"Sunset Vermillionite, Wonder Core and Adepti Sigils?" Kazuha read over the list in interest, having no knowledge of how the Jade Chamber was created.

"Mhm~ These are the last things we'll need to have the Jade Chamber rebuilt and with it, we'll be ready for the oncoming battle~" Ningguang confirmed, sitting back in her chair with an elegance he had gotten used to by now, but still managed to impress him.

"What shall we be doing until then?" Kazuha asked, having not gotten the memo for what he would be doing for the remainder of his time.

With perseverance and hard work, they had all managed to complete the mountains of paperwork as well as manage all the events that had taken place within the month, leaving them ample amounts of time to wait for the upcoming battle.

"Hm? Why don't you take the rest of the time off. We're ever grateful for the amount of work The Crux Fleet has been helping us with, so rest up until then~" The richest woman in Liyue suggested, before giving him a brilliant smile. "Why don't you join the competition too?"

Kazuha blinked before giving a somewhat dubious look.

"I don't believe I'd know where to get a single one of these…" He admitted, getting a slight chuckle from the person who hired him.

"Beidou is already gathering the Wonder Core. Perhaps it'd be nice for you to work with her once again? She has been rather broody ever since you began working here. Have you actually not spoken to her since the first day?"

"I've been rather busy…"

"Well, today you're off, so take the time to catch up with people." The regal business woman waved her hand dismissively, motioning for him to go.

"Of course, Lady Ningguang… Just be sure to rest too. You're one of the key pieces…" Kazuha bowed his head, before leaving an amused Ningguang.

On the way out, he nearly bumped into Keqing who also seemed to be leaving.

"Ack. Kazuha! Watch where you're going! Where are you even going?" She growled from the annoyance of nearly falling over.

"Sorry, i've been given the rest of the time until the battle off, so i'll be picking up Sayu to explore Liyue." Kazuha explained, getting Keqing to widen her eyes.

"So you're basically done working for us until the battle?"

"It seems so. I believe I should go visit my captain since it has been quite some time since i've seen her." Kazuha gave a smile as Keqing clenched her fists, before relaxing them.

"Then let's spend that time together…" Keqing offered, maintaining her composure to prevent herself from stuttering.

"Mm? Why not? Despite us working together for a month and a half, we hardly had time to simply enjoy down time together." Kazuha didn't bat an eye at the suggestion, getting Keqing to brighten up. "Don't you have quite a lot of work yourself though? Despite us almost everything, you still have more than just your duties for the Liyue Qixing, right?"

Keqing immediately deflated, realizing he was completely right.

Whenever she wasn't stuck at a desk, she would walk Liyue to make sure nothing was wrong. While she could easily have Kazuha stay with her, it wouldn't do if she repeatedly had to stop and assist others.

She was about ready to take back the offer, but Kazuha didn't seem to mind.

"Why don't I follow you around and help you then?" He offered, getting a look of surprise from her.

"Wh-wh-wha? Don't you want to explore yourself? You'd be slowed down by my own duties if you come with me." Keqing protested, but Kazuha simply gave a shrug.

"I don't know what Liyue has to offer and who better than The Yuheng of Qixing?" He asked rhetorically, getting her to blush at the mention of her title.

"Don't call me that!" She shouted before remembering she had an image and composing herself. "A-anyways, we can meet up at my house as always. Will you bring Sayu along with us?"

"Sayu? No, I think she'd rather stay in one place rather than walk around a lot, so why don't we just have it so it's just us two?"

Thunk.

Kazuha jumped back in surprise as Keqing suddenly dropped the stack of books she had with wide eyes.

"A-are you okay?" Kazuha asked, but she immediately collected herself, reaching down to immediately gather and pick up all the books in one go before giving him a bright smile.

"Yes! Of course! I-i'll meet you later! We can definitely do that!" Keqing spoke rapidly. "I'll be sure to show you everything Liyue has to offer!"

Before Kazuha could respond, Keqing had run off to her office, leaving a speechless Kazuha behind.

"You're only playing at being oblivious, right?" Mini Miko asked from his shoulder, to which Kazuha simply gave a small apologetic smile.

"Somewhere along the way, I realized what was happening. I was going to try to keep some distance, but it appears i've gotten attached."

"Uuuu… Kazuha's so mean…" Rosalyn whined a bit further from them, sulking like a child not getting enough attention.

"And her too, right…?" Mini Miko whispered to him, to which he could only sigh in response.

Later

Keqing was feeling nervous as she walked alongside Kazuha through the streets of Liyue.

She had debated over and over whether or not she should have changed her clothes, but reminding herself that Kazuha had worn the same outfit everyday was enough to dissuade her from the idea.

Despite him wearing the same clothes everyday, she found it strange that he didn't look dirty and that his clothes showed no sign of wear and tear.

