It had been about a week since Kazuha had begun working in Liyue and he had managed to integrate himself well with the workers there.
Everyone had expected someone like Beidou to be working, but Kazuha being soft spoken, diligent and charming caused quite a bit of whiplash from those who had met with his captain.
Of course, pity be to the person who insulted her in front of him as they quickly learned that despite looking delicate, he could be quite sadistic towards those who would cause his ire, though one person didn't seem to care whether or not they risked getting on his bad side.
"Kazuha Kaedehara. Sayu. What are you two eating?" Keqing demanded once she had entered their office during lunch time.
"Fish?" Kazuha answered with a confused look.
"Rice balls." Sayu answered, idly nomming on her rice ball from her spot in Kazuha's lap.
"You two shouldn't be eating the same thing everyday!" She criticized the teacher and student pair, who only gave her innocent looks of "Why not?" resulting in her facepalming.
"I expect this from Sayu, but you're an adult, Kazuha. Shouldn't you care more about your diet and health?" Keqing sighed like she was a mother.
"While I understand your views, Lady Keqing, I'd like to remind you that my current finances don't allow for me to easily spend on food." Kazuha explained.
"I thought you were a noble. Shouldn't you have more money to spend on yourself?"
"Most of the money I have is currently being spent on revitalizing my property while restructuring and rebuilding many parts of the territory I own. I'm also paying for a lot of work among many things that are draining my finances."
"What about Sayu?"
Kazuha looked down towards the girl who looked up at him with sleepy half lidded eyes before answering.
"She has her own allowance that she's allowed to spend on herself." He shrugged.
"You should worry about her more! She's under your care so it's your responsibility as an adult to make sure she's eating properly!" Keqing felt a headache coming up as she held a hand to her head, completely exasperated.
"I'm sorry, but for the time being, we'll be unable to so easily do such things, but I assure you that this is temporary. I will have a proper balanced meal once things have settled." Kazuha did his best to placate her, but she wasn't having it.
"Kazuha Kaedehara, you are currently working for the Liyue Qixing and as such, you are expected to be a role model to the public." She demanded, but Kazuha merely waved her off.
"Ah, but for the remainder of my time here, you're working under me and I say that such things aren't necessary as long as the work is being done." Keqing's "superior" reminded her of their agreement, getting her to become flustered from the memory.
"This isn't about your job description! We're expected to uphold an image to the people that everything is still going fine in spite of the Jade Chambers' collapse! If someone working for us is eating the same thing every day with someone he's caring for, it'd set a bad image!" Keqing reiterated, getting him to frown.
It seemed that no matter what nation it was, status was a rather important thing for those at the top. It was rather unavoidable unless one had the charisma needed to have others overlook such a thing, but Kazuha would simply be here for a few months and he doubted it'd be a good image if he ate rather simple meals and worked long days of overtime before simply disappearing.
"Hmm. I suppose you're right, but the issue of Mora is simply nothing we can overcome in the time being." The young man reminded her, but it seemed she had already thought about this.
Locking eyes with the young man, she declared without even flinching. "Then we should have some meals together after work."
Inazuma
A loud clap of thunder resounded across the islands of Inazuma, much louder than any normal thunder would and it would have been deafening if not for the feeling of restraint that was behind it.
The Raiden Shogun was grinding her teeth all of a sudden after feeling something that didn't seem right.
As if something inferior to her had somehow done something truly irreversible and offensive to her being, resulting in a massive discharge of Electro energy to disperse from her.
"Shogun, what is the matter? Are you experiencing another error?" Ei asked her, alarmed from the sudden outburst as they had been in the middle of meditating together to bond and mentally handle all the stress they had been accumulating.
"There's a disturbance… We have to go to Liyue!" The Shogun declared, standing up with a murderous look in her eyes, but she was quickly brought back down by Ei who smacked her with a rolled up newspaper.
