Chapter Text
500 Years After Kazuha’s Death
The salty sea air blew over the cliff, whistling and nearly knocking my hat over as I walked along the shore. The calm waters washed over my ankles, welcoming me back to this old familiar place. I climbed up the narrow slope and stopped before the two swords, grave markers for two souls that the world has forgotten. Kazuha’s and Tomo’s blades glinted in the sunlight, undisturbed, never rusting, greeting me.
“Hello,” I said, sighing as I sat on my knees before Kazuha’s sword. “It’s been a while… I’m sorry. Well, I mean. I talk to you every day, don’t I? I’m just sorry I haven’t come here in so long.”
I opened my bag and took out the food I had prepared in advance, placing it carefully on plates, making sure I put one in front of Kazuha’s sword. For Tomo, I carefully laid a handful of flowers I gathered on the way there. Just a small gift to thank him for keeping Kazuha company, and to make sure he knows he’s not forgotten.
“I’m doing okay, by the way,” I said, sprinkling a bit of salt over the fish on Kazuha’s plate. “Finally convinced Albedo to take more commissions from authors. He missed doing it, I don’t know why it’s taken him so long. He can be so picky sometimes.”
I placed a pair of chopsticks on Kazuha’s plate, then took a pair of my own to begin eating.
“He built me a greenhouse. It’s amazing, like I have a little corner of Sumeru all to myself. It’s not the same though. Every time I visit Nahida and walk through the rainforest, I realize I’ll never really recreate it. But… At least it’s something. I like to be in there when it rains. The sounds of water hitting the glass reminds me of home… Our old home, I mean.”
I ate in silence for a few minutes, lost in thought, wondering what Kazuha would think if he saw my greenhouse. He’d probably love it but agree nothing could compare to our home in the rainforest. A strange wet sound pulled me out of my thoughts, and I looked up just in time to see a little white fox trying to eat Kazuha’s fish.
“Hey!”
It stepped back from the plate but didn’t scurry away like I expected it to. It sat oddly still beside Kazuha’s sword, its tail swishing from side to side, its red eyes blinking at me slowly.
“That’s not for you,” I scolded it, scooting the plate away from him. “Get out of here.”
More slow blinks, it didn’t seem at all fazed by me trying to shoo it away with my chopsticks.
“Whatever… Anyway… I’m actually trying to convince Albedo to move. I’m bored of Mondstadt. We travel a lot, and at this point, I’ve been just about everywhere at least three times. But always returning there at the end of a journey? I don’t know. It bores me. He’s considering Sumeru. He might teach at the Akademiya if he isn’t happy doing commissions but– HEY!”
The fox was licking the damn fish again.
“Look, I’m going to leave it here when I go. The least you can do is wait until I’m gone.”
The fox blinked at me again, then came a little closer and laid down beside me, its tail brushing against my leg as it wrapped around itself. I sighed and rested my back against the cliffside.
“Five hundred years,” I muttered. “You’ve now been gone as long as I was alive when I met you. How the tides of time pass over us, but nothing ever really washes away.”
I absentmindedly let my hand rest on the fox’s back, and it let out a soft yip.
“I’m… a thousand years old…”
I exhaled another sigh and slumped a little, my fingers burying into the fox’s warm fur.
“I’m happy,” I said, glancing at Kazuha’s sword; I could see my eye and part of my face reflecting back at me. “I really am. And I love him, I do. Doesn’t mean I ever stopped missing you. And you know what?”
I looked down at the fox by my side. His head perked up as if it knew I was looking at it. I ran my thumb against its cheek and its eyes closed pleasantly.
“Sometimes I wonder… You know, I still catch him looking up at the stars? With the most wistful expression on his face. I’m not stupid. I know who he’s thinking about. And he’s not stupid either. I know that he sees it in me too. Like whenever the wind blows, and I close my eyes… thinking of you. I can’t believe this is never going to go away. I’m going to miss you until the end of time.”
The fox nuzzled its head into my hand, and I rubbed its ears. It stretched its legs, sauntered over to the fish, then curiously turned its head back at me.
“Fine, eat it, enjoy yourself,” I waved my hand carelessly. “He’d probably want you to have it anyway. ‘Ah, why can’t I share my meal with such an adorable little creature.’ Yeah? Did that sound like him?”
