#— GENSHINTOON 💬

[versadies]

men of the harem | genshin men x gn!reader

��༺♥༻∞ YOU HAVE RECEIVED A LETTER, LET’S SEE WHAT’S INSIDE ! ∞༺♥༻✧

salutations. @stellumi’s genshintoon collab event !

addressed. diluc, kaeya, tartaglia, thoma, arataki itto, kaedehara kazuha, albedo, scaramouche, xiao, and zhongli (w/ gn!reader)

content. harem, mentions of violence, mentions of cheating (not by reader), fluff/angst, unrequited love, misunderstandings, mild swearing, spoilers to scaramouche's real name, mentions of evil spirits, cameo of subject two of albedo, emperor!reader, royal!au, slightly suggestive but not enough for me to put a mdni, ooc (?)

words. 10k words

sypnosis. after being scorned by your lover and thrown into power after the mysterious assassination of your father, the emperor, you must marry a person to stabilize your empire. much to everyone’s shock, instead of choosing one person to become your royal consort, you decided to choose 8 young men to join your harem. however, it seems there’s more than just revenge on your past lover who betrayed you.

penpals: @scaraslover @saving-for-xiao @dawgimsohot @kazu-topia @chiruru @aqualesha @renamichii @hoshikistarlight @shenhesl0ver (visit my taglist info if you're interested to join !)

post-script. this is based on webtoon’s men of the harem manhwa and please consider that most scenarios in this fic did not happen in the manhwa. enjoy ! (i deeply apologize for posting this late vera)

masterlist | requests info | remarried empress au

“i’m sure you’re all aware of why you’ve been summoned,” you spoke, your voice echoing through the halls of your throne room. “i would like to talk about matters regarding appointing a royal consort, and yes i agree with you all that it’d help in stabilizing the empire.”

you leaned back to your throne, lips twitching upward. ”that’s why… i’ll be taking a few consorts.”

the nobles of the court instantly gasps, whispering to one another about your decision as a certain duke‘s mouth was open agape.

despite the reactions, you continued speaking. “i think six would be a good number, don’t you think?”

the certain duke suddenly steps forward, still in disbelief with your decision. “but your imperial highness, this is… madness! past rulers who have been thrown to power like you would usually choose at least one – don’t you think that choosing so much will be too much for the empire to process?” the duke protests.

“aren’t you the one who suggested to my father to take more than one consorts to promote diplomacy and to keep the empress in check?“ you asked with furrowed eyebrows. “besides, i’m not the only ruler who decided to take more than one consorts. are we going to forget my ancestors‘ amount of consorts?”

you watched as the nobles mumbled to one another in agreement while the duke stays silent in hesitation, eyeing your right-hand knight who tries not to smile in amusement from the situation.

“do not be so glum about this,” you spoke. “don’t you think this would be a perfect opportunity for some of you to have the emperor as your in-law?”

just you wait, you thought, hands slightly clenching into fists at the thought of a certain emperor as you watch the nobles instantly change their minds and all agree to your decision (except a certain duke it seems).

it’s my turn to make you feel the same agony that i felt when you left me for another, ragnvindr.

DILUC

the man who scorned you, the very reason why you gave up on love. you could never forget the moment when he told you that the reason why he hasn’t returned to your kingdom after so many years to fulfill his promise is because he was actually with a woman who’ll become his wife in a few days, causing you countless number of nights that left you sleepless, thinking why you weren’t good enough for your first love.

you could recall the days when you two were hopelessly in love and never got separated — it was evident that the both of you would end up getting together. you had never thought of what life is like without the love of your life, and he can say the same thing as he holds you in his arms in a protective but caring grip.

you could recall the days when he’d whisper nothing in your ear as he talks about how he’s looking forward to the both of you getting married as soon as the both of you have come of age together, causing you to feel your cheeks warming from those words alone.

was everything… a lie?

you didn’t give a second thought when diluc informed you that he has to leave the palace because of his father’s condition, immediately telling him to come to his father and come back once the emperor is alright. if you held him back from visiting, would things have gone differently? would diluc still be by your side and not by a stranger’s side?

you could never guess that you’d find yourself standing in front of his palace to attend a wedding that isn’t yours.

he was with you since childhood, so what changed? turns out, he was only marrying the woman because it was his father’s last wish before his passing. he even had the audacity to ask you to wait for an unknown amount of years until he files a divorce, then that will be the day when he’ll come back to you, which didn’t make anything better, not when he looks at her as if she’s the universe while he looks at you as if you’re the moon.

as for the woman – goodness, the woman – even invited you to their wedding, oblivious to the fact that the new emperor of the infamous empire was her fiance’s lover who he promised to return to marry once he’s done visiting his ill-father, the emperor of a neighboring empire. you couldn’t bring yourself to despise her because of how genuinely nice she is. you don’t blame the passed emperor for choosing her as diluc’s wife.

you thought diluc was your forever, did he not think the same as well? or were all those words of love that came out from his lips were lies? what did she have that you don’t?

you swore to yourself to never love again, ignoring the way he glances at your way when you don’t look at him. you still look the same as always, he’d thought. beautiful and strong.

you ignore how some of the staff has been talking about how they had never seen their emperor being this expressive when you visited the palace, not knowing that the diluc you knew is far from how everyone in his homeland sees him.

you ignore how diluc confesses about being worried about your safety during your battle against the man who tries to take your throne, too focused on your heartbreak to even process the rest of his words after his confession about being with another.

you ignore how he sends you letters everyday when he has the chance ever since the wedding, throwing said letters aside among the piled up unnecessary documents, not knowing how he puts his heart and soul to those letters you despised seeing.

you ignore how his eyes were on you from his window when you walked away from his palace the day after the wedding as he ignores his heart screaming at him to run after you and tell you that he wants to abandon his empire for you.

but he couldn’t. not when his brain whispers how it’s his fault that he was too late for his father to die alone and how he doesn’t deserve to be with you. that’s why he drowns himself with guilt, not noticing how his most trusted royal advisor told him that his father’s dying wish is for his son to marry the daughter of the grand duke of favonius, not knowing how it was just a trick.

that’s why diluc has to suffer knowing that his step-brother, kaeya, gets to be with you while he can't.

KAEYA

the first person who joined your harem. his name was the first thing that caught your eye when you were reading documents about your potential consorts, and you did not hesitate to add him on the list much to your right-hand’s dismay. you may not know him much since diluc refuses to let you meet him, but that doesn’t stop you from inviting him.

you honestly never expected him to be so… flirty and witty, unlike his brother who’s more shy and calm.

not to mention the fact that you felt like you’ve seen him before — and it surely isn’t in diluc’s wedding — giving you all the more reasons why he’s so mysterious. despite not recalling any moments of meeting kaeya, the only thing you felt from him is familiarity and... comfort, leaving you conflicted and wondering where on earth you met him.

unfortunately you were against finding out, because you’re completely convinced that he’s just here as diluc’s spy due to the constant letters kaeya sends to someone who’s from his home.

it didn’t help that there were certain incidents between your consorts that always manages to have kaeya involved - and he never fails to plead that he’s innocent despite the other consort suggesting otherwise, giving you all the more reasons to doubt him and refrain yourself from spending more time on him while never noticing the mischief laced in the other consort’s eyes that kaeya spots.

you never noticed how he looks at you as though you’re the only thing that matters in this world.

you never noticed how he hopes - and even prays - that you’d look at him among the crowded room and pay attention to him and only him, just like the night during his brother’s horrible reception where you sobbed about how much you love him, your breath reeking of alcohol. yet, it didn’t stop him from feeling like his stomach sprouted butterflies and finally felt like he mattered to someone. ignoring how a part of his head is telling him that you’re just talking about his stupid brother.

you never noticed how he instantly stopped seeing other people for romantic purposes after he met you, instead of sleeping next to someone he’ll eventually forget in the morning, he’s all alone on his bed thinking about you with a smile on his face. who knew the emperor from a neighboring empire would be so cute when drunk?

you never noticed how he wonders everyday when you’ll visit his chambers at night or simply just spend time with him, rambling to his servant about the things he’d be interested in doing with you as he plays with a plushie that he bought in a store of your empire because it reminded him of you.

you never noticed how he stares in jealousy at the stupid consort who’s dancing with you on your first banquet that he arranged, wishing that he’s the consort that’s dancing with you and making every other consorts seething in jealousy.

you never noticed how he’s the one who made the talisman when he gave it to you when you first visited his chambers for a nice chat, excitement rushing through his body that he hides with his charismatic facade that he always puts around you.

you never noticed how he sends letters to a certain prince from another kingdom every single day writing about the things you do that made him go crazy and ask about his advice that could help him win you over out of the other consorts that's blocking his way.

but you did notice, in the end.

it was during the first time you took a stroll with kaeya as a make up for not choosing him to dance with you on the banquet when you heard something that never came out from his lips but instead in your head,

as if you can read minds.

“please don’t leave me again..”

TARTAGLIA

the son of the same duke who tried to protest against your decision to have more than one consort and the second person that you chose to become your consort besides kaeya, much to the duke’s relief.

unlike his father, tartaglia prefers violence over reasoning, something you took note of after overhearing a conversation between him and his servant about how he‘d like to fight the other consorts to “see if they’re worthy to be considered as your consort.” despite his bloodlust, his charismatic personality and loyalty makes it up, something that’ll definitely be useful in the near future for you.

he’s also the first consort that you spent the night after the arrival, much to his delight. it’s safe to say that he felt incredibly disappointed when you said you‘re only here to sleep next to him instead of what he assumed, but he respected your wishes – besides, at least he gets to watch you fall into slumber. who knew the emperor would sleep so cutely?

because of this, every single consort is jealous of tartaglia.

who wouldn’t be? he’s the only consort so far who got to spend your first dance and first night, and he never fails to rub that on his peers’ faces with every chance he gets.

unfortunately, your right hand knight would beg to differ and agree that tartaglia’s on the same page as everyone, since you’re unaware of how the son of the duke always walks past your office, asking the guards stationed if you’re available.

you’re unaware of how he looks at you as if you’re the rest of his life.

you’re unaware of how dull blue eyes stare at your figure as you spar with your right-hand knight, wishing that he’s in his place instead. would you praise his skills in fighting if he was the one you’re sparring with?

you’re unaware of how his memories of what you did for him during his childhood and wanting to see his family again were the only things that kept him fighting for his life when he was trapped in a dark place called the abyss. would you believe him if he told you that he still remembers the time when you told him that you'll gladly marry him when you're older?

you’re unaware of how he thinks of you whenever he sneaks out from the palace, having fun with many commoners around him and watching multiple performances of your empire who all turn a blind eye to the fact that a consort is around. would you be as happy as him if he sneaks you out from your emperor duties and spends time with him and your people?

you're unaware of how he purposely flirts with you and is physically affectionate to you just to fire up a certain knight, whose amber eyes gazes at the consort with jealousy and anger. would the knight be angrier if he were to see you pulling him closer and perhaps place a kiss on his face?

you’re unaware of a side you never got to see from him that only his tortured victims get to see. the screams and begging from those pesky nobles who dared to question your ability as an emperor made him even more alive, yet it never washed away the anger that he felt when his secret agent informed him about how there are some nobles who are on your dead step-brother’s side and are against on you being the emperor. shouldn’t they be grateful that you’re so merciful to let them live?

you’re unaware of how a light shone in his eyes for just a moment when you finally have time to spend with him after so many weeks of walking past your office and asking the guards.

he was so enraptured by your potential skills that he didn't know that his strong desire had reached your thoughts because of his excitement just like what happened with kaeya.

you immediately brought out your sword, and childe could just imagine how thrilling it would be to finally see your strength.

“please tell me you’ll let me fight by your side.”

THOMA

the sweetheart that you dearly care for.

now that you think about it, he’s the only consort you can think of when it comes to being well-behaved around other consorts and loved by many of your servants in the palace, not because of his kindness but also because of his amazing socializing skills. it's scary how he absolutely has nothing wrong and is the perfect royal consort for you.

though, it does seem strange that he’s sometimes around when some of your consorts are causing a scene,

you don’t pay attention to how his eyes look at you as if you’re his guilty pleasure.

you don't pay attention to how a strange crow flies past your window and the guards patrolling around the castle grounds as it heads towards thoma's window, carrying a small letter with its claws that contains the one thing that will make you change your view on the so-called perfect consort. he stares down at the letter that's written by the one person he swore loyalty for eternity: kamisato ayato, the famed prince who was considered your brother. thoma tries to think of a way to convince him that in due time he'll finally make progress in coming closer to you, knowing full well that he couldn’t bring himself to do the one thing that made him come here in the first place.

you don't pay attention to how his hobby of cleaning was just to spend time thinking of his plan to kill you and let his master take over the throne just as he and his mother had always wanted. if he could do that to your father, then he can do it to you as well, right?

no, he can't. unlike your father, you're.. different. unlike the people who died from his hands, you're someone he can't bring to kill without mercy, not when you remind him of his homeland that he'll never get to visit in this lifetime.

you don't pay attention to how his fists clenched when he sees you spend so much time with that knight, who's not even a consort like him and other men who compete for your attention and love, or when he spots you walking towards another consort's room instead of his. why can't he be the one you visit? why is it always the problematic ones you go to and not him, the perfect man you can choose?

you don't pay attention to how he deals with people in the palace who are also a part of the organization and tried to kill you with merciless tortures, making sure that not a single person gets away from trying to lay their dirty hands on you. he convinces himself that this was just their punishments for failing their lord's orders, but he knows the truth deep inside.

you don't pay attention to the number of times he tried to murder you, only for his guilt and heart to stop him from doing so. if only he hadn't grown attached, then maybe he could've been back to his lord’s hidden sanctuary and get ready to help him take over your throne.

you don’t pay attention at all, and it pains him so. if you knew, you could end his misery and he can pay for the sins he had committed all in the name of ayato, the man he swore loyalty to when he was but a helpless foreigner in a foreign place.

you did pay attention by the end of the day.

it was bad timing really, thoma just happens to be finished dealing with yet another subordinate in anger after finding out that they somehow invaded your bedroom to try and kill you in your sleep, not knowing that you happen to be passing by his chambers until your mind has suddenly been flooded by so.. so many dark thoughts.

“that fool should’ve known when to keep his dirty hands from them if he didn’t want to be punished by me. it’s me who should kill them.”

“which death would be quicker, i wonder? poisoning their food won’t do the trick, especially if i end up being the suspect – unless i blame one of those consorts?”

“perhaps lord ayato would let me go to my homeland if i manage to kill the emperor.. then their death would be worth it at least.”

chills ran down your spine when hearing thoma’s thoughts, not expecting him of all people to be one of your traitors in the palace. thanks to him though… at least you now know that your step-brother is alive.

you frown deeply in thought, debating whether or not you should take thoma to the dungeons and let your knight investigate. but then again, he’ll probably curse himself the way your past prisoners did when you investigated about your step-brother being alive or not.

it’s better to just let his anger get the better of him and you can just listen to his thoughts while he’s at it. you thought to yourself, before you return to your bed chambers to start your new plan and not notice a certain man peeking out from his chambers, watching your every move like a hawk.

