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The water's surface ripples as a faint breeze disturbs the quiet of Chinju forest, only just drowned out by the gentle trickling of the stream. Lumine steps out first, feet treading seamlessly between the Realm Within and the rocky path beyond. She tightens her wrist guard absentmindedly, rolling stiff shoulders back.
"Hurry up, Lumi! Paimon can't believe you almost overslept again."
Lumine bites back another yawn, blearily rubbing her eyes as she tries to dispel the faint throbbing of her head. The pit in her stomach, however, she is less able to dislodge. As with nearly every morning, the ground beneath her feels shaky, as though it might dissolve entirely in the span of a moment. Her feet do not tremble, but it's a near thing. Under her breath, "I'm up, aren't I? And I didn't even get to have breakfast..."
The fairy tugs fruitlessly at Lumine's cape. "If you take much longer, all the good commissions will be gone! And then we won't be able to go to Xinyue Kiosk for dinner!"
"Paimon," Lumine drawls, carefully tucking the Serenitea pot back into her knapsack, "I was never planning on going there in the first place." She fakes a pout. "Is their cooking really that much better than mine?"
"W-well, not really..." Paimon taps her fingers together sheepishly. "But it just feels so fancy and expensive!"
"Because it is expensive."
"Even so... Paimon wants to take another trip there! Is Childe still in Liyue? Maybe he'd agree to take us!"
Lumine purses her lips as she scans the narrow area ahead for any lingering Nobushi. One almost always paces about nearby, but today the coast seems to be clear. It hardly matters, with how easily she cuts them down, but she makes note of the difference nonetheless when she passes by its usual haunt. She has long since learned not to dismiss any minute change in her surroundings. "We've been bumping into too many Harbingers recently. I'd rather not seek one out voluntarily unless we absolutely need to."
Paimon floats on beside her, entirely oblivious. "Oh... is that why you ended your weekly spars?"
"I guess you could say that," Lumine sighs as activates her glider, then leaps down over the small waterfall without breaking stride. She smiles wryly as she does, as Paimon once again chides her for insisting on the most direct path.
"Wai—hey, stop! Lumi, you'll get your glider wet!"
"No, I won't," Lumine responds lightly. She dismisses the false wings into their allotted subspace, back twitching with a phantom ache that still rankles after all these months; yet another reminder of how grounded she has become. How terribly ordinary. Lumine continues where she left off rather absentmindedly, halting as they reach the end of the ravine, "Ei is a better sparring partner anyhow—"
She tenses, then deliberately relaxes her frame.
"Lumine? What's wrong?"
Lumine walks on ahead, nodding to a figure perched by the steps leading to the Kamisato estate. The warm light of the red street lamp illuminates Shikanoin Heizou's thoughtful form, which would otherwise blend in with the reds and browns of his surroundings. Wine-red hair sprawls across his shoulders, unbound, and a flash of light draws her gaze away from the startlingly long tresses to a pair of handguards set down by his hand. He sits with one leg drawn up to his chest, a small book propped against it, seemingly two-thirds of the way through. Yet the detective's gaze is directed elsewhere, firmly fixed on the point along the horizon where the sun begins its slow ascent into the wakening sky.
The Traveler bites back a smile at the welcome sight. Solving someone else's problems has always helped take her mind off of her own, after all, and Heizou's problems are always ever so interesting. It certainly doesn't hurt that the man himself is quick-witted and entertaining, with a flare for the dramatic—the perfect distraction, indeed.
Paimon seems to spot him then, and she waves and prepares to call out, only to stop when Lumine raises her hand, shaking her head. "Let's not disturb him just yet."
Sharp green eyes find hers before the words are out, a hint of mischief lurking within. Heizou hops to his feet, previous focus forgotten as he walks over to greet them with his customary blitheness.
"Traveler, Paimon! Fancy meeting you here at this hour. This must be fate." His book is tucked beneath his arm, but the handguards have been left by the worn torii gate. Intentionally, or not, is hard to say. The uncertainty of it all irks Lumine, but she is as careful as always to keep her face blank and open.