This caused her mind to come to the conclusion that he had to have washed his clothes while sewing any damages caused to them.

This led her mind to imagining Kazuha wearing nothing as he went about his day in her home maintaining his clothes.

"Cough cough cough!" Keqing was caught by surprise by her own sudden thoughts, leading to a hitch in her breath as she began coughing hard.

"Lady Keqing, are you okay?" Kazuha asked, bringing his arms around her to hold her steady as he tried to assist her, surprised that she suddenly became coughing out of nowhere.

"Y-yes! I'm fine! I simply had something in my throat!" She exclaimed,shoving him away despite her own reluctance.

She needed to keep her emotions in check. She was a grown lady after all! Not some shy schoolgirl.

"Lady Keqing, you seem rather dazed. Perhaps you should relax at home. I'll take over your duties for the day." Kazuha suggested, examining her face with a worried expression.

"N-no! I'm fine! Really! Just caught off guard. As a matter of fact, we can start walking again right now!" Keqing stammered out, immediately trying to push the ronin to begin moving again.

She didn't want to admit it, but after he had reminded her again that he'd be leaving once his work here was done, she felt a pang of heartache in her chest.

She had grown rather accustomed to seeing him every day once she woke up in her own home as he and Sayu brought a warmth to it after she had treated it as nothing but a storage place.

It was also rather interesting to listen to him from his poetic ways of describing even the simplest of things to how tender he was with her in spite of her abrasive attitude with him.

He didn't try to press the issue further, simply waiting for her to take her time to recover.

"Thank you… Sorry." She murmured, but he simply waved her off.

"No worries. We can take our time for once on things, so we're in no rush."

"Well, I have an idea of where we should go first before meeting with my captain." Kazuha thought, holding his hand to his chin as he looked up as if the idea had just struck.

"Huh? Where?" Keqing looked genuinely surprised since she didn't expect Kazuha to have any interest in any specific place in Liyue.

"One of the few places I frequent whenever we stop in Liyue is the Heyu Tea House. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance this time with how busy we had been." He explained, to which Keqing raised an eyebrow.

"The Heyu Tea house is known for being notoriously difficult to get in. It's strange that you're able to reserve a seat so easily." She looked at him with a doubtful gaze, but he returned his own stare.

"Reserve? I don't believe I've ever had to reserve a seat there…"

Keqing could only blink in surprise.

"You're able to just get a seat whenever you happen to stop by in Liyue?" She asked incredulously.

"Ah, yes. I became good friends with an employee there and after she told the owner that I was a frequent traveler from Inazuma, they decided that I simply only needed to pay and i'll be able to come in whenever."

"Then you're being given favortism! No other travelers get special treatment like that!" Keqing exclaimed.

"Really? I had assumed there was a special policy for outsiders to get a chance to experience such a lovely show." Kazuha looked rather surprised, to which Keqing could only sigh.

"Even high ranking officials in Liyue have a hard time getting a seat there. I myself never have the time to participate, but even I know how much a simple afternoon is worth."

"Well, none of that matters now, I suppose. I need to meet with my friend there to discuss some of the things we are planning anyways."

"Huh? I thought you were the one to say it was time to relax. Why are you still worrying about work?" She noticed the hypocrisy immediately, getting him to laugh nervously.

"Well, I couldn't simply take leave to visit with how much was going on, but I believe that this is a good opportunity and would be integral for the festival we're planning on after Beisht's defeat."

"Mnnn… Okay. " Keqing didn't like how she was being told to relax a bit more while he was still working during his vacation, but she supposed that she was still technically patrolling anyways.

Heyu Teahouse

The pair had made it to the tea house which was bustling as always from what Kazuha could remember, but instead of making their way through the crowd, Kazuha instead went through the rear entrance.

"They just let you in through the back?" Keqing asked.

"No, they just never lock the rear entrance and don't seem to mind me using it." He admitted.

"Th-this counts as an illegal entry!" Keqing began to panic before Kazuha held up his finger.

"Wrong. The owner is aware that I entered this way and has accepted it. This is a mutual agreement." He corrected, getting her to pout.

"Kaedehara Kazuha, it's so good to see you come by." A voice called out, getting a slight eep from Keqing before she turned to see the director of the Yun-Han Opera Troupe sitting on a chair, delicately doing her hair. "Oh? What's this? Have you finally brought a date here?"

"Of course not, Yun Jin. We're merely here as friends." Kazuha denied the remark, getting a smile from the regal girl.

"Ah, how unfortunate. For a moment I thought we weren't good enough for you to try and romance a girl, Kaedehara." Yun Jin giggled in a friendly manner.