The fox happily began munching on the fish. Lost in my own memories, I watched it for a while until it licked the plate clean.
“You ate that whole thing,” I laughed, impressed. “Quite an appetite for a little pup. Anyway.”
With a groan, I stood from the ground and wiped the dust off my clothes.
“Time for me to go. Every time I come here, I end up staying all night crying like an idiot in the dirt.”
As I took a step to leave, the fox let out a soft whine.
“What do you want? You can’t possibly still be hungry.”
I bent down and it once more rubbed its head into my hand until I scratched its ears.
“There, satisfied?” I straightened my back and looked at Kazuha’s sword again. “I’m sorry I don’t come more often. It’s just hard, you know? I don’t like missing you, and coming here always makes it worse. I don’t know when I’ll be back… But I’ll bring you some fish again, if you don’t mind sharing it with this guy.”
I smiled down at the fox who had curled into a ball between the two swords. Maybe the fish finally hit its stomach and made it sleepy.
“Bye, for now, Kazuha. I love you.”
Just saying those words aloud still brought a pang to my heart, and it ticked a somber tune in my chest. I turned my back on the swords and the fox and left them behind. Maybe for another century, maybe more. Albedo was right. When you get to live as long as we do, time stops having any meaning at all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A new life, reborn
Stumbling with trepidation
Meeting you again by chance
Why did I come there?
With winds and waves, so did you
And left me too soon.
I still wait for your return.
Dreaming. Waiting.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
1,000 Years After Kazuha’s Death
“Klee, can you help me with these boxes?” I asked, carrying one inside. “I had to lug them up the steps by myself, the least you could do is bring them inside.”
“Hm, do you actually need the help or are you just trying to keep me busy so that I stop making so much noise?” Klee asked as I passed her in the hall.
“Both.”
“Alright then, I appreciate your honesty,” Klee patted me on the head, making me scowl at her.
“Just because you’re taller than me now, doesn’t mean you can do that!”
Klee giggled and quickly went outside to bring in more of the boxes. Together we brought them to Albedo’s study where he was already sifting through the manuscripts. Once everything was inside, Klee wandered up to her room where she immediately went back to her excessively loud experiments.
“At least TRY to keep it down!” I shouted up the stairs.
She definitely didn’t hear me.
“Anything stand out to you yet?” I asked Albedo, closing the door of his study in the hopes to muffle all the banging.
“No,” Albedo answered, not looking up from the manuscript in his hands.
“Well, let’s just get it over with,” I sighed, plopping into a chair and opening the nearest box.
It was a good thing Albedo had me to help him read through all the drivel. Despite the advances of modern technology, good literature was getting harder and harder to come by. Or perhaps it was because of technological advances. Either way, just because most of it wasn’t good, didn’t mean it was slowing down. People from all over the world wanted the famous Calx to illustrate their novels. What a blessing to be an exceptionally fast reader so that I could get it over with quickly. Albedo sighed and stood from his desk, walked over to the sofa I was sitting in and plopped down beside me. Without hesitation, I moved closer and rested my head on his chest.
This was probably my favorite thing about helping him. I never got tired of spending every moment I could by his side, especially since he often wanted to work alone. But this became a special pastime for us. Occasionally pausing to steal a quick kiss or murmur a comment about whatever we were reading. Even when we worked in silence, at least I could listen to his heart, at least I could feel his fingers lazily running through my hair. I never stopped craving his touch, and it still made my heart tick with affection every time I felt him. After about an hour, I dug up a short manuscript that appeared to be nothing but poems. Albedo rarely got requests to have poetry illustrated, so this actually piqued my interest. I read the title and the name of the author on the front cover:
Aurora by Akikaze
I paused, staring at the author’s name.
Autumn breeze…
“Inazuman…” I muttered.
“Hmm?” Albedo hummed.
“Nothing. Just, this author has an Inazuman pen name.
“Hmm…”
I turned to the first poem and began to read.
Under the Moonlight
Every night we meet
I see your face, touch your skin
You always linger
Even when I wake
Your taste never leaves my lips,
To see you again
Under the moonlight
I must sleep.
“Dawn?” Albedo called for my attention.
“What?” I turned my face up to meet his gaze.
“You’re smiling,” he said with a tone of amusement, his fingers touching my lips. “Did you find something you like?”