Paimon, meanwhile, goes immediately on the offensive. "Heizou! Have you been following us?!" Her little features scrunch into an irritated glare.
The detective flashes a disarming smile, his voice a light drawl. "Certainly not. Whatever gave you that idea?" He reaches for his book, holding it out to Lumine. "Would you mind holding onto this for me for a moment?"
Lumine takes the proffered item without protest, barely glancing at the title. A light novel, hmm?
Heizou quickly unwounds a long black ribbon from around his wrist. Lumine makes to take that for him, too, but before she can, he slots the ribbon between his lips and bites down as he quickly and efficiently gathers his hair. The deep red locks are tied back with a bow mere seconds later, and Lumine tells herself she isn't disappointed.
"Oooh, Paimon just knows you're up to something suspicious! Why else would you be around here so early in the morning?" The fairy kicks the air beneath her indignantly.
"Well, if my presence here is suspicious," Heizou grins, apparently enjoying this repartee (or simply pushing Paimon's buttons), "Then by that logic, would yours not be similarly suspect?"
Of all their past interactions, this one seems to offend Paimon the most. Lumine feels a headache coming on, and so puts an end to the tiresome exchange. "Paimon. Weren't you the one harping on about being late? Now who's wasting time?"
Heizou perks up, interest piqued. "Taking commissions this early in the morning? You really are as helpful as they say, Traveler."
"W-well," Paimon places her hands on her hips, expression torn. "Fine! You can tell us why you were looking for us on the way. C'mon, Traveler, let's get moving!"
Lumine sighs inwardly, preparing herself for the long trek ahead.
What a day to skip breakfast.
---
"Wow, a case that's stumping even you?" Earlier pique pushed aside, Paimon's guileless face attests to the strength of her curiosity. "What's it about? Ooh, maybe the Traveler can help you solve it! Just like last time!" She gestures confidently, and, unbidden, Lumine feels a tendril of affection curl around her chest.
The detective sighs theatrically, looking well and truly lost. "Highly confidential, I'm afraid, and I'm not sure I even have the right frame of reference to go about solving it. I was up all night pondering the case," he continues, shaking his head, "and then I thought, 'Who better to help me with this than the Traveler?' After all, you've been an invaluable asset with two of my cases already."
"Aha! So you were looking for us!" Ire recalled, Paimon looks triumphant in her declaration. "It wasn't 'fate' at all!"
Heizou smiles, smoothing back his hair sheepishly. "So I was. I had heard that you often travel to Inazuma City from through the Chinju forest area, so I naturally assumed you were staying at the Kamisato estate. I decided to pay the place a visit and ask for your help, only to learn that your last visit there was months ago. I figured you had to have set up camp somewhere in the forest, so as not to be disturbed." His intelligent eyes shift to Lumine, clearly intrigued. He moves to speak once more, but seems to think better of it.
"Wow, so this is Detective Heizou's magical intuition at work!" Paimon exclaims.
"Not so," the detective smiles, eyes twinkling. "It only took a little bit of logical thinking. My intuition is rather more impressive than that, I would hope."
Lumine coughs, hiding her own smile at the veiled barb. Though kind and well-meaning, Paimon is hardly the sharpest tool in the shed. Logical thinking would seem like something of a superpower, in her mind. Heizou's smile seems to widen at her reaction.
"Well..." The fairy frowns, eyebrows furrowing deeply. "If you can't tell us anything, and you're not even sure where to start... then how would we be able to help you? Paimon thinks our commissions are usually more straightforward than this..."
Heizou perks up and turns to the Traveler. "Actually, my dear partner, I was hoping I could accompany you for a day. You're an adventurer, after all! You must see so many unusual situations all the time. Maybe broadening my own experiences will help me think differently, and show me how to approach the case from a better angle."
