I sighed as I perched myself upon the stern of the Alcor and gazed up at the night sky. The moon was generous with her moonlight this time around, allowing me to bask in it's gentle glow. A soft breeze blew through my hair, playfully tussling it around like a little kid before disappearing into the night.
It was, for a lack of better words, a beautiful night.
Earlier that day, Lumine and Paimon had asked me to escort them to the Crux Crew that had anchored themselves near the Guyun Stone Forest. They had planned to journey to Inazuma in order to find more clues about Lumine's brother. I wasn't sure what they were going to find in Inazuma, but it wasn't like I was in any position to question them about it.
Though the original plan was to have me drop off the pair before I journeyed back to the Wangshu Inn, Lumine and Paimon asked if I wanted to stay overnight with them before they left for Inazuma in the morning. Normally I would have refused yet this time around, a nagging feeling inside of me (and the promise of a big bowl of Almond Tofu from Lumine) pushed me into staying.
"Since when have I grown so soft?" I asked myself, fiddling around with my spear.
The creak of a wooden plank resounded behind me, snapping me away from my thoughts. The idle fiddling with my spear quickly turned aggressive as I grabbed the weapon and thrust it behind me.
Only to find that on the other side of the spear head was a crimson eyed, white haired boy.
To my surprise, it didn't seem like he flinched at my sudden movements. Instead, he gave me a modest smile and moved the spear away from his body.
"Forgive me for startling you," He apologized, his head bowing slightly "I didn't mean to cause you discomfort in your time of solitude."
"You're that boy from Inazuma aren't you?" I asked, remembering seeing him sitting on the edge of the ship that afternoon.
He nodded, "I'm honored that you remember me."
The boy held out his hand, "My name Kaedehara Kazuha, it's a pleasure that I finally get to meet you, Xiao."
I crossed my arms and turned back towards the sea, "It's breaking the rules for mortals to interact with adepti."
"Leave. It's for your own good."
There was a moment of silence before Kazuha spoke again.
"Yet your heart seems to have no qualms interacting with the Traveler and her friend." He responded.
My eye twitched and I turned back around to face the boy. For some reason, this time around he had a small bowl in his hands. One sniff and I could immediately tell.
It was almond tofu.
"Will you be willing to speak with me if I offered you this?" He asked persistently.
"Where did you get that?" I demanded, slightly creeped out.
Kazuha smiled again and wouldn't answer.
I clenched my teeth and hesitantly took the bowl from him. Shuffling back over to the stern, I sat down and began to eat. Kazuha joined me and another spell of silence fell upon us, save the chewing noises from my mouth.
"Was the food to your liking?" Kazuha asked, as I was almost done polishing off the tofu.
Though I couldn't put my finger on it, something about this boy bothered me. Besides him pulling out a bowl of almond tofu out of nowhere and his extremely soft-spoken nature, I couldn't shake off strange feeling that he gave me. I never met him before today.
