#heizou being heizou | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

merakiui · 1 year

Note

Absolutely love the possessive ex Scaramouche ramble in tags, please feed us more of that.

Gladly!! :D

(cw: yandere, extremely toxic ex scara, modern au, unhealthy behaviors/relationship, stalking, coercion, obsession, forced marriage, violent/suicidal threats, manipulation, mentions of intoxication/alcohol, implied self-harm)

The two of you were what everyone calls ‘high school sweethearts.’ You met him in the cafeteria when the both of you were first years. Despite the scowl etched on his face, he looked lonely sitting all by himself while everyone was finding tables, old and new friends gathering in groups. He’d ignored you, even scooting further away when you’d attempt to move closer. Even though he seemed so averse to you, you remained, silently eating your lunch. Neither of you said anything, but you did introduce yourself. He scoffed under his breath.

You started to sit next to him for every lunch, and he continued to give you the silent treatment. You never pressed him for conversation, instead choosing to enjoy silence while you ate and admired him from the sidelines. He never looked at you, always facing forwards and toying with his chopsticks, bending them so far until they were ready to snap. Eventually, he seemed to grow accustomed to this routine because many weeks into the semester he turned to address you.

“Why do you always sit by me? Don’t you have anyone else to bother?”

“Maybe. But I don’t think anyone’s as mysterious as you are.”

“‘Mysterious…’ Yeah, whatever.”

That seemed to be the catalyst because, as sardonic as he was, he’d begun talking to you. And it wasn’t long until he started to warm up to you every lunch until the both of you were exchanging lighthearted banter. Your friendship would only grow from this point onwards until, at the end of your first year during a study session to prepare for finals, where you were both pulling an all-nighter at your house, he’d asked you out. And you said yes, and the both of you had gone from best friends to lovers within the span of a year. The both of you were each other’s first partner, so it made doing things as a couple even more exciting because neither of you had any experience with dates or holding hands or kissing.

Kuni wasn’t a bad boyfriend. In fact, he was very loyal and sweet. He’d stand up for you if anyone was being rude to you or scrutinizing your relationship with hateful eyes. The two of you were nearly inseparable. When you weren’t spending time together in school, you were out doing things together. And when you couldn’t meet up in person, you’d text or call, sometimes talking late into the evening about all sorts of things. You were so immersed in him that you failed to notice the red flags slowly raising over time. But looking back there were a few notable ones.

He never invited you to his house. In fact, you’d never even met his parents, whereas he’d been to your home so often that your family practically became his own. He hadn’t mentioned anything about his family, and if you tried to suggest going to his house for dinner so that he could introduce you to them he was quick to change the subject. For a while you’d push this, more curious than concerned, but eventually you’d drop it when it became clear that he wasn’t going to divulge anything on the matter. That had stung, but you snuffed those feelings in favor of focusing on other aspects of your relationship.

The second red flag was just how clingy he became when the both of you were in your third year, having been together for two solid years. You never noticed it before because you loved him, but when friends had pointed out how attached he seemed—and it was to rather unhealthy levels, according to their observations—to the point where you were the only person he’d ever formed a bond with while at school you started to see the cracks in what felt like the perfect relationship. He’d text you every single day, at every single hour, all the time. He’d call you nonstop, even more so when you didn’t immediately pick up.

The third red flag coincided with the second. When you couldn’t make it to your phone, he was quick to blame himself and those around him for being responsible for your deteriorating relationship. Did I do something wrong? Are you mad at me? Did those guys bother you again? They probably told you some stupid shit about me, right? Don’t listen to them. Hey, you’re not mad, right? Call me back. I need to talk to you. Just text me when you can, okay? (Name), please don’t leave me. I’ll fix whatever’s wrong. Just promise you’ll stay. Messages of these kinds were what you could expect to receive from him. He’d fluctuate between self-loathing to loathing those around him within seconds, shoving blame onto classmates who’d bully him for being that “weird emo kid with too many piercings” and anyone else who tried to, in his words, “come between you and me.”

By the end of your third year, you started to fall out of love. He was so very dedicated to this relationship, evidenced by how much effort and care he’d put into it, but his clingy behavior was stifling. You’d lost some of your own friends because he chased them away, and it felt like you couldn’t do anything without him breathing down your neck. If you wanted to go anywhere with a friend or two, Kuni had to be there to accompany you. If you looked at another for too long, he’d think you were cheating. If you didn’t text or call him at certain times, if you failed to pick up, or—Archons forbid—you left him on seen, he’d spiral.

Kuni had this habit of sounding dangerously self-destructive when he feared you were being unfaithful or he thought you were going to break up with him, which meant you’d have to sit on the phone for hours convincing him that you loved him, that you’d never leave him, that you’d always be here for him, that you were sorry for not responding, that he needs to calm down and please, please, please don’t do anything rash. Those phone calls were always so stressful. You cried a lot; you’d beg him to put the knife away when he’d threaten to use it on himself, on you, on anyone who might try to take you from him. And, after a few hours of this, he’d be back to his usual self, as if a switch had been flipped. You could hear his adoring smile in his voice when he spoke, when he’d lovingly whisper into the phone, “I’m happy you’re mine. I love you so much.” And you’d shakily parrot the affirmation, too frazzled to say or do anything else.

One of your best friends Rosalyne, who you’d befriended in the midst of all of this, had been so supportive the minute you spilled the truth to her. Kuni hated her the most because she wasn’t afraid of him. Because she’d shut him down when he tried to pull you away from her. Because she wouldn’t approve of any of his toxicity. Rosalyne would take you on shopping sprees, brunch dates, and jogs at the local park. She was plenty of good to outshine Kuni’s bad, and the more time you spent with her the clearer your head would become. The both of you had plenty of sleepovers together, and she let you rant your heart out while she listened. She’d tell you to break up with him, but you’d agonized over how terrifying that would be. You couldn’t bear to tell Kuni the truth—that you wanted to separate because things had turned so rotten—because you were so scared. Scared of him and what he might do.

