the branches, silhouetted

by redbirdwaltz

Summary:

“The first time Heizou had seen Kaedehara Kazuha, he had briefly mistaken him for some sort of spirit, a yokai wandering Inazuma and leading men to their doom.

 

Jury was still out on that second point, as far as he was concerned.”

 

Heizou falls in love quickly - it’s the admitting part that takes time.

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PART ONE

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“It was Yakama.” Heizou insisted for what had to be the fifth time that morning. “I’m sure of it.”

“Yakama-san is a well respected man, Shikanoin-san.” His supervisor, the Yoriki Owada, said sternly. “He has given generously to our Commission and is a personal friend of the Commissioner himself.”

“I understand that, but he still murdered someone and then stole all of their mora.” Heizou perhaps could have phrased it more delicately, but someone was dead. The time for delicacy had passed.

“You have no proof of that.”

“I’m right, though.” He said because he was.

Yakama had been reported eating regularly at the restaurant where the murdered woman, a young waitress from an unimportant family, had worked. And on the day she’d gone missing, Yakama had too. He’d been unaccounted for for almost three hours according to his secretary. She’d been eager to complain about it when Heizou had asked - apparently Yakama had missed a meeting with an important client and left her to make his apologies.

She’d also told him, once he’d bought her a drink and listened to her complain about her overbearing mother for a while, that when he’d returned the clothes he’d been wearing were unfamiliar - she would swear he’d been in a different outfit that morning. After a few more drinks and an admittance that she really did love her mother, the secretary had confided that Yakama was the sort of man who didn’t take rejection well, was perhaps the sort of man who might lash out at a pretty young waitress who had consistently been turning down his advances.

It was a sad story and it had a sad, useless ending. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

But Heizou was a genius, so obviously he had figured it out hours ago.

“Go get me some proof, then.” Owada grumbled. “Until then, give it a rest Shikanoin-san.”

Owada left without waiting for Heizou to reply.

Heizou flopped back in his chair with an annoyed sigh. Proof. Shouldn’t his intuition be proof enough? He hadn’t been wrong about a case yet and he’d been at the Tenryou Commission for almost a year now. But, no, apparently he had to wait until he had evidence that wasn’t just his assertion he was right.

There were a number of things he could do now, avenues he could take to reach the desired result. He leaned further back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling, considering. He’d already checked Yakama’s house and there had been nothing unusual - if there was proof it was somewhere hidden. Finding hidden things, hmmm…looked like it was time to utilize one of his favorite resources.

He scanned the office - it was midday, close enough to lunch that it was about half empty already. But Uesugi, dutiful as ever, was still sitting at his desk crouched over some report.

“Oi, Uesugi.” He called. Uesugi, apparently wrapped up in the report, didn’t look up.

Apparently, more drastic measures were required. Heizou grabbed a scrap of paper off his desk, rolled it up into a ball, and chucked it at Uesugi’s head.

Uesugi flinched rather dramatically and half got up from his chair, hand reaching for the spear leaning against it. “Calm down, we’re not being attacked.” Heizou balled up another scrap of paper and threw it at him. This time it bounced squarely off the middle of his forehead.

“Erm, Shikanoin-san?” Uesugi rubbed his forehead. “Did you need something?”

“Yep, I need your help.” Heizou absently toyed with another scrap of paper.

Uesugi’s eyes went wide. “M-my help, really?”

“You patrol more than I do.” Uesugi politely did not point out that Heizou did not actually patrol at all, either out of fear or respect. Heizou appreciated that Uesugi either feared or respected him. “You seen Kaedehara around?”

“Kaedehara Kazuha, sir?” Uesugi blinked in surprise. “The ronin?”

“That’s the one.” He agreed. “He been around lately?”

“I believe so.” He said. “He and that friend he travels with, the tall fellow, they’re distinctive. I think I saw them both a few days ago.”

“Good enough of a lead for now.” Heizou said, stretching before he got out of his chair. He grabbed his jitte and, after a moment of consideration, his handcuffs.

“Was that all you needed help with, sir?” Uesugi looked distinctly crestfallen.

“Mmhm, that was all.” Heizou said. “I’m going out for a bit.”

“Where to, sir?” Uesugi asked.

“Hmm.” Heizou glanced at him and flashed a wide grin. “Ronin hunting.”

“Sir?” Uesugi blustered, but Heizou was already out the door.

Inazuma City was a rush of noise and movement at midday, crowds swarming restaurants and food stalls that lined the main road. Heizou ducked around the crowd, searching for a hint of red and orange. Instead he saw a flash of purple and green - ah, that was the Arataki Deputy, wasn’t it?

“Oi, Kuki!” He shouted.

Kuki Shinobu turned at his call, eyes meeting his. He waved and jogged over, weaving through the chattering crowds.

“Shikanoin-san.” She greeted politely, just like she did when she came to bail out various members of her gang for misdeeds that were typically more annoying than actually criminal. She was carrying a heavy looking bag of rice, probably on the way to one of her many part time jobs. He wasn’t sure which one would require rice - was she working at a restaurant now too?

He wouldn’t be surprised.

“Hey.” He came to a stop in front of her, rocking on the balls of his feet. “Got a second?”

“I always have a second for the Tenryou Commission, Shikanoin-san.” She said evenly, adjusting the rice.

“Oh, stop that.” He rolled his eyes. “And let me take that - I’ll walk with you to where you’re going.”

“I assure you I can handle it.” She said dryly, starting to walk again.

“Sure, just offering.” He shrugged and folded his arms behind his head instead.

“What exactly did you need to ask me, Shikanoin-san?” She asked.

“Ah, right.” He said. “I’m looking for someone and you seem to be everywhere, so…”

“Who exactly are you looking for?” She asked.

“Kaedehara Kazuha.” He said. “I need him for something.”

“The Kaedehara clan head…” She navigated expertly around a group of children chasing after each other, still toting the huge bag of rice. “Yes, I believe so. He was near the southern entrance of the city a while ago - I can’t say if he’s moved on or not by now though. He doesn’t tend to stay in one place for long.”

“Great!” Heizou said. “Good luck with your, ah, rice making endeavors, Kuki - I’ll see you next time your gang gets arrested.”

He bounded away, leaving before she could get a response out, and rushed through the streets and down the stairs to the southern entrance to Inazuma city. He saw some fields, a few houses, some kids throwing a ball back and forth and, on a large, sunny rock by the roadside, a young man with pale hair and samurai’s robes.

Kaedehara Kazuha, all five feet and like three inches of him, was splayed in the middle of the sunny spring afternoon. He was dressed like he usually was, in the color of autumn. The first time Heizou had seen him, he had briefly mistaken him for some sort of spirit, a yokai wandering Inazuma and leading men to their doom.

Jury was still out on that second point, as far as he was concerned.

“Oi, ronin.” Heizou tapped his knee with his jitte, keeping it sheathed to avoid unnecessary stabbings. “Get up.”

He blinked his eyes open lazily and looked up to meet Heizou’s gaze. “Shikanoin-san.” Kaedehara nodded to him. “Hello.”

“Kaedehara.” Heizou jerked his chin in acknowledgement. “What are you doing here?”

“The winds are clean and the sun is warm.” He said. “So I am taking the time to enjoy the day.”

“By the side of the road?” Heizou gestured back towards the - now admittedly empty - thoroughfare.

Kaedehara sat up, stretching as he did so. “Mmm, the day is as nice here as it is away from the road.” He blinked a few times, still looking a bit hazy with sleep. “What are you doing here?”

“Give me your hands.” Heizou said. Kaedehara obligingly extended his hands. Heizou pulled out his handcuffs and placed them on Kaedehara’s wrists. “I’m detaining you. You’re being detained.”

“I can see that.” Kaedehara said placidly. “May I inquire as to the reason?”

“You were loitering.” Heizou decided, adjusting the cuffs on Kaedehara’s wrists. They were thin and very pale, just like the rest of him.

“Oh, was I?” Kaedehara hummed. “And how about these other devious criminals?” He nodded to the group of children nearby tossing a temari ball back and forth. “Will they also be prosecuted for the serious crime of - what was it again?”

“It was just loitering, but now you’re disrespecting an officer of the law as well.” Heizou tugged at the cuffs. They weren’t very tight, but he figured it was fine. Kaedehara hadn’t ever attempted to escape before. “Tsk, I suppose I’ll have to take you down to the station.”

“I was supposed to meet a friend.” Kaedehara sighed. “But very well. Aoi-chan?” He called out, bewildering Heizou until one of the children tossing the temari ball stopped the game to trot over.

“What is it, Kazu-nii?” She asked, eyes huge as she took in his position - the cuffed hands in front of him and Heizou’s hands on his shoulders. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Aoi-chan.” He said with a smile, which Heizou found slightly insulting. He was not fine, he was being detained by an officer of the law. “But when my companion arrives, could you direct him to the station? He’s very tall and wears a purple scarf with stripes on it.”

“Yes, Kazu-nii!” She agreed before skipping away to rejoin her friends.

“All set?” Heizou asked dryly.

Kaedehara paused for a moment, as if he was considering the question. “I believe so.” He decided.

“Let’s go, then.” Heizou started the walk back towards the station, one hand on Kaedehara’s shoulder. He was close enough to Heizou’s height that it was significantly less awkward than it was with most suspects. They walked in silence for a bit, rounding the large tree and reentering the city proper.

“You really don’t have to cuff me, you know.” Kaedehara said. “Or arrest me. You can just tell me you want me to look over something for you.”

“Silence, prisoner.” Heizou said. “And, yeah, you said that last time but then you left before I had asked all of my questions.”

“I had dinner plans.” Kaedehara said. “And you were asking quite a lot of questions.”

“I’m a detective, we’re prone to excessive question asking.” Heizou steered them around a group of other Tenryou officers lingering outside one of the many food stalls that lined the streets. They mostly ignored Heizou, too used to his “unorthodox methods” to question why he was marching a drowsy ronin down the street in handcuffs.

“What kind of questions do you need answers to this time, then?” Kaedehara glanced back at him.

“A woman was murdered - a waitress at one of the restaurants up by Tenshukaku.” He said, lifting his chin in the direction of the Shogun's palace. “She’s not from any prestigious family, but the man who I know murdered her is. So, apparently, I can’t bring him in unless I have concrete proof.”

“You can’t just claim your intuition as proof?”

“Hey, no sass from the prisoner.” He poked Kaedehara in the side with his still sheathed jitte.

Kaedehara shrugged, shoulders rolling under Heizou’s hand. “I believed the other members of the Tenryou commission allowed you to more or less act with impunity, so long as you were not directly breaking the law.”

“Usually, yeah.” Heizou said. “But this asshole is an important ally of the Tenryou Commission.” He put on a snooty voice for the last bit. “It’s all clan politics and that kind of nonsense.”

“I see.” Kaedehara said. “So is that what you need help with? Clan politics?”

“Nah, I don’t want to mess with all of that.” Heizou said. “Oh, come on - we can talk inside.” They’d arrive at the police station. Heizou steered them inside, passing the reception desk where an old attendant was yawning widely, warmth of the spring afternoon clearly getting to him.

“It should be pretty empty.” Heizou said as they walked into the large office where the detectives worked - a dozen or so desks, most of them empty. His own was the closest to the door and was absolutely covered in papers and files. “Here,” He kicked out the chair beside it and let go of Kaedehara’s shoulder. “Sit.”

Kaedehara sat, chair groaning in protest at even his slight weight. “Such generous hospitality from the Tenryou Commission.” He said idly.

“Hush.” Heizou began rifling through the stacks of paper on his desk, searching for the file. “Oi, Uesugi! You still here?”

“Shikanoin-san?” Uesugi popped right up from his desk. “Do you need something?”

“Yeah, go fix me and the prisoner some tea.” He shoved a few files for cases he’d already closed into one of his drawers.

“Oh…okay.” Uesugi sighed and trotted off towards the kitchen.

“Ha!” Heizou pulled the right file from the stack and flipped it open. “There we go!”

“Who is that?” Kaedehara asked.

“Who?” Heizou asked absently, flipping through his notes to find the page he needed.

“That detective - the one who you asked to make us tea.”

“Oh, you mean Uesugi?” Heizou looked up and Kaedehara nodded. “Some newbie - he asked to be my sidekick the other day.”

“You told him no?”

“Of course I told him no.” Heizou scoffed. “I don’t need a sidekick. I’m my own sidekick.”

Kaedehara’s lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. “I see. And you ordered him to go make you tea because…?”

“Uesugi likes to feel useful, so I - as a very kind and generous person - am making use of him.” Heizou said. “Now, c’mon, let’s talk about something that’s actually interesting.” He set the open file on the desk besides Kaedehara and sat down in his own chair. “I checked the guy’s house - nothing out of the ordinary. But, as you can see from the file, the killing seems to have been a crime of opportunity rather than something he planned.” He tapped the file. “I’m assuming there’s evidence linking him to it somewhere, I just don’t know where.”

“And you’d like me to find it?” Kaedehara flipped a page, cuffs jingling softly as he did so.

“I’ve seen you track a scent half way up Mount Yougou in the rain, Kaedehara. Man alive, you’re like a damn dog sometimes.” Heizou said. “If there’s stuff stashed away with blood on it, I’m assuming you’re going to be able to find it for me.”

Kaedehara flipped another page and looked up, eyes meeting Heizou’s. His eyelashes were as pale as his hair, but long enough to be noticeable. “You can’t find it without my help?”

“Of course I can.” Heizou smirked. “But I know when to use my available resources.”

“Available resources, hmm?” Kaedehara looked down at the file for a moment before flipping a page again. “You have such a way with words, Shikanoin-san.”

“Yes, I know.” Heizou said. “But can you do it?”

“Blood is quite a common scent.” Kaedehara said. “If you asked me to simply track down a nearby source of blood, I expect we would end up at the butcher’s. You would need to narrow it down for me.” He flipped another page in file and tilted his head, expression curious.

Heizou leaned over to see what Kaedehara was looking at - a blurry photograph of the suspect, courtesy of one of those fancy new Fontainan kameras. It had taken a full month of wheedling to get the boss to let him buy it with commission funds and another for him to allow Heizou to take it out of the station.

“That’s him.” He said. “The suspect.”

“Yakama-san.” Kaedehara said. “I know him.”

“Oh, yeah?” Heizou scooted his chair closer to Kaedehara’s. “Where from?”

“He was an acquaintance of my father’s.” Kaedehara said. “The Yakama clan deals in mining, so there has been a long association between them and the Kaedehara’s. Even after our clan fell into decline, there was an effort to maintain good relations.”

“Tea’s ready!” Uesugi called, interrupting them before Heizou could respond. He leaned back in his chair, watching as Uesugi made his way over with a tray complete with a steaming teapot and two cups.

“You can go now.” Heizou said with an absent wave towards Uesugi once he’d set the tray down, considering what Kaedehara had said. Yakama was from a mining clan, huh? That might have some interesting implications…

“I can handle serving the tea.” Kaedehara was telling Uesugi, giving him a polite little nod. “My thanks, Uesugi-san.”

Kaedehara had fancy manners - clan head manners - and high society knowledge that he pulled out sometimes the way that an assassin might pull out a hidden blade. His past, or at least the rough shape of it, wasn’t a secret so the manners shouldn’t have been so surprising. But when he went from napping on a rock by the side of the road to elegantly pouring tea while discussing the inner working of clan politics, it was hard to reconcile the two versions of this man.

“So mining - would a clan head have that kind of knowledge? Of how to mine and that kind of thing?” Heizou asked as soon as Uesugi had retreated back to his own desk. Kaedehara handed Heizou one of the two mugs of tea he’d poured, motions elegant despite the handcuffs.

“Careful, it’s hot.” Kaedehara said as Heizou automatically grabbed the mug and moved to take a drink. “And yes, I would hope so. Even in the most prestigious clans, there is the expectation that the leadership knows the business of their clan quite well.”

Heizou blew on the tea for a moment before daring to take a sip. He flinched back with a pained hiss - too hot. “Would a mining clan have knowledge of naturally occurring caves near where they operated? Or where they lived?”

Kaedehara smiled. “I think that would be a safe assumption to make.”

“So, if I asked you to help me find a spot underground with bloody clothes that were about three days old?” Heizou asked, anticipation making his limbs feel light.

“I believe I would be able to assist with that.” Kaedehara smiled, eyes crinkling at the corners.

“Okay!” Heizou sprang up from his chair, the familiar adrenaline of solving a puzzle rushing through him. “Let’s get you up and we can head out to -”

“Hey, Kazuha!” A loud voice cut Heizou off. “You done hanging out with your little detective buddy yet?”

Heizou bristled. “I am not little -”

“We should be finishing up in just a moment.” Kaedehara called back.

A man rounded the corner - he was dressed similarly to Kaedehara in the clothes of a wandering samurai, robes red with a purple scarf draped around his neck. He was vaguely familiar. Heizou was pretty sure he was the same man that Kaedehara had abandoned him to have dinner with the last time he’d consulted on a case.

He grinned broadly and waved at them both. “A little girl told me some kid arrested you, Kazuha.” He said. “Figured it was the Tenryou friend you told me about.”

“I’m a detective!” Heizou insisted. “Not some kid!”

Kaedehara more or less ignored his outburst, getting to his feet and displaying his cuffed hands. “Yes, Shikanoin-san sometimes has…unorthodox ways of asking for my assistance finding things.”

“I didn’t ask for your help. I detained you.” Heizou reminded him helpfully. “For crimes.”

“Crimes, huh?” Kaedehara’s friend reached out to ruffle his hair. “Way to go, big guy. Didn’t think you had it in you.”

Kaedehara’s pale cheeks became stained a delicate pink at the touch. Heizou blinked once and then again, sight arresting him for just a moment.

“I assure you, there were no actual crimes.” He said with a small smile.

“Too bad.” His friend smirked. “Everybody likes a bad boy, Kazuha.” He nudged Kaedehara and his pink blush deepened a bit.

Ah - so it was like that, then.

It would not have taken a genius to see that they were together. So Heizou, as a genius, could see it more readily than most.

Inazuma was a traditional country in many ways - same sex relationships existed, of course, but it was rare to see them among the powerful clans where succession and lineage were of particular importance.

Perhaps it was for the best that the Kaedehara clan had fallen into such a steep decline - no one would be too troubled if the latest heir did not sire a successor and instead took up with another wandering ronin.

Heizou watched them interact and tried to take a sip from his own tea and flinched back again - still too hot. Ugh, he would have to explain what proper tea temperature was to Uesugi later.

“Ready to go, then?” The taller man was saying. “Or am I going to have to come visit you in prison?”

“No need for that.” Kaedehara assured. “I’m sure Shikanoin-san will let me go. We have solved his problem, after all.”

“Wait, no we didn’t!” Heizou protested. “I don’t want to check every cave on Narukami Island- I thought you were going to help me narrow it down.”

Kaedehara tilted his head to the side for a moment before looking up at his friend. “A while longer, if you would.” He said. “Once we’re outside and closer to the potential source I’ll be able to point Shikanoin-san in the right direction.”

“Sure, I’ll go with you.” His friend said, flashing a grin at Heizou. “I’ve always wondered what real police work looks like, y’know?”

“It’s mostly paperwork, actually.” Uesugi said. “And patrolling.”

“Aw, really?” The taller man looked put out.

Heizou scoffed and stood, chair squeaking against the floor. “No, Uesugi just does it in the boring way possible. Now, come on, let’s go Kaedehara.”

“We may need to climb.” Kaedehara held up his still cuffed hands, as if in question.

“I bet you could climb just fine with those on.” Heizou said doubtfully, but he still leaned down to unlock Kaedehara’s cuffs.

“Perhaps, but I’d rather not test it.” Kaedehara rubbed at his wrists once the cuffs fell away. There was a faint red mark from where they’d sat, just the faintest suggestion that something had been there.

“All good to go, then?” His friend grabbed his sleeve and tugged, like a needy cat.

Heizou led the way outside, with an absent wave towards Uesugi. He waited in the courtyard, blinking a bit at the sudden brightness.

“Shikanoin-san?” Kaedehara tapped Heizou’s shoulder. His touch was light, barely noticeable if you weren’t already paying attention. Heizou, of course, was. “I don’t think it would be far - if it wasn’t premeditated, as you suggest, I would assume it’s within a close radius. You said the restaurant was by Tenshukaku, right?

“Yeah, should we head that way?”

Kaedehara nodded and together the three of them headed towards the massive structure that capped the island. It glinted in the midday sunlight, gold accents on the roof glittering brightly above the rooftops and sakura trees. It was a warm day and the streets by Tenshukaku were busy and busier as they drew closer - shopkeepers called out as they passed, a few of the patrolling detectives Heizou knew waved in greeting, a stray cat snoozing on a windowsill flicked an ear in their direction as they passed.

Kaedehara’s friend whistled as they drew closer to the complex of buildings that made up the Shogun’s palace. “I always forget how big this place is.”

“Have you ever been inside?” Heizou asked, looking at him sidelong.

“Nah, I’m not the sort of person who’d be welcome there.”

“It’s not exactly exclusive - they let me in.” Heizou said. “Just into the Tenryou headquarters, but still.”

“Still, impressive.” He said. “How bout you, Kazuha? You been in Tenshukaku?”

“I went with my father once or twice when I was younger.” Kaedehara said. “It was as impressive inside as it is outside.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” He folded his arms behind his head, squinting up at the gold-capped roof. “You wouldn’t find me dead in a place like that.”

“Come on.” Heizou tilted his head away from the palace, to the side where a series of sheer cliffs fell away to the sea. “If I remember right, there are some caves down there. Sense anything good, Kaedehara?”

“Hmm.” Kaedehara walked past him, going to stand at the edge of the cliffs. The winds off the sea snatched at his scarf. It fluttered like a flag against the clear blue sky. “I wouldn’t describe it as ‘good,’ but I can pick up a faint scent of blood and earth coming from the cave directly below.”

His friend came up to stand beside him and peered down. “It could always be treasure hoarders.”

“Could be.” Heizou agreed. “But it’s enough of a lead for now.”

“The age seems right.” Kaedehara murmured, squinting down at the beach far below. “And treasure hoarders tend to have the smell of alcohol about them as well - I can’t pick up any down there.”

Heizou let out a short, sharp laugh. “Blood and no alcohol - sounds like a party, huh?”

Kaedehara smiled placidly. “The wind does not lie, Shikanoin-san.”

“So are we going down there or can we go get lunch?” Kaedehara’s friend asked. “I’m not opposed to helping look for clues or whatever, but I am kind of hungry.”

Heizou glanced at him. “That’s enough for a lead - I can take it from here.” He looked over to Kaedehara. “Thanks, Kaedehara.”

He nodded. “Perhaps next time you can just ask me for help instead of arresting me.”

Heizou grinned. “No promises.”

He waved them off, waiting until they were back on the main roads before he started the climb down to the bottom of the cliffs. It was quick with an Anemo Vision - he could drop ten or twenty feet at a time, catching himself with a well-placed gust of wind. Once he was down, he rubbed his hands together and got to work.

It took the better part of his afternoon to comb the bottom of the cliffs, occasionally running across hilichurls or packs of slimes that seemed determined to slow him down. But finally, he found the mouth of a cave that had been hastily hidden by a few branches and armfuls of sand.

By the time he crawled in and found a mess of bloody clothes haphazardly buried beneath some sand, Heizou was covered in an unholy combination of slime condensate, sea water, dirt, and sand. But the case was solved, blood all over the clothes that were obviously Yakama’s. Another criminal dealt with and one more example made.

“Got you, Yakama.” Heizou shook his head, a grim smile growing on his face as he clutched the evidence. “Case closed.”

 

*****

 

Summer was a brutal thing within the walls of the Tenryou Commission.

The office for detectives was small and poorly ventilated, the only windows high up and useless at catching the salty winds that rolled in off the sea. The rest of the detectives all slowly but surely moved closer to Heizou on the rare occasions he was actually in the station, obviously angling to catch a breeze. But there was only so much even someone with an Anemo Vision could do. Sure, he could blow the air into their faces, but it wasn’t like he could cool it down. It usually just felt like getting stuck in an oven instead of anything even remotely refreshing.

And all the while, thunderstorms roiled overhead, loud and distracting but rarely actually providing any rain that might alleviate the heat rolling over the islands. But, sometimes, they broke and the storms that resulted were heavy and violent, shutting down whole islands for days at a time.

It was late afternoon, almost evening, and Heizou was making one of his rare trips to the office to page through the new stack of case files that had been set on his desk. Apparently, they were only giving him the ones that had proved impossible to solve for the rest of the detectives. If that was really the case, Heizou despaired for the state of the Tenryou Commission. The stack of files was intimidatingly high.

He sat at his desk and started to page through them, jotting down any immediate suspicions or inclinations into the margins in cramped, messy writing. Other detectives called out goodbyes as they left for the day, remarking on the dark clouds overhead or the humidity that had been plaguing the island for weeks now.

Heizou tuned them out like he usually did, focus solely on the cases in front of him. Soon, the office was more or less empty and the sky was dark enough that it was clear the perpetual storm overhead was nearing a breaking point.

The soft noise of a throat clearing made him look up, the rest of the world suddenly rushing back in.

A familiar figure was standing in the doorway of the office, dressed in autumn colors and looking like a ghost in the gloom of the oncoming storm.

“Hey, Kaedehara.” Heizou snapped the file closed - a robbery gone wrong that had led to an attempted murder. “What brings you to the Tenryou Commission?”

“I have to admit, I was looking for a place to wait out this storm.” Kaedehara said, looking slightly sheepish. “It will break before I had planned to reach my next destination.”

Heizou gestured to the empty office. “Grab a chair, then. Everyone else is out on patrol or they already went home.”

“Um, I’m here as well, sir.” Uesugi said.

“Congratulations.” Said Heizou, watching as Kaedehara settled at the desk across from him instead of looking over at Uesugi.

“I typically wait in a cave during storms like this.” Kaedehara said. “But I’m afraid my usual spots near the city are either already occupied or too far to reach before the weather turns.” He glanced back towards the door. “And being beneath a tree during a storm like this would be very unwise - lightning tends to strike those that are tall enough to shelter under.”

“It’s fine, Kaedehara.” Heizou said. “If anyone comes in, we can say I arrested you for trespassing again.”

“I thought it was loitering.”

“Sure, that too.” Heizou said. “But it should be fine - no one else comes by in the evening besides me.” Uesugi coughed loudly. “And Uesugi, apparently.”

“I suppose it is rather late.” Kaedehara hummed. “Don’t let me keep you if you would rather weather the storm at home.”

“It’s fine, I usually only come in when everyone else is gone anyway.” Heizou said with a wave of his hand. It was mostly true - he either avoided the station entirely or came in too early or too late to be assailed with small talk and requests to patrol.

Kaedehara took a piece of paper off of the desk, glancing idly at the writing on it. His lips twitched into a frown. “I see.” He sighed.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. “Is Owada’s handwriting really that bad?”

Kaedehara shook his head and flipped the paper so Heizou could see - it was a printed flier from the Tenryou Commission with information about the newly instituted Sakoku Decree emblazoned across it in bold, black ink.

“Ah, that.” He snatched it from Kaedehara. “It’s been a few weeks now, you hadn’t heard?”

“I was on Watatsumi Island.” He sighed. “I just got back this morning - I had heard rumors, but the news hasn’t spread past Narukami yet. I had assumed the storm wall around the islands was just unfavorable weather, not a deliberate barrier.”

“Yeah.” Heizou put the paper down and pressed it flat against his desk. “Makes sense - they only told us about it after they’d put up the fliers.”

“Any thoughts?” Kaedehara asked. His voice was a low murmur, barely audible over the rumbling of the clouds above.

Heizou slumped back at his chair and glanced over at Uesugi. He looked engrossed with his reports, scowling down at the file in front of him like it had done him a great, personal wrong.

“My Vision is Anemo, isn’t it?” He said, falsely flippant. “You should know what I think.”

Kaedehara’s eyes flashed - a match catching fire. Anemo was the element of freedom. His meaning shouldn’t be hard to catch. Heizou didn’t bother asking what Kaedehara thought. It was visible in the curve of his mouth, the way his hands had wrinkled the edges of the flier.

Dangerous, dangerous. Time for a subject change before someone said something either treasonous or blasphemous - perhaps both.

“So, where’s your shadow at? You know, mister big, tall, and loud.” Heizou made a vague gesture above his head, indicating an unreasonable amount of tallness.

Kaedehara let out a soft noise of amusement. “We do not always travel together.” He said. “Especially in summer.”

“Why’s that?” Heizou set down the file and picked up another, absently glancing through the details. Another frustrating one - a cheating spouse who had gotten caught and was now missing. Either they’d fled with their new lover or the old had decided to enact their revenge in a violent way. It would easily be cleared up with a conversation or two once the bad weather had passed.

“He seeks out storms sometimes.” Kaedehara sighed, looking exasperated in the fond way that those in relationships often looked when talking about their partners. “He says he likes the way they make him feel. And there are always more thunderstorms in summer.”

“Hmmm.” Heizou flicked a page aside in the case file. “I’ve always hated storms. Weather like that tends to wash evidence away."

“I enjoy rain at times and I quite like snow, but thunderstorms can be dangerous for a wanderer.” He said. “So I dislike them - particularly when they hit without warning. My traveling partner,” He smiled wryly. “Disagrees.”

“He’s got an Electro Vision, yeah?” Heizou glanced up, catching Kaedehara’s nod. “Guess he doesn’t need to be worried about being struck by lightning.”

Kaedehara’s smile widened. “That’s happened to him. More than once, actually.”

Heizou laughed. “And he still goes out in storms?”

“He does. Sometimes it seems like he can’t stay away.”

“I’ve wondered about that kind of thing before.” Heizou said, “You know, if people with different Visions have different inclinations towards different things.”

“An interesting question.” Kaedehara tapped his lower lip with a finger. Heizou glanced up and watched its movements, just for a moment. “There are some physical differences between normal people and Vision holders, of course, and a few tells between different Vision types as well. But as for preferences…hmmm.”

“Wait, there are physical differences between you guys and us?”

Heizou flipped another page without really reading it. “Eavesdropping are you, Uesugi?”

“My apologies, sirs!”

Heizou closed the file Uesugi had open on his desk with a small gust of wind, making him flinch. Kaedehara, though, just smiled at him. “It’s quite all right - and yes, there are a few differences between those with Visions and those without.”

“I, um, I didn’t know that.” Uesugi said.

“It’s nothing particularly interesting, to be honest.” Kaedehara said. “We,” He gestured at himself and Heizou, who was still lazily paging through his file. “Have a tendency to heal more quickly and be less affected by physical exertion. If I were to break a finger,” He help up a pale hand, as if in demonstration, “It would heal within a week or two - you would take five or six times longer.”

“That’s incredible!” Uesugi breathed, eyes wide.

“Depends on the type of Vision a bit, though.” Heizou said idly. “Anemo users like Kaedehara and me are lucky - we’re on the higher end of the scale. Hydro users are generally the quickest - their element lends itself pretty well to healing. Dendro is pretty good too, but you don’t see Dendro users outside of Sumeru too much.”

“Pyro is the worst for it.” He ticked it off on his fingers. “A Pyro user would heal a bit quicker than normal people, but not by much. Cryo, too, can be made to heal for certain individuals, but it isn't made for it the way that Anemo and Hydro are.”

He didn’t mention that Vision holders aged slower and lived longer as well - normal people didn’t take particularly kindly to that information.

“You are quite versed in this.” Kaedehara sounded almost impressed. Heizou tried not to let his pleasure show too much - it was rare he got to show Kaedehara up at something. The other man was infuriatingly competent.

“Yes, well.” He shrugged, deliberately casual. “A detective should know these kinds of things.”

Uesugi let out a little choking noise which Heizou graciously ignored.

In truth, Heizou had been given a journal by an older man in one of the tiny villages he’d stayed in when he was first traveling to Inazuma City. The man’s father had possessed a Pyro Vision - he’d kept the journal with all his father’s knowledge about Visions. To Heizou, it had been an invaluable source of information. His Vision had been new then and he was unsure of how to use it, almost wary of the power it had.

Visions weren’t a common thing - he’d never seen one before he’d gotten his own.

“The differences between Vision users are harder to determine.” Kaedehara said. “It depends on the person and when they received the Vision as well.”

“Most people can’t tell without actually looking at someone’s Vision.” Heizou said bluntly. “Kaedehara can, though.”

Uesugi looked impressed. “That’s amazing, sir.”

“It’s not all that useful.” Kaedehara said with a small smile. “It’s rare to see a Vision without its wielder - or vice versa.”

“I understand why.” Uesugi shook his head. “I can’t imagine why anyone would put their Vision down. They’re amazing, right?”

“Hmm.” Kaedehara hummed noncommittally and glanced at Heizou.

Visions had weaknesses. They could only be used if they were worn on the body and were prominently displayed. Taking them away or hiding them could cause weakness, confusion, and, in some cases, madness.

It wasn’t common knowledge - most Vision holders didn’t talk about it and most ordinary people never thought to ask.

Outside, the sky rumbled ominously.

“The storm will break very soon.” Kaedehara glanced at the window.

“Oh…” Uesugi looked doubtfully at the window as well. “Will it be a long one?

“Several hours at least.” Kaedehara said. “If you wish to make it back home before the storm breaks, I would recommend going now.” He met Uesugi’s eyes. “You should make it back without any trouble.”

“Ah, okay.” Uesugi stood up and started gathering his things. “My wife will be worried if I don’t go home. I’ll see you later sirs!” He stumbled out of the station, clutching his spear in one hand and an empty bento box in the other.

“So will he actually get back unscathed?” Heizou asked as soon as the door closed behind him.

Kaedehara’s lips twitched like he was fighting a smile. “He will, perhaps, get a little wet.”

Heizou laughed. “Kaedehara, look at you hazing the newbie.”

Kaedehara shook his head, but did not disagree. “I’m surprised to hear that he’s married. He seems young for it.”

“Childhood sweethearts or so I hear.” Heizou shrugged. “I met her once - she is gorgeous and very sweet. A bit boring.”

Kaedehara let out a small laugh. “You have high standards, Shikanoin-San.”

Heizou tilted his head to the side and looked at Kaedehara. The station was lit only by a few oil lamps and the faint, grey light coming in from the high windows. Kaedehara was startlingly monochrome - white hair, milky skin, and dark shadows. Only his eyes and the streak of red in his hair broke the palette of black and white. “I suppose that I do.”

Kazuha’s lips parted ever so slightly.

Heizou’s eyes flicked down.

The storm broke.

There was no gradual lead up - in one moment the air was tense but clear. In the next, rain poured down like someone had split the belly of the clouds with a knife. All at once, the faint light that had been filtering into the office went out and the anticipatory quiet turned to a clamorous rush of water beating down against wood and stone.

“I expect we’ll be here for a while.” Kaedehara had turned away, looking now at one of the postings on the far wall, encouraging detectives to volunteer for the more militaristic arm of the Tenryou Commission. It was faded, edges peeling away from the wall, having been here since before Heizou had even started.

“Looks that way.” Heizou stretched, swallowing down something that wasn’t quite disappointment. “If I were to make you tea, would you stick around to drink it this time?”

Kaedehara let out an amused little hum. “Should that matter? I thought you said that tea was just to make someone feel useful - do you not like feeling useful?”

“I am always useful.” Heizou said, standing and heading towards the kitchen. “Have you eaten? We always have some leftovers.”

“Not since this morning.” Kaedehara said.

Heizou set about preparing tea - filling the teapot and lighting the stove - before he dug through the icebox to see what had been left by his coworkers. He found a few dried filets of fish that Owada had likely stored there after a weekend fishing trip.

“You don’t mind fish, right?” Heizou said, examining them. With some salt and time over the fire, it would be passable enough. Not the worst meal he’d had at the station, at least.

“Not at all.” Kaedehara was peering into the icebox as well. “Ah, I believe someone has left some soup in here as well.”

“If it’s miso then Inoue’s wife made it.” Heizou said. “She’s a great cook.”

“Should we really be taking this?” Kaedehara asked as he handed the pot to Heizou.

“Office kitchens are survival of the fittest, Kaedehara.” Heizou said. “Besides, we’re trapped here in bad weather.” He set the pot onto the stove besides the pot of tea. “We’re requisitioning their leftovers in the name of survival.”

“I see.” Kaedehara said. “An office seems like a dangerous place indeed.”

“Why do you think I avoid it so much?” Heizou rifled through the drawers, pulling out a few slightly bent metal skewers.

“I believed that it was because your intuition led you elsewhere.”

“Well, that too.” Heizou began to spear the dried fish on the skewers “So, what’s the plan after this? Wandering away again?

“I’ll likely stay on Narukami Island until the weather has died down - storms on the open sea can be quite beautiful, but they are also rather dangerous.” Kaedehara said, leaning up against the small counter and watching as Heizou cooked. “Once storms are less frequent, I can meet with my traveling partner and we’ll decide where to go next together.”

“Any idea where?” Heizou bent down to open the door of the stove and carefully suspended the dried fish over the flame. Not too close, but not too far.

“Perhaps we can return to Watatsumi - it is quite beautiful.” Kaedehara said. “No words I have could truly capture the aura of that place, not completely. It is like the inside of an oyster shell.”

“Complete with hidden pearls?” Heizou closed the stove door again with a foot.

“But of course.” His tone was amused. “Have you been?”

“Can’t say I have.” He said. “Perhaps I’ll go, next time I take a vacation.”

They lapsed into silence for a while as Heizou bustled about the kitchen, taking the teapot off of the heat and adding tea leaves, checking on the fish as it was braised. Properly cooking fish this way would take hours - Heizou used his Vision to fan the flames a little, taking it out of the stove quickly afterwards so it wouldn’t burn.

“I forgot to ask, is there anything you don’t like eating?” Heizou asked as he took the pot of miso soup off of the stovetop.

“No, not particularly.” Kaedehara said. “I dislike it when food is made without care - but that doesn’t seem like it will be an issue with you.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“Merely a statement of fact.” He said. “You are always very deliberate with your actions, Shikanoin-san, even if it does not seem like it at first.” He glanced over at Heizou. “Do you have any foods you particularly like or dislike?”

“I prefer fried foods.” Heizou said absently, ladling soup into two chipped bowls. “But I can’t exactly make katsudon in the office kitchen.” He held out one of the bowls to Kaedehara. “Here.”

“My thanks.” He took it, picking up one of the plates of dry braised fish from the counter as well. “Shall we go eat by the back door? I’d like to watch the rain for a while.”

“Sure.” Heizou dropped a pair of chopsticks and a soup spoon on his plate and did the same to Kaedehara’s. He’d have to come back for the tea.

There was a training ground behind the police station - it was small, just a few weathered dummies and a sparring ring. Most detectives preferred going to the more spacious and better kept grounds up at the Tenryou Commission headquarters by Tenshukaku. Heizou, though, avoided headquarters when he could - what they did had very little to do with his mission. He had a special fondness for the training yard, particularly the most ragged dummy that he had spent hours working his frustrations out on.

He led them to the back of the station and nudged the shoji open with his foot. Outside the rain was falling in cascading sheets, thunder rumbling ominously. But the wind was fairly tame, keeping the rain out of the station even with the open door.

He glanced at Kaedehara. “Like this?” He had to raise his voice a bit to be heard over the rain.

Kaedehara nodded. “Just for a bit.”

Heizou shrugged and settled down on the floor far enough from the door that he wouldn’t be at risk of getting wet, but close enough that the cool air made him shiver. Kaedehara settled beside him, graceful and soundless as a leaf falling to the forest floor.

They ate in silence for a time, only interrupted when Heizou remembered to go grab their tea where it was still steaming on the counter.

“You’re a good cook.” Kaedehara said.

“I know.” Heizou said absently, eyes still focused on the rain. It brought back memories of days spent in the dojo with his father - training hadn’t stopped for rain, but during storms like this they’d always opened the doors to the elements and paused for a bit. It was the only time when Heizou had really thought about the Archon who ruled Inazuma.

What would it be like, he had wondered, to have the power of a summer thunderstorm at your fingertips?

“You’re never modest, are you?” Kaedehara sounded amused rather than offended.

Heizou blinked, refocusing, and glanced over at him. “Why dismiss the things that are great about yourself? It’s dishonest, for one, and a waste of time.” He shrugged. “I’m the smartest person that I’ve ever met. I’ve never seen the point of hiding that.”

“Some might call that arrogance.” Kaedehara said lightly.

“It’s only arrogance if you can’t back it up.” Heizou said. “I can.” He pointed his chopsticks at Kaedehara. “Or do you disagree?”

“I don’t. And while I may not believe the same, I can admire it.” He smiled faintly, like he was recalling a memory. “I can’t remember a time when I was not captured by the grand ambitions of others.”

They finished eating in silence. Heizou set his dishes between them once he was done.

“Thank you - it’s been a while since I’ve had a meal with a friend.” Kaedehara set his dishes on top of Heizou’s.

“My old man always says that food tastes better with company.” Heizou leaned back on his hands. “Though I’m pretty sure he just says that because he’s a terrible cook so any cooking he hasn’t done himself is an improvement.”

“Your father?” Kaedehara sounded curious. “You haven’t mentioned him before.”

“He runs a dojo out in the middle of nowhere.” Heizou said. “I haven’t been back for years - but he manages to send letters or cousins to harass me every now and then.”

“That sounds nice.” Kaedehara said, voice soft. It was hard to hear him over the steady beat of the rain. “It’s important to connect with family.”

Heizou knew the sad history of the Kaedehara clan. He knew that the boy sitting next to him was all that was left.

He cleared his throat. “Well that’s why you’re back on Narukami, right?”

“What?” Kaedehara blinked at him, confusion apparent.

“You’re meeting up with your annoyingly tall shadow once he’s done chasing storms - he’s your family, yeah?”

Kaedehara looked startled for a moment, then his lips slowly lifted in a small, but genuine smile. “He is.”

Heizou found he couldn’t look away from that smile. He wanted to stare at it for hours, to study it like he would study a series of particularly interesting clues. He wanted to pick it apart and learn every secret hidden there, to break it down into keywords and bullet points - to turn something inherently incomprehensible into something he could quantify.

Instead, he stood. “I’m going to get more tea - would you like some?”

“Yes.” Kaedehara stood too, twisting his arms overhead in a stretch. “Perhaps we should close the door. The wind is picking up.”

“Sure - don’t want to get wet. I hate wet clothes.” Heizou moved to close the door, but Kaedehara got to it first - a short gust of air from his Vision sliding it shut. He rolled his eyes and bent down to grab their discarded dishes instead. Kaedehara followed him with the empty mugs.

Heizou dumped the dishes in the sink and watched as Kaedehara refilled their tea.

“Should you wash those?”

“Eh, Uesugi will get it.”

Kaedehara let out a soft noise of amusement and handed Heizou a full mug. It was warm against his palms.

Instead of going back to his desk, Heizou clambered up onto the small counter. After a moment, Kaedehara gracefully sat on the one across from him. The kitchen was small - their knees almost touched.

Outside a peal of thunder sounded, close and furious.

“The storm wall has changed the winds.” Kaedehara murmured. “They’re restless.”

“Mmm.” Heizou may not have had the same sensitivity to the natural world and the elements that Kaedehara had, but he was an Anemo user too. The breezes had been strange, too sharp and quick to grow from a breeze to a gale.

“Anemo is the element of freedom.” Kaedehara said, voice soft. “It does not like to be caged.”

For a while, they were both quiet. Heizou set the tea on the counter beside him and tapped his fingers against the edge. He’d never been good with quiet - but he wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, not yet.

He hadn’t joined the Tenryou Commission out of some great love for Inazuma’s bureaucracy. He’d joined because he wanted to stop people from being hurt. He had no interest in dealing in clan politics or the Shogun’s policies. They’d been minor annoyances that he had more or less ignored, just like requests to go on patrol or nagging from Kujou Sara to come and speak to her about policies at Tenryou headquarters.

But now…things were changing and it wasn’t something he could avoid. The implications of the Sakoku Decree, even for a nation as geographically isolated as Inazuma, would be staggering. People would suffer. People would die.

There was no way to argue that.

“I confess, I am uneasy.” Kaedehara murmured after a while. “The Sakoku Decree…it feels like an opening strike. I worry what the next one will be.”