"No! You're still under house arrest after attempting to kill that lady that lives in Kazuha's home! She's a lawyer from Liyue, it's strictly professional!" The Puppet's creator reprimanded her as she reminded her of her attempted murder.
"Ughh… I'm just making sure the boy I like isn't falling into the hands of some she devils… I guess you won't understand, being single for over two thousand years…" She murmured under her breath.
Ei kept a completely blank face, not showing any sign of emotions as her hand suddenly grabbed her puppet's head, her fingers crushing down from the sides of her temple.
"Owowowowowow! Stop that! We share this body!" She cried out, flailing her arms to try and break free.
Liyue
Kazuha felt a shiver for some reason he couldn't explain and the wind didn't have any mentions about it, but that wasn't something to focus on right now.
"Why aren't you eating? You haven't had a chance to eat any food from Liyue yet, have you?" Keqing asked from the other side of the table as Sayu was already idly enjoying the various dishes laid in front of them.
"No, I have… A girl somehow found her way onto our ship and cooked well enough to impress Captain Beidou enough to let her stay on board." Kazuha recalled meeting the renowned chef "Xiangling".
"Oh? Being able to impress her is no easy feat." Keqing gave her own praise, before she began directing his attention back towards the food. "Now eat."
The samurai did what he was told and enjoyed the Liyue cuisine that was much different from his memory of Xiangling's dishes, having less spices, but being more focused on bringing out the individual tastes as opposed to blending them together.
The three spent their time like this harmoniously with Mini Miko and Rosalyn sulking at a nearby empty table for reasons Kazuha could only guess.
"I wish there was a way for them to be able to eat too…" He thought since they couldn't go too far without him.
He was only half right as Mini Miko was looking upset over the various amounts of food in front of her that she couldn't eat.
"So what keeps you with The Crux Fleet, Kazuha? When it comes to exploring, I'd have assumed you'd be the type to wander off on your own."
"You have the right idea about me. I'm simply staying with the Crux Fleet right now because I enjoy their company. Once you get used to something, it's hard to break free from your new found routine."
"Really? Would you be reluctant to leave if you spent enough time in Liyue too?" Keqing asked in a jest.
"Of course, unfortunately I have my own obligations back home in Inazuma." Kazuha answered truthfully, looking somewhat down about his newfound position.
"O-of course…!" Keqing had been able to pick up early on that Kazuha was not one to enjoy high standing positions.
If one were to look into his history between being a mere crewmate to Captain Beidou despite her high praise of him being her ace or being a mere soldier at the lowest rank for Sangonomiya Kokomi despite his wisdom and combat prowess, they'd find a very capable man who'd much rather avoid the stress of leadership.
Of course, that didn't stop him from taking the chances to advance if it meant an easier life, such as his bet with Keqing.
"Heeeeeey!" A distressingly familiar voice called out seemingly to them, causing the three to turn to see a familiar sight of The Traveler and Paimon.
"Ah, Traveler, it's been quite a bit of time since we've last seen each other." Kazuha greeted the pair who was looking between the two of them with expressions of surprise.
"What are you three doing together here?" Paimon asked about the strange combination of Kazuha, Keqing and Sayu.
"Oh. Kazuha here is working with The Liyue Qixing for a bit and I thought it'd be nice to treat him and Sayu here to a meal." Keqing explained, gesturing for the two to come and sit with them.
"What? Kazuha with The Liyue Qixing? Paimon thought you were got reinstated in Inazuma! You're always in the most unexpected places sometimes, Kazuha." Paimon commented as Lumine nodded.
"Haha, I guess you can say that." Kazuha scratched the back of his head before staring directly at Lumine.
To think that this one girl was the main reason their world had not yet been taken over by The Abyss was astounding and yet here she was, looking no older than he was.
She seemed to notice this, turning her own gaze back towards him with a curious look before giving him a smile and a wave.
"Wait, then why is Sayu here?" Paimon asked, directing her attention towards the small shinobi who had returned to eating her Mountain Delicacy.