Scared that if he really did take a blade to himself it would be your fault. He told you that a lot. That it would be your fault if he did anything. That his blood would be on your hands. You believed him every time.

By your final year, you’d already had a plan for university outlined and you’d started applying to a few in advance. You never told Kuni about any of them because you worried he might apply to each one in hopes of going to the same school as you. And when there was the dance for the graduating class and Kuni had asked you to it, you’d told him you were going with Rosalyne and a few other friends as a group. He didn’t like this, as expected, but you’d been so sick of him and his behaviors that you snapped and spilled everything to him. You’ll never forget the look on his face when you told him that you were done with the relationship and that you never wanted to see him again.

He looked as if he could lunge at you and tear you to bloody ribbons at any moment.

You graduated single and so very refreshed, and your summer had been filled with friends. Kuni didn’t message you at all, which was surprising considering you were certain he’d spam you relentlessly after the break-up. But he never did. In fact, you never saw him again. Graduation had come and gone, and now that you could recover from such a terrible relationship he was becoming less of a burden for you. For a while you were anxious. You kept expecting to receive a phone call or to see some news about Kuni, but neither ever came. Rosalyne told you to stop thinking about him. It would only make you even more paranoid and that wouldn’t do your mental health any good. You were so grateful to have her in your life, but most importantly you were glad Kuni failed to scare her away.

Now you’re a second year in college and things have only gotten so much better for you. You and Rosalyne still keep in touch despite going to different schools. She’d gone to a university in Snezhnaya, while you enrolled in one in Sumeru, and you’ve blotted Kuni from your mind. You’ve made a fresh group of friends while attending classes: criminal justice major Shikanoin Heizou, creative writing major Kaedehara Kazuha, musical therapy major Venti, botany major Tighnari, and so many more wonderful people who have all welcomed you into their circles.

So when Venti drags a familiar face to your usual weekend outing, which is really just a retreat to the forest for drinking and smoking, creeping cold settles into your bones. He looks awkward with Venti’s arm slung around him as the more bubbly of the two drags him towards the bonfire, where you sit with the others roasting marshmallows for s’mores, and it’s a look that is so uncharacteristic on him. What’s even weirder is how friendly everyone greets him—as if they all know him—and you’re completely lost when they turn to you and ask if you’ve met Kunikuzushi.

“No,” you lie through your teeth, forcing a pleasant smile and extending your hand for a stiff handshake, which Venti snickers at. “No, I’ve never met him before.”

Apparently, he’s in one of Venti’s classes—it’s a course he’s taking solely because he needs the credits. Tighnari knows him because they usually work the same shifts at the campus café. Kazuha knows him from his linguistics and philosophy classes. Heizou’s ate with him in the dining hall plenty of times now and they’re also taking the same psychology class. It feels so genuine and yet so fake at the same time. Too perfectly manufactured to be a mere coincidence. But you do your best to push past these suspicions, and when he sits across from you, smiling at you and saying how nice it is to meet you, the warping flames paint his face in devilish shadows. That’s what you think he is when he acts like a completely different person from how he was when you dated: a devil who’s good at being kind and outgoing, noisy and abrupt, and always so foul-mouthed, but in a way that makes him charming. Your friends are so enthralled. They love him and his sense of humor. They love his quick wit. They love how fun he is. And suddenly weekends spent in the forest aren’t so enjoyable.

You do your best to overcome your doubts. For a few months you’re on edge. How he even found you is a mystery. Surely he wouldn’t stalk you and enroll in the same college just to get revenge or…whatever vengeance he wants from you. But when he treats you to coffee, when he brings you and the others pastries every other morning, when he invites the lot of you to study at the library, when he tells the funniest stories while crossed and everyone’s giggling like schoolgirls it really feels like he’s…healthier. Like he’s turned a fresh page in his life and is starting anew. Like he’s changed for the better.

Perhaps he just doesn’t remember you. You’ve changed your style over the years, so it’s possible he’s simply forgotten your image and can’t place memories to your name. Eventually, after soothing yourself with these theories, you begin to accept his presence in the group. He fits in so flawlessly, as if he’s a missing piece to the puzzle, and you can’t believe you’re admitting this, but you like this version of Kuni. He’s confident, not cocky. He’s kind, not rude. He gives everyone space. In fact, he rarely texts frequently in the group chat. And he’s funny! He’s so funny. You don’t think the Kuni from your past was ever as funny as the Kuni who regales everyone with lighthearted stories of how he once took in a stray cat that turned out to belong to his neighbor or how his old job had the strangest customers.

Maybe he truly did change. Maybe all of these coincidences really are coincidences. Maybe it’s for the best that you leave the past in the past.

Finals season looms, and the group hasn’t had time to meet up outside of class. Venti has tried to persuade everyone to come study at his apartment. His roommate won’t care (yes, he will. Xiao hates it when everyone gets blackout drunk and he has to wake everyone come morning), but if you’ve known Venti long enough you’ll know there is no studying that happens at these study sessions. This is probably the reason why he’s had to repeat a year.

With everyone’s schedules packed with academics, it’s difficult to find a time where everyone can get together to study. You think you might just be better off studying on your own, but Kuni’s message of you wanna pull an all-nighter for these lame af finals together?? accompanied with a photo of snacks and coffee, any thoughts of studying alone instantly vanish.

This is how you find yourself in his dorm, sprawled on his bed while he sits on the floor, whacking your dangling feet when they get too close to him. His roommate Albedo is currently out tutoring a few students at the library and won’t be back until much later, so it’s just you, Kuni, and a pile of textbooks and notes. You’ve hung out with Kuni a few times and he was great company during each. You’ve also fallen asleep in his dorm before, when you’d come over to binge a show the both of you enjoy, and you’d lost track of time and had slipped into a dream halfway through the marathon. You’d woken the next morning with Kuni looming over you, grinning deviously and holding an uncapped marker. He’d leaned down and whispered, “You drool in your sleep,” and you’d swatted at him and groused about how you were sleeping so peacefully when he just had to ruin your sleep (and your face) with his antics. And then there was that time when you were so drunk at that one party and you could hardly stand, he’d been there to help. He even stayed with you for the rest of that night, offering his assistance when you became nauseous or needed water or a snack until you passed out.