“Well,” Heizou said, “We’ve gotten good at waiting out storms in Inazuma - maybe this is just another storm that will pass.”

His lips twitched into a wan smile that didn’t meet his eyes. “Perhaps. I do hope that everyone can find shelter in a place as hospitable as this.”

 

*****

 

Summer always seemed to linger longer than it should in Inazuma, months stretching out long and then longer as the heat and violent storms continued to roll over the islands. Heizou was in the station one afternoon, longing for the cooler and calmer weather of autumn, when Kuki Shinobu walked inside. She bypassed the dozing attendant and headed straight for Owada’s office, not sparing a glance at anyone else.

“Did the Arataki Gang get arrested again?” Heizou asked the room at large once the door shut behind her.

“Last night.” Inou confirmed.

Heizou leaned back in his chair and looked over Inou. “What was it this time?”

“Noise complaints.” Inou didn’t look up from his paperwork. “They were making nuisances of themselves.”

“They always do that.” Heizou rolled his eyes. “Why did it warrant an arrest this time?”

“Couldn’t say.” Inoue said shortly. “Check the arrest report if you’re really curious.”

“Who arrested them?”

Inoue shot him a clearly annoyed look. “I don’t know - ask the Yoriki.”

Heizou smiled at him sweetly. “Sure thing, Inoue-san. I appreciate the advice.” He sometimes forgot that not all of the detectives were as tolerant of him as Uesugi. Well, whatever. Inoue was hardly an ace detective - his opinion wasn't important.

Owada’s door burst open again, Kuki stepping out stiffly.

“Someone take care of getting her idiots released.” Owada called without getting up from his desk.

“Inoue said he’d really like to.” Heizou volunteered. Inoue let out a noise rather like a teakettle that had been left on the stove too long. “He was talking about how much he loves the Arataki gang while you two were in there.”

“Shikanoin!” Inou snapped. Heizou smirked at him.

“Just go, Shikanoin-san.” Owada huffed. “And stop antagonizing people.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Heizou pushed away the paperwork on his latest assignment - a string of robberies that had so far vexed the commission - and stood, stretching his stiff shoulders. “I’m on the case.”

He winked at Inoue, who turned the color of a maple leaf in fall, and gestured for Kuki to follow him, grabbing the keys off the peg by Owada’s office and leading the way outside and into the small block of cells below the station where those who had been arrested were kept.

The cells beneath the station were rarely used - long-term prisoners were sent up to the Tenryou headquarters. The station generally held those - like Arataki Itto and his gang - that were being held until fines were paid.

“How you been lately?” He asked as he pulled open the door and stepped aside for Kuki to go down the ladder.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “My gang was just arrested.”

“Well, yeah, but they always do that.” Heizou said, watching as she started down the ladder. He waited until she stepped aside before following down after her.

“There we go.” He dropped from about halfway down, using Anemo to slow his fall enough that he wouldn’t break both his ankles. “C’mon, quick stop over here to sign a few more forms and fork over the mora.” He hitched a thumb towards the depressing little desk that sat up against one wall. When Owada was feeling particularly ornery, he’d station a detective to sit there. Heizou was usually long gone before the Yoriki got to that point.

He dug through the drawers, pulling out a whole host of truly weird items and makeshift weapons that were clearly confiscated from bored prisoners, before he located the papers he needed. He handed them over to Kuki and she accepted with a practiced ease, even pulling out her own pen and waving away his attempts to pass her one of the battered ones from the desk.

“Yours always run out of ink halfway through.” She said, already starting in on the papers.

He snorted a laugh. “You’re a pro at this, huh Kuki?”

“Even moreso lately.” She glanced up at him briefly. “The Commission has gotten more aggressive.”

She wasn’t wrong. Between the Sakoku Decree and the public’s reaction, most of the other detectives Heizou knew had gotten a bit overeager. It was troubling - he’d been wary of this kind of thing from the Commission since he was back at the Detective Agency. Before the Decree, it hadn’t been too bad, but lately…

The strange tension in the air was still there and it was making people fearful. Fearful people never made the best decisions, a fact Heizou knew from painful experience.

“You seem distracted, Shikanoin-san.” Kuki said, not looking up from the thick stack of papers in front of her.

“Hm, I suppose so.” He said, watching as she initialed a few more places. “Just considering what you said.”

“Oh really?” She flipped to the next page. “You disagree?”

“No, I don’t.” He folded his arms and leaned up against the wall, watching her work. He could hear the low hum of conversation from the prisoners beyond this little vestibule. The cells down here were rarely full, but lately they almost always were.

It was the very end of summer now. The days were still holding onto their humid, overwhelming heat, making the air down here feel thick and oppressive. It was like being wrapped in a heavy, wet blanket. The idea of that made him shudder.

“Should you really say that to a civilian?” She said, voice a bit dry.

“Kujou wants to recruit you so bad that I don’t think she’d exactly mind.” Kujou Sara had committed to a campaign of recruitment that had been alarmingly aggressive when it came to Kuki. “I don’t think she realized that lying in wait outside of someone’s house every morning isn’t the best way to make friends.”

Kuki let out a soft, amused hum. “She’s a very…direct person.” She initialed another page. “I don’t mind those kinds of people, though.”

“Makes sense, given who you usually hang out with.” He said. “Has Arataki ever had a thought he didn’t immediately shout as loudly as possible?”

He couldn’t see her mouth with the mask in the way, but he was sure that she was smiling. “Like I said. I don’t mind those kinds of people.” She signed the last page with a little flourish. “Is that all?”

“Mora, please.” He extended a hand and with a long-suffering sigh she dropped a pouch of mora into it.

He passed her off to one of the wobegone-looking guards waiting for them just behind the door to where the prisoners were kept with a jaunty little wave, not eager to go into the cells and inevitably be shouted at by Arataki. He didn’t actually mind the oni - he was overwhelmingly harmless, despite the looks that some of the other officers gave his horns and tattoos. Still, Heizou had a bit of a headache and Itto wouldn’t exactly help that.

He headed back up the office - the robbery case would need a little more research before he could go out and start looking for clues and interviewing people - and was unsurprised to see that Inoue had left for the day. Owada was still there, though, making himself tea in the small kitchen.

“Shikanoin.” He said.

“Owada.” Heizou settled back at his desk, flicking his file open and pulling out the page he’d been looking at before Kuki had come in.

“You’re in a mood lately.” Owada said, leaning up against the doorway of the kitchen as his tea brewed. “You’re pissing people off again.”

“I always do that, don’t I?” Heizou noted that at each of the robberies personal items had been taken, but no mora. Hm, interesting.

“Not on purpose.”

Heizou laughed and picked up the next page. “What, it’s just my wonderful personality that does it all the other times?”

“Shikanoin.” Heizou looked up to meet Owada’s gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Heizou looked back down at the paper in his hands without reading it and smiled. “Nothing’s wrong, Yoriki. I’ll stop making Inoue mad. Well, I’ll try to stop making Inoue mad - the man is kind of sensitive.”

Owada turned away and started to bustle around, preparing his tea. Heizou tried to concentrate on his case, but he was distracted. The fact that Owada, not the most observant man, had caught on to the fact that he was feeling tense unsettled him. Maybe the Sakoku Decree was having more of an effect on him than he’d thought.

“Let me know if you need any backup on that robbery case.” Owada grunted a few minutes later, walking by Heizou’s desk.

Heizou recognized the clumsy peace offering for what it was and smiled. “Sure thing. I might requisition Uesugi to do some patrolling for me.”

Owada let out a snort of laughter. “Sure. There’s tea left in the kitchen if you want any.”

“Thanks.” Heizou worried at the corner of the page he was still holding. He wouldn’t take it - he was still in the process of teaching Uesugi to properly make tea and he didn’t have the mental fortitude to do the same for Owada - but the gesture was appreciated.

 

*****

 

The tension over Inazuma broke the same way a summer storm world - sudden, unexpected, and absolutely brutal.

Heizou woke with a start, heart hammering and breath coming too quick. A nightmare - he was well-acquainted with them by now. He’d stopped screaming in his sleep, but he still woke up trembling with adrenaline that belonged to a version of himself from years ago more often than not. He focused on his breathing, convincing his body and his brain that he had enough air, that he was calm, that his hands and his shirt were dry.

He sat up, still breathing in a deliberate pattern, and rubbed his eyes. They were dry - good. Red eyes were always a pain to explain away. He blinked them open again and focused on the world around him, trying to lose himself in what he could see, what he could observe.

His haori coat was lying rumpled on the floor by his futon - he’d forgotten to hang it last night. There was frost on the lone window in his room. It was well into fall and while Inazuma never truly got cold the way landlocked nations did, there was a bite to the air while the sun was still low.

Outside his room, the house was already noisy with the sounds of people preparing for the day. He lived in the city, renting a room in a small house that was home to a couple of shopkeepers and their many children. The noise probably would have bothered most people, but Heizou had grown up with dozens of cousins and friends and students of his father’s dojo trooping in and out of the house at all hours. He honestly didn’t know what he would do in a quiet home.

Heizou dressed quickly, usual outfit completely disregarding the Tenryou Commission’s strict dress code. Only Kujou Sara ever complained about it and she was rarely at the police station anyway. She and the other important people stayed at the headquarters up by Tenshukaku, which suited Heizou just fine.

He left the house without stopping to greet the family like he normally did. He was still uneasy from the nightmare and besides, there was a strange note of tension to what little of their chatter he could make out from his room. Instinct and intuition told him to get to the station so he slipped out the back door instead of taking his usual route through the kitchen where the family would be eating breakfast.

His suspicions did not even have to wait until reaching the station - as soon as he climbed over the low wall of their small back garden, he saw that large fliers with the stamp of the Tri-Commission had been plastered everywhere. The few people in the street were grouped together, whispering in low voices.

Heizou used his vision to dislodge one of the fliers from a nearby signpost. It fluttered down like a lazy autumn leaf - Heizou snatched it out of the air and looked down.

VISION HUNT DECREE was emblazoned along the top in dark, bold lettering.

He absorbed it quickly - by order of the Raiden Shogun, Visions were now illegal. Vision holders were obligated to hand over their Visions or risk prosecution by the Tenryou Commission.

There was no grace period - the law came into effect immediately and irrevocably.

Heizou balled up the flier and started to run. He sprinted all the way to the station, feet barely skimming the ground as the wind whipped around him and tore some of the posters from their places hanging off of every wall.

“Owada!” He shouted as soon as the door opened. The station was uncharacteristically full. Nearly every detective was at their desk. The only one who wasn’t was Heizou himself.

“Thank you for finally joining us, Shikanoin-san.” Owada’s voice was dry, but Heizou didn’t miss the dark circles under his eyes or the way his usually neatly parted hair was riddled with flyaways. His sleep had been interrupted, likely by someone from the Kujou Clan giving him the news of this Decree.

Someone, probably Uesugi, had placed a cup of tea on Heizou’s desk - likely he was worried about Heizou’s reaction to the news. The old poster on the wall, the one recruiting for the military, had been replaced with one emblazoned with the new regulations for the Vision Hunt Decree. One of the detectives he didn’t know well had a hand on his cuffs and was looking at Heizou like he was a wild beast that had rushed into a family dinner.

Small observations, rushing in and adding up to an undeniable reality. This wasn’t some prank or misunderstanding. This Decree was real. People were going to be hurt. People were going to die.

“So it’s true, then?” Heizou didn’t bother with pleasantries. He stomped across the station, stopping right in front of Owada. “The Vision Hunt Decree?”

“It was announced last night.” He said, rubbing a hand over his face. “Primary enforcement will fall to the military, but we are expected to support them in any way they see fit.”

Heizou felt his vision tunnel, just a bit. The tension in the air had broken and the storm it had brought was so much worse than what Heizou had feared.

“The number of Vision holders in the general population is extremely small,” Owada was saying, “Realistically, this will only affect a few people.”

“Only a few people, huh?” Heizou’s voice was sharp.

“Shikanoin-san, I understand this might be upsetting…”

“No you don’t!” Heizou shouted. “I am the only one here with a Vision!” The low murmuring in the rest of the station abruptly halted as every eye turned to him. 

“Shikanoin-san, the Kujuo Clan has assured us that members of the Tenryou Commission with Visions will be allowed to use those Visions for the time being.” Owada said, tone placating.

Heizou folded his arms. “And how long will that last? Just til we’ve rounded up everyone else? It’s like you said, Owada. The number of Vision holders is extremely small - I’m sure we’ll run out of people to arrest eventually and then what? What happens then, Owada?”

“Shikanoin!” Owada snapped. “This is an order from the Shogun herself. Are you really questioning it?

Heizou swallowed hard, thought of the power of a summer thunderstorm at his fingertips. Inazuma was a traditional nation in many ways - there was no room for heretics.

“Of course not.” The words felt like cut glass in his mouth. “I was merely…taken by surprise.”

Owada sighed, suddenly looking old and very tired. “Everything will work out, all right? Just…give it some time.”

Heizou nodded once, teeth gritted and walked out the back - slamming the shoji behind him. It had only been a few months since he and Kaedehara had sat in the empty station and watched the rain, only a few months since the Sakoku Decree was instituted and Kaedehara had called it an opening blow.

He had been right.

Heizou had known, deep down, that he was. The signs were there and he had seen them without trying. The Shogun’s grip on her people had grown ever tighter in the last few centuries, intensifying rapidly in the past few decades. This was, in some ways, a natural extension of everything that had come before.

He kicked the fence ineffectually, feeling stupid when all that came out of it was a sore foot. His hissed in pain and considered maybe kicking the stupid fence again, as punishment, when the shoji slid open.

“Um, Shikanoin-san?” Uesugi peered out.

“What is it, Uesugi?” Heizou asked. “You here to arrest me?”

Uesugi visibly flinched. “Of course not!” He walked over to stand in front of Heizou, his eyes wide and distressed, making him look a bit like a sad puppy. Uesugi reached out, as if he wanted to touch Heizou’s shoulder, but dropped his hand at the last second like he had thought better of it.

“It’s fine. I’m fine” Heizou lied blatantly. “Just…figuring things out.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes - a vicious headache was brewing to complement his throbbing foot.

“You’re good at that.” Uesugi was painfully earnest.

“Ha, yeah.” Heizou blinked his eyes open. “Don’t worry yourself with this Uesugi. Owada’s right - not too many people have Visions. It won’t change things too much.”

Uesugi seemed to gather his courage and patted Heizou once on the shoulder. Bizarrely, it did actually make him feel a bit better.

“Can I ask something, sir?” Uesugi asked.

“Go for it.” Heizou sighed.

“The Visions - will they be destroyed? When we take them, I mean?” He sounded very small, almost scared.

Heizou shook his head. “You can’t destroy a Vision. No one can - not even an Archon. There isn’t a power in this world that can unmake that kind of thing.” People had looked - mostly scholars in Sumeru - but it was well-known. A Vision wasn’t something that could be broken or shattered. It was made of something different, something unbreakable.

“Well that’s good then.” Uesugi said. “Isn’t it?”

“People can’t use their Visions if they can’t touch them.” Heizou said. “So I’m not sure really sure, to be honest.”

“I’m sorry, sir.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Thanks, Uesugi.”

The other man left, sliding the shoji closed much more carefully than Heizou had.

An unseasonably cold wind blew past, tugging at his hair, his clothes, his Vision. Heizou ran a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his eyes. It was getting too long again - he’d have to cut it soon or start tying it back.

He tried to think of that for a moment, to distract himself, but the question he had to answer wasn’t going away.

What was he supposed to do?

He could always leave. Could he leave the Tenryou Commission? Or maybe even Inazuma all together?

Sure, the Sakoku Decree might pose an obstacle but smuggling rings had quickly popped up in its wake. It wasn’t easy with the storm wall, but if you were clever enough you could get out.

And Heizou had always been clever enough.

But should he leave?

He sighed and leaned up against the fence, foot still aching a bit.

This wouldn’t stop crime any more than the Sakoku Decree had. People were still going to break the law and innocent people were still going to get hurt.

His mission was his mission. He wasn’t going to stop - Heizou had never been able to let things go. Even before his Vision, before the incident that had turned him down a path of single-minded focus on ending crime before it could even begin, he had always been a terrible loser. Leaving now would be giving up.

He couldn’t make himself even consider it, not seriously.

So he’d stay. And if they were going to take his Vision away eventually, well.

He could at least take down a few more criminals before they could brand him as one too.

 

*****

 

There were many theories behind Visions - their origins, how they were granted and why. Some scholars in Sumeru spent their whole lives debating the subject - there were books by the hundreds describing the ideas, the few studies that researchers had dared to undertake on the tools that were by many considered to be blessings from the Archons themselves.

Heizou had never been one for academic research - he wasn’t suited to sitting around and contemplating all day.

He believed chiefly in his own observations and from what he has observed, what type of Vision a person received tended to mirror their own characteristics. The Archons all had favored virtues and from what Heizou had seen those virtues lined up neatly with the people who received Visions from the domain of that particular Archon.

Pyro was the element of passion (Yoimiya down at the fireworks shop, face alight with a wide grin, showing her wares to a group of delighted children). Hydro was the element of justice (Commissioner Kamisato, upright and straight-backed, a determined glint in his eye). Cryo was the element of love - or perhaps grief (the Shirasagi Himegimi, lovely and wistful, her eyes looking at some point far in the distance).

Geo was the element of contracts (Itto the Oni, hands on his hips, holding to his ideals even when it got him thrown in jail). Dendro was the element of wisdom (an unanswered letter from Sumeru, elegantly written, welcoming him to the Akademiya if he wished to come). Anemo was the element of freedom (Kaedehara, wandering the world and Heizou himself, determined to find freedom for not just himself but everyone). Electro was the element of eternity (the Archon who erected a storm wall against change, the power of a summer storm at her fingertips).

Out of the seven, eternity had always been the most difficult for Heizou to grasp. What did the ideal of eternity mean to a mortal man?

“Patrols will continue to sweep for Visions at every checkpoint.” Kujou Sara tapped the patrol roster again, as if any of them would have forgotten the new rules set down by Tenryou Commission half a year ago when the decree was announced. She had called for a “mandatory meeting” that morning for the station which so far had mostly been her scowling at them and insisting they find more Visions to hand over.

Heizou, who was very blatantly not listening, was looking at the Vision on her hip. It was the bright, pulsing purple of Electro. What did eternity mean to someone like her?

It wasn’t like he could ask her - she had been doing a great job of pretending that the Vision Hunt Decree had no impact on her and that her Vision wasn’t like everyone else’s. At this point, Heizou was pretty sure that she was the only one besides him in the Tenryou Commission who even had a Vision anymore. The few other officers who’d had them had long since handed them over - he’d seen them sometimes, wandering through the grounds of the Commission looking wan and lost.

He very deliberately did not reach back to touch his own Vision for reassurance. No one had asked him to hand it over yet, but he could feel it coming. Even Kujou herself seemed to be more protective of her Vision now, tapping a finger against it seemingly subconsciously.

“The police force has been remarkably lax when it comes to catching those with Visions.” She was saying. “With more of the Commission’s military forces being sent to Watatsumi Island, we’ll be relying on you to pick up the slack.”

Heizou didn’t understand her one bit, but her dedication to the Shogunate and the Kujou clan seemed almost painfully genuine. This couldn’t be easy for her - a Vision holder who believed so wholeheartedly in the Shogun’s Decree. She had dark circles under her eyes and a sharp tension to her movements that spoke of anxiety rather than her usual deliberate precision.

He bit back a sigh - he was sympathetic to her plight, but sympathy wasn’t agreement.

He raised a hand. “Hey, Kujou?”

“It’s General Kujou!” She snapped.

“General Kujou.” He said indulgently. “Does this apply to those of us who don’t really patrol?”

“You should all be patrolling.” She glared at him. “The safety of Inazuma is at stake.”

She honestly believed that, which was why dealing with her was so difficult. He knew how to work around people who were just trying to curry favor with the Shogunate and the Tri-Commission. But legitimate faith - that was a different story.

She swept away in a flurry of dark feathers and electro, probably off to hunt down some more of the few remaining Vision holders left on Narukami. The patrols she led were frighteningly efficient - so efficient that Heizou was becoming grimly sure that the statue they were building near Tenshukaku might just have to get bigger wings to display all of the Visions they had confiscated.

“Shikanoin.” Owada turned to him as soon as she was gone, the other officers hurrying away and not making eye-contact with either of them.

“Hm?”

“My office.” Owada said. “Now.”

Heizou followed as Owada marched to his office, going at a leisurely pace. He examined the increased patrol schedules and orders from the Tenryou Commission plastered on the walls as if they were new information and not fliers that were months old now.

“Shut the door.” Owada said, sitting down heavily behind his desk. Heizou shut the door behind him with a foot. “Take a seat.” Heizou sat.

“What’s up?” Heizou said.

Owada pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “Shikanoin.” He said.

“Mmhm?” Heizou leaned back in the chair, weight on the back legs.

“I understand that you are not the most orthodox of detectives but you cannot actively antagonize the Tenryou Commission higher ups.” He opened his eyes and dropped his hand. “You’re smart - you’re so smart. You have to understand the situation that you’re in.”

“I do.” Heizou said. “Of course I do, Owada. They’ll take my Vision eventually, so it doesn’t matter what I do.” He folded his arms behind his head. “I’m here to stop criminals and stop people from being hurt - and I do that - so the rest is just…” He shrugged. “Unimportant.”

“Shikanoin…” Owada looked exhausted.

Heizou knew the feeling - he couldn’t remember the last time he’d slept through a night without waking up from nightmares. He still couldn’t decide which was worse - the nightmares he didn’t remember or the ones he did. He dropped his hands to his sides and leaned in, close enough that Owada looked uncomfortable.

“Am I wrong?” He said, softly. “Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll stop. I’ll behave, be the perfect little soldier.” Owada met his eyes. His face was grave. Heizou smiled, unable to keep the bitterness out of it. “You see? It doesn’t matter.”

Owada closed his eyes for a brief moment, as if he was pleading with the Archons for patience. “Shikanoin. I understand what you think, but you are, for some unfathomable reason, making things even more difficult for yourself. Please, just, learn when to stop talking.”

Heizou leaned back in his chair before he mimed sealing his mouth and tossing away the key. From the exasperated sigh, Owada did not appreciate it. “You’re dismissed for the day. Go home and think about what you want your future to look like, all right?”

“Sure thing, sir.” He kept his smile fixed on his face. “Thanks for the day off.”

“Just go.” Owada waved him out, looking down at his paperwork instead of at Heizou. There was more gray in his hair than there had been six months ago.

Heizou loped out of the station, waving at his fellow detectives and not answering a single one of the questions they lobbed at him. Anything he’d say they already knew - Heizou needed to behave or else they would take away his Vision, Kujou Sara was going to personally petition the Shogun to have him struck by lightning, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, sure, eventually they’d do all of that. At this point, all Heizou could do was his job while he was still allowed to.

He was so angry, when he let himself think about it. Usually, he didn’t. But sometimes it would slip through, caustic and horrible, threatening to eat him up from the inside.

He left the station - the day was cloudy and oppressive, as all days seemed to be lately. He couldn’t remember the last time it had been sunny for more than a few minutes. He wasn’t sure where exactly to go now - his new apartment was close by, but this time of the day it was oppressively quiet.

The family he had lived with since he’d first come to Inazuma City had requested, full of guilt and fear, that he move out after the Vision Hunt Decree had been declared.

He stayed in the streets instead, wandering around crowds and eventually settling in at the counter in front of Shimura’s. It was a bit early for dinner, but he couldn’t go home yet. The silence pressed down on him like a physical weight.

“Hey! Hey, detective!”

He glanced around to see a familiar figure dressed in red samurai’s robe and a purple scarf. It was Kaedehara’s traveling partner and he was coming over to Heizou like they were friends or something.

“I thought it was you. Fancy seeing Kazuha’s detective buddy here!” He settled onto the stool beside Heizou. “I didn’t expect to run into you.”

“You either.” Heizou looked the other man up and down - his outfit looked more worn than it had been the last time they’d crossed paths. Even the scarf around his neck, purple and striped, was ragged. “You shouldn’t be here - there have been patrols looking for Vision holders.”

“Yeah, I heard about that.” He said, waving down the man behind the counter. “Hi there, sir! Could I get a shouyou ramen for myself and for my friend here - what did you want, mister Detective?”

“It’s Heizou.” Heizou said. “And I’ll take miso, thanks.”

“It’ll just take a moment - not many people are out here when the weather looks like this.” The shopkeep gestured to the sky - the clouds were the same ugly purple shade as a healing bruise.

“Well, hopefully we’re lucky and it doesn’t break before we’re done!” Kaedehara’s friend - boyfriend? Lover? Heizou didn’t know what to call him - gave the man double thumbs up.

He chuckled and turned away to prepare their order, giving them a small bit of privacy.

“Is Kaedehara here too?” Heizou asked in a low voice.

“Nah, it’s summer. We usually don’t travel together in summer.”

“Right.” Heizou said, remembering Kaedehara telling him so nearly a year ago as they lingered together in the station and sheltered from the rain. That had been the last time he had seen the other man. “Is he okay?”

“Last time I checked.” Kaedehara’s friend shrugged. “Kazuha’s good at looking out for himself. I’m not worried.”

“You should, a little.” Heizou said. “Kujou’s ordered more patrols.”

“We ran into a few of those earlier this year.” He said conversationally. “Saw Kujou herself once, actually.”

“And you still have your Visions?” He glanced over and there it was on his shoulder, right about where Kaedehara’s was as well. It was Electro - he’d noticed that before, of course, but he’d never really thought about it too deeply.

“Yeah, the resistance on Watatsumi was real helpful getting out of that.” He said. “We stayed with them for a while - they’re good people.”

“I’ve never been to Watatsumi.” Heizou said.

“You should go!” He insisted. “Maybe not now, with all of the war and stuff, but someday. It’s beautiful.”

“Here we are.” The man had returned to the counter, sliding steaming bowls in front of both of them.

They both thanked him, gave a quick thanks for the meal and went to take a bite, resulting in twin flinches.

“Ahaha, this is why we need Kazuha.” His friend laughed. “Always reminds me, ‘don’t burn your mouth,’ ‘don’t waste food by spitting it out when it’s gross.’” He took a loud, slurping spoonful of his ramen and winced. “Ah, it really is too hot…”

“Mmhm.” Heizou agreed absently, thinking over what the other man had said. The Watatsumi Resistance, huh? They’d been fighting a guerilla war since the Vision Hunt Decree had been announced. It was the only way they could make a dent in the Narukami forces, completely unable to match the Shogunate in power or numbers.

But it had forced the Tenryou Commission to loosen their hold on Inazuma City a bit, deploying more of their troops out to the distant island to quell the uprisings.

“Are the Watatsumi troops intending to move beyond their island, or are they just holding for now?” Heizou asked.

“Holding, I think.” He said with an absent shrug. “There’s only so much they can do against the Shogunate, so mostly they’re trying to consolidate power for now - like getting normal Inazumans to join and stuff. General Sangonomiya has been looking at some allies from abroad as well, but I’m not sure who exactly.”

It was probably the Fatui - Scheznaya was the only nation with both the resources and desire to get involved in a foreign civil war.

“You really shouldn’t be telling me all of that, you know.” Heizou said, taking a bite of his own ramen with a bit of a grimace. Still hot. “I’m part of the Tenryou Commission. I could put you in handcuffs and drag you away and then give all of that information to the Shogunate.”

“Eh, you’d have to beat me in a fight first and I don’t see that happening.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Besides, Kazuha likes you so I can probably trust you not to screw me over on purpose.

Heizou snorted. “That’s hardly an endorsement. Kaedehara likes everyone.”

“Kazuha is nice to everyone - but he’s pickier about people he actually likes.” The ronin said, holding up his spoon like a teacher might hold up a pointer during a lecture. “He’s a bit reserved too, so he doesn’t make friends easily.”

“You know him well.” Heizou said. “How long have you been together?”

“Few years now.” He said. “We met a bit after his clan fell and he was wandering around, not really sure what to do.” He grinned. “I’d like to lie and say I taught him everything he knows, but he stopped me from eating poison berries and killing myself like a week after we met. He’s never needed a teacher to show him how to interact with nature, even before the Vision.”

“Mmm.” Heizou swallowed another spoonful of his own ramen.

“He’s not great with people, though.” He said, musingly. “He’s too nice sometimes, it makes him an easy mark for swindlers when we go shopping. He’s cautious with his money, though, so it usually balances out.”

The ronin took a few quick bites with a contended sight, then continued on without waiting for Heizou to speak.

“And he may not have grown up rich, but he did grow up with someone taking care of him. He’ll forget to eat sometimes if no one makes him, you gotta watch that.” He tapped the counter with a finger. “And he’ll sleep the day away if you let him. It’s ridiculous, the boy just loves to nap.”

“Why are you telling me all this?” Heizou asked, stirring his ramen.

He shrugged. “I feel like someone should know.” He said. “And you’re like, obsessed with him.”

Heizou dropped his spoon and it sank into the bowl with a sad gurgle. “I am not!”

The ronin laughed. “It’s okay! I’m not mad, I’m glad he has a friend like you. Like I said, he’s never been the best at making them.”

“I’m not obsessed with him.” Heizou repeated, trying and failing to gracefully fish the spoon out of his ramen. “He’s a useful resource, that’s all.”

“Oh, sure.” He winked at Heizou. “Got it.”

Heizou made the breeze tug at his scarf, sharp enough that it almost choked him for a moment. “Ack! Okay, fine you’re not obsessed with him! You’re completely normal about the friend you occasionally arrest so he won’t leave before you want him to!”

“I was detaining him! He was detained!” Heizou insisted, loud enough that the shopkeeper sent a judgmental glance his way. He huffed out a frustrated sigh. “Look - why are you even in Inazuma City? This place is dangerous for you.”

He just shrugged. “Storms don’t always stick to convenient places, do they?”

“Guess not - but still.” He looked sidelong at the other man. “You should leave soon. Things are getting dangerous around here for those of us with Visions.”

“Even you, mister Detective?” He asked.

Heizou smiled tightly. “Even me.”

They lapsed into silence after that until both bowls of ramen were empty.

“Ah, I had missed this.” The ronin sighed. “Food I didn’t make myself is so much nicer.”

“Sure, if you’re a bad cook.”

“I’m a fine cook! But not one does ramen like you, sir!” He raised his voice so the man behind the counter could hear.

“Flattery won’t get you a discount, boy!”

He laughed. “Still worth trying.” He fumbled through his robes, eventually pulling out the mora for both of their purchases and setting it on the counter. “My treat, yeah?”

Heizou shrugged. “I won’t object to free food.”

They both got up from the counter and lingered in front of the ramen stand for a moment, crowd rushing past as the clouds overhead rumbled. A massive thunderhead was visible on the horizon, a black smear steadily looming closer.

“I should go back to the station.” Heizou said. “Before that storm hits the city.”

“They’ve been getting more and more powerful lately, haven’t they?” The ronin said, a strange smile on his face. “Keep yourself safe, little detective.”

“I’m not little.” Heizou said automatically. “But thanks. You too.”

“Mmm.” He looked away, back towards the dark wall of oncoming clouds. “Sure.”

He left without another word, ragged scarf snapping in the rising wind. Heizou watched until he disappeared into the crowd, people all hurrying this way and that to finish their errands and get back to their homes. The air felt tense with the storm that was about to break.

Something was coming. And his intuition told him it was nothing good.

 

*****

 

Heizou had never been able to use his Vision the way he was supposed to.

He blamed his father - the man had taught Heizou the proper form to throw a punch before he’d thought to show his son how to spell his name. Even without a great love for martial arts, Heizou had grown up steeped in them. A body could be a weapon if properly trained and Heizou’s body was as trained as anyone’s could be.

A Vision needed a weapon to channel its power - swords, polearms and the like. He’d tried more than once to learn how to wield a spear like the rest of the commission, but weapons always felt clunky and unwieldy in his hands. A catalyst had been the eventual solution - he wielded it on a technicality, the weapon allowing him to channel his power through his fists and his feet just like he’d always been trained to.

When Heizou practiced with his Vision he did so late at night, after most of his fellow officers had gone home. All Vision holders garnered stares when they practiced any sort of combat - stares that had only gotten worse since the Vision Hunt Decree was instituted. But even among Vision holders, Heizou was something of a spectacle.

Criminals called him Cyclone for a reason - when he fought the wind began to whip and gust with every movement of his body. Heizou’s body was a weapon and any weapon could channel the elements. Anemo fluttered around him all of the time, not just when he was fighting.

(“It’s not a bad thing, Shikanoin-san.” Kaedehara had said once, after seeing the way even mild annoyance sent a sheaf of paper fluttering off of Heizou’s desk like an unexpected snow flurry. “It just means your connection to your element is strong.”

“Yours is stronger than mine.” Heizou had pointed out. “And I never see you sending half a room flying.”

Kaedehara had laughed, covering his mouth from view with a pale hand. “I appreciate your favorable assessment of my elemental abilities, but perhaps I just feel things intensely less frequently than you do.”

“I don’t think that’s true at all.” Heizou had said, words coming out like a reflex.

“Hmm.” Kaedehara had looked at him from beneath half-lowered eyelids. “Perhaps it’s just a matter of maintaining control.”)

He rocked back on his heels, bouncing to keep his momentum up, and rubbed his knuckles. They were sore - he wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been out here, blows striking the ragged dummy again and again. Usually he’d keep himself from getting rusty by hunting down some treasure hoarders, but lately most of his practice had been on dummies. Leaving the city for too long made him uneasy.

His intuition told him that something was brewing in Tenshukaku and his intuition was never wrong.

He closed his hands again, feeling the catalyst he carried but never actually used flare in reaction. The winds gathered up in his hands. The trick with Anemo was to never grip it too hard - it was a problem he’d made a lot when he was first learning how to use his Vision. Other elements were probably different, but Anemo needed direction instead of control.

It rushed down his arm in a steady stream as he landed a blow, enhancing it, and made his already light body lighter right up until the moment of impact, increasing his speed and the force of his hits.

The sky above was cloudy, but it was late summer. Cloudy skies were more common than not.

He brought his fists tight to his body and breathed deep, letting his Vision flood with power before he directed a rush of wind at the dummy. It creaked ominously.

The rest of the detectives were growing wary of him lately, he could tell. Part of it was his fault - he’d been tense and snappish since his impromptu meeting with Kaedehara’s traveling partner - but many of them had started to cast long, lingering stares towards his Vision. How much longer would he be able to carry on like this?

He brought up a leg and delivered a neat kick that would have immobilized a real person, probably breaking a few of their ribs. He hopped back, prepping another blow, when the shoji slid open.

“Shikanoin-san, sir!”

Heizou turned from the dummy, still breathing hard from exertion. “Yeah?” He pulled up the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. “What is it?”

He expected Uesugi because Uesugi always seemed to be at the station, but instead there was Sanada, one of the detectives he knew only in passing.

“Well,” Sanada was flushed, looking away from him with a pinched expression. “There’s been a commotion at the palace - someone demanding a duel before the throne. The captain is requesting that all available officers respond.”

Heizou rocked back on his heels, letting his hands fall to his sides. “I think the Shogunate can handle it.” He said, pulling uncomfortably at his shirt. Now that he had stopped moving he felt sticky with sweat. It made his skin crawl.

Sanada looked uneasy. “I think you’ll want to be there, Shikanoin - the man requesting the duel…he’s a friend of that ronin of yours.”

“Ronin…” Heizou repeated. “Wait, do you mean Kaedehara?”

Sanada nodded and Heizou bit back a curse. What was that idiot thinking? He was going to get himself killed.

“Man alive - give me a moment to change. I’ll meet you there.” Heizou said, turning away and rushing back into the station before waiting for him to answer. He didn’t actually change. Instead he grabbed the crumpled haori coat he usually wore around his waist from where he’d left it hanging on the back of his desk chair and threw it on, not stopping for anything else.

Tenshukaku was a short jog from the police station -and Heizou had always been faster than most when he really put his mind to it.

He didn’t doubt that Kaedehara would be coming to the palace if he wasn’t there already. His traveling partner was everything to him - his family - there was no way he wouldn’t come. And when he did, the Tenryou troops would be waiting for him.

Heizou took the flight of stairs up to the main complex two at a time, not glancing at the massive statue of the Shogun with two, glittering wings. His Vision pulsed with power, strides made impossibly quick.

What did he even intend to do? Was he going to capture Kaedehara? Bring him to the Shogunate and see him imprisoned or even killed? Was he going to stand around and just watch as a man who was his friend, who had been kind to him, was killed?

Was he going to stand against the Shogun and the rest of the Tenryou Commission and allow himself to be imprisoned? What was the right decision? What decision would allow him to pursue a world without crime, without sin, while allowing him to protect the things that mattered to him?

Once, Heizou had been too late to stop someone he cared about from dying in the dirt. The blood on his hands had been slick and hot and viscous. It had taken what felt like days to scrub the last of it from under his fingernails.

Tenshukaku came into view, flanked by Shogunate troops. Heizou tried to get his breathing under control, slowing to a brisk walk. Even so, he was out of breath when he skidded to a stop in front of them.

“Doushin Shikanoin, reporting.” He said and tried to shoulder past.

“Woah there, kid.” One of them stopped him with a large, meaty hand on the shoulder. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I told you, I’m a Doushin.” He said. “I’ve been called for backup.”

“Owada requested a few more of his guys up here.” The other guard grunted. “To make up for the lack of normal Tenryou slouches.”

“All right then.” The hand released him. “Just be sure you -”

Heizou didn’t wait for him to finish before striding through the double doors and into Tenshukaku. He didn’t need to wonder where to go - there was one place in the palace where this would be happening. Luckily, Heizou knew the way to the throne room and all of the guards seemed to be elsewhere. No one looked his way when he sprinted to the room and no one looked his way as the doors opened and he slipped inside. All of their attention was focused on the two people standing in the middle of the crowd.

A familiar scarf, purple and striped, caught his attention.

He remembered a scrap of conversation, long gone now.

“Have you ever been inside?”

“Nah, I’m not the sort of person who’d be welcome there.”

Heizou often felt like he was too small to contain the thoughts in his head, like he barely kept up with the speed and depth of them. It was like standing in the middle of a deep river, trying to catch a particular fish out of the hundreds rushing past and vying for his attention.

What was he supposed to do?

Kujou Sara and a familiar ronin were there in the middle of the room, onlookers watching silently. The ronin had lost, clearly. He was on his knees, clutching the hilt of his sword and panting hard. A long cut had sliced across the chest of his robes, ripping them and scoring the skin below with a line that was bleeding sluggishly. Heizou had never actually seen him fight but it looked like, in this case, he had lost to Kujou. She had her bow and her wings out, and was staring down at him, cold and sharp as a blade.

“You fought well, ronin, but you’ve lost.” She said. “I have honored your request, but now it is time for you to face the Almighty Shogun’s judgment.” She stepped away, leaving him there - a lone figure in robes the color of blood - with his eyes half-lidded and breathing uneven. He glanced around the room, eyes catching for just a moment on Heizou. The corner of his lips twitched up in an exhausted, impossible little smile when their eyes met.

Why would he request this? Didn’t he know what the Shogun did to those who lost duels?

His Electro Vision flickered in the relative gloom of the throne room, vibrantly purple. It was the same color as the Shogun’s eyes. Heizou saw them as they opened and she stood, motions smooth and efficient.

He had never seen the Shogun so closely before - there hadn’t been a reason for him too - but she moved like a predator, every motion economical and precise. She was tall and straight-backed, her eyes cold and remote. She was a warrior god, a god who no one would have a chance against.

His hands balled reflexively into fists and his breathing went quick and tight. He knew, in that moment, what would happen. He would stand here and watch, helpless to do a single thing, as a friend died again.

He had never had the patience for the Shogunate’s rules and regulations, but he knew them well enough. Asking for a duel before the throne only ended one way - with the loser facing the judgment of the Raiden Shogun. It had been this way since before Heizou had been born - since before the start of his family line.

He could not interfere. There wasn’t a single thing he could do.

The room was silent and still as the Shogun descended her throne, even the air seeming to stagnate as the soft noise of her shoes against the wooden dais pierced the room like an arrow. Kujou Sara stepped aside with a low bow. The ronin on the floor looked up as his death approached. The Shogun unsheathed her blade.

But wait, where was Kaedehara?

“Wait, no!” A voice shouted, but it didn’t matter.

The muso no hitotachi wasn’t something that waited for anyone. It streaked through the room with the same force and unstoppable purpose as a fork of lightning during a summer storm before it descended upon the ronin kneeling in front of the Raiden Shogun.

His eyes were on the Shogun in that moment, reflecting the purple glow of her blade.

In a moment, he was there. In the next, he was gone.

The Shogun turned away and walked back up her dais, noise of her footsteps once again the only sound that dared to make itself known in the quiet room. Her face was emotionless, a blank mask. Had she known anything about the man she had just killed? Who he was? What he wanted? Why he had a Vision at all?

The only thing that remained on the floor of Tenshukaku of him was that Vision, something that was unbreakable even by the Archons themselves.

“Put it with the others once it cools.” Kujou Sara ordered with a careless wave towards the Vision, still steaming from the sudden, concentrated heat of the Shogun’s strike.

Heizou’s breathing was quick and shallow, filling his ears so everything else being said was muffled. He felt like he was moving in slow motion as a figure dressed in autumn colors darted through the assembled Tenryou troops and grasped the Vision in a pale hand.

Kaedehara Kazuha, quick and fleet as the wind, shoved his way back through the crowd and began to run.

“Wait, that kid -” Kujou Sara noticed the retreating figure, eyes focusing on his shoulder. “He’s got a Vision - grab him!”

Kaedehara, though, had the wind on his side. He was fast, faster than anyone. No one could have caught him.

No one except, maybe, for Heizou.

He took a breath that felt like emerging from very deep water.

“I’m on it!” He shouted and followed after in hot pursuit.

 

*****

 

Seven virtues for seven Archons. For Heizou, eternity was the most difficult to grasp.

He thought of a boy, a boy who had bought him ramen once, with his eyes focused on a glowing blade.

He was running through the streets - it was properly night now, and they were mostly empty because of it. He saw flickers of Kaedehara ahead of him, flashes of autumn colors like leaves caught in a sharp breeze.

Kaedehara’s ronin had been dead in a moment, struck down by an Archon who likely did not even know his name.

There was nothing left of him, save for the Vision clutched in Kaedehara’s hand.

Heizou darted around a fruit cart, under a banner flapping off of the side of a shop, around a stray cat yowling plaintively for a treat. And all the while Kaedehara stayed just out of reach.

What did eternity mean?

“Kaedehara!” He shouted. “Wait!”

Maybe it was simply selfishness. Maybe that’s what eternity meant. Eternity was looking at your life the way you would look into a mirror and seeing only yourself looking back. The glow of a blade brighter than any lightning strike, brought down on a boy who’d searched for the strongest storms he could find.

Kaedehara stopped abruptly. Heizou almost ran into him - he hadn’t expected that to actually work.

“Heizou.” He said, voice strangely empty.

“Kaedehara.”

It was then that he noticed they were just outside of the police station - it was empty, windows dark and lifeless. For a long moment, they stood there in the middle of the empty street, both breathing hard. The sky above rumbled, the restless clouds roiling low and heavy.

And then - Kaedehara drew his sword. He held the blade in his left hand instead of his right like usual. It was remarkably steady as he pointed it directly at Heizou.

“I won’t let you take me.” His eyes were narrowed, his voice cold.

“Wait-” Heizou’s gaze flicked from Kaedehara’s face to his sword.

He barely had time to raise his hands and block with a sharp gust of Anemo before Kaedehara was upon him with a flurry of strikes. He was fast, and though clearly unused to fighting with his left hand, his blows were precisely placed. Anemo swirled around him, buffeting Heizou and shoving him back as he tried to connect his own hits. Kaedehara leapt over him, wind coming to his call and he plunged down in a hail of wind and steel.

Heizou barely managed to dodge a vicious downward thrust towards his shoulder and was suddenly positive that if Kaedehara had the use of his right hand, he would be dead by now. Heizou glanced at Kaedehara's right hand as he avoided the another Anemo-infused slash of his blade, noticing the way it was still clutching the stolen Vision. The skin was horribly blistered, burned from the lingering heat of the Shogun’s strike.

