if you follow the winged fawn to the garden, listen to the sweet tunes playing. following the sweet tunes, there is a table with a book that opened on its own and on closer inspection, it is inscribed with the playlist's queue. on the other hand, there is an old mossed cobbled trail that leads you astray, but it seems to want to lead you upon a new path.
🦌 . . . [ system-vivi ]: hold on. slow your roll.
(*^_^*) 💬 hello it's vivi, your lovely garden host and guide. i'm totally not ancient-- like being 1800 is young! pronouns, snowmouns (;´д`) idgaf what you call me! ...i use he/him. BUT! i suggest before anything else to go to the garden. it'd tell you more about me aka byf & dni!
𖤣𖥧 . . . choose your path
[ go to the garden ] [ view the book ] [ walk on the trail ]
abt me, byf & dni masterlist latest work
@>_<@) now playing. . . i chOOSe yOu by f5ve
GENSHiN GUYS AS hyper-specific situations i've been in recently
alternatively, he notices as much as you do
he notices that no matter what library floor you're on, you're always talking a bit too loud, maybe a fault of the library who don't account for chatterboxes or maybe your fault for being too excited to tell him what happened today or what you saw on tiktok yesterday. so instead of his usual silent floor on floor eight, he was sitting in the floor where minimal conversations were allowed. too bad, he didn't tell you where he'd be though. it was just a lucky guess you knew to be one floor down today.
࣪ . ˖ ࣪ ۫
when walking to class or walking to teyvat's student union, you noticed the way he held your hand funny. your fingers clasped tightly around his, but... his fingers were splayed out. you pointed it out to him, calling him a dummy, "hey, why are you holding my hand like this? are you trying to avoid cooties?" you added in your head, like an elementary student. you could've teased him a bit more if you said it out loud but that could be understood from your tone. he insisted it was because you tend to fidget with his hand. either it being when you were fiddling with his fingers sometimes or squeezing three times (for good luck). you were so bewildered that you just let go of his hand.
so when he got your instagram, he was a dedicated man to know who you are as a person than who you were at school. his special technique?
【identifying kazuha’s special technique】
ultimate researcher (dubbed as stalker) level maxed.
server notes: creep.
soul searching through every follower, every person that you were following and every post you had to plan the perfect date… hang out (totally).
xinyan noticed that kazuha was on his phone more often after getting just one way of contact from you. concerned, she motioned their other friends, scaramouche and heizou, next to her and the three of them hovered over kazuha’s shoulder.
they shared knowing looks, what a creep…
if anyone saw what kazuha was doing right now, they’d plead for his case and say this is how he loves… maybe just xinyan. scaramouche would totally tell them the truth!
after a while, staring at kazuha and watching him not make a move, again. heizou swore he saw the red eyed loser’s pupils convulsed into little hearts when his thumb hovered over the message button. they were all cheering for him until he was wiping out to look at their story again. face in her hands, not caring for smearing her wet lip tint on her palms, xinyan cried when the blonde loser began liking all of their posts, claiming that this would affect the group’s aura as a whole.
scaramouche rolled his eyes, murmuring that the rest are on their own!
【 server: they lost over -100 aura as a whole… scaramouche’s defense protected him from this . . . (▔﹏▔) 】
it’s so over.
they argued silently together. heizou insisted that kazuha should go at his own pace– despite how concerning and mildly crazy he became. though, the other two gave him a look– xinyan was no longer on the “glazing kazuha" train and hopped onto whatever plan scaramouche was cooking. before, she was totally fine with kazuha acting like an idiot since she knew what neither other three knew.
but seeing how kazuha’s balls ascended back into his body, he needed to take action. before heizou tried to bring up some idiotic point, xinyan jumped up and slammed heizou down. she jabbed him straight into the ribs. heizou lets out a sharp cry to alarm kazuha and yet, he neither notices nor turns around to care about the battle between his best friends. rather, he was only humming in delight when he saw he shares a niche interest with you.
none of the wrestling duo noticed that scaramouche climbed up the mountain where the rabbit resides (the couch kazuha sat on) and planned the attack (intervention). when scaramouche cupped his hands close to kazuha’s ears, making him flinch and dropped his phone to his lap. he finally turned around to see the reasonably concerned friends’ eyes.