Despite your initial apprehensions, you consider him a friend. He’s no one nearly as close as Rosalyne or your other friends. He’s just a mutual friend, someone you’ll spend time with when you feel like it, but you don’t truly need him in your life. That, and part of you still struggles to trust him after all of the stress and unhealthy obsession he subjected you to.

“Kuni,” you whine, lifting your head from the textbook. “Can you get me some water? I’m thirsty.”

“Do I look like your maid?” he snaps, immersed in organizing his notes. “Get it yourself.”

“I’m picturing it now and you’re in a frilly dress and—”

“Forget I asked.” Setting his notebook down with an exaggerated sigh, he crosses the distance to the mini fridge and withdraws a bottle of water.

Grinning, you slide off of his bed and reach for it with a grateful hum. He smirks and takes a step back, holding it away from you.

“Seriously…”

Rolling your eyes, you lunge for it and he side-steps you with the practiced grace of a cat. You brace yourself against the wall and swipe at him. Again, he dodges, unscrewing the cap and shaking the bottle teasingly.

“I think I’ll take a sip for myself. All of this studying has left me so parched.”

“No fair! That’s mine!”

“Is it?” He pulls it away from his lips to observe the bottle and feigns surprise. “That’s weird. I don’t see your name on it.”

“Look closer!” you exclaim, but just as he’s about to humor you you pounce, tackling him to the ground—there’s a beanbag cushion that breaks your fall—and the water spills all over the both of you in the midst of the tumble. A slew of colorful words stick in Kuni’s throat and your laughter rings out melodiously. You seize his wrist and hold it down while reaching for the bottle in his other hand, where there’s still some water left. He struggles halfheartedly, relinquishing the bottle with a disinterested scoff, and you pull away from him to down what’s left.

While crushing the plastic bottle into a ball, you notice something on your palm—the palm that had grabbed Kuni’s wrist—and it takes a minute before the skin tone-colored substance registers in your mind.

Concealer.

You peer at him and notice that he’s cradling his arm, and confusion sprouts.

“So funny,” he spits with a hollow laugh. “You owe me a new beanbag if this one’s ruined.”

“Hey, hold on. What’s with the—”

“Forget it. You got your water, so let’s get back to studying. Or do you no longer want to be a perfect student?”

Without thinking, you grab his arm as he’s standing and when you look at his forearm you can see where the water’s started to wash the concealer away. Curiously, you scrub at it while he tries to yank his arm away, but when you unearth a dozen scars littering his wrist and climbing the length of his arm that creeping cold from before returns.

And suddenly you’re brought back to those phone calls—the ones where he’d threaten suicide and murder—and you stumble back as if you’ve been burned, half-expecting to hear those threats once more. Kuni’s staring at his wrist, his features twisted in grim disapproval, and for a moment you think he looks…hurt. Or maybe that’s sadness you see. Whatever emotion it was, it doesn’t linger because a quiet chuckle slips past his lips, and the sound is so very frigid it has your blood crystallizing.

“It really hurt when you said you never wanted to see me again.” Kuni peers down at you, and his eyes that had once been so bright and filled with light are dull and dark. “But nothing hurts more than loving you.”

You open your mouth to say something—anything—but the words won’t come. You’re rooted to the ground, horror slinking through your body and rendering you immovable. Your heart is in your throat, pounding so loudly it’s practically a drum, and a cold sweat washes over you.

“Each time I found myself hating you, I thought it was odd because I love you so much. I can’t possibly hate the one I’ve loved all this time.” He scowls. “But loving you hurts. Loving you feels like chewing glass and drinking poison. Loving you isn’t fair because while you moved forward with your ‘friends,’ I was forced to stay behind and pick up the pieces of what was left of you. So for every moment I couldn’t stand you, I tallied it on myself so that I’ll never forget the times I loved you so much I hated you.”

This can’t be happening, you’re thinking, curling your hands into trembling fists. He changed. He changed, right? This isn’t the same Kuni from before. This isn’t…

“And when I saw how well you seemed to be doing without me, I hated you even more.” Without warning, he’s grabbed your arm and hoisted you up. You open your mouth to scream, but no sound comes—not that anything could when he’s pulled a switchblade from his pocket and poised the pointed tip at your jugular. “You have poor taste in friends. Those guys suck.”

Tutting, he shakes his head at you like a parent might when scolding a child, and says, “Do you know how fucking tiring it was pretending? You think I care about pastries and stupid campfire stories? You really think I’d ever want to associate myself with that sorry lot?”

“K-Kuni, please let go of me. I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were—I’m sorry. So please just…”

“And then the first time you see me after all these years apart and you had the gall to lie to my face! ‘I’ve never met him before.’ Bullshit. You just didn’t want any of your loser friends to know our history, right? Because you’re ashamed to have known me, right?”

“That’s not it! I… I was just—I didn’t… I was… I just…”

“I… I… I…” he mocks, shoving you down onto the beanbag. It dips under the sudden weight, and you sink further into it when he points the blade at you. “Stop tripping over your tongue. I should be the one near tears! You cast me aside and then forgot all about me. You abandoned me when I needed you most.” His voice cracks at that last sentence, and your heart skips erratically.

“That’s not what happened! We needed space. I needed space. You were being too—” You stop yourself, unsure of how to phrase it. Too controlling? Too dangerous? Too scary?

“Lucky for you, I’m willing to overlook these past...slights.” The blade twirls effortlessly in his grasp, and you heave a relieved breath when he’s no longer pointing it in your direction. “Marry me and we’ll forget all about the past. We’ll start over.”

His demand almost stops your heart altogether. You stare up at him, mouth agape, and mumble a disbelieving, “What?”