It had to hurt terribly, but Kaedehara did not back down. His strikes didn’t waver as he pressed Heizou back. His teeth were gritted, his eyes cold and empty. He looked like a stranger, snarling as Heizou knocked the blade away from his throat with a kick.

It began to rain, slowly and then in heavy drops, as Kaedehara drove Heizou towards the darkened police station with his unwavering swordwork. Heizou stumbled, cold drops piercing his clothes and plastering them to his skin. It was enough to make him falter, enough to give Kaedehara a chance to pin him up against the front of the station with a sword to his throat.

“I won’t,” He hissed again, “Let you take me.”

“I wasn’t.” Heizou gasped. “I wouldn’t.”

A muffled shout sounded in the near distance. The rest of the Tenryou troops were catching up to them at last. Kaedehara looked towards the noise, hand going tight on the hilt of his sword. His face was a mask of fury. He would fight them all, Heizou realized. He would throw himself at the Tenryou Commission and, no matter how skilled he was, he would be overwhelmed.

Heizou’s father had taught him to be honorable in a fight, to let himself lose gracefully, to fight fair. Heizou had never managed to be his father’s son, not in the ways that mattered. He lashed out, aiming for Kaedehara's wounded hand that was still clutching the Vision.

Kaedehara bit back a scream and dropped to his knees, sword falling from his hand as he cradled his burnt hand to his chest. He let out a pained whine, a horrible noise that made Heizou sway on his feet, edges of his vision going blurred and dark.

Kaedehara looked up at him from the ground and Heizou was reminded horribly of his friend kneeling before the Shogun, purple glow of lightning reflected in his eyes. His lips curled up in a horrible smile and he tilted his head back, exposing his throat. “My Vision is Anemo, detective. You know what that means.”

Heizou did not attack him. Instead, he grabbed Kaedehara’s shoulders and dragged him to his feet. “Come on.” He said. “They’re coming.”

The fight seemed to have gone out of Kaedehara. He let Heizou manhandle him and pull him to the side of the station, out of sight of the officers running past. He looked up at Heizou and opened his mouth, but Heizou shook his head, putting a finger against his lips.

The rain hammered down against them both, soaking through Heizou’s clothes as he and Kaedehara lingered together, listening to the troops pass. It made him shudder, made his breath quick and uneven. Blood soaking through his clothes, making them stick to him for hours afterwards. There had been so much blood - Heizou had tried for hours to scrub the stain from the pale green fabric, but even after his knuckles were raw it had remained. In the end, the clothes had been burned.

His vision blurred for a moment and Kaedehara’s face became another face entirely - the face of a dear friend with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, smiling even as he died.

“I’m sorry.” Heizou whispered hoarsely. “I’m so sorry.”

He blinked and it was Kaedehara in front of him again. His hair was loose and dark with rainwater - it stuck to his face and neck like a shroud. Heizou numbly realized that it was longer than he had thought it was. There was a cut on his cheek that was bleeding sluggishly in the steady rain.

“I…I tried to kill you.” Kaedehara eyes were wide, his voice barely audible over the rain. “Heizou…I…I didn’t mean…”

Heizou shook his head, dismissing the apology, and glanced back, checking for anyone who might see them. It looked like it was, at least temporarily, clear. “You need to run.” He murmured. “If they find you…”

“I know.” Kaedehara said. “Shouldn’t you try and stop me?”

“I’ve always followed my own convictions.” He said. “This is no different.”

He wanted more than to follow his convictions - he wanted to bandage the hand that was blistered by a horrible burn, wanted to force Kaedehara into warm clothes and a bed where he could sleep safely for a week. But that was not - and could not be - his place. Heizou had a role and so did Kaedehara.

“Get to Ritou.” Heizou said. “Once you’re there, you should be able to get out of Inazuma - there’s a whole network of smugglers by now.”

“Heizou, I - “ There was something horribly shattered in his eyes.

A matter of control, huh? Maybe he’d been right. For the first time, Heizou felt absolutely focused and Kaedehara appeared to be spiraling out of it.

“Kazuha. You need to go - now. They’ll be coming back soon.”

“I…” He swallowed and straightened up, a bit of focus returning to his eyes. “Goodbye, detective.”

Heizou felt his lips quirk into a painful little smile. “Goodbye, ronin. Don’t let me catch you.”

Kaedehara nodded once and turned away, quickly vanishing in the rain. Heizou stood there in the steady rain for a long while, mind curiously blank. It was a strange sensation, like he was watching himself through a foggy window. He hasn’t felt so divorced from himself since he’d looked down and seen his hands covered in his friends blood.

Well, this wasn’t so different.

Tenryou troops came to find him soon. He gave them Kaedehara’s abandoned sword and regretfully told them that he’d managed to get away, pointing them in the absolute wrong direction when they asked which way he’d gone. He laughed at a joke an officer made about Kaedehara getting eaten by a yokai on Mount Yougo and felt like his face was numb. He waved off treatment for the small cut Kaedehara had left on the side of his neck, insisting he was fine.

He couldn’t actually feel it - hadn’t even noticed it until they’d pointed it out. His voice sounded like a stranger’s when he wished them all a goodnight, promising to keep a lookout for Kaedehara. He retreated back into the station.

Heizou’s clothes were sticking to him and, distantly, he noted that he wanted to rip them off and scrub his whole body until it started to feel like his own again. Instead, he walked to his desk, sat down and blankly stared at nothing for a long moment before he put his head in his hands and started to sob.

 

---

PART 2

---

 

“What I don’t understand is why you need my help.” Heizou said. “I’m not a soldier, Kujou.”

Kujou Sara’s nostrils flared minutely, but she otherwise kept her face impassive. Heizou took a moment to admire her restraint.

“You may not be a soldier, but you are still a member of the Tenryou Commission, Shikanoin-san.” She said, voice strained with the clear effort it was taking not to yell at him. He was enjoying it maybe a little too much. “And you are uniquely qualified for this role, besides.”

“Oh?” He asked boredly. “Is that so?”

He glanced around them, noticing that a few officers had stopped to watch the brewing confrontation. He gave them a bright smile. They awkwardly hurried onward, clearly embarrassed at being caught staring.

They were in the headquarters of the Tenryou Commission - he’d come (fairly late, of course) at Kujou Sara’s request. From the way she was looking at him now, she deeply regretted it.

He couldn’t make himself feel too bad about it - it had been months now since the Vision Hunt Decree had been abolished and a few weeks since the end of the Sakoku Decree altogether, but still. His resentment over the war and everything that had happened - everything she had a role in - couldn’t just be dismissed as if it had never happened.

Heizou didn’t like to hold grudges, but he’d never really been able to help himself when it came to the things he cared about.

“Look.” She had pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes, clearly trying to ward off a Heizou-induced headache. “People don’t look at you and think ‘Tenryou Commission’ the way they do with everyone else.”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, you are one of the only ones from the Commission who they won’t actively flee from.” She said. “And besides, we need you to track them down anyway.”

“I thought you kept good records on the Visions you took.” Heizou said idly.

“We did - these are just the ones that fell through the cracks somehow.”

That was the crux of her request. During the Vision Hunt Decree the Tenryou Commission had kept admirably detailed records about the Visions that had either been surrendered or seized. It had made returning them after the Decree was lifted simple in most cases, even in the cases where the holder had died. But now they’d come to the end of it - the last few Visions remaining that had somehow been left unaccounted for.

And, apparently, Heizou was their last resort.

“How many are there, even?” He asked.

Kujou straightened up, all of her ridiculous height and even more ridiculous shoes. “Follow me, Shikanoin-san.” She turned and began striding away without checking to see if he was following.

After a moment of consideration - it would be deeply funny if he just, like, left - he reluctantly began to walk after her.

She led the way to a small room filled with boxes and cabinets of files, probably meant for keeping evidence. She opened one of the boxes and pulled out a smaller chest, setting it on top of another nearby box and flipping the lid open.

“Here.” She said brusquely. “This is what’s left.”

He came over to look and quickly counted seven Visions sitting in the box.

“Is this all the evidence of these people you have?” He asked.

“Yes.” She said. “We’ve checked the records multiple times - these ones are unaccounted for. I blame administrative errors due to overwork. We were short staffed, particularly near the end.”

“Hmm, wonder why.” He said.

She twitched but did not respond. Her restraint really had improved since they’d lifted the Decree.

He looked away from the Visions and back to Kujou. “So you’re asking me to find seven people - some of whom might not even be in the country anymore - with only their Visions to go on.”

“Yes.” She said, stone faced . “That is what I am asking.”

He looked down more closely at the Visions - they were all neatly placed in individual little evidence bags. Two were dim and lifeless - their holders dead. Of the other five, one was Pyro, one was Dendro, one was Cryo, one was Electro, and the last…Heizou ran a finger over it and felt it react even through the evidence bag. The last was Anemo.

“Look, it’s not that I don’t want to help.” Heizou said. “It’s just that - even I would have trouble tracking down people with only their Visions.”

“The Shogunate is vitally concerned with getting these back to their owners.” Sara said. “Is there anyone who can?”

Heizou remembered a conversation during a summer storm, years ago now. He glanced down at the flickering Anemo Vision again, the way the energy inside seemed to be railing against the glass, fighting desperately for freedom.

“Yeah.” He said. “Yeah, I know someone.”

 

*****

 

Kaedehara Kazuha had become the most sought-after man in all of Inazuma.

Heizou, of course, had heard all about the way that he had bravely saved the mysterious traveler from the Raiden Shogun, managing to block the blow that should have been impossible to block. Uesugi had gone on at length about it - apparently having seen it from where he was crouched behind some boxes and watching the confrontation take place outside of Tenshukaku.

Heizou, though, hadn’t been at Tenshukaku when it all unraveled at last - he’d spent the culmination of the war on Watatsumi Island. His assignment had been to find information on the Resistance, but he’d come up empty. He had, admittedly, not tried very hard.

He’d come back to a changed Inazuma City. Visions had been returned, the Tenryou troops had retreated back to their headquarters, a mysterious blond traveler was running the streets, and Kaedehara Kazuha was back in Inazuma after nearly two years away.

He’d left again, before Heizou had even seen him. It had been months since and he’d been back more times and still, Heizou hadn’t seen him.

It wasn’t that he was avoiding Kaedehara exactly, but he hadn’t tried to seek out the other man either. He’d heard a few days ago that he was back, the pirate ship he traveled on stopping in Ritou for a while for some business with the Shogunate.

If it was two years ago, he would run down there and barge onto the ship, find Kaedehara, and drag him off to help with whatever case he was working on. But it wasn’t two years ago and the last time he’d seen Kaedehara had been on what was undoubtedly the worst day of the other man’s life.

Heizou left the Tenryou headquarters, emerging into a bright day heralded by a clear sky and the scent of sakura blossoms. It was late spring, just on the cusp of sliding into a balmy summer.

He walked back to the station, considering how exactly he could either find Kaedehara or how he could track down eight Vision holders without the aid of the only man he’d ever met who could pick out a Vision holder even without their Vision.

It wouldn’t be impossible to do on his own - those who had lost their Visions obviously wanted them back and there had been more than enough reports of people claiming they were still missing theirs after the Decree had been lifted. Of course, many of these were hoaxes from people who wanted to sell a Vision or take it for their own, unaware that it wouldn’t work for anyone aside from its holder.

But it would take time to sort through those, to follow up and determine which were genuine and which weren’t. And from what Kujou had said, they were looking for this to be done quickly…hmmm.

For now, he could find the record of Visions reported lost down at the station and start tracking them down. It wouldn’t be as easy as having Kaedehara here to track them down with his uncanny sense, but it would be a start.

Heizou was so distracted that he didn’t register his name being called the first few times it happened.

“Shikanoin-san!” Wait, that voice was familiar, wasn’t it? “Heizou!”

He blinked and turned to see who it was that was calling him, focusing on the world around him again. There was the ramen stand he frequented, there was the shopkeeper who always chided him to eat more vegetables, and there was…

Oh.

It was like he’d somehow been summoned by Heizou thinking of him. Kaedehara Kazuha, Inazuma’s apparent savior, was standing in the middle of the crowded byway and looking right at Heizou.

“Heizou!” He called, arm waving.

Heizou froze and, for a moment, he was years in the past. Kaedehara was stopping in Inazuma City between wanderings again and Heizou was here to fetch him for some inane request. His traveling companion would appear from around a corner at any time, obnoxiously tall and loud and painfully kind to everyone, even Heizou.

But then, Kaedehara started to walk towards him and the illusion was broken. Kaedehara’s clothes were different, the colors the same but the cut and style altered. And he looked…he looked good. Healthy and whole in a way he hadn’t that day in the rain.

“There you are.” Kaedehara stopped in front of him, wind whipping around them both like he’d brought it with him off the sea.

Before leaving, he’d been pale as a ghost. Now, though, he’d picked up a bit of color and there was a spray of faint freckles over his nose and cheeks that Heizou found himself unreasonably fascinated by.

He looked strong too. The arm that was left half bare was toned in a way that it hadn’t been before, clearly a product of working on a ship for years.

And he was smiling.

A less intelligent man might have found himself struck completely dumb in the face of all of that.

Luckily, Heizou was a genius.

Unluckily, that didn’t seem to help him very much in this particular situation.

“Kae-“ He stopped and cleared his throat. Kaedehara had used his first name - he should return the gesture. “Kazuha, good to see you again. You…you look good.”

“You too.” Kazuha was still smiling at him. “Your hair is longer.”

“Ah, yeah.” Heizou tugged at his tied back hair. “I keep meaning to cut it.”

“It looks nice.” He said, head tilting to the side. Heizou felt his face go hot - he had to be bright red by now. One of his cousins had always teased that when he blushed it was so dark that his moles disappeared. He covered the bottom part of his face with a hand in a vain attempt to protect his dignity.

“Freckles.” He gestured with the hand that wasn’t fruitlessly attempting to hide his blush. “You have them now, I mean.”

Kazuha laughed. “ They happen when I get too much sun.” He rubbed his nose, expression a bit rueful. “There aren’t many options to hide from the sun out at sea.”

“You really have been out on the ocean, haven’t you?” Heizou lowered his hand, looking Kazuha up and down with a detective’s interest. He’d known, of course, but it was different to see all the evidence like this - the stronger physique, the sun-bleached hair, the lighter fabrics, the freckles.

“Yes.” Kazuha nodded. “The Alcor picked me up after I fled from the city two years ago - I’ve been with them on and off ever since.”

“I had heard about that.” Heizou said. “Kaedehara Kazuha, a pirate. What a scandal!”

“It’s all above board.” He winked. “Mostly.”

“Oh?” Heizou bit his lip. “Hmm, should I be worried?”

“We’re more active near Liyue.” Kazuha said. “Unless you’ve decided to join the Millileth, I think you can overlook it.”

“I’ll take care of crime in Inazuma first.” Heizou said. “Liyue can come next. Is that we’re you’re based now?”

“No, though the ship docks there quite frequently.” Kazuha said. “The beauty of a ship is that it really is based nowhere - I’ve managed to see half of the world by now and I’ve met travelers from the other half. There is nothing quite like it.”

“Sounds perfect for you.” Heizou said, smiling almost helplessly. It wasn’t until now, until he was faced with him again, that he realized just how much he’d missed Kazuha. The sight of him here, standing underneath a clear blue sky, was almost overwhelming.

A passerby jostled Heizou out of his thoughts, murmuring an apology as they hurried on their way. Heizou blinked, suddenly realizing that they were, in fact, just standing in the middle of the main thoroughfare.

“Come on.” He hitched a thumb towards the side of the road, towards where a shrine to the Raiden Shogun sat beneath a few sakura trees. “Let’s get out of everyone’s way.”

Kazuha followed, giving the shrine a sidelong glance and a wide berth, before he leaned up against one of the sakura trees. Heizou didn’t comment before he did the same, reaching up to tug at a branch. A few lonely blossoms still clung to it, ragged this late into the season.

“You just missed the sakura.” Heizou said idly. “They were beautiful this year.”

“I was here, actually. We stopped off on Amakane Island at the beginning of the season.” Kazuha said. He reached past Heizou to pluck one of the last few blossoms. He smelled like salt and the winds that came in off the sea. “You’re right - it was indeed beautiful.”

“Amakane, huh?”

Kazuha nodded, examining the blossom he’d picked with a curious expression. “I’ve been in Inazuma city a few times since the war ended.” He glanced up at Heizou. “I kept expecting to be detained, but apparently loitering is no longer a crime.”

Heizou laughed weakly. “I have been informed that I may have been a bit…overzealous when arresting certain wandering ronin.”

“Is that right?” Kazuha murmured, eyes on the flower once again.

It would probably sound stupid to tell Kazuha that Heizou hadn’t wanted to bother him - he hadn’t had any issues bothering him before. Man alive, he used to handcuff Kazuha so he wouldn’t wander off before Heizou was ready for him to go. He rubbed the back of his neck, watching the careful way that Kazuha held the flower, the gentle touch of his calloused fingers against the curling petals.

“It seemed like you had a lot going on.” Heizou said after a pause that went on a beat too long. “I didn’t want to get in the way of anything important.”

Kazuha slipped the blossom into his pocket. “I figured something like that may have been the case.” He met Heizou’s gaze, smiled. “So I’ve been the one looking for you this time.”

Heizou’s stomach swooped like he’d missed a step running down the stairs, like he’d just leapt off a cliff without a wind glider. “So did you smell me out? Have the wind track me down?”

“No.” He said. “I ran into Uesugi-san and he told me where to find you.”

”I’m surprised he knew where to find me - he’s been especially unobservant lately.” Heizou said. “His wife just had triplets.”

“That explains why he seemed so tired.” Kazuha seemed amused.

“I think the lack of sleep has fried his brain. Someone like Uesugi can’t handle that, his brain is already working very hard.” Heizou tucked his thumbs into the waistband of his pants. “So, the illustrious Kaedehara Kazuha has tracked me down. What comes next?”

Kazuha raised a single eyebrow. “Well, first of all, I think it’s my turn to treat you to a meal. I do owe you one.”

“The station is pretty full this time of day.” Heizou said, gesturing up at the sunny midday sky above them. “We might have some problems stealing - ah, requisitioning from the kitchen.”

“That’s all right - I’ve been informed that it’s impossible to make your favorite food in the office kitchen anyway.” He leaned away from the tree and straightened up. “I need to stop at a few stores, if that’s okay.”

Heizou just nodded, following along as Kazuha started off down the street again towards the market. “Where are we cooking?” He asked. “Your ship?”

“The galley on the Alcor is a bit…limited.” Kazuha said. “I was hoping I could cook back in your apartment. It’s that or I ask Ayaka if we can borrow hers.”

“Oh Archons, don’t make me go to the Kamisato Estate.” Heizou groaned. He’d been there once on a case - it was very big, very fancy, and very much outside of his comfort zone.

“So we can use your kitchen, then?” Kazuha said, clearly amused at his distaste.

“I mean, sure, but I didn’t realize you knew I had an apartment.”

“I do.”

“Did Uesugi tell you that too?”

“Ah, well.” His cheeks and the tips of his ears went a bit pink, the same delicate shade as the sakura blossoms. “I may have gone to your old house a few days ago - the family told me you’d moved out.”

“After the Decree, yep.” He confirmed, following as Kazuha weaved through the midday crowds. “How are they? I haven’t seen them since I left.”

“They looked well to me.” Kazuha said. “The lady of the house is pregnant again.”

Heizou whistled. “That’ll be six kids now, unless they managed to squeeze in even more after I moved out. Probably for the best they have my old room for extra space.”

Kazuha hummed noncommittally as they came up to a stall selling vegetables. “You’re fine with cabbage, aren’t you?”

“Yep.” Heizou confirmed, watching as Kazuha selected some vegetables and was then waved down by the stall proprietor who insisted he take them for free.

“I’ll come by later and leave mora when he isn’t looking.” Kazuha murmured as they continued on, now laden with bags of vegetables.

Heizou laughed and slapped his shoulder. “Just accept the star treatment, mister big hero. You’re the most popular man in Inazuma, I think.”

Kazuha sighed. “I hardly deserve it - my actions were more instinct than anything else.”

“Oh?” Heizou looked at him sidelong, taking in the slope of nose, the long eyelashes, the damned freckles scattered over his nose like fallen leaves in the middle of a path. “Don’t let the fan club hear that.”

“I don’t have a fanclub.” Kazuha insisted.

“You so do.” Heizou grinned. “All of those maidens swooning down by the docks,” He pitched his voice high, “Oh Kadehara-sama, you’re so strong and so brave! Tell me more about how you saved all of Inazuma from the dastardly Shogun!” He mimed fainting. “How valiant!”

Kazuha’s lips were tight and his shoulders were shaking at the effort of keeping his laughter contained. “I’m afraid I don’t deserve so much praise, my friend.”

“At least let me carry some of the vegetables.” Heizou fluttered his eyelashes in poor imitation of the girls he'd seen down at the harbor. “Kaedehara-sama.”

“Very well then.” Kazuha’s cheeks were pink. He extended one of the two bags he’d been holding. “I can hardly let down one of my biggest fans.”

The continued on down the market street, Kazuha picking up ingredients and shopkeepers refusing to take his mora. On some level, Heizou had understood that things were different for Kazuha now after everything that had happened at the end of the war. But knowing that and seeing the way the common people of Inazuma seemed to borderline worship him were two very different things.

“Okay.” Kazuha said at last, slipping some mora surreptitiously into the pocket of the woman who’d just refused to let him pay for a few pork cutlets. “I think that should be everything.”

“This way, then.” Heizou’s hands were full of groceries, so he pointed a foot in the general direction of his apartment. “I’ve got to warn you, though, it’s pretty messy. I wasn’t expecting company.”

He didn’t think he’d had any company over since he’d moved in, actually. Aside from occasional information sharing sessions over drinks with Kuki, he didn’t really have any friends.

It wasn’t something that usually bothered him - his job took up most of his time and if he was ever really lonely he could write to one of his many cousins to come visit - but it struck him as strangely embarrassing that the first person over in nearly two years would be Kazuha.

“I don’t mind.” Kazuha was saying. “I usually stay in the wilderness, you know. I’m sure any messiness is less so than what you’d find out in nature. Or, for that matter, on a pirate ship.”

“You’ll need to tell me more about that.” Heizou said, leading them down the side street that led to his complex. “A real pirate ship - I want to know what sort of mischief you got up to. I may have some actual crimes to arrest you for this time.”

“We’re hardly the looking and pillaging type.” He said, following after Heizou. “Captain Beidou may not strictly obey the laws, but I trust her judgment.”

“Beidou, huh?” Heizou glanced back. “The name is familiar.”

“She is quite famous in some places.” Kazuha said, sounding rather proud. “She is the one who slew the great serpent Heishaun and is a fair and just captain, besides. You should meet her - I believe the two of you would get along quite well.”

“I don’t get along well with most people.” Heizou said blithely. “You know that.”

“I do.” Kazuha agreed, easily enough that another man might have been offended. “But Beidou is easier to get along with than most.”

Heizou hummed noncommittally as they rounded a corner and came to his complex. “Up the stairs.” He said. “I’m on the second floor.”

He took the stairs two at a time, Kazuha following easily behind. Most people were slower than he was - he’d forgotten that Kazuha was one of the few that wasn’t.

“Well, we’re here.” Heizou said, stopping outside the door and setting one of the bags he was carrying on the stoop so he could fish in his pocket for his door key. He pulled it out and unlocked the door, kicking it open and stepping away from Kazuha. “After you.”

“Pardon my intrusion.” Kazuha murmured as stepped inside. Heizou followed, hoping he hadn’t left anything embarrassing out that morning.

The apartment was small, just a main room, a kitchen, and an attached bathroom. The main room was crowded, a low table absolutely covered in piles of paper and files shoved against one wall, a crumpled futon he hadn’t bothered to fold in one corner, a couch he often fell asleep on sitting in the center of the room like an island in the middle of a chaotic sea.

And throughout all of it there were perilously leaning stacks of paper and books sitting on every available surface and on some surfaces that should not have been available at all.

“Sorry.” Heizou said. “I did warn you - kitchen should be a bit better, though.”

“No, no.” Kaedehara toed off his sandals by the door and wandered over to the kitchen on socked feet, arms still full of groceries. “This is rather like what I expected - it’s very you.”

“Can’t decide if that’s an insult or not.” Heizou begrudgingly took off his own shoes and followed Kazuha into the kitchen. He set his own bags on the counter as Kazuha did the same, looking around the small space. It was clean, mostly because of neglect at this point. Heizou had developed the unfortunate and expensive habit of eating takeout food for almost every meal.

“Oh!” Kazuha looked over at Heizou as the other came up to stand beside him, a small smile on his lips. “I’d forgotten that you’re shorter than me without your shoes.”

Heizou glowered at him. It was true that he was a few inches shorter than Kazuha was without the raised sandals he usually wore. “Rude guests don’t get to use the good knives.”

“Oh, my apologies.” Kazuha began taking out the groceries he’d picked up - eggs, pork, flour, cabbage, rice. “If I am unable to use the good knives, I suppose you’ll have to cut this for me.” He slid the cabbage to Heizou.

Heizou bent down to pull out a cutting board. “I thought you were treating me, not making me work.” He rifled through his drawer and pulled out his good knife.

“I find cooking is always quicker and more enjoyable with company.” Kazuha said, leaning past Heizou to go through his drawers and pull out utensils. “And unfortunately it will prove challenging to do by myself with no knives.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be resourceful?” Heizou began to chop the cabbage into neat strips.

“I suppose I could cut the ingredients with my sword.” He tapped the sword on his hip - an ornate looking thing in shades of red and black. “But I have been informed that it is unsanitary.”

“I would say so, yeah.” Heizou said. “New sword?”

“Yes.” Kazuha said with a small smile. He was arranging the ingredients in front of him, motions smooth and practiced. “I’ll tell you about how I acquired it sometime - it was quite an adventure.”

“Oh, yeah?” He glanced over.

Kazuha nodded. “I did look for you a few days ago when I first landed - this adventure I went on required a bit of investigative work. My friend the Traveler had to act as a substitute for you.”

Heizou swallowed down something that might have been jealousy, if he let it grow. “Oh, the one everyone is talking about? How interesting - sometimes I feel like I’m the only one in Inazuma that hasn’t met this Traveler yet.”

“I can introduce you sometime.” Kazuha said. “Now, may I please use the good knife?”

Heizou finished cutting the cabbage with an unnecessary flourish. “I suppose.” He handed it over, careful not to let their fingers brush. “Be careful, though. It’s my only good knife.”

Kazuha looked at him solemnly. “I will not abuse this great privilege you have bestowed upon me.”

Heizou laughed and tapped the other man’s calf with a bare foot. “I’m glad you understand the honor you’ve been granted.” He said. “I’m going to go tidy up the main room so we actually have somewhere to eat. Unless you need more help?”

“I should be fine.” Kazuha said. “Are your pots under the counter?”

“Yep, in the second cabinet. I think the first is still full of books - I was trying to clean one day and I put them under there because I ran out of room.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I should really do something about that.”

Kazuha just shook his head, expression fond. “I’ll keep that in mind if I need any reading materials.”

Heizou went back to the main room, sorting the various junk that had piled up on every available surface into vague piles. He’d always been horrible at cleaning - he always got distracted halfway through and found himself meticulously sorting through his old collection of onikabuto drawings or something instead of doing the actual work that needed done. But with the welcome sounds of Kazuha cooking in the next room, he found himself able to focus more easily than usual.

Case files went on the table, clothes went in the basket in the corner, scraps of notes went into his garbage unless they looked important and in that case they were stacked on top of the many files from the station. Kazuha called out questions occasionally, mostly about where to find something or how Heizou liked something done.

It was extremely domestic and extremely bizarre. Heizou hadn’t seen Kaedehara Kazuha in nearly three years. How had they fallen back together so quickly? And before, Kazuha had never gotten this close - their interactions had been friendly, but distant. There was almost always the barrier of a desk or sometimes cell bars between them.

“Are you done clearing the table?” Kazuha called.

Heizou grabbed the rest of the detritus on the table (his haori coat, a spare pair of handcuffs, and several thick books) and set it all unceremoniously by his futon. “Yep, that should be it.” He straightened up, dusting off his hands.

“Good, lunch is ready.” He emerged from the kitchen holding two steaming bowls that smelled delicious. “You mind grabbing drinks?”

“Sure thing.” Heizou darted back into the kitchen and grabbed the two tall glasses of water that Kazuha had poured. “I should have some more exciting things to drink in my icebox if you’re interested.” He offered as he joined Kazuha at the table.

“Perhaps later.” Kazuha said, pushing one of the bowls towards Heizou. “I should have made sure you liked it, but I made katsudon - I’ve been told it's a favorite of police officers and detectives.”

“A generalization.” Heizou said with a grin, grabbing the bowl. “But you’re in luck - it’s one of my favorite foods.”

“I’m glad.” Kazuha smiled. “It has been some time since I’ve cooked anything that did not involve fish, but I think this came out all right.”

“You know I hate false modesty.” Heizou knocked his shoulder against Kazuha’s before he took a bite of the meal Kaedehara had prepared. It was delicious, hot and perfectly seasoned and deliciously fried.

He scarfed down the rest of the food probably alarmingly quickly - it had been a long time since he’d had something he’d liked so much. Kazuha gave him the second piece of pork, insisting that he didn’t want it. It was good enough that Heizou didn’t fight him too hard before taking it. For the past year or so, his meals were either the boring slop they served at the station or food he’d picked up from to go places that was soggy by the time he got it back home.

“You’re a good cook, Kadehara.” Heizou said once his bowl was empty.

“It’s Kazuha.” Kaedehara insisted. “And thank you - I’ve had to be inventive out on the ocean. They made fun of me so much when I first started and had kitchen duties.” He sighed, a small smile on his lips. “Asking for milk and eggs - where would you get milk and eggs out on the sea?”

“Let me know if anyone is mean to you.” Heizou said, flopping back onto the floor and staring at the ceiling. “I’ll beat them up.” In reality, Kazuha could probably beat up anyone more efficiently than Heizou ever could - it was a strangely intriguing thought.

Kazuha laughed. “I’d like to see you try to beat up Captain Beidou.” He leaned across the table and grabbed the empty bowl where Heizou had left it.

Heizou waved a hand without sitting up. “Don’t bother with that, Uesugi will get it.”

“In your apartment?” Kazuha said, as he got up and returned to the kitchen with both of their bowls.

“Bet he would if I asked.” Heizou mumbled, levering himself back up and getting up. “And, stop that - you cooked so I can do the dishes.”

“Let me dry, at least.”

They stood side by side for a while, Heizou washing dishes and Kazuha drying them. It reminded Heizou a bit of cleaning up after dinner back at home, his father assigning duties to him and his cousins along with the occasional disciple in a booming voice. The man had never seemed to actually help himself, preferring to lord over the chores the same way he lorded over the dojo.

“So what brings you back to Inazuma?” Heizou asked as he handed Kazuha the last of the dishes in his sink, a mug that had been sitting there for at least a week.

“Captain Beidou has trading contacts here.” Kazuha said, accepting the mug and drying it out. “And the interim head of the Kujou Commission wished to speak with me as well.”

“Oh? You spoke with Kamaji?” Heizou asked.

“You know him?”

Heizou shook his head. “Just by reputation - what did he want?”

“He and the rest of the Tri-Commission wished to restore the Kaedehara clan.” Kazuha set the mug beside the rest of the dishes. “In response to what happened at Tenshukaku and some other information that had come to light.”

“Hmmm.” Heizou tapped his chin with a finger. “That’s potentially complicated, isn’t it? They’d be tacitly endorsing the actions of someone who acted directly against the Shogunate, which could mean more people doing the same. And I don’t know enough about clan politics to say, but wouldn’t this piss off some of the clans that filled the void left by the Rokudaime Gokuden?”

“You know about the Rokudaime Gokuden?” Kazuha asked, surprised.

“I may not like clan politics, but I do know history.” Heizou said. “So, yeah, I know about what happened to the bladesmiths. Bad break there, Kazuha.”

“Indeed.” Kazuha’s voice was faintly amused.

“Well, in the end I think your simplest choice would just be to refuse the offer.” Heizou decided aloud. “I mean, if it’s important to you then you should fight for it - and with the Tenryou Commission backing you, you’ll be fine - but if you don’t have any strong feelings about it then asking them to rescind the offer might be the best bet.”

“That was my decision.” Kazuha said lightly. “Not necessarily for the same reasons you pointed out, but regardless.” He leaned up against the counter, arms folded across his chest. “My clan will always be important to me, but staying in the city is not my path. I wish to see the world and learn from what I am able to find in it.”

“Yeah, can’t exactly see you sitting behind a desk and filling out clan paperwork.” Heizou waved a hand. “Or whatever it is they do.”

Kazuha laughed lightly. “I assure you, there is no small amount of paperwork involved.”

“There you go, then.” Heizou went back to his icebox and started rifling through it. “Hmmm - have you tried dango milk? It’s all the rage lately.”

“Ah, yes - I tried last time I was here.” He said, accepting the sealed bottle Heizou passed to him. “The whole crew was quite taken with it.”

“You said you’ve back a few times?” Heizou said, making it sound like a question even though it really wasn’t. He’d known each time, but he hadn’t tried to find Kazuha when he was returned at last to Inazuma.

He couldn’t really say why.

“Yes, briefly each time.” Kazuha said, unsealing the bottle and taking a sip. “There was a festival I attended a while back and then again to help Beidou maintain some of her contracts. It’s been strange to be back after so long away.”

“Strange good or strange bad?” Heizou asked.

“Neither. Or perhaps both.” He smiled a little helplessly. “I suppose that it’s complicated.”

“Sure, I get that.” Heizou said.

He watched surreptitiously as Kazuha drank his dango milk, leaning up against Heizou’s counter and looking like some kind of impossible hallucination. There had been a part of him, and not a small part either, that was thoroughly convinced he would never see Kaedehara Kazuha ever again. To have him here, casually standing in Heizou’s kitchen, was like a very bizarre dream. A very bizarre dream he needed to ask a favor from.

“You’re staring.” He said eventually, voice a low murmur.

“Sorry.” Heizou felt his face go hot. “I…there’s something I need to ask you. I was deciding how to do it.”

“Something you need to ask me?” He echoed.

“Yeah, it’s kind of a favor.” Heizou toyed the wrapper of his dango milk, peeling away the corner with a fingernail.

“Oh?”

“Well, the Tenryou Commission is asking me to do something.” He said. “I think I have a plan for how to do it, but it would be easier with your help.”

“Something even the great detective Shikanoin needs assistance with?” Kazuha set his now empty bottle on the counter beside him. “I find myself intrigued.”

Heizou laughed faintly. “I was surprised too, trust me.”

“So what is it?” Kazuha asked. “Tracking down another murderer?”

“Nothing that simple, unfortunately.” Heizou said. “It turns out that the Tenryou Commission’s records of the Visions they took were incomplete. There are a couple of Visions still in their possession and they want to return them.”

“I see…” Kazuha said. “Do they have any information beyond the Visions themselves?”

“Doesn’t seem like it.” Heizou said.

“And how many are there?” Kazuha asked - he had folded his arms over his chest and was looking at Heizou through half-lidded eyes.

“Seven in total.”

“And what’s your current plan to get them back to their holders?”

“There are a ton of reports of people claiming they never received their Visions after the Decree was lifted.” Heizou said with a shrug. “Most are nonsense, but I’m assuming the actual reports are in there somewhere.”

“It will take you quite a while to go through all of that, I assume.” Kazuha said and Heizou nodded. “But if I were to trace them through elemental energy…”

“That was my first though.” Heizou said. “Kazuha, I know you have other obligations, so if you can’t I get it. And I know that things with the Tenryou Commission are…complicated.”

Kazuha tilted his head to the side. In the midday light streaming into Heizou’s small apartment, his eyes were the color of amber. “I don't hold a grudge for everything that happened.” He said. “The Decree has been lifted and the people are free to pursue their dreams once again.”

“Yes, but…” Heizou trailed off. He held a grudge. He had tried not to, but there was a reason he pissed off Kujou Sara on purpose, there was a reason he didn’t go up to headquarters unless he was ordered to, and there was a reason he no longer said even the most perfunctory prayers to the Raiden Shogun.

He’d never been good at letting things go. He envied that Kazuha could move on, could look at the future and not feel the weight of the past dragging him backwards.

“We have a number of contracts based locally - I had planned to spend most of the summer in Inazuma.” Kazuha said. “I have no objections to helping you while I’m here.”

 

*****

 

Kazuha might have said he didn’t hold a grudge, but Heizou didn’t want to drag him to Tenshukaku if he could avoid it. It had taken Heizou himself months to get over the nauseous feeling that threatened to bring him to his knees any time he had to walk up the steps to the Shogun’s palace.

He had woken up before dawn to get to the Tenryou Commission headquarters right as Kujou Sara had arrived. It had been a struggle, convincing Kujou to hand over the Visions. But in the end, she didn’t have a better option and so now Heizou had seven Visions neatly stored in the bag slung over his shoulder. He could feel faint traces of elemental energy from them, making the air shimmer like a heat haze if he paid close enough attention.

He wandered through the streets for a while, finally finding Kazuha standing in front of a notice board. He was reading the papers tacked there with a look of vague bewilderment. Heizou understood why when he saw the board - it was plastered over with the Arataki Gang’s latest recruitment campaign, which was mostly horrible drawings of their leader in bold black ink.

“Good morning, Kaedehara.” He said, coming up beside Kazuha. “You’ve seen Arataki’s latest masterpiece, I presume?”

“I told you to call me Kazuha.” He said. “And yes, they’re quite…unique.”

Heizou laughed, throwing an arm over Kazuha’s shoulders. “At least they’re staying on the notice boards this time. Once he and his gang plastered posters all over the entire city - it took the Commission days to get them all down.”

Kazuha looked sidelong at him. “And I trust you were busy with other matters?”

Heizou grinned. “What can I say? My intuition led me elsewhere. And then immediately back once all of the posters were gone.”

Kazuha shook his head, but he was smiling. “You came from the north - were you up at Tenshukaku?”

“Tenryou headquarters.” Heizou said, releasing Kazuha and tapping the bag with a hand. “Grabbed the Visions - figured we could get started earlier if I already had them for us.”

Kazuha smiled crookedly, like he could see exactly what Heizou’s actual intentions were, but he was too polite to actively call him out on it. “Shall we go to the station and see what we’re working with, then?”

The station was, as it always seemed to be, mostly empty. Owada was sitting in his office, door open, with a cup of tea. Amano was lounging at his desk, absently tapping the haft of his spear.

“Uesugi, letting us down as usual.” Heizou sighed, pushing files out of the center of his desk to clear a spot for the Visions. “I wanted him to make us tea.”

“Oh, I was going to make some tea.” Amano said. “Did you want some?”

“No, no.” Heizou waved a dismissive hand. “I just now got him to understand what proper tea making temperature is - I don’t have time to teach you too.” He didn’t wait for Amano to respond, instead upending the bag on the desk. The Visions clattered out, falling into a heap.

“Shikanoin!” Owada seemed to notice what he was doing and half-rose from his desk, apparently concerned that Heizou was throwing Visions around.

“It’s fine.” Heizou said. “Kujou gave me these and said they were my problem now.”

“I doubt she said it like that.” Owada sighed, settling back into his chair. “But shouldn’t you be a little more careful with those? You shouldn’t break them.”

“It’s fine, Yoriki.” Kazuha said, amused. “You cannot actually break a Vision. Not even the muso no hitotachi was able to.”

“Oh.” Owada looked a bit put out. “Carry on then, I guess.”

Heizou gave him a two-fingered salute. “Now,” He spread the Visions out. “Two dead, one Pyro, one Dendro, one Cryo, one Anemo and one Electro.”

Kazuha tapped one of the dead Visions. “These will pose a challenge - once a Vision holder dies, the elemental energy within the Vision dies as well.” Heizou looked at him sidelong, but his voice was steady.

“I don’t think traditional means will be much better.” Heizou admitted. “Plenty of people with Visions died - a lot of those Visions were buried with them or were lost on a battlefield somewhere. We could ask families if their deceased relatives had a Vision, but…”

“Mhm.” Kazuha picked up one of the dead Visions and held it up to the light. “There is no way to say who they belonged to like this.”

“Should we tell the Commission that it’s no good?” Heizou asked.

Kazuha rotated the Vision this way and that, examining it. It seemed to catch any brightness and swallow it, dull surface not reflecting the warm light of the morning. “Let me think on it a while - perhaps there are traces of energy left we can detect with enough time.”

“You’re the expert.” Heizou said. “I can’t exactly track down their holders without you.”

“I could teach you how to sense the elemental energy these ones contain.” Kazuha set the dead Vision back down and turned to the five that still pulsed with energy. “Anemo is uniquely suited to tracking other elemental energies.”

“I doubt I’d be able to follow them like you, though.” Heizou said. “I don’t have your connection with nature and the wind.”

“True, but your connection with your Vision is strong.” Kazuha said. “Catalyst users have to be attuned to their element constantly, after all. I doubt it would take you long to pick up.”

Heizou shrugged. “I’m always ready to learn something new.”

“Let’s go outside.” He said, stowing the Visions back into the bag Heizou had been toting them in and slinging it over his shoulder. “It should be easier for you to focus.”

Heizou just nodded and followed as Kazuha led the way out the back and into the empty training yard. It hadn’t changed much since he’d been gone - there was a new coat of paint on the dummies and a few patches of naku weeds that no one had got around to pulling yet. But aside from that, it was unchanged from how it had looked two years ago.

Kazuha didn’t comment, instead walking and sitting at the edge of the training ring with his back against the high fence. Heizou followed him, tapping his favorite dummy with his foot as he passed. One of these days he would kick it too hard and it would collapse into a heap of splinters.

“Here.” Kazuha handed him a Vision, the bright red of Pyro glowing in the center, as soon as he sat down.

“So how do you track down who a Vision belongs to?” Heizou examined the Vision he’d been given. It flickered constantly like a flame trapped beneath banked glass. “Like, how exactly do you tell?”

“A combination of things.” Kazuha said. “There is a tie, no matter the distance, between a Vision and its wielder. That tie can be difficult to detect, but it is there - I assure you. I can sense it partially through my own connection with nature and the wind, but also through the traces of elemental energy that it leaves.” He pulled out another Vision, this one bright with the familiar glow of Anemo. “Once we’re closer, I’ll also be able to determine which people have traces of elemental energy on them.”

“Huh.” Heizou flipped the Vision, examining it from all sides. “I know a bit about elemental energy, but I didn’t know you could actually track it like that.”

“Most Vision holders can sense elemental energy to some extent, but like I said Anemo is best for picking it up.”

“Why is that, exactly?”

“Anemo naturally reflects the qualities of other elements it reacts with. Which means that its users can generally seek out other forms of energy.” He held up the Anemo Vision. It was in his bandaged hand, the one he had scarred at Tenshukaku years ago. “Feel the energy that exists in the Vision, let it flow through you.”

Heizou tightened his grip on the unfamiliar Vision. Unlike his own, it was warm. He could feel faint traces of elemental energy - the same kind of traces he could feel after coming across a fight that had involved a Vision. But they seemed nebulous, not really leading anywhere and instead just flickering around his hand like curious crystalflies.

“I can feel the energy a bit.” He said. “But it doesn’t feel like it’s leading me anywhere.”

“It’s fainter than the energy in the Vision.” Kazuha said. He was looking down at the Vision he was holding. “The tie between a Vision and its wielder is like a filament of spider’s web - thin, but very sturdy.”

Heizou closed his eyes, focusing on the unfamiliar energy of the Pyro Vision. It was unlike it own energy - hot where his was cool, raging where his was mischievous and playful - but he understood a bit of what Kazuha meant about Anemo picking up the aspects of other energies easily. He could feel his hands warming the longer he clutched the Vision, feel the energy within him increasing from a breeze to a gale.

“I can feel the Pyro.” Heizou said without opening his eyes. “In the Vision, I mean.”

