Chapter Text
“Thank you for your purchase!” Furina said brightly, handing the lady the bag.
“I’ll be sure to come back once the sequel is released.” The customer promised, waving as she walked out the glass door of the bookstore.
Furina kept smiling as she waved back, already half focused on putting the books that the lady didn’t end up buying into a stack. She’ll have to shelf them later.
The bell on the front door chimed again, right as she deemed the stack steady enough to not collapse onto her after a minute and embarrass her in front of a patron. A little bright red whirlwind zoomed in giggling, looking around frantically. The child evidently did not find what she was looking for and curiously bounded up to the counter.
“Miss! It said there’s a storybook lady here. I don’t see her.” The little girl said expectantly, pouting.
The bell dinged again. This time a young man walked in. Actually, strode in would be a more accurate description, what with the confidence he exudes.
“Klee, you can’t just run off like that.” Said the child’s… father? If that’s the case, then Furina wonders why he’s here without the mother. Usually the children who came into her shop were either dragged here by both of their parents, or both of their parents were dragged here by them. No, not father, he looked around Furina’s age. Nowhere among the strands of vibrant indigo on his head was a thread of gray hair. Brother, then? But the narrow, sharp shape of the man’s eyes signaled that he was of either Liyuean or Inazuman descent while the girl appeared to be from one of the Northern nations. Half-brother?
The girl, Klee, slowly turned toward him guiltily. “Uh… I got excited?”
He raised an eyebrow elegantly. “Try again.”
“Uh… I meant Klee’s sorry?” She twisted her torso left and right in an attempt to seem cute, which was definitely working on Furina. If she was a part of this conversation, Klee’d be immediately forgiven and given five-dozen homemade cookies. The man must have guts of steel to resist such temptation.
“And it won’t happen again?”
“Nope!” Klee promptly promised. “I was just asking the pretty lady where the storyteller is.”
That got the man to finally move his attention away from the little girl onto. And that got Furina to finally say something.
“Oh, yes. We just put up the sign, but the storytelling doesn’t start until half an hour later. So I’m afraid you’ll have to wait a while. To make it up to you, why don’t I personally introduce you to the stories we do have?” She offered to the child. “You can sit and read, and I’ll give you some milk to enjoy while you wait.”
“Hm.” Klee appeared to be thinking really hard. “Okay! I want adventure stories!”
Furina looked at the girl’s guardian for approval. He was just staring at Klee with fond exasperation. She took that as a yes. “Of course, young lady. Right this way.” She said.
After a bit, Klee settled down on a beanbag chair way too big for her with one of those picture books with different textures on the art. Furina learnt that Klee loved all things fish related, all things fluffy, and treasure. And that the man was called ‘Big Brother Kuni’ and was ‘the best’. Furina hoped that was true, for Klee’s sake.
She picked up the books scattered on the floor, and turned to Kuni, who turned to look at Furina again, this time longer than a customary glance. She could practically feel the weight of his gaze dragging its way across every inch of her face.
When he’d finally looked his fill, Kuni’s lips twisted up in a small smirk. “Hi.” He murmured.
“Hi.” She breathed out, parroting his words like an idiot.
The smirk widened. Furina inexplicably felt very accomplished. “So… she’s a lovely kid. Adorable.”
“She is. Klee’s the sister of a… coworker.” She was right, he isn’t her father.
“I babysit too sometimes, a young genius by the name of Sigewinne. The girl’s so intelligent, I, at times, think she went to med school. It’s a long-time conspiracy theory of mine. Even her father appreciates my deduction skills. Says he wouldn’t put it past her.”
“I know someone like that too. A family friend, this time. Little Nahida could become God if she wanted to.” He said softly, to not knock Klee out of her trance.
“Does she like books? You should bring her here sometime!” Furina said, excited.
“Loves them. Much more than Klee does, actually. Unfortunately, she’s in Sumeru.”
Furina’s smile turned sympathetic. “That’s unlucky. Would you like to come back? We have a returning member discount.” She joked.
“...Maybe. I certainly wouldn’t be opposed.”
“Well, you’d be more than welcome.” She clasped her hands together in front of her, hopeful. “You… seem nice.”
Kuni snorted. “Sure.” He paused. “...Why don’t you have a name tag?”
She blinked. “Oh. Well, we’re a privately owned business. And non-profit. The money you spend on buying anything from us will mostly be spent on helping flood victims, which is our current charity of choice. Or, well, the late fees from borrowers. And any donations. I’d much rather direct our cashflow towards more important matters.” That and the weight behind the name ‘de Fontaine’ tends to prevent her from forming close connections with people.