ARATAKI ITTO

the king of mercenaries.. and one of the only people who can make you laugh.

people are more than shocked when they find out that you have chosen itto as one of your consorts, especially since he’s viewed as the scariest person and most dangerous in the kingdom. it shocked them even more when some would hear you laughing when you’re spotted walking around the palace with him by your side.

at first, you were truthfully wary of how the man is like as your consort, until he talks to you – which you’re surprised of because of how he speaks so casually (much to your knight’s irritation since itto’s talking to an emperor).

it’s safe to say that he’s perhaps one of the only consorts you mostly talk to since you always come across to him. now that you think about it, it does feel a bit.. more than coincidences from the amount of times you encountered the mercenary, but his excuses are pretty much valid, giving you no reason to suspect him yet.

sure, he’s reckless in his own ways, but the way he acts like a gentleman and positiveness makes it up a lot, which everyone doesn’t see. it’s endearing, honestly, to see him come over to you and try his best to make you happy and comfortable with your surroundings.

whenever you talk to the mercenary king, you feel like a normal person with no high status, mainly because of how he treats you as though you’re both best friends and not an emperor he should be polite to. not only did he introduce you to the delicious meal of what people call ramen, but he also introduced you to many entertainments besides opera and jesters, particularly.. his singing and child-games.

his singing may not be as strong as that of an opera singer like yunjin, but it managed to make you amused and have the urge to laugh, causing your knight’s jaws to drop in surprise (surely your humor isn’t that as broken as he anticipated?!). playing games with itto made you feel like a kid despite only playing one or two rounds because of your busy schedule.

nevertheless, he truly does make your worries and stress over your empire and ayato’s situation go away by just talking to him despite his recklessness.

you fail to recognize the way he looks at you as if you’re his favorite book. every time he spends time with you, the more invested he is in getting to know you and love you even more. he makes sure that you always have a smile plastered on your face whenever you’re with him, because it’s what he feels whenever he sees you.

you fail to recognize the fact that he memorized your whole schedule (after forcing his servant to figure it out and write it down) so that he can “coincidentally” bump into you with perfect excuses just because he wants to hang out with you. oh, if only those losers who call themselves your consorts knew how he’s smarter than they think~

you fail to recognize how his eyes would brighten when he opens his doors and sees you walking around the consort halls thinking that you’re on your way to him, only for his face to fall when you stopped by thoma’s room and waited. no books could ever describe how furious he was when thoma didn’t open the door, watching as you rushedly left from the consort halls. just how ungrateful is that blondie for him to not answer the door and let you in?!

imagine his shock when he sees you entering a newbie’s room and never came out until in the morning. does this mean you’ve already slept beside two of your consorts out of eight!? will he be next, he wonders..

you fail to recognize how he often thinks about you and gets pouty each night whenever you don't visit his chambers. his servant is honestly on the verge to try and convince you to come visit the mercenary king, who’s obviously head over heels for you. thankfully, the man managed to reassure his servant that he’s alright, saying how good comes to those who wait.

you fail to recognize how he worked hard on his appearance despite his first time dressing in such formal attire for your first ever royal banquet after your crowning ceremony. his face once again fell when you chose that ginger haired noble to be your dance partner and paid attention to that weird blonde-haired man who's dancing like an idiot – not to mention the audacity the man has for doing a heart shape with his hands towards you! you can guarantee that itto’s the greatest dancer!

unknownst to itto however, you did eventually recognize it.

it was the day after the banquet was over when itto received a visitor, who is none other than you much to his delight! turns out, his servant had lied to you that the mercenary king fell ill and you just had to come over to check if he’s alright, causing the white haired man’s face to turn red and flustered.

you honestly didn’t believe that itto’s actually sick, given that his temperature is normal and isn’t even lying on his bed, but his voice that suddenly appeared in your head made you refrain yourself from taking your leave.

“...you finally visited me after so long..”

KAEDEHARA KAZUHA

a skillful poet whose noble name has long faded away and forgotten – except for you, it seems.

it’s safe to say that kazuha was taken back by surprise when he received a letter from the royal palace, eyes widened when it turned out to be an invitation to become one of your very own consorts.

he wonders why on earth someone, let alone an emperor such as you, would even pay attention to him. as well as how you managed to find him just for him to receive your letter despite his great skills in hiding.

although he seeks no luxury, you’re quite an interesting person, he’ll admit that.

hence why he finds himself standing across from you in the palace gardens that he managed to sneak in, the grin plastered on your face says it all: you expected his arrival. it’s concerning how you know him so well, yet he couldn’t help but stay.

he suddenly became more interested the moment a certain name came out from your lips.

tomo. his dearest companion that he felt a connection with back then when he was in his homeland, eien.

“he told me a lot about you in his letters,” you said, giving him a sad smile. “i only invited you to become my consort since it’s the only way for you to come to the palace without anyone being against it. of course, it’s up to you whether or not you’d like to stay here. i should mention that you’ll also be safe from the raiden shogun’s wrath and my guards.”

before he could open his mouth to refuse, you immediately gestured around the garden. “i’ve also heard from tomo that you prefer outdoors than indoors, so the best thing i can do is to offer you full access to my gardens. i can request one of my staff to give you a map since it’s quite a large space.” you added.

kazuha could tell. if it weren’t for the winds and his smell, he would’ve gotten lost when he sneaked in.

“so, what do you say?”

…he supposed it won’t hurt to accept it, right?

not long after that, he accepted your invitation in the end.

you’d like to admit, it was difficult to get along with the man at first. he’s often quiet and isn’t found at his chambers (much to his assigned servant’s panic), which you weren’t surprised about. as time flew by however, you’re glad that the man has started to warm up to you and started talking more, particularly by reciting his poems that he made.

whenever you managed to find him by the gardens, it was always quiet – just the sounds of the calming wind and knights training in the arena nearby whilst never hearing the loud heartbeats of the samurai when he realized you were close.

you never saw how his eyes stared at yours, as if you’re a dream he never wanted to forget. he wasn’t familiar with the feelings he found growing every time you came to visit him in the gardens, but he knew all too well from poems and stories what it is. if he ignores it, will he eventually forget about it? if he acts upon it, will the feeling stay and be remembered?

you never saw how his ears turn red when you lean on his shoulder as you slumber, exhausted from your duties and how soft his voice was when reciting yet another poem. if possible, he would’ve stayed still in his position for a long time for as long as you desire to sleep. plus, you smell.. quite pleasant, really.

you never saw how kazuha actually starts getting into noble manners that he learned when he was still a noble in hopes of gaining favor from your peers in the palace during the banquet, giving him chances in being the most favored out of all your consorts (who aren’t exactly aware of who kazuha is since he’s always outside and away from people).

you never saw how his hand held a luxurious box that keeps a stunning brooch that he bought from a nearby jewelry shop during his escapades at night, thinking it’d suit you well (especially since it has his color). he was eager to give it to you before the banquet ends, or maybe when you chose him as your first partner for your first dance, until he finds himself standing in the background watching you choose tartaglia as your dance partner, shoulders slumped when you decided to take your leave from the banquet not long after.

it took a few weeks before you did receive his gift, letting him put it on top of your attire as his ears turn pink, not noticing how you’re paying attention to his thoughts that have finally come to your head.

“you look even more breathtaking with my color.”

ALBEDO

the great sage who’s somehow entangled himself with your harem.

when you first discovered that one of your hostages has killed himself with a curse, you immediately called for the head priest of your empire’s holy temple alongside your dearest friend chongyun, who both confessed that exorcism won’t do a trick, given that the curse is what they call a “dark magic” curse, which is an assumedly extinct supernatural act that hasn’t occurred for years.

much to your relief, they both recommended you to the great sage, who may be able to help you on your investigations against the current threat of both you and your empire. hence why you decided to throw a royal banquet as a way to invite the great sage and discuss matters with him.

you had never expected the great sage to look so hot.

you were taken back by surprise when he removed his hood, giving you a charming-like smile as he thanked you for saving him from the sudden ambush that had occurred, paying no mind to your reaction to his face.

everything was pretty much a blur, but the conversation ended with albedo offering you a deal that’ll ensure both his safety and your desired information, leaving you no choice but to accept it gladly.

you never anticipated to see the great sage dancing in the middle of the dance floor, catching every single guests’ attention including your consorts by his strange… dance moves, causing your jaws to drop at the embarrassing sight.

it didn’t help that he looked in your direction and made a heart shape with his hands before giving you a wink, causing you to cover your face and prevent yourself from seeing such a performance. you told him that he should do something to catch your attention at the banquet — but not this way! why on earth did he have to do this and embarrass both him and yourself?!

you tried to ignore everyone’s shocked reactions as you walk towards the great sage and offer him an invitation to your harem for giving you such an amazing performance whilst internally dying inside from the embarrassment. you could only dread what others will say about your taste in men.

it didn’t help that you often have to come to his chambers a lot of times, raising a lot of eyebrows from onlookers (especially from your other consorts), surprised that you actually like kreideprinz (albedo’s fake name) that much.

in reality, you only visited him just to discuss matters with him regarding your investigation, too distracted by it to not notice how the great sage thinks more than that.

you were too distracted to see how he sees you as if you’re his most precious hardwork. he could stare at you all day no matter what you do and he’ll still be awestruck. every single thing you do is worth remembering for even if you’re doing nothing at all.

you’re too distracted reading your knight’s reports about your investigation to see albedo playing with his abilities, thinking you’d be entertained by his exceptional magic that his master had praised.

you’re too distracted to see how he often teases your other consorts, telling them lies about how you always come to his chambers for entertainment. he must admit, the most amusing consort out of all is definitely kaeya alberich, who has the strongest feelings towards you more than anyone (which gives albedo all the more reason to mess with him). besides kaeya, scaramouche and xiao are the most amusing ones since albedo gets along quite well with them.

you’re too distracted to see how he sneaks to your room and outside of it to bless it from evil spirits, pleasing him in the process when he caught that traitor, thoma, standing still near the doors of your chambers with a hesitant stance. albedo wonders when that man will find out that one of his love rivals is his actual enemy.

you’re too distracted to see how jealous the sage becomes when you asked him if he could make a talisman for a certain consort, who already gave you one it seems. if it weren’t for his title as the great sage and his determination in impressing you, he would’ve used his old-school magic and put an unharmable trick on the talisman for kaeya to suffer with.

in the end, you didn’t get distracted when you realized one thing about the great sage.

albedo is perhaps the only person you couldn’t read thoughts from even when he has a strong emotion, but then again, he isn’t the great sage for nothing.

you didn’t have to read his mind to know his feeling, staring at his bright teal orbs as his hand is placed beside your head, trapping you against a wall behind you in his chambers. you were just talking to one of your consorts before you suddenly got pulled by albedo to his room.

“do you… have any idea how much i want to be with you, your imperial majesty?” he spoke in a low tone, your cheeks feeling warm from how close the both of you are. his breath reeks of alcohol too, making you wonder if he was drinking a lot at such an early hour.

before you could try to move away from the sage, you suddenly hear the doors of his chambers opening unexpectedly, causing you to look away from the sage’s eyes in surprise–

only to see a small figure of a man entering the chambers with looks of murder.

“...i knew this bastard would hog the emperor.” scaramouche snaps, smiling sinisterly. “but i would never have thought that his twin would hog them as well, aren’t i right, oh great sinister sorcerer rubedo?”

SCARAMOUCHE

if itto isn’t the scariest person in your empire, scaramouche would’ve taken that title instead.

you could understand why on earth your people are so scared of someone such as scaramouche, but you could never understand the cruel rumors about him in his household. besides that point, his way of speech, his posture, the way he carries himself, and everything else about him is every nobleman’s dream son – which isn’t exactly a surprise since his caretaker, yae miko from the empire of eien, had raised him.

given that he’s admired by every single nobles, it’s evident that he ended up a part of your harem despite the rumors.

his attitude was not a surprise when he introduced himself to you, he reeks of confidence and power (and a spark of lightning, it seems) from his stance and voice alone, it’s very much something to admire and be intimidated by nobles.

you’d be lying if you said that you’ll visit scaramouche to spend a night sleeping beside him, because deep down you don’t think you’ll ever do it any time soon since you’re quite unsure if he’s someone who’s considered as your foe or ally.

it’s no surprise that tartaglia seems to know him given that both share the same nobility title. though they’re usually found bantering one another over things. never once did you find scaramouche talking to someone in a friendly manner.

except you, he claims.

“it wounds me that you don’t trust me as such, your imperial majesty,” scaramouche said, letting out what seemed to be an irritated sigh. “fine, how would you feel if i let you call me by my real name whenever we’re alone like this?”

he can tell you were taken back, but decided to hide your expression, causing him to add more. “if it makes you feel better, no one in this world knows my actual name besides my caretaker and someone who was important to me. isn’t this a good step in trusting someone such as me?”

you swirl your drink around, thinking for a moment.

“..i suppose it won’t hurt to know. is your real name embarrassing for you to not let anyone know about it?”

he rolls his eyes, leaning against the railway of his balcony. “of course not. i consider my real name something that is valuable enough to let those i care to only call me that.”

“so… call me kunikuzushi.”

“kunikuzushi,” you spoke, to not let the name get it on the tip of your tongue. “..i’ll call you that from now on, kunikuzushi.” you said with a smile, not caring to see how his eyes slightly widens before the devilish grin on his face comes back.

you never seem to care to see how he looks at your direction as if you’re the forever he desires. he’s impressed that you invited him out of all the people that could’ve been your consort instead despite the rumors that’s always circulating in town. he only accepted it because of how it gives him a chance to have the privilege to be close to the most powerful person in the empire (and because of how he’s interested to know why you chose him).

you never seem to care how he sees you as more than just some emperor he wants to take the role from because he starts to feel for the first time in years. no longer was the numb and agonizing feeling that his birth mother stole from him that made him despise this world, for all he feels is how his empty heart races and how his stomach feels.. strangely good when he’s around you. could you be the one he’s been desiring for all this time?

you never seem to care how his words are less harsher than how it was whenever he’s stuck with one of the consorts, thinking that no, you don’t deserve to see the harsh attitude of his that was created from his hatred to this world and his birth mother, and that you deserve to see at least the small crack of his real self that he hides with the walls he built up.

you never seem to care how it felt like he was back to being an empty shell that roams around the cold halls of his birth mother’s mansion in your empire when he was but a child when yae miko drops by the palace to check up on him (to torture him by reminding him of who he was before entering the palace), only to feel his heart racing again when you held his hand and told yae miko that yes, scaramouche has been comfortable around the palace and has been a good person around you.

you never seem to care how he felt hurt that you don’t trust him enough. did you really not know how much he does?

you never seem to care, but it makes him all the more challenged. he’ll show tartaglia how much you trust him more than that stupid ginger man.

despite being harsh, he’d never go that far towards consorts, so seeing him barging into albedo’s chambers absolutely seething at the sight of albedo shocked you, let alone spilling profanities at the great sage – well, you thought he was the great sage.

“i think it’s best for you to step away from that man, your imperial majesty. ” he said, still glaring daggers at the sage, or sorcerer, who has currently trapped you against the wall. “who knew you’d have the audacity to try and touch the emperor without knowing your place, you filth?”

you immediately brought out your dagger that was strapped to your thigh before pointing it at the unknown person in front of you, who remains unfazed by the situation.