“You heard me.” He seems to soften with his next words, and for a moment he looks and sounds like the Kuni who hangs out with you and your friends. The harmlessly fun Kuni who always takes such good care of you. “You’re the only one I’ll ever love, so let’s get married.”

“K-Kuni, I can’t... I really can’t...”

Within seconds the blade has found itself on his wrist, pressing into delicate flesh. Not enough to cut, but if he applies more force you’ll definitely see blood. You choke on a horrified gasp.

“What was that?” He raises his brow at you, challenging you with a calm smile.

Your mind reels in an effort to conjure a plan. What can you even do? If you take the blade from him, will he turn his anger on you? Will you have to wrestle him into submission? And if you do manage to get out of his dorm, will anyone believe you? He’s painted himself in such a pleasant light. Your friends love and trust him! So what can you say? And if there isn’t any solid proof, no one will even entertain bringing the authorities into this mess.

“I’m waiting, (Name). Are you really going to make me add another tally? Do you really want me to hate you again? Oh, but maybe I should start marking you! We can add a slice for each time you failed to love me. That way we’ll both look like used cutting boards.”

You need help, you want to say, but the words escape you.

Instead, you nod hastily and say breathlessly, “Okay, yes! I’ll marry you!” Swallowing your horror, you glance at the blade as it’s lifted from his skin. Thankfully, there isn’t a cut. “I... I’ll marry you, Kuni. So... So please don’t hurt yourself. Please.”

It feels like you’ve been strangled for an eternity, so when he finally pockets the blade the air in your lungs returns and you collapse against the beanbag, chest rising and falling in short, panicked breaths.

“Good.” He bends down to your height, grips your chin with cold fingers, and forces you to meet his adoring stare. “We’ll look at rings tomorrow. Or maybe you’d prefer bracelets instead? I can be flexible but only for you, so you’d better be grateful.”

You swallow rising bile and nod. “T-Thank you.” You’re not sure why you’re thanking him when he hardly deserves it, but it feels like the right thing to say to ease the tension.

Kuni’s eyes sparkle, no longer a void of endless darkness, and when he leans in to capture your lips in his your heart sinks. You really can’t run from your past, can you?

#genshin chit chat #yandere-romanticaa #yandere scaramouche #scara says he needs you but what he really needs is a therapist first and foremost #adding heizou into the mix!!! he probably takes notice of your change in behavior #and confronts you one on one to ask if everything's okay #and he looks so concerned and his voice is so soft and so you break and spill everything #and he nods while he takes in all of this information before offering to help #he knows the law (he's studying it after all!) so he can help you #but what heizou doesn't tell you is that the law might crush one evil person but it can easily protect other evils :)#especially him who is oh-so-honorable and sweet #you'd never know he wants to be more than just friends #and that he has a journal detailing your every move #but also i like the idea of heizou being a genuine friend and the two of you grow closer while trying to find ways to get scara caught #and taken away from you for good #but yan!heizou just hits so deliciously orz #also also!! adding in rosalyne~~ she went to the same uni as kuni (in snezhnaya)#but when he finally found out where you were he transferred #and rosa only realized they went to the same school when she found out from ajax (who also attends the same uni)#kuni probably worked part-time as a hospital receptionist before he transferred schools #and he's pretty sure the doctor there is a serial killer or he's just on the border of criminally insane (this is dottore after all)#(me looking at every way i can insert each harbinger into this au >:D)

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actiniumwrites · 2 years

Text

𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐃

synopsis: heizou offers you a deal to go on an investigation with him, and given that you have feelings for him, you agree. you, unfortunately, didn’t anticipate how long and emotional this investigation was actually going to turn out to be.

wc : 5.6k

characters: heizou x reader

warnings : fluff, angst, hurt/comfort, kinda slow burn ?, mutual pining, heizou is kinda mean, kinda rivals to lovers, idiots in love, written pre-heizou release (possibly ooc), lots of cussing

a/n: at the time this is released, we only have heizou’s splash art and some voice lines or little things from the game about him so i had very limited material to characterize him with. that being said, i apologize if he ends up being ooc from what he’s like in the game when he’s officially released !!

It was a rather normal, and if you were being quite honest, boring day at the Yashiro Commission today. As a detective, you’d think you would be out doing things like solving huge cases with long chases and impossible puzzles to crack, but those were the kinds of things you dreamed of as you read those fictional mystery books as a child.

You remembered them fondly as you sat in the courtyard of the Kamisato Estate, the books you read as a child. Your brain was filled with various tales of detectives of all kinds and the adventures they went on soon made their way into your dreams at night. And those dreams at night eventually became your goals, to become a real detective-

“Uh, y/n-”

“Oh- Thoma!” you jumped at the sight of the Kamisato’s housekeeper.

“I didn’t mean to scare you, I swear!” He exclaimed.

“No, it’s okay, Thoma, really!” You waved your hands around, “I was just lost in thought.”

“Uh anyway, I just came to check on you, you normally would’ve been out working right now so I found it a bit odd to find you sitting out here so late in the day,” he explained.

“Today’s just been really slow, there hasn’t been much to investigate around here recently. I’m not really sure if that’s a good or bad thing now that I think about it,” you reached up to scratch behind your neck.

But just as your nerves were beginning to calm, a guard came rushing in through the front gates, “Detective y/n, a letter has just been dropped off for you, the deliverer expressed that the sender requests you open it immediately upon receival.”

“A letter? Strange…” You mumbled as you fiddled with the firm paper of the envelope.

“This seems kind of urgent, I’ll see you later, y/n!” Thoma said as he entered back into the Estate’s interior.

“Bye, Thoma!” You called out as you waved goodbye.

Finally opening the letter, you unfolded the faded and wrinkled piece of paper inside. The handwriting seemed awfully messy and nearly impossible to read, you felt lucky to have been so experienced in handwriting analysis.

Reading over it, the letter was anonymous, but you had a good idea of who it had been. The mysterious sender had requested you meet them down in Ritou at sunset, but since you had nothing to do, you set off early.