“Wow. You’re what parents strive for their kids to grow up as. Let me guess, you also only have one kidney as you’ve donated the other to an abused orphan.”
She giggled. “Or maybe I’m just someone who tries to be a good person. Ever thought of that?”
“You are collecting good deeds like you’re trying to persuade people to vote for you as Grandmaster.”
She hummed. “Enough about me. What do you do?”
He paused, before raising an eyebrow sardonically. “Well, compared to you, I practically kick kittens for a living.”
“Why don’t you start with a name, then?”
“You heard Klee. I’m Kuni.”
“Kuni, hm.” Furina repeated contemplatively. “Do you have a last name?”
“No.” He blurted, then looked away and cleared his throat. “I meant that… there’s no need to be formal. What’s wrong with just calling me by my given name?”
“Nothing, random stranger I first laid eyes on ten minutes ago. But if you insist on ignoring social decorum and being so friendly so quickly with me, then I highly recommend you simply call me Furina.”
Kuni leaned forward. “What is this? The pre-Cataclysm era? Surely our generation no longer curtsies unironically.”
She immediately almost bent herself in half dramatically curtsying. “Hallow, gallant damoiseau, wilt thou dance with me?”
“Really now?” He said. She swore there was a smirk in his voice. Too bad she dug herself into a corner in that the only thing in her line of sight were Kuni’s royal-blue leather shoes. At least they were very shiny. Very formal too, obviously. Actually, she’s pretty sure she has a pair at home for stage play purposes.
“Why not? There’s music, there’s space, there’s an implicit challenge that I just made explicit.”
He tsked. “Well, I don’t fancy myself a coward. You’ve got yourself a deal, fair maiden.”
Long fingers appeared in her peripheral vision. She straightened her back and delicately took his offered hand.
As one, they twisted their torsos to look back at Klee. But she’s in her own world muttering under her breath, scribbling and drawing frantically on her picture book, her drink forgotten. They watched as she circled a particular fish with a bright red crayon that she certainly wasn’t holding the last time Furina checked. Klee almost seemed like she was creating a cure for eleazar. A mad scientist in the making. That gleeful grin was not helping her case.
“Appearently, we’ll be buying that book. How much is it?” Kuni asked.
She tilted her head at him. Oh, right. That definitely counted as vandalism. She was kind of tempted to just say that it’s on the house, but she really shouldn’t. “A thousand mora.” She said like the responsible working adult she was supposed to be.
He hummed. “Shall we?” He lightly squeezed her hand.
“We shall.”
She led him to a corner of the store, up two steps of stairs onto a stage-esque platform. She always held the storytelling sessions here, so it was bereft of furniture. She swept the single object in the space, a beanbag chair, away with the side of her shoe. It flopped down the steps like how slime condensate would.
Furina joined their other hands together, palm to palm, intersecting her fingers with his. Swing music was coming out of the vintage phonograph somewhere to her left. It wasn’t a ballroom. But her shop couldn’t be called tiny, what with her generational wealth; but it certainly wasn’t enormous, as it was just her own personal passion project.
She leaned away from Kuni, a foot curled into a tiptoe finding the carpeted floor behind her, her arms stretched as far as they could go; a kind of half self dip. She then retracted her hands from his to do a little twirl then bounced back onto him, draping herself all over his front. Kuni’s arms automatically wrapped themselves around her waist. Her right eye was around a paperclip’s length away from the tip of his nose. She beamed up at him. He let out a little “Heh”, shallowly smirking.
He started to sway them around, which turned into a slow dance, then a typical waltz, and, once he’d presumably gauged her level of skill, eventually led her into a foxtrot. Their smooth gliding movements inevitably drew a small crowd of observers. Kids sat down in between bookshelves, adults leaned against the stacks, staring at their impromptu performance.
With one last spin, Furina’s short wool dress folded against itself around her knees before settling back into its triangular shape. Kuni’s thumb glided down the side of her palm. It felt like a silent congratulations for a job well done. The crowd clapped politely, parents already guiding their children back to whichever nook they left their belongings.
Kuni let go of her entirely. She tamped down her disappointment at the sudden loss of warmth and smiled cheekily. “You’re great at this. Did you take lessons?” She knew she did. Two hours twice a week for seven years. She enjoyed them, and it served to make herself scarce from her older sister, who was always busy plotting some political scheme ever since she hit the double digits in age and didn’t have time to keep her company.
“I did, yes.” Kuni replied. “It was part of my schooling.”
“Fancy.” Or maybe that was just the norm in Inazuma. They were stereotypically obsessed with tradition.