“..you must be my brother’s close friend, huh?”

XIAO

the quietest consort…. and also one of the most reliable ones.

when you first met the man, the first thing in your mind was how pretty he looked. his amber-colored orbs definitely remind you of your knight, who you’re surprised to hear that he knows xiao a lot and is the reason why the consort was in your files of candidates.

the second thing in your mind is how quiet he is. he doesn’t bother spilling out flirts and words of flattery in order to gain your favor and love, though his caring self is what made you favor him a lot. unlike all of your consorts besides thoma, xiao comes from a family of exorcists, who your biological brother praised for their excellent skills, giving you an interest in inviting him to your harem.

just like kazuha, xiao isn’t found anywhere but by the gardens as well, where he sits on top of trees and relaxes. although it’s hard for his servant to look for him, you clearly didn’t have a hard time since the man always appears when you call him, scaring you in the process by accident.

he explains how he’s uninterested to be with people, since it’ll only harm them in the process because of a curse that’s been going around his family for generations to generations because of their ways in exorcism, killing his siblings in the process.

you were quite well aware of xiao’s curse thanks to his father, who explained thoroughly about the curse and gave you a book to read in case you wish to know what to do when he goes through pains, giving you more reasons to visit xiao every now and then to check up on him. sometimes if your busy time prevents you from doing so, you’d send your knight or butler to do it instead on your behalf.

“you don’t have to send your knight or butler to check up on me, your imperial highness.” he spoke as the two of you stroll around the garden. “i’ve dealt with this… curse for my life, i know what to do if i ever experience the pain again.”

“i’m quite well aware of that,” you told him. “but i just want to make sure you’re okay since.. it often worries my poor heart for your condition.”

is it just him, or has his surroundings gone.. warmer?

“...i’ll be alright,” he reassures you. besides, my pains have started to lessen ever since i arrived at your palace.

you don’t realize how much he sees you as his soulmate.

he was too busy devoting himself to becoming the best exorcist to not pay attention to something such as romantic love, but he’s spent time with a certain runaway prince from a faraway kingdom to become aware of love after listening to the certain prince’s songs and poems that he made that actually helped him come through his pains.

it was just like that when he first met you. loving and peaceful.

you don’t realize how much he feels at peace when he’s with you. he doesn’t mind that you didn’t come to his chambers to sleep next to him, but he would be lying if he said that his mind doesn’t trail off to thinking about what it’s like to sleep next to you. would he be able to experience what dreaming something good feels like?

you don’t realize how much it means to him when you accept his gift happily and thank him, it warms his heart a lot when he sees you actually wearing it when he spots you walking around the palace nearby without noticing him. it may just seem like an amulet that gives you protection from evil spirits, but to him, it’s an item that he made with love and in hopes that you’ll like it. he sometimes wonders how others would feel when they see the amulet (that has the same colors as his necklace that he wears on his neck) and realize it’s a gift from him.

not to mention the fact that you always gave xiao painkillers whenever he runs out of it, always insisting that he should tell you if there’s at least one painkiller that’s more effective than the other, not realizing that you’re his painkiller.

you don’t realize how it breaks his heart when you chose tartaglia to become your first dance partner of the banquet, even more so when your attention is only at a blonde man who goes by albedo instead of him, who actually showed up in such a crowded place just for you. does he not mean something to you as much as you are to him?

you don’t realize how he’s the reason why scaramouche found out about albedo’s secret twin getting rid of albedo and replaced him with himself, letting the angered noble come over to the dancer’s room to deal with the twin as he sets out to find the real albedo, who’s most likely trapped somewhere in the palace since he’s been sensing dangerous spirits lurking around recently. he would’ve ignored all this if it weren’t for your safety.

you don’t realize how much it pains him to see you visit half of your consorts’ chambers except his. he hides that from you, but it does hurt that you don’t notice it.

it all washed away one night when you came back from the empire of where kaeya came from ever since you visited the empire for the wedding.

xiao quickly headed towards the scene where he heard the sounds of someone crying, only to see you standing nearby covering your eyes that had tears.

he didn’t know what came over him, really. he was standing on top of a tree before he found himself in front of you, concern flashes through his face. who dares to make you cry so much? never has he seen you in such a fragile state, and he wanted nothing more but to see you happy aga–

it felt like his heart stops when you suddenly wrap your arms around him.

“i..” you sobbed as his breath hitched in response. “i hate him so much. why.. why does he do this to me?”

xiao isn’t quite sure of who you’re talking about. who’s he? what did he do to make you cry so much?

“..i don’t know…” he mumbles, before he hesitantly wraps his arms around you. “but i’m here for you, your imperial highness. whenever you need me, i’m here.”

ZHONGLI

the captain of the imperial guard, also your most trusted confidant and knight. he isn’t a part of your harem, but all of your consorts are envious of him because of how he gets to be with you everywhere you go.

you’ve known him for as long as you remember to the point where he knows you like the back of his hand (or so he thinks). it’s no lie to nobles that he’s someone precious to you both in status and personally, making him one of the only people no one dared to pose as an enemy in the empire.

the both of you are so close that it wouldn’t surprise anyone if you ever caught feelings for him and chose him as your husband, but much to their surprise, you caught feelings for a certain prince, who’s also your childhood friend besides zhongli.

he was with you through thick and thin. through your spar training, coming of age ceremony, escapades from royal banquets to get away from chatty guests, the person you practiced your love confession for diluc to, your heartbreak, the mourning of your father’s death, the battles you spent with him against your step-brother in order to win your throne, your coronation, and of course, welcoming your harem to your palace.

he’s quite knowledgeable and skilled in many activities. he’s actually the reason why you’re interested in opera and had the chance to meet the infamous yunjin as well as the reason why you always drank tea (despite your preferences in drinks). despite your protests, he had always visited your office to give you tea that he personally made, telling you yet another long explanation as to why it’s a good drink for you.

unknownst to him though, you’ve been getting suspicious as you find out more about your investigation. if ayato, who should be dead, isn’t the so-called dark lord who’s after you and your throne, then is your biological brother behind it? if so, is zhongli with your brother?

you don’t get to see how zhongli looks at you like you’re enough.

everyday, he wakes up and starts his day just to see you and helps you with everything he can as he makes sure you’re happy everyday even if he’s not the reason for your happiness. he devotes himself into becoming a better person and protector just for you. even a blind person could see how much he loves you.

you don’t get to see how he struggles to figure out how he feels about you. is this what poets would consider as love?

by the end of the day, he considers his feelings as love. he wonders if you love him back as well, causing him to feel a bit giddy and help him sleep better from thinking about you.

you don’t get to see how his face instantly goes from happiness to sadness quickly as soon as you take your leave after you practiced your confession for diluc, for someone who knows how to talk a lot, he was speechless from how painful his heart was when he finds out that his love for you was unrequited.

you don’t get to see how angry he feels when he sees you crying on your bed, telling him how diluc’s getting married to another without you knowing about it until you received his wedding invitation. the audacity that red-haired man has, how dare he wasted your love for him just for another?! just the thought made his draconic features that he unintentionally revealed on his face – only for it to disappear when you held his hand, telling him to not leave you alone for a moment.

you don’t get to see how smug he feels when diluc sees him holding his hand on your back, a sign of protection and a sign of disapproval against the newlywed man. after all, this is what he gets for treating you like nothing.

you don’t get to see how he was completely against your decision to get more than one consort. just when he thought his heartbreak would disappear, it simply returns so soon. unfortunately for him, he wasn’t able to express his decision since he knows you were only doing this to get back at diluc, who he’s sure will be upset from this.

you don’t get to see how he had a small discussion with your butler, who told the knight strictly that he should keep his feelings to himself since the butler wants nothing more but for you to fully move on from your heartbroken state and rule your empire, telling zhongli that he should leave you alone for now after the butler caught sight of the knight escorting you to your room after you got drunk from drinking wine with him.

you don’t get to see how zhongli makes your meals ever since you two found out about a traitor in your palace. he’ll blame himself if you ever get hurt from something he could’ve prevented.

if there’s a consort he trusts, the knight definitely trusts xiao, who he knows will protect you from harm as well. which led him to persuade the exorcist to give you an amulet that will surely protect you from evil spirits.

you don’t get to see how zhongli was there when he sees you hugging xiao as you cry your heart out as zhongli tells himself that he’s too late to be able to comfort you and that he should listen to the butler. he knows he can’t tell you how he feels for so many years, but it pains him so to try and forget his feelings for you, the only person who gets to make him feel like this.

you do get to see it.

it was one night when you accidentally fell asleep on your desk once more, only to wake up when you felt zhongli carrying you back to your chambers. just how many times have the both of you done this throughout your years together? you couldn’t count honestly, but you always made sure to pretend you’re asleep just to not make zhongli get embarrassed.

however, unlike the times when he does this to you, this moment was different.

instead of exiting your chambers as soon as he tucks you in and letting your servant dress you in your nightwear, he stays still before whispering words that make your heart drop.

“...i wish you good night, my love.”

a few fun facts !!

zhongli and xiao know each other because of how both of their families are quite close together thanks to their mothers, who knew each other ever since they were children.

scaramouche, albedo, and xiao have an unspoken alliance with one another and respect each other a lot after an unknown incident. it’s quite an unexpected trio, really.

ever since rubedo, albedo’s secret twin, replaced his brother with himself, presence of dark spirits have grown stronger unlike before, catching xiao’s attention in the process and starting to grow suspicious of “kreideprinz’s” behavior, which started at the same time as the strong presences of dark spirits.

every single consort is aware of itto’s tendency to watch them from the doors of his chamber but paid no mind since it’s not something to worry about.

kaeya’s unfortunately a victim to most incidents that have occurred in the harem hall. sometimes he’d be involved in a fight, lost an item that he assumes was stolen by someone such as scaramouche, and so on. it honestly worries the man that it’ll change your perception to him.

tartaglia and scaramouche are in a one-sided rivalry, with scaramouche being the one who sees the ginger-haired man as a rivalry while tartaglia pretends to be oblivious of it and acts as though they’re childhood friends that have reunited.

albedo’s the first consort who manages to see thoma’s facade, especially since he caught a sight of a certain dark omen in an accessory of the blonde-haired man’s.

kazuha is a loner and wants to keep it that way, though he does find himself getting along with scaramouche and xiao, who he had conversations with during the royal banquet.

the only consorts who spend time in the training grounds are tartaglia, arataki itto, and sometimes kaeya, leading them to start getting along with one another and became good friends (and rivals when it comes to you).

[bookuya]

SEASONS OF BLOSSOM. [0.1]

love can start anywhere, even if yours started out fake.

genshintoon event hosted by @stellumi. img creds: "seasons of blossom" on webtoon.

part 1 (here!) — part 2 [wip]

pairing: xiao + gn!reader // word count: 4.4k // au: fake dating + high school // warnings: fluff, some swearing, reader's height not specified, very slight chilumi but not really (i just needed a character that was shorter than xiao that might like childe, also it's onesided)

author's note: as a writer who only writes fluff, i could not resist a fake dating au with xiao, especially if it's inspired by seasons of blossom. thanks to vera for letting me join this collab! you don't have to really read the webtoon series beforehand to read this, but it is recommended to better understand it! (if you do so, you can just glance at episode 2 + 3 to get a general idea ^^) this work is inspired off of "seasons of blossom" with many events changed, but otherwise i hope you all enjoy!

you like childe just a tiny bit, but you didn't think it was obvious or shown in your expressions at all. while he is seen as a friend of you and lumine, everyone in your class seems to nag at you and talk about how cute of a couple you two would be.

"you see... i like childe too," the girl across the table from you shyly says, and your mind blanks out—who was she again? she sat behind you in class, right? you weren't sure why you were sitting with her and her friends, just being waved over to their table as you and lumine had decided to go to burger king together for your lunch break.

you can hear lumine from beside you letting out a frustrated huff as the girl continues. "i don't really stand a chance of dating him, so just being friends with him would be nice!" your back visibly stiffens when her eyes move to look closely at you. "... but since you're close friends with childe, i wanted to ask you for help. would you be okay with that?"

"oh..." you awkwardly start with a chuckle. "we're just friends, so it really isn't my place to do, uhm... that. i'm not sure if i would be any help anyways."

"of course! you would be super helpful," the girl obliviously cheers and you're not sure if she even noticed your hesitance. "since i'm not really asking for much, can you introduce—"

"no," lumine coldly interrupts, and you sweatdrop at her sudden straightforwardness. she slams her phone down onto the table and all the girls across jolt in surprise. "we're not in elementary school, so why are you asking my friend for help to talk to someone?"

"w-what? why are you being like that lumine?" the girl stammers out while shaking her head. "[name] should be fine with it, so why—"

"because i like him too."

what? everyone around the table turns to lumine in surprise, especially you. she crosses her arms and holds her head up high, continuing with a deadpan look on her face. "i like childe too. so, no."

you can't help it—you yelp out in shock. "wait what?! you like childe? since when?"

"not for long." lumine simply says. "i don't think everyone heard you yet. should i get you a megaphone?"

you mumble out a little oops and a sorry, covering your mouth with your hands. you had no idea that lumine liked childe too—was she joking or just lying for fun?

"w-wow!" the girl's voice from across the table makes you turn to her. "you guys are best friends liking the same guy... what are you two going to do? what if [name] dates childe, lumine?"

your mind races—no one truly knows that you like childe a bit too, it hasn't been confirmed at all. and even if he did return the feelings (which unbeknownst to you, he did), could you do that to lumine and date him in front of her? your heart solemnly skips a bit in your chest, thinking what were these girls doing butting into other people's businesses anyway?

"i think there's a misunderstanding here," you start to speak up, and it's their turn to turn to you instead. "i... don't like childe."

"what?" you can see in your peripheral vision that lumine raises her eyebrow in confusion.

seeing that the other girls are confused too, you continue with the lying. "childe is my friend, yes—but i don't like him romantically like that."

"wait, really?" your classmate leans forward in her chair in absolute bewilderment. her hands palm down onto the table to hold herself up. "then who do you like, if not childe??"

ah, shit. you force a smile as your brain tries to list the people that have nothing at all to do with you. can you really lie your way out of this?

yes, you will, you make yourself think. do it for lumine.

without anymore stalling, you laugh out an awkward chuckle while scratching the back of your head. "i, uh... x-xiao! i like xiao!— you know, the guy who sits at the back of the class?"

while lumine abruptly sits up and yells at you a shocked, "no way in hell!" you can only sheepishly grin and hope that everyone will just believe you and forget about it in a week's time.

little did you know, the very guy that you mentioned is sitting at the table right behind yours— grimacing as his friend beside him (who was listening in on your conversation) spits out their drink at the sound of xiao's name.

you don't know what you have gotten yourself into.

(press "keep reading" to continue!)