“Uhh… I’m not sure yet,” I said slowly. “It’s poetry, but it’s written in a unique style. Each stanza is a haiku, except for the last two lines. That sort of defeats the purpose of a haiku though, doesn’t it? To convey your meaning within the confines of the haiku’s rules?”
“Perhaps to a traditionalist,” Albedo nodded thoughtfully. “However, modern poets tend to experiment nowadays. Blending the traditional style of the haiku with a more modern style sets the work apart, makes it stand out. Literally, it worked on you.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” I said, turning the page to the next poem.
“Wait, read that first one aloud to me.”
I turned the page back and did as he asked.
“Hmm,” Albedo’s fingers continued threading through my hair. “Tell me, what do you think the poem is about?”
“How should I know?”
“Isn’t that why you’re helping me?” Albedo raised his eyebrows. “I like this one, I’m likely going to choose it. If I want to give the author something that represents his work, I need to understand it. Poems hold more subtle, abstract emotions than other literature does. You’re better at understanding that than I am.”
Albedo gave me an encouraging smile.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “Well, at first it sounds like he’s talking about someone he meets at night, but apparently, they only meet in his dreams.”
“Dreams? I didn’t hear the word ‘dream’ when you read it.”
“I know but, it says when he wakes, the taste of his lover still lingers. As if they kissed while he was asleep. And at the end, he says the only way he can see them again is if he goes to sleep.”
“Fascinating,” Albedo said, now resting his hand on my shoulder. “Read the next one.”
I turned the page and began to read.
“ First
Tell me again of
The first time our fingers touched
Or when we first kissed
On the mountain top
Under the winter lanterns
And I saw their lights
Reflect in your eyes
Tell me again.”
“I think that one is a little easier for me to understand,” Albedo said, and I could hear the smile in his voice. “He merely wants to relive the memories of their first romantic encounters, yes?”
I reread the poem twice, three times, four times. Every time I read it, my heart seemed to tick with excitement.
“What is it?” Albedo asked. “Did you interpret a different meaning?”
“No,” I looked up at him, furrowing my brow in confusion. “It just… I feel like I’ve read it before.”
“Oh no,” Albedo let out a short laugh. “Could this poet be plagiarizing?”
“Hah, don’t think so,” I rolled my eyes.
“Read the next one,” Albedo requested.
I turned to the next poem.
“ Ghostly Love
How can I love you
When I have never met you?
Are you haunting me?
Love, are you a ghost?
Echoes of another life?
Please, do not leave me.
Haunt me forever,
If you must.”
Again, I read the poem several times to myself, wondering why these words sounded so familiar to me. Even as I read it silently in my head, it was as if someone else’s voice spoke the words to me. A voice I hadn’t heard in a very long time. After several minutes passed, I realized Albedo hadn’t said anything. I looked up from the page to see him watching me, an odd look on his face.
“I like it,” he said quietly.
“Me too.”
“Could you give it to me, please?” He asked, holding his hand out.
I lifted the manuscript over my head and handed it to him, almost reluctantly. I wanted to read more. He took it from me and leafed through the pages, pausing to read each poem. I waited for him to read them aloud like I did, but he never spoke a word, silently examining them for a few minutes before turning to the next one. I laid there with my head on his chest, watching him, waiting to hear his thoughts, growing a bit impatient. I wanted it back. After some time, he closed the manuscript and leaned back slightly, his gaze a bit unfocused, lost in contemplative thought.
“I want to illustrate for this poet,” he said at last.
“Really?”
“Yes,” he nodded. “Aren’t you going to Inazuma soon?”
“What?” I asked, caught off guard.
“To visit Kazuha’s grave.”
“Oh… Well, I wasn’t really sure if I was going to go…”
“It’s been a long time since you have,” Albedo was speaking to me in an odd tone, and I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking; his expression was unreadable. “You mentioned it was about time you made a visit again.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’d like to meet this poet… Akikaze…In person. But, as you know, I’m swamped with other things. Perhaps you can go on my behalf. Get to know him, learn what kind of illustrations he would like paired with his poems.”
“I mean,” I hesitated; I had never done anything like that without Albedo before. “I could, if you want me to. Wouldn’t it be better if you were with me?”