"Hmm... our daily routine isn't all that different from a typical adventurer's, actually. Paimon doesn't know that you would learn much from it." As the fairy details the many banal errands the duo has been forced to run in the past, Lumine thinks back to a pair of handguards. Her own intuition tells her that this is one commission she shouldn't accept, though she isn't quite sure why. It isn't as though she hasn't traveled with friends in the past, some she'd only met days prior.
"...but maybe Katheryne will have something special today! You never know!" Paimon finishes, all smiles at the thought of a special commission—with special pay. "And if you solve the case, it'll no longer be confidential, right?"
"Hmm, perhaps so," Heizou replies cryptically. His gaze shifts again, as though involuntarily, to the silent Traveler.
"Yay!" Paimon cheers. "Let's go solve this case!"
Lumine says nothing, an assent by her standards, and carefully conceals her unease as they finally arrive at the city proper.
Better to investigate it up close, if something is truly amiss.
---
"Really? In broad daylight?"
"Right?! Paimon has always said that—mmph!" Lumine claps a hand over Paimon's mouth, eyeing the supplies carefully. The Traveler then turns to her companions, ignoring the angry fairy's fruitless attempts to shake her off. Considering Heizou for but a moment before looking away, Lumine dismisses him out of hand as well.
"Both of you stay put." The Traveler rolls her right wrist casually, dismissing her sword.
Heizou outright pouts at her. "What? You don't think I could help you? As the Tenryou Commission's sharpest and most successful detective, I sneak around to obtain evidence all the time, you know."
He winks.
What a thing to be proud of. Both of them ignore the fairy presently trying and failing to pry Lumine's fingers from her cheeks. "You'd only distract me."
The detective rests a hand at his hip, suddenly all smiles. "Oh, am I really so distracting?"
The Traveler hardly even blinks. "Yes. You talk too much." She turns back to the now-fuming fairy, shooting her a stern glance. "You, too."
Paimon narrows her eyes, but ceases struggling eventually. Something else passes between the two travelers, heavy with hidden meaning. After a brief pause, Lumine pulls her hand away. Heizou watches the exchange with a furrowed brow.
Lumine takes a few seconds to mentally retrace her chosen path, mindful of the eyes gazing at her. Even from afar, the detective's interest is somewhat unnerving; it is as though she is a specimen to be poked and prodded, every detail considered with the strictest scrutiny. Like one of Albedo's experiments, careful as she was to sabotage that last one—and even then, the alchemist was hardly as attentive to Lumine herself. Heizou's eyes have yet to move away from her form, giving her little breathing room. Celestia's eternal gaze is not half so watchful.
She shakes her head, moving towards the camp in silence. Better to focus on the task at hand.
---
(Heizou and Paimon watch as Lumine cuts down yet another Nobushi without so much as breaking a sweat. By the contempt on the Traveler's face, you'd think they were pesky flies buzzing around her, and not once-venerated samurai from illustrious, if long-dead clans.
After running around to two other locations on opposite sides of Narukami Island, perhaps they are just that.
"You know, I've always wondered—does she always go by 'Traveler'?" Heizou tilts his head as Lumine's sword cuts down in one clean, smooth arc, hips and feet twisting to lend the movement further strength. Strength that the detective suspects she doesn't really need.
Paimon nods. "In Mondstadt, people call her Honorary Knight, but for the most part everyone else calls her Traveler." The fairy crosses her arms proudly. "Everyone who knows anything knows who the Traveler is! Much easier to know a title than remember a name."
Heizou's head tilts further. "Does she have a reason for keeping it a secret?"
"S-secret?" At this, Paimon begins to look somewhat cagey. "It's not like that at all! She—lost her memories, when Paimon first found her. Paimon saw she was wearing traveling clothes, so Paimon said she should just call herself that until she remembers! The Traveler's been the Traveler ever since."
"Hmm," is all Heizou says in response, watching Lumine pick up the Nobushi's fallen handguards.)