“Good.” Kazuha shifted closer. Heizou heard him rather than saw, eyes still shut tight. “Now, see if there’s a tie. Some of that Pyro energy that goes outside of the Vision.”

There were licks of it that seemed to dance briefly outside of containment, warming Heizou’s hands and bleeding into his own elemental energy. But they always darted back, never straying too far. He tightened his hand, focusing, but there wasn’t anything reaching out. The Vision was a bright ball of energy, contained securely within his palm.

He blinked his eyes open after several long minutes and shook his head.

“No luck?” Kazuha asked.

“Afraid not.” Heizou said. “I could definitely feel the energy, but it didn’t seem to…go anywhere.”

“It can be hard to detect.” Kazuha said, setting aside the Anemo Vision and extending a hand. “Let me try.”

Heizou handed it over. Kazuha’s fingers brushed against his for a moment, cool after the heat of the Vision.

“Hmm.” He narrowed his eyes and spent a long moment with the Vision clutched tightly in one of his hands. Heizou watched him, distracted for a moment by the way that the morning sunlight caught in his hair, outlining the single red streak in bright gold. After a long moment Kazuha blinked a few times and looked over to meet Heizou’s gaze.

“This one is close by.” He said.

“Really?” Heizou peered at the Vision, like he might be able to spot the thread that Kazuha had talked about if he looked hard enough. “How close? In the city?”

Kazuha tilted his head, considering. “Perhaps a bit outside of it. Konda Village is to the south, right?” Heizou nodded. “I think that would be a safe bet based on the strength of the pull.”

“Man alive, Kazuha!” Heizou grinned and bumped their shoulders together. “What now? Can we just return it, then? How soon?”

Kazuha smiled at him, leaning against him for a moment longer before he moved away. “I’m free now - we could go today.”

“No need to wait around here any longer, then!” Heizou jumped to his feet and offered Kazuha a hand, which he took. Heizou pulled him up - he was light, which was expected for an Anemo user.

“Now then,” Kazuha dropped Heizou’s hand and brushed himself off. “Do you have work you need to complete or can we go?”

“One sec.” Heizou said. He walked over to the shoji and slid it open. “Oi, Owada!” He shouted into the station.

“Yes, Shikanoin?” Owada sounded so tired. Hm, he really should think about retiring.

“I’m taking some time off to go return these Visions.” He said. “Ask Kujou if you need approval or something - she’s the one who asked me to do it.”

“Wait, Shikanoin-”

“We’re good to go!” Heizou said, ignoring the spluttered protests from Owada’s office before shutting the shoji behind him. He walked around the station rather than going back inside, Kazuha following in his wake.

“Oh, Kaedehara-san!” A familiar voice called out as they rounded the building. “Shikanoin-san!”

Uesugi was walking into the small courtyard in front of the station, hat askew and dark circles under his eyes.

“Uesugi.” Heizou stopped, looking the detective up and down. “Running late this morning, I see.”

“The triplets had a rough night.” Uesugi said. “As soon as one fell asleep, the next one started crying and woke the others up. But, nevermind that right now.” He smiled at them. “It’s good to see you back at the station, Kaedehara-san!”

“I’m glad to be back.” Kazuha said and he sounded surprisingly genuine.

“Did you arrest him?” Uesugi looked at Heizou doubtfully.

“I would never arrest someone without cause.” Heizou lied. “You wound me with your baseless accusations, Uesugi.”

“I assure you I am here of my own free will.” Kaedehara said.

“Well that’s a nice change.” Uesgui rocked back on his heels. “Are you going on patrol, Shikanoin-san? If you give me a moment to grab my things I can join-”

“Nah,” Heizou said. “We’re off to return some Visions that the Tenryou Commission apparently labeled wrong or something.” He brandished the Pyro Vision in his hand at Uesugi. “It’s gonna take a bit - do me a favor and hold down the fort while I’m gone.”

“Oh, best of luck.” Uesugi gave him a little salute.

“Don’t need it.” Heizou said. “I’ve got my very own Vision finder.” He hitched a thumb at Kazuha.

“The Tenryou Commission is grateful for your assistance, Kaedehara-san!” Uesugi gave him a little bow. It was much less neat than Kazuha’s usual ones, but the thought was there.

“Oh so formal.” Heizou darted forward to elbow him in the ribs. “You angling to become the next Yoriki there, Uesugi? You have my support as long as you promise I don’t have to patrol anymore.”

“Shikanoin-san, you never patrol.” Uesugi said.

“Lies and slander.” Heizou lied, poking Uesugi in the shoulder before moving away. “Now get on in there and convince Owada it’s time to retire, future Yoriki.”

He was blushing, cheeks bright red. “I’ll see you around, Kaedehara-san, Shikanoin-san.” He turned and marched stiffly into the station.

“Go make that man retire, Uesugi!” Heizou called after him.

“See you soon, Uesugi-san.” Kazuha said, turning to Heizou once the detective had disappeared inside. “He seems to have gotten more comfortable around you.”

Heizou very deliberately did not mention that Uesugi had found him sobbing in the evidence room about a week after Kazuha’s flight and his friend’s death. It was the kind of thing that eroded the fear and/or respect one might have for his coworkers.

“Ah, yeah.” He pretended to wipe away a tear. “Our little baby is finally growing a spine - I’m very proud.”

“Does he still make you tea?”

Heizou scoffed. “Of course he still makes me tea.”

“He might need to stop that when he’s the Yoriki.” They had started walking away from the station, vaguely in the direction of Konda Village.

“I would actually support him, you know.” Heizou said. “He’s got a good sense of right and wrong, he doesn’t mind dealing with administrative nonsense and, most importantly…”

“He lets you do whatever you want?” Kazuha guessed.

Heizou beamed. “He lets me do whatever I want!”

“Not angling for the position yourself, then?” Kazuha waved absently at a group of young women calling his name - they were probably part of the fanclub that he denied having.

“Ugh, no way.” Heizou said. “Can you really imagine me sitting behind a desk all day and dealing with the Tenryou Commission all day? Ugh, no thank you. Sure, Kamaji is nice and everything, but bureaucracy is not my thing. Besides, I want the criminals to know my name.”

“Cyclone, right?” Kazuha said.

“Where did you even hear that?”

“You’re quite popular, Shikanoin-san.” Kazuha said airly. “Talk of your prowess has spread beyond Inazuma since the Sakoku Decree has been lifted.”

“As has yours, I’m sure.” Heizou said. He glanced around and realized they were hitting the edge of the city. “Oh, hey, do you need to pick anything up before we actually head out?”

Kazuha shook his head. “I am accustomed to carrying all I need with me.”

“Right, right - wanderer stuff.” Heizou said. “Okay then, you said Konda Village, yeah?”

“It feels to be in that direction.” Kazuha said with a glance down at the Pyro Vision in his hand. “And the pull is strong enough that it is likely within half a day's walk.”

“Hence Konda Village, right.” Heizou said. “Good deducing, Kaedehara-san.”

“Am I good enough to be a detective?”

“Well, they let Uesugi in.”

Kazuha laughed softly. “He is far more competent than you give him credit for.”

“Oh, sure.” Heizou agreed easily. “But he asked to be my sidekick on his literal second day. I can’t let him forget that, Kazuha. It just wouldn’t be fair.”

Kazuha chuckled again, but let them fall into a comfortable silence as they left the city. The day was clear and warm, a faint breeze tangling with the long grasses and flowers that lined the path to Konda Village. A few errant crystalflies floated past, their wings limmed with the bright purple glow of Electro.

They continued to walk, occasionally talking idly about nothing of consequence. The warmth of the day lulled Heizou into an almost drowsy state. By the time Konda Village came into view, he was actively fighting the urge to lie down amongst the tall, purple flowers and take a nap.

“What are these?” He asked Kazuha, tugging on one.

“Oh, the flowers?” Kazuha blinked, looking over at him. Heizou nodded. “They appear to be liriope.” He ran a finger through the tall grass and flowers, causing them to ripple like the surface of the sea. “There was some history of utilizing their roots for medicinal purposes, but it’s fallen out of fashion for the most part.”

“Hmmm.” Heizou let go of the flower he’d been tugging - it sprung back to join its fellows. “You know all about plants, don’t you?”

“My family had traditionally kept bonsai.” Kazuha said. “We had many books over plants and their uses - I often read them as a child.”

“Aw, cute.” Heizou said, picturing a small Kazuha hunched over a book that was too big for him. “I bet you were a well-behaved kid.”

“And I bet you caused all sorts of problems.” Kazuha said.

“Oh, yeah.” Heizou grinned. “My dad could never keep me in the dojo - we lived in a tiny village so there was practically nothing around, but that didn’t stop me from making my way to the nearest roads and harassing every traveler I came across for information about where they were from.”

Kazuha smiled. “Your love for asking excessive questions started early, I see.”

“Sure did.” Heizou said as he stopped walking - they had come to the entrance of the village. It reminded Heizou of his home, the small buildings and the way that people walked between them with a surety they’d be accepted anywhere they cared to go. “Looks like we’re here.”

“Though the seasons change, remain as a steadfast friend, village in the sun.” Kazuha murmured, touching a hand to the stone entryway to Konda Village.

“A haiku?” Heizou asked after counting syllables in his head.

Kazuha nodded. “Do you like poetry?”

“I don’t dislike it.” Heizou said honestly. “I don’t really have a talent for it, plus I’ve never been great at appreciating things that aren’t practical.” He looked at Kazuha sidelong. “It can be beautiful sometimes, though, and I’ve always liked beautiful things.”

“Poetry is often the best way for me to express my feelings about what I’ve seen.” Kazuha said. “The world is wide and full of so many hidden wonders. To just describe them with plain language is not enough for me.”

“Well, you’re good at it.”

“Thank you.” Kazuha looked away, cheeks faintly pink. “Now, shall we find the Vision holder?”

“Lead the way.” Heizou said. “I’m not the one who knows where we’re going.”

“Ah, yes. I believe it’s quite close.” He glanced down at the flickering Vision in his grip, pausing for a moment before he started off again. “This way.”

Heizou followed him through the village, narrowly avoiding being bowled over by a pair of children playing tag. Their laughter floated through the air as Kazuha led the way to a small house on the edge of town that was a bit more dilapidated than its neighbors. The flowers growing around it were tall and wild, big yellow blooms bobbing as the wind tugged at them.

Heizou thought about asking Kazuha what kind they were, but he was already stepping up to the door of the house with the Vision in hand. His face was calm, like it nearly always was, but determined.

“This is the place, then?” Heizou asked, eyes flicking down to the way Kazuha was clutching the Vision tightly in his hand. He nodded, eyes fixed on the door. “Well, let’s return them then, shall we?”

He leaned over Kazuha’s shoulder to knock on the door.

There was a faint shuffling noise inside, but after a moment that stopped and the door stayed closed. He knocked again, harder this time, but no one came.

“Hello?” Heizou called. “Is anyone home?”

No one answered. Heizou glanced at Kazuha, who was frowning. “I can sense three, maybe four, people inside.” He said. “But they don’t seem to want to let us in.”

“I mean, I could knock the door down.” Heizou offered. He had done so on Tenryou business before and it was always pretty satisfying, particularly when criminals were hiding on the other side.

“Let’s save that as a last resort.” Kazuha said, voice dry. He glanced down at the Vision he was holding. “Perhaps the owner is wary of strangers after losing their Vision?”

“Could be.” Heizou shrugged. “I don’t suppose we could just leave it on the doorstep and call it done, could we.”

“The thoroughness of the Tenryou Commission at work, I see.” Kazuha said absently. He was squinting at the door again as if he would be able to look through the door and see the people inside if he tried hard enough.

“You there!” They both turned at the unexpected shout.

There was a man standing on the pathway behind them - he was older, standing a little stooped and sporting a head of thinning grey hair. He smiled when they looked at him.

“Afternoon boys.” The man raised a hand. “You need something with Isshi-chan?”

“Ah, is that who lives here?” Heizou hitched a thumb towards the house.

The man nodded. “Konda Isshi, a younger niece of mine.” He said. “Did you need her for something?” His tone was friendly enough, but there was a wary look in his eye.

“We think so.” Heizou said, exchanging a glance with Kazuha.

“She hasn’t done anything wrong.” The man said. “She barely leaves the house these days - she hasn’t been anywhere long enough to cause any trouble.”

“She isn’t in any trouble, mister…” Kazuha paused and gave him a warm little smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t actually catch your name.”

“Konda Densuke.” He said. “I’m something like the boss of this place. Who might the two of you be?”

Heizou opened his mouth to respond, but Kazuha got there first. “Just a couple of wanderers. No one of consequence, I assure you.”

Heizou fought the urge to kick him. Did Kazuha really think that Heizou was going to, what, go around and start flashing his Tenryou credentials in this tiny village? He was from a tiny village - he knew how little the people in them liked officials from the Tri-Commission in general and the Tenryou Commission in specific.

“Well, wanderers,” The emphasis that Konda put on the word was not subtle. “What do two men of no consequence want with my niece?”

Kazuha glanced at Heizou and Heizou nodded. The man would find out eventually - there wasn’t a point in hiding it. With little fanfare, Kazuha showed the man the Pyro Vision still clutched in his hand. “Does this look familiar?”

Konda’s eyes went wide. “You…you had both better follow me.” He turned away and abruptly started back towards another of the village’s small houses. Heizou and Kazuha exchanged a glance and a shrug before following him.

The afternoon was sliding into evening, the streets cast into thick shadows by the steadily sinking sun. A few more crystalflies floated past, leaving trails of glittering elemental energy in their wake. Heizou wondered if the faint glow of elemental energy resembled the traces Kazuha insisted came from Visions as well.

“Sit.” Konda stopped on the porch of a slightly larger house, better maintained than the last one they had been at had been. “I’ll get us something to drink.”

He disappeared inside without waiting for their response and, at a loss for what to do, Heizou sat. Kazuha sat beside him after a moment, glancing back towards the door that Konda had disappeared behind.

“Do you think he’ll poison us?” Heizou asked curiously.

“I’ll smell it if he tries.” Kazuha said matter-of-factly, which didn’t surprise Heizou one bit.

“Man, is there literally anything you’re bad at?” He complained, leaning back on his hands.

“Many things, I assure you.” Kazuha was looking at him sidelong. The curve of his face was cast into shades of pink and gold by the oncoming sunset.

“I’ll believe it when I see it.” He said, tilting his head back and closing his eyes. The warmth of the day was pleasant - it was nearly summer, but the heat had yet to become overwhelming and oppressive. A faint breeze was blowing, bringing the scent of flowers and the distant salt tang of the sea. “Nice day - I think I could take a nap right here. Take a page from your book, Kaedehara.”

“I’m glad you’re finally seeing things my way.” Kazuha said, voice amused. “And remember, it’s Kazuha.”

“Right, sorry.” He said. “Old habits.”

He opened his eyes and looked sidelong, surprised to see that Kazuha was already looking back. His cheeks were a bit pink beneath the freckles. Maybe their walk from the city had left him with some sunburn - Heizou knew his own shoulders would be bright red come tomorrow.

The eye-contact held, strange and a bit intense but not necessarily bad, for a long moment before the door creaked back open. Konda was back, holding a tray full of drinks and snacks.

Heizou blinked, surprised at the sudden interruption, and looked away. His own face felt hot and his fingers suddenly tingled with the urge to reach out and…well, he wasn’t sure. But to do something, surely.

“I’ve got lavender melon juice and dango.” He unceremoniously set the tray between them. “And don’t worry - I didn’t make the dango. One of my nephews left it with me last night - these are the leftovers.”

“Oh, thanks pops.” Heizou, immediately forgetting the threat of poisoning, grabbed the glass closest to him and took a big drink. It was cool and sweet with just a hint of bitterness. “Ha, I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.”

“Thank you, Konda-san.” Kazuha gave him a little nod before taking his own glass and taking a much more reserved sip. Probably wasn’t poisoned then, which was good.

Konda didn’t acknowledge their thanks, instead moving off the porch to stand in front of them. He was short and the porch was raised, so they weren’t too far from his eyeline.

“So.” He put his hands on his hips. “How did you boys manage to find that Vision?”

“It’s a bit of a long story.” Heizou said. “But the long and short of it is that Tenryou headquarters has given us the go-ahead to return it.”

“Just like that?”

“Well, the Decree is over.” Heizou said. “And we’ve got Visions of our own, so we’re sympathetic.”

Konda folded his arms. “Suppose I didn’t expect a Tenryou detective and Kaedehara Kazuha himself to turn up at my niece’s doorstep with her lost Vision in hand.”

“Oh.” Heizou said sheepishly. “So you…you know who we are.”

“We may not live in Inazuma City, boy, but we do hear the news out here eventually.” Konda’s tone was dry. “And neither of you is particularly inconspicuous.”

Heizou glanced at Kazuha, who mostly just looked amused. “I suppose you have our apologies for the deception, then.” He said.

“I’d much rather an explanation.” Konda said.

“Sure.” Heizou said. “But come up here and sit with us first.” He hesitated so Heizou picked up a stick of dango and waved it in his direction. “C’mon, we can’t eat all of this ourselves.”

Begrudgingly, the older man joined them on the porch and accepted the dango from Heizou with a frown. “Never met a growing boy who couldn’t finish off a plate of dango before.” He grumbled. Heizou decided not to comment that neither he nor Kazuha were growing boys.

“How did your niece’s Vision end up with the Tenryou Commission, Konda-san?” Kazuha asked.

“She gave it over willingly.” Konda sighed. “Right at the start - we all told her she could wait and give it when they came for it, but she insisted on following the Decree to the letter and went up to the Tenryou Commission the day we got the news. She always thinking of others before herself and I think, in her way, she wanted to make sure no one in the village came to any trouble because she had a Vision.”

Heizou remembered the wave of people who’d come to the Commission in the days after the Decree, willingly giving up their Visions to avoid being caught and risk imprisonment. Visions were rare, so the group had never been large, but there had been a small queue outside of headquarters for days of men and women handing their Visions over to stone-faced officers.

It had made him uncomfortable and guilty to look at the faces - so he hadn’t.

Konda rubbed a hand over his face. “She was different.” He said. “When she got back. Not all at once, but slowly she stopped smiling. She stopped cooking for herself, stopped doing much of anything really. Both of her parents passed a long time ago, so the rest of the village did our best to care for her, but there was only so much we could do.”

“That must have been horrible.” Kazuha said, voice even.

“It is what it is.” Konda said. “She’s not the first to need others to help care for her - we do it because we love them, even if we can’t make them better. None of us even thought about the Vision at first - just assumed it was the kind of malaise that people have sometimes. Her mother used to be taken by days long fits of melancholy. I thought maybe Isshi was the same.”

“When did you realize?” Kazuha murmured. “That it was the Vision doing it?”

“It took a while - a childhood friend of hers, a young man who had moved to the city, came by one day to visit. He was so worried about her that he stayed and helped us take care of her.” He looked down the empty dango stick he was still holding, an unreadable expression on his face. “She always had a crush on him when they were children. Just thought he hung the moon - he never noticed, of course, and she never said a thing before he went off to the city. I thought it might fix something in her, to see him again, but…nothing changed.”

“And that was when you realized?” Heizou asked, but Konda shook his head.

“Her friend…after he’d been here for a few months, he got a Vision of his own.” His face darkened, still looking down at the stick. “Cryo. And he kept it for a while, but with the war the patrols were becoming more frequent and finally…” He tossed the stick away, into the tall grasses. “He couldn’t avoid it any longer.”

“And it happened to him too?”

He nodded in response to Heizou’s question. “He got a summons from the Tenryou Commission a while back, an offer to get his Vision back, but he refused. Even without it…even without it he didn’t want his unless Isshi had hers too.” He sighed, heavy and sad this time. “That one you have is hers, I know it. But without his…”

“Kazuha.” Heizou glanced at him.

Kazuha just nodded, already pulling out the bag holding the remaining Visions. “Cyro, you said?”

Konda squinted at him. “That’s right. Why are you…”

Heizou watched as Kazuha took out the Cyro Vision - it flashed in the sunset, pulsing with a faint blue light. He handed the Pyro Vision to Heizou. “Hold this for me.” Heizou did as he asked, watching as he carefully cupped the Cyro Vision in his hands. Kazuha closed his eyes for a long moment.

“What’s he…” Konda began, but Heizou waved a hand at him without looking away from Kazuha. His breathing was slow and measured, eyes still closed.

Heizou didn’t want to let himself hope - hoping was a dangerous thing - but if they could find both Visions, if the story could end happily this time…

Kazuha’s eyes opened and flicked up to meet Heizou’s.

“So?” Heizou couldn’t help but ask.

Kazuha smiled and turned to Konda. “I apologize, Konda-san. It appears we didn’t have the full picture.” He held up the Cryo Vision. “We followed one of these - but it seems that both of these Visions belong here.”

Konda’s face changed, sadness vanishing like clouds clearing after a storm. “Well I’ll be…” He reached out a hand to touch the Cryo Vision, finger stopping just a moment from making contact with the surface. “Both of them, huh?”

“Yes.” Kazuha said. “And we’d like nothing more than to return them to their rightful owners.”

Konda was smiling now, broad and honest. “I think you’ve got the right idea with that, boy. One of the cousins stays at the house now, making sure both of ‘em are cared for - they don’t really let strangers in. Let me go and fetch them all here and you can give those Visions back.”

He didn’t wait for them to answer, standing and hurrying away with an agility that was impressive for a man his age.

Heizou picked up the last stick of dango. “You want any more?” Kazuha shook his head, so Heizou took a bite. It was dusk now, sun having slipped under the horizon to leave only a lingering, gray light behind. “I can’t believe it - good luck, huh?”

Kazuha was still smiling, his chin resting on one palm. “It seems impossible, but…I’m glad.”

“Makes our job easier too, yeah?” Heizou swallowed another bite of dango, lips sticky with sugar. “Two down in one go.”

Kazuha laughed. “I suppose that it does.”

“Here.” He offered the Pyro Vision to Kazuha, who accepted it and set it in front of him on the wood of the porch. He did the same with the Cyro Vision a moment later.

Heizou finished his dango and set the stick back on the now-empty tray. Kazuha straightened up a moment later, clearly sensing something, just before four figures came into view. They were hard to make out in the fading light, but as they got closer Heizou could make out Konda, a woman around his age who was probably the cousin he’d spoken of, and a young man and woman both dressed in simple, plain clothes.

The woman, Isshi, was probably around Heizou’s age and had dark brown hair that was tied up into a neat bun. She looked normal, ordinary - except for the blank look in her eyes. The man beside her had the same look, his unfocused gaze falling on Heizou and Kazuha as if he wasn’t really seeing them.

“Daisuke, I don’t know what fool idea you have in your head this time…” The older woman was saying, but she stopped when Kazuha held up the twin Visions.

“See?” Konda looked positively gleeful. “It’s their Visions! Both of them!”

“I…” She blinked once and then again. “I can’t believe it. After all of this time…”

“C’mon.” Heizou stood and hopped off the porch. “It’s been a while, so we’re ready to give these,” He gestured back to Kazuha. “Back to their rightful owners.”

“Isshi-chan?” Konda’s voice was low and almost painfully gentle. “Do you recognize this?”

“I…” Her brow furrowed as Kazuha picked up the two Visions and showed her the Pyro one. “Wait. That’s…that’s mine. That’s mine!” Her voice was a strange mix of panic and joy. “My Vision!”

Kazuha offered it to her and she reached out to take it, but froze, looking to the man beside her. “But he…”

“It’s okay.” Kazuha held out the Cryo Vision. “I have his as well.”

“Oh…” She looked overwhelmed, hands shaking, but she grabbed both Visions all the same. “Oh, thank you.” She turned and handed the second Vision to the man beside her, motions jerky and frantic.

“But I…” He looked hazy as he received it from her, but when he blinked his eyes again they were clear. “Wait…Isshi?”

She beamed at him. “Hi.”

“It’s you!” He cried, eyes wide and full of light.

“It’s me!” She didn’t hesitate before throwing herself at him, arms wrapping tightly around his neck.

Kazuha took a step back to stand next to Heizou. “I guess we can call this trip a success, then.” He said lightly.

“That’s two down and five to go.” Heizou grinned at him.

Kazuha was still looking at the two embracing, so close it was like they were two bodies trying to fuse into one. “Mmhm.” He agreed with a low hum. “I hope the rest of our ventures end with the same happy result.”

Once, Kazuha had loved someone very much. And that someone had died.

Heizou leaned a bit closer to him, letting their shoulders touch.

“Yeah.” He said softly. “I hope so too.”

 

*****

 

“Are you sure this thing is seaworthy?” Heizou asked dubiously, poking the small boat in front of him with a foot.

“Heizou.” Kazuha looked distinctly exasperated, which was probably fair since it was the fourth time Heizou had asked that morning. “I promise you - it will be fine.”

“Yep!” Yoimiya agreed, hands on her hips. “I’ve taken this sucker to Yashinori a ton of times without a problem! Well, one time. But that one time didn’t have any problems!”

It had been more than a month since their first mission to return the Visions. Heizou had spent the time buried in work, split between a few unsolved cases the station had passed to him and a fruitless attempt to track down the owners of the remaining Visions through the reports passed to him by the Tenryou Commission. The main issue was the sheer number of reports - it was relatively easy to determine if a report was true or not with a bit of investigation, but it would take months to get through them all.

The simplest solution would be to use Kazuha again, but he’d been busy with occasional trips between islands with his crew and ongoing requests for meetings by the Kujou and Kamisato clans. The way Kazuha told it, they were both determined to make sure he had the opportunity to reinstate his clan if he were ever to change his mind.

They’d still managed to spend a fair amount of time together, despite both of their obligations. Kazuha had taken to occasionally stopping by the station again, clearly realizing that Heizou wasn’t going to go out and arrest him anymore. In return, Heizou would drag him out for dinner or to follow up on some ultimately fruitless leads about the Visions.

But now, after some concentration from Kazuha and a few more fruitless attempts from Heizou, they had determined that the next Vision - the one that glinted bright green with the power of Dendro - belonged to someone on Yashinori. And after a few days of asking around, they’d found someone who was more than willing to let them share a ride to the neighboring island.

“Welp!” Yoimiya said. “The fireworks are all packed, so it looks like it’s about time for us to get going!”

“Are you sure we can’t get a ride with Beidou?” Heizou hissed, tugging on Kazuha’s sleeve. “She’s leaving today, right?”

“Her route doesn’t take her to Terushima.” Kazuha said. “And besides, it’s been a while since I’ve crossed between islands on a smaller boat. I’m looking forward to it - it’s a fascinating experience. No two crossings are ever quite the same.”

“I’ll be relying on your expertise, mister pirate.” Yoimiya said brightly, reaching over to give Kazuha a friendly pat on the shoulder.

Heizou didn’t know Yoimiya well - he’d seen her down at the fireworks shop and had occasionally responded to noise complaints due to her work there, but hadn’t ever had a real conversation with her before. She seemed straight-forward, though, and despite her questionable taste in boats, she had offered them a ride with her free of charge.

They loaded in the boat together and, with some help from Yoimiya’s father (and her shouted instructions to him) they managed to get out onto the open water. It was a clear day with a faint breeze that Kazuha coaxed into the sail with the help of his Vision.

“Did you ever do that when you were pirating?” Heizou asked curiously, watching as Kazuha directed the wind with an ease that spoke of long practice.

“When we hit doldrums.” He said. “It was easier than taking out the oars.”

“Doldrums?” Yoimiya asked. “What’s that?” She was sitting atop her massive pile of fireworks, swaying slightly as the boat cut through the waves.

“There are areas where the wind sometimes stops and the sea ceases its movement.” Kazuha said, motions slowing as the sail caught a natural breeze. “Sailors have all sorts of stories about why they occur - monsters that steal the wind and cursed remains beneath the waves - but the truth is much simpler.” His movements stopped and he sat down besides Heizou, back against one side of the boat. “There are times when the wind simply does not blow.”

“Huh.” Yoimiya kicked her legs against the boxes. “Guess that would be pretty scary if you needed the wind to move, right? So it would make sense for sailors to make up reasons for why it was happening.”

“It’s much easier when there’s something to blame.” Heizou said. “For everything. But the world’s more complicated than that most of the time.”

“Indeed.” Kazuha murmured.

“So, like,” Yoimiya squinted down at them. “Kazuha said that you two are traveling around Inazuma giving people’s Visions back, right?” Heizou opened his mouth to answer, but he didn’t stop talking. “I didn’t expect that from a Tenryou guy, but Kazuha isn’t the kind of person who lies so I figure he’s telling the truth. But still - not what I expected from you. But I think it’s great that you guys are doing it!”

“Oh?” Heizou blinked, a bit shell shocked from the sudden torrent of words.

“Mhm!” She nodded. “I hate that people had their Visions taken away, y’know. So it's good that they’re being returned.”

“You managed to keep yours all the way through, didn’t you?” Kazuha asked.

“Sure did.” She tapped the Pyro Vision at her waist with a finger. “Mostly it was just luck - everyone knew where I was and that I had a Vision. I have a friend who makes fake Visions - before the Decree it was just for tourists and stuff, you know, but during the Decree he helped a lot of people by giving them fakes for the patrols to take.”

“I heard about that.” Heizou said. “I thought about getting one just in case, but I always feel horrible when I don’t wear my Vision.”

“Well, yeah I do too.” She said. “But wearing the fake one for a while was better than losing it. My dad had to do all of the work until I started wearing my real Vision out in the open again. I just can’t make my fireworks the same way, y’know?”

“I too feel uneasy when I don’t have my Vision.” Kazuha agreed, voice soft.

“It’s funny.” Heizou said. “People didn’t seem to know that taking away a Vision was a problem before, like even some Vision holders didn’t seem to know.”

“Everyone knows now, though.” Yoimiya said. “It’s kinda weird…people look at me different now.”

“Mmm.” Kazuha had one arm slung over the side of the boat, fingers dipped in the water. “A friend once asked me if being under an Archon’s gaze was really such a blessing. I was never able to answer him.”

“I dunno.” Yoimiya laced her hands behind her head, almost hitting Heizou in the temple with a pointy-looking elbow. “I wouldn’t take my Vision back, would you?”

“I suppose not.” Kazuha said, still tracing through the water lapping up against the side of the small boat. “But in the end it doesn’t matter, does it?” He glanced over at Heizou, met his eyes. “You can’t return a Vision.”

As they got further from Narukami, the seas became rougher. Their little boat bounced over swells that threatened to tip them over, remaining crates of fireworks swaying dangerously all the while.

Yoimiya, of course, seemed to think it was all great fun. She would let out loud whoops of joy as the boat crested over particularly large waves. Kazuha seemed content to nap through it all, which seemed certifiably insane to Heizou. He was gripping onto the side with both hands, wishing that he’d been given a Hydro Vision instead of an Anemo one. Hydro would be far more useful when their boat inevitably tipped over.

Most of a wave ended up in their boat, landing squarely on the sleeping Kazuha and narrowly missing soaking Heizou.

Kazuha blinked awake at the faceful of water, crystalline droplets clinging to his long eyelashes and the curve of his jaw. He looked like an otherworldly creature again, shifting sunlight catching on his pale hair and the net of clear droplets that shone like jewels.

“Mmm?” He made a soft, questioning noise, still blinking sleep out of his eyes.

“Water.” Heizou waved a vague hand at the surrounding ocean, distracted. “It attacked us.”

There had to be some explanation for it, how Kazuha could look like this when no one else could. Was there an equation out there somewhere to calculate the perfect angle of a nose, the precise curve of a cheek? But, no, was it really the features themselves that mattered? Or was it the man who wore them? Would his patient smile and soft laugh really be less lovely in a different face?

There wasn’t a way to test it, of course, but Heizou was willing to trust his intuition and his intuition said that Kazuha would be beautiful no matter what. Beneath cloudy skies or clear ones, wet with rain or tears or ocean waves. Kaedehara Kazuha was a mystery made of a hundred interlocking parts and Heizou had never been good at turning away from a puzzle that was unsolved.

Luckily, Yoimiya didn’t seem to notice Heizou’s minor recurring crisis about how fascinating Kaedehara Kazuha was to look at sometimes. Instead, she beamed at Kazuha. “Wind’s picked up - we’re getting some big waves!”

“Oh, I see.” He wiped off his face with the part of his sleeve that had somehow remained dry and glanced up. “No storm incoming, though.”

“No, just clouds.” Yoimiya confirmed. “I think the Archon has taken a bit of pity on us lately - lots of clear days! It’s been great for fireworks.”

“Can you do those in the daytime?” Heizou asked, trying very hard to appear normal and not at all weird about Kazuha. “I thought they were mostly a nighttime activity.”

“Usually.” Yoimiya shrugged. “But they can look pretty cool during the day too. I can make all sorts of shapes - stars, hearts, goldfish…”

“Goldfish?” Heizou repeated.

“They’re my favorites!” She said with a grin. “They’re so cute, right?”

“I…guess?”

“They are, they are!” She insisted. “I had a pet one growing up and they’re just the best. Come to the festival at the end of summer and I’ll show you.”

Narukami had long since become a faint smudge behind them on the horizon. Yashinori loomed ahead of them, large and imposing. For once, the perpetual storm that swirled around it had seemed to have abated, leaving a clear blue sky behind.

“Strange to see the weather clear.” Heizou commented. “I thought it always stormed on Yashinori.”

“Oh, yeah, that’s an interesting story, actually.” Yoimiya said. “My friend the traveler and me came here once and we messed around with these monuments - there were all sorts of puzzles and things - but in the end we did something and the weather changed. Pretty cool, right?”

So Yoimiya had met the traveler as well? Heizou was starting to feel like he was the only person in Inazuma who hadn’t at this point.

She and Kazuha started chatting about their mutual friend, who was apparently back in Liyue for now before planning to head to Sumeru, as Heizou watched Yashinori grow closer. When they finally bumped up against a sandbar in the shallows, the day was still thankfully clear.

Heizou and Kazuha helped Yoimiya unload, taking the boxes up to a settlement a little ways from the beach. Not many people lived on the island, thanks to the perpetual storm and the generally inhospitable landscape, but there were a few small settlements scattered around. From what Heizou could tell, the one Yoimiya had brought them to was the biggest one. A few of the children there seemed familiar with her, calling out to her and asking for sweets or stories.

“Maybe later!” She was with a laugh, setting down the last load of fireworks in the makeshift town square that existed in between the ramshackle little houses and waving them off. She turned to Kazuha and Heizou, hands on her hips. “Now, I think these are all the ones we needed to drop off for this stop. Wanna go find your Vision guys now?”

“Yes.” Kazuha pulled the two Visions from his bag - Dendro, glowing emerald green, and Anemo, paler but pulsing just as brightly - and held them up for them to see. The Dendro one was interesting - Dendro Visions were particularly rare outside of Sumeru. No one knew why, exactly, but aside from this one, Heizou had never seen one before. “This one,” He raised the Dendro Vision. “I can sense one here on Yashinori - I believe the other will lead us further west.”

“West?” Heizou tapped his chin. “Watatsumi, you think?”

“It seems most likely.” Kazuha said with a nod.

“How about the Electro one?” It was the only other one left aside from the two dead Visions, which Kazuha had remained cagy about.

“Still faint.” Kazuha said. “I’ll try again on Watatsumi - but I believe the owner may be somewhat difficult to track down.”

“Why?” Heizou watched Kazuha stow the Anemo Vision back into the bag, Dendro still in his grip.

“Here.” Kazuha took a moment and rifled through the bag, eventually pulling out the glinting Electro Vision. It gleamed weakly in the midday sunlight. “See what you can feel.”

“I haven’t been able to do it with any of the others…” Heizou protested weakly, but took the offered Vision all the same. He sat on one of the boxes of fireworks that they’d just set down, closing his eyes and trying to focus the way that Kazuha had shown him.

“What’s he doing?”Yoimiya hissed, probably trying to whisper and failing miserably.

Kazuha hushed her and, from the sound of it, led her a little ways away and started to explain in a low voice.

Heizou tried to block it out, to focus only on the Vision pulsing in his hand. Electro felt different than Pyro did - the flares of energy were more unpredictable and strangely sharp. The elemental energy almost seemed to sting against his skin, dancing between his fingers like sparks.

He breathed in, breathed out. Focused on the way the energy felt and the way it lingered in the hot afternoon air. And then, all at once, he could feel a pull. It was remarkably faint, barely a sensation at all, but it was undeniably there.

“Man alive!” His eyes snapped open and he looked around. “Kazuha, I felt it!”

Kazuha came back over from where he and Yoimiya had retreated. “And where does it lead?”

Heizou narrowed his eyes, focusing again. The tug was still difficult to find, but a bit easier now that he’d done it once. He knew what to look for now and it was leading…

“Oh.” He looked out over the sea and then back to Kazuha. “The holder…they’re not in Inazuma, are they?”

Kazuha nodded. “I don’t think so.”

“Huh.” Heizou looked down at the Electro Vision in his grip. “That’s a problem.”

“Not one that will be solved today, though, right?” Yoimiya had made her way back as well and was looking between them.

“I suppose not.” Heizou handed the Electro Vision back to Kazuha.

“Then let’s do what we can.” Yoimiya said. “Now, where’s that Dendro Vision leading us to? Is it someone in the village? I know all of them, you know - if we have any questions about the island I can ask them…”

“It’s away from the village.” Kazuha said, cutting off her chatter. “Further inland a ways.”

She didn’t seem bothered by the interruption. “Well, lead the way then.”

“You’re coming with us?” Heizou asked.

“If you’ll have me! I’m pretty good with a bow, y’know.” She winked. “I won’t slow you down.”

“I won’t say not to back-up.” Heizou shrugged and exchanged a glance with Kazuha who nodded in agreement. “Let’s head out then - I want to get this done before dark.”

Kazuha started off, leading them both away from the small village and up towards the massive snake skull that dominated the skyline of the island. The day was still clear, shadows gone a bit long in the late afternoon sun.

“Are we gonna camp here tonight?” Yoimiya asked. “I don’t want to sail at night.”

“We could always ask to stay with the villagers.” Heizou said - travelers had done the same frequently in his hometown. There was always someone with a spare room or at the very least a hot meal to share.

“I’m not opposed to either.” Kazuha said. “I have camping supplies with me and I always enjoy the opportunity to sleep under the stars - the weather should remain clear as well.”

They were getting closer to the snake skull - it cast a long shadow. A few foxes were napping in the shades, clearly relishing the opportunity to get out of the summer heat. The foxes looked up as the three of them passed, but didn’t bother running off. One of them yawned, flopping onto its side in a lazy sprawl.

“Well, let’s see how long this takes.” Yoimiya said. “It’s a big island, y’know? We might be here for days.”

“I’ve only been to the edges before and that was just as a stop between Narukami and Watatsumi.” Heizou said. “It’s an interesting place, isn’t it?”

Kazuha hummed in agreement, stopping at the edge of a winding creek of strangely dark water that seemed to crackle with unpleasant elemental energy. “I haven’t been here in a long while.” He said, hopping over the creek with the help of his Vision. “Not since before I left Inazuma the first time, actually.”

Heizou’s stomach swooped uncomfortably as he suddenly remembered that this had been Kazuha’s friend's favorite place to go when he was in the mood to chase storms. Kazuha had probably never been here without him before, had he?

“Here.” He reached out a hand to help Heizou step across the creek and Heizou flinched back, hesitating before he took it.

The hand was warm and calloused. Taking it made him feel a little guilty. Enjoying the way it felt against his, around the same size but with slightly longer, more slender fingers, made him feel very guilty.

He dropped it once he was across the creek, not looking at Kazuha’s face, and reached back to help Yoimiya follow after them.

“Thanks, I would not want to touch that water.” She said, looking down and pulling at face at the dark, sluggish stream of water.

“It’s corrupted with Tatarigami energy.” Kazuha said. “This island has a lot of it - you should avoid any exposure if you can. Some is fine, but if it builds up.” He absently ran a hand down the sheath of his sword. “It can be dangerous.”

“Huh - I knew about it, but I never thought it would be in the water.” She took a few big steps to walk at Kazuha’s side as they continued on. Heizou followed more sedately, looking at the line of Kazuha’s shoulders, the steadiness of his strides.

They chattered on for a while about Tatarigami energy, Heizou tuning out most of the details as he watched Kazuha. He kept glancing down at the Vision in his hand the same way someone would look at a compass.

Heizou had never known a Kazuha without his traveling partner. He’d met Kazuha by himself, sure, and most of their interactions were one-on-one, but the specter of the man with the purple scarf always seemed to loom over them. Kazuha mentioned him, thought about him, planned his life around him. They had built a life together, a life that Kazuha had lost.

Heizou wondered how it had felt for Kazuha to lose all of that. Was it like losing a limb? A heart? Something even more vital?

He watched as Kazuha laughed at some joke Yomiya had made, eyes crinkling at the corners.

He shouldn’t do this - to try and read Kazuha the way he would a suspect, to see where the cracks were and to wedge his fingers in to unearth the mess underneath. But he was curious, always, and it had always been impossible to turn that part of himself off, even when he wanted to. What would he find if he were to examine Kazuha’s grief? Would he find a scar that had long since healed over or an open wound that was infected and bleeding?

He knew it wasn’t that simple. From experience, he knew.

But it was hard, sometimes, to know how to act around Kazuha, how to treat him. They were close now, closer than they’d been before. And this close, it was hard to see the bigger picture. Heizou wanted clues to put together, wanted to find the problem and fix it.

“Catch up, Heizou!” Yoimiya called. “You’re going to get left behind!”

Heizou started to jog, closing the gap between them. “I’m coming.”

But people weren’t like that - they couldn’t be solved like puzzles. Kazuha wasn’t a problem to be solved. Kazuha was his friend and so Heizou would be there for him, would help him, however Kazuha wanted. And anything else…well.

Well.

Heizou caught up, falling into step beside Kazuha. He peered at Heizou curiously. “Are you all right? You seemed far away.”

“Don’t worry.” He smiled. “I’m here.”

Kazuha steered them further into the island, between low trees and past a weathered monument of the Raiden Shogun. It was traditional to stop and leave offerings at shrines like these, but none of them did so, not even glancing at her stone visage as they passed by.

The sun was low in the sky - the statue cast a long, deep shadow.

It was quickly lost from view as they entered a copse of young trees, their trunks about the same width as Heizou’s wrist. A few butterflies fluttered by, darting away when they got too close. The trees had grown a bit thicker, a bit older, when Kazuha suddenly went still.

“Kazuha?” Heizou asked. “What is it?”

“Shhh.” Kazuha raised a finger to his lips. “There’s a group of treasure hoarders ahead.”

Heizou peered through the trees and, true to Kazuha’s word, there was a group of about half a dozen treasure hoarders gathered around a small fire. One of two were standing near the edge of the group, clearly keeping watch.

“Ugh, small time thugs.” Yoimiya said. “Let’s just go around.”

“Hmmm…” Kazuha didn’t seem to be listening, instead creeping closer to the makeshift camp with a curious expression on his face. He stopped behind a few trees just out of their view, looking first at the camp and then at the Vision clutched in his hand. Heizou and Yoimiya followed, not quite as gracefully, but remaining undetected regardless.

“Kazuha?” Heizou murmured, leaning in to be heard. “What is it?”

“Ah,” Kazuha’s eyes lit up with sudden understanding and they flicked to meet Heizou’s. “Our Vision holder - it’s one of the treasure hoarders.”

“You’re kidding.” Heizou groaned.

“Sadly, no.” Kazuha narrowed his eyes and pointed towards a big man with dark hair and a wicked scar on one cheek. “Him, I think.”

“So, uh.” Yoimiya was bouncing on her heels. “What exactly do we do? Like, do we just leave now or should we go up to them and introduce ourselves? Because I don’t know about you, but when I need treasure hoarders they usually aren’t up for a friendly chat-”

“Hey, who’s there?” One of the closest men barked out, raising a battered sword. He spotted them and rushed forwards, the other treasure hoarders following in his wake.

“Whoops, sorry.” Yoimiya had stopped bouncing, hand going to her bow. “Do we, uh, fight now?”

“Looks like it.” Heizou raised his fists, Kazuha readying his sword beside him.

The fight was swift and extremely one-sided. As Yoimiya had observed, they were just small time thugs. Heizou had taken out larger groups of better trained criminals than this sorry group with ease. Kazuha used his Vision to gather them together, Yoimiya spooked them with a series of flashy, golden explosions, and they quickly scattered - running off without really putting up too much of a fight.