“I guess.” He stared off in a direction to his right. “I should check up on Klee.”
“Oh, of course.” She agreed easily.
They found Klee right where they left her, quietly cackling to herself. Mad scientist indeed. Or perhaps a witch.
Klee looked up upon their arrival. “Big Brother Kuni! Look what I did!”
The book about different types of fishes that Furina gave her was shoved back into her face, messily annotated, no area left untouched. The page it was open on showed a tigerfish, now with the addition of crudely drawn flames engulfing it. Above it were the words ‘BLAST! BOOM BOOM!’, and in smaller writing on the rest of the previously blank space were phrases like ‘gun powder must have’, ‘chasm makes fuel oil’, and ‘why is it called grilled tigerfish when it is better bombed???!!!!’.
Furina sharply turned to the child’s guardian.
“She’s eight.” He offered.
“Eight and a half! Almost nine!” Klee piped up obliviously.
“Almost nine.” Kuni confirmed.
“She’ll be in secondary school after next year!” Furina hissed.
He shrugged. “She’ll be prepared for a potential bully. You know how teenagers are. And eventually, she’ll make a good politician. The first-hand knowledge would come in handy.”
Furina’s eye twitched.
“What’s that?” The girl in question asked.
“Politicians are the Knights of Favonius that don’t fight.” Kuni replied patiently.
“But I wanna fight!”
That was so much worse. Furina’s soul was drenched in horror. Handmade bombs in the frontline. She wouldn’t put it past Klee to start the second Archon War.
At least Kuni seemed to agree. “Not if I can help it.” He muttered under his breath.
“Alright, Klee. Are you done with that book? Great.” She gently but determinedly snapped the book shut without waiting for an answer and hid it behind her back. “Lovely drawings, by the way. A wonderful artist in the making. Have you ever thought about becoming one?”
Klee bounced on her heels. “Yeah! My Big Brother Albedo is one. His drawings are so pretty. Other people think so, too. They give him mora because he’s so good at it!”
“Really? Wow. Do you want to become just like him?” Instead of an arsonist.
Kuni raised an eyebrow, as if to communicate that he totally knew what she was angling for and it wasn’t going to work out to her liking.
Klee blinked. “I decided that I don’t wanna be an artist. I wanna be an adventurer! Like mom!”
She’ll take what she can get. “An adventurer? Then you’ll be able to find lots and lots of treasure, how exciting!”
“And I can make the big bad monsters that Timmy said come out of his closet explode!”
Well, there goes all her hopes and dreams. She assumed Timmy was Klee’s friend. In Furina’s peripheral vision, Kuni was telepathically telling her ‘I told you so’. She turned a few extra degrees away from him. There. Now, she can’t see anything of him but a couple strands of indigo hair.
“I have a lot of stories about monsters here.” Specifically about befriending monsters. “Would you like me to go get them for you? I think you’ll enjoy them.” Furina smiled her customer service smile.
“Thank you, miss! You’re the best!” Klee chirped excitedly.
Furina was so relieved. “Excuse me then. I’ll be back in a moment.” She grabbed the empty cup, shot a look at Kuni, and made her way to the other end of the children’s section.
She picked up a few books as promised, deposited the cup in the staff room, and on her way back, her employee, Clorinde, stopped her. “Furina, did you perhaps forget about the storytelling session? We’re six minutes behind schedule.”
“Oh! Right. Of course. Thank you, Clorinde. I’ll get right on it. But can I first…” She held up the small stack of books demonstratively.
“I can sort those out for you.”
“No, no. They’re for a customer. Besides, I’m paying you to throw out anyone disturbing the peace, not to manage me.”
Technically, Clorinde was hired simply on the basis of being a close friend of hers, her second closest. Nepotism sucks but the downsides of working in retail lead to Furina being so despondent that she ate nothing but macaroni, which sucked even more. Hence, Clorinde: her bouncer. Who’d have thought that once she had the power to simply throw the assholes to the curb, customer service would be so much better? Oh, she pitied those who didn’t have centuries of generational wealth. Clorinde, who held the position of a dame herself, was being partly paid with mora out of Furina’s own inheritance, but mostly with Tabletop Troupe game nights.
“Alright, but hurry.” Clorinde said disapprovingly, clearly not in agreement with Furina’s words; which, fair enough.
Clorinde took a step to the side to let her through. Furina dashed off.
“Hey. Hi. Here are your books, cheri.” She handed them to Klee. “The storytelling’s going to start soon. Are you excited?”
Klee gasped. “Yay! Where, where?”
“Right this way.” Furina playfully bowed and offered a hand to the little girl.
