Chapter Text
Inazuma was truly the land of Eternity.
No matter what time of year it was, the delicate sakura petals were always the same shade of pink.
Chiori didn’t know what she expected when returning to Inazuma after so many years; but she still had to do a double take when she saw Shimura Kanbei still running his restaurant with the same things on the menu – albeit with “Dango Milk”(??) as a new item, and Ogura Mio looking as if she hadn’t aged a single day since Chiori had last seen her. It was strange, but familiar in a way.
Walking past the kimono shop after catching up with Ogura, Chiori felt tired; the long journey from Fontaine to Inazuma – first taking an aquabus to Chenyu Vale, then riding in Liyue’s considerably less advanced hot air balloon vehicle, and finally the long boat ride to the Nation of Electro – had lent her a great yearning for her daily fix of caffeine to ease the nausea.
She stepped into the cafe – or, the Inazuman equivalent of one.
“I’d like a cup of coffee. Black, no cream, no su-”
“Ah, Miss Chiori! A pleasure to see you after so long.”
She whirled around, spotting a face – a face that she hadn’t seen in so long.
He was as infuriatingly perfect as ever – the light blue hair tied into a ponytail, the unreadable expression, those eyes –
Chiori found herself unable to speak for a moment.
“Miss, are you going to order?”
Startled out of her momentary trance, she turned back and responded.
“Yes, a cup of coffee. Black, no cream, no sugar.”
“Coffee…? I’m afraid we don’t have that on the menu, miss.”