---
"Paimon still thinks luminescent spines would have been better dye materials," the fairy sighs. "If Ogura Mio was really that skilled, she'd make a one-of-a-kind glowing kimono! I bet wealthy Inazuman ladies would love to wear something so unique!" She waves Katheryne farewell, then smiles down at the small pouch of mora trapped between her greedy little palms, the group's (or the Traveler's, really) reward for the day's commissions. That the paltry sum is but a drop in the ocean of Lumine's hoarded ley line spoils, tucked safely out of reach, does not seem to dampen her enthusiasm for it.
Lumine hums, thoughts drifting to the ethereal, glowing robes of her homeland. The image has grown fainter over the centuries, and she crushes the useless nostalgia the moment it rises—yet it still throbs like a shallow bruise, silent and dull and unmistakably there the moment she is no longer focused on something else. Frustrated by her own weakness, she tunes back into Paimon's mindless chatter. "...and if it takes off, maybe we'll get some royalties!"
Heizou eyes the pouch curiously. "I'd always heard that the Guild doesn't pay, but this seems a little..."
"It definitely isn't enough to get a table at Xinyue Kiosk..." Paimon pouts, poking at the little bag, "But most of an adventurer's income comes from treasure, anyhow!" The fairy's eyes gleam at the thought before they glaze over, no doubt lost in fond memories of banquets past.
"Xinyue Kiosk?" Heizou blinks. "A restaurant in Liyue, I presume."
With her fairy friend temporarily out of commission, Lumine hums her agreement. "Paimon wanted to eat there tonight, but Liyue is all the way across the sea—not very practical. I don't think Beidou will be returning to Ritou for some time." Better not to mention anything about Waypoints. "Not that they sell anything I couldn't just make at home, but Paimon isn't one for that kind of logic."
"I do recall hearing of your culinary prowess," Heizou muses. "Why not persuade her with a dish or two from the menu? Of your making, I mean."
"I would be frying golden crab every single day," Lumine says flatly.
"Ooo, golden crab! Paimon wants golden crab!" Jostled from her daydreams at the mere mention of food, Paimon stares at her companion entreatingly. Finding no sympathy there, the fairy turns her sights onto Heizou's amused face.
Lumine realizes her mistake at once.
"You must be hungry after a long morning of travel, too, Heizou! Don't you think we should rest in the teapot for lunch before we set out again?" The fairy bounces in the air, face lighting up with what is bound to be a disastrous idea. "Ooh, you know what? We have loads of trinkets from our past adventures back at home! Paimon could tell you all about them while the Traveler's busy cooking."
So domestic, some ancient, angry part of her sneers. She bats it away, this time with far more success.
Heizou's smiling response is as sincere as his eyes are sharp. "If it wouldn't be an imposition for you, Traveler, that does sound like a lovely idea."
To his credit, Heizou does not leave Lumine to all the cooking while he and Paimon lounge about in the Realm Within.
Unfortunately for Lumine, however, who was hoping he would do just that, this means she is not spared even a moment to regroup and puzzle out just what mystery he is attempting to resolve. It's clear enough to the otherworldly traveler that the detective was hoping to secure an invitation to her abode, but that he doesn't immediately go snooping around the place throws her off; after all, his eyes have been trained almost entirely on her the whole morning. And from Paimon's guilty glances on the way back to the teapot, the fairy had likely been less discreet than Lumine would have hoped. It is almost as though Heizou suspects he would learn very little of what he hopes to understand from analyzing her home, even with a loose-lipped fairy from whom he could easily wheedle information.
And so being alone with Heizou is much, much worse.
"Mora for your thoughts?"
Lumine doesn't jump, but it's a near thing. She hums, reaching for her spice shelf. "I'm sure you could guess."
"Maybe," Heizou agrees as he takes a glance at her recipe book, meticulously setting out the listed vegetables, "but you've been antsy all day, and much quieter than usual. Bottling up all your thoughts isn't very healthy in the long term, you know."