“Stop that one!” Kazuha pointed his sword at one of the fleeing men - the one with the scar.

“You, wait!” Yoimiya called at the fleeing man. He, perhaps predictably, did not wait. She shot an arrow that sailed past him and exploded in a shower of sparks, making him stumble.

“I got him!” Heizou darted forwards and, movements swift with years of practice, tripped the man while he was distracted by Yoimiya. He had half a mind to put the man in a chokehold until he calmed down, but Heizou hadn’t actually seen him do anything wrong, so he settled for raising a fist threateningly. “Stay down.” He warned.

“Who are you people?” The man groaned, rubbing his head. “I didn’t even steal nothing from you!”

“Yes, well.” Kazuha came up on Heizou’s other side, Yoimiya a few steps behind. Both still had their weapons out. “In a surprising turn of events, we’re actually here to give you something.” He raised a hand, displaying the Dendro Vision in the hand that wasn’t clutching his sword.

“Wait…” His eyes went wide, slack expression pulling at the scar on his cheek. “It can’t be…” He scrambled into a kneeling position.

Kazuha handed Heizou the Dendro Vision with a little nod. It was warm his fist, like newly tilled earth warmed by a summer day. “This is yours, isn’t it?” He asked, holding it out for the man to see.

“Why are you giving this back to me?” He grunted. “I’m a criminal, ain’t I?”

“Yes, and I can arrest you once you have your Vision back.” Heizou said patiently.

“Heizou?” Yoimiya lowered her bow a little, but the tip of the arrow stayed alight with bright, dancing flame.

“Take it.” Heizou waved the Vision at the man. “It’s important to you, isn’t it?”

“I…” The green glow reflected in the man’s dark eyes for a moment and then he reached out, hands shaking slightly. “Yeah. It is.”

Heizou dropped it into the kneeling man’s palm. “There we go.”

He closed his eyes and cradled the Dendro Vision close. Around them, the trees seemed to bend inwards with branches that lowered to almost touch the treasure hoarder.

“Ah…” He took a deep breath. “I remember now.”

Kazuha glanced at Heizou, one eyebrow raised in question. Heizou nodded minutely and Kazuha gave him a small nod in return before sheathing his sword. Yoimiya saw him do so and, after a moment’s hesitation, lowered her bow and slipped the arrow back into the quiver.

“My thanks fer this.” The treasure hoarder looked up. Heizou was surprised to see clear tear tracks cutting through the dirt on his face. “I forgot so much. Weren’t myself, y’know.”

“Yeah.” Heizou said. “I know.” He bent a little so he could look the man in the eyes. “Just know that I’ll be back if this-“ He tapped the Vision with a finger. “-doesn’t change things. Got it?”

The man swallowed and nodded. “Won’t forget this, boy.” He said.

“I’d rather you did, actually.” Heizou said with a grin. “Not great for my reputation if people get wind of me letting criminals go.”

“Course.” The man grunted and got to his feet. He had to be a foot or more taller than Heizou. “Even if it feels wrong not to pay you back for that kinda thing.”

Heizou waved a dismissive hand. “Don’t worry about it, yeah? Just stop stealing things from people.”

The man bowed, low and respectful. “Course.”

They let him leave after that, still cradling the Vision in his hands with a look of wonder on his face.

“That was surprising of you, Heizou.” Yoimiya was looking at him with bright, inquisitive eyes.

“Surprising?” Heizou raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Well, I doubt the Tenryou Commission would be all that happy about you just letting him go.” She said.

Heizou shrugged. “I may be part of the Commission, but I like to follow my own convictions before anything else.”

“And letting a criminal go was part of your convictions?” Kazuha murmured.

“Well, it’s different.” Heizou stretched. “He wasn’t himself. I’m not about punishing people who didn’t have a choice. That’s not justice, that’s just pointless revenge.” He tilted his head, looked over at them. “Don’t you think?”

“Well, sure.” Yoimiya agreed readily. “Didn’t expect that sort of thinking from a Tenryou Officer, though.”

“He’s not exactly your typical Tenryou Officer.” Kazuha’s voice was fond enough that Heizou felt his cheeks go hot, damnable blush surely creeping over his face.

“I’m getting that impression.” Yoimiya came over and thumped him on the shoulder, a friendly gesture that still kind of hurt. “You’re all right, Detective.”

 

*****

 

By mutual agreement, they decided to stay in the treasure hoarders’ abandoned camp rather than try to make it down to the village again before dark. The sun was already sinking low behind the snake skull, sunlight fading into shades of purple, blue, and gray.

It was a simple thing to rifle through the abandoned supplies left at the camp and pick out what would be suitable for dinner. It was mostly root vegetables with dirt still clinging to them, which Kazuha separated into piles based on which were rotted and which were not.

“We should have enough here for some soup - Heizou, could you go and see if there’s any mint nearby?” Kazuha said, still looking critically at his little pile of vegetables.

“Sure. Blue flowers and narrow leaves, right?”

“Yes.” Kazuha said. “Just a few of them should be enough.”

“Got it.” Heizou turned to leave, but Yoimiya grabbed his elbow and stopped him.

“Let me come with you!” She said. “There are a ton of whopperflowers around here - don’t want you to get caught off guard.”

“Oh, sure.” Heizou said. “We’ll be back in a bit, Kazuha.”

Kazuha just nodded, starting to wash the radishes he’d deemed safe to eat with water from his canteen. There was already a fire going in the middle of the camp and there was something so right about the scene of Kazuha kneeling there, beginning to prepare dinner. He looked at home like this, out in the wilderness lit by the glow of a campfire.

“C’mon, I’m hungry!” Yoimiya tugged at Heizou’s arm again and he let himself be led away from the camp and back towards the edge of the woods.

“So.” Yoimiya said once they’d left the trees.

“Hm?” Heizou was looking down, attempting to see a hint of blue before the sunlight faded completely.

“You and Kazuha - you guys are close, aren’t you?”

“We’re friends.” Heizou said, suddenly uneasy. “We’ve known each other for a while now.”

“He talks about you.” Yoimiya said and Heizou glanced over at her. She was looking at the ground, one finger lit up with Pyro to give her some extra light. “We don’t know each other super well - he talks a lot but he never seems to let me really understand him. I know Captain Beidou better than him, actually. But he’s mentioned you a couple of times. I thought it was weird, you know, for someone like him to be so close with a Tenryou detective. But now that I’ve met you, I think I get it!”

Heizou kicked aside a dead branch. A few bugs hiding beneath it skittered away into the tall grass that surrounded the path. “Oh?”

“Mhm.” She hummed and, despite her penchant for talking, she seemed content to leave it at that.

They finally found a few sprigs of mint near the statue of the Shogun they’d passed earlier that way. Heizou picked them and, despite Yomiya’s warnings, no whopperflowers emerged. He turned, ready to go back to the camp, but Yoimiya lingered at the statute for a moment.

She put her hands together and, with a tiny little bow of her head, seemed to say a prayer. Heizou watched, surprised, but didn’t interrupt.

“Okay, sorry!” She said after a moment. “We can get going!”

“Sure.” He fell into step beside her and after a moment he spoke. “I’ll admit, I didn’t expect you to pray.”

“To the Shogun, you mean?” She said and he nodded. “Well, it’s not like I agree with the Decree or anything. It’s just…I want her to understand us, I guess. People who aren’t going to be around forever.”

“You think she doesn’t?” He prompted her, curious.

She folded her arms behind her head and looked up at the sky. “I think she did a little bit, at the end. I think that's why she ended the Decree. But there’s still a lot I want her to know! About the people who live in Inazuma and why things that don’t last forever still matter, you know?” She unfolded her arms and twined them above her head into a stretch. “It’s like a firework - it’s only around for a minute, but it can still be so beautiful!”

Yoimiya dropped her arms to her sides and tilted her head to look over at him, last vestiges of daylight reflected in her eyes. “So I’ll keep praying - I’m not sure if she can hear me or not, but if she can I want to keep reminding her. She might understand us a little bit, but she’s still got a lot to learn.”

Heizou let out an incredulous laugh. “You’re praying to teach her a lesson?”

“Don’t say it like that!” She shoved him, but she was smiling. “I just want to make sure she doesn’t forget anything!”

It was fully dark by the time they got to camp. A pot was already bubbling over the fire, full of something that smelled far better than it had any right to.

“Perfect timing.” Kazuha accepted the handful of mint from Heizou with a smile and began plucking off the leaves. “Just let me add this - then we just have to wait for it to be done cooking.”

“It smells great, Kazuha!” Yoimiya said appreciatively. “Thanks!” She glanced back towards the lone tent the treasure hoarders had left behind. “I’ll see if I can find any stools or bowls in there.” She left them there, bounding over to the tent.

“Is it bad that this is probably the healthiest meal I’ve had this week?” Heizou asked, walking over and peering into the bubbling pot of stew.

“What are you eating?” Kazuha glanced at him, eyebrow raised.

“Takeout mostly.” He said.

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.”

“Hey!”

“Heizou, your kitchen has more books than actual cooking implements.” Kazuha said, sprinkling a few mint leaves into the pot.

“You know what,” Heizou pointed at him. “Just for that, next time you come over you don’t get to use the good knife.”

Kazuha put a hand on his chest. “Alas, my beautiful dream has ended. Farewell, good knife. I will always remember you.”

Heizou tried very hard not to laugh and immediately failed, cackling as Kazuha pretended to wipe a tear from his cheek. “You’re so ridiculous.”

“Who’s ridiculous?” Yoimiya had reemerged from the tent, a few dingy wooden bowls stacked in one hand. “These may not be pretty, but they’ll work well enough.”

“Oh, let me rinse those…”

It took a few minutes before they were settled by the fire, bowls of stew in hand. It was good - hot and surprisingly well seasoned. When Heizou mentioned it, Kazuha tapped the pack he carried.

“Keeping proper spices with you is the most important part of wandering.” He said. “I have some from as far as Sumeru.”

“How did you get your hands on those?” Yoimiya looked impressed.

“A birthday gift from Beidou and the crew.” Kazuha said with a fond expression. “They are aware that I prefer to travel light, so any gifts they give me are small and practical.”

“They seem nice.” Yoimiya said, fighting against a yawn. “Ah, sorry - the sea air always makes me sleepy.”

“We should all sleep soon.” Heizou said. “If we want to get to Watatsumi tomorrow we should leave early.”

“I’ll probably drop you off and then head to Tsurumi.” Yoimiya said. “As long as you can get a ride back?”

“We should be able to.” Kazuha said. “I can write to Beidou in the morning - the job she’s doing should require her to pass close to Watatsumi in a few days.”

“Why are you going to Tsurumi though?” Heizou asked. “There’s nothing there, is there?”

“The Adventurer’s Guild has a research team there.” Yoimiya said. “People stayed away for a long time, but apparently a big thing that happened there with the Traveler so things calmed down enough for more people to go.”

“What kind of thing?” He asked, curious. He vaguely remembered seeing some Commission down at the Adventurer's Guild related to the island some months ago, but he hadn’t know the Traveler was the one who’d accepted it.

She shrugged. “You’d have to ask around for more details - all I know is that there’s some people on that island who could really use their own summer festival.”

“Stay safe on the journey there.” Kazuha said. “The seas near Tsurumi can be…strange.”

“I’ll be careful.” She said. “I gotta get back to Narukami in one piece - my dad can’t make enough fireworks for what we’re planning for the end of summer festival this year by himself.”

“I’ll look forward to it.” Kazuha said. “It’s been a long while since I’ve seen a proper Inazuman fireworks show.”

She grinned. “Nothing can compare.”

Yoimiya excused herself as soon as they were done with dinner, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She retreated into the lone tent, leaving Heizou and Kazuha still sitting by the fire.

“Do we need to have watches tonight?” Heizou asked. “In case the treasure hoarders come back?”

“The wind should alert me if anything is amiss.” Kazuha said. “It hasn’t failed me before.”

“You’re something, Kaedehara.” Heizou said. He had his knees tucked up to his chest and was resting his cheek on them, face pointed towards Kazuha.

“Kazuha.” He corrected softly.

“Kazuha.” Heizou echoed.

Kazuha took a stick from the ground next to them and prodded the fire. A few errant sparks drifted up, flaring bright before fading to nothing.

“Can I ask you something?”

Heizou blinked, trying to dispel some of the drowsiness that was pulling at his limbs. “Sure - what is it?”

Kazuha shifted the logs in the fire with his stick against before tossing it in, causing another shower of sparks. “You…you were avoiding me. Back in Inazuma, I mean. Weren’t you?”

Despite the fire, Heizou suddenly felt cold.

There were a hundred different excuses he could make, about being busy or about other things that had come up. He’d always been a good liar - maybe he could make something up that Kazuha would believe, despite his innate perceptiveness.

But lying to Kazuha like this…lying about this…

Even thinking about it made Heizou feel like a coward. He’d tried not to think about Kazuha during the time they’d been apart for a myriad of reasons. And even since he’d gotten back, had returned to Heizou’s life, it had been easier not to think about. To pretend things were the same as they had been before everything fell apart.

But they weren’t. They couldn’t be. And maybe it was time to face that.

“Yeah.” Heizou swallowed hard after forcing the word out, mouth suddenly dry. “Yes, I was.”

Kazuha nodded, his eyes on the fire. “I thought so.”

Heizou let go of his legs and spread them in front of him. He leaned back on his hands and looked up at the sky, deep blue and scattered with stars, rather than at Kazuha.

The silence between them, heavy and uncomfortable, lingered for a long time.

“Can I ask why?” Kazuha broke it at last, voice a little tight.

“I didn’t think about it a lot of the time.” Heizou said, words coming slowly as he figured out how to express the mess of tangled thoughts in his head. “After everything that happened…thinking about everything that happened...” He sighed heavily. “I couldn’t think about it, Kazuha. You didn’t do anything wrong, it was just…”

“Just what?”

Heizou looked over at him, taking in the eyes reflecting the color of the fire, and remembered a time when they had been colder than the winds of Dragonspine. “Every time I thought about you, it was like Tenshukaku all over again.”

“I’m not just the worst thing that ever happened to me.” Kazuha’s voice had a steely edge.

“I know that!” Heizou borderline shouted it and winced, not wanting to wake up Yoimiya. He took a deep breath and continued, quieter. “Of course I know that.”

Once again, they lapsed into silence. Once again, Kazuha broke it.

“I shouldn’t have forced you to see me again.”

“Kazuha, no.” Heizou sat up straight and turned to face him. “I wanted to see you so badly, really. I missed you. I really, really did.”

“I missed you too.” Kazuha said. He looked over and met Heizou’s gaze. “I just…I’m trying to understand.”

“I…” Heizou ran lip tongue along his lower lip. His mouth was so dry. “I felt so guilty, Kazuha. About everything that happened and I…I didn’t know what to do with that.”

Kazuha held his gaze. “What happened wasn’t your fault.”

The words hit Heizou like a blow. He hadn’t realized until this moment how much he had felt, on some level, like everything that had happened had somehow been his responsibility. He should have stopped it, he should have found a way…

“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” Heizou said, voice hoarse. “I was convinced. So thinking about you or wishing I could see you…it was pointless.”

“I would have come back to see you.” Kazuha said. “Even if the Decree didn’t ever end. I would have.”

“I…I didn’t think you’d want to.”

“I did.” Kazuha said, soft. “I do.”

Heizou dropped Kazuha’s gaze and let out a bitter little laugh. “Man alive, I am so stupid sometimes. People tell me I’m smart all of the time, but sometimes I just…” He tapped the side of his head. “I get myself tied up into knots. Up here, I mean.”

“Well, you’re working with more rope than most people.” Kazuha said and Heizou choked out a pained little huff of amusement.

“I’m sorry, Kazuha.” Heizou looked back at him. “I mean that. I’d understand if you’re mad at me. You don’t have to help me with the Visions anymore - you can go with Yoimiya tomorrow. I’d understand.”

“I don’t want to leave you again, not unless you want me to.”

“I don’t.” Heizou said immediately, automatically. It was less a response and more a reflex. “I promise I don’t.”

“I miss you. I’ve missed you since Tenshukaku, Heizou.”

Heizou swallowed hard. “I’m right here, Kaedehara.”

“Kazuha.” He said. “Please. Call me Kazuha.”

“Kazuha.”

For a long moment, Kazuha held his gaze. It wasn’t a resolution - there was still pain, still hurt, in his eyes. But it was a first step - Heizou had chosen to be honest, to try and make Kazuha understand.

And he hadn’t left - he was still here.

They were silent for a long while. Eventually, Heizou laid down beside the steadily dying fire and watched as Kazuha did the same on the other side. He was laying on his back, eyes fixed on the stars.

“Starlight and echoes,” Kazuha said softly. “Fate intertwined overheard. Seek and come after.”

Heizou closed his eyes. “Goodnight, Kazuha.”

Kazuha let out a deep, wavering breath. “Goodnight, Heizou.”

 

*****

 

The air the next day reminded Heizou of a healing bruise - outwardly fine, but painful if you pressed anywhere too hard. He and Kazuha barely spoke on their trip to Watatsumi. Luckily, Yoimiya seemed oblivious, filling the air between them with bright chatter.

When she finally waved them off on the shore of Watatsumi Island, Heizou was sad to see her go.

“She’s certainly…energetic.” Heizou said as they watched her boat grow smaller from the shore of Watatsumi Island.

“Yes, she’s always been like that.” Kazuha said, tone fond.

“You’ve known her for a while, then?” Heizou glanced back at Yoimiya’s retreating figure.

“Since before the fall of my clan, yes. She and her family are not a clan in a traditional sense, but they have close ties with the Kamisato faction, like my clan did, so we ran into each other fairly frequently.”

“I see.” Heizou said.

They lapsed into silence again, both of them watching as the bright splotch of color that was Yoimiya got smaller and smaller as she sailed away.

“So, where do we go now?” He asked. Kazuha was already holding the Anemo Vision and he glanced down at it when Heizou asked.

“I believe it’s leading us to the Sangonomiya Shrine.” Kazuha said. “This way.” He started off, picking his way away from the beach and up a small path leading inland that was bordered by tall grass that swayed in the gentle sea breeze.

Electro seelies darted across their paths, movements jerky and frantic. When he was younger, Heizou and his friend had chased after the seelies outside of the village and searched for treasure. They’d never found more than a few old books and a few dingy pieces of mora, but the search had always been thrilling.

He smiled fondly at an electro seelie that stopped by them for a moment, trembling and humming faintly, before it darted off again.

“It’s good to be here again.” Kazuha hummed, watching the seelie’s path away from them. “I’m glad to have the opportunity - I’ve meant to come back for a while now.”

“I came here, you know.” Heizou said, glancing at him sidelong. “While you were gone.”

“To Watatsumi?”

Heizou nodded. “On assignment - I mostly treated it like a vacation, though.”

“And what did you think?”

He tugged at a stray strand of grass as they passed by. “It’s special here. I can understand why you like it so much.”

“Yes.” Kazuha nodded. “Even with all of my journeys, it remains a uniquely beautiful place.” They had arrived at a fork in the path, one side going further inland and the other continuing on along the beach. “This way, if I remember right.” He nodded to the path inland and Heizou followed him.

They walked in silence, breezes rustling the grasses as they went.

“This is where I was when the war ended.” Heizou said after a while. “I didn’t even know about it until like a week after it all happened.”

“Hm, I had wondered.” Kazuha murmured.

“Wondered what?” Heizou asked.

“Where you were.” Kazuha said. “The last time I saw you, you had let me - a wanted criminal - go free. I thought that the stain on your record might be enough of a reason for them to take your Vision and imprison you.”

“They didn’t blame me for you, in the end.” Heizou said. “I just said I’d lost your trail - Kujou had some questions, but nothing really came of it.”

The path had tilted up, winding between a few small trees that had started to appear as they got further from the beach.

“I…” Kazuha’s voice was soft and hesitant when he spoke again. “I feared the worst when I did not find you in the prison cells beneath Tenshukaku. You have always been unwavering in your convictions - I feared what might have happened to you if your convictions had caused you to stand opposed to the Shogunate.”

Heizou sighed. “I always told myself that the best I could do was continue my work for the Tenryou Commission.” He said. “The Decrees didn’t stop crime, after all. That’s always been what I’ve tried to do. To stop crime, I mean. To keep people from being hurt.

“I can understand that.” Kazuha said. “I would never blame someone for following their convictions. I can understand why you continued your work, even with everything happening.”

“Maybe I should have stopped.” Heizou said. “I convinced myself that remaining where I was was the best way to keep people safe. But maybe,” He tilted his head to the side, hair falling to hide his face from Kazuha’s stare. “That was simple self-delusion.”

This time, when they fell back into a slightly uncomfortable silence, neither of them broke it.

 

*****

 

“Thank you both!” The shrine maiden was clutching her Vision to her chest, absolutely beaming at the both of them. “I never thought I would get this back!”

Her name was Ume and finding her had been more or less easy - Kazuha had followed the traces of the Vision and found her working in the garden outside the Sangonomiya Shrine, hands covered in dirt and eyes far away. She had accepted the Vision they offered with a laugh of delight and was now dancing in the dirt with barely contained joy, tears welling up in her dark eyes.

Little flurries of wind were dancing around them as well, making the shrine maiden’s robes flutter and flap. Kazuha smiled, soft and pleased, at the sight of Ume unable to contain her joy at the Anemo Vision that was clutched tightly to her chest. Heizou felt himself smiling as well.

“So where to next?” Ume asked once the winds had calmed a bit. “You have to have more Visions to give back, right?”

“Yeah.” Heizou glanced over at Kazuha. “We’re not positive yet - maybe somewhere across the sea.”

“Liyue, most likely.” Kazuha said.

“Oh, wow!” She gasped. “That’s so far - how will you get there?”

The clouds hadn’t managed to deter the messenger bird that Beidou had sent back. It had circled down on their walk to the temple, landing on Kazuha’s shoulder with an affectionate nip to his ear.

“My captain is picking us up later today.” Kazuha said. “She’ll bring us back to Narukami and we’ll decide our next steps from there. But she often sails to Liyue - it shouldn’t be hard to get a ride.”

“Liyue, wow…” Ume tapped her chin with a finger. “Maybe I’ll go there someday too - I hear their landscape is amazing.”

“Mmmm.” Kazuha nodded. “The variety is impressive - no matter where you go, there is always something new to see. Trees with golden leaves, gods that walk hidden among the people, history pressed into every step of the land.”

“Also,” Heizou piped up, “I’ve heard the food is pretty good.”

She laughed. “That too.”

She insisted on hugging them both and dragging them around the temple to introduce them to all of her fellow shrine maidens. A few of them had recognized Kazuha and had promised to pass on his greetings to Sangonomiya Kokomi and General Goro. Heizou did his best to appear inconspicuous and not at all like a Tenryou Commission member, but he felt a number of suspicious looks all the same.

“Is General Sangonomiya not around?” Kazuha asked curiously, peering around the shrine maidens who told him she was away like they might be hiding her somehow. “She rarely leaves the island.”

One of the shrine maidens, who had a lined face and steely gray hair, shook her head. “She has been leaving on occasion to go information gathering with the former captain of the Swordfish II Unit.”

Kazuha let out a noise of amusement. “So even the general is not immune to the Traveler’s requests, hm?”

“The Traveler again?” Heizou complained. “How am I the one person who has yet to meet this Traveler?”

“I promise to introduce you when we get back.” Kazuha said.

“So you know the former captain?” The shrine maiden with the gray hair looked at Kazuha curiously and he nodded. “Kokomi seems to be quite taken - what is your assessment, ronin?”

Kazuha spent a while going on about the many admirable virtues of the Traveler and Heizou, who had heard this all many times before from a whole host of people, wandered off a bit to examine the temple’s architecture. He hadn’t been allowed inside last time, what with the war and everything. He’d observed from a distance, impressed with the beauty and scale of the place. The temple was built like it was part of the island, fused with the natural landscape rather than conquering it.

Now, he wandered down the hallway and peered into an open doorway. The room past was mostly empty, there was a lone altar with a stick of low-burning incense on it under a massive open window that took up most of the far wall. He stepped inside, considering the place.

There were charms and beads looped over the low rafters. The rafters had words painted on them in faded gilt paint - it looked like it might be an old dialect of Inazuman. Some scholars spent their lives focused on the old versions of the language that had once dotted the island, but that kind of thing had always seemed so esoteric to Heizou.

What was the point in chasing after old history like that? It was gone and no one could bring it back - dwelling on the past only brought grief.

Bright charms hung on the edge of the window as well, singing as sea breezes wound their way inside and became tinged with the scent of the incense. Heizou didn’t recognize the scent. It was something light and faintly floral that reminded him of the perfume that the rich women in Inazuma City wore.

The lady shopkeeper of the couple he had stayed with had worn something similar on the few times she and her husband had managed to go out on dates, usually asking Heizou to watch the children for the evening. He wasn’t great at taking care of children - his only real example was his father, who had thrown him into a dojo as soon as he could walk and seemed content to let nature take its course from there.

He wasn’t sure what his mother had been like. She hadn’t ever worn perfume - at least, he didn’t think she had. His memory was uncommonly good, but even he struggled when trying to remember the specific details of a woman who had died when he was barely five years old.

He didn’t think of her often, mind flinching away from the hazy memory of green eyes like his and bright hair like his like a hand brushing an open flame.

“Um, your name was Heizou, right?”

He looked away from the altar and incense to see the shrine maiden with the Anemo Vision, Ume, standing in the doorway.

“Yeah, that’s me.” He said. “Sorry, am I not supposed to be in here?”

“No, it’s fine.” She came inside and stood beside him. “This is a place for remembrance - for paying respects to those we’ve lost.” She pressed her hands together and gave a small bow to the altar. “I came here a lot when I didn’t have my Vision.”

“How did you lose it?” Heizou asked. “Not a lot of people from Watatsumi did - even Kujou’s patrols rarely went this far, it was too dangerous.”

“I haven’t told many people.” She straightened from her bow and turned to face him. She was pretty, young - probably around his age. “But I do owe you one.” She tapped her Vision, which had been tied high on her right warm with a band patterned in white and blue.

“You don’t have to.” Heizou said, realizing belatedly that his question might have been rude.

“It’s okay.” She said, angling her head towards the window. Heizou followed her when she walked over to it, leaning on the edge beside her. The island spread out below them, a tapestry of pale blues, purples, and pinks. At the edges, the open sea shone a deep, undulating blue. “It was my own fault, really.”

He just watched, waiting for her to continue. When interrogating a suspect, the most important thing was to know when to be silent. It wasn’t something Heizou had ever been great at - words were his best weapon and he was loathe to put them down - but sometimes it was important to let someone go at their own pace, to tell their own story and let the rest fall into place.

“I’ve never been very good at following rules.” She said at last. “I didn’t grow up on Watatsumi Island - I’m from Narukami, actually. But when I was a teenager, I decided to come here. And I fell in love with it.” She sighed fondly, resting her chin on an open palm and staring out over the island. “And when I asked if I could join, they let me. I got my Vision later that day, actually.”

He glanced at it, the same pulsing green as his own.

“My family didn’t really understand my choice, but they didn’t oppose it. They had my older brother already and he was good at being a dutiful son.” Ume smiled. “So different from their flighty daughter.”

“You’re with the Tenryou Commission, right?” Her eyes flicked to the badge on his shoulder and he fought the irrational urge to cover it with a hand.

“Yes.” He said, taken aback by the change in topics. He tried not to make it sound like an admittance of guilt. “I’m a detective.”

“My brother joined too.” She said. “But in the military under the Kujou Clan.”

He didn’t say anything. He was staring to see the shape of this story and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the ending. But he had asked. And knowledge, he believed, was always better than ignorance. Even when it hurt.

“My parents sent me a letter telling me that he was going to be shipped out to Watatsumi Island to join in the fighting there. I wanted to go back and convince him not to go.” She said. “All of the shrine maidens told me not to, that it would be too dangerous, but,” She smiled at him, rueful. “It’s like I said. I’ve always been bad at following rules.”

She reached up to tug at one of the charms hanging low from the window. “These were originally made to capture the attention of the gods, you know. To bring their gaze with something beautiful and to be rewarded with good fortune.” She let it go. “I always thought it would be nice, to be seen by a god.”

The charm swung back and forth, catching in the light and sending fractals of it over both of their faces.

“I got caught by a patrol almost as soon as I arrived on Narukami.” Ume said. “They took my Vision - I fled back to Watatsumi as soon as I could. The fact that I survived is a miracle.”

“I’m…” Heizou cleared his throat. “I’m sorry.”

She examined his face for a long moment, something contemplative in her dark eyes. “I got the news a few weeks later. My brother had died in the fighting.”

“I’m sorry.” He repeated. What else was he supposed to say? “It’s never easy to lose the people we love.”

“No.” She said softly. “It isn’t.”

For a long time, they were both quiet, looking out over the expanse of the island. It had been easy to forget the world outside of Narukami during the war, easy to forget about the people who had died fighting here. But they had, friends and siblings, parents and lovers, all dead in the pursuit of eternity.

Heizou glanced up at the glittering charms, designed to catch the attention of a god.

“Will you leave Inazuma?” He asked eventually.

“I think so.” Ume said. “I’ve always wanted to see the world. And, well, now that I have this back,” She tapped her Vision. “I get the feeling I’ll have trouble following the rules again.”

He smiled crookedly at her. “I know the feeling.”

“I’m glad that you asked me about what happened.” Ume said. “It’s hard to talk about, but…” She glanced back at the altar again. The incense was nearly gone now, just some ashes left in the holder. “It’s good for me to remember him.”

“Thank you for telling me.” He said. “I’ll remember him too, now.”

She nodded and gave him a formal bow. “Thank you again, detective.” She said. “I owe you and your partner.”

Heizou felt himself flush but decided it would be pointless to correct her assumption. “No, we’re just doing what we can to repair things.” He said. “You don’t owe us for that.”

“Still.” She said. “You have my gratitude.”

“Heizou?” Heizou looked around to find Kazuha peering into the room, a curious expression on his face. “We need to go meet Beidou soon.”

“Right.” Heizou said. “I’ll meet you outside in a minute.”

Kazuha’s eyes flicked to the altar and to Ume. “Sure.” He said. “It was lovely to meet you, Ume. If you ever wanted to travel to Liyue, I’m sure Captain Beidou would have room on the Alcor for you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” She said. “Thanks again, Kazuha.”

He nodded and, with a last glance at Heizou, left.

“I should get going as well.” Ume said. “I still haven’t finished the weeding in the garden.” She smiled at him. “Stop by and see us next time you’re on Watatsumi, mister Detective.”

“Sure.” He said. “Thanks, Ume.”

She nodded and left him there, alone with the smoldering incense and the low altar.

He stared at it for a long moment, air still thick with the smells of floral perfume and ash, before he turned and left the room the same way that he had come.

 

*****

 

Kazuha and Heizou’s walk down to the beach was marked by the arrival of heavy gray clouds that rained thinly, a hazy drizzle that was more annoying than anything else. Heizou took shelter in an abandoned hillichurl hut just off the beach, but Kazuha declined in favor of standing on the beach and watching the rain. Heizou leaned in the doorway, arms crossed, and watched him. His hair was curling in the misty rain, water condensing on the hilt of his sword.

They hadn’t spoken much on the walk to the beach, the slightly uncomfortable silence from that morning persisting.

And as much as he didn’t want to revisit their discussion from the night before, he felt like he had to. It was that or let Kazuha stand out in the rain in an attempt to avoid him and end up with a cold.

“Hey!” He called.

Kazuha glanced back. Heizou made a “come here” gesture at him. Kazuha just tilted his head to the side, so Heizou did it again.

He shook his head.

Heizou, with a long-suffering sigh, leaned away from the wall and walked over to stand beside him. It wasn’t cold out, being summer, but the misty rain would eventually soak his clothes. Even the idea of his clothes sticking to him was enough to make him shudder. He took a moment to untie his haori coat and put it on, hoping it would be enough

“I haven’t seen you in that coat since the night we fought.” Kazuha said.

Heizou looked at him, breath catching. “I can take it off.”

Kazuha shook his head. “It’s fine.”

They stood side by side for a few moments, watching the sea, the sheets of faint, misty rain making the surface ripple and shake.

“You should probably come get in the shelter with me.” Heizou said. “Beidou could be hours still.”

“I’m fine here.” Kazuha said.

“You sure?”

“Mmhm.”

“Okay then.” Heizou stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, misty drizzle refusing to become actual rain or to ease off and let the sky clear.

“I wrote a haiku about the sea in the rain once.” Kazuha said idly after a while. “I’m not sure if I remember…hmmm. Treacherous dragon, Swallow down these falling drops, Widows weep on shores. Not my best work, to be honest, but I was feeling rather melancholy at the time.”

“I still like it.” Heizou said, honestly.

Kazuha’s lips quirked into a smile. “Thank you.”

Heizou rocked from foot to foot. Sand was getting in his shoes, rough against the soles of his feet. He tugged at the steadily dampening sleeves of his coat.

“You don’t like it when your clothes get wet.” It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t.” Heizou answered anyway. “But I don’t think anyone likes that, do they?”

Kazuha looked over at him. “That’s not what I mean - it really bothers you, doesn’t it? That day in the rain - it made you freeze up. I’d never seen you look like that before.”

“Did you know,” Heizou said. “That when blood soaks through your clothes it sticks to your skin. It doesn't feel quite the same as water, but it’s close.” He tugged at his sleeves again.

“Heizou?” There was concern in Kazuha’s voice.

“It’s a long story.” Heizou said.

“Well, then.” Kazuha said, something careful in his voice. “Let’s go inside.”

Heizou nodded, almost pathetically grateful as Kazuha followed him back to the hillichurl hut. He stripped off his coat as soon as they were inside and dried it with Anemo before typing it back around his waist. Kazuha watched him as he did so - it made Heizou feel horribly exposed.

He sat down in front of the door, staring out at the misty rain and distant sea. After a long moment, Kazuha sat beside him.

“I’m sorry about last night.” He said.

“It’s okay.” Kazuha said.

Heizou wondered if he could just leave it at that, to ignore what he’d said to Kazuha on the beach about the way wet clothes made him feel like he was covered in blood. He probably could. Kazuha would probably let him.

For some reason, that was the thought that made him start talking.

“Did I ever tell you why I left home?” Heizou asked.

“I assumed it was because you ran out of strangers to bother with questions.”

Heizou let out a short, surprised laugh. “Well, that was part of it, but…” He picked at the floor, prying up a thin splinter of wood. “I had a friend. A good friend. And he…” He trailed off for a moment, unsure of how to proceed.

Kazuha waited, not speaking as Heizou gathered himself.

“Sorry, I don’t talk about this very often.” He said with a laugh that felt forced and thin. “I had a good friend growing up. I learned that he had been lying to me for years about who he really was and when I found out…” He broke the splinter he’d pulled up into two pieces. “I reacted badly. I told him to go - and after so many days we spent talking and playing together, I didn’t see him again for a full year.”

“That must have been hard.”

Heizou shook his head. “That was…I mean, all kids fight sometimes. And I fought with everyone, so it was a bit lonely, but it wasn’t anything I hadn’t dealt with before.” He took a deep breath. “But, after a year I decided I wanted to see him again. I thought I might have been wrong, or at least too harsh. And besides,” He shrugged, helpless. “I missed him.”

He looked out over the sea. The horizon was obscured by the misty rain, turning everything beyond the shore into a solid wall of gray.

“I tried to meet up with him at a festival, but when I did, it was too late.” He forced the words out, deliberate and sharp. “When I found him, he’d been stabbed by a mugger. I thought I could save him, but…there was nothing I could do.”

Sometimes, people left before you did and it was in the most permanent, horrible way. Sometimes, people were gone and there was no way to bring them back, no matter how many criminals you caught or injustices you corrected.

Eternity, true eternity where no one ever had to leave first, would always be out of reach. And Heizou could reach out to grasp it but, just like the Archon with the summer storms at her fingertips and the boy who’d challenged her once, he would never actually reach anything at all.

“He died in my arms.” Eternity was not his ideal - it would have suited him poorly. “There was so much blood - it was hours before I could wash it off.”

There was a long moment where neither of them moved, let alone spoke.

“I…” Kazuha hesitated and then continued. “For months after I left Inazuma, I couldn’t eat any sort of meat. The smell…” He trailed off with a shake of his head. “Even now, I have issues with it - I mostly prefer fish. And I can’t stomach anything that’s too charred.”

Heizou looked over at him. His face was pale, so pale he looked like a ghost in the gloom of the hilichurl hut, but he smiled sympathetically at Heizou.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

“Me too.” Kazuha said.

Heizou moved closer to him, closing the gap, and without thinking about all of the reasons why he shouldn’t, he pulled Kazuha into a hug. Kazuha gasped softly, freezing up for long enough that Heizou started to back away, but then Kazuha moved and gripped Heizou just as tightly, arms going around his waist.

Heizou let out a trembling breath. Kazuha was warm against him. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this close to another person, unless he counted the times he’d grappled with suspects. For a long time, since he was very young, touch was associated with violence, with fighting.

His body was a weapon, had been trained to be one since he was a child.

But in Kazuha’s arms, something in him went still and quiet. He leaned his head against Kazuha’s collarbone. He smelled like salt and the incense from the shrine.

“There’s a poem I wrote the night I left Inazuma.” Kazuha murmured. “Can I tell it to you?”

After a long moment, Heizou let him go. After another, Kazuha did the same. Heizou shifted back, letting space come between them once again.

“I’d love to hear it.” He said, voice strange to his own ears.

“Moon white, skies pitch-dark
The branches, silhouetted
Red leaves falling down.”

The words were simple, but something about the poem resonated with Heizou. It was like glimpsing a blurry photo, elements not altogether clear, but striking nonetheless.

“Red leaves.” Heizou murmured. “Were there red leaves in Liyue?”

“Some.” Kazuha said. “But I was thinking more of my home - the leaves turned red in autumn. I haven’t seen them in many years.”

“Why not?” Heizou asked.

Kazuha’s eyes flicked up, met Heizou’s. “A few reasons - obviously I couldn’t when I was wanted by the Shogunate and before that…” He tapped the hilt of his sword, eyes a bit far away. “I don’t regret the things in my past or spend time dwelling on how they might have been different. Looking back has never been my way, but…” He shook his head. “Those red leaves still make me nostalgic.”

“I heard you gave up everything in the Kaedehara estate.” Heizou said.

“I did.” Kazuha nodded.

“Is your home - the place where you lived - is that gone too?”

Kazuha just nodded. “But the trees are still there.”

“I suppose that they are.”

 

---

PART 3

---

 

“Kazuha!” Heizou hissed. “I think I broke everything.”

Kazuha set down the box he’d been hauling across the deck. “You did what?”

Heizou waved the rope that he had accidentally untied in Kazuha’s general direction. “This!”

“Relax, that’s just the jig - it fastens the sails.” Kazuha said, taking the rope from Heizou and retying it with practiced efficiency. His arms flexed at the movement and Heizou swallowed, mouth suddenly very dry. “Why are you messing with the sails anyway?”

“Er, some guy told me to?” Heizou said. “Or I think he did? He asked me if I knew how to trim sails.”

“And you told him you did?” Kazuha eyed him, judgemental.

“I thought I could figure it out.” Heizou muttered.

“Probably.” Kazuha said. “But not before we end up in Natlan instead of Liyue.”

“I mean, I’ve never been to Natlan.” Heizou shrugged. “Could be fun.”

“We’re not going to Natlan.” Kazuha said.

“Who's going to Natlan?” A tall woman with long dark hair and an eyepatch had come up behind them and put a hand on the top of Kazuha’s head.

“Captain Beidou.” Kazuha said, not making any moves to shake off her hand. “Heizou told someone - probably Sea Drake - that he knows how to trim the sails. He does not, in fact, know how to trim the sails.”

“Course he doesn’t!” She let out a loud, booming laugh. “Sea Drake likes messing with the newbies - don’t mind him. I’ve got a better job for you, short stuff, if you know how to use that Anemo Vision you’ve got better than you know how to use sails.”

“Of course I do.” Heizou followed her as she led the way up the deck and away from Kazuha.

It had been a few weeks since they’d left Watatsumi and, true to Kazuha’s predictions, their last remaining Vision to return pointed them to Liyue. It had been easy enough to convince Beidou to give them a ride across the sea as long as Heizou was willing to “help out” on the way.

He supposed it was fair, since he was getting this trip free of charge, but sailing wasn’t something he’d exactly had a chance to perfect. He might have grown up on an island, but that didn’t mean he knew anything about how boats worked.

“Right here.” They were directly behind the sails now. Beidou clapped him on the shoulder again. “We’re hitting some real dead air - we could use an Anemo user to speed things up.”

“Doldrums?” Heizou asked, remembering the concept Kazuha had explained.

“Nah, nothing that bad.” She waved a hand. “Just weaker breezes than I’d like. And if I have an Anemo user onboard who isn’t more useful elsewhere…” She shrugged. “You up for it?”

He raised his fists and his catalyst manifested. “Ready when you are.”

“A catalyst, huh?” She tapped her own Vision, angular like all Liyuean Visions and glowing with the purple of Electro. “Let’s see what you can do.”

“Not really a catalyst.” He said and aimed a punch towards the sail. Anemo followed, straining the fabric of the sails as they were propelled forward.

Beidou let out a bright, surprised laugh. “I’ve never seen anyone use their Vision the way you do, kid.” She thumped him on the shoulder. “You’re fun.”

He didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he continued to direct Anemo into the sails, eventually falling into the usual motion of the katas he had done every day with his father growing up. It was meditative and, while it kept his body busy, it left his mind clear.

It flitted back to Kazuha.

They’d seen each other a few times in the interim back on Narukami, but for the most part they’d stayed apart. It was probably for the best after their fraught interactions on Yashinori and Watatsumi, but Heizou had missed him. He had been eager to head to Liyue to return the Vision with him, ignoring Owada’s many protests to head down to the Alcor and set off as soon as he could.

It had been interesting to see Kazuha interact with the sailors. They treated him with the same kind of teasing and affection Heizou had always treated his younger cousins with and Kazuha soaked up the attention, smiling and laughing more easily than he usually did. Beidou especially seemed fond of him, freely doling out headpats and rough one-armed hugs.

It eased something in him to know that, after the mess at Tenshukaku, these people had been here to take care of Kazuha. He didn’t often think of the day that he and Kazuha’s friend had met for ramen in Inazuma City, the day that Heizou had been instructed how to take care of Kazuha, but now he thought of it and he wished now that Beidou and his friend had been able to meet. They would have liked each other, he was sure of it.

She had an Electro Vision too.

What did eternity mean to someone who’d grown up outside of Inazuma?

“Heizou?” A light tap on his shoulder and Heizou stopped his movements. It was only when he stopped that he realized his muscles were sore and his forehead was beaded with sweat. How long had he been doing this?

“Kazuha.” He rolled his shoulders. “What’s up?”

“It’s time for lunch.” Kazuha said, grabbing his upper arm and tugging at him. “And time for you to take a break.”

“I could keep going.” He said, but let Kazuha tow him below the deck and into a loud, crowded galley full of sailors eating lunch.

“Wait here.” Kazuha directed him to a bench. “I’ll grab us something.”

Heizou rolled his neck, watching as Kazuha made his way to the counter. He was stopped by no less than three different sailors, who all seemed to have something to tell him or to ask him. Heizou smiled - it was nice to see him like this, relaxed and confident in his work.

“Mind if I sit?” Heizou looked away from his contemplation of Kazuha’s hands as he gestured to one of his crewmates, clearly explaining something, to see Captain Beidou standing by his shoulder.

“It’s your ship.” He said, tilting his head towards the seat opposite him.

She let out a short, sharp laugh. “Sure is.” She sat, setting the mug she was holding on the table between them. “Impressive work on the sails - better than most of the other Anemo users I’ve seen besides Kazuha. We should be there early tomorrow now. You cut a whole half a day off our travel time.” She raised her mug towards him - Heizou was positive it was full of something alcoholic.

He shrugged. “It was easy - maybe the others you worked with were just incompetent.”

