Lightning Straight to My Heart

Untitled Part 1

Between speaking with clients from Fontaine and trying to learn their local language, Heizou had picked up a phrase "coup de foudre". Though literally translated to "a bolt of lighting" or "thunderbolt", it could also be used to refer to an astonishing occurrence. More specifically, love at first sight.

As much of a romantic as Heizou secretly was, he always thought it sounded quite ridiculous.

Yet the words flashed in his mind once more, as lightning flashed outside the small dim sum shop where he and the Yuheng were having a heart-to-heart over a hearty dinner.

As she affirmed him for the first time since they met, rather than trying to argue with him like she usually would.

As she reached out to hold his hands in hers, squeezing between plates of half-finished guotie and spring rolls and hei zho that covered nearly the entire table.

As she met him with eyes aflame with ambition and a stubbornness that didn't shock him, but was electrifying all the same.

His heart pounded. His face felt hot. His mind was racing, as usual, but now his thoughts were in complete and utter chaos in the most beautiful way possible, as if to match the beauty of the one they were dedicated to.

Just hours ago, the two of them had hurled cutting words at each other in the middle of the street, letting out weeks of tension and conflict in a moment of anger. It was an argument that was bound to happen ever since they had first met and got off the wrong foot. Heizou was almost certain this would ruin their entire working relationship, sending him straight back to Inazuma and leaving Keqing to her own devices, if she was so adamant about not needing the help of a foreign detective.

So why was he feeling the way he did?

It transcended logic. It muddied the waters of his trusty intuition. It made his heart sing a dangerous song of emotion that threatened to override his system.

It was a feeling that was an old adversary and a new threat all at once. It was a feeling he knew all too well, yet had become different somehow. It was a feeling he had hoped would never rear its ugly face again, least of all for the one person who showed close to zero indication of any compatibility up till now.

Infatuation was its name. Heizou gulped as he recognized it.

"Shikanoin," Keqing said, her voice gently but firmly grounding him back in reality, "working with you isn't easy, and frankly, I'm not exactly easy to work with myself."

Looking back on the past few weeks, that was a very polite way of saying that their working styles clashed so badly. At one point, Heizou was sure Keqing was about to pull all his hair out, which would have been both tragic and understandable. He decided against mentioning any of that, biting his lip so he wouldn't say something he would regret.

"This may not be a preferred arrangement for either of us right now," she continued, "but we can make this work somehow. I want to make this work somehow."

Heizou's breath hitched in his throat. There was a sincerity in her eyes as she leaned forward, speaking words reserved for him and him alone.

"Clearly we have similar ambitions and outlooks on life," she continued. "I think as long as we find a way to communicate better, the two of us can become a force to be reckoned with. Sounds good, detective?"

A force to be reckoned with.

If Heizou wasn't sure before that he was playing with fire, he was now.

He had been down this road before. He had once been convinced that he and Sango were a force to be reckoned with, unstoppable and invincible when together. He had once been convinced that Shinobu, a strong-willed woman free of judgment, yet unafraid to speak her mind, could be the person he spent the rest of his life with. He had once been convinced that he had a chance at all in the romance department.

And sitting in front of him, clutching his hands and not letting go, was the culmination of every reason to give up.

Outside, thunder crashed and winds howled; a perfect storm to match the one inside Heizou at this very moment. To Keqing, this may be a simple attempt at reconciliation, nothing more than an olive branch to the one person who could still help her get to the bottom of how houses were disappearing overnight, leaving its inhabitants unharmed but homeless.

To Heizou, history was repeating itself.

To Heizou, he was once again falling for someone, a vow to himself that was now broken.

To Heizou, or at least, a small hopeful part of him, it was his one last chance at a happy ending.

Get it together, Shikanoin! People are losing their homes! Just get this over and done with!

He took a deep breath.

"Alright, Yuheng, I accept your proposal."

Heizou fought the urge to slap himself right there and then.

'ACCEPT YOUR PROPOSAL?' WHAT IS THIS, A MARRIAGE?

"Glad to hear we agree on something for once," Keqing said, thankfully not nitpicking his impulsive choice of words. "Think that's a sign of a good start."

"I think so too," Heizou whispered.

They sat in an unusually comfortable silence. Keqing watched the downpour and lightning from the comfort of the dimly lit dim sum shop, and Heizou watched her as he pondered over the phrase once more.

Coup de foudre.

It was far from love at first sight. But the way things had been panning out today was certainly nothing short of an astonishing occurrence.