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When someone gives you an assignment, you fill it out quickly, without any wait. I tend to do that too, no hesitation. But some assignments need preparation. Like going undercover for the Vision Hunt Decree to capture a vision holder who somehow keeps escaping.
Shikanoin Heizou was assigned to this task for one reason; his brain works faster and smarter than others. He had solved many mysteries, and at the age of 20, he was a consulting detective. Many mysteries had been interesting, hard to solve or just outright weird. (Like, who would steal one lavender mellon every day from a low-income family just to feed their pet?)
I was setting off to one of the biggest ships in the harbour. I had orders to get a job on the ship, and that was granted in a week. So there I was. Boarding a boat in weird sailor clothes with a hidden vision so no one would recognise me, if they knew me in the first place.
When my feet separated from the dock and boarded the ship, I was welcomed by none other than Captain Beidou.
“Welcome, sailor!” She exclaimed.
“Hello, captain!” I smiled and held my hand out for a handshake. My character wasn’t too different from my own, I would just have to be more exited, innocent and idiotic.
“Everyone!” Beidou suddenly screamed in my ear, “We have a new crew mate!”
Many people stopped what they were doing and came before me. They formed a crowd, a silent one.
“Go on, what’s your name?” Beidou asked, as if she didn’t know, she’s the captain, she should know my name very well.
“I’m Shikano! I like beer!” I smiled. But really, I was cringing, it was so obvious that I was, well- me! Like, just add a ‘in’ and you’ve got Shikanoin! Seriously! Who gave me this idiotic, unrealistic name!?
“Hahahaha,” A random sailor laughed, clearly in agreement with the beer statement, as I predicted one would.
“Good luck with that!” A random human shouted. Idiot. I obviously know that Captain Beidou does not allow alcohol onto her boat.
“Oh great…” A silent voice called.
“Your name is kinda close to that Shikanoin Heizou guy,” A guy wrapped an arm around my shoulder. I sigh in relief as everyone here was an idiot.
“Who’s Shikanoin Heizou?” I ask, the name sounding weird on my tongue.
“This detective who solves mysteries, I heard that by taking one look at you, he would know where you came from!” The guy exclaimed. This was false information. By examining a person, their clothing and possessions, I would have a very very well-educated guess at where they came from. Unless it was obvious.
“That’s cool,” I try to seem excited.
“Too bad he’s not on our side-” He starts but a loud whistle coming from my left pierces my ears.
“Get back to work!” The captain shouts.
“Yes ma’am!” All of the sailors exclaim, they then head back to whatever their job was.
“Kazuha,” My head perked up, as I knew I would see my target.
“Yes?” A man jumps down from a perch, he slows his fall by using his anemo powers.
The man wore a calm expression, he had white hair with a red streak, and it seemed to be pulled into a ponytail. His vision was laid on his shoulder blade and held his maple cape thingie. But honestly, everything on this man was maple, he even smelled the part!
“Hello,” I smiled in a friendly way, secretly smiling for a different cause.
“Kazuha will tour you around the ship, have fun you two!” Beidou shoved me towards Kazuha, I stumbled but remained on my feet. The captain then leaves to go inside somewhere to do whatever.
“You have good balance, almost everyone has fallen after being shoved by the captain,” Kazuha explains in a calming voice, then he starts turning around and walking away, I give a burst of energy and run after him, once caught up, I begin to walk next to him, side by side.
After we reached the front of the boat and stopped, Kazuha turned around, his shoulder brushing mine. I turn as well, staring at the boat. It was beautiful, the dock was shiny, the wood was chipped but well-taken care of, the roof was clean of birds and their dook dooks.
“Wow,” I gasp, as my character would.
“It is a beautiful ship. But you do not know it yet, let me point some things out,” Kazuha says.
“There are three lookouts, if you want to get up, ask a sailor or me to bring you up,” He starts to explain, his finger pointing up. Perfect, maybe I can spend some time with him so we become ‘friends’.
“On the dock are those tables, that is where we eat,” Kazuha pointed to a couple of large tables where some sailors were talking and laughing.
“Inside is mostly the Captain’s room, but we do have beds and hammocks for the crew to sleep on. The captain likes to sleep next to her crew if she’s not steering the boat all night,” Kazuha glanced at me, our eyes made contact for a quick second.
“So why does the captain have a room if she doesn’t use it?” I asked.