"i still don't believe that you like xiao," lumine straightforwardly states. the two of you are standing at the staircase by your classroom, backs to the wall with her standing beside you. "really? the short guy who bumped into us last week?"

you can't help but giddily laugh, remembering what had happened. "well to be fair, i bumped into him first." it was true, you remember the day like it was just this morning.

both you and lumine walk out of the room at the start of your new semester, full of new classes, new teachers, and especially new classmates and students. she links her arm comfortably with yours as you two walk into the hallway. "holy crap, everything is so confusing. how are you and childe so settled in already?"

you can't help but giggle at her words. you open your mouth to respond when you suddenly feel your shoulder hit someone, and you turn to see a raven green-haired boy's head down to look at a game on a phone. one of his friends yelps out, "noo! i died!"

"sorry! are you okay?" you worriedly ask even as lumine still drags you along. you hold out your other hand to tap on the male's shoulder and he turns to you with a blank look. "hello?" ...what was his name again? "sorry for bumping into you—"

"it's fine, it's not my account anyway," the male calmly responds as his friend cries out something about losing a legendary item. your eyebrows only raise higher in concern.

"oh.. really? i'm still sorry, i didn't see you—"

"oh, forget it already!" lumine sighs out, exasperated as she keeps pulling you along. "you don't have to apologize so many times! and it's not your fault you couldn't see him, he's tiny as fuck!"

"l-lumine?!" you call out in surprise as you walk with her down the hallway. "how could you say that?" she only ignores you, continuing ranting about how rude they were for standing in the middle of the hallway. you turn around to look at the male and his friends while hoping that they weren't too offended.

you watch as the green-haired male only stares at you walk away, his friends hovered around him (and also above him, they're taller) while they hold out their hands with concerned looks, probably telling him not to think about what lumine said. you feel a bit bad, even debating going back to apologize for your friend's words when you see his mouth start to open to say something.

"hey," he calls out, and you can see lumine's head turn from beside you. the look of shock completely cascades over your face when he continues to say, "girl who's tinier than the guy who's tiny as fuck. you should grow yourself some common courtesy, it looks like you really need it."

"i still have no idea why you held me back from socking a punch to his face, that little idiot!" lumine's scoff brings you back to reality. you watch as she sips from a box of strawberry milk while her eyebrows narrow. "and by the way, i was lying about liking childe yesterday. i just wanted to say what that girl would say... you get what i mean, right?" she sighs out when you shake your head with a confused look. "you can drop the act, i know you like childe."

well, you confidently think. unfortunately for her, i'm not thinking about backing down anytime soon. "it's nothing like that, lumi. i was being honest, i really do like xiao."

"arghh!! don't say it again, you weirdo!" she cries out, and you giggle. "what's so good about him anyway?! i honestly don't get your type at all."

"he's cute," you speak truthfully— and technically, you were not lying. "his hairstyle suits him, and the way some of his hair strands wave around his face look really pretty." you do a quick motion with your hands to demonstrate and lumine raises her judging eyebrows at you. "and he always has this attractive red eyeliner on that matches his eyes perfectly, and—oh! and his lean figure fits his motorcycle jacket so satisfyingly to me. it's like he's those guys who are hot, pretty, and cute at the same time, don't you think?"

"no! stop rambling dummy!!" lumine visibly reddens, and you were sure that the last description you mentioned reminded her of her crush. you laughed as she spoke, "he's rude and brash! and super short!"

"hmm, kind of reminds me of someone," you funnily teased as the bell rang, and lumine whacked you lightly on the shoulder. "we should head back to class, that was the bell."

"you're such a fucking weirdo," lumine grumbled as you two walked down the stairs to your class floor. you could only keep giggling in return at her words, holding out your hand to take her milk box to throw away.

yet again, out of your notice and vision there he was; xiao at the top of the stairs, leaning against the wall as he looked down at his phone. his friends freaked out and fumbled from beside him, staring at him with a perplexed look.

"what are you going to do, xiao?" one of them, chongyun, asked. a blush was on his face just hearing you talk adoringly about xiao. "our classmate likes you!"

"what do you mean?" xiao simply replies with the phone still in his hands. "i'm gonna defeat this boss, that's what. that was just the warning bell."

"that's not what yunyun means!" hu tao, xiao's other friend, cries out. "remember when i spat out my drink at burger king at our classmates talking about you and childe?"

"yeah, very clearly," he sourly says. he remembers that they weren't really talking about him though—he was only mentioned when you brought up your crush on him.

hu tao ignores his words while ranting on. "that person already said that they liked you! twice! do you not care, oh-mighty nonchalant god?"

xiao only responds with a, "they have a name you know." he turns his head towards chongyun, motioning towards the phone in his hands. "you're on low health, yun."

the blue-haired male completely forgets about the conversation beforehand as he yelps out, "wait-wait-wait, drink a healing potion! that one! quickly!"

hu tao groans. "you two are so clueless!"

hu tao might be half right... but it seems that nobody notices the tips of xiao's ears blazing red, him standing between his friends looking over his shoulder at the phone. your words are still ingrained into his mind as he has to repeatedly take in your words and realize what you had said over and over again... do you actually like him?

ever since april and spring had started, new students were assigned the duty to clean the classroom once the school day was over so the old students from winter didn't have to do it anymore. unfortunately for lumine, your name was called along with the other names, meaning that you couldn't hang out as much after school anymore. you also felt a nudge on your shoulder from the girl (from burger king) who sat behind you, giving you a thumbs-up and a whispered "good luck!" when xiao's name was called as well. you two were stuck on mop duty while childe and zhongli did dusting and amber and yoimiya were on broom duty.

"we should probably come later next time since we have to mop after the brooms," you spoke awkwardly, gripping the handle of your mop to your chest as you stood beside xiao in the back of the classroom. everyone else seemed to lively clean the room together as you two were quiet, xiao on his phone while you guys waited for everyone else to finish together.

the only thing he said in return was a "yeah." and it was silent once again after that.

then came midterms— meaning the students didn't have to clean after the day was over until midterms were over. you quickly gazed at the questions of your paper as the teacher called out instructions, your hand reaching for your pencil bag until you realized you didn't have the right pen the teacher mentioned beforehand. you calmly scooted to the side of your chair and tapped on lumine's shoulder, who sat diagonally to the left and front of you, and she turned and raised her eyebrow at you.

"oh shit, i don't have an extra scantron pen," lumine silently cursed after you told her your problem. she pondered for a while with a finger tapping her chin. "if you want, i can ask the teacher for you—"

"no-no, it's okay," you quickly whispered with a smile. "i'll just ask around, thank you lumi."

she sent you a worried look and a good luck thumbs-up as you leaned back into your chair. swallowing your nerves, you turned around and asked the girl behind you, "hey, do you have an extra scantron pen?"

she shook her head with a sad look, "sorry, i only brought one. maybe ask kyun?"

well crap, you didn't know who that was. you just simply nod your head and whisper a small thank-you before turning back around with a sigh. even if the teacher would scold you in front of everyone, you would just have to ask her if you could borrow one. it didn't seem like there was another way out of this situation.

however, right as you are about to raise your hand, you see a subtle hand out of the corner of your eye place a pen (the exact pen you needed) at the side of your desk. your eyes can't help but widen in shock— everyone you asked didn't seem to have an extra pen, so how did someone else notice that you needed one?

"xiao!" the teacher calls out, and you turn to look up at him with surprise and a little guilt for getting him into any possible trouble. "what are you doing standing up? we are about to start a test."

"i accidentally dropped something," he calmly replies, holding up his other hand with a pen in it. "i need it for the test."

everyone's eyes seem to fly to xiao's figure, and you freeze up as you definitely feel the eyes of lumine and the girl behind you on you. the teacher sighs as she says something along the lines of ask next time, and motions for xiao to sit back down. when he glances at you as he turns around, your heart literally skips a bit before sending him a thankful look before he walks back to his seat.

lumine's eyes feel like they take a while to leave your face, and for the rest of your test, the only thing you can think about is xiao's sunset eyes gazing into yours— even if it was just for half a second. you couldn't even tell if your warm face would ever cool down until you were done answering all of the questions on your papers.

however, lumine's eyes weren't the only ones on you. hu tao stared at the back of your head in awe, absolute surprised at what had just happened.

xiao, the introvert. xiao, the tsundere. xiao, the quiet, scarily good gamer. xiao, the one hu tao knows very well that doesn't like to interact with people at all, just voluntarily stood up and gave you one of his extra pens. well to be honest— his only pen. xiao had turned around in his seat and ordered hu tao to give him one of her extras, because she "always brings a shit-ton of writing utensils". hu tao could only watch in astonishment when he stood up and put his pen onto your desk, and not only that, but also flat-out lied to the teacher with an excuse.

if hu tao said that she wasn't shocked a little bit, then she would be straight-up lying to everyone's faces.

"it's been a while since we had to clean," you start to say, mopping one side of the classroom with xiao mopping the other side. the fact that it was just the two of you inside with unbearable silence was killing you, and although it would be awkward, starting small talk sounded a bit better than two high schoolers silently mopping together. "how did you do on your midterms?"

"alright," is all he says, and you chuckle nervously in response while continuing with the mopping. you keep your eyes focused on the ground, finally realizing why lumine didn't believe your lie of having a crush on xiao—he's complete opposites with childe. while childe is chaotic and full of life, energy, and fun, xiao is quiet and keeps his hobbies to himself. he doesn't seem to speak up much unless asked to, and he seems to keep an expressionless look on his face. and you told lumine that you were crushing on this guy? whoever believed you probably had their eyes on their ass.

you look up when the front of your mop hits against another one, and meet the eyes of xiao in the process. you guys had finished mopping the room, finally meeting at the same side, but it's like you can't stop laughing to make up for the silence when you're with xiao— a brand new giggle bubbles out of you instinctively.

"we met," you point out the obvious, tapping his mop lightly with yours and then pulling it back to your side with a little aftermath of embarrassment. your head suddenly perks up at remembering something to say, and you let out an ahem before speaking again. "oh and, uh... thank you for lending me your pen last time. it was a lot of help."

speaking of which; you had yet to return his pen back to him. you're about to turn around to go to your backpack when xiao suddenly speaks up too, saying your name.

you don't even have a real crush on him— so why does your figure still, stiffening up at the sound of his voice casually saying your name?

"yeah?" you question. is he going to say you're welcome, or something nonchalant like it was nothing? you look at him expectantly while waiting for his answer.

and then out of nowhere: "i thought you liked me."

you completely freeze up as your heart feels like it comes to a complete stop, the mop handle falling out of the palms of your hand as your mouth opens with no words coming out. the male in front of you bends down and expertly catches the mop before it can fall and hit your leg, your figure still in a shocked state.

how did he know? did lumine tell him? there's no way she would— you know that she doesn't want to believe your lie, wanting you to admit your original crush already. besides, even if you really did have a crush on him, your best friend wouldn't be a snitch. xiao just watches as the your startled look turns to one of utter confusion, your fingertips touching when he places the mop back into your hands.

"...huh? w-what are you talking about?" you slowly start to speak, yet another nervous chuckle falling out of your lips. was he really just that good at reading you like a book? not only did he notice that you needed a pen from the back of the classroom, but he found out that you fake-liked him. how did he do it?

you're about to stammer out an excuse when he plainly says, "you yelled it out at burger king a few weeks ago. like this—

"ah! h-haha, uhm!!" you stammer to interrupt him, holding out your other hand to stop him from reenacting what you said before and humiliating you further. "i didn't know you were, er, there..."

oh shit. truly, you ask yourself what have you gotten yourself into? oh goodness— out of all the people you could've chose, why did your brain land on xiao? did it have to be xiao? and why did he have to be at burger king the same time and day as you? where would this even get you?

well... an offer for a fake dating relationship, that's what.

and it brings you unfortunately to now, the two of you as the center of attention the next day in the back of the classroom, because xiao had just carelessly and emotionlessly announced to everyone that you had started dating, on this very day. you didn't know he would— all you did was whisper in his ear, asking him a question about the relationship you two would fake that you talked about yesterday.

the only thing you can do is try to keep a calm smile on your face (and absolutely fail while doing it), spine stiffening up as xiao reaches for your hand and casually holds it in his. even as lumine slams open the door and curses out a "no fucking way!" he still holds your hand up, almost like he's rubbing it in her face in a you were wrong way.

the first thing xiao thinks when he holds your hand is that it's warm—almost like you.

your personality is warm, your aura is warm, even the way you speak is warm. you seem to be nice to everyone even if they were annoying, like the people who kept asking what answers you got after the midterms. you throw people's lunch trays away for them when they ask and you once even told him that you could mop the classroom by yourself, which he declined.

he hates it. he doesn't like how kind you are, and how much of a pushover you seem. you let people walk all over you and don't do a single thing about it. it makes his mind go mad.

... but it kind of makes him feel like someone should be there by your side, to protect you. to play the bad guy and tell people to get lost when they try to order you around.

"sorry if i offended you," you had said the previous day after he had put away the mops, his back to the window and you seated in front of him on a chair. you had just explained the whole situation; about lumine and childe, about the crushes, and why you lied. even the way you fidgeted with your fingers in your lap made him want to look away in disgust, but it was you, your voice, and your hands. it was at least a bit bearable. but xiao could already tell from the way you avoided his gaze that you were thinking about a lot of other things— what to say, what to do, and what you shouldn't do.

"what did you want to achieve by lying?" xiao straightforwardly asked as you finally—and awkwardly—looked up to meet his stare. "you don't care if childe dates someone else? are you really going to back down for your friend?"

"um, it's not like that," you nervously say, then quickly add, "backing down, i mean. but either way, i don't plan on dating someone my best friend has feelings for anyway."

xiao ponders for a moment with a hand in his pocket, keeping his eyes on you until you eventually look away to the side. "does your friend believes your lie?"

you chuckle in response. "ah, definitely not." the male notices that you always seem to be laughing whenever your blonde friend is around or mentioned—you guys must be close. you continue to talk while taking your jacket off, "i'm trying to convince her, but she definitely thinks that i still like childe. i just wish we could get it over with."

he thinks, staring at you pull one of your arms out of your sleeves. for someone who seems like a stubborn pushover, your lying was pretty good—when you were rambling about his looks at the staircase, he almost believed you himself. the tips of ears even turn red at the thought of thinking about it again, but he reminds himself that you were just acting. anyway, what would even be the ideal way to get out of this situation? it didn't seem like just insisting to your friend that you had a crush would continue to work.

"want me to help you?"

"huh?" you look up confused from shrugging off your jacket, then put on a little smile. "oh, this? it's okay, i'm done taking it off anyways."

"what?" xiao raises his eyebrow, and something in him almost wants to scoff from amusement as you awkwardly stiffen up from realization. "why would i help you take off your jacket?"

"t-then what did you mean??"

"you don't care what childe thinks, so it's just lucy that's the problem now, right?" xiao simply asks as he steadily leans off of the wall. taking one of his hands out of his pocket, he runs it through his hair to push aside the hair strands in his eyes, staring at you while waiting for your reply.

"her name is lumine," you slowly speak with your eyes meeting his. "a-and i guess?"

"then it's simple." he steps forward and you stop breathing for a moment— his face is only inches away from yours. you can see every speck of golden red in his amber eyes from here, and count all of his raven-green hair strands from his black hair strands. his scent is sweet— something varying between caramel and honey, but you can't put your finger on it.

well, it's not like you have time to anyway. not when you freeze up at his words; "just go out with me."

