Work Text:
the setting sun's rays cast a red wash along the horizon's canvas, the blushing hues of night dawning upon the city of liyue. faint trickles of people milled around the city's outskirts, attending to stalls, packing up bags, chatting to friends. kazuha watched them all in amused and peaceful silence, contented with watching their lives unfold, the wind the only witness to his observations. to him, it was the most interesting thing, to observe the human psyche as it stood tens, hundreds of meters from his position under a tree, his shield from society's eyes. he was a watcher on the sidelines, and he liked that.
a lime green leaf fell through the air, catching unconsciously in his outstretched fingers. he brought it to his nose; it smelt like the end of summer.
he sighed in serenity as he watched the last remaining person leave the ghost of a street lit by the lanterns strung in careful lines overhead. the wind was serene - not too vicious as to cause a storm, but not too faint as to make the weather humid. kazuha felt his senses so finely attuned to nature that he began composing a haiku.
"heaven-sent leaves fall," he whispered thoughtfully, turning the leaf in his fingers.
"hm?" a voice asked.
kazuha would've jumped up, jumped and reached for his katana, ready to slay the intruder, but he already knew who it was.
"tomo," he smiled as the tall man sat next to him on the grass.
"composing another haiku?" the corner of tomo's mouth twitched up. "do tell me you'll grace me with it when you're happy with it."
"maybe," kazuha mused, a faint blush akin to the sunset painting his cheeks.
"ah, right," tomo handed kazuha a bag, looking at him expectantly. "i bought some food."
it was now kazuha's turn to utter a 'hm?' of confusion and interest. the poet's brow furrowed as he opened the bag and pulled out a wrapped dish. it felt warm to the touch through the wrapped parcel, and kazuha immediately wondered what it could be.
"are you trying to poison me?" he asked, searching for and opening in the wrapping.
and then he heard tomo's sweet laugh once again and his stomach fluttered slightly, like it did every time.
"no, just open it," was all tomo said in response.
kazuha sighed, sliding a finger under the opening he'd found. tomo watched him expectantly, looking intently at his delicate features as his face unfurled from confusion with the ultimate reveal.
"it's-"
"yep," tomo smiled. in kazuha's hands were three perfectly made sangayaki and six mochi, both steaming hot.
"how did you get these?" kazuha smiled in incredulity, picking up one of the sangayaki and blowing on it gently.
"a special request from the chef at wanmin restaurant. you should meet her, she's very good at cooking," tomo picked up one himself gingerly, careful not to let it break, as kazuha took a small bite. tomo smiled as his eyes widened in surprise and he took another slightly bigger bite.
"see?" tomo's expectant voice was met with a vigorous head nod from kazuha, causing him to chuckle a bit.
"god, you're so cute," tomo said softly.
"what?" kazuha said, swallowing down the warm food.
"nothing," tomo took a bite himself.
"...ok," kazuha narrowed his eyes in suspicion, but nonetheless continued happily eating. the taste was wonderful, a near exact replica of the exact same flavour he'd tasted at their first encounter in inazuma. before the vision hunt decree hit, and the two had somehow wondered into each other while walking someday and tomo had spontaneously asked him to dinner. for kazuha, a wandering samurai, friends were hard to come by, so he didn't feel inclined to pass up the opportunity. for tomo, well...maybe he was captivated from the start.
and tomo was lying under the shades of a sakura tree on narukami island, kazuha's head resting on his lap as his lilting voice read him poetry, two uneaten sangayaki lying on the ground next to them when he first realised he loved him.
and he found himself whispering it, letting the wind carry his confession of love to his beloved's ears.
tomo wouldn't forget the small blush that crept along kazuha's face, the show that he was lost for words.
"h-huh?" kazuha had said, face innocent as the melody of his voice halted.
"what?"
"nothing, i just thought i heard...never mind," he trailed off, hiding his blushing cheeks behind the volumes of poetry he had read from.
"what?" tomo sat up, hooking a finger around the top of the book and pulling it down to see kazuha's brighter face. "tell me."
"did you just say that...uh...that you love me?" kazuha asked, awkwardness making his usually eloquent voice stilted and quiet.
"yes," tomo said, eyes raking over kazuha's body for any signs that he didn't reciprocate, before carefully asking, "do you love me?"
"of course i do," kazuha said softly, smiling in such a bashful way that it made tomo's heart melt a bit.
"well, sorry for the interruption kazu," tomo chuckled, the light, airy sound dispelling kazuha's fears and anxieties.
"no problem," kazuha let out a small smile, leaning his head on tomo's lap before picking up his book again. "now, where were we?"
kazuha's soft voice guided them both through tales of love and sorrow and war while tomo ran his fingers through kazuha's hair, the wind the only witness to their moment of peace.
and every once in a while, kazuha took a deep breath and felt his lungs fill with the comforting scent of the cinnamon gum that tomo always smelt like.
the breeze of liyue carried the same scent of cinnamon to kazuha as he sat under a different tree, remembering the same memory of an almost different life in inazuma.
his life then felt like centuries ago; what was first a nomadic travel of the land morphed into a volatile life on the lam, constantly running from a tyrannical god who sought to take away his and his lover's power. thankfully, they managed to stay together and board a boat to liyue, perhaps illegally, but the captain didn't seem to mind.
kazuha sighed. they had travelled so far.
"deep in thought again?" tomo asked, his gaze flicking over to kazuha's crumpled brow.
"yeah," he said, voiced laced with a certain forlornness that tomo knew linked back to his memories of their home nation.
tomo grazed his knuckles against kazuha's temple, brushing imaginary stray strands of hair behind his ear, a gesture that kazuha associated with comfort, security, love.
kazuha face was lifted into a smile as he looked at his lover.
"oh, it'll start soon," tomo said, quickly finishing the sangayaki he held in his hands. kazuha bemusedly followed suit, refolding the wrappings around the package to put the mochi back in the bag.
"what?" kazuha asked, the fragrance of the wind making him close his eyes in quiet contentment.
"the lanterns," tomo simply answered, pointing to the sky, and as kazuha turned to the direction of tomo's outstretched finger, he saw it.
hundreds of lanterns rising into the sky, the pinpricks of their amber glow rising in the crimson hued canvas of the sunset. kazuha smiled in awe, jumping with surprise when a great cracking sound reverberated through the air.
tomo lightly touched the top of his head, letting him know that nothing was wrong.
"it's just fireworks, my love," he whispered calmly, watching the explosions of colour paint the sky.
kazuha watched in wonder at the show as he leaned on tomo's warm body, taking in deep breaths of the comforting scent of cinnamon.
"i love you tomo."
"and i love you kazuha."
and the wind was the only witness to their love on that evening.