“Because she carries trinkets and scrolls to deliver to Ningguang,” Kazuha explained, “Ningguang is the leader of Liyue, so Beidou has a hard time locating her sometimes, but she likes the challenge,”
Kazuha let some silence consume the area, then he looks up at the setting sun.
“I am going to my room, the crew will get bored and probably throw someone in the water, and I do not want to be that person again,” Kazuha shook his head and walked towards the sleeping quarters.
I followed after Kazuha, heading down to the sleeping quarters. Kazuha was swinging lightly on a red hammock. When he heard my footsteps, he turned his head up to see who it was.
“Shikano, I thought you were going to hang out with the others,” Kazuha was visibly confused.
“What hammock is open?” I asked, completely ignoring his question.
“The one to my right,” Kazuha pointed towards a worn-out tan hammock.
“Okay, well good night, friend,” I said, sliding into the hammock.
I closed my eyes, my hand rested over a pocket that contained a strong dose of poison. Strong enough to put a grown man unconscious.
…
“Shikano,” a voice calls, then I was shaken aggressively.
“What..?” I ask.
“You have to get up and eat,” The person says.
“Okay, I’ll be up in a moment,” I sigh, as my character would when they know a lot of work is ahead of them.
I hop off my hammock, glancing at the red one Kazuha occupied before. But the hammock was empty and a bunch of noise and footsteps were heard above. A meal was hosted at the big tables. You would serve yourself as if you were at a buffet, but you were required to have at least one fruit, one vegetable and the main meal; hash browns.
Once I was served, I headed towards Kazuha, as he sat alone with two empty seats beside him.
“Kazuha, good morning,” I act cheerful.
“Ah, Shikano…” Kazuha sounded down, but I chose to ignore it, as my character would.
“I wonder, who makes the food?” I ask the maple man. I obviously knew though.
“The food club.” Kazuha says.
“There are clubs here?” I act surprised.
“Yes, they are assinged by the captain. As trips of the boat take time, the clubs are made to pass time and to stay away from alcohol. The popular clubs may be cooking, poetry and fighting,” Kazuha explained as he lightly took a hash brown with his chopsticks.
“Oh, I think I might join poetry!” I exclaimed.
“Nice,” His voice was quiet, and I felt like he didn’t want me as a friend, but that’s why the higher ups assigned this mission to me. Harder job, harder work, more pay. That’s how one can make a living these days.
After the meal, it was time for work. I was assigned to clean a portion of the deck. I couldn’t use my vision for brushing the leaves off, as taking out my vision would make me suspisious, so I used my hands and feet.
After work, I decided to join the poetry club. The club had Kazuha leading it, and it wasn’t a big club compared to the others, but one of the top three with eight members. The club members were excited to have a new member, and I was excited to hear that sometimes Kazuha does a one-on-one discussion on how to improve that person's poetry, so I purposefully made my work a little more sloppy than the rest.
The next week passed with no progress. Well, no progress towards the target; I became rather close with two people from the poetry club. One was a rather bubbly person who gave information about the weirdest things in her life, and the other was a little more serious but still a happy person in general.
Today, there was a plan set. When I joined the crew, the boat was set for Liyue, and today, we were leaving Liyue to Inazuma once more. So I would ask Kazuha for something.
I woke up in the old hammock I used as a bed, and stretched. I then headed upstairs for breakfast. I ate the breakfast, sitting next to Kazuha and the rest of the Poetry club. After food came work. After work came free time/club time. And in that time, the plan would take place.
I walked to Kazuha, making my stride a little more shaky to signify being nervous.
“Hey Kazuha,” I poke the boy on the shoulder, who instantly turns at the touch.
“Yes?” He asks calmly.
“Can you send me up to the tallest lookout? I want to see Liyue one last time,” I ask.
“Oh, sure,” He says, then we walked up closer to the lookout.
“Are you ready?” He asks, and I nod. “You will have to hold my hand so you do not drift from the wind,”
After I gripped Kazuha’s hand, I was swept off my feet as we were quickly flung into the air. In a few quick seconds, I was on the lookout. But instead of enjoying the view, I wrapped my arms around one of Kazuha’s.
“I was not prepared for that…” I mumble, acting as if I was scared. Which I sort of was.
“Well now that you are at your destination, I will leave you to your sight.” He says, signifying that he was about to leave. But in response, I only gripped his arm tighter.
“What are you doing?” He asks, turning his head to look at me with a confused expression.
