desire ~ k. kazuha idol au

• chapter one •

Like an eager child pressing their face against a sweet shop display, you peered out the airplane window, a bright smile spreading across your face.

"Welcome to Liyue Harbor, travelers!" said a voice over the intercom. "Thank you for flying with us on Tengu Airlines!"

Impatiently, you tapped your toes on the seat in front of you. Not wanting to wait any longer, you grabbed your bag and dashed down the aisle and towards the plane door, despite shouts of protest from the plane crew.

As soon as you stepped outside, the soft rays of the sun hit your skin, and a gentle winter breeze ruffled through your hair.

This was the moment you had dreamed of. The moment you had been waiting for!

You took a deep breath of the fresh air, squinting as the small rays of sunlight shone into your hopeful eyes.

"Goodbye, Inazuma... and hello, Liyue!"

✧•✧•✧

You stared up apprehensively at the golden facade of the luxury hotel you were to be staying at.

Wow...

From the acceptance letter you had received from Jean Gunnhildr, the Master of the Teyvat International Alchemy Branch, you had already heard that you were staying at the Grand Stone Hotel in Guyun, but you hadn't thought much about it.

As you looked up and around at the hotel's front and the surrounding grounds, you felt a little nervous. Freaked out, even.

Before staying here you'd never gotten the chance to stay at a hotel like this. It was far too expensive for your budget, after all.

But now, you were staying at one of the fanciest hotels in all of Teyvat... and this was all for free.

"Well, what am I waiting for?" you said to yourself. "I should go and meet with my new boss..."

As you walked through the automatic doors of the hotel, you felt your mouth dropping open again.

The hotel lobby was even prettier than the front. A sparkling gold reception desk, clean white floors, and yellow flower bunches hanging from the ceiling. The gigantic windows around the walls let in natural light wherever you looked so that the whole lobby sparkled and shone with a majestic glow.

Your breath hitched in your chest. It felt like you were totally unworthy to be here...

You walked up to the reception desk, where you were greeted by a kind looking girl with her silver hair styled in a low bob.

"Hello there!" she said cheerfully. As she peered behind you to check that you had a suitcase, she added, "Are you here to check in?"

"Uh, yes..." you murmured. "I'm actually a new employee of Teyvat International's Alchemy Branch... I was told to stay here until we start real field work."

"Oh, that's right!" she exclaimed, pulling out a clipboard. "May I ask for your name? The Grandmaster of the Alchemy Branch checked in rooms for... three members of the group."

"Y/N L/N." you replied promptly, watching as she checked off your name on the clipboard. "Thanks... Noelle!" you added, seeing the badge pinned to her chest.

"It's my pleasure." Noelle stated kindly, standing up to curtsy. She suddenly gasped, placing a hand to her mouth.

"Oh, that reminds me! The Grandmaster of the Alchemy Branch said to have all new recruits go to the Qingxin conference room. First door on the left of this hallway." Noelle said, beaming at you.

"Really?" you asked. "But, shouldn't I bring my bag to my room...?"

"That's no problem. I can do it for you!" Noelle said, getting up from her chair at once.

"But... isn't that too much work? You do have a whole reception desk to cover, after all." you muttered, looking over the empty booths that Noelle seemed to be covering.

"Oh, no." She waved you off, but you didn't feel completely assured as you walked towards the Qingxin conference room.

You shook off the worry, trying to convince yourself that Noelle would be fine. You opened the doors to the conference room with the key that Noelle had given you just moments before.

As soon as you pushed open the large door, you heard someone call your name.

"Miss Y/N! Is that you?"

You turned in the direction of the voice. You couldn't have thought of a stranger group to be heading over to...

The one that had called your name was a tall woman with her golden blonde hair tied back in a ponytail. There was also a boy with half tied beige hair, a girl with round glasses and short green hair (plus what looked suspiciously like animal ears), and a boy with oddly styled dark blue hair. There was also two other guys: one with long green hair and glasses, and one boy with oddly long fox ears.

"Hello there, Y/N." the blonde woman said, extending her hand to you for a handshake. "I am Jean, Grandmaster of the Teyvat International Alchemy Branch."

"Hello Grandmaster Jean." you said, bowing respectfully (as you normally did in Inazuma).

"Oh please, just call me Jean." she said casually. "And these are your colleagues: Albedo, Sucrose, Xingqiu, Baizhu, and Tighnari..."

✧•✧•✧

By the time you left the conference room, the sun had already set to give away to the moon.

Rubbing your eyes sleepily, you opened the door to the conference room and trudged out...

And you immediately crashed into someone.

"Ow!" you yelped.

"Hey, watch it!" a girl's voice said.

You opened your eyes to see a crowd in front of the door. This crowd hadn't been there before...

Pushing your way through the crowd of giggling girls, you figured out what they were all laughing about.

There was a giant poster plastered up on the wall, and it was of six boys all posed against a turquoise background. The name on the poster was "5WIRL".

How stupid. you thought, trying to shove your way into the crowd. There's six of them, yet there's a five in their name.

You finally got out of the crowd and made a beeline for the elevator, where again, it was crowded with giggling girls simping over some poster.

You tried keeping back an eye roll as you made your way to your hotel room. Oh, how you couldn't wait to collapse onto your bed and take a nice long rest before your first day of work!

As you opened the door to your room, you suddenly realized that you couldn't flop onto your bed like you had planned...

...because there was already someone sitting on it.

✧•✧•✧