—

When you arrived down in Ritou about an hour later, you weren’t shocked to see the red haired detective from the Tenryou Commission. Yet, you couldn’t lie, your heart felt as though it skipped a beat when you saw the way the light was hitting the side of his face, perfectly illuminating all his features.

“I thought I told you to come at sunset,” Heizou spoke, not turning to face you.

“I know, but work’s been slow today so I just came early,” You explained.

“Aw, couldn’t wait to see me?”

“Shut up, Heizou, you’re the one that asked me to come here,” You snapped back.

It was true though, you did come here for him. Normally you would’ve been suspicious of a letter like the one he sent you. Who wouldn’t? Faded and old looking paper with a strange request to meet someone anonymous, but you knew exactly who it was from. Even though you were from rival commissions, you could never ignore him.

“I’ll get right to the point, normally I wouldn’t ask this of someone of lesser status and value than me, but I need your help,” he spoke with a serious tone.

You could tell he looked almost nervous. It was obvious he didn’t want to ask you for help and it was seriously damaging his pride, it almost made you want to laugh.

“Help with what exactly?” You questioned.

“I thought you were supposed to be smart?” He mocked, “We’re both detectives, are we not? Shouldn’t it be obvious I need your help with a case?”

“Guess I’m just shocked you’d even ask me for help.”

“Here’s the thing, this case is a bit different,” he began, “Here in Ritou, there’s been strange sightings of people going in and out of the docks, foreigners to be specific.”

“What’s so strange about these foreigners? The ban was lifted a while ago so what’s the issue here?”

“If you would actually shut up and listen, you wouldn’t have to ask such stupid questions,” he rolled his eyes at you, “As I was saying, these foreigners appear to be from Sumeru, or at least coming from Sumeru. That’s where you come in.”

“Let me guess, you want me to help you because I studied at the academia in Sumeru and you need my knowledge?”

“Bingo,” he said as he threw finger guns at you, “I’ll make you a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“I don’t know, we can work that out after we solve the case, “ he said as he leaned against the wall behind him, “If you help me solve the case, then I’ll do something for you. But get in my way or mess it up, then you get nothing.”

“Fine, I’ll help you.”

You didn’t need the deal to accept his offer. Truthfully, you’d already made up your mind to help him the moment he had asked. The thing is, you’ve had a major crush on Heizou for a long time. Even though he belonged to the Tenryou Commission, you’d always admired him.

Sure, a lot of people in Inazuma greatly disliked him, but you? You were the outlier.

He’d intrigued you since the day you met him. You weren’t sure if it was his odd clothes for a detective or something simpler like his red hair or bright green eyes. Perhaps it was his cocky personality that a lot of people hated, but you didn’t care. Annoying as he could be, you liked him as he was.

Every time you were around him, your heart would beat faster, similar to the way it was beating now. You would feel a little more flustered and stutter over your words. You were shocked that for being such a great detective, he’d never noticed it.

—

It wouldn’t be until three days later that you would be meeting back up with Heizou again. He said that he needed to get a bit more information before finally debriefing you and getting you caught up. He also called you slow but you chose to ignore that part.

He’d told you all the details of the case: criminals appearing to have been from Sumeru, suspected to be a more elite kind of treasure hoarders, have somehow been illegally bypassing the Outlanders Affairs Agency at the docks of Ritou. The problem is, they’re using tactics from Sumeru and are suspected to have been smuggling in illegal technology.

He explained that he needed your expertise from the academia in order to understand how they’re getting in and what kinds of tech they may be bringing in.

“Okay, I think I understand the case now, “ You told him as you flipped through various pages of notes and documents from the case, “Hey, how long has this been going on again?”

“About a month I think?”

“How has this passed by for a month and no one has noticed?” you questioned.

“I don’t know, probably because ninety-nine percent of the population of Inazuma are dumb people.”

“Archons, Heizou. Not everyone is gonna be as smart as we are.”

He laughed, “Don’t flatter yourself, you know you’re not as smart as I am.”

You didn’t return his laugh, instead choosing to stare down at the file you were holding to tune out his insults, “C’mon, let’s just get to working on this case.”

“You’re no fun, but fine, we’ll stake out at 1:00 am tonight down at the docks. Be late and I’ll make sure you lose your job.”

“Heizou!”

—

The next day you were exhausted, though there hadn’t been much going on with work recently, you felt all the exhaustion from previous cases beginning to settle in. And staying up all night watching for the suspects was not making things any better for you.

“Morning, sunshine,” a voice from behind you called out.

“Why are you up so early, Heizou?” You groaned as you took another sip of your coffee before resting your head back down on the courtyard table.

“Well, I was gonna go to sleep but then I figured we should probably get back on this case so I can stop having to hang around you.”

“Can’t you ever say something remotely nice?”

He put his hands up in surrender before joining you at your table, “I’m just being honest.”

He set his files down and began spreading them out in front of the two of you while you quickly finished your coffee and called one of the staff members over to take the cup back inside for you.

“Do you have the photos from your kamera?” he asked, nodding toward your bag.

“Uh yeah, let me go grab them really quickly, they’re inside,” You said standing up from the table.

Turning around to walk back into the Estate, you nearly tripped out of embarrassment. You cursed Heizou in your head for showing up so early.

As you got inside, you walked around the corner before grabbing the photos you had placed in an envelope and bin for safe keeping. You counted them to make sure they were all there before gently sliding them back in their envelope and heading toward the door. You didn’t, of course, forget to check how you looked in the mirror before heading back out.

“Archons, how long does it take you to grab some photos?” Heizou yelled out to you.

“Sorry,” You mumbled, though in reality, you had only been gone for around 3 minutes. Heizou was just impatient.

Spreading out the photos, you organized them by people, objects, and anything else that may be suspicious.

“Hey, does this symbol look familiar to you at all?” Heizou questioned while holding up the photo directly in your face. Rolling your eyes at his brashness, you pushed it back a bit before inspecting it for yourself

The photo was a picture of a crate and it appeared to have a strange symbol on its lid.