Beidou grinned. “Ha, Kazuha told me you were rude.”

“I’m not rude.” Heizou said, which was categorically untrue. “He talked about me?” He didn’t mean to say the second part.

Beidou gave him a knowing little look. “He didn’t talk much about the land of thunder, ‘specially not in those early days, but yeah.” He set her mug down and met his eyes. “He talked about you.”

“Oh.” Heizou didn’t know what to do with that. Yoimiya had told him the same - that Kazuha talked about him when he wasn’t there. It made him stomach lurch to think about, sensation like the feeling of being caught in freefall for a moment.

“You and ramen were the only two things he mentioned missing.”

“Well, ramen is pretty great.” He blustered. “And so am I, obviously.”

Beidou laughed again, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. “Maybe I’ll have to spend some more time in Inazuma, if the food is really so good.”

“You’ve been there before, though. Kazuha said you have a bunch of trading contracts.” Heizou said.

“Yeah, sure.” She said. “I usually just hang around Ritou, though. Less politics.”

“Eh, I get that.” His eyes flicked down, where her Vision was concealed by the table. “I’d think you’d want to see more of the nation your Vision is aligned with, though.”

“Hmm, guess I don’t think about it that way.” Beidou said. “The Shogun - her whole eternity thing.” She shrugged. “That doesn’t really have anything to do with me, does it?”

“People say that Electro Visions are given to people who follow the ideal of eternity.” Heizou said. “I wondered if you agreed or not.”

“Heh, I guess so.” She took another long drink.“But it’s different for me than it would be for your Shogun. I’m not a god - I can’t exactly expect to live forever, not like she can.”

“So, what, then?” Heizou tapped a finger on the table between them. “You just spend your life wanting something you can’t actually get?”

“Nah, you’re being too literal.” Beidou said with a wave of her hand. “It’s more about wanting to make a mark to last forever, you know. Doing something to grab your own piece of the world.”

“Hmm.” Heizou tilted his head, considering. “So when you slew Heishaun…”

She laughed. “Kazuha told you about that, did he?” Heizou nodded. “Yeah, it’s like that. And I still have it, that kind of hunger to be recognized. Maybe it would be better if Electro was the element of ambition instead. Might be easier to understand.”

“No, I think I get it.” Heizou thought of a scarf caught by the breeze, of a tall ronin silhouetted against a roiling, black sky. “Ambition that overrides logic…that kind of eternity.”

“You saying I don’t have logic?” She raised an eyebrow at him. He just shrugged and she responded with a wolfish grin. “You’re a feisty one, aren’t you? Kazuha better watch himself with you.”

“What do you-” He began, but they were interrupted by the arrival of the man in question.

“Sorry that took so long.” Kazuha looked distinctly flustered, balancing two plates of fried fish and crusty bread. “Had to talk with Sea Drake about something.” He noticed Beidou sitting there. “Oh, hello Captain. Should I go and get you lunch as well?”

“Nah.” She stood up and stretched. “Just wanted to talk with short stuff here for a bit.” She winked at Kazuha. “He’s mean. I like him!”

Kazuha sighed, setting a plate in front of Heizou and taking Beidou’s vacated seat. “With all due respect, Captain, that’s not a surprise. You also like the Tianquan.”

“Ah, my beautiful lady Ningguang.” Beidou said. “No offense, but you’ve got a long way to go before you’re at Ning’s level.” She grinned at both of them. “See you back on deck, later - make sure you drink some water, it’s a hot one.”

She left them there with a final wave, not waiting for them to respond.

“Ningguang?” Heizou raised an eyebrow.

“Captain Beidou and the Tianquan have a…complicated relationship.” Kazuha said, picking up his chopsticks to prod at the fried fish on his plate. “I find it best not to think about it.”

“Well, now I need to know more.” Heizou said.

“Heizou, please.”

“You can’t expect me to drop it after you give me an opening like that.” Heizou said, taking a bite of his own fish. It was, perhaps predictably, very fresh. “It’s like you dropped a puzzle in front of me and said ‘oh, Heizou, please don’t solve this puzzle.’”

“I’m not helping.” Kazuha said firmly. “Some things are not meant to be known.”

Heizou smirked at him. “Coward.”

Kazuha looked exasperated, going back to his lunch and ignoring Heizou’s continued little requests for information. His face was tanned from his morning in the sun, freckles a bit darker. Heizou wanted to trace them with a finger, to find constellations in the familiar patterns of his face.

They finished lunch quickly and headed back above deck. Heizou followed Kazuha around as he moved various boxes, tied and untied various ropes, and generally seemed very competent. It was, unfortunately, quite attractive.

“I think you have a bit of sunburn.” Kazuha said as he set down the latest (very large and very heavy) box and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “You’re all red.”

“Uh hu.” Heizou said. “Sunburn. Sure.”

Kazuha picked up another improbably large box. “You should go sit inside for a little bit - getting overheated is dangerous on the open ocean. Especially when we don’t have any healers.”

Heizou was unwilling to tell Kazuha that he was actually bright red because watching Kazuha be competent and strong was really doing it for him, so he followed the advice and went to sit in the shade for a while. He chatted idly with a few of the sailors who did more administrative tasks - the quartermaster in particular was curious about the inner workings of the Tri-Commission - and enjoyed the feeling of the ocean breezes. The wind was playful here, free and expansive in a way that it wasn’t in Inazuma.

“Feeling better?” Kazuha came to sit beside him, a large canteen full of water in one hand. He gave it to Heizou without waiting for a response.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Heizou took a long sip anyway- it was kind of hot. “You’ve been out in the sun for longer than I have.”

“I’m used to it.” He took the canteen from Heizou when he offered, taking a drink himself.

“I’ll catch up soon.” Heizou said. “Be a sailing expert by the time we get to Natlan.”

“We’re not going to Natlan.” Kazuha said and Heizou smirked at him, knocking his shoulder against Kazuha’s.

“Have you been there?” He asked.

“No - but we’ve taken passengers from there before.” Kazuha said. “I’d like to visit someday.”

“Maybe we’ll need to.” Heizou said. “With those two dead Visions - who knows where they’ll lead us.”

Kazuha was silent for a long moment before he looked over at Kazuha. His expression was grave. “I…had meant to talk to you about that.”

“Oh?”

He reached into his pocket and pulled them both out - they gleamed like the eyes of dead fish in the afternoon sun, cloudy and lifeless. He pressed one into Heizou’s hand. “Try to feel for elemental energy.”

Heizou gave him a questioning look, but did as he requested. The Vision was the same temperature as the air around it, surface smooth and unblemished. But when he closed his eyes and tried to reach out, the same way he had with all of the others, there was nothing to find. He had assumed before that he just wasn’t good enough, that Kazuha would surely be able to sense something he hadn’t, but he wasn’t sure anymore. The dead Vision was a void in his fingers, less alive than even a rock or flower would be.

“There isn’t any.” He said. “Is there?”

Kazuha sighed. “No.” He said. “There isn’t.” He looked down at the Vision in his own hands, cupping it gently. “There were always a few sparks left in the…in my friend’s Vision. So I assumed it would be the same for these, but…” He ran a thumb over the cloudy surface. “I suspect that what was left was the elemental remains of the muso no hitotachi. That or just the last vestiges of a very strong ambition.”

Heizou was quiet. He hadn’t heard Kazuha talk about his friend in such concrete terms since they’d reunited. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to say, how he was supposed to react, so he stayed still and silent.

“I do want to return these to the people who left them behind.” Kazuha murmured. “Or their families, at the very least. But…” He looked up and met Heizou’s eyes. “I don’t think that we can.”

“Should we give them back to the Tenryou Commission, then?” Heizou asked. “I think they would understand.”

Kazuha’s hand tightened on the Vision he was still holding. “I…I don’t know. Give me some time to think about it.”

“Okay.” Heizou handed him back the Vision he was holding. “Take your time.”

 

*****

 

They arrived in Liyue Harbor after sunset - it was a remarkable sight from the sea, lit up with bright lanterns and alive with the bustle of crowds even late at night. Heizou leaned over the railing as they arrived, devouring the unfamiliar sites and sounds of the place.

Kazuha joined him, a smile on his lips. “Impressive, right?”

“Right.” Heizou agreed. “Is that a Scheznayan flag? Do they trade here?”

“They have a permanent outpost - the Northland Bank.” Kazuha said. “But I wouldn’t recommend going there.”

“And is that a Sumeran ship?” He pointed. “The sails are shaped differently - I read about that once. I never thought I’d actually see it.”

Heizou leaned even further over, wanting to get a better look, when a tug at the back of his collar dragged him back. He turned, ready to confront whoever had done it only to be greeted by a grinning captain Beidou.

“Easy, kid.” She said. “Don’t fall into the harbor.”

“I wasn’t going to fall-” He insisted but she ignored him.

“You two bunking down here or finding something in the city?” She directed the question at Kazuha.

He tilted his head, considering. “We might as well go stay in the city - we’ll be here a few days and I’m sure Heizou is tired of the hammocks.”

Heizou, who was very much tired of the hammocks, just shrugged. “Either way is fine.”

“I know a decent place in Chihu Rock - should be a quick walk from here.” Beidou said. “They’ve got an onsen out back too, or the Liyuean equivalent of it. Here, give me a piece of paper and I’ll write down the directions…”

Kazuha obligingly handed her a scrap of paper and she began to scrawl out directions in truly awful handwriting.

“Does she expect us to read that?” Heizou asked in an undertone.

“It’s an acquired skill.”

“Just for that, I’ll send you somewhere with bedbugs instead.” Beidou said, finishing up and handing the paper back to Kazuha. “You need any mora?”

“Captain, I do have my own money.” Kazuha sounded faintly exasperated, like this was a discussion they had had before.

“Just making sure!” She ruffled his hair and then Heizou’s. “Stay safe kids - and remember, we’re only here for three days. Any longer and you can find another ride home.”

“She really will leave us.” Kazuha warned as they stepped into the chattering, glittering crowd swarming Liyue Harbor.

“Seems impossible that we’ll find one person is all of…this.” Heizou gestured to the crush of people in front of them. Liyue Harbor was massive, larger than Inazuma City by several magnitudes. It was late, but there were more people here than Heizou had ever seen in his entire life. “How are there so many people?”

Kazuha just laughed. “You get used to it.”

“Somehow I doubt that.” Heizou said, but allowed Kazuha to start off through the crowd. It was fascinating - the clothes people wore were different, the cuts and fashions different than anything Inazuman. Even the colors were different - more earthy, warm tones rather than the cool blues and purples that dominated Inazuma. There seemed to be more foreigners mixed into the crowd as well - Heizou caught glimpses of thick Scheznayan fabrics, the buttons and breeches of Mondstatian bards, glittering brocade fabrics of Sumeru…

“We’re going to Chihu Rock - it’s up this way.” Kazuha said, navigating the docks with a practiced ease. “It’s where a majority of the dining establishments are located - it’s central to the city as well so it will be a good place to start our search.”

“Sounds good.” Heizou glanced at the stalls they passed - a woman called out from one selling diaphanous scarves, her wares caught up and fluttering in the breeze like delicate sakura petals. A few were sewn with cheap glass gems on the hems that glittered in the light of the lanterns. “I always knew this place was the trading hub of Tevyat, but…”

“It’s one thing to know and another to actually see it.” Kazuha said. “I assure you, the landscape outside of the city is just as unique as the harbor itself. We have some time - would you like to do a bit of sightseeing once we’ve returned the Vision?”

“Sure.” Heizou took a few jogging steps as they navigated around a large group of merchants speaking in a language he didn’t know. “As long as we’ve got enough time.”

“I expect we should - I’ll check tonight, but as long as we don’t need to go further than Wangshu Inn we should have plenty of time to look around after we return it.”

“Wangshu Inn?”

“It’s a remarkable place - it’s located in a massive tree.” Kazuha said. “Another companion of the Traveler - an adeptus - often stays there.”

“The adepti, right.” Heizou followed as Kazuha started up a set of stone steps that led further into the city. “I’d heard stories about them - they’re like yokai, right?”

“In some ways, yes.” Kazuha said. “But many of them have pledged their loyalty to the Archon, Rex Lapis, and by extension, this city and its people. Some have stayed as guardians after the death of the Geo Archon while others have moved on.”

Heizou had heard about the death of Rex Lapis a little after the Vision Hunt Decree had been repealed. He had expected more tension from the city that had lost the Archon who had protected them since its founding, but the people of Liyue seemed unbothered. They rushed past, hurrying to the docks or the shops or the glittering buildings that lined the streets.

“Ah, here we are.” They’d arrived at a small building tucked between a long row of restaurants. Kazuha opened the door, holding it so Heizou could walk in after him.

Inside, the place was small and a bit weathered, but clean and cozy. Kazuha was right - Beidou had good instincts for this kind of thing.

“Good evening.” Kazuha made his way over to the desk and started to talk to the woman behind it as Heizou examined the small lobby, distracted by the unfamiliar types of art that dotted the room.

“Heizou?” He looked up from the ornate vase he’d been bending down to peer into to find Kazuha looking at him with an amused expression. “Are you ready to head to our room?”

Heizou straightened up, hands going to his hips. “Lead the way.”

“We have an open-air bath in the back if you boys are interested.” The innkeeper, an old woman with smile lines, told him as he followed Kazuha towards the rickety stairs that led up to their room. “It’s not as fancy as the one they have at some of the places up on the slope or, Archons know, the ones they have in Inazuma, but it should warm you right up and relax you a bit!”

“Sounds perfect, thanks.” Heizou smiled. “We’ll check it out tomorrow.”

“There’s some fresh robes in the room.” She said. “Have fun, boys!”

Heizou blushed. Was he imagining her suggestive tone or did she truly think they were…like that? Well, they had only gotten one room. It wouldn’t be a wild assumption to make. Should he have offered to get his own room?

“Sorry.” He said as they arrived in front of their room.

“What for?” Kazuha glanced back from unlocking the door.

“I could have gotten my own room.”

Kazuha looked at him strangely. “Why?” He unlocked the door and pushed it open, not waiting for Heizou’s response. “You can give me your half of the mora later if you want, but it was cheap - Beidou’s budget-conscious.”

Heizou hummed noncommittally. So it didn’t bother him to share a room, then. Well, it would make sense. He was a wanderer and a pirate. Neither were occupations that led to an abundance of privacy.

Their room was small and fairly bare - there was a bare floor, a single, small chest of drawers, two low beds, and an attached washroom. There was also a tiny attached balcony visible from beyond a weathered door with panes of thick, warped glass.The walls were painted a faded blue with a single picture of a flower hung on one wall.

They both took off their shoes. Heizou hung his coat on the peg by the door, Kazuha doing the same with his scarf.

“Let's check the Vision.” Kazuha said, slinging his bag into the bed closest to the door and sitting down on the edge.

Heizou set his own on the bed opposite and sat facing Kazuha, watching as he took the glinting Electro Vision from the bag. His hair was messy today, still mussed by their day on the sea.

Kazuha cupped the Vision in his palms. It was bright in the dim room, casting a purple glow over both of them. “They say no one has gotten an Electro Vision in more than a year.” Heizou said, watching as the light inside sparked and broke into fractals of itself.

“I heard that.” Kazuha said. “Do you think it’s true?”

“I’m not sure.” Heizou said. “Following up would be difficult - people get Visions all over Teyvat and it’s not like they’re registered anywhere. It’s entirely possible there have been new Electro Visions that have just escaped our notice.”

“Hmmm.” Kazuha ran a thumb over the surface, eyes a bit unfocused. “I suppose so.”

“So, can you tell where it belongs?” Heizou scooted forward, his knees almost bumping up against Kazuha’s.

“I haven’t checked it since Watatsumi.” Kazuha said. “Let me…” His eyes fluttered shut and his breathing slowed as he focused. Heizou did his best to wait patiently, gaze flicking between Kazuha’s face and the Vision in his hands. After a few long moments, Kazuha’s eyes snapped open and met Heizou’s. “We’re in luck.”

“Oh yeah?” Heizou straightened up.

“Mmhm.” Kazuha handed him the Vision, pressing it carefully into his hand. “Check for yourself.”

Heizou took it, holding it gently. The elemental energy almost seemed to thrash against his grip, as pulsing and vital as holding a bit of a lightning bolt in his hand. He shut his eyes and focused, feeling for the place where the elemental energy reached out. And..

“Aha!” He blinked his eyes open after only a few moments. He could feel it, dragging at the Vision like a thread pulled taught. “It’s strong.”

“And close.” Kazuha agreed. “We should be able to find the owner relatively quickly.”

“Good.” Heizou handed the Vision back to Kazuha. A few errant sparks danced between them, more ticklish than painful. “So, should we return the Vision tomorrow and then sight-see? Looks like we’ll have more than enough time.”

He smiled. “I’ll admit, I’m quite excited to show you Liyue. There are some truly remarkable sights.”

“I’ll look forward to that, then.” Heizou tilted his head, leaned a bit closer. “Thanks, Kazuha.”

“Mmm.” His smile went wider, his eyes warmer. “Of course, Heizou.”

 

*****

 

“The restaurant is just past here - Beidou brought me my first time in the city.” Kazuha said, learning the way down a winding alleyway and up a flight of stone stairs. “She’s friends with the daughter of the owner.”

It was early morning, the sun just peeking over the rooftops, but the streets were already busy. Dock workers, tourists, and merchants all rushed past as they made their way to the restaurant Kazuha had insisted they have breakfast at.

Heizou followed him down another alleyway and out onto a wide thoroughfare - air was thick with the smell of fragrant spices, wafting out from open storefronts and stalls set up in the scant space between them. Chihu Rock was a maze, buildings constructed close together as if space had run out a long time ago and they were doing their best to fill in more where they could.

“It’s this one.” Kazuha gestured to one of the many restaurants, a low stone building with a few patrons already sitting at the tables sitting out front. “It’s called Wanmin - they make the most interesting foods I’ve ever tasted.”

“Interesting, huh?” Heizou said. “Well, now I’m intrigued.”

Kazuha laughed. “I don’t think Xiangling - that’s the daughter that Beidou knows - is around right now, so we’ll likely be spared the slime condensate. But her father cooks as well as she does, if a bit more traditionally.”

“Slime condensate?” Heizou repeated warily.

“It’s actually quite flavorful.” Kazuha said, picking his way through the tables out front to greet an older man with laugh lines on his face. “Good morning, Chef Mao.”

“Mister Kaedehara!” The chef boomed. “Back in Liyue at last!”

“Not for long.” Kazuha said with a smile.

“Ah, too bad.” He sighed. “You and your crew eat enough for three normal crews and that Captain of yours always tips generously. Tell her to come and see me.”

“Of course.” Kazuha said.

“So you here for breakfast?” Chef Mao asked.

Kazuha nodded. “My friend here,” He gestured to Heizou who waved, “Is new to Liyue and hasn’t had Liyuean breakfast before - I was hoping you could help me introduce him.”

“Say no more!” The Chef clapped his hands together. “You two go take a seat anywhere - I’ll have something really special out for you soon.” He caught Kazuha’s eye. “No meat, right?”

Kazuha’s shoulders tensed a fraction. “If you don’t mind.”

“Of course not - that’s an easy one!” He laughed. “I had someone here a while ago who insisted I make authentic Schenznayan borscht - no request is too much for me when it comes to feed my customers.”

Kazuha glanced at Heizou. “But Heizou…”

“I don’t need anything with meat either.” Heizou said. “Don’t worry.”

“I’ll get started then.” Chef Mao ushered them to a table before he bustled back to the kitchen, humming tunelessly.

“So, what am I in for with a Liyuean breakfast?” Heizou asked as soon as the man was out of earshot.

“You’ll see.” Kazuha said with a smile. “I’m positive you’ll like at least most of it.”

“You know I’m not picky.” Heizou said with a wave of his hand. “I eat takeout for almost all of my meals.”

“You really shouldn’t.” Kazuha said.

Heizou just shrugged. “I get bored when I cook and end up burning things. Not always, but often enough that it’s…not ideal.”

Across the table, Kazuha seemed to be trying not to laugh. “I’ve seen you successfully cook before.”

Heizou remembered the time in the kitchen at the station. Owada had chewed the entire station out about his missing fish, but had never figured out Heizou was the one who’d done it. “I can be a good cook if I pay attention.” Said Heizou. “I just usually don’t bother.”

“Of course.” Kazuha said.

Heizou was about to defend his (non-existent) honor as a chef when a striking woman walking past the restaurant spotted them, or at least spotted Kazuha. She walked straight to him, her gleaming red eyes fixing on him.

The woman was beautiful in a sharp kind of way, dressed in yellow and white with a sly expression and a Geo Vision on her hip. Heizou was immediately sure that her outfit was more expensive than all of his clothes put together.

“Ah, Kaedehara.” She said. “I trust your appearance means that the Alcor is back in Liyue Harbor.”

“That’s right, Tainquan.” Kazuha said with a respectful nod of his head.

Heizou did a double-take. This was the Tianquan Ninguangg that Beidou had a complicated relationship with? She was the kind of person who seemed like they could cut you if you looked at them the wrong way, let alone touch them. Beidou was a brave woman, it seemed, in more ways that Heizou had thought.

“And where is your Captain?” She asked, voice deceptively light.

“I believe Captain Beidou spent last night on the ship.” Kazuha said.

“Drunk with the crew no doubt.” She said idly. “Hm, I didn’t see her ship in the harbor this morning. Is she docked elsewhere?”

“I believe the ship is in the Guyun Stone Forest.” Kazuha said. “Anchored in the usual place by the islands.”

She huffed a sigh. “Of course it is.” She looked away, presumably towards the Guyun Stone Forest. Her painted lips curled into a smirk. “Well, maybe I should send some Millileth troops to check up on her. We have had so many issues with sea monsters out that way, after all.”

“I trust your judgment, Taintaun.” Kazuha said, his usual placid smile going a bit fixed.

“Oh, you should.” She looked back and fixed her piercing gaze on him. “Do tell Beidou that she owes me a visit when you see her next. She didn’t get to finish our last game of…chess.”

Kazuha let out a sad high-pitched noise like a deflating Anemo slime.

Ninguangg didn’t seem to notice. She raised a hand and gave them both a wave. “Enjoy the harbor, boys.”

She flounced away before Heizou could come up with a response or Kazuha could compose himself.

“So.” Heizou drawled. “That’s the Tianquan, hmmm?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Kazuha said darkly.

“Kazuha, come on….” Heizou said, only to be interrupted by the arrival of their breakfast. Chef Mao deposited a platter stacked high with food and a steaming pot of tea, telling them to shout if they needed anything.

Heizou peered curiously at the food once he’d retreated, the unfamiliar dishes smelling strange but appetizing. There was a stack of fried dough sticks with a dish of something to dip them in, buns that emerged from their steamer in a billowing cloud, and a plate of flaky pancakes with scallions in them.

“Youtiao with soymilk,” Kazuha pointed at the fried dough, “Baozi,” Then the steamed buns, “And cong you bing,” And lastly the scallion pancakes. He selected one for himself and took a bite.

“Smells good.” Heizou said, eyeing the fried sticks of dough and pancakes appreciatively. He’d always loved fried foods.

The tea that the chef had brought with smelled different than the tea Heizou was used to as well, but still enticing enough that he poured himself some before doing the same for Kazuha, pushing the cup across the table absently as he eyed the spread of breakfast food.

“Thanks.” Kazuha said. “Let me know if you have more questions or would like to order more food.”

“This seems good enough for now.” Heizou said, helping himself to the food between them. “Did you eat like this when you were here?”

Kazuha shook his head. “Generally, I’d eat on the Alcor. The rest of the crew was rarely up early enough for a proper breakfast. I grew accustomed to having something small and joining them for lunch in the city later.”

“S’good.” Heizou said through a mouthful of friend dough. He swallowed. “You were missing out.”

“Perhaps.” Kazuha took a few scallion pancakes for himself.

Neither of them spoke as they polished off breakfast, only pausing to occasionally gulp down more tea. Heizou hadn’t realized how hungry he was until he’d been sat down with food in front of him.

“So.” Kazuha said once the table was empty. “Shall we find our mysterious Vision holder now?”

“Sounds good.” Heizou fished in his mora pouch for what they’d need to cover breakfast. “I need to do some walking after that meal. It was delicious, but man alive that was a lot of food.”

“I can take care of it,” Kazuha was taking out his own mora, but Heizou waved him off.

“I still owe you for our room.” Heizou said. “Don’t worry about it.”

He relented with a sigh, waving down Heizou’s offer to let him finish the tea and instead pulled the Electro Vision from his bag before standing to go. They both waved to Chef Mao on the way out, rejoining the crush of people hurrying through Chihu Rock. It was midmorning now, sun high in the sky and the crowd out in full force.

Kazuha occasionally glanced at the Vision as they walked, eyes narrowed as he darted through the crowd. Heizou followed, eyes fixed on Kazuha’s back. He had a brief and unpleasant reminder of chasing Kazuha through the empty, rain-soaked streets of Inazuma City. He’d been holding an Electro Vision then too, hand clutching so tightly despite the way it seared his palm bloody.

“Hey!” Heizou darted forward to walk at his side instead, shouldering past a group of dock workers and a few government officials huddled over a clipboard. “Kazuha!”

Kazuha blinked and looked up from the Vision, meeting Heizou’s gaze. “Hm? Is something wrong?” His steps had slowed, but they couldn’t stop in the crush of steadily moving people.

“No, it’s nothing.” Heizou steeled himself and grabbed Kazuha’s wrist with a hand that was probably clammy. “I just don’t want to lose you.”

“Oh.” Kazuha glanced down at Heizou’s hand, but then looked up and nodded. “Okay. It is a bit busy this morning.”

“A bit?” Heizou adjusted his grip, making sure he wasn’t holding too tight.

“You should see the harbor during Lantern Rite.” He said. “Now, come on. I think it’s over this way.”

Heizou let himself be pulled. It was reassuring to have Kazuha by his side instead of chasing after him, eclipsing the memory of that day in the rain with this one of hurrying down winding alleys and up red-painted stairs side by side with the sun bright and clear overhead.

“I’m almost positive it’s somewhere in Chihu Rock.” Kazuha was saying. “It is a large area - the poorer people in the city tend to live on the far side, closer to the docks, but there are some apartments here that are very popular because they’re so close to some of the best restaurants.”

“Would refugees from Inazuma be closer to the docks, do you think?”

Kazuha nodded. “Let’s stop here for a moment.” He pulled Heizou into a low, stone doorway to what looked to be some sort of bar. The sign advertising hours informed them that the place wouldn’t be open for several hours yet.

The doorway was a welcome respite from the crushing crowd, but it was small. They were standing close together, close enough that their shoulders pressed together. Heizou dropped Kazuha’s wrist, hand tingling at the sudden absence.

“Let’s see…” Kazuha murmured, holding the flickering Vision up between them. Its purple light reflected strangely in his eyes, changing their color for a moment. “Yes, it feels close.”

Heizou swallowed, mouth dry. “I guess it was easier in Konda Village when there were, like, a dozen people.”

“Ha, just a bit.” Kazuha looked up from the Vision. “I think your suggestion is good - let’s head back towards the docks. If I remember right, there’s a small neighborhood that is mostly refugees from Inazuma.”

“Sure.” Heizou murmured.

Kazuha’s lips parted and he paused for a moment, just looked at Heizou, before he turned abruptly and started off into the crowd again. Heizou followed him after a moment, jogging to catch up. After a moment of hesitation, he caught Kazuha’s wrist again.

Kazuha glanced back, but didn’t comment, instead leading their way through the crowd and down to the docks.

It took close to an hour to navigate to the right apartment. As they got closer to the docks, housing got smaller, closer together and in worse condition. By the time they reached the right apartment, the wood was salt-encrusted and warping, windows covered by oiled paper instead of glass.

“This is the one.” Kazuha said, hand still tight around the Electro Vision. “I’m sure of it.”

Heizou nodded and leaned over his shoulder to knock on the door.

There was rustling inside and a moment later the door opened, hinges creaking in protest. A woman stood there, dressed in worn clothes the same off-white color as wheat. She was older, probably well into her 60s, with a mane of untamed gray hair and a weathered face. She was taller than either of them by probably half a foot.

“How can I help you boys?” She folded her arms over her chest and looked down at them.

Kazuha held up the Vision. “We’re from Inazuma. We have something that belongs to you.”

For a long moment, she just stared. Her face was blank - even Heizou had no idea what she might be thinking.

“You should come in.” She said eventually. She didn’t make it a question and turned away, clearly expecting them to follow. They exchanged a glance and a shrug before following her inside. The apartment was small and smelled strongly of fish, but was relatively clean and only a bit cramped. She led them to her kitchen and pointed at the weathered table and chairs crammed into a corner. “Sit - I’ll make us some tea.”

They did so, exchanging another bemused glance. All of the others they’d seen had been deeply impacted by the sight of their Vision - most had cried about it and had been desperate to take it back. This woman seemed confused by their visit.

“You’re lucky.” She said, pulling a kettle down from a shelf. “My son is still out on the boats for a few more days - if he was in town we’d be out having breakfast around now.”

“Your son is a fisherman?” Kazuha was using his politest voice, the one that Heizou had internally dubbed his “clan manners” voice.

“Just like his father. And mine too, as a matter of fact.” She lit the squat little stove in the corner, extinguishing the match with a flick of her wrist. “Our family has always been fishermen - we were back when we lived in Inazuma and so we are in Liyue too. Things might change, but fish are the same everywhere.”

“I suppose so.” Kazuha said. “So, did you come here after the Decree?”

She shook her head. “Oh no, I’ve been here for nearly a decade now.”

Kazuha and Heizou exchanged another confused glance.

“So this Vision…” Heizou said slowly. “It is yours, isn’t it?”

“Hm?” She turned away from the stove and joined them at the table. “Oh yes, that was mine.”

“But you didn’t lose it in the Decree?”

“No.” She sat down across from them. “I left it behind a long time ago.”

“You left it behind?” Kazuha echoed. “In what way?”

“I stopped using it years ago, so when we left Inazuma I left it with my neighbor. He was a Tenryou Officer, you see. I told him to lock it up at the station - I suppose it must have gotten mixed up with the Visions taken from the Decree.” She frowned. “I do feel bad about that - when I used it I couldn’t imagine losing it.”

“I’ve never met anyone who just…stopped using their Vision before.” Heizou said.

She shrugged. “I was an ambitious young lady when I received it. But things changed, you know?”

“Can I ask what things?”

“Oh, sure, it’s not like it’s a secret.” She said. “I told you that I grew up as part of a family of fishermen?” They both nodded. “Well, when I was a girl I wanted anything but that life. I wanted to be a famous sword fighter. Oh, I really, really wanted it.”

“And you got a Vision?” Heizou guessed.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I was barely fourteen - young to receive one, I’m told.”

Heizou had been around that age when he’d gotten his. Most people received their Visions in young adulthood, when their ambitions and desires became more defined.

“But, anyway.” She said. “I trained for a long time, traveled all over the islands learning about how to fight and eventually joined a dojo. I rose through the ranks quickly - I was one of the only students with a Visions and I never stopped working either.” The kettle started whistling. “Oh, that’s the tea - let me go fix it.”

She got up before they could protest and started fussing with the teapot, adding tea leaves and grabbing weathered mugs from a small cabinet. “All I did for years was learn about fighting.” She said, not looking up from the tea she was preparing. “It was exhausting, but I was so driven. I can’t really remember how that felt now, but it was my whole life.”

“Still.” She came back to the table, a tray with three mugs of tea set on it in her hands. “I did manage to make some friends - eventually fell in love too. We got married when I was 22 - it was funny. He was a fisherman, just like my family.”

She handed Heizou a mug and then Kazuha. They both thanked her, but she waved it down. “I’m a mother and a grandmother many times over, boys. I can’t stand to see someone without a cup of tea. No snacks, I’m afraid. My son is the one to do most of the shopping.”

“So…what happened?” Heizou prompted. “Your Vision…were you still using it after you got married?”

“Oh, of course.” She said. “He was always supportive of my dream - he had to be. It was all I was, back then. But then…” She ran a finger over the rim of her own mug. “Things changed.”

Heizou sipped his own tea - surprisingly, the temperature was perfect. He let out a small hum of appreciation.

“There was another student at my dojo and I suppose you could call her my rival. We spent years trying to surpass each other…I don’t know when it stopped being friendly.” She sighed. “But one day, what was supposed to be a simple spar turned bloody. She ran my shoulder through.” She tapped her arm. “And I nearly severed her arm. We nearly died, the both of us.”

Heizou glanced at Kazuha, but he was watching the woman with an intensely focused gaze.

“She challenged me to a rematch once we had recovered - outside of dojo rules, just her and me and our swords.” She said. “And I suppose that I knew…one of us wouldn’t walk away. I would die or she would die or perhaps,” She smiled ruefully. “We would just be done with it and die together.”

“And you didn’t want to go?”

She shook her head. “No - I was looking forward to it. It was a chance to prove that I was stronger, that I was the best. But then my husband…he begged me. My parents too, they begged me not to go.”

“I didn’t know, not until the night it was scheduled to go, if I would go or not. I put on my sword and I stood in front of the door. But when I looked at my husband, sitting alone at the table and looking like he was preparing to see me on a funeral pyre…” She shrugged and took a long sip of her tea. “I didn’t go. And the next day, I put my Vision in a box beneath the floorboards. Didn’t look at it again for years.”

“Why?” Kazuha asked, voice soft and strange.

“Well,” She tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I had people who cared about me. And in the end, I didn’t want to let them down. So I set it aside.”

Heizou had never heard of someone just rejecting their Vision. He hadn’t thought it was even possible.

“I let it go.” She said. “And I found new dreams to live for. That’s what happens when you move on from something - eventually, everything falls into place.”

Heizou took another long sip of his tea. “I see. I guess you didn’t need us to return this at all, did you?”

She laughed. “Suppose not - I’ll keep it though, if it’s all the same. My grandkids don’t believe me when I tell them I had a Vision once - I won’t use it, but they’ll be excited to see it.”

“Sure.” Heizou said. “We were just asked to return it, not to ask what the holder wanted to use it for.”

“Well, thank you.” She said. “You didn’t have to come all this way. I’m glad you did, though.” The Vision glinted on the table. She reached out to run a finger over it, Electro dancing under the glass like a storm barely caged. “Feels right to see it again. After all this time.”

They said their goodbyes not long after. Or Heizou said their goodbyes and Kazuha nodded mutely. It was obvious that something about the woman’s story had bothered him. He was uneasy, lips drawn into a tight frown when they exited the apartment to the bright sunlight of Chihu Rock.

They walked in silence for a bit in the vague direction of their hotel.

“You okay?” Heizou asked.

Kazuha just nodded.

They walked a while longer, jostled by the crowd.

Then Kazuha stopped, the crowd splitting around him like a river meeting a boulder. Heizou turned to him, confused. “Kazuha?”

“Do you mind if I take a while to myself?” He said. “I can meet you back at the inn later this evening. I just…I need to take a little while.”

“Oh, sure.” Heizou tilted his head, meeting Kazuha’s eyes. “Are sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine.” He smiled and it looked fragile at the corners. “Can you find your way back?”

“Yeah, I can.” Heizou said. “I…I guess that I’ll see you at dinner?”

Kazuha nodded and left him there, bewildered, in the middle of a crowd of shoppers and merchants. It took him a while, but he made it back to the inn by himself. He stood on the doorstep and thought about going inside, but…

But.

Kazuha had looked so distant, like he was crumbling at the edges, and Heizou had never been good at letting things go.

It only took him a few minutes to feel a familiar Anemo energy on the wind and follow it. He was better at it now - Anemo was uncommon enough that it didn’t take long to track Kazuha out of the harbor and up a sheer cliff. It took a while to climb, even with Anemo, but when Heizou hauled himself over he saw Kazuha perched on a rise a little ways away. From his spot, he must be able to see the whole harbor.

“Quite a view.” Heizou said, putting his hands on his hips and catching his breath. He was tired - the climb up hadn’t been easy.

“Mmm.” Kazuha was hugging his knees. He looked smaller than usual, shoulders hunched and bottom half of his face hidden behind his knees.

“Do you want me to leave?” Heizou asked.

After a long moment, Kazuha shook his head.

Heizou walked to his side and sat down on the grass beside Kazuha. Salty breezes were coming in off of the sea, ruffling their hair and making the tall grass around them ripple like the surface of the ocean.

“I’m sorry.” Kazuha said after a while. “I shouldn’t have gone off on my own like that.”

“No! No…it’s okay.” Heizou said. “You’re allowed to be upset, Kazuha.”

He let go of his knees and spread his legs out in front of him. He leaned back on his hands, eyes fixed on the cloudless sky above them like blue paint spilled on a canvas. “I’m not upset. Not really.”

The wind picked up a bit, making the clothes that Kazuha wore flutter. In the distance, Heizou could see a lone kite shaped like a brown and gold dragon ripple in the breeze high about Liyue Harbor.

“I have always been entranced by grand ambitions.” Kazuha said. “The people who I admire most…Captain Beidou, General Sangonomiya, my traveling partner, you…” Heizou’s stomach lurched. “They are people of endless determination and will. So I suppose it caught me off guard to meet someone who was so willing to turn away from their ambition. To set it aside as one would set aside a tool they had no more use for. To me, a Vision has always been more than that.”

“What does your Vision mean to you, Kazuha?” Heizou murmured. He had never asked. He’d wondered, he’d assumed, but he’d never asked.

“If one's heart is empty, all under heaven is empty. But if one's heart is pure, all under heaven is pure.” He met Heizou’s uncomprehending gaze and smiled. “I suppose that’s my way of saying that I will walk the path I choose without regrets. My Vision is a sign of that choice.” He tilted his head. “And what does your Vision mean to you?”

“It’s not anything beautiful like yours.” Heizou said. “I believe that when a crime is committed, it is already too late. I want to make a world where no one has to suffer like that - where there’s no need for people like me and everyone can be free. My Vision is my resolve. No matter what it takes.”

Kazuha nodded, expression still distant. Heizou was starting to see the shape of his distraction, of a tall man dressed in red with a purple scarf.

High overhead, a bird let out a shrill cry.

“Do you know…” Heizou said slowly. “What his Vision meant?”

Kazuha didn’t ask who Heizou meant. He leaned forward, peering out over the sea like he could see Inazuma on the other side. “He resented it a bit, I think. Not at first, but after the Decree. To be recognized by the gods has never been as simple as just being a blessing. At first, I think all he wanted to do was become stronger for its own sake. But in the end, I think he decided that if the gods were going to watch then they could at least do him the courtesy of fearing him.”

“He always walked into to find the strongest storms he could find.” Heizou said.

Kazuha nodded. “I know that he never would have turned away from that challenge.”

“That woman with the Electro Vision - she reminded you of him.” Heizou said. “But she turned away instead.”

“Yes. I don’t know if I would have wanted him to turn away like she did, not for me.” He sighed. “And I never asked. I never would have asked. I knew him so well…so I know I wasn’t on his mind when he made the choice he did.”

“I think you were, though.” Heizou said. Kazuha looked at him, a question in his eyes. “We saw each other once, before what happened. And he told me all of these things about you, little things that he thought I should know.”

“What kind of things?”

“Things,” Heizou said. “About how to take care of you.”

That made Kazuha laugh, a sharp sound that was more pain than amusement. “I took care of him too. We…we took care of each other. But still…I think that maybe…maybe he thought he could win. That he could make them all fear him after all.”

“Yeah.” Heizou thought about a figure against a dark sky, a boy with a scarf the color of a new bruise. “I think that he did.”

“The days after I left Inazuma were the hardest time in my life. I felt as if I would never be happy again, as if the sea of grief I now swam in would cover my head and drown me.” He didn’t look away from the endless expanse of blue below them. “But, eventually, I learned to swim. And then, even later, I learned how to be happy again.”

He looked over at Heizou and smiled, a bit melancholy but real. “He was my best friend and so many other things. I hardly knew how to be myself without him - I still feel as if I am learning that, sometimes. I’ll never forget him or let go of the love we shared.” He took a deep breath and held it for a long moment before letting it go. “But I’ve accepted that he’s gone. The past is over and it won’t come back - I will walk the path I choose without regrets.”

“I envy you sometimes.” Heizou said. “The past has never let me go easy. I can still feel blood on my hands, some days.”

“And I wake up in the middle of the night and reach for a man who is not there. Who will never be there again.” Kazuha said. “Grief is never completely gone, Heizou. All we can do is survive it.”

After that, they were both quiet for a long while. Heizou had never been good with silence, but the day around them was loud. Birds called out in the distance, far below the waves beat a steady rhythm against the shore, the wind meandered past with a gentle hum, crickets sang from somewhere unseen.

“I can’t help but wonder, sometimes, if it was worth it to him to see the sight he saw.”

“I hope it was.” Heizou said, honestly.

“Yes.” A sudden wind blew past, tugging at Kazuha’s scarf and ruffling his untidy hair. “I do too.”

 

*****

 

A sudden downpour caught them on the way back to the hotel.

It was over almost as soon as it started, the few clouds that had rolled in to soak them torn apart by blustering winds almost the moment that the rain had stopped.

Kazuha apologized for missing the signs as they walked into the lobby, both dripping on the floor. Heizou was determinedly focusing on other things, trying not to be swallowed by memories of dark blood turning his only nice yukata black and slick in the lantern light. His hands were sore from climbing, his hair was getting too long, Kazuha looked nice with his clothes plastered close to his body.

“Storm got you, did it?” The innkeeper chuckled when she saw them. “We get quick ones like that at the end of summer - be glad it’s not one of the ones that goes on for days.”

Heizou agreed with a sharp shake of his head. “You said you have baths out back, right? Are they still open?”

“Sure.” She said amiably. “There’s a little awning over them too - should still be nice and hot for you boys.”

“Our thanks.” Kazuha led the way up the stairs and back into their small room. His hair was damp, curling more than it usually did at the ends.

“Did you see the robes the innkeeper mentioned when we got here? I’d like to get out of these.” Heizou gestured down at the clothes sticking to him.

It wasn’t as bad as it usually was, with Kazuha’s eyes in him in this small, cozy little room. It still made him sick, made him shudder, but it was easier knowing that Kazuha knew and knowing that Kazuha knew why.

“I’ll check the washroom.” Kazuha said. “Can you see if there’s a place for us to hang our clothes on the balcony?”

“Sure.” Heizou said. Kazuha nodded and headed the the washroom. Heizou went over and opened the balcony door. There was a thin line strung from one end to the other, clearly there to hang clothes. Heizou didn’t hesitate to sling his haori coat over it and, after a moment of hesitation, shrugged off his arm guards, the mesh sleeves underneath and his shirt to do the same. The sooner his clothes were dry the better.

“Heizou, I found -” Kazuha stopped talking once he came out of the washroom and looked across the inn room to see Heizou standing in front of the balcony half naked. His eyes were wide, his cheeks flushed.

“Sorry.” Heizou laughed, embarrassed. “I…um, I wanted to get these dry.” He gestured uselessly towards the clothes hanging on the line, stepping back inside so no passersby would see him “There’s a clothesline out here.”

“Oh.” Said Kazuha faintly. “Great.”

“Yeah.” Heizou rubbed the back of his neck. “Great.”

For a few, strange moments they just stood there and made eye contact. Heizou could feel the warmth of the late afternoon sun on his bare back, feel water pooling in the low waistband on his shorts. He probably looked ridiculous, all wet and shirtless with his hair half falling out of its usual tie. A breeze floated past him, making his clothes flap like empty sails.

“You said you found robes?” Heizou asked at last.

Kazuha blinked, finally breaking their impromptu staring contest. “I, um.” He cleared his throat and looked away, gaze going to rest somewhere over Heizou’s left shoulder. “Yes. They’re in the washroom.”

“Okay.” Heizou said. “I, uh, I’ll take off the rest of these wet things and then we can go down to the baths?”

Heizou could see Kazuha’s throat bob as he swallowed hard. “Yes, of course.” He said.

Heizou brushed past him. “I won’t be long.” He murmured and headed to the washroom. He stripped out of the rest of his clothes quickly, eager to have the awful feeling of wet fabric away from his skin.