"I've recently become Sayu's sensei to teach her how to better use her vision." Kazuha explained.
"Ohhh, Sensei Kazuha does have a nice ring to it!" Paimon was dominantly the voice for The Traveler as usual.
"Why don't you sit down and eat with us, Traveler?" Keqing offered, gesturing towards the chairs with a friendly smile.
"Hurray! Food! Paimon's been waiting to eat forever!" The floating companion immediately began to dig in as Lumine sat on the other side of Kazuha between Keqing and him.
"So what brings you around here, Traveler?" Kazuha asked, a warm smile appearing on his face as he turned to face her.
With Paimon focusing on eating, she had to talk on her own now which wasn't too much of a problem, but she seemed rather unused to it.
"We're looking for more clues in regards to my brother…" She answered in her soft delicate voice. One wouldn't even be able to guess that she was the hero of three nations with such a prim look.
"Ah, that's right… Ningguang and I have been reaching out with all of our connections… I'm sorry, Lumine, but we still haven't gotten any info…" Keqing frowned with a guilty expression.
Kazuha himself was also unable to assist. Normally if he wished to find someone, he'd be able to with the assistance of the wind, but it seems wherever her brother had gone, it was completely unknown even to the wind.
"It's okay. I've got an idea on what he's doing at least… It's just frustrating, because I feel like i'm chasing after bread crumbs…" She seemed to have been affected heavily by the recent events with all the effort she put in only to end up where she had begun.
Seeing the sight of the one who was keeping the foundation of their world in balance, Kazuha felt the need to comfort her, resulting in him moving his chair over beside hers to bring her over with an arm, pressing her side to his, getting a shocked reaction from everyone around him at the uncharacteristic display.
"You'll be able to find him, Lumine. You have three nations of friends behind you that will do their best to help you whenever you wish for it."
The words came with sincerity and warmth from the lone samurai who felt that it was the least he could do to help someone so important.
Lumine's face began to turn red along with every other female present besides Sayu, before Paimon got between the two, separating them.
"Hey! Kazuha! When did you start to become such a player, huh?!" Paimon exclaimed, pushing the two apart, getting a look of surprise from the ronin.
"What do you mean?" He asked, momentarily oblivious, before Paimon began stamping her foot on the thin air she was floating on.
"You can't just put your arm around the traveler like that to a lady you, you, you gigolo!" Paimon seemed extremely exasperated with him who only then realized what he had done, but didn't seem too bothered.
"Apologies, I was simply trying to comfort our dear traveler here. I didn't intend to give such an impression with my actions." The young man gave a genuinely apologetic smile towards the small companion who could only look away in irritation, crossing her arms with a "hmph".
It seems even she couldn't say much when Kazuha was being sincere like that.
"Sensei needs to stop flirting…" Sayu said from the sidelines, getting everyone to begin staring at Kazuha with varying emotions.
He was in a rather dangerous situation to say the least and all because he simply wanted to comfort someone.
Zhongli
Rex Lapis, Morax, Zhongli, The Geo Archon, etc.
There were many names used to refer to the man who had lived for over six thousand years, but right now Zhongli was the one he was referred to as for now.
Zhongli enjoyed the fragrant tea that had been expertly brewed on the Wangsheng Funeral parlors bill but was having a hard time fully enjoying it.
"Ay, iyai iyai, ay iyai iyai, ay iyai iyai~ Where's my samurai~?" Hu Tao was singing rather cheerfully as she made her way through the funeral parlor.
Hu Tao had gotten rather smitten by a ronin from Inazuma and while that wasn't too strange to him, it was rather concerning with who the ronin was.
"Kazuha Kaedehara is a special individual. For some reason, my vessel has taken a strong liking to him and i'm doing everything I can to fix any murderous impulses she may have."
Baal's description of the man brought a shiver down his spine thinking about the poor person who would get between a vessel for an archon and what she wanted.