"w-what?" you jolt in your chair, abruptly scooting back and looking up at him with a start. "what are you talking about?"

this time xiao finally smiles in amusement. actually, not even a smile— it's practically a small, amused smirk.

"lumine will believe you if we're dating."

end of part one.

ending author's note: now i could be mean and just leave it off here, and although i really want to, i'm not evil 🙏 see ya guys in the next one after i write it!

[ghostly-march]

girlfriends

pairings: ei, kujou sara, yae miko x fem!reader

genre: fluff, college!au

word count: 606

warnings: depictions of a polyamorous relationship

a/n: hello hello!! this is my entry to @stellumi​‘s genshintoon writing event! this is based on the webtoon, “boyfriends” by refrainbow in which it’s a slice of life about four college guys navigating a polyamorous relationship between them :D i hope you enjoy this and happy valentine’s day everyone!!

(this is loosely based on episode 92 of “boyfriends”)

Meet the girlfriends <3

Raiden Ei

Resident gamer girl of the apartment

Spends a majority of her nights gaming and streaming on Twitch

Always trying to convince her girlfriends to play various co-op games with her whether it’s on or off stream

Yae Miko 

Resident rich girl of the apartment

Definitely has the money to afford whatever she wants

Loves to spoil her three lovely girlfriends with lots of affection and presents but tries to limit her spending and makes sure at the presents are actually meaningful

Kujou Sara

Resident jock of the apartment

One of the college’s top archers

Not the sharpest arrow in the quiver but she’s able to get decent grades with the help of her girlfriends, especially Y/N

Y/N

Resident genius of the apartment

At college on a full-ride scholarship

Loves to have study dates with her girlfriends (mostly Sara) at the library and any local coffee shops

Kujou Sara is the first to wake up in the dorm and trudges into the common area

A thick fuzzy blanket is draped around her shoulders as she lets out a yawn

Unsurprisingly, one of her other roommates was awake already

“Yaeeeee, why is it so cold today?” she whines with as slight pout painted across her lips

The pink haired girl sits cross-legged on the couch, extending a steaming mug towards her

She casually checks her nails as she tells Sara, “Apparently, the dorms are having heating issues today.”

Falling against the couch next to Miko, she lets out another whine, “But it’s so cold in the winter here. How are we supposed to do anything about it?”

Another shiver racks Sara’s body as she tightly grips the ceramic mug, the warmth of it slowly seeping into her hands

Taking pity on her poor girlfriend bundled up in the blankets, Miko sighs and opens up her arms

“If you’re feeling cold, then come here and cuddle up”

Completely caught off guard, the archer nearly chokes on air as a reddening blush threatens to overtake her face

She practically jumps into Yae Miko’s arms as she relaxes in her arms, basking in the welcoming warmth

However, the relief is cut short by yet another shiver racking Sara’s body as her girlfriend’s warmth isn’t enough for her

The two decide to move elsewhere to find exactly what they need

Barging into their other roommate’s room, they find you and Ei cuddling under the thick covers of your bed

Ei’s face immediately flushes red at the sudden intrusion, almost embarrassed to be caught in such a vulnerable and intimate moment

You poke your head up from beneath the covers, “Good morning, loves!!”

They smile at your bright tone and soft grin

Sara tightens the blanket wrapped around her and huffs, “We’re here to steal your body heat.”

The purple haired girl lightly laughs at her grumpy expression as she shuffles over to make some room under the bedsheets

Lifting up the cover as an invitation, the two girls make their way towards the bed and accept the invitation

After a few minutes of shuffling and turning, the four of you get comfortable in your bed relishing in the warmth of the cuddle pile

You murmur against Ei’s chest, “I love you.”

She presses a kiss against the crown of your head, “Love you, too.”

Miko’s hand cups your cheek affectionately, “You’re so adorable, darling. I love you as well.”

Sara gently squeezes your hand three times, the unspoken words of I love you

The dorm’s heater may have been broken but at least you had the love of your three girlfriends to keep you warm

tag list (all): @mayple @yeetmeoffjueyunkarst @bookuya @liyuesbian @keqinxd @solaaresque @chichikoi @under-a-starry-night @bumbleklee​ @cloudisyelling​  

[lilikags]

❥ synopsis; When you were younger, you had visited a fortune teller to help cure your sister. However, she had said that to cure her, on the year of her 19th birthday, you were to tie her string with her fated one's. Being tasked with finding which of two childhood friends you must tie your sister's red string of fate, you join their school as a teacher. However, upon arriving at the school, you meet a mysterious teacher who can also see the strings- who can cut them. Was there more to the strings than you initially imagined? ❥ pairing(s); kamisato ayato x gn reader ❥ tags/genres; red string of fate, drama, just a little violence, hospital scene, mentions of being drunk ❥ word count; 8.9k ❥ notes; this fic is for vera’s GENSHINTOON collab! Please check out all the other works here. And a very special thank you to Ze (@/reddriot), Cal (@/tartaglify), & brioche for helping out <3

“Yuki, get up!” you ripped the blanket off her, earning a whine and a “you’re so mean…”. It was like this every day, though you couldn’t blame her. After all, who enjoyed getting up in the morning so early just to go to a place called school? There weren’t many, really. You sighed as you left her room to give her time and space to get ready, while you helped prepare breakfast in the kitchen. Your parents were just about to head out as well, and you checked on their string. Perfectly healthy. Truth is, you’ve been able to see people’s red strings of fate ever since you were born. You’ve always kept an eye on your parents’, in fear that they’d ever have theirs snap, just like the many you’ve seen wherever you went. It was not an uncommon occurrence, surprisingly- and you didn’t need to really know them to see- you could just see the string break. It relieved you to see all these years with your parents having a healthy string, and sometimes it made you wonder about yours as well. Perhaps you’d meet someone soon… but that wasn’t the worry right now.

As Yuki entered the kitchen and you pretty much finished your piece of toast, you handed her hers, and told her to eat quickly before Toshiaki and Isao arrived to pick her up. Those were her two best friends, and they’ve been stuck to each other ever since they were too little to remember much. You were always older than them, and it was so cute to see the three of them hang out so often. Though, sometimes you tagged along too, so you knew them quite well- and when the two of them would knock on the door days in a row because they wanted to hang out with Yuki, you could never see a day without them nearby. Perhaps it was their proximity or their closeness to your family; you didn’t really know, but they were close to Yuki, and that was important.

“I’m heading out now; don’t forget to lock the door when you leave, ‘kay?” you asked Yuki as you put on your shoes and closed the door. She didn’t even respond; she was probably texting those two again. Maybe I should text her to make sure she actually locks the door since Mom and Dad already left…

When you arrived at your destination, you didn’t think you could actually be working there. A lot had to happen to make this your workplace, as this was really important, and you’re glad it got to work out. In all honesty, you thought you wouldn’t be coming back to this school until you realized you needed to come back. School was a pain, but at least you weren’t studying for hours on end anymore- though you felt bad for Yuki, who was still a student. Well, that is simply youth- studying.

When you were younger, Yuki got sick. Your parents went to many different doctors, but they could not determine the cause of the symptoms. As a last resort, they had taken the two of you to a fortune teller, and to cure her, she had told you, “On the year of this child’s 19th birthday, you must match her string with her fated one’s. This is the way to redeem your karma from your past life.” Thus, you had been tasked to tie your sister’s string with her fated partner. Except, you had no clue… You had told yourself that you had to wait until that year started, or else you’d mess up. You spent time reading romance novels and looking at the progression of other people’s strings. You didn’t dare touch theirs though, as you could have a huge impact on their lives- and you didn’t want to be responsible for that. You didn’t want to be responsible for such a huge part of Yuki’s life either, but you had no choice. What you did in your past life must’ve been horrible, even though you had no idea what it could have ever been.

You settled into your classroom, putting your drink where it usually goes and your laptop all set up. You took a moment to greet your co-workers in the staff’s lounge, where it was tradition to meet up in the morning and just have small talk. It was a great way to learn about people’s relationships and strings, so it was very useful. You’d often listen in on gossip and monitor their strings to learn about the correlations, though sometimes it wasn’t all that helpful or the same situation happened over and over again. Humans are similar wherever you go, you figured.

“Oh, good morning. Did you rest well?” one of them called out to you. He’s been nice to you ever since you’d been hired, and he even showed you around the school on your first day. His name was Mr. Kamisato… was it? He taught history, if you recalled correctly. He was good looking and kind, oh no one in this school could get enough- including you.

“Hey hey! What’s up!” Mr. Arataki yelled as he walked in. He was always the loudest here, not that it was a bad thing though. He taught physical education, and honestly, you wish you had him as a teacher. His classes actually seemed pretty fun and everyone loved him. Sometimes he lacked common sense just a little, but he was always able to keep everyone safe and having fun. The two of you had become friends right away; he was very sociable.

“Yes, I slept well. How about you, Mr. Kamisato?” you replied to him; you couldn’t remember his given name, though you vaguely remember him telling you to drop the formalities outside of class. You turned to Itto, too. “Nothing much, what’s on your end?”

“Haha, I got something real fun for the kids today, I spent all weekend coming up with a new game. You should drop by fourth period; I’m having the seniors test it out for me. I think your sister’s in that class too,” he said as he got a bottle of water from the cooler. You agreed to drop by if you didn’t have to sub in for another teacher’s class if there was an emergency, since you didn’t have too much work in the beginning of the year.

“I also slept well, thank you,” he gave you one of those smiles of his. Jeez, just how good was he at looking good? Should he have become a model instead? What was stopping him? You would’ve brought it up if you were close, but you didn’t know him too well just yet. “And please, drop the formalities and just call me Ayato.”

Oh, so that was his given name, how could I forget?

“Oh yes, sorry. I’m just… not used to it yet,” you awkwardly laughed it off.

“That’s quite alright,” he replied and set off to prepare to teach his first period class.

It was just about time for first period, so most of the teachers said their goodbyes until lunch, and you headed out too. You heard Itto with his “Alright, let’s get started now! Game time begins!” and laughed. He was always a funny guy. No one had arrived in your classroom just yet, and it was always nice to have a moment to yourself. You sipped your drink as you leaned back in your chair.

It was starting. Today was when you’d start trying to see who to tie her string with. It was probably Toshiaki or Isao, but if it wasn’t any of their strings, you might have to switch professions very quickly and become a detective instead. You hadn’t looked at it before, because you didn’t want to meddle with it. You wish you could let it all happen naturally, and if things went south, you could always help fix it up, but the time limit made that impossible.

You enjoyed your moment of peace before the students started piling in, with their own chaos and energy. You were like that once, though it’s been quite a while. It was so early in the morning; you wondered how they had that much energy to start off the day- perhaps it made you just a little jealous.

It wasn’t long until Yuki, Toshiaki and Isao came in, and you took a look at Yuki’s strings as they settled in their seats. Though, they were all huddled around one desk. You weren’t surprised; a lot of kids did that before class started. “What do you mean, you never did the homework? How are we supposed to finish the project if you never do your work?” you heard one of the students yell out. You were going to stop it, until you saw Yuki’s string.

There were two strings loosely attached: Toshiaki’s and Isao’s.

You’d never seen this before. This was going to be a much bigger challenge than you thought it would be. If only someone else you knew could also see the strings.

Oh, that’s right, Nakata was yelling… ugh, kids these days.

You quickly settled the dispute, before returning to your desk. First period was going to start in a few minutes. Once the bell rang, you started class. You were luckily able to have a good class first period; there weren’t a lot of disruptions. It would be too early to have rambunctious kids first period.

For the period, you kept your eye on the three of them. Though you’ve known them just about their entire lives, you had no idea who liked Yuki the way you wanted them to. Toshiaki lived right next door, and he’d come by for dinner once in a while, when he didn’t want to deal with his parents. They often pushed him to be ambitious, but he just wanted to fool around. He was smart; the top spots always went to him. He was talented like that, and even you were jealous- though anyone else would be too. It was such a waste of a talent if he just threw it away, but he should be able to enjoy his youth as well…

On the other hand, Isao lived a couple floors down, but he’d always come upstairs to play. His parents often left him on his own, so he found lots of things to keep him busy- which included playing with Toshiaki and Yuki. He came by almost every day, and your family welcomed him with open arms. Both of his parents worked a lot, and your family took care of him too when they weren’t out. When he was young, he developed a habit of baking cookies whenever he dropped by- which was a lot, actually- and you always had an abundance of cookies in the house. He actually bakes with Yuki on the weekends, and it was no surprise, with the amount of cookies they made, that they supplied all the cookies for multiple clubs’ bake sales. They were pretty much famous for their cookies in town, and you were so proud of both of them, making an impact on the community like that. Oh, that reminded you that you should tell him to write about that on his college applications as well.

You dismissed your class as the bell rang, and you waited until lunch to check up on Yuki. You had library duty today, because the librarian, Mrs. Ozawa, was out sick for the last week. So, a bunch of teachers offered to take lunch duty at the library for the week, and it was your turn today. Eating lunch in the teacher’s lounge sounded nice though, since you’d be able to see Ayato. (And no one could really resist that urge, not even you…)

You walked into the library with your lunch, and you sat at Mrs. Ozawa’s desk. It was actually a nice desk, nicer than yours. It had lots of space for you to have your lunch, and it was easy for you to see the desks where students sat and ate. It surprised you to see Yuki coming in with Toshiaki and Isao, and you waved to them as they took a seat.

“Wait, what, why are you here today? I thought you’d be eating in the teacher’s lounge?” Yuki asked, giving you that “you’re interrupting” glare.

“I have library duty; Mrs. Ozawa’s out, remember?” you reasoned.

“Oh- but go back, else I can’t focus,” she pouted. “We’re studying for your exam today.”

“I can’t just leave, you know? I’m officially on duty,” you sighed.

“What if I did bad on your exam? Huh?” she stood up and put her fists to her waist.

“That’s your fault then,” you sighed. Youth means being cheeky, huh.

“Do not worry, for I, the master of all academia, will assist you, my lady,” Toshiaki imitated a knight, which made the three of them laugh.

“Then I entrust her to you, Sir Toshiaki,” you laughed along with them and went along with your lunch.

You took another look at her strings, and as they studied together, it seemed Toshiaki’s string bound itself closer to Yuki’s? Or not- it was quite difficult to tell from earlier…

Yuki and the two boys had already headed home when school ended, but you had to stay for extra help. It was part of your job, after all. Well, that meant that the walk home would be time just for you, you supposed. You packed the things you needed to grade and prepare at home, and you headed out of the school.

You walked leisurely through town, and there were a lot of good bakeries on the way home. Perhaps you would get a snack for Yuki, but maybe Isao would’ve made her some. But maybe she would like some croissants, and those started to sound good for yourself too. You went and bought yourself some, but on your way out, you caught the glimpse of a string that caught your eye. You didn’t think much of it for a second, until it was cut. It happened all of a sudden, and you couldn’t understand what just happened. A string, being cut? You’d never seen that before; it looked like it was cut with a scissor, not snapped at all. The threads were cut as cleanly as possible.

You caught Yuki in the corner of your eye; she must’ve wanted some croissants, you figured. You expected Toshiaki behind her, to be teasing her over the impulse food purchases she loved to make. It was funny how he did that too, and he would never admit it. It was always the takoyaki that got him.