There were two robes inside, just like Kazuha had said, sitting on a low shelf. They were dark blue and too big, but Heizou doubled the belt around his waist and tied it shut. He needed to go back out, to let Kazuha have his turn, but…He pressed his forehead against the pale wood of the door and shut his eyes tight, trying to process.

Kazuha had looked so startled seeing him on the balcony, eyes wide and…intent.

He shouldn’t think about it.

Man alive, they had spent the better part of the day talking about Kazuha’s dead lover. He was seeing things that weren’t there - he always had, back in the days before the Vision Hunt Decree. It had been foolish then, back when Kazuha was spoken for, and it would be completely insane now, after Kazuha had lost everything.

He was following a trail that didn’t actually exist. It happened sometimes, when the pieces of a case weren’t coming together the way that they were supposed to and it was easier to see what he wanted than what was actually there. His intuition usually steered him right in those instances, demanding he go over it again and be rational, use logic and go back to the start.

But his intuition didn’t work here - not like it did when he was solving cases. Kaedehara Kazuha was not just an unfinished puzzle, not a simple series of clues, and no matter how much it seemed like he could be…like he might…

“Heizou?” A tap against the door. “Are you alright?”

“Fine.” He opened his eyes, leaned away from the door. “Sorry, I’m coming out now.”

It was pointless to think about.

Absolutely pointless.

He grabbed his wet clothes off the floor and opened the door. “Sorry about that, this thing is a little big.” He smirked and spread his arms, letting the robe drape off of him.

“Hmm,” Kazuha reached up and adjusted the collar, fingers brushing against Heizou’s collarbone. “Looks fine to me.”

Heizou’s breath tried to catch in his throat. He didn’t let it.

“What a flatterer.” He stepped aside, moving out of Kazuha’s reach and nodding towards the bathroom. “All yours.”

Kazuha’s eyes flicked down to where his collarbones were still exposed before he stepped into the bathroom and slid the door shut behind him.

Don’t think about it.

Instead of thinking about it, Heizou went and slung his wet clothes over the line. Kazuha’s socks were already there - bright scarlet and dripping slightly. He hoped all of their clothes would be dry by tomorrow. Sightseeing wouldn’t be comfortable in flimsy robes.

He pulled his Vision from the pocket of his robe, pressing it between his palms. He could feel the energy from it more easily now that Kazuha had shown him how to trace it, the way that it flowed back to him like a million tiny threads. Anemo, Kazuha had said, reflected other elements more easily. It picked things up and spread them, unwilling to let anything remain stagnant.

The element of freedom, the element of bardsong and early morning breezes. Heizou closed one hand and clutched it tight. He’d never thought much about the Anemo Archon - all he knew was that they had refused dominion over Mondstat but, despite that, there were rumors that cropped up every generation or so about a new way that they had protected the nation before disappearing again.

Protecting a nation, ensuring its freedom, without asking a thing in return. Finding your own path, with a set of hands to help you if you stumbled - that was freedom. The freedom to live happily - the freedom that Heizou had decided a long time ago he was willing to live his life for.

“Heizou?”

He looked back to see the Kazuha had left the bathroom. His robe was the same shade of deep blue as Heizou’s. His hair was tied up into a bun, exposing the long line of his throat.

He smiled, expression a little sheepish. “It’s a bit big on me too.”

It was, it gaped at the neckline and exposed his chest. Heizou’s mouth felt dry. “All of these clothes are made for giants, that’s not our fault.”

Kazuha let out an amused hum. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah.” Heizou slipped his Vision back into his pocket. “Lead the way.”

 

*****

 

The water of the baths was as warm as the innkeeper had promised, just shy of being too hot, and delightfully fragrant. A few flower petals bobbed on the surface of the water and Heizou felt his whole body relax as he slid a bit further into the water. He let the warmth wash over him, loosening muscles that were sore from wandering Liyue all day.

Kazuha let out a contented sigh beside him. “This is just what I needed.” Heizou hummed in agreement, eyes going half-lidded with contentment.

Heizou had, very heroically, not peeked at Kazuha as they had both taken off their robes, rinsed off, and slipped into the water.

They were the only ones in there aside from an impressively old man who was leaned up in one corner. His eyes were closed and he was snoring faintly, clearly asleep.

“I think I have some sake in my bag, if you’re interested.” Heizou said after a few minutes of soaking in the gloriously warm water. “After we get out, I mean.”

“Sure.” Kazuha murmured.

Heizou glanced over at him, deliberately keeping his gaze above the water.

He had a bad tanline at his neck, chest several shades paler than his tanned, freckled face. There was something so human about it - Kazuha was a person, not an ethereal spirit that wandered around Inazuma at Heizou’s beck and call, not just a painful memory. He got scars, his hair curled when it was humid, he had tanlines. He was a human being who could change and grow and get hurt, if Heizou wasn’t careful. He was someone who Heizou could reach out and touch.

For the past year he had been avoiding thinking about Kazuha the same way he would avoid prodding a broken tooth with his tongue. No matter how much he tried, he would always come back to it in the end. Heizou had never been the sort of person who could leave a problem alone.

“Hey.” He murmured after a while. “Kazuha.”

Kazuha rolled his head to look over at him, eyes half-lidded. There were dark bruises smeared under them like faded ink.

“Thanks.” He said. “For doing this with me - not the baths, well, thanks for doing that too, I guess. But, I mean, thanks for going with me to return these Visions. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Kazuha’s lips pulled into a small, crooked smile. “I doubt that. There’s very little you can’t do, Detective.”

“Okay, fine.” Heizou smirked. “But it would have been significantly more annoying to do alone.”

Kazuha breathed out a tiny little laugh. “There’s the Heizou I know.” A bead of sweat rolled down his neck and Heizou’s eyes followed it almost unwillingly, tracing its path over his collarbones and down his chest.

Don’t think about it. Do not think about it.

“I, um…” He swallowed hard. “Yeah. It’s me.” He said, almost nonsensically.

“It’s you.” Kazuha agreed, voice amused.

For a moment, they made the intense eye contact that was rapidly becoming familiar through the steam rising from the surface of the water.

Then, the old man in the corner let out a ridiculously loud snore and they both burst into giggles. Kazuha’s cheeks were flushed with the heat of the onsen and he was covering his mouth with a hand as if he could keep his laughter in.

“Can’t believe he’s still asleep.” Heizou said. “That was so loud.”

“It reminds me of an incident I had on Ritou once.” Kazuha said in an undertone

“Do tell.”

“Well,” Kazuha tilted his head to the side, a few loose strands falling from his bun. “I was staying overnight with an old couple - they were incredibly kind people, but both were hard of hearing. Former sailors, I think, from the way they swore. And they very clearly thought they were being quiet when they decided to have a little, ah, midnight rendezvous, but…”

“Oh, Kazuha, no.” Heizou gaped at him.

“After a few hours-”

“Hours?” Heizou echoed, horrified.

“Eventually, I just left out the window.” Kazuha said airly.

“Oh Archons, that’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard.” He said. “Kazuha, you have my sympathies.”

“I saw them again a few days later and hid behind a cabbage stall for half an hour so I wouldn’t have to explain my midnight exit to them.”

Heizou burst out laughing. “Cabbages Kazuha, really?”

He was smiling at Heizou, expression soft but strangely focused. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.” He glanced over the man still sleeping in the corner of the baths. “Do you…are you ready to go back upstairs?”

“Yeah, okay.” Heizou stretched. “I’m getting a bit too hot anyway.”

They got out and dressed in silence. Heizou very determinedly did not look over at Kazuha as they both dressed in their dark blue robes. It was almost worse without the visual component - he could hear every rustle of fabric and his mind had always been terribly good at putting together full pictures with just a few, tiny hints.

He glanced back after the noises stopped and saw that Kazuha was already looking back. His hair was loose from his bun now, roots gone a little darker than the rest with the water from the baths and sweat. Heizou hadn’t seen it down like that since that horrible day in the rain.

“Shall we go back to the room, then?” Kazuha’s voice was calm, but there was a little tentative edge that Heizou had just started to be able to identify. Was he…nervous? Why would he be nervous?

“Sure.” Heizou said, deciding he was probably reading too far into things. Kazuha followed as Heizou led the way back to their room, playing with his sleeves. They both waved at the innkeeper at the desk as they passed, but didn’t stop to talk.

They made their way upstairs and back to the room. It was dusk now, last bits of the day fading away outside of the balcony window.

“Wow, we were in there for a while.” Heizou said absently. He went over to his things and dug a bottle of sake he’d picked up months ago on a particularly lonely day from the shop by his apartment. It wasn’t exactly nice - but in Heizou’s opinion on alcohol was that if it got him drunk it was good enough.

“It was quite soothing.” Kazuha said, lingering by the door and watching Heizou as he opened the bottle of sake.

“Er, I realize I don’t actually have anything to pour it from…or into. I don’t have any cups.”

“Well,” Kazuha looked first at him and then the bottle consideringly. He walked over and reached forward to pluck it from Heizou’s hand. He lifted it to his lips and raised an eyebrow. “I won’t tell if you don’t.” He took a drink and Heizou let out a breathless little laugh, accepting the bottle from Kazuha.

“It’ll be our secret.” He said and took his own sip, ignoring the burn and the faint wetness already on the lip of the bottle.

“I should warn you that I’m a terrible lightweight.” Kazuha said, accepting the bottle from Heizou and taking another, smaller sip. He was still faintly flushed, pink skin visible from his cheeks down to where the robe hung loose enough to expose his sharp collarbones.

Heizou’s lips twitched into a smile. “It seems I’ve found the thing that you’re bad at. It’s been a long road getting here, let me tell you.”

Kazuha shook his head, but let it go. “Come on.” He said, nodding towards the door to the balcony. “I’m sure the evening is lovely.”

Heizou followed him, pushing aside their still-drying clothes and settling down onto one of two low stools sitting on the small balcony. The view was hardly impressive - the inn was only two stories, so they weren’t exactly high off the ground, but Kazuha had been right. The streets of Liyue were bustling, shoppers wandering this way and that as more and more lanterns flared to life.

For a while, they sat side by side without speaking. Heizou fiddled with his fingers, the tie of his yukata, the sake bottle he was still holding. He'd always been bad at sitting still. They passed the bottle back and forth a few times - the sake burned against Heizou’s lips.

“Heizou?” Kazuha asked.

“Hm?” Heizou looked over. He was halfway a stranger like this, hair pooling around his shoulders, face cast into gold by the glow of the lanterns.

Kazuha was staring at him, focused and intent. His cheeks were flushed. His eyes were the color of a newborn flame.

When they had first met, Heizou had thought him a Yokai that wandered the wilds of Inazuma and led men to their doom. He knew better now, knew that Kazuha was just a man, but that didn’t change anything.

He was doomed either way.

Kazuha tilted forward and, for a moment that was half terror and half exhilaration, Heizou thought Kazuha was about to kiss him. But instead he wavered and tilted, falling forward until his forehead hit Heizou’s shoulder. He laughed faintly, breath hot against Heizou’s neck.

“These robes…” He mumbled in between breathless giggles. “Are so big. We should share one.”

Heizou felt himself blush and was glad Kazuha couldn’t see it. “Man alive, you weren’t kidding were you? You are a lightweight.”

His giggles got louder. “You should pick me up then.” He wrapped his arms around Heizou’s middle. “Carry me to jail, Detective Shikanoin.” He whispered in Heizou’s ear and then descended into horrible, helpless laughter.

Heizou wasn’t sure if this was the best thing that had ever happened to him or the worst. He patted Kazuha on the back. “Okay, then, let’s get you to bed before you fall off the balcony.”

“I won’t…” He hiccuped. “I won’t fall. I can whoosh.” He leaned back from Heizou enough to do a little wiggle with his hand that might have been a demonstration of what whoosh meant.

“Whoosh?” Heizou laughed, delighted. “What does that mean?”

Kazuha glared at him, suddenly serious. “Whoosh.” He put a hand on his Vision and Heizou grabbed his hands, dragging them away. Archons, he didn’t want to experience a drunk Kazuha trying to use his Vision.

“Hey, hey.” He said. “I believe you, all right? You don’t have to show me - you can whoosh so good, the best whoosher there is.”

Kazuha nodded, vindicated, and then looked at his hands. “Oh.” He said. “Are you arresting me?”

Heizou let go. “Er, no. I just…let’s go inside.”

Kazuha sighed dramatically, but let Heizou help him up and steer him to a bed. “You never arrest me anymore.” He lamented as he collapsed to the bed.

“Most people wouldn’t sound so upset about that.” Heizou said, sitting on the edge of his bed and reaching over to dim the light between them. “Why do you want to get arrested?”

“Not arrested.” Kazuha yawned widely halfway through, looking at Heizou through half-lidded eyes. “Arrested by you.”

“Is there a difference?” Heizou couldn’t look away from the frankly pornographic picture he made splayed on top of his bedsheets, his long limbs barely covered by a poorly tied robe and his hair left loose. The only light came from the glow of the lanterns outside, tracing the edges of his silhouette in gold.

He hummed softly and smiled. “You know…that there is.”

Heizou swallowed hard and forced himself to lie down on his own bed. He rolled to face the wall instead of daring to look at Kazuha. He vowed to himself then and there that there would be no alcohol for Kaedehara Kazuha in his presence ever again.

“Night, Heizou…” Drifted from Kazuha’s bed, half lost in another yawn.

“Yeah.” He breathed. “Goodnight Kazuha.”

 

*****

 

A red-faced Kazuha would barely look at Heizou the next morning.

Breakfast was a less elaborate affair than the day before, just some buns from a bakery they’d grabbed on their way to explore the harbor and the surrounding areas.

“This is why I never drink.” Kazuha said. “Archons, I can only remember a little bit of what I said. Was it horrible?”

Heizou smirked. “Mostly you were worried about knowing how good you were at whooshing, whatever that means. Also, you’re sad I don't arrest you more.”

Kazuha covered his face with a hand. “Ignore everything I said. Please.”

“So you aren’t good at whooshing?” Heizou bumped their shoulders together with a grin.

“I don’t even know what that is!”

They spent a day wandering the city and its outskirts - Kazuha led them to shops he remembered, picking up a few things but mostly just allowing them both to look over a myriad of expensive art and ridiculous inventions imported from all over Teyvat. They picked up some street food and had lunch sitting on top of the Northland Bank, which was fun until a few Fatui guards noticed them and started yelling.

They fled and made for the outskirts of the city, walking along the cliffs. Kazuha pointed out Wangshu Inn far in the distance and, beyond that, Dragonspine, the massive mountain that separated Liyue and Mondstat.

Instead of going back to the city they stayed the night at a small roadside inn outside of the harbor. Neither spoke much as they settled into the narrow twin beds in a small, shared inn room, both exhausted from the day spent wandering miles up and down the coast.

Heizou jolted awake just past dawn, the remains of a familiar nightmare already fading in the faint morning light. The mattress next to his was already empty, blankets spilling onto the floor.

He sat up and stretched. “Kazuha?”

There was no answer.

He left his own bed and dressed quickly, typing his hair up hastily as he left the room. The innkeeper waved at him in the lobby, but aside from that the place seemed to be deserted. He stepped out into the morning air, still relatively cool compared to how hot it would get later, and saw Kazuha splayed lazily beneath a nearby tree. His eyes were focused on the sunrise, hands folded behind his head.

“Morning.” Heizou walked over and leaned against the tree.

Kazuha tilted back, looking up into Heizou’s face. “Morning. Sleep well?”

“Not really.” Heizou said. “You?”

A smile tugged at the corner of his lips. “Not really.”

Kazuha put his hands down and tilted towards Heizou a bit, resting the side of his face against Heizou’s thigh. Heizou reached down tentatively and put a hand on the crown of Kazuha’s head. His hair was soft, messy curls of it tangling around Heizou’s fingers.

He couldn’t put his feelings for Kazuha down on a list of bullet points, couldn’t analyze the way Kazuha’s hair felt around his fingers like he would with a case. He had tried a few times, but Heizou had never had the same control over his heart that he did over his head.

“We should go.” Kazuha murmured. “We need to get to Guyun Stone Forest before Beidou sets out.”

“Mmm.” Heizou agreed, but they still lingered there until the sunrise flared, vibrant and golden, before Heizou moved away and offered Kazuha a hand. He took it and, after a stop back inside to retrieve the rest of their supplies and thank the innkeeper, they headed out towards the Guyun Stone Forest.

The walk was relatively peaceful, only interrupted by a few hillichurls and a gang of treasure hoarders that fell quickly before Heizou’s fists and Kazuha’s blade.

“So why does she dock her ship all of the way out here?” Heizou asked as the massive pillars of Guyun Stone Forest came into view.. “Liyue Harbor has plenty of actual docks.”

“It’s a way for her to avoid paying for docking fees.” Kazuha said. “They're not even that expensive. I think it’s part of her…thing with the Tianquin.”

“You still need to tell me more about that.”

“I will walk into the sea, Heizou.”

Heizou laughed, nudging Kazuha with his shoulder. “Fine, fine. I’ll drop it.”

“Will you really?”

Heizou shrugged. Admittedly, he would probably not drop it. But he could wait until Kazuha lowered his guard before asking again.

Kazuha looked exasperated, but didn’t comment. Instead, he was looking up at the stone pillars. The ground underfoot had gone from hard-packed dirt and stone to loose sand, the ocean creeping towards them.

“We have some time before we have to meet the Captain.” He said. “Would you care to climb a bit?” He nodded towards the nearby jagged stone rising up out of the sand.

Heizou put his hands on his hips and gazed up. It was impressive - the god of geo must have been as powerful as the Shogun was to do something like this, maybe even moreso. “Sure. Seems like it would be an impressive view.”

They climbed together, Kazuha occasionally using gusts of Anemo to leap up a dozen feet at a time and, when Heizou started complaining, to lift Heizou up as well. Kazuha’s use of Anemo was always extremely skilled and much less forceful than Heizou’s own. He had a light touch, always working with the wind as a partner.

He boosted them up past a ginkgo tree and a bevy of yellow leaves spiraled past, caught in the breezes.

Heizou was barely sore when they finally clambered to the top, flexing his fingers. Anemo users tended to be lighter than most, which made them better climbers most of the time. Heizou had scaled the cliffs by Tenshukaku more than once just because he didn’t want to take the time to detour to the path.

“It’s just as impressive as I remember.” Kazuha murmured. Heizou glanced over at him - his clothes were fluttering in the breeze. There was a ginkgo leaf, bright and distracting, caught in his messy hair.

“Yeah.” Heizou said, and then belatedly looked past Kazuha out at the view. There were countless pillars of rock jutting out of the sea around them at all sorts of impossible angles. They were clearly ancient - trees and other foliage dotted them and there were signs of erosion around the bases. He let out an impressed whistle, thinking of the power that must have been required to do something like this.

“Man alive, the Geo Archon was something else, wasn’t he?” He shaded his eyes from the sun, squinting out towards the deeper waters where he could see even more shards of stone.

“He was a dragon, or so they say.” Kazuha said. “Rex Lapis.”

“The city seemed less distressed than I thought they would be, what with their Archon gone.” Heizou said. “I half expected chaos and open revolt on the streets.”

“The days after his death were…tense.” Kazuha said. “The crew and I were here for it - I didn’t see the rite itself, where his death was revealed, but I helped with some evaccution during the incident with the Lord of the Vortex afterwards.” He stretched, shoulders rolling. “I found during the incident and the aftermath that Liyueans are very good at reacting to change. They don’t fear the future.”

“Strange for a nation with so much history.” Heizou commented idly, deciding to sit down and dangle his legs off the edge of the pillar. He leaned back on his hands and looked up at Kazuha. “I don’t know much about Liyue, but even I know that their Archon is - well, was - the oldest and that their past is a long one.”

Kazuha settled to sit beside him. “Mhm, that much is true. But I think having such a long history means they know how much can change while the nation still remains.” He tilted his head to the side and seemed to notice the ginkgo leaf, reaching up to free it from his hair. He held it between his thumb and forefinger and smiled. “How long was this there?”

Heizou smirked. “Not important.”

Kazuha let the leaf go and they both watched as it spiraled away, carried by the sea breezes.

“I’ve been thinking…” Kazuha said slowly. “About the masterless Visions.”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t wish to give them back to the Tenryou Commission.”

“Okay.” Heizou agreed easily. “Do you want to keep them? Maybe hold on to them and see if you can figure out some other way to return them?”

“No…” Kazuha said and then repeated it, stronger. “No. I wish we could restore them, but…their holders are gone. I’ve always found it far easier to look ahead and keep going, even when the path is unclear, than it is to try and go back.” He took the Visions out from his robes, holding them carefully in his hands. “I don’t forget the past, of course, but I’ve always accepted that I can’t go back.”

“So what do you want to do?”

Kazuha looked up from the Visions. “When someone dies on the open ocean and we’re not sure where their home is, we return them to the sea.” A breeze wound its way past them, ruffling Kazuha’s hair almost affectionately. “These Visions - we don’t know who they belonged to or where those people may have called home. I…”

Heizou shifted a bit closer, nudging Kazuha’s shoulder with his own. “I think that sounds like a good idea. We can’t bury a Vision or burn it like we would a body. We can return them to the salt water.”

“Thank you.” Kazuha murmured. “I can’t be sure if it’s the best choice but…”

“I think it’s a good one.” Heizou said. “If we don’t, then they’ll just end up locked up at the Tenryou Commission. These are people’s dreams, yeah?” He leaned over to tap the lifeless surface of one of the Visions. “Let’s treat them well.”

With wordless agreement they both got to their feet and faced the open sea. Kazuha was still cupping the Visions in his hands, so terribly gentle with them. “I am afraid that I do not have poetry for an occasion like this one.” He murmured. “I hope that the dreams and ambitions these Visions were granted in recognition of were fulfilled.”

Anemo gathered around him, concentrated in his hands. Leaves, both yellow and green, were caught in the gusts and danced around them. Kazuha floated the Visions up out of his hands and out over the open ocean.

The dull, empty Visions caught the light for just a moment. If Heizou narrowed his eyes and looked at just the right angle, he could pretend that there was still a storm of elemental energy pulsing inside.

“Ready?” Heizou asked Kazuha.

After a long moment, Kazuha nodded and then lowered his hands. The breeze fell away and the Visions dropped to the sea far, far below.

Kazuha closed his eyes once they were gone and bowed his head for a moment. Heizou stared out at the horizon for a while and thought about dreams, about letting the past go and looking towards the future.

He reached out and took Kazuha’s hand in his.

Kazuha started, but did not move away. After a long moment, he threaded his fingers through Heizou’s.

“It’s over.” Kazuha said.

He had lost so much, but he had moved on. He had decided to keep going, facing forward when so many others would have turned back.

Heizou had always believed that destiny was something that you made yourself. And Kazuha, he’d taken the broken pieces that made up his life and he had used them to forge a destiny of his own.

“Yeah.” Heizou said. “Yeah, it is.”

 

*****

 

The voyage back to Inazuma was much the same as the journey there, filled with harmless teasing from the sailors, Kazuha being frustratingly competent, and Beidou laughing ominously whenever Heizou tried to ask about her relationship with the Tianquan.

Heizou had finally managed to escape from deck swabbing duty (why did a deck on a pirate ship need to be that clean?) when the blurry silhouette of Narukami became visible on the horizon. He used his Vision and a couple of tricks he’d learned from Kazuha to scale the main mast and hop into the crow’s nest, watching as the island slowly got bigger.

“Eager to get home?” A familiar voice asked and Heizou started so badly he nearly toppled back down to the deck he had so meticulously cleaned.

“Captain Beidou!” He looked down to see the Captain herself clambering into the crows nest beside him.

“Oof, that climb gets longer every time.” She groaned. “I think I may be getting old. Now shove over and make some room.”

Heizou shifted - it was a tight fit with the two of them. Beidou managed to elbow him in the head three separate times before they settled side by side, looking out towards the island on the horizon.

“Uh, I can go back down…” Heizou offered as Beidou’s elbow narrowly missed his head again.

“Hang on a sec.” Beidou said. “I climbed up here for a reason.”

“To see the island?” He hazarded.

“Well, yeah, but also to talk to you before we get back to the city.” She said.

He glanced at her. “What about?”

“You’re not interested in staying on with us, are you?”

He blinked in surprise. “On the Alcor, you mean?” She nodded. “I’m hardly an expert sailor.”

“Well, no.” She agreed. “But you’re a quick learner and Visions are lucky out on the sea - doubly so for Anemo Visions.”

“Not Hydro?” He asked, suddenly curious.

“Nah.” She shook her head. “The ship may float on the water, but it’s the wind that makes it move.”

“Guess that makes sense.” He said.

“So?” She prompted. “Interested in joining up?”

“I appreciate the offer.” He said and he honestly did, “But don’t think I’m the pirate type.”

“Too bad. Still, it’s been nice to meet you.” Beidou patted his head with a heavy, warm hand and he was so bewildered he didn’t think to protest until she was already done. “Kazuha’s always been kinda private - I don’t actually know all that much about his life before he joined up.”

“He’s not the kind of person who dwells on the past.” Heizou said.

She shook her head. “I agree with you there. But you’re one of the few things that I did know about. So I wanted to meet you and figure out why you’re one of the only things he did dwell on.”

“We’re friends.” Heizou said, feeling suddenly very exposed.

“Yeah, okay.” She glanced over at him, turning her head so he could see her good eye. “He’s gonna miss you when we set out, kid.”

“And when…is that exactly?” He asked. Kazuha had told him that he was going to be in Inazuma for the summer and summer was rapidly coming to a close.

“Next week sometime.” She said and Heizou swallowed hard. Soon. He hadn’t expected it to be that soon. “We’ve been here longer than we should have been anyway - woulda set off weeks ago if it weren’t for…well.”

“Well?” He prompted.

“I take care of my crew.” She said with a shrug. “And one of them needed some time in Inazuma so I picked up some extra contracts around this side of the ocean. But those are about to dry up - and the Shogunate is getting wise to our, ah, other activities.”

“I am a detective, you know.” Heizou said mildly.

Beidou waved a dismissive hand in his general direction. “The way I hear it, you haven’t been up to arresting pirates lately.”

“Man alive.” Heizou muttered, knowing he was going bright red.

Beidou laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “Regardless of that, we are moving on soon. And we won’t be back for a while - months, at least.”

Heizou just nodded. He had known, of course, that Kazuha was a wanderer. Staying in one place wasn’t in his nature. But he had gotten used to it, gotten used to having Kazuha in his life again, so much closer now than he was before.

The fact that he was devastatingly attracted to Kazuha was something he was used to - he’d been aware of it on some level since their first meeting. But since traveling together, since Kazuha had come back and barged into his life, Heizou had gotten used to having a, well, a companion. Someone to talk about work with, to cook with, and to spend time with.

Heizou wasn’t built for solitude - he never had been, but for a while he’d managed to forget that. Kazuha had reminded him and, now, he was about to leave again.

“Look, it’s gonna make me sound like some old grandma who yells at kids to get off her lawn, but I’m gonna give you some advice.” Heizou was dubious. “Hey, don’t give me that look. I get it - you don’t need advice. You’re the smartest guy in the room.”

“This is a boat.” Heizou pointed out.

“Smartest guy on the boat, in the crow’s nest, whatever.” She waved her arms and almost hit him in the head again. “But right now that big brain?” She tapped his forehead. “That’s what’s getting in your way.”

Heizou rubbed his forehead where she’d tapped it. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“Ha, you really do remind me of Ning.” She said fondly. “Look, it’s all well and good to make a hundred plans and to think through every decision you could ever make. But sometimes? You just gotta go with your gut.”

“I trust my intuition.” Heizou said. “And my boss at the Tenryou Commission would definitely disagree with you if you told him that I think things through too much.”

“That’s your work.” She said. “It’s different. What I’m talking about…” She gestured down to the desk where the sailors were preparing to arrive in Inazuma. Kazuha was among them, his clothes and bright hair standing out like a beacon. “Are things a little closer to the heart.”

“It’s complicated.”

“Kid, things are always complicated.” She said. “And standing around thinking about it for months - or years more likely - isn’t going to make them any simpler.” She patted his shoulder. “I’ve said my piece, do what you will with it.”

It was vaguely embarrassing, to be lectured like this by Kazuha’s pseudo-mother figure. Or was it his boss? Big sister? Heizou wasn’t sure and at this point he felt it was better not to ask. And were his feelings really so obvious that she could see them?

And what did that mean about Kazuha’s feelings? Did she think…

“Ow!” Something flicked him hard on the forehead.

Beidou grinned, her hand still raised. “Stop thinking. Just, for once, do what feels right.”

 

*****

 

They arrived just outside of Inazuma City in the late afternoon. The sailors barely looked up from their work, tying ropes and fastening sails with practiced efficiency. Kazuha was among them, chatting idly with Beidou as the few passengers beside Heizou waited impatiently for the gangplank to be lowered.

Heizou lingered as the rest of the passengers rushed off, waiting for Kazuha to finish. The shadows were long by the time he finally came over, wiping sweaty hair off of his forehead.

“Dinner?” Heizou offered as soon as they’d left the ship and were safely back on dry land. “My apartment will be pretty empty, but we can stop by some stores to get supplies. Or, you know what, let’s get takeout. There’s a place that says they do Mondstatian food - I don’t think it’s exactly authentic, but-”

“Do you have the time?” Kazuha cut him off with a tilt of his head. “I know you likely have a dozen obligations waiting for you after we’ve been away for so long.”

Heizou shrugged. “Nothing that can’t wait a while longer. Do you have something you need to get to?”

“No, but I know that I’ve been a bit…” Kazuha hesitated, searching for a word. “Demanding.”

“Demanding?” Heizou echoed. “Since when?”

“Since I came back to Inazuma and found you?” Kazuha looked faintly embarrassed. He let out a small laugh and ducked his head. “I don’t want to be…overly possessive of you and your time after how much I have taken up recently.”

“I…there is no possible way you could ever be too possessive about me. I always want you around. You know that right?”

“What?” Kazuha looked up at him with wide eyes.

“Kazuha, I’ve been obsessed with you for years now.” Heizou blurted out in exasperation.

Kazuha repeated himself, clearly taken aback. “What?”

“No, wait, sorry.” Heizou rubbed a hand over his face. “That came out wrong.”

It hadn’t, actually. The first time Heizou had seen Kazuha, on Mount Yougo under the branches of an overgrown sakura tree, he had found himself unable to look away. He’d never really been able to, not in all of the years afterwards.

“Look - Kazuha, I’m selfish, you know that. If I didn’t want you with me, I wouldn’t be trying to keep you there so badly.” He ran a hand through his hair. “For a long time…for a really long time, as long as I’ve known you, maybe, I’ve just wanted to know you more. No matter how hard I try or what I do, I can’t stop. You fascinate me. You always have.”

“Heizou…” Kazuha looked faintly stunned, like he’d been hit with something heavy.

“I always want more from you.” Heizou said. “So don’t ever think you’re asking for too much from me. Okay?”

These words had been in him for years now, but Kazuha had been in love, so in love, with someone who wasn’t him and so there was no point. He hadn’t even admitted the strength of his feelings to himself, not for years.

“Heizou, I…” Kazuha took a step towards him, an unfamiliar expression on his face.

“Boys!” A loud shout made them both turn. A familiar figure in bright colors was jogging towards them, waving frantically and beaming. “You made it back!”

“Uh, Yoimiya, hey.” Heizou raised a hand, ignoring the way his heart was hammering against his ribs. “We were kind of…”

She bounded over, stopping just in front of them both. There was a distinctly burnt smell about her and there was a concerning amount of soot smeared on her face, but she looked to be in good spirits. “You’re back just in time - the end of summer festival is tomorrow! I was worried you wouldn’t be back in time because a friend from Watatsumi told me you were going all the way to Liyue - is that true? Did you finish returning all of the Visions? I bet they were surprised, if you went all the way to Liyue. But if you’re back here, I guess it was a success!”

“They’re all back where they belong.” Kazuha said. “Yoimiya, we were on our way to dinner…”

“Oh, let me treat you to something - it’s actually great, because I need to talk to you about that favor you owe me.” She said brightly. “Something came up at my workshop and I could really use a hand.”

“Well, we’re not really fireworks experts…” Heizou said, trying to back away from her.

She caught his forearm in a tight grip. “It’s not that - I need detective help! I’m worried that there might be something dangerous going on.”

He frowned and focused on her. “What is it?”

“Come on,” She tugged on his arm. “I’ll buy you ramen or something and I can tell you then. You look a bit sunburnt and tired - let’s go somewhere inside so you can relax a little and get some food. How about Uyuu Restaurant? They have good fried tofu!”

Kazuha sighed. “I should probably see if Beidou needs any help unloading. You two can go on without me.”

“Kazuha, wait-” Heizou said, but Kazuha cut him off with a smile.

“It’s fine, Heizou.” He said. “We can continue our talk later.”

Heizou bit his lip. If this was anything else, if it wasn’t something dangerous, then he would shake Yoimiya off and insist on taking Kauzha somewhere private to finish their conversation. But if it really was dangerous, if people really were at risk…

“Man alive.” He rocked back on his heels. “I’ll find you as soon as I can, okay?”

Kazuha held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. “I’ll see you both later.”

“Oh, I hope I didn’t interrupt something.” Yoimiya said as soon as Kazuha had turned away and left them standing there. She was still clutching Heizou’s arm. “You two did look kinda serious - I’m sorry, I should have waited. But it really did seem like something important and I didn’t want to wait and have to find you later…”

“It’s fine.” Heizou said, interrupting the sudden torrent of words. “Let’s go to Uyuu Restaurant and you can tell me about what's going on.”

She wrinkled her nose, but nodded. “Okay, follow me. Have you met the chef, he’s such a nice guy…”

She kept up a constant stream of inane chatter as they made their way to the restaurant and were seated, at Heizou’s request, in the far back corner. He’d gotten takeout from the place before, but had never actually come and sat down for a meal. It was nice - warm and homey in a way that made him a bit nostalgic.

“All right.” He said once they’d been brought their tea. “What’s going on, Yoimiya?”

“Someone stole a bunch of our equipment.” Yoimiya said, tapping the side of her own tea cup with a finger. “Usually, I wouldn’t worry - some of the kids sometimes take sparklers and stuff without asking, so I’m used to our inventory not matching up exactly, but…well.” She looked side to side, as if to check if anyone was listening. “There’s a lot missing - and it’s some of the really big guys. If someone were to take them apart and use the components, well…they could make something pretty dangerous.”

“Explosives.” Heizou finished for her. “Yeah, that’s a problem. Did you tell the Tenryou Commission?”

“Yeah, as soon as I noticed.” She said. “But they didn’t seem to take me super seriously. Like I said, people always take fireworks around this time of the year without asking so they don’t think it’s a big deal.”

“Do you have any idea how long this has been going on?” He asked.

“Can’t be more than a few weeks - pops and I are pretty good about our inventory. Our dangerous supplies is something that we keep an extra special eye on too.” She frowned, the expression unnatural on her sunny face. “I’m just worried about it. And since you owe me a favor…”

“You don’t need to waste a favor on this.” He said. “Any good detective would want to follow up on this.”

“Well, yeah, but I’m going to ask you to investigate it, um, a bit more urgently than I usually would.”

“Why’s that?”

“It’s the last festival of the summer tomorrow night!” She said. “And my big showstopper firework for the end of the finale is one of the ones missing! I really need you to find it for me or else the festival will just be okay instead of being spectacular.”

“Tomorrow night, huh?” He saw their waitress coming with two servings of fried tofu and started to shift the things on the table out of the way.

“The festival depends on it!” She said, eyes bright. “I want to send summer off with a bang.”

“Your order.” The waitress said, placing the fried tofu on the table between them.

“So.” Heizou said once she’d left and he’d pulled his food towards him. “You got any leads?”

“Just one.” She said. “But it’s a great one, I promise!”

 

*****

 

Heizou stared at the sky, clear and spangled with diamond-bright stars, and wondered if he had blasphemed against the Archons one too many times. That would be the only explanation for why he was standing outside of the Batan Sango Detective Agency instead of being back at the police station or, even better, back at his apartment finally getting to sleep on his own futon.

He knocked on the door.

Sango opened it almost immediately, a bright smile on her face. “Welcome to the Batan Sango Detective Agency, we can help you with any…” She finally seemed to register who exactly was at her door and stopped her usual script - her face fell so quickly it was almost funny. “Oh. It’s you.”

He gave her a two-fingered salute. “It’s me. Good to see you, Sango.”

“Uh hu.” She stepped outside and slammed the door behind her. “What do you want?”

If only it had been Ryuji instead - they were at least still on moderately friendly terms. Sango, though, considered his leaving the agency a betrayal of the highest order. It wasn’t like they’d been on the best of terms before he’d quit - and he’d left for a reason anyway - so he never understood why she had taken it so personally.

“I’m investigating something.” He said. “And I was told you might have a lead for me.”

“Nuh uh, no way!” She waved her hands at him like he was a pesky fly she was trying to shoo away. “I don’t care what Ryuji says, we don’t have to hand out leads over to the likes of you or the Commission!”

“Relax, it’s not even something exciting.”

“Oh, sure.” She folded her arms. “To you it might not be exciting, now that you have murderers to catch, but we take every case seriously at the Batan Sango Detective Agency.”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember.” He sighed. “But this isn’t even a case - I’m just doing a favor for a friend. She mentioned that you saw something.”

Sango just raised an eyebrow. “What friend?” She sounded skeptical about the fact that Heizou had a friend, which was fair enough.

“You know Yoimiya, right?” He said and she nodded. “Well, she mentioned that you and Ryuji might have seen someone lurking around her store. She’s missing some fireworks.”

“Missing fireworks?” She said, raising a brow. “That’s what you’re investigating?”

“I thought that no case was too small for the Batan Sango Detective Agency.”

She glowered at him. “Like you’d care - you quit, remember?”

“Yeah, I was there.” He said. “But come on, Sango. I’m just paying back a favor I owe to a friend. I know it was probably just some kids messing around, but Yoimiya is desperate to get back the fireworks that went missing for the festival tomorrow.”

He didn’t mention that his intuition was nagging at him - something about this whole situation made him uneasy. Sango had never understood him when he started talking about intuition, anyway.

“Well, if something is missing then Ryuji and me will find it!” She shouted. “Problem solved!”

“Sango-”

“Um, boss?” The door creaked open and Ryuji poked his head out. “Why are you yelling?”

“I’m not yelling!” Sango yelled.

“Hey, Ryuji!” Heizou raised a hand. “Good to see you.”

“Oh, Shikanoin!” Ryuji blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“Following up on a lead.” He said. “I hear you guys saw something suspicious at the fireworks shop.”

“Over by Yoimiya’s place, you mean?” He asked. “I can bring you my notes about it - I didn’t want to forget anything after it happened.”

“Don’t you dare.” Sango hissed.

“Well, if the Tenryou Commission is investigating…” Ryuji looked torn between listening to his boss and following the law.”

“I’ll stop paying you, Ryuji.” She said. “I’m serious this time.”

“You barely pay me anyway…” Ryuji muttered.

“What was that?”

“Nothing boss.”

Heizou let out a huff of amusement. “Look, as much fun as it is revisiting our good old days, I really do need those notes.” He folded his arms. “The festival is tomorrow.”

Ryuji glanced at Sango before he nodded. “Okay, I’ll got get them.” He darted back inside before she could start yelling again.

“Why, you…” Sango rounded on him. “You’re trying to steal my staff as well as my cases!”

“I’m really not.” He said, leaning away from her as she started aggressively finger pointing at him.

“That’s right, Ryuji can’t go back to the police station because-”

“Sango.” He cut her off. “Don’t.”

She glowered at him, but stopped talking. The situation that had led Ryuji to leave the station and come here to work for Sango had not been a happy one and, despite Heizou’s conclusions, he was unlikely to ever be welcome at the station again. Sango didn’t know the whole of it - no one did, save for Heizou himself - but he was sure, mostly sure, that it was for the best.

“Here they are!” Ryuji reopened the door holding a few pieces of paper. He shoved them into Heizou’s hands, keeping a wary eye on Sango like she might try to snatch them away.

“Ah, thanks Ryuji.” Heizou, who was also worried Sango would try to take the notes, quickly stowed them in his pocket. “I appreciate it.”

“Always happy to help!” Ryuji said. “I really love the festival, after all.”

“I have half a mind to make you work during the festival to make up for your insubordination.” Sango said, determinedly not looking at Heizou now.

“But Sango…”

“Well, if that’s all…” Heizou started walking backwards, eager to be away from them before Sango really got going.

“We get partial credit when you solve the case!” Sango shot towards him. Heizou waved a hand in acknowledgement before turning and walking quickly away.

It was never a comfortable thing, to be back at the detective agency.

Sango had welcomed him without hesitation when he first came to the city, borderline penniless and gawking at all of the buildings and people that were so unlike what he knew from his tiny town. But he’d gotten bored quickly, unsatisfied with catching lost cats and tracking down unfaithful spouses.

He could blame her for asking him to join the Tenryou Commission to investigate the murder Ryuji was accused of commiting. But, if he was being honest, he’d been all too happy to leave.

The evening was quiet, a few people still wandering the streets or lingering outside food stalls, as Heizou made his way back to his untidy apartment. Once he was inside, he didn’t waste any time. He kicked off his sandals and went to the low table, shoving the detritus to one side.

He spread Ryuji’s notes out on the cleared part of the table- he still took his notes like a Tenryou detective. Heizou sighed, a bitter little smile on his lips. It made the details easy to identify - Sango and Ryuji had been speaking with the blacksmith near Yoimiya’s shop when Ryuji had noticed a man in the purple of the Kujou clan lingering outside of the firework’s shop with a large package in his hands.

According to the notes he had been “unusually concerned with the other people on the street” and had seemed “nervous.”

There wasn’t much beyond that, just a note that Ryuji hadn’t recognized the man and that the way he was dressed didn’t seem to indicate he was a rank and file soldier.

Heizou frowned and tapped his chin. He had expected the suspect to be a kid or a teenager who was bored and looking for some excitement. He hadn’t expected an adult from the Kujou clan - that made things complicated. Though their reputation had been tarnished thanks to everything that had happened during the war, Kujou Kamaji was still the head of the Tenryou Commission. The clan had power and influence - they weren’t the sort to be caught outside of a fireworks shop, regardless of circumstance.

The next step was probably talking to someone with the Kujou clan - Kujou Sara was the obvious choice. Her personal dislike for him wouldn’t stop her from helping him figure out if something illegal or dangerous was going on. But she was incredibly blunt and, if there was some sort of nefarious plot going on, she would be the last person to find out.

Maybe it would be better to find someone else.

There was always Kamaji - Heizou knew his reputation even if they’d never actually spoken. Kazuha had always had good things to say about him…he could probably get a meeting with him on reputation alone, but he also could ask Kazuha to introduce them.

Kazuha, who had looked at him with wide, surprised eyes while Heizou had let his feelings fall out in the middle of the thoroughfare, scattered between them a dropped armful of groceries, messy and wildly inconvenient. But despite the less than ideal setting, there hadn’t been…disgust in Kazuha’s eyes. There hadn’t even been pity, right?

He had very deliberately avoided thinking about Kazuha this whole evening, focused exclusively on his new case. But now his mind seized on the image of Kazuha staring at him, and started to put the clues together. He rested a finger against his bottom lip, thinking.

The feeling of Kazuha’s hand in his, the sight of the sunset lining his hair in gold, a hug that lingered far too long…man alive. He needed to wrap up this case, needed to figure out what was wrong and put it right, but once that was done…

Heizou closed his teeth gently on the finger still resting on his bottom lip.

Maybe it was time to stop avoiding thinking about Kazuha like that. Maybe it was time to start admitting what he wanted…what he had wanted for years now.

His eyes went half-lidded and he let the finger slip from his mouth. His lips remained parted, just a bit.

Tomorrow. One way or another, it would all be over tomorrow.

 

*****

 

“I’m sorry, sir, but you need to have an appointment.”

“Look, just tell Kamaji that someone from the Tenryou Commission needs to see him. It’s urgent.”

The secretary smiled insincerely at him. “I think you’ll find that the entire Tenryou Commission needs to see Clan Leader Kujou. Most of them seem to think it’s urgent too.”

“But my thing is actually important.” Heizou insisted, leaning over the desk.