"I'm your little butterfly~ Green, black and blue make the colors in the sky~!"
Zhongli was quite tired of hearing this song, because it had also become stuck in his head for the past few days, but he couldn't do too much to stop his boss from singing it.
Now Zhongli was a rather ancient being to say the least, having been on this planet for longer than most and one of the most consistent structures in his life was Hu Tao's family lineage who's history traces back even further than Zhongli could remember.
As such, he felt himself having grown attached with watching each successor take over the family business, but this now had him extremely worried that the bloodline ended here.
It was somewhat amusing when one thought about it. Hu Tao and Kazuha Kaedehara were the only ones of their family lineage and both were expected to have kids to continue their legacy eventually.
It's only too bad that his boss had her heart set on someone who had The Raiden Shogun's eyes on him.
Now, this isn't to say that he didn't approve of her attempting to win over the ronin's heart, mind you. Under any other circumstances, this would be a rather poetic story exactly akin to the song she was currently singing even in the midst of gathering the tools needed to bury a body.
However, he wasn't sure what would happen if the Raiden Shogun would decide that Hu Tao was getting uncomfortably close to the man she fell in love with and he had seen some bloody love story endings.
He was already sweating when he recalled his own distant memories of past lovers, but that's besides the point. Right now Hu Tao was walking a dangerous line and there was no way she would get off it once her heart had decided.
Now even if he were to ignore the fact that Baal's puppet was dangerously murderous, there was also the young man himself.
He had directly confronted the execution attack of the Puppet and was now getting ready to fight yet another god if he heard right.
"That boy needs to have some self preservation senses…" He lamented, recalling that it wasn't just The Raiden Shogun and his boss that seemed to have been infatuated with him.
There was Baal's familiar who exuded much more danger than The Puppet herself!
What did this mean to him? If he were to die, those two would definitely know that he was around and didn't do anything to stop it!
He was supposed to be retired! Why was he feeling pressured to watch over someone? Not to mention that if he died, his boss wouldn't be able to love again.
It was a rather touching story on paper, but historically, her family had a huge problem when they fell in love and weren't accepted, leading to where they were now with Hu Tao being the last successor of their legacy.
It was a miracle that nothing had happened and they were fully capable of staying active for seventy seven generations, but this might just be the end.
Zhongli sighed. He was overthinking this! No matter who it was in the past, no matter how quirky their family was, no matter how the odds were stacked in their favor, the directors of Wangsheng Funeral Parlor were always able to win in the end.
Feeling much better once he thought a bit more positively, he looked outside the window to see what a beautiful day it was, only to see that Kazuha was walking with The Traveler who had Paimon floating beside her, Keqing, Sayu in his arms, the ghost off Signora trailing behind him with an upset expression and a small Yae Miko atop his head.
Zhongli spat out his tea at the sudden view, causing Hu Tao to look over in surprise.
"Mr. Zhongli! What happened? You haven't worked here long enough for the company discount!" She rushed over to where he was, but he immediately held up his hands.
While she was a genuinely sweet and accepting girl, she would no doubt harbor some negative feelings if she saw who the boy she had been singing about was walking around with a multitude of beautiful women.
The former Geo Archon decided he'd have to assist his boss in this race.
Hello, thank you for reading yet another chapter of The Samurai Controls the Strings where so far, Kazuha has not fully managed to get a grasp of everything yet, but trust me, he'll get there.
Overall, I hope you all enjoyed, don't forget to fav, follow and review however you can and join the Discord if you wanna talk to me and potentially other fic writers.
I'm also happy to say that this fic is the most popular Kazuha fic, but i'm also pretty sure Ao3 is the Genshin Fic hotspot.
I'll take what I can.
Other then that, XiaoYu will be the confirmed pairing and next chap we'll jump straight into Ningguang's contest.
The only thing I gotta ask is who you're hoping to be the first girl so that Raiden Shogun can just go yandere? Or pick Puppet-chan.