But you didn’t see Toshiaki behind her. Instead, you saw Mr. Kamisato- no, Ayato. What was he doing here- you’d never seen him in this part of town before. You could see his hand get closer to Yuki’s string, and in a split second, you grab his hand to stop him from touching it.

It dawned on you- he could see the strings? There was nothing else there to touch, though. Then, was he the one who cut the string earlier? You had never known anyone else who could see them, nonetheless cut them so cleanly.

You looked at him and realized that you were holding his hand.

“Oh, uhm, there was a bug, sorry,” you apologized. It was so awkward.

“That’s quite alright; I didn’t even notice. Thank you,” he bowed slightly before starting to make his way out.

“Wait- do you have a moment? Do you think we could talk about something- I, uhm, forgot to mention it earlier this morning,” you tried to keep him here. You needed answers, and if he cut Yuki’s string, you had no idea what could happen to her. She could get that incurable disease again; it didn't seem unlikely at all.

“Yuki, I already got croissants, here,” you handed the bag to her. “Go back home; I have something to discuss with Mr. Kamisato.”

“‘Kay, bye!” she turned around and waved, but you knew that expression meant that she was thinking about doing something you didn’t like. You would probably find out when you got home.

After Yuki had gone out of sight, you sighed.

“Alright, can we go somewhere more… secluded?” you asked, not wanting this conversation to really be heard. Barely anyone knew you could see the strings, and you didn’t want some random person passing by to know either.

“Yes, that sounds like a wonderful idea. Shall we sit outside Tasse de Lavande?” he suggested. It was on a busy street, but pretty much everyone just minded their own business, and at this time of year, many sat inside the cafe rather than outside.

“That sounds good,” you agreed.

The walk there was awkward, as the two of you weren’t really close, but it wasn’t really that bad. Time flew by quickly, and the waitress had you seated outside before you knew it. They handed a menu to you, and you figured you’d get something to drink while you were here. There was always good food and drinks here, and dealing with kids all day definitely left you a little hungry.

“Please, pick whichever you’d like. I can pay for this,” he said as he looked up from the menu.

“Huh? No, no, it’s alright. I can pay for myself-” he cut you off, that’s a bit unlike him…

“Please, allow me.”

“Alright, then, I shall accept your kindness, good sir.”

You couldn’t argue with him; it was simply a difficult task. He taught history, and being who he was, he probably learned how to win arguments about this specifically from all sorts of noble’s tales or something.

After the two of you ordered, you started your conversation about the strings. Surprisingly, he was the one who set the topic. You’d prepared yourself to be asking him, not him asking you.

“You can see people’s strings, yes? That’s why you stopped me,” he started.

“Yes, I’ve been able to see them too. And you’re the one who cut the string-”

“Yes…”

“Why did you do it?”

“It simply had to be done. If I had let it go longer, it would cause a lot more harm to both parties.”

“How could you tell?”

“Just a close look. I’ve been doing this for quite a long time now.”

He explained that he’s been able to cut the strings, and it was funny how you were able to tie them- just the exact opposite. It was surprising how he had such a good eye with these; apparently, he can see the strains on the strings, if they’re loosening on the inside. You had never noticed that, but looking around, you started to see it if you looked closely enough. It seemed he’d gone through or seen something like that before, with the way the conversation went melancholy at one point. You were meddling with people’s lives, but you could save them as much as injure them. Is this what vigilantes in hero movies felt? Perhaps so.

How he knew about this couple was his group, the Shuumatsuban. It sounded a lot like a ninja group, though that’s because he had created it when he was younger. It made sense, and the name was actually kind of cute. They were all observant people, and when the strings were straining, they would have Ayato cut them. You didn’t know how to feel about it, but the fact that it saved a lot of people heartache afterwards was comforting.

While all that was very enlightening, you were debating whether to ask for advice about Yuki and threads. After all, you’d met him only recently, and this was a major part of your life. But for that same reason, you could use all the help you could get.

“Oh my, I have to get going. It was lovely talking with you,” he waved after he set the money for the bill on the table, and he set off to do what he needed to do. You waved back and left as well, as the waitress collected the payment. You didn’t get to ask for advice, but at least you got to exchange contact info. At least, you’d be able to call him when you needed it.

The next day, you had library duty again. You didn’t mind at all, since maybe you could study some strings better. It was always better to study strings in a place like the library, where you could see them well and it wasn’t noisy or crowded. Plus, you had a great view from your desk.

Yuki didn’t appear; you saw her outside with Toshiaki and Isao outside the window along with a few of her other friends. It was good that she had more than just them. They were a little far out, and you were on library duty, not field duty, so you decided that you’d study the strings of someone in the library.

It wasn’t long until a student caught your eye. Her string was very clearly strained, and it was about to fall apart. It was really bad, and you sighed as you started to think. Some relationships don’t work out, and a time like this, you wished you could cut it yourself. If only Ayato was there to cut it…

You were looking at some other students, until you started to hear yelling from the student you were looking at earlier- the one with the strained string. She was yelling to someone you assumed was her boyfriend, and you had to stop her. After all, this was the library, and people shouldn’t be yelling at each other anyways.

“Alright, let’s stop there-” she cut you off, hitting you on purpose. The string was breaking now, ever so clearly. You’d only seen it snap when it was really bad, but this was terrible as well. The hit hurt, but not as much as seeing the string in such a state. It was in a horrifying condition, as if it had been slowly hit against a sharp object for a long time. Perhaps that happened to them, and you hated seeing that. You tried stopping both of them, and you definitely didn’t want to yell in the library. Other students looked on from the sides, which only made the two of them more aggressive and stressed. Of course, when a lot of people were watching a personal affair, you’d get irritated.

You were going to grab both of their hands, until you could see their string cut and suddenly calming down. They looked at Ayato- Mr. Kamisato to them- and it was completely silent in the library- aside from the sounds from outside. You looked at him too, as he was standing behind you.

“Ah, thank you so much, Mr. Kamisato. I owe you my thanks…” you turned to the students as well. “I’ll have to send the two of you to the Principal’s office.” Surprisingly, the two of them nod without resistance.

“Of course. Are you alright?” he took a look at your hand. It wasn’t injured, but you could tell it had been hit. Kids are strong these days, apparently.

“Oh, yes, I’ll be fine,” you gave him a smile as he headed back to his classroom, as lunch was about to end.

Really, that was the purpose of cutting the strings. You hadn’t really gotten it yesterday, but with this, it really left an impact on you. Cutting strings simply severed the emotional tie- and it represented the emotions of a relationship. Cutting that off would magically relieve both parties from the emotional distress of a strained thread, and it was suddenly more real to you, even though you’d seen something like this all your life.

After school, you checked on Yuki again. She was in the hallways without Toshiaki or Isao, so it was hard to see who the strings were connected to. It was a strange sight, actually. You looked at it closely while talking about what happened today, and you saw that one of the strings got more closely tied to hers. She’d studied with Toshiaki before your test, and she was very grateful that he helped her.

“If not, I really wouldn’t have passed the test. Really, I think you should tone it down with the open ended questions…” Yuki went on and on about the test… perhaps it was too hard? Well, that was another matter for later.

“You didn’t help at all, t-e-a-c-h-e-r,” she stuck her tongue out at you, and you laughed.

“Okay, okay, well, what do you want for dinner though?” you changed the subject. “Wait, I get to choose?”

“Yeah, since I’m cooking today.”

“Then, let’s have steak-” “If it’s on sale.”

“But you said I get to choose…”

While you were pretty sure it was Toshiaki’s string, especially because Isao’s been busy because of baseball, but you decided to drop by Toshiaki’s place just in case. He probably hadn’t eaten any snacks, and it wasn’t good for him to skip meals, especially when he’s still growing! You were so sure that he was still growing!

When you arrived at home, Yuki wanted to visit anyway. You’d bought croissants for him, which he always enjoys. Yuki munched on hers as you made your way next door, and since Yuki came so often they decided to just give her the code, she simply opened the door while you were talking to some other neighbors, a lovely old couple who owned a curry shop nearby, when you heard him yell, “What the hell, Yuki!”

You looked, and Yuki was already inside, and she was backing away as Toshiaki closed the door on her after she left. Yuki looked guilty as she sat herself at the table and you set the croissants there too.

“What happened?” you asked as you sat down.

“... Uh…” Yuki looked away. Toshiaki came out of his room, and he stormed over to the croissants.

“She jumped on me while I was changing,” he said, as he grumpily ate the croissants. Ah, so that was why he blushed earlier. You sighed and gave Yuki that look, the one that said, “Don’t do that ever again.” and she looked away.

“A-anyways…” Yuki started another conversation, and you sat back and relaxed. Kids need time to socialize, after all. You took this time to look at the strings, and it was indeed his string. Perhaps you’d found who Yuki was meant to be with, but Isao’s string was still very closely tied to hers. The year was far from over yet, so who knows, she might have a change of heart too. It was quite a wonder why it had to be you to have this job, not fate itself if it already knew…

“Yuki, let’s go buy ingredients for dinner. I’m dragging you with me,” you said as you got ready to go out, since your parents were working late today. You were assigned to cook dinner as the oldest child and adult, so you had the responsibility of getting dinner.

“Huh? Why do I have to go? Can’t you go by yourself?” she refused to get out of her bed. She never minded going out when either of those two rascal boys were with her, but as soon as it was just the two of you, she suddenly didn’t want to go. It wasn’t your fault that you were trying to make something she would like.

“Okay, you’re not having dinner today,” you declared. It was a joke, but the idea of getting dinner just for yourself was very appealing.

“Huh? No, no, no, I’m coming, I’m coming!” Yuki scrambled to get up and was out her door in seconds. Oh, the things food does to this person.

When you got to the grocery, you asked her what she wanted to eat for dinner, and she simply couldn’t decide. When you decided for yourself, she put that out of the picture. So rude; did she want dinner or not? She had decided on pasta, and you sighed in relief when she had finally picked something. The pasta she wanted was simple, so there wasn’t much to buy. Before you knew it, Yuki was complaining about how hungry she was and that you had to hurry cooking the pasta.

“Oh, hey, whatcha doing here?” you heard someone yell from a few meters away. You looked behind you to find Itto, racing towards the two of you and abruptly stopping beside you. He smiled and waved, like the friendly person he is. You were taken aback a little, but you laughed at the absurdity of his actions. He was just so cheerful like that.

“Hey, Itto, how about you?” you asked back, giving him a fistbump. He liked giving you one too, and he returned it.

“Nothin’ much! Just getting some dinner… my stomach’s growling hahaha,” he said, as his stomach growled. That’s so him.

“I hate my wife… I hate my wife so much… why must I be wed to such a woman…” you heard a man mumbling behind you. Itto looked behind too, confused for a moment. It was startling how close he was to you; you hoped he wouldn’t do anything to you or Yuki. He seemed drunk- though, as he got closer, you could tell that he really was drunk. He reeked of alcohol and even held a bottle in his hand. You gulped as you figured out that he might be targeting you or Yuki, and you subconsciously held onto Yuki.

“Huh?-” she said, as you gripped her arm. It wasn’t long before he suddenly attacked, in which even Itto was taken by surprise. He managed to hit Yuki, leaving her some scratches and even glass in her arm. You had tried to block it, and you had gotten yourself some scratches yourself as well. Itto stopped him after that, locking him down so he could no longer attack. He really was strong…

He would calm down if you cut his string, but it seemed Ayato was the only one who could do it. He could’ve resolved this really easily… Perhaps this was one of the reasons he was so determined to cut people’s ties. It was a debatable thing, but everything he described at the cafe made so much more sense, the more you thought about it.

You kept an eye on the string though, as the police arrived to take away the violent drunk man. Before you could notice the man who had just arrived, the string had been cut, and you looked up at Ayato. You release a sigh of relief as you see him, and he helps you up to talk to the policemen, as the ambulance came as well. You’d have to have a substitute for your class tomorrow, and hopefully you could have the time to set up some work for them to do… but that wasn’t important at the moment.

You gave your thanks to Itto and Ayato before being escorted into the hospital to get the two of you checked on, and your parents dropped by upon hearing the news. Thankfully, it wasn’t bad, though Yuki would have to stay a couple of days longer than you.

Not a surprise at all, Toshiaki and Isao rushed to the hospital when they heard this. The two of them slammed open the door, and when you told them, “Hey, hey, calm down.” they completely ignored you, those brats. As they huddled over Yuki’s bed, with their nagging, you got a call from Itto. You picked up as fast as you could.

“Are you okay?” you asked, worried that he might’ve been hurt from the incident.

“Nah, I’m all good. I should be the one asking you, though. You’re the one that got into the hospital.” That was true… you couldn’t deny it. “Oh, and Yuki too, she’s doing fine, right?” You laughed. “Yes, she’s alright. She’ll be here for a few more days, but it’s nothing serious.”

“That’s awesome… uh, someone’s calling me, so I have to go, but good luck!” he hung up before you could respond.

“Hey, you have to watch out. All ways. Left, right, front back, you have to be observant. You never know what happens…” Isao went on and on about safety. Honestly, you should be the one doing that, or even your parents, but everyone knew that Isao was enough. He had more than enough words to say for everyone around.

“Isa, you worry too much,” Toshiaki shook his head.

“I’m not! I just need to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Gotta drill this into her brain, that airhead,” Isao pouted.

“Guys, I’m really okay and it won’t happen again. Promise,” Yuki smiled, and the two of them sighed.

“Alright, I better be right to trust you on that. Anyways, if you’re better by Sunday, we’re gonna bake some cookies for the Charity Club’s fundraiser, yeah?” Isao asked.

“Yup, yup! More money for game funds, tehe,” Yuki responded. You could see that their strings strengthened, and perhaps his presence today cheered up her mood. She was really tired after that incident, though you could never blame her. Now you really had no clue which string was the right one…

On Sunday, you decided to stay home. It wasn’t that you had anywhere to be, in particular that you had to cancel, but you usually went out while they baked to give them some privacy- and you didn’t want to smell like cookies, anyways. They would always chase you out, and you’d learned to just leave beforehand.

As soon as Isao arrives, Yuki looks at you, “Hey, aren’t you going to leave?” You would usually say yes, but you stood your ground on the couch. “No, I’m staying here today.” “Why?” Yuki pouted.

“Because I want to. Am I not allowed to stay in my own home?” you crossed your arms.

“Must be nice, not being a busy person, unlike me, who just came out of the hospital, and am already baking cookies for another club’s bake sale,” she huffed, joining Isao, who had already started without her.

There were a lot of times you wished to have nothing to do, but now that you were actually feeling it, what were you supposed to do? You looked through social media, but nothing was interesting you as much as you thought it would. It wasn’t until they were arguing about who set the preheat temperature that you realized- you could ask Ayato about the Shuumatsuban and other things that he’s noticed about strings. You texted him, and you didn’t expect a response so quickly. Unlike last time, at the cafe, you were able to ask all the things you wanted to ask- though oftentimes, you tended to go on tangents. It was funny how easy it was to talk about anything with him. He always had that stupidly witty comment to any topic that you could bring up, even the most random of things.