“Come now,” Albedo smiled and took my chin in his hand. “You’re more than capable of doing this for me. We’ve done it hundreds of times. You know me better than anyone. You know what kind of work I’m willing to do. There should be no issue for you to go in my place. Get to know him, discuss his ideas, write them down. Then, when you come back, just share it with me and I’ll get right to it.”
“Alright,” I shrugged. “If that’s what you want, I guess I’ll do it.”
“Thank you,” Albedo smiled once more.
He put the manuscript on the coffee table then hoisted me up a little higher so that my face was closer to his. The moment I settled on top of him, he pulled me into a kiss. A thousand years of kissing this man, and suddenly this one felt new. He held my face tenderly in his hands, his lips moving slowly against mine, as if savoring the kiss as much as he could. It was so weird, I started to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” He asked, pulling away from me.
“What’s up with you?” I poked his cheek.
“Nothing. I just love you.”
I tilted my head to the side and regarded him for a moment. His eyes, always reminding me of Sumeru’s rivers, gazed back at me unblinking. There was definitely something off about him.
“You’re being weird,” I said.
“Ah, what’s new?”
“Yeah, you’re always weird.”
Albedo kissed my cheek and patted me to get off him. I slid off and he handed me the manuscript.
“Do you think you can head out tomorrow?” He asked.
“So soon?” Okay, there was definitely something extra weird going on. “What, are you trying to get rid of me or something?”
“I know I’m not very good at expressing my excitement, but these poems have sparked inspiration in me,” Albedo assured me. “I’d like to get this moving as soon as possible.”
“You’re the boss,” I shrugged, tucking the manuscript under my arm. “I’ll see if I can book a flight for tomorrow.”
As I made my way out of his study, Albedo called after me before I left.
“Dawn.”
“What now?”
“What do you think of the name of the poetry book?” He asked.
He was watching me in a weird way again and I finally realized it was the same way he often looked at his experiments whenever he was waiting for some kind of unexpected reaction.
“The name?” I looked down at the title typed in black ink. “Aurora?”
“Yes, the title really caught my eye.”
“Why? Because of the aurora lights on Dragonspine?”
“That… and also because ‘aurora’ is another word for ‘dawn.’”
~*~*~*~*~*~
That night, I read the rest of the poems on my own and made notes and annotations in the margins for me to discuss with the author later. There were twenty-five poems all together, and every single one of them was getting under my skin. Some of them even moved me to tears, which was… I can’t even explain it. In the last millennia I spent helping Albedo read through hundreds of thousands of written works, never has one made me cry. Many certainly made me laugh, whether intentional or not. But these poems… I stayed up all night, reading them over and over again, memorizing their words. The more I read them, the more I could almost hear that other voice reciting them to me. A voice softer than my own, one that read the poems with a gentle cadence that made the tears falling from my eyes feel more like tears of joy rather than tears of empty longing.
It was very late in the night. Albedo was asleep beside me, blissfully unaware of my sudden obsession over those poems and who they were reminding me of. Though I still thought about Kazuha nearly every day, often as a passing thought, like a drifting cloud without a shape, it had been a very long time since I truly sat down allowed myself to remember him. I slid out of bed and crept to our storage cupboard where I kept all my old things. There, I found an old wooden box that held the letters Kazuha and I sent to each other a whole lifetime ago, along with his journal full of haikus. Sitting on the floor, I tenderly opened the fragile ancient cover, careful not to damage the yellowing pages. For hours, I sat there, poring over the words written by a beautiful, scarred hand over a thousand years ago. These haikus were some of the only records left to prove Kazuha existed. That he had lived, wandered through the lands of this world, and that I had been lucky enough to have him love me.
I had to keep the journals out of reach of my tears. The more of them I read, the more I wept. When I reached the final one, the one he recited to me the night before he died, I finally closed the journal and let out a watery sigh.
“I miss you.”
Whoever Akikaze was, he was certainly a talented poet. If anyone deserved to have artwork by Albedo, it was him. His poems somehow captured Kazuha’s spirit and moved me in a way I hadn’t felt in a very long time. I couldn’t wait to meet him and thank him for creating such a beautiful collection of poetry.
“Got everything?” Albedo asked several hours later as I stepped out of our home, my travel bag hanging off my shoulder.
“I think so.”
“Have a good trip then.”