“are you seriously stalking their account right now?” scaramouchee said, leaning over the couch’s backrest. the other two crowded around kazuha and he was quick to hide his phone though the screen faced up and at full brightness.
heizou groaned loudly as xinyan pulled him over on the couch’s backrest next to scaramouche. xinyan and him shared a murmured conversation of sorry’s and something about taking a funny bit too far.
“that’s besides the point. he’s fine.” scaramouche added as heizou laid over on the couch like a sloth.
the trio stared into kazuha until he eventually gave up, “yes, i was stalking their instagram. what’s so bad?”
scaramouche’s glare felt like a disappointed father, which felt considerably worse than his usual judgemental look. the indigo haired male pinched his nose bridge, inhaling to embrace himself from kazuha’s walls of defense. “you do know that you’re just hanging out with them and their friends right?”
“it wouldn’t be just a date between the two of you.” xinyan added, no longer on the kazuha bandwagon. kazuha doesn’t even know when she made the switch!
“did you really think they just asked you out?” heizou quickly quipped without missing a beat. kazuha’s defense shattered.
his chain of attacks faltering. whatever light lit up in kazuha’s eyes totally just had diminished into thin air. you could hear his whole whole shatter into pieces as his phone fell out of his hands. maybe the trio shouldn’t have given him the needed intervention. (scaramouche disagreed with this message fyi!)
his chain of attacks faltering. whatever light lit up in kazuha’s eyes totally just had diminished into thin air. you could hear his whole whole shatter into pieces as his phone fell out of his hands. maybe the trio shouldn’t have given him the needed intervention. (scaramouche disagreed with this message fyi!)
“wait, they just texted me.” the nosy trio hover over kazuha’s phone.
143[name]: hey kaedehara, my friends decided to
drop the idea of hanging out with us
is it cool if it’s just us?
holy shit. maybe praying to every god imaginable really worked. he looked at everyone as even their eyes and jaws dropped. like they couldn’t believe this was really happening.
“do NOT fumble this, kazuha.” one of them murmured. well to be honest, it could be any one of them.
k_kazuha: ya thats cool c:
>send?
heizou fell over the couch, “why are you like this?”
“be yourself.” xinyan suggested as murmurs of disagreement came up.
“give me that phone.” scaramouche took kazuha’s phone, typing out what sounded pretty reasonable to him.
k_kazuha: no yeah, it's cool. lol
“don’t make him nonchalant, are you stupid?” xinyan shouted, taking the phone away from the bowl-wolf-fusion cut man. kazuha watched his friends play hot potato with his phone.
k_kazuha: omg sorry that was my goldfish
yeah, i don’t mind :)
143[name]: cool, see you on sat?
k_kazuha: you know it B)
“did we fumble?” kazuha murmured as the bubble began to start. dot dot dot. dot dot dot.
dot
dot
dot
143[name]: awesome, okay. see you there :]
“WE DIDN’T FUMBLE!!!” everyone shouted in unison. kazuha can imagine it now. confetti popping, sakura blossoms in season, owning a cat together, wedding, crying and buying a home to live together. tomorrow, he’d be the coolest guy around to rizz … charm you!
level 1. kazuha's biggest opp competition (the arcade) ; kazuha x reader
the arcade was a place that kazuha vowed to never ever visit again and no one ever knew why. anytime his friends– or anyone really, wanted to go to the arcade, they had to make sure the arcade had other activities to do because no matter how hard they tried, kazuha refused to even put a foot near a machine or step on the shape patterned carpet. even the carpet gave the poor guy ptsd.
well, that was until you came into the picture. kazuha has been pining over you since freshman year had started and the both of you are now seniors? the struggle between his never-ending grudge against arcades and his limitless love for you to a point his feelings for you bled into his creative works.
god, let's get this straight, kazuha still despises the arcade, in fact, if you never mentioned you liked it, he wouldn’t have even mentioned he was an absolute monster at the first-person shooting games that he never learned the name of– just calling it by “my game” ...
or he could just play space invaders.