He even added you to their Shuumatsuban group chat, and you met a child named Sayu. She couldn’t see strings like the two of you did, but she was very perceptive and told the group about any students' parents who might have strings that were about to break. You were surprised at how many they were able to get. You suddenly felt a lot closer to him, knowing so much about him than before. Knowing that he could see strings and him knowing you could see the strings too was one thing, but getting to know him as a person was a totally different thing.

Before you knew it, Isao and Yuki had almost finished the cookies, and you remembered what you were originally there for- checking on their strings. You wouldn't believe your eyes- Isao’s string was falling apart- literally. It wasn’t snapping in one place; it was loose from the inside out all throughout. You’d never seen anything like this before, and you were about to call Ayato from the couch before you remembered that the two of them would hear you- and you didn’t want to explain any of that to them- well, yet.

You moved to the balcony and shut the doors, and the two of them continued on with their baking, laughing as they had their conversations.

“Hello, Ayato?”

“Yes, I’m here. Can you describe what the string was like?”

“It was falling apart- from the inside. It was fading too, and it wasn’t as red as before… Does this mean he’s going to die?”

“Hm… No, strings turn white when the wearer is about to die. I believe that’s heartbreak.”

“Wha- heartbreak? Did he confess and get rejected or something? Because I really would’ve heard about it by now if it did-” “There are quite a lot of ways one can experience heartbreak. He most likely convinced himself it wouldn’t work out because of something unexpected-”

“Wait, but-”

You took a moment to think. Nothing was wrong with his parents, nor his grades, nor anything else you could think of. Ugh, that boy was way too good at lying.

“I have Isao in my class.”

“Oh, right, you do.”

“I think he’s moving somewhere soon.”

“Huh? I-”

“He’s been practicing another language in my class- I believe it was French.”

“Why-”

“Because he’s going to move there.”

“... You’re right.”

The two of you stand in comfortable silence, until Yuki calls you over, “If you want a cookie, get it now, else I’ll have 6 cookies and you get none!” The cookies were always good, and since you were done with your conversation, you figured it was time to hang up. Maybe it was your imagination, but perhaps he may have said goodbye before you did.

“Wow, I only get one?” you asked, while Yuki chomped down on the 5 cookies she set aside for herself.

“Yeah, deal with it,” she said before following Isao out the door to his place.

A couple of days later, you couldn’t deal with it anymore. Could Ayato have been right? He’s always surprisingly perceptive at just about anything, and if he was right, you’d have to give him the award of best guesser. It would be funny if you mailed a card that said “congratulations, you’re the best guesser in this town” to him.

You had told him that you had noticed something was wrong and was checking up on him, though you felt bad about taking credit for what Ayato had said. (You mentally apologized to him.) After making sure that Yuki wasn’t around, he had told you that his parents were breaking up, and he and his dad were moving to another country.

You knew this was a lot for him, and you honestly couldn’t really help him as much as you wish you could. You’d told him that you were here if he needed to talk, but you were given a nod instead, and you knew that you both knew what you meant. But it wasn’t long until Isao had started crying, and he went to his place to cry it all out. You let him go; he needed time to himself.

You were glad that Yuki was studying with Toshiaki on call right now. He lived next door, but he was out with his relatives at a family gathering. It was odd how he was helping her study even at a party, but perhaps that was just something a genius could do, you supposed.

That night, you called Ayato for advice. After all, he was the one who had predicted this, and frankly, he was the only one you could trust for this. Calling him wasn’t awkward anymore, surprisingly. You’d started to talk about anything and everything, and it was strangely comforting to talk to him.

“Hey, you’re still up?” you said as soon as he picked up.

“Yes, I’m grading exams, haha. Is anything wrong?”

You could hear the sound of his pen stop, and you sighed.

“Yes. You… were right.” you felt bad that you were telling someone he wasn’t even close to, but it had to do with Yuki’s string too, and you had no choice but to intervene. “His parents are divorcing, and he’s moving with his dad, probably to France, like you saw earlier.”

“Ah, I see…”

“Do you think we could cut it now?” You heard him draw his breath, when you realized that maybe you should let him be. “Or should we let him tell Yuki first?”

Ayato took a moment to respond. It wasn’t easy to make a decision like this, and you knew that very well.

“Let him tell Yuki first.”

He didn’t have to explain why. You understood. After all, Yuki could actually like him back and decide that they should have a long-distance relationship. He might still actually be the one she was fated to be. And if not, if she let him go, then you’d have Ayato cut it for him.

“... thank you.” you thanked him once again for his help, and he gave a soft “mhm” in return.

The urge to tell Yuki yourself has not dissipated. As much as you’d like for it to go away, the stronger it’d get. You even told yourself that you would do it to try reverse psychology, but it didn’t quite work either. You knew full well that it should be Isao that told Yuki, and you’ve actually already told him multiple times over. He knew it too, but acting on it was difficult. You got why, and you even cheered him on and made him laugh a little, but it was still a difficult process for him- and for you too, since it frustrated you to this extent. At one point, Yuki started to suspect something. She noticed something about you, which was surprising, because it really was about Isao. At least she could respect that you didn’t want to tell her- after all, it wasn’t your place at all- and you were glad she wouldn’t pry. You really just wished that Isao would tell her.

When you heard Yuki’s horribly loud sobbing, you knew what had happened. Few things could ever make her cry as such, and you knew that Isao had told her that he was moving. He wasn’t even sure that they could keep in touch, because his father wanted him to cut ties with his current life and become a new person, just like him. You wished you’d been able to cut his parents’ strings before it became this bad, but there was nothing you could do about it now.

As you see Yuki and Isao leave to have their emotional goodbye, you saw that his string grew brighter than before, and it had healed a little bit. Was it hope that she’d want a long-distance relationship? You couldn’t tell about that, but Yuki was definitely still in denial about it. He’d have to wait for her response; though without him, she’d take even longer to recover from this. You hoped that at least Toshiaki could help her.

Soon enough, you saw her rush next door, eager to share the news with Toshiaki. Yuki was never the type to hold such big news to herself; she had to let it out somewhere. You decided not to intervene; after all, it affected her a lot more than you. You didn’t think you’d be affected by this a lot- especially because lately, he had only been someone to pair Yuki up with.

You sighed as you made your way to your room, as you waited for Yuki to come back. You could probably go out together to buy something she liked- at least that would be just a little bit of consolation for her. As you laid back and sunk in your pillows, you felt your phone buzz. You knew who it was right away; who else would be calling you at such an hour besides Ayato? It was funny how he always seemed to know when something was up.

“How do you always know?” you sighed. He hadn’t even said anything yet, but it was already soothing to be on call with him.

“Just a feeling,” he laughed, just a little.

“Hey, that’s no fair.”

“Ahaha, you snooze, you lose.” He went silent for a moment afterwards. “Really, something happened, right?”

You sighed, “Yeah… it finally happened. Yuki’s in breakdown mode, and while Isao’s usually the one she goes to for recovery, he can’t really help her this time.” You tell him all about it, from the moment Isao told her to Yuki’s current predicament. You loved how he listened to every word you said, even how he let his breathing come through the phone. It was like he was right next to you, and you stuffed your head in your pillow as you finished talking.

“Mhm, I see… It’s best to simply wait it out, until she gives him an answer. If she says yes, then I will be happy to cut their string.”

“Though, why not now? Just asking…”

“When the string is strong and vibrant, it is very difficult to cut. It represents their love, remember? If we cut that so suddenly… it would end up having negative side effects.” He didn’t need to list them out. It was more common sense than you’d thought- heartbreak and even memory loss all made sense. You knew most of what he said already, but somehow, it didn’t hurt when he was telling you. It was more of an assurance.

Only a few days felt like weeks. Classes went by more slowly than usual, and Yuki even just packed some of her things and moved in with Toshiaki. It was a complete surprise, even after knowing her for so long. You knew she was dramatic, but not even to this extent.

“Toshiaki?” you knocked on his door, hoping to check in on Yuki. He opened the door and let you in. He only gave you a sigh, rather than the usual “Hey, what’s up?”. You followed him to the living room, where Yuki was engrossed in a video game. You were glad he knew what you were doing here. You sat beside your sister, who took a moment to realize you were there.

“Oh my gosh, you scared me!” she jumped as her brain registered that her sibling was sitting next to her. The two of you surprisingly hadn’t talked in a while.

“I am literally just sitting here.” you stated. It wasn’t wrong.

“Yeah, yeah, but you came in here so unexpectedly!” she pouted. She probably started to wonder why you were there, and she knew it was to hear your answer. She knew the news had reached you; after all, this was a small community, where you lived- and it wasn’t like you weren’t a stranger to Isao either.

Yuki took a deep breath and got on her phone. She must’ve not texted him already. You didn’t try to look over her shoulder; it’d probably bring too much pressure if you did, and you could probably learn about what she said later on. Seemingly forever after, she threw her phone at Toshiaki, who caught it perfectly. You had no idea why; it was an inside joke that you never understood.

Taking another deep breath and holding back some tears, Yuki told you, “We’re gonna keep being friends… and yeah, we’re gonna keep in touch, and if he doesn’t get back to me, I’ll find him! And smack him! But… I won’t get together with him.” You wanted to sigh in relief, but you would probably be questioned to no end by Yuki, so you left, telling her to text you what she wanted for dinner- and Toshiaki was invited too.

You ran to your room, eager to arrange a date to cut Isao and Yuki’s string. He replied surprisingly quickly, once again, and the two of you quietly rejoiced over the phone that Yuki’s fated partner had been found. The two of you decided that, in order to cut the strings, you’d have a party at a barbecue place that all of you liked, and you’d bring Ayato with you as a guest. Though, as for the reason Ayato would be there… the only thing you could think of was introducing him as your boyfriend, but that seemed outlandish. Surely, he wouldn’t like you back that much, right? Maybe? You would talk about it later, you supposed. You let Yuki stay at Toshiaki’s- after all, it was never an uncommon occurrence for her to stay over at either of their places.

The next day, you walk yourself over to 7-11, where you had agreed to meet up with Ayato. You didn’t know why it was chosen- he’d often joke about bringing you to a fancy place, but maybe he somehow knew that you liked some of the food there. You probably told him and forgot about it, though.

As you walked into the 7-11, you saw Ayato had reserved a table for the two of you, and you hurried to meet him. He was delighted to see you, and the two of you chatted away, almost forgetting about when you were going to try to cut the strings. After some discussion, the idea hit you: the place where you all would be at the same time was school. The best time would either be at lunch or after school, and you agreed that you’d both be there in case something happened.

Naturally, the two of you spoke about topic upon topic, until you found yourself with alcohol at your table. You had forgotten about how that had happened, but you weren’t going to back down on it. You could totally hold your liquor, if you tried. Anything's possible if you really tried. (Not really.)

It wasn’t long before you found yourself drunk, and Ayato offered to carry you home. You giggled as he picked you up onto his back, and you snuggled your head into his neck. It was warm and cozy.

“Y’know, you’re nice and warm.” you whispered.

“I’m glad you think so.” he replied, and you could see his smile as you lifted your head.

“Mhm, mhm, it would be nice to experience this forever.”

“And why is that?” “It’s because I love you. You’re so warm and comfy after all, hehe.”

It took a moment for him to respond, and you poked his cheek. “Mhm.” He planted a kiss on your forehead. “Now, let’s get you home.”

You had brought your keys to your home, and after a “Yeah, sure, go open it.” from you, he dropped you off on your bed, leaving a note that read:

Don’t forget to drink water and take a shower in the morning, my love.

— ayato k.

Unbeknownst to you until the next morning, Yuki had come back to get something. She was still staying over at Toshiaki’s place, but sometimes, when you basically lived over at two places, things got a little mixed up a little. She had intended to enter and leave without anyone knowing, but after seeing your door open, when it was usually closed, she decided to enter and found the note Ayato had sent. She laughed, stopping when you had moved in your sleep, realizing that she shouldn’t wake you up.

The next morning, the door slammed open. That was what woke you up, and you were greeted by a (loud) Yuki holding a glass of water. You thanked her, and she placed something on your head, rushing out the door. You picked it off, and to your surprise, it wasn’t from her. As you read it, you hurried to call Ayato. It took absolutely forever for him to pick up- though, that was just the case for you. He picked up about the same speed as every other time.

“Hello, were you able to sleep well?” you heard as soon as the ringing stopped.

“Yes, oh my gosh, uh, yeah, yesterday-” you struggled to get the words out.

“Ah, yesterday. Yes, I wasn’t able to say it last night, wasn’t I? I love you too, my dear.”

You put your hand to your mouth in shock. You had a vague memory of the night before, and you didn’t think that you had actually confessed like that.

“Goodness, I love you so much.”

ᴺᴼᵂ ᴾᴸᴬᵞᴵᴺᴳ : lili’s notes…

↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺

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[ajaxeology]

The Siren's Curse

Word count: 1.1k

Pairings: Childe x gn!reader (ft. Kaeya)

Genre: Angst

c/w: Heavy Siren's Lament Spoilers, kissing

Note: For @stellumi 's GenshinToon Collab here!! Do check out the other entries as well. I'm sorry I took so long!

A bit of information to set the context (especially if you're not intending to read the webtoon but you really should!!): Sirens see the heartbreak of people with their ability to see blue glowing hearts. When they see this, they lure the heartbroken person to kiss them. The siren regains their legs to get a second chance at life while the heartbroken person gets a tail and their memories are taken away from them. So it's a cycle.

You and Kaeya are half-sirens due to something that went wrong and the curse is slowly getting passed to you. In this scene, the siren calling is taking place where "Poseidon", the person who created this curse, summons all the sirens in the area.

Under the bewitching moonlight, his long eyelashes glimmer like the stars that dance on the lapping waves. Childe holds you in his embrace with his arm around your torso, hand cradling your head. The rough waves push against you and threaten to topple you, but his hold on you keeps you from falling. His lips press against yours, savouring them like a starved man.

You snap out of the trance that you were held captive in. After so long, this is all you wanted. Years of watching his eyes crinkle when he smiles from afar, listening to his laughter and admiring the freckles that are sprinkled like pixie dust across his face. Years of being too afraid to give a shot at claiming them for your own. But it’s as if you woke up to a nightmare.

He pulls away, his half-lidded eyes glowing an eerie blue. When his grip on you loosens and he falls sideways into the water, you’re pulled under the surface with him.

When you regain consciousness again, you feel the sand below your feet. Your vision spins and Kaeya has your arms hooked around his shoulder. Brief, blurred images of what happened earlier flash in your mind and you press Kaeya for an explanation with incoherent words.

Kaeya pries you off him and yells at you to stay put, worry lacing his words. He dives underwater and he pulls out a body with a tail.

There’s a sharp jab in your chest when you realise who Kaeya has brought out of the water. Childe lies unconscious in the sand, a beautiful yet sickening tail in the place of his legs. Tears start to obscure your vision. You wish with your entire being that when you blink those tears away, it’ll wash away the cruel reality in front of your eyes.

But when you wipe your tears away, the only thing that changes is the seawater that advances and recedes from the shore. You let out a guttural scream from the depths of your stomach and scramble towards Childe on fours.

