19th november 9:30

the hotel in inazuma was different than the ones you stayed at while you were in sumeru and liyue. if in sumeru the room was like an apartment, then in inazuma were more like dorms: there was one connecting room from which stretched two hallways filled with doors that led to smaller rooms; two bunk beds and a door leading to a bathroom.

unlike in the other hotels, this time you could freely choose with who you wanted to room. but because there was little privacy only the same gender was allowed in one room. you ended up sharing with ganyu, xiangling, and surprisingly teacher keqing. both classes agreed on each choosing one corridor, therefore b class' students would reside in hallway one, and class a's students would reside in hallway two.

keqing was the teacher of class b, therefore theoretically she should have been in hallway one and not hallway two, where a class' teacher also known as jean should be. but for some reason, the two teachers decided to privately 'exchange' their hallways and so you ended up with keqing as your third roommate.

since this was the first time scaramouche wasn't your roommate, it felt slightly off and weird, but nothing to think of.

currently, everyone had gathered in the living room and jean started talking, "as you probably know, inazuma is gonna be a little different. this time we will only have one collective activity while the rest will be spent on a competition - sightseeing and photography, in which you have to divide into groups of max five and a minimum of two and explore the islands of inazuma while taking breathtaking photos along the way. the reward for the group that wins will be a respective amount of tickets to a theater play which will be held back in celestia."

"now please divide into groups and register in that notebook on the coffee table. after you're done with that you are free, just remember that after two days, on wednesday we have a visit to another museum scheduled." keqing finished the teachers' speech and everyone began getting into groups.

i don't see xiangling and ganyu anywhere...

you looked around but couldn't spot the two girls you were looking for, instead, you saw scaramouche talking to childe.

i might as well form a group with them

making your way through the crowd you approached the two.

"i was about to ask if scaramouche wanted to join my group but seeing as you came, i'm sure he would be delighted to go with just you alone." scaramouche gave childe the side eye as he spoke.

"oh alright, let's go register? i initially thought you two are already in a group but whatever."

scaramouche sighed, "let's go."

does he have something against this?

you went to wait in line for the notebook and registered as a group with scaramouche.

"i remember childe once said you're from inazuma." you both were heading out of the hotel.

"i moved to celestia when i was nine, for educational purposes. i don't have many memories of this place, so if you wanted to ask if i know some places then my answer is no."

"oh alright." you felt slightly awkward. "then should we take a look at the guide we got before the speech?" you asked looking around.

"i didn't take it with me, and i don't think you remembered to take yours." scaramouche reminded.

"oh right, well uh, anyways, let's just look around the city first?"

"alright."

in the end, scaramouche ended up remembering a few places he once visited as a child and took you to them. none of the places were worthy to take photos for the submission, but for memories alone they were a good pick.

it was three in the afternoon and you were getting quite hungry.

"is there any sort of eating place around?" you asked in a rather whiny voice.

"eating place... your choice of words is unique, but yes, there is uyuu restaurant behind us." scaramouche questioned your sanity for a second before replying.

suddenly you could smell delicious cooking in the air, "let's go there, i'm hungry. it has been what, six hours since we left? i don't know anymore at this point." in all honesty, you were surprised by how much time already passed while exploring inazuma's capital.

walking into the restaurant a lot of dishes greeted you. there were separate tables at the side of the room and there were also a bunch of counters which were used as tables. behind one of those counters, a man stood awaiting the orders, and behind him were people cooking.

"hello, may we get the menu..." you asked looking around. the man handed you and scaramouche separate menus.

"i would like onigiri and egg rolls." after a long time of contemplating you finally chose the dishes.

"and you young man?" the waiter asked.

"i'll have katsu sandwiches."

"alright, please pick up your dishes here once they are ready." the man went off to talk with some of the cooks and you decided to go sit down at one of the separate tables.

"now that i'm thinking, the government did this part of the trip dirty," you spoke your thoughts.

"why?"

"well, back in sumeru and liyue we like had more activities and now they just shoved a competition on us and said go explore yourself for whole six days. well five full but doesn't change much."

scaramouche hummed in acknowledgment and suddenly got up, following his line of sight you noticed your food was ready. you also got up and went for it.

after you finished eating and paid the bill you decided to take at least one picture for today.

"i remember there was a small river flowing through the city so there's a bridge over it. maybe we should take it there?" you asked.

"it's right over there," scaramouche pointed to your right and you turned your head.

"oh, well it's very close at least." you turned your heel and walked towards it.

"there is a giant sakura tree up mount yougou, we will take a picture of that after we are done with this one."

"you want to hike up a mountain at almost four in the afternoon?" you asked, taken aback.

"there once used to be a shrine, centuries ago. now it's rundown but kept after since the sacred sakura is a popular tourist spot. there is a path up it, we don't have to climb an actual mountain for it so relax." something about his voice at the end made you feel butterflies.

"okay.."

it's not like i was tense about it or anything

after deciding on an appropriate angle to take a photo for the bridge scaramouche started leading you to mount yougou.

most of narukami island was the inazuma city and there wasn't much wildlife, so naturally, mount yougou had become a part of the city. even if it was a little out of it people still considered it a part of the capital city, therefore there were multiple public means of transport to it. and since you complained about walking too much, you ended up taking a bus to it.