to put it simply, he doesn’t know how the infatuation or the c-word – crush – really started. it just blossomed in his heart– he ached ever since. well, that’s a lie. he does remember that he admired you for your ambitious nature, fiery and passionate, which contradicts soft actions whenever you scolded your friends for their reckless behavior. the more he thought of you or saw you– either a glimpse from the crowded halls or a brief conversation without the stumbles, the more he desperately wanted to be your friend and maybe, something more.
definitely something more.
knowing the real you who doesn’t have the need to hide your smile when you laugh, the real you who is comfortable with him and the real you where you can just keep talking and he’d be there, listening to you and soaking up every word. hell, he’d be just fine just to be your friend – two reasons why. to finally be near you without stumbling over his words and to forget the “what if”’s he created if he did ask. of course, none of it would really happen. probably?
but imagine if he asked, you laughed in his face while pointing at him. a flash of light appeared and boom! now he’s digging a hole, crawls into it and dies. but!
phew, there’s a but.
he didn’t really die. to put it simply, he just went to sleep, woke up to you throwing dirt in his face– then he really died. but not because of being suffocated by dirt, but because he died of pure EMBARRASSMENT.
[ kazuha’s brain presents scenario #2 …]
what if you’re like “you’re a freak, kaedehara!” and he would never live it down. he’d be called “freakster kazuha” or “freakdehara!” down the halls while he shoved his face into his hands with tears running down his face.
【 end scene 】
well, of course, you aren’t mean or rude. now, scene #3, what if you accept being friends– wait why does this scenario sound good?
BUT !!!
there it is, the big old “but” stopping kazuha to ever build up the courage to be friends.
wait, why do all these endings sound really bad?
kazuha slapped his face, trying to fight against his anxiety that is willing to drown him in insecurities. he will ask you out…
to be friends!
it took him a while, embarrassingly to admit.
there’s a specific memory that he keeps reminding himself of and he trips over it all the time. (he actually trips !! it’s terrible to be him but at least it’s funny to watch!)
***
it was a monday morning. it could’ve been a tuesday but he was extra tired so it was definitely a monday. he was sleep deprived because he was spending the evening pulling an all-nighter, being studious–
but !
he was also sneaking in a game session with his friends… at three am. it was evident with the way he slumped through the halls, ignoring the stares thrown his way, and how his eyes were weight down, nearly drooping back to sleep.
it was as if heaven heard his call. cue the heaven gates’ tune (. an angel flew through the halls– it was you, you beamed him with motivation. his slouching, some might say terrible posture, immediately straightened, his eyes widened and his breath…
“heizou, heizou… how’s my breath?” kazuha exhaled and heizou’s face scrunched up as if it was rotten and sour. how terrible!
the brunette took a step back from kazuha, holding his nose. “it stinks, kazuha. did you even brush your teeth?”
it …
【 kazuha experiences a malfunction 】
stinks (O_o) ?! (← real depiction of kazuha's face)
heizou stifled a laugh while the silver haired male’s face dropped to a point where kazuha’s little red streak wilted. oh god, kazuha could imagine it now, what if he asks to hang out, when you were going to accept but you see the obvious, green fumes coming out of his mouth. before you could say anything, then he killed you with his stank breath!
heizou can hear the internal alarms ringing in kazuha’s head as the blonde spaced out– deep in thought.
…where’s the breath spray???
IT’S AN EMERGENCY! STAT!!!
“give me your mint spray!!” kazuha protested, already yanking heizou’s bag off his shoulder.
heizou dug through his bag, handing kazuha the spray. before giving it to him, he joked, “are you finally rizzing them up?” kazuha frowned,
“... give me the spray. do i smell good? do i look good?” he took the bottle from heizou, quickly spraying the mint flavored freshener in his mouth. he coughed; somehow, he was choking on the liquid despite the small amounts, as heizou supposedly analyzed him.
“kind of, yeah, i guess. oh and they’re walking away.”
“NOOOOOOO!!!” is what kazuha wouldve said if you weren’t actually walking towards him. really? god has answered his prayers. thank you barbatos, thank you morax, thank you baal, thank you focalor–
“hey, kaedehara!”