Kaeya holds you back as you claw in the air to break free, your feet slipping in the sand.

“[name], stop! You’re going to mess up his plan if you kiss him.”

When his words resonate with whatever rationality you have left, you sink your hands into the sand. Fingers dig into the particles of sand and you clench your jaw.

There’s the urge to swat Kaeya’s hands away when he places his hand on your shoulder. He knew this was going to happen. Yet he did nothing. Hurt brews in your chest like a bubbling, sinister concoction. You’re about to lash out at him and splatter the scalding liquid of hurt at Kaeya until you remember that you haven’t been truthful with Childe. While you know Childe will never do petty things, you can’t help but think this is his way of getting back at you.

All irrationality aside, you know it isn’t Kaeya’s fault. A glance at Kaeya’s face hints at worry and guilt even as he attempts to conceal them with a poker face.

Besides, you didn’t grow up with Childe just to forget that no one can change his mind about people he cares about. While you don’t know whether he loves you through this, you never doubted his concern for you.

When you compose yourself, you force yourself to look at Childe and shift yourself beside him. Kaeya sits next to you and he reminds you, “Remember, this isn’t the Childe that you know.”

It’s not long before Childe stirs and he opens his eyes.

You kneel by his side. His eyes flicker to where your heart lies. You come to note the wrenching feeling that stirs there and realise that he sees a blue glowing heart.

Childe leans into you. His fingers, dabbed with sand, slides under your chin and he cups one side of your jaw. He breathes, “Hey.”

Kaeya stirs behind you and you assure him, “It’s fine. I know.”

You gaze into Childe’s eyes, searching for him. When he puts on a flirtatious grin that poorly veils an ulterior motive, you conclude that there’s nothing. You don’t budge when you feel the slight tug of his fingers.

After prying his fingers off your jaw, you keep some distance away from him. Far enough to show caution but near enough to display some trust.

“I’m [name]. That’s Kaeya.”

Kaeya waves and gives Childe his cocky smirk. You think that’s become a standard greeting for him at this point.

Childe’s flirty smile disappears in a second and he narrows his eyes at the both of you. “How are you two-”

You finished his words, “ So calm when we’re right in the face of a siren?”

A look of disbelief crosses his face. Annoyance bubbles in your chest once again and you spat, “You kissed me to protect me from being a siren.”

Your heart wrung, his eyes flicker down for a moment again. Suspicion drips from his words and he narrows his eyes at you as he questions, “Who are you?”

“I’m…”

Did he love you?

“I don’t know how you- the old you, see me, but…”

Your voice trails off, “I love you.”

Extra headcanons:

Whenever you’re out at sea with him, he always swims towards your blind spot and hides there for a while. Both as a playful prank and You panic when you can’t find him and you always call out his name with worry in your voice. He finally stops doing that when your heart glows blue and he realises how much he means to you. He thinks that even if he never regained his memories, he might fall in love with you again.

He likes to touch his earring. After swimming from one place to another, he always checks if it’s still there. The dude doesn’t know why, but it reminds him of you and makes him feel warm inside in the depths of the chilly ocean. It brings up happy memories he can’t quite remember having with you in his mind.

When he’s not with you, he likes to pick up the starconches and admire them.

You told him all the names he went by and he indicated his preference for the name “Tartaglia”. So you and Kaeya call him that instead (except that Kaeya chooses to call him “Loverboy” often)

Childe doesn’t know why (Siren Childe doesn’t know a lot) but he gets pretty jealous when he sees you and Kaeya bantering at the shore. Swims the fastest he could ever to the shore and gets between the two of you if he can. Doesn’t realise that he pouts until Kaeya points it out.

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[thewangshuinn]

Spring

A/N: hehe zhongli meteor go brrrr hopefully you catch where I slipped it in

Pairing: Kazuha x gn!reader

Warnings: fight scenes, some injury but it's not super graphic

Prompt: for @stellumi’s webtoon event, the first few chapters of Soleil!

“Can you tell it again? The plant kingdom story?”

“Liyue?”

“Yeah!” A small child, maybe seven, sat learning botany at their father’s knee. Well, not sat so much as used their little trowel and dug little holes for the seeds to go in.

“Okay.” As Morax gently corrected your form, he began to speak. “Liyue is a secret plant kingdom. Ruled by nature itself, the world is always golden with sunlight. The trees there can reach the stars! It’s full of magic and wonder.” He watched your eyes brighten- there was enough magic and wonder there that he didn’t need any fairy tales. “Did you know, there are even little plant people who live in Liyue?”

You absolutely lit up. “You mean like little plant friends?” Your father grinned back down at you. “Exactly like that.”

You stared down at a small mint plant that sat before you. “Like that one?”

He ruffled your hair gently. “Kind of. That plant friend’s name is mint! They’re more like little plant people.”

“Do you think the story is true? Is Liyue a real place?”

“There are a lot of ways to think about it. Why not?” Your eyes sparkled. “But, you know, you have to have a pure heart to go there.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah! You won’t be able to see any of it otherwise. Fortunately for you, (y/n) you won’t have any problems. You’ve got the purest heart of us all.”

And with that, he pulled you into his arms, and you stayed there.

~

You’re much older now. At least, one might hope so.

Your eyes opened as your alarm beeped to no end, the memory of your father fading as you sat up and stretched.

You pressed snooze to no avail, going through a cartoonish series of events to turn the alarm off. And as soon as you were able to find peace among the blankets again, your phone started pinging, sending you flying out of bed. You had somewhere to go!

Of course, you went right back to the bed when you were all ready, sitting with your phone in your hand. “It really is today, isn’t it… and Thoma’s already up and ready to go…” You looked around, trying to distract yourself. “Okay, but today is also… a good nap day! Or something! We can go visit Dad tomorrow. He’ll understand. I do have work to finish up, anyway” You could feel the disapproval of the houseplants by your bed.

You worked as a florist, but, of course, had taken the day off today. You did custom orders out of your home, and so never had to leave.

“No, I’m definitely not making excuses to not go out, I-” You stopped lying to yourself. “Okay… today is unique. I should go.”

As you left, you turned back to your plants. “I’ll be back soon, everyone!”

~

He’s not here.

“Did I take too long to get here?” Maybe he left.

You could feel him lean over your shoulder to whisper to you in the most playfully annoying fashion ever. “No, you didn’t. But I did text you over an hour ago. I was worried!”

“Oh. Sorry about that, Docto-.”

“Oh, stop. I’m not actually a flower doctor, you know that.”

“You take care of flowers. Flower doctor.”

He sighed. “Speaking of, here.” He handed over a bouquet of silk flowers. “For your father. These were his favorites, right?” You nodded. “Thank you.”

~

“We really did bring a lot, didn’t we?”

You smiled. “Yeah. The space seems much more full now. Like a party. Dad would’ve loved it.” Your eyes were trained on the flowers. “They’re beautiful. Dad would’ve loved this… I can remember him so clearly…”

“Me too.”

There was a lull where Thoma seemed to be trying to find the right thing to say, and was failing. Finally, you watched him let out a strained breath, and when he spoke, his eyes were not on you. “Hey, (y/n)... I know it’s been hard for you, and I just… I want you to know I’m always here for you. If you ever need to talk or anything, I’m right by your side, okay?”

You nodded gratefully, but Thoma was beginning to ramble. You were unable to get a response in before he continued.

“I- I know it’s been a year since you last went out and you’re keeping yourself all alone… and I don’t want it to hurt you more. It’s so hard to believe that he’s gone and I just-”

“Stop it.” Your voice took on a hidden rawness. “He’s not gone. He is not.”

“No- no… of course not! I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean-”

And then, suddenly, you were back to sunshine, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Thoma! It’s alright. And anyway, I’m not alone! I have my plants to keep me company, remember?”

“I- yeah… if you say so. I’m… meeting up with some people for lunch. Do you want to come? It’s on your way back. My treat.”

You offer him a dazzling smile. Forced, but dazzling nonetheless. “Thank you, but I have some stuff to do. I think I’ll pass.”

“Of course. Yeah. It’s fine. Do you want me to walk you home?”

“No, I’d hate to make you late.” You’d also wanted to stop at the bakery for comfort food, but that was for you to know and him to Not Know.

“Alright.” He pulls you in for a quick, very welcome hug. “I’ll see you another time, then?”

“Yeah. See you.”

“Make sure to let me know you got home safe, okay?”

You laughed. “Okay, I will. Bye!”

He waved at you as you left, watching you walk back towards the grave rather than to the way out. When he turned to stay with you, you waved him off with a smile. “Don’t be late!”

He laughed. “Fine. See you!”

~

You took a longer path home, lost in thought and because it was farther to get to the bakery. Now you walked through the front door, placing the bag of baked goods of your choice on the bed. You sat beside it, facing your plants, and texted Thoma before dropping your phone with a sigh.

“He’s just silly, right? We’re okay.” You whispered to the mint plant before you. “It’s just you and me. We don’t need the world outside, right?”

You barely noticed the single tear that traced down your cheek until it landed on a mint leaf. “Sorry. Let me get that.”

You wiped the tear away with your fingertip, and that was when you noticed it.

The plant was moving.

You looked towards the base of the stems, where the motion was coming from, and out stepped a little plant person!

This must be some weird dream. There’s no way…

Despite your better judgement, you reached out to them. If they felt immaterial, you’d know it wasn’t real.

But it can’t be real.

Which was why you were incredibly surprised when it stepped into your palm.

“(y/n)-” He began, hoping to catch you before you freaked out.

It talks! “How do you know my name?”

“I’ve known you for so long. I happen to understand your thought process well.” He gave you a small smile, and it was a different kind of smile. “We’ve formed a bond. I’ve been at your side this whole time. You’ve shown me so much care and kindness, (y/n).”

“Then you’re… you’re the plant I normally talk to! You’re Mint!”

The tiny creature’s smile turned wistful. “That’s the name you gave me.”

Your excitement was very evident in your grin as you twisted around, trying to observe the small thing from every angle as if hoping he showed any resemblance to what you thought you were talking to. Perhaps it would’ve helped if you had envisioned more than a potted mint plant with a smiley face.

However, Mint was not smiling anymore. He looked sad- very sad. One could almost describe it as hopeless. “That’s not my true name, though.

“I am Prince Kazuha of Liyue.”

“You’re a plant prince?” Liyue?

He nodded. “And my kingdom is in danger. My people sent me to your world to find a human who can help us. And, (y/n), there’s a reason you can see me in my true form.”

You wracked your brain for memories of the fairy tale your father had told you. “I… have a pure heart?”

He nodded. “I’d hate to force this on you, (y/n). But please know you’re the only one who can help us. Please come with us.”

“Listen. I know we formally have only just met, but you’re my Mint, Kazuha. I’ll help you in any way I can. I’m willing to go with you.”

He looked overjoyed, and the smile that flitted across your face in response helped to hide the wish you’d kept within.

Maybe I can reconnect with Baba, too.

He offered you a small berry, and you took it. “You have to absorb or consume an essence of Liyue for your body to form a tether there. Then you’ll be able to enter.”

It took you a second to decipher. “Okay.”

You ate the berry and darkness surrounded you.

~

Whoa…

Everything was infinitely taller than you, and you were little and tiny. The silk flower that you’d found attached to your head edged your vision in a rosy glow. Sunlight filtered through soft leaves far above you in every shade of green- no emerald could’ve ever compared.

There was a castle in the distance, shimmering water floating around it.

And the whole world seemed to be holding its breath.

This moment suspended in time, unbroken, even as you shattered the silence and called for Kazuha. He’d disappeared…

A gust of warm wind behind you was what you felt first, but his hands slipping into yours as you turned was what really took your attention. “Kazuha?”

“Thank the archons… you’re okay, right? You didn’t get hurt?”

You nod, unable to say anything else. Now grown to full-size and no longer a potted plant, he was… charming. Very charming.

Especially when he smiled at you, the way he currently was. “Good.”

His gaze jerked past your shoulder, and his smile faded. “We have to go. Being out in the open isn’t safe anymore.”

“Anymore?”

“The invaders have taken over.” He pointed to the castle- his castle. It was in ruins, locked in black thorns. Clearly, the enemy was an invasive species. “They’ll hurt you.”

And then-

“Get back!” You were thrown behind him as the ambush began, and he nudged you into the foliage so you could hide.

~

I won’t let you harm them.

Kazuha’s whole motivation for fighting wasn’t long enough yet to make a haiku. Tragic.

But the thought barely registered as a much larger one took its place: he was losing. He couldn’t stick around. He had to get you to safer ground.

He whipped his sword around, sending a swirling storm of wind and leaves around the monster. By all rights, that should’ve finished it.

He should’ve won.

But if he had, why was pain flaring up his arm? Why had his blood turned to flame? Why were there pinpricks pressing into his side?

Why was there a monster towering over him, claws readied to kill. And in that split second, he locked eyes with you.

And you looked so afraid as he fell.

~

A shield of weak spring breezes was the only thing that separated the claw from Kazuha’s body, just a short distance from you. You could see his energy fading. You felt the apology in his eyes and wished only that it was not for you.

And it was in that feeling that you found strength- the desire to never see him unhappy by your hand.

“Don’t hurt him!”

There was a flash of rose light as something crashed, and the monster’s claws… retracted. It whimpered, running away.

You didn’t stop to think- you grabbed Mint and ran.

~

Kazuha’s legs gave out beneath him a while later, and you caught him. He hadn’t said anything overall, and you had no way of knowing he was okay.

Which he very clearly was not.

He was pale and breathing hard, unable to look up at you as you gently sat him down.

“Kazuha, something happened back there. Let me see it.”

“...please don’t.”

“What? Why?”

He pulled back some of the fabric draped over his arm, and you saw a mess of leaves and vines just like the ones on the castle.

“I’ve been contaminated. My power had washed away most of the leaves before, but now…” He winced, in too much pain to finish.

You watched the vines spread. “Can’t you use more of your power?”

He shook his head. “It has a limit. I can only use it in emergencies.”

“This is an emergency! What happens if the vines overtake you?”

“Your life is more important. I have to keep you safe. For Liyue’s sake.”

“You’re their prince! Your life is just as important as mine!” You put your hands on his shoulders. “Stop being so self-sacrificial!” Your voice softened exponentially and you squeezed your eyes shut. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Perhaps that’s why you didn’t see the gentle rose glow that dissolved the contamination and healed Kazuha’s wound.

You heard his soft gasp, though.

“You did this to the invader, too…”

Your eyes opened. “It was much more violent then. But yeah. I don’t know how, but its claws disappeared.”

“You got them to retract? You can damage them?”

“I guess so?”

“That’s amazing!” He grabbed you and held you close, burying his face in your shoulder. This was the most contact the two of you have ever had- and the first contact you’d had in a year. Of course, you nestled into the embrace.

“Your power is incredible. It’ll be much easier to get to the meeting point from here.”

You stilled. “Meeting point?”

He pulled away, offering you a small nod. His face was still lit up. “My allies sent me to Teyvat to find a human who can help. We have to meet up with them at the designated spot.”

There wasn’t much you knew about Liyue, but you did know this- Kazuha was your companion. He’d always been.

And so, with all the conviction of a dream fulfilled, you began to plan the journey.