"we should go to yashiori island tomorrow. honestly, ever since i heard that there is a bridge system throughout inazuma i wanted to visit it." you started talking about random stuff ever since you started walking up the mountain.

"you do know that there are also boats? if you are complaining about a walk just through the city, how are your legs gonna deal with walking across the sea?"

"don't make it sound as if you have to actually cross the sea. well, you kind of have to but it's not that much of a long distance and you are gonna be walking on probably wood anyway"

"they're made out of concrete."

"whatever, my point still stands."

scaramouche lightly huffed and silence erupted. not long lasting one though, cause soon enough you reached the top of the mountain and stood before the sacred sakura.

it was tall and thick, curving into the form of a kitsune head and branches sprouting from both directions. it lived for thousands of years and probably would continue to do so. pink petals fell from it and covered the ground.

there were blue markings painted throughout the trunk which you couldn't understand why were. at least it made the head look more alive, giving it a single eye with paint.

"why are some of the spots marked like that?" you asked after a moment of amazement.

"legends say that a long time ago those spots glowed blue so people began painting the rough parts to keep the 'majesty' of the tree." scaramouche answered looking around.

there were two shrines on each side, both made out of wood. some parts that were originally painted red began delaminating and slowly revealing the old wood that was succumbing to time and slowly molding.

the white paint covering far less of the buildings did better, it peeled off but less than the red one. there were a few piles of sakura petals on the ground covering the yellowish rocks. there were also a few stone slates mimicking a pathway that rested amidst the smaller rocks.

in the back, there was the third shrine, blocking the straight path to the tree and making you walk around it. apart from the sacred sakura, there were also smaller sakura trees around the shrine which did not blossom during this season.

even if magic left teyvat, the sacred sakura was sort of an exception, it blossomed at any time of the year and never withered even though what was assumed as its power source had long since run out of energy to give.

"let's take the picture now then," you remembered the reason why you were here after all.

you took a few steps back and pulled out your phone, found the perfect angle that contained the sacred sakura in all its glory, and took a photo.

"this sure is a beautiful sight. but honestly, what surprises me more is that you actually know about the painted parts." you spoke after putting your phone away.

"my mother once told me." scaramouche rather quietly answered.

"is she dead?" you asked, feeling suspicious of his rather sudden change of tone.

"what- no, why would you assume that? she's very alive and in fact lives here, on narukami island." scaramouche was taken aback by your sudden question.

"i remember childe saying you moved to celestia in your childhood though."

"yes we did, but this summer she suddenly grew nostalgic and decided to come back for a year." scaramouche scoffed.

that's rather sad, if she's only coming back in summer, who will attend your graduation?

a sad look crept onto your face but you quickly dismissed it.

"that reminds me, there is kannazuka before yashiori island. they're technically the same island yet the old people of inazuma considered them as two separate."

"why?" you grew curious.

"the only thing connecting them is a beach."

"you sure know a lot about inazuma for someone who says they don't remember their time here."

scaramouche looked at you, eyes filled with disbelief.

"what did you even learn in geography? no, did you even pass your geography back in 9th grade?" he suddenly asked.

"what? what does geography have to do with all of this?" you asked dumbfounded.

scaramouche looked at you for a moment and questioned your grades, "you learn about the nations in teyvat and outside of it in geography at one point." he finally answered.

"oh..." you suddenly felt embarrassed, "anyway, i want to go back now. it's getting pretty late." you quickly switched topics.

scaramouche sensed it but didn't pursue it any further, "alright, let's go back now."

something about this moment of turning back and walking down the mountain felt serene; as if a sudden wave of peace washed over you; like a person calmly accepting their final moments and a nice piano soundtrack playing in the background. even though when you phrase it like that it sounds a little scary.

when you reached the foot of the mountain and houses didn't look small anymore, you felt quite tired.

"is there a bus anytime soon? i don't think i'm gonna make it. my legs don't like this. this is too much walking, my ankle is screaming at me for exhausting it so much. ugh, i just want to go lie on a bed." you started complaining while following scaramouche.

"we are going to a bus stop to check it now, stop complaining."

"okay okay.."

a few minutes later you arrived at a bus stop and checked the schedule for it.

"six pm..." your eyes searched the paper pinned to the board, "oh there is one in a couple of minutes."

scaramouche who you ran past when the bus stop came in sight finally catched up to you with his leisure pace.

"and you said your legs hurt? with the way you ran back there, i couldn't say so, nor would the passersby."

"uh," you weren't sure how to reply so instead you sat down at the bench and waited for the bus.

the bus came and half an hour later you were back at the hotel. the sun had long since set down and the skies were dark. ganyu and xiangling were back from their day too so you all chatted then you went to take a shower, brushed your teeth, and went to sleep.

the next day you woke up at 8 in the morning and when you were brushing your teeth you realized that you didn't discuss at what time to meet up with your partner for the competition.

the hotel offered breakfast for a reasonable price so you decided to wake up xiangling and ganyu to go have it with them. after they got ready you went to the cafeteria (which you found surprising that a hotel has) and ordered your food then took it and went to sit down ar some table.

there were also other people from your class and the other one here too, but not a lot. you guessed that maybe some of them liked to sleep in or simply didn't come. when you were passing through the living room there was a single person in it, sitting on the couch and reading some book.

today the hotel offered miso soup for breakfast. not a dish you ever tasted but apparently xiangling had. well, she was a chef after all, it was no surprise when she told you she had made it a couple of times and liked it.

