a bit annoyed, but quickly smiled to hide his expression, “well why not?” he asked. “Is it okay with you kazuha?” he said while glancing over him with playful eyes.
“I’d be delighted” kazuha said, bringing a hand on his chest to show his gratitude.
The traveler sighed, “alright, i guess i’ll leave you with him then, kazuha?”
“Yes, that’s fine” he responded with a nod.
The traveler glared at kazuki as she left, silently warning him to not do anything stupid. The man only grinned at her in response.
“Thank you for offering to serve me as a guide, i hope it won’t be too much trouble” kazuha said, smiling while he took a step closer to kazuki.
Kazuha took note of the fact the traveler was weary to leave him alone with kazuki, therefore he decided to try and figure out what kind of person the man was by using a soft and gentle demeanor.
Kazuki felt a strange, tingly sensation when kazuha went closer to him, but he didn’t think much of it. “There’s no need to thank me” he said, “let’s head this way”.
He didn’t have any precise location in mind, it’s not like he cared about that. Besides, the only reason he offered to do this was to converse with the samurai.
As they started walking kazuki quickly started asking kazuha about himself.
“The traveler told me you’re from inazuma, is that correct?” he asked.
“Yes, although i haven’t been back there for a while. I’d rather explore other regions, and i don’t think that’ll change in the near future.” Kazuha confirmed.
“Do you by chance have inazuman origins aswell? You’re clothes look similar to traditional attire from tatarasuna.”
Kazuki felt slightly uneasy hearing the name of that island, of the very place where the “kaedehara incident” had taken place.
“You certainly have a sharp eye. Yes, i do come from inazuma. Though let’s just say i have some issues i’d rather not talk about regarding that land.”
“Then I apologize... I know how it’s like to feel disconnected from your homeland, so i won’t pry any further.” kazuha said.
He knew very well what it felt like, and how difficult it is to leave everything behind. He felt a small sense of compassion for this stranger, for anyone who chose to flee inazuma during or before the vision hunt decree surely experienced great losses along the way.
Kazuki felt weirdly reassured by kazuha’s statement. He knew about the blocked misou no hitotachi, about his doing with the resistance and well, a lot more.
It felt…good…knowing he wasn’t the only one hurt by the raiden shogun’s actions.
“It’s alright” kazuki started, “a lot has happened since then, and i’d rather not think about it too much”.
Kazuha saw that kazuki had probably avoided dealing with this subject in the past.
Well, it’s not like he could blame him.
Everyone deals with trauma differently, and some people take more time to heal than others.
Driven by a sudden feeling of empathy and understanding, kazuha decided to try and lift their spirits up.
“Well, sometimes it’s nice to indulge in happy memories of our homeland, don’t you think?” he asked with a bright smile on his face.
“Like what?” asked kazuki, a bit skeptical of what kazuha was gonna say next.
“Well…” he started, “when i was a kid, i remember that on some saturday nights i would sneak out of the house to watch the comedy shows they would put on in inazuma city. The jokes were terrible, and most of the participants were old drunkards, but i liked the carefree atmosphere. I did so for a few months until my father found out… he smacked me on the head so hard i almost fainted”.
Kazuki stared at kazuha for a few seconds before bursting into laughter. “Hell, i would’ve hit you too if i was your dad. Where did you even get that idea from?”
“A few of my friends kept telling me about those shows, and i guess i just couldn’t resist” kazuha smirked. He was glad he seemed to make kazuki feel better, and he was even happier of the fact he got to hear kazuki’s laugh. It was rather loud, but nice to hear. He hoped he could make him laugh again soon.
“I assume your parents loved these friends of yours didn’t they?” kazuki asked sarcastically, lifting an eyebrow.
“Oh, they adored my friends” kazuha responded, the grin still wide on his face.
The next few hours were pure euphoria. The pair continued talking about kazuha’s recklessness as a kid, and both seemed to forget about everything else, all their attention focused solely on each other. Kazuha never asked kazuki more about his past, and the man seemed to appreciate this a lot.
Then again, kazuki had quickly realized the samurai wasn’t all that similar to his ancestor, therefore he didn’t have to worry about getting any weird…flashbacks.
They were so immersed in their conversation that they only realized how much time had passed when the sun began to set, and everything took a reddish tinge.
“Oh, i think i’d better go to the inn now” kazuha said.
Kazuki realized how late it was, and felt disappointed time had passed so quickly.
Kazuha seemed to pick up on this, so he decided to make an offer.
“I enjoyed talking with you, kazuki. Would you mind meeting again tomorrow?” Kazuha asked, smiling.
Kazuki seemed to brighten up.
“Well, if you want to see me again so badly, i guess i do have some spare time tomorrow morning” kazuki grinned.
Kazuha chuckled, “Alright, i’ll see you then kazuki” he said as he waved goodbye and made to leave.
That night kazuki was about to fall asleep in the sanctuary except…
he couldn’t.
He couldn’t stop thinking about the afternoon he’d spent with kazuha. It felt so different from being with anyone else, with him he experienced these weird tingly sensations all over his body, and a weird heat in his chest area every now and then.
He didn’t know if he liked it or not, but he definitely liked being with kazuha. That was for sure.
Could it be…
No.
It is.
How did he only realize this now?
Was kazuki feeling…
love?
Kazuki wasn’t an idiot. He knew about romance, all sorts. The sappy romance, “young dumb love”, the romance that exists solely for the goal of sex…He’s seen plenty of things regarding this topic in his lifetime.
But he’d never really experienced it.
Instead, he’s always thought it was a waste of time. And even if he did try to get into a relationship, who would ever be able to put up with him?
…who would ever love him in that way?
Overall, he’s never seriously thought about falling in love with someone.
…he never really thought he deserved love from someone.
No… he couldn’t spend all night thinking about his silly feelings. He was already tired enough from all that happened that day, and decided to shut down everything and go to sleep. But right before he did, he started to wonder if kazuha was thinking of him too that night. He quickly stopped though, before he started fantasizing about anything weird.
Little did he know kazuha was thinking about him, except in a much less anxious way.
Kazuha had realized, after he told the story about the comedy show, that kazuki was a soft soul. Yet he could tell this man had put on many façades in the course of his life.
Of course, these were just the silly assumptions he made whenever he met someone new, and even if these assumptions were usually pretty accurate, he’d have to talk to kazuki much more to figure out his complex character.
But he didn’t mind at all.
Kazuha liked him.
A lot.
He realized the minute he stepped into the shower that his mind hadn’t left kazuki at all since their encounter, and it didn’t leave him even when he tried falling asleep.
He liked kazuki’s snarky personality, his frequent teasing, and he especially liked the rare times where he laughed or giggled.
His mind kept coming back to a moment where kazuki took off his hat to readjust it and…
man…
he was beautiful.
Kazuha was sure kazuki was one of the most beautiful people he’d ever met.
His soft indigo hair framed his pale face perfectly, and his deep blue eyes embellished by his red eyeliner seemed to hypnotize anyone who looked at them.
Kazuha thought about kazuki’s physique aswell…
but of course…
alone in bed…
at night…
thinking about kazuki’s tiny waist and slender shoulders…
was bound to result in something a bit less wholesome.
He decided to not get too ahead of himself and just go to sleep, which is exactly what he did.