“Yeah, actually it does,” You squinted your eyes trying to get a better look at the rather low quality photograph, “We studied a lot of symbols at the academia, but that’s not a Sumeru symbol, it’s from Fontaine.”

“Fontaine, huh?” He glanced at the photo before cocking his head to look at you like a curious child, “You think these guys are from Fontaine?”

“Looking at the other photos, I think it’s likely,” you said before meeting his bright green eyes, “The symbol on the crate belongs to a manufacturing company based in Fontaine. While that may not seem important, that company actually doesn’t source its products to other nations.”

“How do you know it then?” He interrogated as he rested his head on one of his hands while leaning closer to your face and squinting his eyes.

“We got lucky that someone had donated them to the academia. They lived in Fontaine before moving to Sumeru, they actually taught us a lot about Fontaine’s inventions and high-tech manufacturing equipment. The stuff in these photos actually looks very similar to that equipment.”

“Interesting,” He mumbled while sliding back against his chair and away from you, “So they’re criminals from Fontaine, not Sumeru. That makes a lot more sense.”

“Still, these guys are obviously using Sumeru academia tactics in order to bypass the Outlanders Affairs Agency and smuggle their stuff in,” you commented, “there’s also the fact that we still don’t know what they’re bringing in.”

“Alright, then it’s settled,” Heizou announced as he jumped up from his chair and messily grabbed his things, carelessly shoving them into his bag, “We’ll go back to the docks early tomorrow morning before the sun rises and see if we can get a hold of one of their crates.”

—

You could barely see where you were walking as you and Heizou carefully approached the docks. It was around 4 am and not a single person was in sight. You lightly shivered as the wind picked up a bit and you noted how empty it seemed to be.

“Heizou,” you whispered out, “It’s really empty around here, do you think they moved everything?”

“No, there’s no way.”

You didn’t get much time to actually have a look around before Heizou was pulling you down by the arm. You nearly crashed into his chest as you both sat with your backs against one of the wooden stalls that were stationed near the front of the docks and closer to Ritou’s entrance.

You stared at him with wide eyes trying to telepathically ask what was wrong. He held up a single finger to his lips in response, signaling for you to be quiet. Then, he pointed to his left with a smirk.

You craned your head up as an attempt to see what was going on. You squinted your eyes trying to get a better look at what appeared to be two men talking in a hushed tone, flashlights searching through the parked boats.

As you observed them, you noticed their expensive looking outfits, ones that seemed far more modern than any other nation. ‘Definitely Fontaine,’ you thought to yourself.

“Should we leave?” you whispered to Heizou as you turned back to him.

“Not yet, we need to see what they’re doing,” he said eagerly.

The two of you carefully shuffled your position so you both could remain hidden but also giving you the viewpoint to observe the men. They appeared to be picking up the crates and moving them onto some sort of metal cart. A third man appeared every so often to take the filled cart with the crates and then bring it back empty. It was repetitive, but they were clearly taking things to another location.

With that you had your next clue to solving this case, now you just needed to find out where the criminals were taking the goods.

–

The following few days were a lot less exciting, the two of you had just spent all your time reviewing photos, files, documents, interviews with witnesses, etc. The only change of pace you got was that you were now working at an outdoor table at the Tenryou Commission headquarters instead of an outdoor table at the Yashiro Commission headquarters.

It felt like things were becoming slow. You could tell Heizou was becoming antsy too, more so than he normally was. You just needed a breakthrough.

“Why is it so goddamn hard to find this stupid ass warehouse?” Heizou spat out as he stood abruptly from the table, slamming his hands down.

“Careful!” you grabbed the files from under his hands, “You can’t damage our evidence just because you’re upset over the case.”

“I can do what I want, thanks.”

“Not really, this is our evidence and quite literally the only things we have for this case. How are we supposed to solve it if you ruin all of it?”

Heizou crossed his arms, “I don’t know, you can figure that out for yourself.”

“What, are you leaving me to work on this case all by myself now?” you joked.

“Maybe I will.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“Heizou.”

“Y/n.”

A third voice joined in, “Break it up you two, this is rather unprofessional of the two of you.”

The two of you jumped back, you hadn’t realized how close you had gotten to his face. Too focused on not breaking the staring contest. So focused, you also missed the faint shade of red that now painted Heizou’s face.

“Ah, Kujou Sara.”

“Heizou.” the general greeted back, “How’s the case coming along? I’d hope the two of you are making good progress seeing how long this is taking.”

“It’s been a little slow recently, things were really coming together in the start but now we’re just stuck,” you answered.

“How so?”

“Ah, ah, ah!” Heizou cut you off, “This is our case, Madame Kujou. You can know the details when we’re done with it.”

“That is no way to speak to someone of higher power than you, Mr. Shikanoin,” Sara snapped back, “I’ll have you know that I can have your position as ‘detective’ revoked shall I see fit.”

“Whatever, you guys need me and you know it,” he shot back rather arrogantly.

You held a hand to your face to hide the small laugh that nearly left your lips, you had found it quite amusing to see him put in his place. Though you had quickly regained your composure once she glanced at you.

“I apologize, Madame Kujou,” you spoke hesitantly, still wary around anyone from the Tenryou Commission, “We really do need to get back to this case though.”

“Alright, I’ll be taking my leave then,” she turned around but stopped in her tracks, not bothering to turn around to face you, “Please keep Heizou in check, the last thing this commission needs is him screwing up even more that he already has.”

“I’ll try my best,” you called out to her.

As she left, the two of you got back to viewing the evidence. And though only an hour and a half had passed, it felt like it had been hours. Your head was practically slipping out of your hands as your eyelids began to feel heavier and heavier by the second while Heizou looked like he was about to pass out on the table.

“Can’t we just call it a night?” Heizou yawned as he complained.

As tired as you felt, you ignored him as you looked closer at the photo in front of you, “What the hell?”