"oh right y/n, we couldn't find you yesterday, who did you pair with?" ganyu asked, putting her spoon down after finishing eating first.

"scaramouche and i assume you two registered together?" you answered.

"called it." xiangling unexpectedly said, "but to answer your question, yes me and ganyu paired!" she answered cheerfully.

"called it..?" you looked at ganyu.

"hehe..." she nervously giggled, "me and xiangling made a bet that you would pair with him if you didn't find us yesterday." ganyu confessed.

"oh, okay i guess," you muttered.

"anyways, how do you like this soup?" xiangling asked switching the topics.

"its fine. soup is soup. why would i think anything of it?" you sarcastically replied.

suddenly you heard laughter coming from your right.

"hahaha! you are a funny one comrade."

"childe? it's nice to see you!" xiangling greeted.

"yes, you too xiangling. didn't think y/n here would be such a comedian!"

"hello, i'm ganyu. i believe we haven't met, right?" ganyu introduced herself.

"ah yes hello, i'm childe. i have heard a few things about you so it's a great honor to be able to meet the vice president herself in person."

"for some reason, i feel that you aren't being genuine," you remarked finishing your soup.

but in reply childe laughed some more.

"i didn't think we would have a circus during this trip. say, childe, what is so funny that you keep laughing so much?" scaramouche suddenly entered the scene and asked in a rather annoyed tone.

you looked at scaramouche who was holding a tray on which two bowls were located, "not only did you make me carry your bowl, you suddenly go running off somewhere and start laughing."

you looked at scaramouche who entered the scene from your back, "hi."

he looked at you, slightly tilting his head down to mee your sitting body's gaze, "yes hi," and then he turned back to childe and was about to throw out an insult before the said man spoke first.

"i just heard y/n's and xiangling's voices so i came to meet my friends, what's so bad about it?" childe asked, feigning ignorance.

scaramouche's eyebrow twitched in reply and he suddenly gently smiled. "oh is that so?"

childe felt shivers run down his spine. he knew this smile a little too well.

"let's sit down with your friends then, if they do not mind." but he never waited for your approval, just sat down and childe followed him so.

ganyu, xiangling and childe were sitting on one side while you and scaramouche sat opposite them.

childe seemed to have forgotten his earlier unspoken fear and began talking, "so girls, how many photos have you taken already? how about we all spend this day together and find some places to take the photos at." he offered.

ganyu pondered over the invitation for a second, "sure, why not? xiangling do you mind?"

"no, i think it's a nice idea. how about you?" xiangling looked at you and then hesitantly at scaramouche.

"i have nothing against it." you shifted your attention to scaramouche, "will you come though?"

"alright."

it sounds more like i was convincing him not asking but okay...

"then let's head out after everyone has finished eating." ganyu said

"does anyone have any idea where we should go?" xiangling asked, finishing her soup.

"y/n wanted to go to the yashiori island yesterday." scaramouche surprisingly answered.

"let's go there then." childe announced.

after everyone finished eating and carried the dirty dishes to their designated area and got ready to leave, headed out for yashiori island.

everyone agreed to first take a bus to get as close to the bridge as possible and then have a long walk crossing it. in all honesty, crossing the bridge excited you more than actually getting to the island itself.

thankfully, you managed to find a bus that drove straight to the bridge and so you took it. since it was almost 10 pm on a tuesday there weren't a lot of passengers. just your group and two old ladies.

"wait, childe, you aren't in any of our groups, shouldn't you have invited your groupmate too?" xiangling got tangled with her words, not being sure how to phrase herself.

"oh yeah, i forgot about that." he nonchalantly admitted. "lemme text them real quick."

you sighed wondering how someone could forget that. ganyu had a worried expression and xiangling looked at childe in disbelief. as for scaramouche, he was mentally deadpanning at his friend's idiocy.

speaking about scaramouche, he was oddly quiet. almost as if he was planning someone's murder - you thought.

after a while, you arrived at your destination and got off. the two old ladies got off a few stops behind you and at one point the bus picked up another person who still sat as you got off the vehicle.

"the bridge is just over there," ganyu pointed infront of you.

"let's go," childe took the lead.

overall there weren't a lot of people around. just a couple of elders admiring the sea or tourists hiking across the bridge to the next island. the air was chilly, almost cold. it was granted taking into consideration that you were by the sea in winter though.

the city was definitely warmer

the bridge itself was more like a tunnel, with concrete floor and pillars reaching the bottom of the sea and a glass enclosure creating the tunnel effect, preventing the wind from messing with the people crossing the bridge.

"at least snow can't get in here," xiangling said looking around. " besides this has an interesting