“hey beautiful. i mean, the sky is pretty beautiful… and good morning, [name]. ” kazuha cleared his throat, stumbling over his words. it was like the devil took over just now. why did a good amount of his friends see him pull off the biggest fumble of the century? xinyan patted him on the back, whispering in his ear, “good save.”
god, he could feel his ears getting warmer. scaramouche quipped back, “it’s cloudy. they definitely heard that.”
they chuckled, kazuha briefly closed his eyes and thanking his ancestors who came before him for letting this happen despite the fumble. “you’re funny but you’re actually in the way of my locker.”
Like hello?? THE AESTHETICS THE FICS THE EVERYTHING
I hope u keep writing banger fics like these I love the kazuha one, he's so huggable and squishy OMFG LET ME AT HIM 👹
thank you! i swear, i thought i answered this ask before but it's been sitting in my drafts instead LOL.
the kazuha one is definitely a favorite of mine too! though, i'd admit that everything will come at a lower rotation since my spring semester has started.
level 1. kazuha's biggest opp competition (the arcade) ; kazuha x reader
the arcade was a place that kazuha vowed to never ever visit again and no one ever knew why. anytime his friends– or anyone really, wanted to go to the arcade, they had to make sure the arcade had other activities to do because no matter how hard they tried, kazuha refused to even put a foot near a machine or step on the shape patterned carpet. even the carpet gave the poor guy ptsd.
well, that was until you came into the picture. kazuha has been pining over you since freshman year had started and the both of you are now seniors? the struggle between his never-ending grudge against arcades and his limitless love for you to a point his feelings for you bled into his creative works.
god, let's get this straight, kazuha still despises the arcade, in fact, if you never mentioned you liked it, he wouldn’t have even mentioned he was an absolute monster at the first-person shooting games that he never learned the name of– just calling it by “my game” ...
or he could just play space invaders.
to put it simply, he doesn’t know how the infatuation or the c-word – crush – really started. it just blossomed in his heart– he ached ever since. well, that’s a lie. he does remember that he admired you for your ambitious nature, fiery and passionate, which contradicts soft actions whenever you scolded your friends for their reckless behavior. the more he thought of you or saw you– either a glimpse from the crowded halls or a brief conversation without the stumbles, the more he desperately wanted to be your friend and maybe, something more.
definitely something more.
knowing the real you who doesn’t have the need to hide your smile when you laugh, the real you who is comfortable with him and the real you where you can just keep talking and he’d be there, listening to you and soaking up every word. hell, he’d be just fine just to be your friend – two reasons why. to finally be near you without stumbling over his words and to forget the “what if”’s he created if he did ask. of course, none of it would really happen. probably?
but imagine if he asked, you laughed in his face while pointing at him. a flash of light appeared and boom! now he’s digging a hole, crawls into it and dies. but!
phew, there’s a but.
he didn’t really die. to put it simply, he just went to sleep, woke up to you throwing dirt in his face– then he really died. but not because of being suffocated by dirt, but because he died of pure EMBARRASSMENT.
[ kazuha’s brain presents scenario #2 …]
what if you’re like “you’re a freak, kaedehara!” and he would never live it down. he’d be called “freakster kazuha” or “freakdehara!” down the halls while he shoved his face into his hands with tears running down his face.
【 end scene 】
well, of course, you aren’t mean or rude. now, scene #3, what if you accept being friends– wait why does this scenario sound good?
BUT !!!
there it is, the big old “but” stopping kazuha to ever build up the courage to be friends.
wait, why do all these endings sound really bad?
kazuha slapped his face, trying to fight against his anxiety that is willing to drown him in insecurities. he will ask you out…
to be friends!
it took him a while, embarrassingly to admit.
there’s a specific memory that he keeps reminding himself of and he trips over it all the time. (he actually trips !! it’s terrible to be him but at least it’s funny to watch!)