"Not very healthy, huh?" At this, Lumine glances at the detective and then to the array of fried food dishes laid out on the kitchen counter. You're one to talk, she retorts silently.
Heizou sniffs, patting twice at the flour lingering on his apron before leaning against that same counter, hiding the dishes from view. "Jade parcels are healthy," he counters with a cajoling smile. "Besides, with all the fighting you've done today, I don't think a light salad would be enough to fill your stomach." He taps at the corner of his mouth. "In fact, why don't you go and rest awhile while I prep up another plate or two? Healthy ones, detective's honor," Heizou pledges, noting Lumine's skeptical face. "You can go on and hide anything you don't want me to see while I'm at it," the detective winks, face turning sly.
Lumine squints, ire sparking at the challenge. "There's nothing to hide," she proclaims, blatantly lying. "Besides, it would be rude of me to leave a guest in the kitchen all alone."
Life was so much easier when she had Paimon to fend him off.
Heizou's smile widens. "Well, I suppose that must be true," he nods, mock-solemn. As though reading her mind, "Otherwise your Voice would be here trying to distract me for you. Unless..." Heizou trails off almost absentmindedly, but his eyes positively gleam. "My dear partner," he begins slowly, putting in what Lumine decides is far too much emphasis on each honeyed word, "I knew you liked spending time with me, but I had no idea you enjoyed my company enough to risk your own secrets just to have me all to yourself."
"Wh—" Lumine's eyes fly wide as she splutters, all thoughts of a witty retort dying a swift and merciless death.
He goes on. "Is that why you were eyeing my hair so intently this morning? And here I thought that a leaf had fallen onto my poor, unsuspecting shoulder."
And suddenly the room is uncomfortably hot.
Dimly, the little corner of her brain not busy screeching notes the strangeness of Shikanoin Heizou, detective extraordinaire, being the one to divert attention from a mystery he has been so singlemindedly focused on solving. The rest of her is already reaching for the nearest Waypoint, consequences be damned.
"Hey, wait." A hand lands on her shoulder, light and warm and so devoid of intent that Lumine's panic abates almost immediately, though the warmth in her cheeks lingers. How he possibly could have known she was about to bolt is hard to say, but then she has seen his so-called 'intuition' defy logic many a time in the past. The hand retracts, then, leaving her at once grateful and disappointed. "I apologize, what I meant to say was that I won't push if you really don't want me to know." Heizou sighs. "I won't pretend I'm not incredibly curious, but you know I've never seen people as simple cases to be solved, and I don't see you that way either—even if you do sometimes seem like a person built entirely from secrets. That's my problem, not yours."
Lumine pinches the bridge of her nose. "You couldn't have led with that instead?"
Heizou's expression shifts into something more mischievous in nature. "Well, I can't say I wasn't curious about another matter, too. It seemed like too great of an opportunity to pass up." At this he frowns, face sobering. "But not if it makes you uncomfortable in your own home."
Lumine swallows, something strange caught in her throat in the face of his sincerity. She pushes that aside for the time being, thinking carefully. "There are some things," she says slowly, "that you'd be much safer not knowing. That you would best pretend not to see."
The detective's brows furrow for a moment before his expression clears once more. He huffs out a laugh. "I don't quite know how to tell you this, Traveler, but I think that answers my questions after all."
She blinks, but nods in acceptance. "Let's finish up here, then. Paimon must be starving by now."
"You don't want to know what I've figured out?" Heizou cajoles, and Lumine knows he must be dying to tell her his thought process, all the things he has managed to gather through little more than a day's observation. Given that she'd unflinchingly decided to tell Ryuuji and Sango the truth about Takatsukasa Isamu's murder, he must certainly expect her to ask. But few truths are more difficult to face than those about yourself.
Lumine shakes her head firmly.
They make quick work of the last two dishes in companionable silence, and Heizou marvels at the way Lumine sends the finished dishes off to the dining table in a flurry of Serenitea-pot magic.
"Come on," Lumine sighs, brushing off her hands, "that little glutton really will start without us."