“What?” Heizou leaned back up in his chair suddenly feeling more awake, arms now crossed and leaning forward as he got up to stand over your sitting form.

You felt a little flustered at the action but kept your composure nevertheless, “Um- I think,”

“Why the hell are you stuttering?” He cut you off.

“I’m not,” you couldn’t even look him in the eye, “just- look at this photo.”

You handed him the photo and he examined it carefully before tossing it back on to the table, “I don’t see anything special about it.”

“Don’t you recognize that symbol right there?” you pointed.

“Yeah, it’s the Kanjou Commission’s symbol, what’s so special about that?”

“Heizou, this whole thing has been happening down in Ritou where the Kanjou Commission is stationed. If their symbol is on all of the crates and the strange building in this photo, then do you know what that means?” You said as you smiled at him, excited to finally have made a breakthrough.

“That the warehouse they’re storing everything at belongs to the Kanjou Commission. How else would everything be getting past unnoticed? Dammit it’s been right in front of us the whole time!,” He answered quickly, a cocky smile now plastered on his face, “We’ve gotta get down there.”

“Wait, Heizou,” you grabbed his hand as he got up, “Shouldn’t we come up with a plan or something?”

He looked down at your hand holding onto his for a brief moment before dropping it, however he felt about your hand holding onto his, he wasn’t showing it.

“We don’t have time to sit around and wait, we’ve been stuck on this for days, who knows how far they’ve already gotten?” He stated, “Besides, we can come up with a plan once we get there!”

“Archons, I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this,” you muttered as you picked everything up off the table.

Heizou had already begun leaving though and before you knew it, you were off to Ritou to visit that very building that belonged to the Kanjou Commission.

–

When you arrived back in Ritou about an hour later, you and Heizou had begun looking for the warehouse. Ritou was small, but wherever this warehouse was, it was hidden pretty damn well.

“We’ve nearly searched the whole island, where the hell is this damn warehouse?” Heizou groaned rather dramatically.

“Well we know it has to be here somewhere because it belongs to the Kanjou Commission’s headquarters which is stationed here.”

“Yeah, no shit,” he snapped back.

The exhaustion from 2 hours ago was beginning to set in again. Not being able to find the warehouse was bringing down the both of your guys’ adrenaline rushes from finally making progress in the case. Now you both were just crashing.

“What if we just come back tomorrow when it’s actually bright outside? Then we can come back later tomorrow night and check it out,” you suggested.

He was quick to shut you down though, “No, we’re not doing that. You heard that stupid general, we have to speed this case up.”

“Didn’t think you were one to follow rules.”

“I’m not, you should know that by now,” he was getting really snarky with you now, “I’m not trying to lose my job, if you want to go back, go ahead. I can do this without you.”

“So you really invited me to help you with this case and now you’re throwing me out?” you retorted back, “and when did you start caring about the Tenryou Commission so much anyway?”

“Woah woah woah, I did not ‘invite’ you to this case, I was practically forced to because I don’t know shit about Sumeru!”

“So what, you were just using me then? I thought we had a deal, Heizou?”

“If that’s how you see it, then yeah, I guess I was just using you, not like you provided much help anyway,” his voice was rising louder and louder with each word.

“I haven’t provided you any help?!” You exclaimed, now frustrated with him, “Which one of us knew about the equipment? Which one of us knows what systems they’re using? And which one of us realized where this goddamn warehouse is actually located and who it belongs to?”

“All of that is practically useless! Don’t you understand, y/n? We haven’t found shit, all you’ve given me was information I probably could’ve found in books or from people on the island. And we haven’t even found this stupid ass warehouse, you just figured out the Kanjou Commission is involved because of their logo!”

You were silent as he kept yelling.

“Do you even realize how stupid you are? I mean really, I don’t think you even deserved to study at the academia in Sumeru.”

Just as you thought he would stop, he just kept going, “You don’t deserve your position as a detective, you know that? Archons, I can’t even believe I even asked for your help. What a waste of time.”

Not being able to look him in the eye, all you could do was stare down at the floor at your feet. His words felt like a dagger piercing through your heart and it hurt, so much so that you began to feel hot tears pooling in your eyes.

You wanted to say something, anything. You wanted to tell him he was wrong, that you were helpful and that you did deserve to be a detective, but no words would leave your mouth.

His face was filled with shock as you finally tilted your head back up to look at him, but he quickly recovered his uncaring facade and spoke one last thing to you that night:

“Just go home.”

—

The next morning you didn’t go into work. You were too paranoid you might run into Heizou or Kujou Sara or anyone else that may question you about the case. All you could think of were the words Heizou screamed at you last night and you suddenly felt insecure again.

Every time they would ring out in your head you felt like crying again. Small tears would start to form in your eyes and your stomach would begin to ache all over again, just like the way it did last night.

You hated that you felt like this, but even more, you hated that you still held feelings for him. And because of that, you blamed yourself.

Was he really right about all the things he said?

That very question just kept echoing over and over again in your head until you began to believe everything he had told you.

It was ironic, you thought as you sat on the small steps outside your home, the clouds outside were a dark and gloomy gray. It was like you were out of one of those silly books you read as a kid. Like one of those scenes where the main character cries on their porch because someone upset them or their day went everything but right. Your inner child couldn’t help but laugh at the irony that it was now you sitting on the porch instead of some fictional character.

And you hadn’t realized it, but the past two weeks you had spent working on this case with Heizou had provided you with a lot of adrenaline, it sparked something inside you.

It was different from your other cases. As much as he liked to trash on you, you never really got upset about it. Working with him was exhilarating and you were happy to even be spending time around him. It never felt awkward, and as weird as your dynamic may have been, it felt natural being around him.

But that was just one more thing to add to the list of things that now made you upset. You thought that you may never see him again, that the two of you will probably part ways and avoid each other for a long time.

All that thought did was just bring more tears to your eyes as you once again rested your head on your knees outside below the now darkening sky, brainstorming all the ways you could fix what had happened between you two.