“I forgot that I was scared of heights?” I say in a questioning tone.
“Then would you like to go back down?” He asks politely.
“Maybe after a little bit,” I offer.
“If you are scared of heights, what’s the point of being up here?” Kazuha asks.
“To be with you,” I smile sincerely at him. Though it wasn’t really a real smile, it was quite convincing as Kazuha shifts his position to face Liyue Harbor.
“Why do you wish to be with me here? We sit by each other at lunch,” Kazuha asks.
“Because- umm…” I look away from the Maple man.
“Hm?”
“Because I wanted to hug you,” It came out weird, I never hugged anyone. Ever. So me asking another for another to hug me felt weird. I hopped this would work for increasing friendship so I can complete this mission sooner.
“Something as simple as a hug can happen anywhere, but if you wish to hug up here, where the leaves blow wildly and the view of any shore is magnificent, then we will do so,” Kazuha says poetically, then he wrapped his free arm around me.
That’s when my heartbeat quickened.
“T-thanks…” I stutter.
What the HECK was that? I never stutter, EVER. So how is a simple hug, a warm, cozy hug from the man I’m supposed to arrest make me stutter!? Wait- I’m smart. I can figure this out.
I have little to go off of, but I had a quickened heartbeat when Kazuha made contact with me/hugged me and I stuttered a word. There may be a part of me thinking back to when I was hugged by my father, or maybe I want to be his friend, or his significant other.
I do not see myself loving this man, I do not see myself befriending this man, so I imagine it like I haven’t hugged someone for a while. If I do think of him as a friend, I will accept this fact and never tell anyone while separating myself from him.
One of the reasons my friendships and love life are not complicated is the part where I’m honest to myself. If I dislike someone, I tell them and never talk to them again, if I like someone, I tell them and they would be my friend. But so far, I have no friends. So that’s turned out great.
When Kazuha let go and said that he was leaving, I nodded without registering anything. But when his presence left, I felt a little lonely. So I fully registered the possibilities and came to a conclusion.
I wanted to be Kazuha’s friend. But the mission is always more important than any kind of friendship, so the thoughts of becoming his friend would never form words in his head, and the words would never fall off his tongue.
…
After a week, they were in Inazuma, docked at Ritou. Most people don’t desire to leave the ship because of the dangers and limited space to travel due to lack of permits, so the members spend time with their clubs. Which is where Kazuha approached Heizou.
“Shikano, today is the day where I talk about improving your poetry,” Kazuha says.
“Do you want to do so on shore and enjoy the view? I’ve missed being in Inazuma, maybe being back in my homeland will spark some poetry,” I ask happily.
“It depends on the area we are in,” The maple boy responds, I mean, he’s wanted so he can’t go just everywhere.
“How ‘bout… The Statue of Seven?” I suggest as I point a finger to the large statue in Ritou.
“Well then, let us set foot in Ritou once more,” Kazuha smiles and starts to walk towards the spot where the average person would hop off the boat, and I follow quickly.
After we get off the boat, we start to head towards our destination. On the way, I see someone selling something by the name of ‘dango milk’. It sounded interesting, I personally would never attempt to taste it, but if Kazuha has never tried dango milk then I can easily spike his drink without him knowing the difference in flavor.
Spiking a drink is easy, but if the person being spiked has a great sense of smell or taste, you’re doomed. Unless, of course, they’ve never tried that drink before.
“Would you like to try that drink?” Kazuha asks suddenly. Easy. Kazuha noticed me staring at the stand, so one would ask if I would like to try it, my response would be yes and we’d both get some.
“Sure, it seems interesting!” I smile widely at my target.
We head over and purchase two drinks. We both paid, and while Kazuha was getting his mora, I took a sip of his dango milk and slipped the appropriate amount of poison into his drink. We start our walk towards the statue again. It’s a nice sight, a maple tree and the statue were in view. We ended up sitting next to the rough bark of the maple tree.
“I have noticed that you have not quite grasped poetry quite yet, you spell all your words correctly yet you do not understand the true meaning to a word,” Kazuha started, glancing as I shook my dango milk aggresively.
“Oh, would you like to have the drink now?” Kazuha asked.
“Whenever you want,” I made a smile and took a sip of the drink. It wasn’t bad, but I would not have it everyday.
“Mmm, it’s good!” I grinned as I began to drink more of the liquid.