Albedo pulled me in for a kiss, his hands on my waist. It was another weird one. Unfamiliar, almost… Apprehensive. I wish I knew what it meant, but before I could lose myself in his embrace, he broke the kiss.
“I’ll be back in a week,” I said, hugging him tightly. “You better miss me.”
“I always do.”
People rarely sailed to Inazuma anymore. Ever since the invention of airplanes, which was a combination of efforts between Fontaine and Mondstadt, people preferred to fly over the Sea of Clouds. It took only a few hours rather than a few days, making traveling across the world much easier. Teyvat had gone through many exceptional changes during the last millennia. We were living in a time of peace and prosperity across all the nations. This made room for all sorts of impressive feats that humans achieved, propelling the world into a new age. Older beings such as myself and Albedo sometimes had a hard time adjusting. Especially when we’d lose track of time, stuck in our little bubble of happiness and comfort, only to emerge centuries into a future we no longer understood. But thanks to Albedo’s constant connection to modern science, and my dislike of being perceived as old-fashioned, we somehow managed to keep up.
Upon arriving in Inazuma, I took a taxi to Inazuma City. The nation was almost unrecognizable to the one I was first born in. I hadn’t been there in an incredibly long time, so it was a bit of a shock to see all the old open fields and plains suddenly replaced by asphalt and concrete.
So much for eternity…
I could not believe she allowed so much to change. Perhaps she had finally lost her mind.
According to Akikaze’s address on his manuscript, he lived on Yashiori Island. It was hard for me to fathom how the island was even habitable, but then again, surely the environment had improved since the last time I was there. After the taxi dropped me off in the city, I hopped onto a ferry to take me to Yashiori Island. It truly was completely different from how I remembered it. Instead of a desolate island with abandoned shacks, it seemed to have turned into a quaint and flourishing pastoral village. As I made my way through a busy market, I stopped at a stand of fruits to ask for directions.
“Oh, that’s not far from here,” the old man squinted down the road and pointed. “Up the road, take a left at the post office.”
“Thank you.”
I really liked it there, walking up the road as children on bikes passed me by. It seemed like a lovely place to live, and the thought of that annoyed me. I never imagined I’d be walking through any part of Inazuma and actually find myself enjoying it. Maybe it was all the maple trees everywhere. They added so much color and coziness to the island. And of course, they made me think of Kazuha, ever present in my mind he was, always peeking at me through the veils of death. I reached the post office and turned left like the merchant had told me to. This road led to a narrow shopping square, which confused me at first, since I was expecting houses. I looked at the address again, and sure enough, I was on the right road. As I made my way past the shops, I realized there were apartments above them.
The number I was looking for led me to a little garden shop and I spotted some stairs in the alley that led up to the apartment. Suddenly, I felt nervous. All this time, I was just a bit curious, maybe excited to meet Akikaze, but nothing out of the ordinary. Walking up those steps, my heart began to tick a little too fast. On the landing in front of the door, there was hardly enough room for me to stand; it was full to the brim with potted plants, and there were all sorts of strange ornaments hanging from the door. Many little wooden foxes hung from windchimes, swaying slightly, peering at me. With my heart ticking erratically in my chest, I reached my hand out and knocked on the door. A whole minute passed, and I didn’t hear any movement inside. I knocked again, and still no one answered.
Apparently, Akikaze wasn’t home. Granted, it was the middle of the day. Perhaps he was at work, wherever that might be. Surely, he would be home in a few hours. I descended the stairs and looked around the little square, wondering what to do with myself until it would be time to check if he came home. The garden shop beside me kept drawing my attention, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt to take a look around. Maybe I could find something to take back to my greenhouse.
It was warm and sunny in the shop, with open windows lining the walls and circulating the air. I was immediately overwhelmed with the variety of plants, so I took my time perusing the aisles. I wanted to look through the whole shop before I started choosing what to buy. It was nice and quiet there; the shop didn’t seem to attract many customers. I liked the silence though; it made the experience of being amongst all the green foliage more satisfying. Because of the open windows, little birds would swoop in, and I noticed there were wooden bird houses hanging from the ceiling. Observing one, I recognized the same patterns as the wooden foxes hanging from Akikaze’s door. Occasionally, a gardener would walk by, but I didn’t pay them any mind. At least not until one of them came through the aisle I was in, pushing a large cart full of sweet-smelling flowers. There was a bee hitching a ride on the cart, rubbing its fuzzy little body on the blossoms.
