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Sitting in his office at the Tenryou Commission, Heizou remembers the conversation very well.
“Kaedehara Kazuha, you're a wanted criminal for stealing a Vision from the Shogun and for refusing to give up said and your personal Vision,” he said as he had his companion cornered. He felt the same pain he saw in his friend's eyes, and felt the betrayal dripping from them. He was disgusted with himself.
“Heizou-”
“You have the right to remain silent,”
But he was rather a good friend than whatever the Tenryou Commission asked him to be.
“There will be a ship transferring goods and intending to smuggle civilians out of Inazuma. It should arrive in Ritou tonight, 11pm. There will be officers at the docks, so try not to get caught. That's your only way out, do not miss the opportunity, please.”
The thoughts spelling ‘traitor’ immediately left Kazuha’s mind, and his eyes lessened their upset and strengthened their gratitude. “Heizou…”
His heart was tearing apart. He knows how bad his friend has it right now, and yet here he is giving him an out he secretly wished he didn't give. However, it'd be selfish of him to keep Kazuha here, keep his life in danger, and keep him locked up in the place that gave him his suffering. Hence why he'd forced out his intel on the smuggling boat, despite his own feelings. He'd rather be a good friend than whatever the Tenryou Commission makes him, and he'd rather be a good friend than a selfish lover.
“You shouldn't stay here, you know that. Your fate will be far worse than other people who have gotten their Visions confiscated already.”
Kazuha steps out of his defensive stance, opting for a relaxed one instead, and it hurts the green eyed man in front of him. “What about you?”
“They won't confiscate my Vision, since I work for the Commission.”
“But-”
“Neither will they know this interaction has ever happened, I'll make sure of it…” The detective offered his dearest friend a smile. It was fake, so so fake, but he hoped that Kazuha couldn't see that. “Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. If we meet again-”
“When.” Kazuha interrupted, a frown forming on his face. “When we meet again.”
“Right.” Heizou breathed out, his heart doing an unnecessary extra hard beat at his friend's insistence. “When we meet again, you'll see.”
The hug that Kazuha wrapped him in made his heart nearly explode, and he almost did something regretful then, something he knew Kazuha couldn't handle then, and when they parted, his heart shattered.
His heart still aches. He still yearns. It's stupid, and it's selfish… yearning for something that isn't there anymore- yearning for something that's always been out of reach for him in the first place. It didn’t help that he was currently dealing with a report of someone he had to track down to confiscate their Vision. Dropping his quill on his desk, not caring of the ink splattering on the dark wood that he’ll have to clean up at some point, he stood up and left his office, really needing a break, something to take his mind off this damn Vision Hunt Decree. It wasn’t easy to do so while living in the middle of it, but there has to be something to distract him. Something like a delicious coffee made out of Sumeran coffee beans- yes. That sounded amazing right now. With how much work he still has to do, the caffeine would help a lot, too. His sleep schedule was poor already, might as well make it even worse, since it’ll probably get worse over time, anyways, seeing how his work keeps piling up no matter how hard he tries to keep said pile small.
The break room was pleasantly full, but most people were quiet due to the presence of Kujou Sara. A lot of Tenryou Commissioners had something to say about Inazuma’s predicament, but dared not to say it in Lady Kujou’s presence. She was probably quite reasonable about it all, but her devotion to their Archon made people too afraid to voice their thoughts about their Archon’s choices. Kujou Sara was talking to one of the patrol officers, and it wasn’t hard to miss their conversation with the room being so quiet.
“Lady Kujou, I’ve gathered more intel on the goods that are being shipped here later in the day, and it appears to be the same boat that smuggled citizens out of Inazuma months ago. What are our orders on the matter? Do we arrest all passengers on board?”
Wait…
“The crew of the ship are Liyuan, we have no right to arrest them or confiscate their Visions so long as they do not break any laws on Inazuman land. If they make it past the storm, and if there are returning passengers, let them go. They will not be able to leave Ritou without a permit. We will catch them and those with a Vision as soon as we have more men on duty.”
“Yes, Lady Kujou!”
Heizou blinked, letting his cup overflow as he processed the conversation. He was snapped out of his brief daze when coffee burnt his hand, and he had to grab a towel to clean his hand and the spill on the counter and the floor. As he felt the eyes of his colleagues drilling into him as he cleaned up the mess, he couldn’t help but think;
What if he returns?
No. He wasn’t going to. He’s a lunatic if he does. The Vision Hunt Decree is far from over, and he’ll just put himself back in the position he was in when Heizou offered him his ticket out if he returns now. Still, there was a sliver of pathetic hope making Heizou’s heart beat just a little more than usual. But again, it’s pathetic. It’s unnecessary.