***
it was a monday morning. it could’ve been a tuesday but he was extra tired so it was definitely a monday. he was sleep deprived because he was spending the evening pulling an all-nighter, being studious–
but !
he was also sneaking in a game session with his friends… at three am. it was evident with the way he slumped through the halls, ignoring the stares thrown his way, and how his eyes were weight down, nearly drooping back to sleep.
it was as if heaven heard his call. cue the heaven gates’ tune (. an angel flew through the halls– it was you, you beamed him with motivation. his slouching, some might say terrible posture, immediately straightened, his eyes widened and his breath…
“heizou, heizou… how’s my breath?” kazuha exhaled and heizou’s face scrunched up as if it was rotten and sour. how terrible!
the brunette took a step back from kazuha, holding his nose. “it stinks, kazuha. did you even brush your teeth?”
it …
【 kazuha experiences a malfunction 】
stinks (O_o) ?! (← real depiction of kazuha's face)
heizou stifled a laugh while the silver haired male’s face dropped to a point where kazuha’s little red streak wilted. oh god, kazuha could imagine it now, what if he asks to hang out, when you were going to accept but you see the obvious, green fumes coming out of his mouth. before you could say anything, then he killed you with his stank breath!
heizou can hear the internal alarms ringing in kazuha’s head as the blonde spaced out– deep in thought.
…where’s the breath spray???
IT’S AN EMERGENCY! STAT!!!
“give me your mint spray!!” kazuha protested, already yanking heizou’s bag off his shoulder.
heizou dug through his bag, handing kazuha the spray. before giving it to him, he joked, “are you finally rizzing them up?” kazuha frowned,
“... give me the spray. do i smell good? do i look good?” he took the bottle from heizou, quickly spraying the mint flavored freshener in his mouth. he coughed; somehow, he was choking on the liquid despite the small amounts, as heizou supposedly analyzed him.
“kind of, yeah, i guess. oh and they’re walking away.”
“NOOOOOOO!!!” is what kazuha wouldve said if you weren’t actually walking towards him. really? god has answered his prayers. thank you barbatos, thank you morax, thank you baal, thank you focalor–
“hey, kaedehara!”
“hey beautiful. i mean, the sky is pretty beautiful… and good morning, [name]. ” kazuha cleared his throat, stumbling over his words. it was like the devil took over just now. why did a good amount of his friends see him pull off the biggest fumble of the century? xinyan patted him on the back, whispering in his ear, “good save.”
god, he could feel his ears getting warmer. scaramouche quipped back, “it’s cloudy. they definitely heard that.”
they chuckled, kazuha briefly closed his eyes and thanking his ancestors who came before him for letting this happen despite the fumble. “you’re funny but you’re actually in the way of my locker.”
his chain of attacks faltering. whatever light lit up in kazuha’s eyes totally just had diminished into thin air. you could hear his whole whole shatter into pieces as his phone fell out of his hands. maybe the trio shouldn’t have given him the needed intervention. (scaramouche disagreed with this message fyi!)
“wait, they just texted me.” the nosy trio hover over kazuha’s phone.
143[name]: hey kaedehara, my friends decided to
drop the idea of hanging out with us
is it cool if it’s just us?
holy shit. maybe praying to every god imaginable really worked. he looked at everyone as even their eyes and jaws dropped. like they couldn’t believe this was really happening.
“do NOT fumble this, kazuha.” one of them murmured. well to be honest, it could be any one of them.
k_kazuha: ya thats cool c:
>send?
heizou fell over the couch, “why are you like this?”
“be yourself.” xinyan suggested as murmurs of disagreement came up.
“give me that phone.” scaramouche took kazuha’s phone, typing out what sounded pretty reasonable to him.
k_kazuha: no yeah, it's cool. lol
“don’t make him nonchalant, are you stupid?” xinyan shouted, taking the phone away from the bowl-wolf-fusion cut man. kazuha watched his friends play hot potato with his phone.
k_kazuha: omg sorry that was my goldfish
yeah, i don’t mind :)
143[name]: cool, see you on sat?
k_kazuha: you know it B)
“did we fumble?” kazuha murmured as the bubble began to start. dot dot dot. dot dot dot.
dot
dot
dot
143[name]: awesome, okay. see you there :]
“WE DIDN’T FUMBLE!!!” everyone shouted in unison. kazuha can imagine it now. confetti popping, sakura blossoms in season, owning a cat together, wedding, crying and buying a home to live together. tomorrow, he’d be the coolest guy around to rizz … charm you!
so when he got your instagram, he was a dedicated man to know who you are as a person than who you were at school. his special technique?