–

Walking down to the Tenryou Commission, you nearly bumped into a lot of people.

“Hey, watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry!” You apologized.

You looked rather disheveled and you knew Ayato would probably get on you for it later once he heard about all the citizens who complained about an ‘emotional looking detective running through the streets of Inazuma City’.

You stopped at the gates once you arrived and suddenly you felt more nervous than you ever had in your life. So nervous you even contemplated going home and just wrapping back up in your blankets and crying again.

“Detective Y/n?”

Shit! you thought as you turned around slowly.

“Detective, are you alright?”

“Madame Kujou! I uh- I’m fine,” you practically stuttered out, “Is um- is Heizou here?”

Sara tilted her head to the side in confusion as she looked at you strangely, “Mr. Shikanoin is here, yes. I thought you should know that, didn’t you guys finish the case together early this morning?”

Huh? Finished the case?

“Uh-I was just double checking something! We have to wrap up some reports, you know how it is!” you quickly made up an excuse, “Is it okay if I go in and talk to him?”

“Of course, just let the guards know I said to let you in,” she said as she walked off, still confused at the sight of you but stoic nevertheless.

You walked into the building practically shaking from all your built up nerves.

“Y/n?” A voice you knew all too well called out.

Your stomach dropped and you felt as though you had lost any confidence you had as his voice rang out, but nevertheless, you turned to your left to meet his eyes.

“Heizou, I um…” you started, “I’m really sorry.”

You looked down at the floor, cursing yourself as your hands started shaking.

Though you were barely holding your composure, you continued while still staring down at your shoes, “You were right and I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to get in your way and I know that I’m not that smart! And you were right that I probably didn’t deserve to study at the academia and I don’t even deserve to call myself a detec-”

You were cut off by two arms suddenly embracing you with such force that nearly caused you to fall over.

“Don’t say those things about yourself, you shouldn’t be the one apologizing,” Heizou spoke gently, contrasting his normal arrogant tone, his voice muffled by his head being tucked into your neck. He hated how dejected you looked right now, but hated himself even more because he knew he was the one to blame for all of this.

You stayed quiet, but sniffled softly, arms now wrapped around him too as he continued, “You never got in my way and I don’t regret asking you to help me with this case. And if we’re going to be honest here, I never actually needed your help with this case. I asked you out of selfish personal reasons.”

“What?” You breathed out with a whisper.

“Why do you think I kept coming back early to help with the case?”

“I thought you said you wanted to get it over with so you wouldn’t have to see me again?” you said as you leaned back to look him in the eyes while still holding onto him.

He felt a pang in his chest as he looked at your now tear stained face, “I was lying, I kept showing up early because I wanted to spend more time on the case with you.”

Now it was his turn to look down at the floor as he released you from his arms, it took a lot out of him to bite his own pride and admit all of this to you.

“Why did you say all those things to me then?”

“I never wanted to hurt you, I swear. But I also didn’t want you to figure out that I liked you,” he admitted.

“And what about the things you said last night?”

“I was exhausted, we both were. I was also just frustrated that we couldn’t find anything and that Sara was getting on our asses about the case. Believe me when I say that I didn’t mean any of that.”

“One more question, Sara said that we completed the case, what did she mean by that?”

“After I told you to leave last night, I finished the case. I found the warehouse and I was able to successfully obtain one of the crates and bring it back before sunrise. Turns out it belonged to one of the Kanjou Commission guards just like you suspected. He was providing all the information to the criminals.”

He paused before continuing, “It also turns out that that dumbass guard had previously studied books on the academia and even spent some time in Sumeru. It’s how he helped them implement their Sumeru and Fontaine tactics to bypass all the enforcers down at the docks. They made the arrest and raided the warehouse this morning.”

“What are we gonna do now?” You asked him. Truthfully, you didn’t want it to be over just yet and you were hoping he felt the same.

“Well we had a deal right?” he gently smiled at you.

“Huh? I thought you called that off since you told me I didn’t help you?”

“I also told you not to take anything I said seriously, so the deal is still on and you get whatever you want.”

You stared at him nervously, it was a lot of pressure. You could ask for anything, and your silence was only making him nervous too.

“I know we’re from different Commissions and all, but I like to think that we worked pretty well together,” You spoke hesitantly, scared he would decline what you were about to suggest, “That being said, Heizou, do you think we could be partners more often?”

He was shocked, but you kept going, “If I’m being honest, I don’t want this to be over. I’ve had a lot of fun this past week and I don’t want to see it end. But only if that’s okay with you, of course!”

“I don’t want it to be over either, so yeah, I’ll be your partner,” he spoke but not before meeting your eyes with that mischievous smile of his, “On one condition, though!”

“Heizou!”

He shushed you quickly before walking closer to you and leaning in to meet your eyes, “You have to go on a date with me.”

You smiled softly as you gazed into his eyes, “Of course I’ll go on a date with you. Didn’t you know I have feelings for you?”

His smile dropped, “You have feelings for me?!”

“You didn’t know! I thought you were some great detective?”

The two of you stared at each other for a brief moment before bursting out laughing together, nearly falling to the floor as you clutched your stomachs at how stupid you both were, especially for having the reputation of the two best detectives in all of Inazuma.

Slowing down his laughter, he returned your soft smile from earlier with one of his own, “All jokes aside, are you free on Friday?”

“I do believe I am,” you spoke with a jokingly proper accent, “So Mr. Shikanoin, where do you plan to take me?”

“You can find that out on Friday,” he rolled his eyes yet a smile remained plastered on his face.

“Then I guess I’ll see you Friday.”

Needless to say, neither of you could stop smiling after that, eager for Friday to come sooner.

#heizou x reader #shikanoin heizou #shikanoin heizou x reader #genshin impact #genshin impact fanfiction #genshin x reader #genshin impact x reader #so happy this fic is finally done #it took me a few weeks but it's finally here #pre release heizou x reader #once again i apologize if he ends up being ooc to how he ends up being in the game #heizou x y/n #heizou x you

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