Klee grabbed her hand and dragged them away. In the wrong direction. She gently tugged them towards the right one. She heard the measured taps of Kuni’s footsteps following behind at a more leisurely pace.
She deposited Klee in what would be considered a front row seat if there were seats instead of just a carpeted floor. Behind them, Kuni leaned against the edge of one of the shelves, the position exactly the same as how Furina’s other patrons lingered to watch them dance mere minutes ago.
She gave no outward indication of the deja vu. Instead picking up the chosen fairytale and settled down on her designated beanbag chair, beginning her performance as promised, with different voices for each character and theatrical hand gestures. The children giggled delightedly. Furina inwardly beamed, proud, never breaking character.
“The Little Oceanid? I’ll admit I never heard of it before today.” Kuni prompted when she came to check up on him after answering everyone’s inquiries. Klee stayed on the platform to chat with the other children.
“It’s an old story. Very old, dating back centuries. This was, of course, the child-friendly version. The actual tale had a tragic ending.”
“I’m guessing it’s a favorite of yours?”
“But alas, I must bid thee adieu.” She recited from memory. “Our love but a bittersweet fairytale. Yet I am here, and here I shall remain; to behold the world in all its beauty, until the end of time.”
“Alright, I’m sold. I’ll take a copy.”
“Buying or borrowing?”
“Buying.”
Furina felt her eyes soften. “You won’t regret it. Can I get you anything else? What’s your favorite genre?”
“What’s your favorite?”
“Mystery, definitely.” She led him to the section in question.
“Big Brother!” Klee screeched out of nowhere, another kid her age being towed along behind her. “I want this book!” She held it up, wide doe-eyes and everything.
“Sure, Klee.” Kuni agreed easily. “And what about those?” He nodded towards the small stack that the other child was clutching in the arm not claimed by Klee.
“Um, I want those, too!”
“Of course.” He turned towards Furina. “That fine with you?”
“Of course!” She answered, pleased. “Right away.”
She politely asked the kid to let her take the books for reference, promising to help take them to checkout while she’s at it.
Kuni stopped her with a hand at her elbow. “Hey. By the way, your favorite books, I’ll take a copy of all of them.”
She let out an astonished laugh. “I’m afraid you’d need a truck to fit them all.”
“Top five, then.”
When Furina came back, Kuni was tossing Klee up and down, with said girl cackling madly like a witch again.
“I couldn’t pick only five.” She started. “And they aren’t all detective stories. I’ve got two tragedies, a romance, and a fantasy.”
“How many in total?”
“Eight.”
“I’ll take them all.” He declared.
“Of course you will.” She said, amused. She adored these kinds of customers. Judging from the considering look in his eyes, he was actually going to read them all cover to cover, too. Though, she had doubts about Klee’s own little stack. Energeticness tends to not translate well into sitting still. Plus, the books the girl ordered weren’t about fish nor explosions, which Furina would be willing to bet was the only reason she was so concentrated previously.
“You got a problem with that?” Kuni held Klee in place against his hip, teasingly obstinate.
The child had plain confusion written all over her face, brain cells working overtime trying to figure something out. She was staring them both down like how a spy eavesdropping on an important exchange would, except she’s right in front of Furina and was glued to Kuni’s side.
“Not at all. In fact, I’m delighted. Perhaps we should start a book club.” Furina answered.
“Well. If that’s the case, I’ll have to finish all of these tonight, so I can come back tomorrow to discuss them with you.”
“I look forward to it.” Furina said playfully. She then paused, and channeled all her courage. “Really. I’ll be counting down the hours, I would be hurt if you never came back. But, don’t rush through the pages, they should be savored.”
His sharp smirk softened slightly. He hummed. “Today was a welcome reprieve from a horrible dry spell of good company.”
Alright. Vulnerability time’s over. She can now go back to hiding behind a cheeky smile. “Make sure to write that down in a five-star review on our page.”
Kuni tsked. “Don’t you have books to ring up?”
She eyed the tower in front of her, thirteen in total. “You know, you might just be my best customer for the week.”
Klee squealed. “Big Brother, hear that? Miss Storyteller thinks we’re the best, too!”
Furina cooed. “Oh, cheri. My life would be a thousand times more unfulfilling if I had never met you.”
“Yes, Klee.” Kuni bounced her gently. “I heard it loud and clear. And if you continue to be good, I’ll bring you to a rage room later.” He glanced at Furina. “Kidding. I’ll just buy her an ice cream cone.”
Before Klee could answer, Furina hurriedly plucked her up and plopped her back down onto the ground. “Klee, why don’t you look around for a bit, see if you find anything else you want. I just need to talk to your big brother for a minute.” She dragged Kuni away by the elbow.