【identifying kazuha’s special technique】
ultimate researcher (dubbed as stalker) level maxed.
server notes: creep.
soul searching through every follower, every person that you were following and every post you had to plan the perfect date… hang out (totally).
xinyan noticed that kazuha was on his phone more often after getting just one way of contact from you. concerned, she motioned their other friends, scaramouche and heizou, next to her and the three of them hovered over kazuha’s shoulder.
they shared knowing looks, what a creep…
if anyone saw what kazuha was doing right now, they’d plead for his case and say this is how he loves… maybe just xinyan. scaramouche would totally tell them the truth!
after a while, staring at kazuha and watching him not make a move, again. heizou swore he saw the red eyed loser’s pupils convulsed into little hearts when his thumb hovered over the message button. they were all cheering for him until he was wiping out to look at their story again. face in her hands, not caring for smearing her wet lip tint on her palms, xinyan cried when the blonde loser began liking all of their posts, claiming that this would affect the group’s aura as a whole.
scaramouche rolled his eyes, murmuring that the rest are on their own!
【 server: they lost over -100 aura as a whole… scaramouche’s defense protected him from this . . . (▔﹏▔) 】
it’s so over.
they argued silently together. heizou insisted that kazuha should go at his own pace– despite how concerning and mildly crazy he became. though, the other two gave him a look– xinyan was no longer on the “glazing kazuha" train and hopped onto whatever plan scaramouche was cooking. before, she was totally fine with kazuha acting like an idiot since she knew what neither other three knew.
but seeing how kazuha’s balls ascended back into his body, he needed to take action. before heizou tried to bring up some idiotic point, xinyan jumped up and slammed heizou down. she jabbed him straight into the ribs. heizou lets out a sharp cry to alarm kazuha and yet, he neither notices nor turns around to care about the battle between his best friends. rather, he was only humming in delight when he saw he shares a niche interest with you.
none of the wrestling duo noticed that scaramouche climbed up the mountain where the rabbit resides (the couch kazuha sat on) and planned the attack (intervention). when scaramouche cupped his hands close to kazuha’s ears, making him flinch and dropped his phone to his lap. he finally turned around to see the reasonably concerned friends’ eyes.
“are you seriously stalking their account right now?” scaramouchee said, leaning over the couch’s backrest. the other two crowded around kazuha and he was quick to hide his phone though the screen faced up and at full brightness.
heizou groaned loudly as xinyan pulled him over on the couch’s backrest next to scaramouche. xinyan and him shared a murmured conversation of sorry’s and something about taking a funny bit too far.
“that’s besides the point. he’s fine.” scaramouche added as heizou laid over on the couch like a sloth.
the trio stared into kazuha until he eventually gave up, “yes, i was stalking their instagram. what’s so bad?”
scaramouche’s glare felt like a disappointed father, which felt considerably worse than his usual judgemental look. the indigo haired male pinched his nose bridge, inhaling to embrace himself from kazuha’s walls of defense. “you do know that you’re just hanging out with them and their friends right?”
“it wouldn’t be just a date between the two of you.” xinyan added, no longer on the kazuha bandwagon. kazuha doesn’t even know when she made the switch!
“did you really think they just asked you out?” heizou quickly quipped without missing a beat. kazuha’s defense shattered.
his chain of attacks faltering. whatever light lit up in kazuha’s eyes totally just had diminished into thin air. you could hear his whole whole shatter into pieces as his phone fell out of his hands. maybe the trio shouldn’t have given him the needed intervention. (scaramouche disagreed with this message fyi!)
WHEN I'M AT THE LOSER COMPETITION AND MY OPP IS KAZUHA KAEDEHARA
alternatively known as video game lover!
summary when kazuha finally gets the guts to talk to his crush, he realizes he might need to face his greatest love and enemy, the arcade.
listed as high school romance (seniors), modern au, mild chat fic, system server messages
contains second-hand embarrassment, LOSER (all caps) kazuha kaedehara, mutual pining, breaking the 4th wall & awesome friends kazuha has
additional note. reader is gender neutral, originally written on @fairykazu & the theme of this series is your text by sundial
SELECT GAME LEVEL
volume 1 level 1 kazuha's biggest opp competition (the arcade)
level 1. kazuha's biggest opp competition (the arcade) ; kazuha x reader
the arcade was a place that kazuha vowed to never ever visit again and no one ever knew why. anytime his friends– or anyone really, wanted to go to the arcade, they had to make sure the arcade had other activities to do because no matter how hard they tried, kazuha refused to even put a foot near a machine or step on the shape patterned carpet. even the carpet gave the poor guy ptsd.