The secretary continued to smile blandly. “I could schedule you for a short meeting next week. How does next Friday sound?”

Heizou considered ignoring her and just going to Kamaji's office anyway. He would, but Owada might actually have a heart attack and keel over before he could even retire if he heard about Heizou harassing the head of the Kujou Clan.

He sighed and leaned back. “No, thank you.”

“Hmmm.” She continued to smile her horrible smile. “Very well then, sir.”

Heizou fought the instinct to roll his eyes and left the reception desk, deciding he would content himself with wandering the halls and grounds of Tenryou Commission Headquarters for a while. He really didn’t have any good leads or any reason to be overly suspicious - he should go back to Yoimiya and tell her that her commission for him was likely a bust, but…

His intuition insisted that there was more to this, that he shouldn’t drop it just yet.

Which is how he found himself rifling through the empty desk of an absent Tenryou officer. He’d noticed a hooded cloak on the chair, a garment too warm for the end of summer, even if the nights had been growing chilly lately. Hm, Ryuji had described a man, hadn’t he? The cloak had been made for someone tall - Heizou could assume it was a man or at least someone who was tall enough to be mistaken for a man from far away.

He picked up the cloak and examined it - there was dust on the hem, but no mud. The roads around Inazuma City were muddy this time of year - it could be assumed that the cloak had been worn outside recently but only within the city. He brought it to his nose. It smelled like sweat and something faintly familiar, what was it…

“Hey!” A loud voice made Heizou drop the cloak. He looked up to see a tall, barrel-chested man striding towards him. The man was older, his skin weatherbeaten and his hair still thick but gray. He was frowning. “What are you doing with my cloak?”

“Sorry about that.” Heizou stood and smiled, deciding to try for charming. “I’m a detective - I’ve been investigating some things. I got a bit distracted by your cloak - I’m looking for a new one myself. Where did you get it?”

He eyed Heizou warily. “Can’t say, I’ve had it for a long while.”

It wasn’t new - this man was rapidly becoming a likely suspect. And that faintly familiar smell - could it have been gunpowder?

“What did you say you were investigating?” The man grunted.

“I didn’t.” Heizou kept smiling. “Why do you ask? Do you know of something worth investigating?”

The man looked to both sides. The room they were in was empty, but he still leaned in to speak. “I do, as a matter of fact. Too sensitive to mention here, though.”

“You don’t say?” Heizou said lightly. “Shall we go outside and discuss it away from prying ears?”

“Follow me.” He grabbed his cloak and started striding off, not looking to see if Heizou followed him.

Either he was the guilty party and he was trying to get Heizou alone to ambush him or he was an innocent bystander who either knew something about the case or, horrifyingly, the charming act had worked too well and he wanted Heizou alone for…other reasons.

The first was the most likely, surely, but hearing him out couldn’t hurt. He was tall and looked strong, but Heizou had handled men like him before with ease. And if it was the third, ugh, he could probably manage a polite (and traumatized) rejection before fleeing.

The man led them outside and behind Tenshukaku, passing beneath a few wilting sakura trees. Their blossoms had long since fallen, leaving gnarled branches bare. They stopped by the edge of the cliffs, the sea a dizzying plane of blue spread out beyond.

It made Heizou remember sitting on the other side of this sea, Kazuha by his side. He missed him, which was embarrassing. They’d barely been apart for a day. How would Heizou deal with months or maybe years without Kazuha by his side?

He was turning back to face the man, the possible firework thief, when he was shoved hard. Hard enough for him to stumble and, before he could catch himself, he was pushed again a second time, even harder.

“Death to the false leader of the Kujou Clan!” The man doing the pushing snarled, but Heizou was distracted enough that he didn’t really register the words.

He was falling - he’d been pushed over the edge of the cliff.

There was a moment of freefall before Heizou managed to whip up a gust of air strong enough to slow his descent. It was sloppy, so when he hit the ground it was hard enough that all the wind was knocked out of him. He gasped, struggling to breathe for a moment. It took a long moment, relearning how to breathe in and then out again.

“Fuck.” Heizou groaned, staring up at the sky. It was tinted with the gold of sunset and cloudless.

Kujou loyalists, huh? He’d heard a few rumblings around Tenshukaku about discontentment around the new leadership of the Kujou clan, but he’d never thought that they’d manifest like this. And they had just provided they were willing to murder people who got in their way. If he didn’t have an Anemo Vision and quick reflexes, he wouldn’t have survived that fall.

He sat up slowly, rubbing his head.

It had been years since someone had managed to get the drop on him like that. Archons, he’d been thrown off of a cliff. He really was distracted, wasn’t he?

He clambered to his feet, still wincing a bit, and looked up towards Tenshukaku. Well, Kazuha had taught him the best ways to scale a cliff. Might as well put it to use.

He was sweaty and sore by the time he reached the top, but he didn’t even pause before he jogged up the steps and barged into the Tenryou Commission’s headquarters. This time he ignored the outbursts that followed him as he slammed the door to Kujou Kamaji’s office open.

The man was sitting behind his desk, thin and bespectacled. He was probably around Heizou’s age, maybe a bit older, but he looked very young. The slightly-too-big glasses didn’t help the impression - he looked a lot like a schoolboy who’d snuck into his father’s office without his permission.

“Um, can I help-” He half-rose from his seat, but Heizou waved him down and immediately collapsed into the chair in front of the desk.

“You’re Kujou Kamaji, right?” He said and when Kamaji nodded, he continued on. “Well, Kujou, my name is Shikanoin Heizou. I’m a detective and you, my friend, have a problem.”

“Wait, a detective?” He sat up straighter. “And did you say Heizou - I’ve heard of you!”

Normally, Heizou would enjoy hearing about his many storied exploits, but he was on a tight schedule. “Good - then you know that you should believe me when I say we have a serious problem with some of the members of your clan.”

“My…my clan?” He blinked. “Why do you say that?”

“Um, sir?” A guard had poked his head into the office. “We were told there was a disturbance…”

“He’s fine, that was just me.” Heizou said, waving the man off. “Now go, we have things to discuss.”

The guard gave Kamaji a bewildered look.

“It’s fine.” He assured with a tired smile. “Leave us, please.”

The guard closed the door slowly, like he was expecting Kamaji to start calling for help the moment he turned his back. As soon as it clicked shut, Kamaji looked back to Heizou.

“What’s wrong in my clan, Shikanoin-san?”

“Well, first of all, one of them just pushed me off a cliff.”

“What?” He went pale. “Are you okay?”

“I have an Anemo Vision, so yes, but he didn’t know that when he pushed me.” Heizou said. “I think he’s going to cause some sort of incident - likely tonight, at the end of summer festival.”

“How do you know all this?” He was asking the right questions - good. It looked like he wasn’t incompetent, despite the bad glasses.

“I would say my intuition, but I owe Yoimiya. She reported some fireworks stolen and, as it turns out, they were taken by someone with far more dangerous aims than the kids wanting to light a few extra fireworks that I expected.” He folded his arms. “My investigation led me here, to your clan.”

“Fireworks…” Kamaji frowned. “Do you think they want to cause an explosion?”

“That’s my fear, yeah.” Heizou sighed. “I took this investigation on as a favor, not an official assignment, so I fear that evacuating so late isn’t a feasible option. We need to find the man who pushed me off the cliff and stop him, as well as any accomplices he might have.”

“What did he look like? Did you recognize him?”

Heizou met his eyes. “That’s why I’m here - I’m not well-versed in the clans, I’ll admit. He was an older man, relatively strong, with gray hair and brown eyes. Fairly tall, had a hooded cloak with him.” Heizou ran a hand through his hair. There was still sand in it from his fall to the beach. “Kamaji, I have reason to believe that this is an effort to undermine you. Is there a member of your clan who fits my description who would want to do that?”

Kamaji considered it for a moment, staring down at the papers on his desk.

“Kanada-san.” He said at last. “It has to be Kanada.”

“What can you tell me about him?”

Kamaji sighed. “He and a few others have pushed back against any reforms I’ve tried to make. I’m not short on people who dislike me, Shikanoin-san, but Kanada is the leader.”

“What can you tell me about him?”

“He’s in his fifties and strong for his age.” Kamaji said. “He used to be a samurai.”

Heizou didn’t know if that should make him feel better about being taken out so easily earlier or not.

“Grey hair and brown eyes like you said.” Kamaji was ticking things off on his fingers, eyebrows knitting as he thought back. “Taller than either of us, and, oh yes, he has a Vision.”

“A Vision, huh?” Heizou mused. “I didn’t see one and he didn’t use it when he pushed me.”

“He doesn’t have good control of it yet - he only got it recently.” Kamaji said. “After my father…after the end of the war, I mean. He’s always been single-minded, but since he got the Vision it’s like…” He shook his head. “I didn’t take all of his blustering seriously, but I’m starting to think that was a mistake.”

“What kind of Vision?”

“Electro.” Kamaji said.

“An ambition, huh?” Heizou looked at Kamaji consideringly. “I wonder if his determination to oust you is what granted it.”

“You can get a Vision for something like that?” Kamaji looked affronted.

Heizou slid out of the chair and stretched. “Right and wrong aren’t things the gods consider. They care about strength of belief and ambition more than anything else. And this Kanada guy…” He shrugged. “Seems like he’s got it.”

“So his strongest wish is to see me out of power…” Kamaji frowned, biting at his thumbnail absently.

“Having a Vision doesn’t make it right.” Heizou said. “I’m going to go find him and stop him, Vision be damned.”

 

*****

 

The festival was in full swing by the time Heizou got there, women in yukatas strolling the streets arm-in-arm, children with sticky fingers reaching eagerly for more festival food, inattentive Tenryou officers watching as an occasional firework painted the rapidly darkening sky in bright shades of gold and orange and blue.

He took a deep breath, focusing.

There wasn’t time to find backup or to evacuate things. Man alive, he should have told them to cancel the festival - but that was impossible now. Even if he knew where the firework turned bomb was, he couldn’t get all of these people away safely without triggering a panic.

What was it Kazuha had always likened tracing a Vision to? Following a thread, right? Heizou closed his eyes and focused on his own Vision, the storm of Anemo that never calmed, and he thought about eternity. He thought about reckless ambition, an Archon with the power of a summer storm at her fingertips and a boy who’d chased the strongest storms he could find.

And - there! His eyes snapped open. He could feel it, the faintest traces of Electro on the air. It coated his tongue with the taste of ozone and he started to run, letting the pull of Kanada’s Vision guide him through the chattering crowd. It grew stronger as he ran, a thread pulling him forward as he rounded corners and slipped through throngs of people.

He darted inside one of many storage tents to see a man kneeling in a massive pile of what he knew to be fireworks. There was loose black powder there too, clearly there to make a single errant firework into a massive explosion.

In the center of it all was what was clearly Yoimiya’s show-stopping finale firework. It was massive, a huge red and gold cylinder full of explosives. Impressive up in the sky, but here on ground level it would be devastating.

“You’re too late.” The man grinned at him, Electro dancing along his fingers, as he clutched the end of the wick and it caught in a shower of sparks.

Heizou didn’t waste a moment before full-body tackling the man. He went down hard, clearly not expecting it, and it gave Heizou a moment, just a moment, to think. For Heizou, that was more than enough time.

He didn’t hesitate before grabbing the firework and running out of the tent. He didn’t stop to consider before he chucked the hissing firework as far above his head as he could manage. At the top of the arc, he sent a burst of Anemo up to propel it even higher.

The firework exploded in contact, flaring into a brilliant corona of gold, red and orange. For a moment, he thought it had just exploded but then he saw the shapes that the sparks formed.

And was that…

“A goldfish?” He said, utterly nonplussed. It was huge, complete with the image of scales and a tail that led into a massive shower of sparks.

It was beautiful, a true work of art that rippled bright and then brighter as bevies of Anemo continued to buffet it. Heizou would have liked to stop and watch as it faded into nothing, but the hooded figure that had attempted to turn the firework into a bomb was already running away.

“Stop right there!” He shouted. The man did not stop.

With an annoyed groan, Heizou sprinted after him. He had slipped back into the crowd, but it was easy enough to follow the trail of disgruntled-looking festival-goers that he had shoved to the side in his attempt to flee. And there he was, trying to duck behind a row of food stalls. Heizou didn’t hesitate before diving for the man, quickly managing to grab his wrists and secure them behind his back.

“Man alive, what is your problem?” Heizou dug his cuffs out of his pocket with one hand, still holding the man down.

“Kamaji isn’t half the leader his father is!” The man wriggled like a particularly troublesome fish, trying to free himself from Heizou’s grip. “We’re lost under his leadership!”

“What does that have to do with trying to blow people up?” Heizou successfully extricated his cuffs from his pocket and secured Kanada’s hands behind his back. “Seriously, explain your logic to me.”

Instead, Kanada spit out a long and impressive string of curses.

“Okay then.” Said Heizou and got up, dragging the man to his feet along with him. “Honestly. I don’t really care why you’re doing this. It’s not worth hurting people - you have to know that.”

“Heizou!” Yoimiya had reached them now and was bouncing on her heels. “That was amazing! You caught a criminal, which - wow, amazing - but did you see how cool that explosion was? Everyone loved it! I might have to see if adding Anemo to my fireworks makes them all explode like that - so cool!”

“Favor repaid then?” Heizou started walking towards the station, dragging his very uncooperative prisoner along with him.

“And then some!” She winked. “Come by the workshop later this week, I’ll make you something really special to say thanks!”

“Sure. Would you mind going to find Owada and telling him what happened? You know what he looks like, yeah?”

“Oh, you mean the Yoriki?” She asked and he nodded. “Can do! He buys fireworks for his niece and nephew sometimes - I never forget a customer.”

“Thanks. Tell him I’m putting this guy in the cells til tomorrow - he and the other detectives here should take eyewitness statements. Have them look for any co-conspirators too.” Heizou couldn’t say if this was a single-person campaign or if he had others hiding in the crowd. He’d have to at least look to make sure there were no more threats.

“Sure - thank you again!” She said. “This was a really special end to summer!”

“You won’t find the others.” The would-be terrorist hissed as soon as Yoimiya had slipped back into the crowd.

“So there are others.” Heizou said. “Thanks for that.”

“No there aren’t.” Kanada said, very unconvincingly.

“Alright.” Heizou pushed at his back. “Let’s get going, smart guy. I’ve got a long night ahead of me.”

 

*****

 

“Archons, Inoue, what is wrong with your handwriting?” Heizou muttered to himself, flipping over the next page of Inoue’s testimony from one of the eyewitnesses. He and a few of the other detectives had interviewed the crowd, leaving a massive stack of reports for Heizou to go through.

They were all long gone, clearly eager to enjoy the rest of the festival that was still in full swing outside of the station.

Another round of fireworks went up, lighting the station up in gold for a moment, as Heizou flipped another page. He glanced out the window - was that another goldfish? - and acknowledged that Yoimiya really had outdone herself this year. It would have been nice to watch the fireworks, but Heizou had work to do.

He picked up another report, this one written by a dutiful Uesugi who at least had better handwriting than Inoue. Someone had noticed a suspicious figure lurking between the stalls by the Adventurer’s Guild…hmm. That was something to follow-up on.

Heizou heard the door slide open and didn’t look up from the notes he was jotting down.

“Owada, I swear that Inoue is making his handwriting worse just to make my job harder.” He said. “We should fire him. I’m mostly serious this time.”

“I’d trust your recommendation, but I don’t have the authority to fire anyone.”

Heizou looked up at the familiar, amused voice. “Kazuha.” He said, nonplussed. “I thought you were Owada.”

“Not quite.” Kazuha stepped inside and slid the door shut behind him. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“I’m never disappointed to see you.”

Apparently, he was still just going to violently blurt out all of his deepest, most embarrassing feelings to Kazuha now at the slightest provocation. How neat.

“Thank you.” Kazuha said, a small smile tugging on his lips.

“How’d you know I’d be here?”

“I may have gotten a tip.”

“Uesugi again?” Heizou turned back to his report and stared at it without really seeing it.

“Owada this time, actually.” Kazuha said. “Said I should drag you out to enjoy the festival to make sure you’re rewarded for your hard work.”

“Thanks, but I really need to finish this.” Heizou said, gesturing at the stack of papers in front of him. “There are a few more eyewitness reports I need to look over.”

“You caught the man responsible, didn’t you?” Kazuha walked over to look at the stack of reports on Heizou’s desk.

“He had co-conspirators.” Heizou said, glancing up at him. There was confetti, red and purple and green, caught in his hair. “He pretty much admitted it to me.”

“I doubt you’ll catch them tonight.” Kazuha said, picking up one of the interviews that Heizou had already read though. “I tried to see if I could follow the smell of explosives, but the fireworks are too strong. And they won’t be interrogating the prisoner until tomorrow, will they?”

“No.” Heizou confirmed, flipping another page of the report. “But there’s still work I can do in the meantime.”

There was a scraping noise as Kazuha pulled out the chair at the desk across from Heizou’s and sat down. “Can I help?”

Heizou looked up from his report. “You really don’t have to do that.”

Kazuha picked the next eyewitness report off of the stack in front of Heizou. “I want to.”

“It won’t be fun.”

“I enjoy watching you work.”

“Oh, come on.” Heizou smiled crookedly at him. “Don’t lie to me. I know watching me stare down at papers for hours is boring.”

“I’ve told you before.” Kazuha murmured. “I think grand ambitions are…quite beautiful.” His eyes flicked up to meet Kazuha’s. “It’s a remarkable thing, to watch you.”

Another firework lit the sky behind them in shades of purple and blue. Kazuha’s palor shifted in the light, turning him into a stranger for just a moment.

“Hey.” Heizou set the report he was looking at down for a moment. “Do you remember when we met?”

“Of course.” Kazuha saud. “It was on Mount Yougou - we were both caught in a storm. You were tracking down a suspect and I helped you find him once the rain stopped.”

It had been under a gnarled old sakura tree - Heizou had lost his umbrella and his suspect. His shoes were wet and he was sure he was coming down with a cold. But all of the sudden a boy - a man - with pale hair and clothes the color of autumn had darted beneath the branches beside him in search of shelter.

“Yeah.” Heizou said. “Did you know I thought you were a yokai?”

Kazuha smiled at that, laughter in his eyes. “Why would you think that?”

“You had petals in your hair.” Heizou said. They’d been tangled in his curls, shaken from the sakura tree by the storm. “And you were so…I mean, I didn’t think that normal people could look like you.”

“Like me?”

“Beautiful.” Heizou said a little helplessly. “You were beautiful.” He hurried on, not giving Kazuha time to respond. “But what really got me was that you offered to help. I complained about my suspect getting away and once the rain stopped you tracked him down. Just because I asked you to.”

“I remember.” Kazuha murmured. “I was impressed by your determination. I still am.”

“That might have been when it happened.” Heizou said.

“When what happened?”

“When I fell in love with you.”

Outside, another firework exploded, noise filling the silence between them. The golden light that flashed through the window briefly illuminated Kazuha’s wide eyes, his slightly-parted lips.

“I don’t really know how long I’ve felt…how I feel about you. Probably a long time.” Heizou said. “I know you might not feel the same way, but I…I like you so much. Everything about you, Kazuha. So I had to tell you.”

“Heizou,” Kazuha’s lips slowly curved into a smile, warm and faintly exasperated. “Why would you ever think I don’t feel the same way?”

Heizou blinked, his heart picking up speed. He felt like he did when he leapt off a cliff, caught in the sensation of falling in the moment before his wind glider snapped open. “I didn’t want to assume anything.”

“I came to your house and made you dinner. I followed you around the country for weeks. I composed poetry for you. I stared at you all of the time. I tried to kiss you when I was drunk in Liyue.” Kazuha said. “Heizou, what exactly did you think was going on?

Heizou winced. “I guess I didn’t really let myself think about it.” He’d gotten so used to it, back when Kazuha was spoken for and they were just friendly acquaintances. It had been easier to ignore everything than to acknowledge his needling, persistent desire for something that he could never have.

“Do you know why I came back to Inazuma, Heizou?” He said. “Why I’ve stayed for so long?”

“Beidou had contracts?” Heizou said, but from Beidou had told him on the Alcor that wasn’t the whole picture.

“Beidou had contracts because she, and the rest of the crew, were tired of hearing me talk about you.” He said. “Every time I came back, I kept waiting for you to come find me. Because I had promised myself that the next time I saw you…”

“What?” Heizou asked. “What did you promise?”

“I lost someone I loved once.” He said. “And I wasn’t about to do it again.”

Heizou’s breath hitched and he searched Kazuha’s face, looking for any sort of tell, any sort of sign this wasn’t real. But it was just Kazuha, flushing that delicate pink underneath his freckles.

Kazuha stood up. “Come here for a moment.”

He really shouldn’t - there was still so much to get through - but Heizou stood up and faced Kazuha anyway. His eyes gleamed in the shifting light, flickering like candle flame.

“Give me your hands.” Kazuha murmured.

Heizou obligingly extended his hands - only to have a pair of handcuffs placed on his wrist. “I…what?” He spluttered.

Kazuha grinned. “I’m detaining you, detective.” He said with a little tug on the cuffs. “You’re being detained.”

Heizou tried to keep his face serious, but he couldn’t help it. He laughed. “Where did you even get these?”

Kazuha pulled a key from his belt. “I may have…borrowed them. When I was at your apartment.” He tugged the cuffs again

“Stealing from an officer of the law, mister pirate?” Heizou breathed. “I may just have to arrest you for that.”

“Hmmm.” Kazuha’s eyes flicked down to the cuffs and back up again. “Too bad - looks like I got here first this time.”

Heizou swallowed hard. “I’m pretty sure I used to put you in handcuffs so I would have an excuse to touch you.”

“Heizou.” Kazuha tugged on the chain again, bringing Heizou closer. “I know.” He examined Heizou’s face, eyes reflecting the light of the fireworks still turning the sky into a riot of colors outside and leaned in.

Kazuha kissed him.

Heizou gasped against his lips, for a moment unable to believe that this was really happening. He’d imagined kissing Kazuha before. For years. He’d tried to conjecture what it might have felt like, what he might do. But the reality was so much better, so much richer than the fantasy every could be.

He could never have imagined what Kazuha’s hands, calloused and familiar, felt like cradling his face, his neck. He never could have guessed that Kazuha’s lips would taste sweet against his, the sugar of festival foods he hadn’t eaten. He could never have predicted how warm it would be, how much it would make him want.

He couldn’t do much with his hands still cuffed, but he wanted to touch Kazuha everywhere. He wanted to break Kaedehara Kazuha down into quantifiable parts, to memorize the curve of his shoulder, the cut of his hips, the hard line of his jaw. His mind flitted about, a butterfly caught in a windstorm, trying to categorize the sensations, to break everything down into bullets and facts to store away and study so he could prepare for the next time.

Because there was going to be a next time - Kazuha liked him too, Kazuha wanted to kiss him and be with him.

A particularly loud firework echoed outside and they broke apart, both breathing hard. Kazuha’s cheeks were flushed, his fire-flicker eyes sparking bright and hungry.

“What now?” Kazuha breathed.

Heizou leaned forward and smiled against his lips. “Now you kiss me again.”

And he did.

 

*****

 

Dawn broke onto an unnaturally quiet Narukami Island. In the days of the Vision Hunt Decree, Inazuma had often been a silent, anxious place with people made meek by their fear - it felt like a inhale, like the island was holding its breath in anticipation. Now, though, it felt like a lingering sigh of relief. The festival had gone on well into the night, only ending when people were too intoxicated or too tired to carry on any longer.

Heizou and Kazuha hadn’t gone to the rest of the festival. Instead, they had stayed in the police station. Occasionally, there was kissing. But mostly there was Heizou pouring over eyewitness reports and testimonies as Kazuha sorted the piles and occasionally brewed very strong tea.

Heizou had determined one or two of the likely co-conspirators and a few others leads about an hour ago. Once the island was a little more awake, he’d go and bring them in. But for now Heizou and Kazuha were leaning together on the roof of the police station and watching as the sky went gold as the sun peeked over the horizon.

“You didn’t have to stay.” Heizou said. He was still wearing the cuffs on one of his wrists - he should probably take them off at some point.

“And miss watching you work?” Kazuha sounded a little teasing, but mostly fond. “I would never.” He leaned a bit more heavily against Heizou, a line of warmth that went all down his side. It was a comfort in the chill morning air.

They lapsed into silence for a while. Heizou rested his head on Kazuha’s shoulder.

“The Alcor is leaving in a week.” Kazuha said at last, voice soft.

“I know.” Heizou said.

“I’m going to be on it.”

“I know.” Heizou repeated, pretending that the words didn’t scrape at his throat like cut glass.

They were silent for a while longer. A few scraps of confetti and loose fliers blew past, caught in a breeze that had come in off the sea.

“Look.” Heizou said. “I know you. I have known you for years now, Kazuha. I’m not going to lie and say that I won’t miss you, but…” He swallowed. “I know how important wandering is to you - I won’t ask you to stay. I promise I won’t ever do that.”

Kazuha took his hand and tangled their fingers together. It was his bandaged hand, the one that he had clutched the searing Electro Vision with. “Thank you.” He said.

Heizou squeezed his hand. He knew that Kazuha’s wounds had long since closed, the scars healed and faded.

“Heizou?”

“Hm?”

“You can ask me to come back.”

“What?”

“I may leave, but you can ask me to return to you.” Kazuha said.

“I’ll ask, then.” Heizou said. “Wander as far as you like, see all the amazing things out there, but come back to me whenever you can.”

Kazuha let out a soft hum of laughter. “That was less a request and more a demand.”

“Well, I have very high standards.” He sat up a little and raised his head from Kazuha’s shoulder to meet his eyes. “So I’ll be expecting you back safe and sound - and with more poetry for me.”

“I promise.” Kazuha said and leaned forward to kiss him. The gesture was rapidly becoming a familiar one - his lips a gentle press against Heizou’s own before he opened his mouth and deepened the kiss. Heizou tilted his head to the side, finding the right angle, and fisted his hands in the front of Kazuha’s robes. He tugged him forward, relishing the feel of him, the way they fit together.

Kazuha’s hands went around his neck, dragging him in, and his kisses grew hotter and more demanding. His tongue ran along Heizou’s lower lip and he opened his mouth eagerly, wondering if he could safely maneuver Kazuha into his lap, or vice versa if that proved to be easier. Kazuha broke away and Heizou let out an annoyed noise of protest until Kazuha lowered his head and applied lips and teeth to the hinge of his jaw, the shell of his ear.

“Kazuha…” He hissed as the other man bit down softly on the upper curve of his ear.

Kazuha let out a pleased little hum before kissing his cheek and moving back to recapture his lips. Heizou let go of the death grip he had on the front of Kazuha’s clothes and instead wrapped his arms around Kazuha’s waist, thrilling at the firm muscles he could feel there.

He could probably make the lap thing work if he timed it right and maybe used his Vision…

“Um, sirs?”

Kazuha broke away and Heizou rapidly became aware that they had essentially been making out on the roof of the police station. He immediately dropped his hold and scooted away, face burning. He looked down to see a bewildered-looking Uesugi standing right outside of the station, one hand raised in a greeting.

“Um, hey Uesugi.” Heizou pushed the hair out of his face, unsure of when and how Kazuha had untied his usual hair tie. “Here early, huh?”

“It’s not that early.” Uesugi said. Heizou looked around, realizing that the sky had brightened considerably while they had been…otherwise occupied.

“No backtalk, Uesugi.” He said weakly.

Uesugi grinned at him. “Yes, sir.”

Kazuha chuckled and hopped off the roof, Anemo cushioning his fall. Heizou jumped as well, his landing significantly less graceful. A gust of wind blew into Uesugi’s face, almost knocking off his hat.

“Hey!” He clutched it protectively.

Heizou raised his hands in mock-surrender and caught Kazuha’s eye. Once Uesugi had resecured his hat, Kazuha promptly blew it off. Uesugi floundered for a moment and managed to catch it before it fell to the ground.

“Shikanoin-san is a bad influence on you!” Uesugi said, looking wounded as he cradled his downed hat.

“Oh, most definitely.” Heizou agreed, reaching over to grab Kazuha’s hand.

“Well,” Uesugi straighted up and dusted himself off, carefully placing his hat back on his head.. “I am happy for you, sirs.”

“Yeah, well.” Heizou said. “You’re going to be even happier when you go inside and see what I left on your desk.”

Uesugi looked at him warily. “What is it?”

“Just all of the reports from last night’s incident.” He beamed. “I’ve marked the relevant ones for you - read through them for me and go patrol around the places they mention, okay?”

“You’re not actually my boss, you know.” Heizou raised an eyebrow. “Yes, okay. Should I report to you when I finish?”

“How about you let Owada know?” Kazuha said before Heizou could answer, squeezing Heizou’s hand. “Heizou needs to get some food and some rest - it’s been a long night.”

“Right.” Uesugi nodded. “I’ll tell the Yoriki you’ll be back tomorrow, shall I?”

“This afternoon.” Heizou said. “We need to interrogate the would-be terrorist and I want to be there for that.”

Uesugi saluted. “See you then, sir.”

Heizou waved off his salute. “Don’t do that.”

“Of course, sir.” Uesugi saluted him again. “And maybe take off those handcuffs before someone sees them.”

“Man alive…”

Kazuha laughed out loud as Heizou unlocked the cuff from his wrist and stowed them back in his pockets. He dragged Kazuha away from the station, muttering about insubordination in the ranks. He was still grinning as they made their way down the streets of Inazuma City, slowly but steadily filling with people in the bright morning light.

“Wait, where are we going?” Heizou asked, probably much later than he should have.

“Breakfast.” Kazuha said. “And then a nap.”

“We could do more fun things.” Heizou proposed, still amazed at the easy way Kazuha was holding his hand and smiling at him with so much affection on his face. Granted, the second had been happening for months now - but it was only now that he let himself notice it.

“Later, I promise.” Kazuha said, his tone sending pleasant shudders up Heizou’s spine. “But for now, we both need food and rest. Do you have anything edible at your apartment?”

“Doubtful.” Heizou admitted.

“Okay, then.” Kazuha tugged on him. “First a little shopping, then we can make breakfast together. All right?”

“Yeah.” Heizou said. “Sounds good.”

 

*****

 

It only took two days to root out the rest of the loyalists.

They were a small group, less than a dozen, but all were absolutely dedicated to ousting Kamaji as the leader of the Tenryou Commission and replacing him with his father. The fact that his father was still held prisoner didn’t seem to be an obstacle for them.

It was concerning, but not an unsolvable problem. Heizou had sent Kamaji a letter and, when he worried that Kamaji wouldn’t listen to some detective he barely knew, he had Kazuha send a letter as well.

The discontentment in some of the old guard was something that would bubble back up in a month, a year, or even a decade. Grudges had a tendency to linger, something Heizou knew from personal experiences. It wouldn’t go away just because he wanted it to - so he’d stay vigilant and investigate further when his intuition called.

But for now, he was back to dealing with the usual suspects.

Kuki Shinobu was sitting across from him, filling out the required paperwork to get her gang released. He’d arrested them and, about twenty minutes later, she’d come in and, without any prompting, had gone through his desk, found the forms, and started to fill them out.

“We haven’t gotten drinks in a while.” She said, flipping a page. “Once I’m done with this and the gang is settled, I’m free.”

“Kazuha and I are going out for dinner tonight, actually.” He said proudly. “On a date.” He hadn’t gotten tired of walking around Inazuma City while very aggressively holding Kazuha’s hand and, on occasion, indulging in very showy kisses. It had made the fanclub of girls that Kazuha still denied having shriek in distress. One of them had visibly teared up while another had thrown a stick of dango at Heizou’s head.

“Why are you making it a big deal? Haven’t the two of you been dating for years.” Kuki said absently.

“Don’t make fun of me just because I arrested your gang, Kuki. I actually had a good reason - they started an actual fire this time.”

“I’m not making fun of you.” She said, signing a page of the release forms and flipping to the next. “And, anyway, it was a small fire.”

“It was still a fire.” He insisted. “And you know Kazuha and me haven’t been dating for years.”

“So what was you chasing him around with handcuffs about?” She glanced up to raise a single eyebrow. “Weird foreplay?”

He used his Vision to make her papers smack her in the face. “Oops.” He said remorselessly.

She straightened the papers and rolled her eyes. “Come on, Shikanoin-san. Are you being serious?”

“Yes, I am.” He said. “We literally started dating three days ago.”

She glanced up. “Wow. You were pining for a really long time, huh?”

“Shut up.”

She signed the last page. “Okay.” She offered him the papers and a pouch of mora.

He rolled his eyes and took both items, setting them down on his desk. “We can get drinks next week, okay? Kazuha’s going back out with the Alcor soon.”

Her eyes flickered in what he thought might be sympathy, but when she spoke it was as dry as ever. “You’re buying. You arrested my gang.”

“There was a fire, Kuki!” He insisted, but she was already heading towards the door so she could walk to the cells. “An actual fire!”

“I’ll see you next week, Shikanoin.” She said with a lazy wave.

“I’ll see you sooner if there’s another fire!” He shouted back, but the door was already closed.

“Shikanoin, stop yelling!” Owada yelled from his office. It was, in Heizou’s opinion, rather hypocritical of him.

“Sure, boss.” He saluted with two fingers and leaned back in his chair.

“Shikanoin, can you ever just be normal?” Inoue muttered and Heizou, unable to help himself, started to laugh.

 

*****

 

The maple leaves on Ritou were a bright, vibrant scarlet in the light of early morning.

“Do the trees near your old home look like this?” Heizou asked as he and Kazuha passed under them. Kazuha had mentioned the trees more than once, always with a note of nostalgic fondness.

“Yes, exactly.” Kazuha said. He reached up and caught one as it fell lazily through the air. “They’re lovely, aren’t they?” He handed the leaf to Heizou.

It was the same shade as Kazuha’s eyes. “Yes.” He agreed. “They are.”

“It’s a shame, the partings in my life always seem to be accompanied by these leaves.” He said, looking back up at them. “My father, my clan…my friend. When we parted for the last time before what happened at Tenshukaku, we were in a grove of these maples.” He tapped one of the trunks. “A strange coincidence, isn’t it?”

Heizou tucked the leaf into a pocket. “I don’t believe in coincidences.” He said. “And it’s not a parting for good between us. You promised me, remember?”

Kazuha smiled. “I remember.”

The Alcor was docked at the end of the pier, sailors already fussing with the ropes and sails. Beidou raised a hand in greeting when she spotted them, but didn’t come over, busy with overseeing preparations for departure.

“Well.” Kazuha turned to face him. “I suppose this is goodbye for now.”

“I suppose.” Heizou said. “Be safe out there.”

“I will.” He dipped his head. “And you, be safe here.”

“Yeah.” Heizou tucked his thumbs in the waistband of his pants. “I think I might go back to Watatsumi for a while - there was more I wanted to check out there.”

“Oh?” Kazuha tilted his head.

Heizou shrugged. “Something felt…off. Just my intuition - I’ll write and let you know if it pans out.”

“Okay.” Kazuha put a hand against his cheek and drew him into a kiss. It was gentle and deliberate, almost chaste. “You’re remarkable.” He said once they had parted.

“I am.” Heizou agreed. “You are too.”

“Oi, Kazuha!” Beidou’s voice made them both turn. She was standing on the gangplank, gesturing at Kazuha to join her. “Time to go!”

“I’ll see you soon.” Kazuha said.

“Yeah.” Heizou agreed. “You will.”

He stood and watched as the Alcor finished boarding and, with a dull creaking sound, set off from the docks. He could spot Kazuha at the bow standing by Beidou, his eyes visible and vibrant even at this distance.

Heizou raised a hand.

Kazuha waved in return, his sleeve caught in the ocean breeze. It flapped like a bright flag, dyed in the colors of autumn and departures.

Heizou stood there and watched until Kazuha was out of sight, the Alcor just a smudge on the horizon.

He stayed as long as he could, but eventually it was time to go.

He elected to walk back to Inazuma City - there were ferries he could wait for, but the autumn day was crisp and fresh. A few red maple leaves blew past as he left Ritou and Heizou reached to carefully touch the one he had stowed in his pocket.

He found that he already missed the familiar presence of Kazuha beside him. They had been parted, there was no way to deny that, but it was not forever. Some time, in a few weeks or a few months or maybe even longer, Kazuha would return. This time, unlike last time, Heizou knew that for sure.

And if he didn’t - well. Heizou was resourceful. He could always find Kazuha. Maybe, once Inazuma was a little more settled and Heizou was a bit closer to his goal, they could wander together. He hadn’t had the chance to see much of Liyue and he was curious about nations that were even further still.

It wasn’t the end for them.

Inazuma City came into view soon enough, lively even this early in the morning. Heizou waved at Yoimiya as he passed the fireworks shop, nodded to Kuki who was sitting at a tea stand and reading a thick book, darted around the group of children who always seemed to be running after each other. They were older now, old enough that they’d soon abandon playing in the streets for work and family obligations.

Heizou made his way to the police station. He’d need to put in at least a few days of work before he went back to Watatsumi. And besides, it had been too long since he’d had a look at mount cold case. Maybe he’d be able to spare a few minutes this morning.

He waved to the receptionist and made his way to his desk, flipping open one of the many files that had been left for him there.

“Wow, it’s rare to see you in the office this early, Shikanoin-san.” Uesugi called once he noticed Heizou. “Or well, at all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Heizou said, setting the folder aside. “Is Owada here yet? I need to ask him about a trip I want to take.”

“In his office.” Uesugi said. “But I wouldn’t go in there, he…”

Heizou didn’t wait for him to finish, instead striding over to the office and opening the door without knocking. Owada looked exasperated at his uninvited entrance, but the other person in the office was more neutral, her face carefully controlled.

“Hey there, Kujou.” He raised a hand in acknowledgement. “What’s got you here so early?”

“None of your business, Shikanoin.” Owada answered for her. “And it’s General Kujou.”

“General Kujou.” Heizou said graciously. “Is this about Owada’s retirement? I have a suggestion for a replacement, if you have a second.”

“How did you -” Kujou began, but quickly cut herself off with a sharp shake of her head. “This doesn’t concern you, Shikanoin.”

Heizou bit back a grin. His plan was working. “Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender. “I’ll leave you to it.”

“Actually, I’d like a moment with you.” Kujou said. “Yoriki, if we could use your office?”

“I…ah, sure.” Owada looked mildly put out at being asked to surrender his office, but he got up and, with a squeeze to Heizou’s shoulder that was hard enough that it must be a warning to behave himself, let himself out and closed the door behind him.

Kujou settled behind Owada’s desk and nodded to the chair she had just vacated. “Sit.”

Heizou sat. “I really do have some ideas about Owada’s replacement.” He said.

“That isn’t what this is about.” She said.

“Huh.” Heizou leaned back in the chair a little, disappointed. “What is it, then?”

“I…and that is to say, all of the Tenryou Commission, would like to extend our deepest thanks to you for returning the Visions we were unable to find the owners of.” She nodded to him.

“Oh.” He blinked, surprised. He’d reported their success to the Commission once they’d returned, but he hadn’t expected anything like acknowledgement. “Yeah, no problem. And Kazuha deserves the credit more than I do - I was just along for the ride for most of it.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “You mean…Kaedehara Kazuha?”

Heizou nodded. “He helped me track them all down. If anyone deserves thanks, it’s him.”

“I see.” She looked faintly troubled. “Well, I’m glad that he would aid the Tenryou Commission even after…”

“It was less about that and more about getting those Visions back to where they belong.” Heizou shrugged. “But he would probably help, if you asked. Despite everything he’s been through, he’s not the kind of person who holds grudges.”

“I’ll see about extending a formal thank you next time he’s in Inazuma.” Kujou said. “It is a weight off of my mind, to see this matter resolved.”

She seemed to be sincere. Granted, Kujou Sara always seemed to be sincere. It was the main reason why Heizou found her so baffling. Everything she had done, from the duel in Tenshukaku to the request to return the Visions, had been done with surety it was the right choice. What was it, then, that drove her? What wish had given Kujou Sara a Vision?

“Hey, Kujou?”

“General Kujou.” She corrected, but it seemed less annoyed and more an automatic response.

“General Kujou. Can I ask you something?”

She looked at him warily. “What is it, Shikanoin?”

“Your Vision.” He said. “What does it mean to you?”

She blinked. “What does it mean?”

“Yeah.” He tilted his head. “Mine is a symbol of my resolve. What does yours mean to you?”

She was silent for a moment and Heizou thought she might refuse to answer. But then, she spoke. “It is a blessing from the Almighty Shogun. And I will use it in her service, to help her achieve her goals.”

“And that’s all?”

She frowned at him, like she didn’t understand what he meant. “Isn’t that enough?”

Heizou wasn’t sure what to say to that.

She looked down at the papers on the desk and picked the top one up, examining it. “Send Owada back in for me. We have more to go over.”

“Sure.” He gave her a two-fingered salute and left the office, closing the door behind him. “You’re back up, Owada.” He said.

“Shikanoin.” Owada sighed. “Should I be concerned?”

“Probably.” Heizou said blithely, walking over to settle back in his chair. “But not about that - she just wanted to thank me for returning the Visions.”

Owada let out a relieved sigh as he walked over and opened the door. “Thank the Archons for that.”

Heizou grinned at him. “You know, if you really don’t want to deal with me, you could always retire -”

Owada slammed the door behind him.

Heizou laughed, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back in his chair.

“Are you bothering Owada again?” Uesugi set a steaming mug of tea on Heizou’s desk, face creased in concern.

“I’m just letting him know that he has options.” Heizou said. He winked at Uesugi. “Retirement options.”

“Not this again…” Heizou ignored him and went to sip the tea - it was the perfect temperature. Uesugi had learned well.

“How did the conversation go with General Kujou, sir?” Uesugi asked as he sipped his tea.

“All fine - mostly just a thank you for my work with returning the Visions.” Heizou said with a shrug. “We talked a bit about Visions too.”

Another detective passed by them without even stopping to wave, going straight for Owada’s office. He paled when he saw the two occupants, but still went inside.

“Wonder what that’s about?” Uesugi murmured, but Heizou wasn’t paying attention. He was thinking about Kujou’s response, about all of the things he and Kazuha had seen on their mission to return the Visions.

Freedom, love, passion, wisdom, justice, contracts, eternity. In the end, a Vision was a dream that mattered more to you than your own life. And sometimes that dream could be about the whole world, but sometimes that dream was just about a single person. But either way, it was a dream so important that it attracted the eyes of the gods themselves.

Was it truly a blessing to be under an Archon’s gaze?

“Oi, Shikanoin-san!” A shout from Owada’s office, newly opened by the new detective. He was standing at the threshold now, holding a stack of papers and looking frantic. Kujou was just over his shoulder, still talking to the detective who’d interrupted them.

“What is it?”

“There’s been a murder.” Owada grunted. “Get down to the docks.”

Heizou jumped out of his chair - he knew his intuition was right to lead him to the station this morning. “I’m on the case!”

“Wait, Shikanoin-san, finish your tea!” Uesugi cried, but Heizou was already out the door and running towards the docks on feet made quick with the power of Anemo.

In the end, it didn’t matter if an Archon’s gaze was a blessing or not.

Inazuma City rushed by, a bustle of shouts and laughter - people who he knew and people he didn’t, all living their lives. Sakura petals drifted down and the rich scent of ramen floated from a nearby stall. A dog barked loudly as he passed, weaving between people doing their shopping and merchants shouting out advertisements for their wares.

It was life, ever-changing and vibrant, and it was worth protecting. And Heizou would do it - he had promised himself that he would.

Heizou’s dream was something that he had seized for himself - his most fervent hope and dearest wish, a thing that he would never be able to let go of. Until the world he dreamed of was real, he would keep going.

And the rest would fall into place.

Notes:

Thanks so much for reading - sorry this is so long! It’s been a really long time since I’ve fanficed, so apologies if I’m rusty!

Comments mean the world to me, so leave one if you’re so inclined :)

Edit (12/28):
I did a reread recently and noticed an embarrassing amount of spelling/formatting issues - I'm working through getting those all corrected! Thank you all so much for the lovely comments - I'm bad about responding, but I treasure every single one :)

I hope to see you all when I complete my next fic!