“Hey. No offense, but maybe you shouldn’t encourage any destructive tendencies in a child. What would her parents say?”
He snorted. “If you think I’m enabling her, then you have clearly never seen Klee’s own mother in action. The woman would be wanted in five nations if she wasn’t smart enough to get an alibi.”
This was heading into law breaking territory. Furina only got more tense. “Are you serious?”
He pursed his lips, and visibly grew defensive. “What’s it to you?” Well, at least if it’s true, he’s a loyal accomplice.
She blamed the panic for the maniacal giggle she let out. “It’s not moral, that’s what. There’s a justice system in place for a reason. Anarchy would be horrible. Trust me. I’ve seen graphs on the subject.”
“Who the fuck said anything about anarchy? How are you jumping to conclusions so fast? If I was actually the alibi, why in Celestia’s name would I mention this to some stranger?”
Was he implying that even though he’s not the aforementioned alibi, someone else is? Which could only mean that the crimes actually happened. Furina took a deep breath, she was not going to let her emotions goad her into elevating this into a screaming match. She needed to focus on here and now, on the person in front of her. Even if Klee’s mother was a real arsonist or whatever. Innocent until proven guilty. She had not been made to memorise the entire statute list of Fontaine, every rule and regulation currently upheld, only to forget that one vital principle. It’s not justice if the accused were arrested without airtight evidence.
She had let panic dictate her body into this line of questioning, this interrogation. Of course he became defensive. Everything’s fine and Furina’s not going to get thrown in Meropide for being an unintentional accomplice and have to witness the horror and disappointment on Focalors and Neuvilette’s faces after all the lessons on the legal system they made her sit through.
“Um, right, of course. Sorry.”
There was a very awkward pause. She was staring at a spot above his right ear, not willing to look him in the eye. Desperately, clapped her hands together. “So! Change of topic, did you hear that Yae Publishing House is opening a branch right across the street from here?” Why in Teyvat did her mouth choose that to be the subject matter, her sane mind will never know, given that it’s kind of a sore spot for her. Nevermind. She forced herself to roll with it.
Kuni suddenly stiffened. Well, even more than he already was. Any more and he might as well be an inanimate porcelain doll. She blamed his reaction on whiplash from how abrupt they moved on from the argument.
“Everyone’s saying they’re going to put us out of business, but they don’t understand.” Furina felt herself growing agitated once more. The good thing about this topic of discussion is that she has a lot to say about it.
Maybe if she kept talking, he would forget about her little impromptu interrogation. “The thing is, on top of doing charity, we provide service! This place also serves as a library, a community, a little safe haven for when the real world gets too tough. I bet the minimum wage workers there have never so much as picked up a book for leisure their whole life. And those money-laundering businessmen on top of the bureaucracy, people like them are the reason both capitalism and dictatorship hurt innocent civilians.” That accusation was actually founded on evidence, both quantitative and qualitative data. And even personal experience mingling with the upper-class.
“...Oh, so you want me for my patronage.” He stated coldly, crossing his arms.
Furina finally paused. “...What?”
“You’re subconsciously afraid that the ‘everyone’ you mentioned are right. So, you want me for my patronage.”
Furina felt that something was slipping away from her grasp, something that she suddenly really wanted to keep and potentially nurture. “Um, no! I mean, yes that’d be nice but like I said, you seem nice and… um…” Yeah, she totally said all the wrong words and that something was totally dead now.
He was mostly closed off now, expression unreadable. The only description that came to mind was mask-like. And that was only because she had a friendlier version of him right in front of her only a minute ago.
“Sure.” Kuni said indifferently. “I need to get back to my babysitting duties now. You understand, don’t you?”
He whirled around and strided to the counter without waiting for an answer.
Furina followed, feeling as powerless as she did when her mother, Egeria, died. She robotically rang them up. When citing the total, she spontaneously gave him their returning customers’ discount. He didn’t even look at the cash register and told her he didn’t want the receipt.
Klee, smart girl that she was, hesitantly asked them what was wrong. She received nothing but a stupefied look from Furina and a stern order to wait outside from Kuni. Apparently, she’s also not used to this side of him, as her joyful vibrancy was replaced by visible concern. But in the end, Klee obediently left her store with a quick little wave goodbye. On the bright side, it’s nice that Klee trusted Kuni enough to follow his instructions even when she’s clearly worried.
Kuni himself briskly departed soon after, with all nine books that Furina recommended plus Klee’s ones loaded into two tote bags, one carried in each hand.