well, that was until you came into the picture. kazuha has been pining over you since freshman year had started and the both of you are now seniors? the struggle between his never-ending grudge against arcades and his limitless love for you to a point his feelings for you bled into his creative works.
god, let's get this straight, kazuha still despises the arcade, in fact, if you never mentioned you liked it, he wouldn’t have even mentioned he was an absolute monster at the first-person shooting games that he never learned the name of– just calling it by “my game” ...
or he could just play space invaders.
to put it simply, he doesn’t know how the infatuation or the c-word – crush – really started. it just blossomed in his heart– he ached ever since. well, that’s a lie. he does remember that he admired you for your ambitious nature, fiery and passionate, which contradicts soft actions whenever you scolded your friends for their reckless behavior. the more he thought of you or saw you– either a glimpse from the crowded halls or a brief conversation without the stumbles, the more he desperately wanted to be your friend and maybe, something more.
definitely something more.
knowing the real you who doesn’t have the need to hide your smile when you laugh, the real you who is comfortable with him and the real you where you can just keep talking and he’d be there, listening to you and soaking up every word. hell, he’d be just fine just to be your friend – two reasons why. to finally be near you without stumbling over his words and to forget the “what if”’s he created if he did ask. of course, none of it would really happen. probably?
but imagine if he asked, you laughed in his face while pointing at him. a flash of light appeared and boom! now he’s digging a hole, crawls into it and dies. but!
phew, there’s a but.
he didn’t really die. to put it simply, he just went to sleep, woke up to you throwing dirt in his face– then he really died. but not because of being suffocated by dirt, but because he died of pure EMBARRASSMENT.
[ kazuha’s brain presents scenario #2 …]
what if you’re like “you’re a freak, kaedehara!” and he would never live it down. he’d be called “freakster kazuha” or “freakdehara!” down the halls while he shoved his face into his hands with tears running down his face.
【 end scene 】
well, of course, you aren’t mean or rude. now, scene #3, what if you accept being friends– wait why does this scenario sound good?
BUT !!!
there it is, the big old “but” stopping kazuha to ever build up the courage to be friends.
wait, why do all these endings sound really bad?
kazuha slapped his face, trying to fight against his anxiety that is willing to drown him in insecurities. he will ask you out…
to be friends!
it took him a while, embarrassingly to admit.
there’s a specific memory that he keeps reminding himself of and he trips over it all the time. (he actually trips !! it’s terrible to be him but at least it’s funny to watch!)
***
it was a monday morning. it could’ve been a tuesday but he was extra tired so it was definitely a monday. he was sleep deprived because he was spending the evening pulling an all-nighter, being studious–
but !
he was also sneaking in a game session with his friends… at three am. it was evident with the way he slumped through the halls, ignoring the stares thrown his way, and how his eyes were weight down, nearly drooping back to sleep.
it was as if heaven heard his call. cue the heaven gates’ tune (. an angel flew through the halls– it was you, you beamed him with motivation. his slouching, some might say terrible posture, immediately straightened, his eyes widened and his breath…
“heizou, heizou… how’s my breath?” kazuha exhaled and heizou’s face scrunched up as if it was rotten and sour. how terrible!
the brunette took a step back from kazuha, holding his nose. “it stinks, kazuha. did you even brush your teeth?”
it …
【 kazuha experiences a malfunction 】
stinks (O_o) ?! (← real depiction of kazuha's face)
heizou stifled a laugh while the silver haired male’s face dropped to a point where kazuha’s little red streak wilted. oh god, kazuha could imagine it now, what if he asks to hang out, when you were going to accept but you see the obvious, green fumes coming out of his mouth. before you could say anything, then he killed you with his stank breath!
heizou can hear the internal alarms ringing in kazuha’s head as the blonde spaced out– deep in thought.
…where’s the breath spray???
IT’S AN EMERGENCY! STAT!!!