There’s a sense of deja vu passing through his brain, hiding behind fisherman Obata’s house (if he’s spotted, he’ll cover it as working on a case. That usually does the trick.) as he waits on the docks of Ritou. He has been in this exact same spot before, when Kazuha boarded the Liyuan ship that took him away. He hadn’t said goodbye, hadn’t waved him off, but Heizou had been in this exact same spot to watch the ship drift off into the vast ocean, away from Ritou’s docks and towards Liyue’s mountains. With the setting sun, he can easily see the shape of said mountains. They're highlighted by the sun, yet they look sort of intimidating. They look fairly close, but he knows that they are much further away than they look. Instead of watching the ship leave, he sees the familiar red and gold flags of the Alcor and the Crux Fleet come closer. It won’t be much longer until it docks. There are little to no officers around, but Heizou has passed by them when coming into Ritou. They're all waiting in between Ritou and the city, ready to catch whoever tries to enter or leave Inazuma.
He waits for a few minutes, and he listens and watches closely as the Alcor makes contact with the docks, and as who he knows is the captain of the ship gets off together with a blonde and a flying companion. They're greeted by Thoma, who, after a few minutes of introductions and chatting, leads them further into Ritou.
He listens to the crew on the ship exchanging words, until…
“Stay safe, Kazuha. We prefer to see you in one piece next time we meet!”
That's the sign he convinced himself wouldn't come. Yet here it was.
He waits for just a little bit longer, listening closely to the light footsteps as they near, and he reveals himself from his hiding spot as soon as Kazuha is just two steps past the house.
“Kazuha,”
The man stops in his tracks. Even from the back, he looks the same as when Heizou last saw him. He slowly turns, and that's where Heizou’s heart picks up again. It beats loud, but this time, it feels much better than the last time it did this where the person it beats this way for was nearby. Now, seeing those eyes again… Kazuha does look different. He looks… refreshed, almost at peace. Almost. There was still a slight sorrow, Heizou knows for certain, but it's mostly ceased, like Kazuha’s adventure has helped him cope, helped him come to terms with everything that's happened, and has helped him move on. It should have, otherwise he wouldn't have returned this soon. Otherwise he wouldn't have returned at all.
“Heizou..” He breathes out the name when he's turned around fully.
He takes a mere step forward, and suddenly he's engulfed by the detective. Arms are around his shoulders in an instant, and a warm body presses itself against his like the owner's life depended on it. Emotions spill into the embrace, it almost overwhelms the samurai. Wordlessly, he returns the hug, the emotions. He nuzzles into Heizou’s shoulder, finding comfort in the familiarity he's lacked across the past months.
After a moment, they separated, albeit not fully. Their bodies stayed close, as if they were glued together. There was a tension of something unspoken.
Kazuha opened his mouth slightly to speak, but with a heart hammering in his chest, Heizou pressed his lips to the other's. His hands moved from around the samurai’s shoulders to cupping his face, and he closed his eyes to not see whatever expression Kazuha decided to wear in response. The invisible wall that the unspoken tension had created shattered, and crumpled onto the docks and into the ocean.
It was only when Heizou realised what he was actually doing that he quickly stopped himself. His eyes snapped open, and he immediately placed his hands on Kazuha’s shoulders and forced them apart.
Filled with shame and embarrassment, he started to ramble. “I-I am so sorry! I should've-”
But Kazuha wrapped his fingers around Heizou’s wrists, and then pulled to make him fall forward, back into their initial stance, and now it was him who initiated the kiss. His hands slid over the detective’s arms and up his neck until they were cradling his face ever so gently. They stayed like that until they were required to breathe, and Kazuha brought Heizou back into a warm embrace afterwards.
“Thank you for harboring all of your feelings for me, despite my selfish decision,” He murmured into the crook of Heizou’s neck. “I'm sorry for not being able to return them sooner, I really am.”
“Selfish?” Heizou sighed. “It was your only right choice. You don't have to say sorry for choosing yourself, especially not after all those times you chose others.” His arms snaked around Kazuha’s waist, and hung there loosely, his brain processing the confession. “And how could I forget them, when you've been all that's on my mind these past months?”
Kazuha’s breath hitched uncharacteristically. But it wasn't bad. “...I have been in the same predicament.”
“You've been thinking about me?”
Kazuha let out a breathy laugh, carefully caressing a hand though Heizou’s soft hair. “Captain Beidou should know every detail about you without a singular meeting by now,”
Heizou looked down at Kazuha, and the samurai leaned back up to return it. No words were exchanged. There was no need to. Each other's presence was enough, and perhaps another kiss, this time initiated by both, made it all complete.