Till There Was You (KazuHei Fanfic)

2. Bad Days

       The English lab session felt like it took forever. After a solid 8 hours or so, the programme finally ended. Kazuha closed his notebook which is filled to the brim with notes he took during the speech, activities session and not forgetting some random sketches he made along the way. He looked to his side. Heizou seemed to accidentally dozed off during the final hours of the programme. Kazuha lets out a slight chuckle. He shook Heizou, trying to wake him but no response.

       Kazuha looked around him. The other students has already began packing up their belongings and leaving the hall. Kazuha tried to look for Sara or perhaps anyone he knew but they are not even in sight. Kazuha sighed. He sat down beside Heizou, patting his back.

       "Hey, Heizou? Wake up, the programme has ended," Kazuha said. Heizou immediately rose up, his expression was confused and his eyes were slightly squinted. Heizou looked around him trying to process where was he at the moment. Kazuha couldn't help but to titter a bit from Heizou's actions.

       "Huh..? What? Where is everyone??" Heizou questioned to himself as he slowly regained his senses. Kazuha chuckled at Heizou's shenanigans. Kazuha stood up, patting Heizou's back.

       "Everyone already left. I'm staying by your side cuz I don't want to leave you alone" Kazuha replied, moving some of the chairs out of his way. Heizou stood up wobbly, rubbing his eyes while following Kazuha to exit the hall.

       Outside the hall, there are some students still hanging around, talking to their new friends while waiting for their parents or teachers to pick them up. Kazuha looked at Heizou on his side. At least he got something, or someone out from the programme he was forced in.

       "Kazuha!~" a voice was heard. Sara was calling out Kazuha from far away. Kazuha immediately walked towards Sara while Heizou only followed from behind. Sara placed her phone into her pocket before looking at the boys. She raised her eyebrow, looking at Heizou from the tip of his head to the shoes.

       "Who is this?" Sara asked. Kazuha looked at Heizou. Heizou lets out a smile before slightly bowing down, showing some respect to the girl infront of him. Kazuha was taken aback by how Heizou acted among strangers despite of not knowing them properly. Perhaps Heizou is just an extrovert unlike him.

       "My name is Heizou. I studied at The Tenryou Private School. It's nice meeting you guys!" Heizou introduced himself. Sara's expression was showing that she was a little surprised as Heizou uttered the word 'Tenryou Private School'.

       "Tenryou Private School? Wow, you must be a talented person!" Sara exclaimed, leaving Heizou a bit flustered from the sudden praise. Sara shifted her attention towards Kazuha, giving the maple boy a smug as she crosses her arms.

       "You're lucky to have a friend like him Zuzu~" Sara teased Kazuha a little, causing the maple boy's face to slowly turn red. Heizou noticed Kazuha's sudden blushing lets out a grin, knowing one way to tease Kazuha as he wanted. Overall, the maple boy seemed cute at the moment he began crumbling down, unable to find the right words as a reply. Heizou pats Kazuha's neck gently.

       "Zuzu hmm? You like being called like that?" Heizou whispered, slowly caressing Kazuha's neck. Kazuha's face grew redder before he pushed Heizou's hand away from him. Heizou tittered, enjoying Kazuha's innocent reaction.

       "N...no! I don't like being called like that!" Kazuha exclaimed, almost stuttering at the beginning of his sentence. Sara cooed, seeming like she is foreshadowing a relationship being built slowly between the two boys from different schools infront of her.

       "Whatever you say Zuzu~" Heizou teased the maple boy more, causing Kazuha to jokingly hit his head. Kazuha pouts before crossing his arms and looked away. Heizou felt his heart beating fast seeing Kazuha in a such mood.

       "How cute..." Heizou thought to himself, scratching the back of his head. He watched as Kazuha talked about the English lab with Sara, perhaps exchanging information about what they have learnt from it. A blue butterfly flew by, landing on Heizou's finger as showing a sign that a bright future was waiting for them.

---

       It's been a year since Kazuha and Heizou's fated meeting. The boys is still talking to each other by phone sometimes meeting up to go for a walk or have a meal together as friends. Kazuha grew closer to Heizou, as if his heart is being kept safely by the other.

       The boys also happen to share nearly the same interest within their hobbies. Both of the boys share the same love for vivarium such as aquariums, terrariums, paludariums and so on. Everything seemed was going smoothly for the two friends until one day, everything went downhill not only for the boys but for the entire world of Teyvat.

       Kazuha was in his room, doing watching videos about a barista's daily life and how they worked to precision to ensure the customers gets the best drink out of them. His mother suddenly knocked his door, asking Kazuha to come downstairs to see the news.

       Kazuha complied, not asking second questions as it seemed urgent. He witnessed as the news channel announced that the whole world is going through a pandemic due to an airborne virus emerging from Liyue. At first, it was only limited to areas around Liyue and Inazuma was supposed to be safe since it is an island far away from the country.

       The virus however is spreading like wildfire, able to infect anyone even with just a single unprotected touch. And it already made it's way to Inazuma through the shipments sent by companies from Liyue, unknowingly carrying the virus along the way. Around 5,000 people in Inazuma has been confirmed positive and more than 10,000 active cases reported all around the country.

       Kazuha was in a state of shock. He is out of words to say regarding the global pandemic. Kazuha went back to his room and called Heizou, hoping his best friend would pick up.

       "Hey, you've seen the news right?" Heizou's voice was heard through the phone. Kazuha had a relief. At least he is still able to connect with Heizou despite the sudden pandemic.

       "Yeah... How long do you think it's going to take?" Kazuha asked. There was a long silence on the end of the call before a sigh was heard.

       "The news says around 2 weeks? I hope we can get through this thing soon" Heizou replied with a sad tone. Kazuha sensed that Heizou was probably sad he is not able to go out since Heizou is an extrovert among people.

       Kazuha on the other hand felt slightly glad since he finally gets a break from the tiring school session. The boys talked through the night, eventually falling asleep while on the call, just like a long distance couple.

       But Heizou was dead wrong. The 2 weeks extended more, more and more to months and eventually 2 years of lockdown. The virus has ended many lives of children and elderly people. It felt like the dark ages for the world of Teyvat and it's habitants.

       Leaders from all over the world has put up their way to combat the disease. Mondstadt was trying it's hard to get their people to stay in their houses but as the City of Freedom, it was like a culture shock for the people of Mondstadt. Having their freedom of going around stripped away from them suddenly, forcing them to live in a new norm.

       Liyue has collaborated with researchers from Sumeru in the development for the disease's vaccine and it seemed to be working. Liyue and Sumeru became the main ports to develop the vaccines and export it to the other nations in Teyvat.

       And for once after a few centuries, the world of Teyvat is together, fighting the disease infecting their beloved world.

       For 2 years, the world of Teyvat was in a lockdown and have their movement limited to only very important merchants.