“If you say it is good then I will try some,” Kazuha says, reaching for his dango milk.
“Do you want to try and chug it?” I ask, grinning.
“I would rather take sips for such a new drink, apologies,” Kazuha declines.
“You’re fine, I’m going to put up to the challenge and chug the rest though!” I say enthusiastically.
After I chugged the bottle, Kazuha started to sip his drink, then rest it on his lap, then sip again a few seconds later, slowly becoming less conscious. Kazuha went back to explain some true meanings of works, like death, love, wind, water and lighting. Though his tone lowered a bit when he got to lightning. Maybe he was nervous about talking about Beidou or the Raiden Shoguns’ element, or someone else?
“This dango milk sure was a uuu... nique purchase, I may go-o into town again,” He starts to stutter. Hmm. Good.
Then in the next minute, his bottle falls from his grip. I look up at the maple boy underneath the maple tree. Sleeping.
I swiftly lift Kazuha’s hands and put handcuffs on them that were previously placed in my pocket. Do I have to carry you all the way to the jail? That’ll be annoying, I begin to think. Even with training, it’s still annoying to lift a grown man off his feet and carry him down a hill. Though that has happened before, it’s never a fun thing to do.
I begin to sling the man over my shoulder, he’s a little lighter then I expected. I start to head down the hill, on the way I begin to think. Why do I have an urge to not turn him in? This was a very important assignment for the Vision Hunt Decree… Maybe I’m having those feelings from that hug. But I concluded that I just wanted a friend- or to be his friend…
Quarter way there, and my shoulder is starting to hurt. I wonder what is digging into my shoulder? Probably part of Kazuha’s sword or something… hmm, my brain is telling me to stop and take a break… Normally my body would but mentally, I want to stop? It’s those feelings again! I’m supposed to be smart and figure this out!
Halfway there. People are looking at me weirdly, as usual, as I carry a conked out grown ass man(?) on my shoulder. But why do I feel like I should shield Kazuha from their stares? Feelings. That’s why. I think I’m starting to understand that I want to be his friend. I’m sure I understood beforehand but didn’t want to admit it, which is unusual… My brain is laking today.
Wait… If I didn’t want to admit wanting to be his friend, then what if I want to be more? What if I want to be his enemy! Okay, full deep thought process: think of every possibility and eliminate the one that either don’t make sense or do not apply.
So the options may be these: friend, best friend, boyfriend, enemy. I have not yet found an enemy, so hope may be found residing in my chest.
So I hugged him, I liked that hug and had the conclusion of ‘I wanted to be his friend’ (friend, best friend, boyfriend)
I wanted (want?) to stop carrying Kazuha and either set him down and leave him to rot, or to let him go free (best friend, boyfriend, enemy)
Friend or enemy may be eliminated next round.
I wanted to hang out with Kazuha here in Ritou (it was not entirely necesary for the mission, but would make it slightly easier on my part) (friend, best friend, boyfriend)
Enemy has to be eliminated from the options of these feelings. A pity.
I didn’t want Kazuha to leave after we hugged (friend, best friend, boyfriend)
Friend has to be eliminated, even if it could be one of the options, I’m leaning more toward best friend than just a normal one.
Last options are best friend and boyfriend…
Deep thought end.
Three quarters of the way there. I may admit. I want to be Kazuha’s boyfriend. Yes, I thought that right. After that deep thought cycle, more thoughts had their moments to shine and got through my brain. I can fully confess that I want to hold Kazuhas hand an hang out with hime while having fun. Yes. I have emotions, and I understand the feeling of love.
Destination in eyeshot. Maybe this crush is making me weak? It’s harming my assignment. I don’t want to turn him in… I’m being honest with myself, obviously, and that’s what makes my assignments easy, sinse when did this become so HARD?
After I fully collect my thoughts, I turn my foot and begin for a different destination. On the way, we pass a tree and I set the maple boy gently down. But not too gently. Because I dislike this man for being my crush. I start to stare at Kazuha, taking in his features, how peaceful he looked and how uncomfortable the handcuffs look around his wrists.
I sigh, taking the handcuffs from his wrists and placing them back into my pocket. After an exact minute, I force my body to pick itself up again, with a plan to leave this boy and never see him again, as I go and visit jail often.
“Goodbye, Kazuha,”
When someone gives you an assignment, you fill it out quickly, without any wait. But sadly, a certain feeling does not let you do so. And I let the target go.