"Nnnnn…" Keqing felt like her heart was experiencing too many tugs up and down as of late, but she steadied it by merely introducing herself. "I'm Keqing of the Liyue Qixing. I'm here as a plus one with Kazuha to relax after our hard work. It's a pleasure to properly meet you Lady Yun Jin, I've heard amazing things about your performances and I doubt that i'll be disappointed."

With the grace one would expect from someone of her appearance, Keqing gave a polite curtsy, prompting Yun Jin to temporarily look surprised before returning to her calm smile as she stood up to give her own polite curtsy.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Keqing. We here at the Heyu Tea House have heard many times about how incredibly diligent and brilliant you are. I hope I can impress someone as amazing as you." She returned the pleasantries before giving Kazuha a side glance. "I'm sure you both will enjoy today's show as it was written personally by me."

Without another word, she gave another curtsy before twirling on her heels to get ready for her performance.

"Hello again, boy. I see Captain Beidou is not with you again this time. Is she busy again?" An old man who Keqing didn't recognize appeared to lead them to their table.

"No. I haven't seen the Captain in almost two months, but I think she's just not comfortable being around so many people. I can assure you that she did enjoy The Yun-Han Opera's show, Mister Er'ye." Kazuha spoke amicably with the servant.

"Ah, at least this time you've brought someone with you… Remember, boy. You may be young, but dragging your feet will leave you with many regrets…" The old man chided before turning towards Keqing with a warm smile. "And you, Miss Keqing, I truly hope Yun Jin's performance is able to touch your heart today."

"O-of course!" Keqing stammered, unsure what he meant by that, getting a hearty chuckle from the old man as he prepared a table directly in front of the stage.

"Here you kids go. Perfect view of the stage and an even better view of our star performer!" The old man left them with a wave.

"Who was that?" Keqing asked, curiously, having not found a chance to ask for his full name.

"Fan Er'ye, I'm sure you should know him as the owner of this Tea House."

"Urk…" Keqing did remember that last name, but it didn't click with her at the moment for a reason.

"Hey, it's starting." Kazuha drew her attention towards the stage and standing there was Yun Jin who did her introduction before beginning the story.

Now, Kazuha felt like he was a pretty humble person, but the story seemed to be eerily familiar, depicting a fallen noble who worked diligently to restore the honor of his clan, resulting in him clashing against a god herself to curry respect and grant his blessing to bring back the glory of his people.

It didn't stop there however, as that very same noble was a ronin who traveled to eventually meet another practitioner of the sword. Both were renowned wielders of the blade who had their own beliefs against gods and within their similarities, they found love…

Kazuha watched quietly and politely, but he was doing all he could to contain himself as Mini Miko was hysterical as she rolled around at the depiction of Kazuha that was being shown.

Rosalyn however, was bawling as she could hardly contain her tears, threatening to flood the place.

At least his two companions seemed to have gotten something out of the play, which reminded him that he was with someone else this time besides his two spiritual friends.

Kazuha looked over to Keqing to see how she felt about the performance and found that she was looking straight at him.

"?!"

Thinking back on it, everything in the story was rather embellished, such as the samurai fighting for the honor of his clan and how the glory was restored through battling a god, not to mention he was almost certain that everything involving the samurai's love life had nothing to do with him.

Keqing however, seemed to be thinking differently as the two had been right next to each other throughout the entire show.

Yun Jin was now performing a different piece, depicting the story of a single maiden who waited countless lifetimes for her true love to notice her, but that wasn't his concern right now.

Keqing seemed lost in thought as her hand steadily drew closer to his and Kazuha understood what was going on.

He could hear it already. The faint whispers of the people of Liyue. Rumors circulating about him and Keqing walking to and from work together. The gossip of the people along with the spreading of what happened in Inazuma was circulating resulting in Yun Jin seemingly picking it up and deciding to make it into a play.

Now Keqing didn't seem to know anything about the circulating rumors, but she seemed to have developed some feelings for him over the past couple of weeks. With The Yun-Han Opera's performance laying out what she had been craving…

"Kazuha…?" Keqing whispered his name, but he didn't need to know what she was asking.

Steadily their hands drew nearer, but suddenly he felt a pressure on his chest. The world seemed to throb as he heard his own voice seemingly echo in his mind.

"You're married… You're a taken man…"

If he had noticed, he'd have known that the second vision he had received from that other crack in time was glowing frantically, but with the bright lights coming from the stage, no one could see it.

He didn't understand it, but whatever this voice was, it didn't like the idea of him getting intimate with Keqing. He would have retracted his hand immediately, but he was painfully aware of how that action would affect her who had finally gathered the courage to make such a move.

No matter what, it'd be cruel and heartless to reject her like this, so he powered through the voice in his head telling him not to.

Slowly, their hands clasped together and Keqing seemed to have snapped out of her daze before smiling, unaware of Kazuha's own dilemma.