“Excuse me, I don’t want to run over your feet,” the gardener said politely.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, jumping out of the way.
I couldn’t even see him, the cart he was pushing was so huge, it completely obscured him.
“Thank you,” he said quietly, disappearing behind some apple tree saplings.
I stood there for a moment, staring at the spot he had just been standing. Something about his voice sounded so familiar, it made the hairs on my skin stand up. I walked through the rows of apple trees and curiously looked for him. I didn’t know what was compelling me to do so. I no longer had any friends or acquaintances that lived in Inazuma. There was no way I could possibly know him, but I just had to check. As I turned a corner to an aisle with bonsai trees, I saw the enormous cart up ahead, and through the gaps of white flower petals, I could see movement of someone working behind it. I cautiously approached it, but before I could get too close, another gardener came bustling out and spoke to the man behind the cart.
“When you’re done with that, could you get me another one of those fifteen-foot hoses from the backroom?” She asked him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered.
“Thank you, Kazuha.”
No.
No way.
I didn’t hear that right.
My mind was playing tricks on me, there was simply no way. Suddenly, the shop became uncomfortably warm, and it felt like there wasn’t enough air in the stuffy, humid building. For a moment there, I thought my heart had stopped ticking, only to realize it was ticking so fast it was as though it were one continuous note. If I really did hear that woman correctly, then surely it was just a coincidence. An insane, freakish coincidence that this stranger had the same name as my dead husband. I turned around, thinking maybe I should just leave. Immediately. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t get my feet to move away from him. They only wanted to turn back around and walk towards him.
What the hell am I doing? I wondered to myself as I took a step towards the cart. Well… Maybe it won’t hurt to look at him. Just to laugh at how absurd this all is.
I convinced myself that I was going to walk around the cart and be faced with an ordinary man I’ve never seen before. His name was just a coincidence. There had to be tons of other Kazuha’s out there. Yet, as I cautiously approached the cart, I caught a glimpse of his hair through the flowers arranged on the shelves. It was as white as snow. The sight of it made my mouth go dry and my body become numb, despite the heat in the shop. I watched, mesmerized, as he turned to his left, and through the gap, I caught the flash of a streak of red.
Breathe. Just breathe. It’s not him. You’re either hallucinating, or he just happens to have some similarities. Just look at his face. Go. Look at him. You’ll see. It’s not him. It’s not him.
Taking deep breaths, I took another step around the cart to get a clear look at him, but just as I did so, he walked away. I couldn’t see his face but…
Those shoulders… the way he walks… His hair…
I followed him, quickening my pace to catch up like some kind of lunatic. Seriously, what the hell was I doing following some random man through this shop? He rounded a corner and entered another room, the vinyl door he walked through flapping to and fro. All reason completely flew out the window, and I nervously pushed the vinyl door open and followed this complete stranger inside. It entered a large storage room, dimly lit by a dirty window. The man had his back to me and was washing his hands in a sink. Once I stepped inside, I knew he heard me. He paused and turned his head just an inch, enough for me to see a bit of his cheek, waiting for me to say something. Maybe he thought I was his coworker. Poor thing had no idea an unhinged customer just stalked him into a poorly lit room.
“What’s up?” He asked, still not looking at me.
I opened my mouth and felt the dryness of nerves in my throat. My heart felt like a ticking bomb, ready to burst right out of my chest. Inhaling a shaky breath, I spoke.
“Kazuha?”
He finally turned around, and my jaw dropped. And I’m pretty sure my heart actually did stop. His crimson eyes, the shape of his nose, his mouth, his jaw… it was him. It was him. Kazuha. My Kazuha. I was breathing so hard; my chest was practically heaving. I took a step forward, looking into his beautiful face. His eyes widened, not in horror, but with recognition. I couldn’t believe it. He knew me, he recognized me. His lips parted in surprise and a soft gasp cut through his throat. He looked just as shocked as I felt.
“Dawn?”
“Yes… It’s me,” I said breathlessly, clutching my chest while my heart tried to leap right at him. “Is it… Are you really…”
Kazuha opened his mouth to speak, but his eyes became unfocused, his face turned pale and his body swayed. I thought he was going to throw up, but instead he unexpectedly crashed onto the ground and completely blacked out.