“give me your mint spray!!” kazuha protested, already yanking heizou’s bag off his shoulder.
heizou dug through his bag, handing kazuha the spray. before giving it to him, he joked, “are you finally rizzing them up?” kazuha frowned,
“... give me the spray. do i smell good? do i look good?” he took the bottle from heizou, quickly spraying the mint flavored freshener in his mouth. he coughed; somehow, he was choking on the liquid despite the small amounts, as heizou supposedly analyzed him.
“kind of, yeah, i guess. oh and they’re walking away.”
“NOOOOOOO!!!” is what kazuha wouldve said if you weren’t actually walking towards him. really? god has answered his prayers. thank you barbatos, thank you morax, thank you baal, thank you focalor–
“hey, kaedehara!”
“hey beautiful. i mean, the sky is pretty beautiful… and good morning, [name]. ” kazuha cleared his throat, stumbling over his words. it was like the devil took over just now. why did a good amount of his friends see him pull off the biggest fumble of the century? xinyan patted him on the back, whispering in his ear, “good save.”
god, he could feel his ears getting warmer. scaramouche quipped back, “it’s cloudy. they definitely heard that.”
they chuckled, kazuha briefly closed his eyes and thanking his ancestors who came before him for letting this happen despite the fumble. “you’re funny but you’re actually in the way of my locker.”
“they called you funny. that isn’t a compliment, kazuha. maybe they were trying to call you crazy politely,” scaramouche said, picking at the lunch food. jeez, it’s like the school is trying to kill people with soggy cheese pockets and moldy milk. yeeuck!
xinyan defended kazuha as he tried to curl himself into a ball so he could roll out of teyvat and his existence being nothing but dust. “but like scaramouche, [name] does say funny alot. cause kazuha is hilarious, yknow!”
“the only time he’s funny is when he’s sleep deprived and has to rely on beidou’s badly made coffee.” scaramouche quipped back. xinyan froze up, unable to come with a better defense for kazuha.
kazuha can tell there is a clear winner and it sucks because he’s the subject of the small argument. heizou patted kazuha’s back, attempting to comfort him.
“... that doesn’t matter!!! because kazuha has game!”
“last night?”
“that doesn’t count. it was four am, he was having an all-nighter before that– it was ap bio and ap lit!!!”
kazuha could feel an imaginary tear run down his face. hand on the wall as his pride crumbled in place. it's okay. xinyan, please admit you’re losing. it’s so over… kazuha cried in his head.
besides, scaramouche countered with the fact he took five aps and he managed to win the rounds over and over.
what a showoff!
***
he shook his head, trying to dismiss what he did. he’s a new man. new week, new him. but the thing is he really can’t forget because it wasn’t a month ago. it was just last week.
when he actually managed the courage to ask to be friends, he casually leaned on his locker and waited for you to come to him like the total cool guy he is…
as the blossoms suddenly surround you both, you fawn over him and then while you almost trip, he catches you and you swoon. “hey [name], heh,” he said in a deep, totally-charming-hunk of a voice. “want to be friends?”
you giggle in response, twirling your hair, until you accidentally slipped on a banana that somehow ended up there. a push of confidence overtakes him as if it was a gust of wind, he caught you with grace. your whole face flushed as you bashfully smiled and thanked him profusely. he just basked in the praise and attention you gave him like a proud, not at all pathetic, dog guy.
that is what kazuha wants to believe happened. but out of his dreamscape and into reality, you were the one who asked him to hang out and he jumped at the chance. like really, he was desperate from anyone else’s point of view; he looked like a pitiful dog. (when did this analogy come back? kazuha murmured mid-tangent.) “hey kaedehara?” you asked, immediately kazuha pretending last week was a dream but he stepped aside. “oh no! hey, wanna hang out with my friends and i? it would be fun, right?”
kazuha’s face dropped, he wasn’t the best at hiding his expression when it came to you.“yes! ahem, i mean, yeah, sure. what’s your ig?”
“143[name]! see you saturday?”
“you can count on it. oh, someone’s calling me.” no sound from his phone nor a vibration.
(once you were out of view, kazuha celebrated by squealing and dancing in the courtyard, not caring of who saw him. scaramouche has it recorded.)