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"woah."
that was the only thing heizou said as you two arrived to mawtiyima forest, a very popular forest located in sumeru's lokapala jungle.
with a soft smile on your face, you looked at heizou's wide green eyes as he stared at the large, fluorescent mushrooms that towered over you. that was also your reaction when you saw said forest for the first time.
"right? it's so pretty." you chuckled, e/c eyes falling on a particular mushroom that had a certain green glow to it, reminding you of heizou's own pretty eyes. "cyno once told me that this area," you pointed to where the large mushrooms were gathered, "was created by the ancient dreams and memories of the forest."
he couldn't help but scoff at the mention of cyno's name.
as you explained the origins of this forest, heizou seemed too drawn into its beauty to give you a proper response. with a soft laugh, you said: "of course, these are just ancient legends."
heizou's smile widened, then he looked at you, and you could notice the faint glow of the fluorescent mushrooms reflecting against his green hues.
since your pretty friend was leaving soon — in around two days — you decided to take him to your favorite place in all of sumeru, mawtiyima forest.
you actually thought it'd be a nice picnic spot, and that's why you had a cute little basket in your hand that consisted of a blanket and some food you prepared while heizou was asleep.
"it's really beautiful." he grinned, eyes crinkling as his lips tugged upwards.
so cute.
"the glow reminds me of watatsumi island." he said as the two of you walked through the forest, no sounds echoing in the empty forest except for your own, and a few birds chirping here and there. despite its popularity, mawtiyima forest doesn't get visitors often.
giving heizou a little smile of your own, you looked ahead of you as you two walked, "i wanna go there someday."
"when you come to inazuma," you liked how he said when, and not if. as if he's positive you'll actually go, "i'll show you around, hehe."
lightly chuckling, you nodded your head. "i look forward to it!"
and soon enough, the two of you settled under one of the giant mushrooms, sitting on the baby blue blanket you packed. you felt a bit awkward, mainly because heizou was sitting directly in front on you, his eyes staring into yours, and never leaving them.
it made your cheeks heat up a bit.
"you sure you want to leave?" you grinned as you took one of the sandwiches you packed, and when you did so, heizou's eyes left yours and instead scanned the things you packed for this little picnic date.
he noted that you must have put a lot of effort into making everything, and it made him feel a bit warm on the inside.
he scoffed, but just smiled at you right after, "it's not like i want to leave! trust me, if i could, i'd stay with you forever."
the way he said that so casually with that grin on his face made you feel embarrassed. gosh, he knew exactly how to make you flustered.
"but you know i'll definitely make some time for you and visit again."
when he said that, you paused chewing on your sandwich, and looked at him with slightly wide eyes.
"you plan to visit again?" that was a stupid question — you knew he planned to visit, but you didn't have any idea of when that will happen. you thought that maybe it should be you who visits inazuma next... unless he decides to surprise you again.
heizou softly chuckled, his cute laugh echoing in your ears and making your cheeks heat up. he looked so cute, as he sat there, the fluorescent lights of the mushrooms glowing against him, with a box of juice in his hand. "of course i'll visit. don't be stupid."
awkwardly chuckled, you nodded your head... again, this wasn't the right question you had in mind, "yeah, sorry. what i meant is..." you paused, thinking about it. "when will that happen?"
"wow, already asking about it? i'm still here, after all."
you wanted to slap that teasing grin off his face.
"heizou..."
he laughed at your grimaced expression, then he bit the straw of his juice as he grinned at you. "heheh, sorry!" he kept that shit-eating grin on his face. "but i'm not sure... hopefully soon, i hope."
"maybe i'll fly you out to inazuma! who knows."
that just made you sigh. you really didn't want him to spend anything to fly you out... if anything, you wanted to surprise him in return and visit inazuma without telling him... someday.
and after that, you two just sat in comfortable silence, eating your food, occasionally chatting about random stuff — you talked about your friends, complained a bit about the fact that you'll start college again in a week, and heizou talked about his friends back in inazuma.
as you two talked, you didn't even notice that heizou scooted closer to you, until the two of you sat next to each other, legs crossed and knees touching, but you didn't mind one bit. it put a little smile to your face, as you listened to him ramble about kazuha.
but even as you two kept talking, rambling about whatever, and laughing to each other, one question lingered in heizou's mind, and that was why did xiao talk to y/n?
still, he wasn't surprised that you never mentioned it... he assumed you didn't want to talk about it. maybe xiao said something that made you upset, or maybe the conversation was just unimportant that you felt like you didn't need to mention it.
"...and that's how i met hu tao." you finished explaining the story of how you met hu tao for the first time ever. it wasn't a weird or unusual story, you actually met her when you accidentally walked in the occult club room back in middle school.
she was doing some ritual (that failed) with some other students, and when she saw that you walked in on what they were doing, she pretty much forced you, a stranger, to join them.
but you got no reply from heizou, and when you looked at him, you found him already staring at you. which startled you, as your eyes widened for a second, and you thought that he didn't realize that he's staring because his face went red, and he placed a hand on his mouth.
"oops." he awkwardly chuckled.
you scoffed, "were you even listening?"
"not really."
despite finding it annoying, you couldn't help but smile.
and you also couldn't help but blush as you noticed how close you two were, your shoulders almost touching as you both laid against the giant glowing mushroom, staring into each other's eyes.
your heart really couldn't handle such moments.
as your eyes scanned heizou's red face, flickering between his beauty marks, pretty green eyes, and lips, you felt your own heartbeat speed as you kept gazing at him like that. and he did the same exact thing with you.
"y/n?" you heard him call your name in a softer tone, and your eyes were immediately back on his, staring into them as they gazed at you with a look of adoration.
after a second of silence, "hm?"
"can i..."
he paused as he said this, and from your peripheral vision, you could see his hand moving towards you.
your eyebrows furrowed, feeling even more awkward. "can you...?" you repeated softly, already having an idea of what he wanted to ask, but you wanted to hear it from him.
you felt his fingertips lightly touch your jaw.
"kiss you?"
oh god. this again. you couldn't help the way your face heat up, or the way your heart almost jumped out of your chest, or the way your eyes widened at his question.
it wouldn't be the first time you two kiss, but this time... it was a completely different scenario, in a forest that looked like it came out of a fantasy video game.
you could only manage to nod your head, as you let out a shaky breath.
feeling heizou's hand cup your cheek, you looked at the way he smiled at you, and you closed your eyes once his face neared yours.
and a second later, you felt his soft lips on yours, his nose brushing against your own nose as he took you in that sweet kiss.
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hi guys 😍🥰