She pressed herself to him, getting comfortable before returning her attention to Yun Jin's performance.

…

How cute.

Kazuha felt like all of his love interests seemed to come with some sort of pain.

Inazuma

Kokomi was in a foul mood.

She wasn't sure why, but she felt like there was something she wasn't sure of and when she wasn't sure of something, she became extremely moody.

Something was wrong and she had no way to find out what.

It didn't help that that damned Vixen had begun publishing a new light novel series.

It was a rom com which told a story about the daily escapades of a Ronin and a beautiful Kitsune as they experienced the world together in spite of the "cruel priestess of the sea" who disapproved of their relationship and wanted nothing more than to separate their love.

While the parallels she was trying to make were pretty clear, this had garnered some questions on whether the story was true or not and suddenly people were fanatics about the idea of a Samurai meeting and falling in love with a Kitsune.

"That's just playing dirty…" Kokomi gnashed her teeth, before she cooled herself down, reminding herself that this was just a petty and childish attack.

Inazuma had been experiencing a reform over the past months and one of the policies that had been agreed upon was who should actually manage Inazuma.

While The Electro Archon was indeed incredibly powerful, many questions had been raised (thanks to her) about whether that meant she should be responsible for the many difficulties and nuances that come with governing a nation.

This seemed rather reasonable so the Raiden Shogun actually stepped down, stating that while she would allow someone to have authority over the lands of Inazuma, she would still execute those that she deems as unworthy. She would watch over her people and defend them, but her lack of knowledge with the specifics will be left to whoever the people would decide to be fit.

Naturally, the threat of death looming over their head if they meet the Raiden Shogun's ire was enough to deter many people to try and gain the seat, but that didn't mean two notable political figures cared.

Yae Miko and Sangonomiya Kokomi were currently locked in a political campaign on who would be most fit to manage Inazuma and the way things were going, no one was capable of telling who would win.

The stress from trying to go against the Head Priestess of Narukami Shrine was weighing on her, but she was persevering.

She had the benefit of being The Resistance Leader which had garnered her a huge following of people who were sympathetic to those who had lost their vision.

Yae Miko had played a key role in saving Inazuma, but the people were unaware of how much, leading them with the image of Kokomi being the one who actively fought for their people.

However, The Guuji had behind her centuries of experience and knowledge as well as an impressive resume in what she had done for Inazuma even before Kokomi was born.

There was no way for her to surmount that so she had to find other angles.

In the end, this was just another obstacle for her to overcome and another way to gain control. With Kazuha returning to be a noble, it'd be good for her to take position of running Inazuma so she'd have him in a much easier to control position.

Another short 3k that was admittedly finished right after the last one, but I kept rewriting over and over because my plans got messed up by canon.

Liben was supposed to show up here, but I swapped it out because it didn't feel right.

Yun Jin however was the awkward piece because I was going to make her and Kazuha meet for the first time, but it turned out in the ACTUAL canon, Yun Jin at least already knows Kazuha by his full name as he's a frequent visitor.

Welp. Time to swap that up.

As for Kazuha himself, there are still some pieces from the other Inazuma that will still affect him and to Kageroudaze, I can tell you that it is not Keqing that is the unknown wife that our other Kazuha got married to.

If you all want a short list of waifus that Kazuha will have potential to go for and those who won't, here it is:

Amber, Barbara, Eula, Fischl, Jean, Lisa, Noelle, Rosaria, Sucrose: No. Monstadt waifus are generally paired with the Monstadt men here unlike Liyue for me.

Ayaka: I'm pulling the arranged marriage card, but it's not going to be smooth sailing.

Beidou: Good question. You guys tell me what you think on Beidou and how it'd work.

Ganyu: Feels better with Xiao.

Hu Tao: Poetic girl with a connection to the supernatural to balance with Kazuha's connection with nature.

Keqing: Liyue's Ace swordswoman who parallels with Ningguang the same way Kazuha does with Beidou

Kokomi: I made her a yandere…

Sara: With Itto.

Mona: Maybe. Everyone loves Mona and she meshes rather well with Kazuha's personality for me.

Ningguang: Hm. Hmm… I don't know. If i'm struggling with Beidou, I feel like Ningguang would be legendary difficulty. Seems like she'd be interested in her own things rather than some samurai noble.

Ei: Eventually. Right now Raiden Shogun is taking charge though.

Shenhe: Stay tuned.

Xiangling, Xinyan and Yunjin: Liyue waifus who I don't have a good grasp on, but it's unlikely all three will make the cut.

Yae Miko: Kazuha has TWO controlling pink haired waifus to be wary of.

Yanfei: Do I see a THIRD?! No. Yanfei will likely be a cute subordinate love interest as opposed to triggering Kazuha's danger sense.

Yoimiya: Hu Tao's competition