Forever This Way

Posted originally on the Archive of Our Own at http://archiveofourown.org/works/37589161.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: Choose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Category: F/M, M/M, Other
Fandom: 原神 | Genshin Impact (Video Game)
Relationship: Scaramouche (Genshin Impact)/Reader
Character: Scaramouche (Genshin Impact)
Additional Tags: bite-sized chapters chronicling some sort of romance, Modern AU,
College AU
Stats: Published: 2022-03-08 Updated: 2022-03-13 Chapters: 2/20 Words:
1574

Forever This Way

by Y001

Summary

What a start, you think. There have only been twenty, maybe thirty words between the two
of you, and you’re already preparing for the funeral of this friendship—if you could call it
that.

Notes

See the end of the work for notes

 Chapter 1

“Are you even listening?”

If the sound of his pen tapping against the wooden table didn’t break you out of your thoughts, his
voice surely did. Hurriedly, you catch his gaze and interpret—that, definitely—he’s looking at you
right now with mild annoyance.

What a start, you think. There have only been twenty, maybe thirty words between the two of you,
and you’re already preparing for the funeral of this friendship—if you could call it that.

Really, you’re not sure if he views it the same way.

Accidental acquaintances, with a somewhat terrible lack of luck that made him subject to tolerating
your presence; it’s probably that way, you muse, with how he used to be different with you a little
at the start—kind and polite—until… well.

Maybe you pissed him off along the way, and you just hadn’t noticed…?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

It feels almost pathetic, attempting to capture attention while maintaining subtlety. If it were any
other person, Kunikuzushi wouldn’t care, but instead he’s left to curb his own notions of dignity.
“Are you even listening?”

“Wh—what? Um, sorry… come again?”

“It’s fine,” he says, grabbing his pencil once again, “I was asking what you thought of our bill. We
can consult the professor later, but I want to make sure we have answers for his questions.”

Mr. Zhongli always gave some of his time to answer his students’ questions about their work. It
would be foolish not to take the chance, but asking also ran the risk of having their work dissected
with every glaring flaw suddenly visible. Perhaps it’s Kunikuzushi’s own goals, but he does not
want to back down and let any project he’s in be any less perfect.

You’ve noticed this before, having been partnered with him a few times. You recall Ajax—another
one of your acquaintances in this law subject—say that Kunikuzushi is strict, perhaps even a little
cruel to group mates when they wouldn’t comply, but you think you understand. It isn’t only one
person’s grade that’s affected when their contribution is lacking, after all.

And… he plans on continuing to law school after finishing political science. You don’t know the
whole story, but you do wonder just how he manages to maintain—

You’ve forgotten to answer his question, again. You’re unsure if you’re permitted to look up now
and catch his gaze when there’s likely a look of annoyance on his face right now. “Well, um… it’s
all fine, but people might find a loophole—” you scan the page, searching for the specific section,
“—here. A way where they can’t be related by affinity. Person A and Person B could choose not to
marry, so Person A’s cousin could still run while Person B’s cousin is in office… I think.”
“Hm…” His chin rests on his palm, thinking it over. “... you’re right. People would do that for a
position in politics.”

You try to hide your surprise then. And also the bit of pride at having a good thought. Good
thoughts don’t come daily.

You do, however, fail at hiding said surprise and you can feel the strain on your cheeks. There’s an
unreadable expression on Kunikuzushi’s face when he sees, and internally, you pray this doesn’t
further divide you. You can already see the crack on the ground between the two of you, after all,
and widening that even more is…

Jeez, this sort-of-acquaintanceship sort-of-friendship is going nowhere for you.

Your attention shifts to your phone screen that just lit up, seeing the reminder for your next class
that’s going to be in… five minutes. The panic on your face must have been obvious, because
when you look at Kunikuzushi to tell him you’ll go ahead first, there’s what you think is a look of
amusement on his face, the edge of his lips curved into… a smile? His chin still resting on the
palm of his hand, head slightly tilted.

“Go on,” he says, “I’ll text you the time we can go to Mr. Zhongli later.”

“Thank you so much—” Hurriedly, you sling your bag over your shoulder, but apparently not
before bumping into the table, “f—I’m so sorry, I’ll go ahead now!”

You hope he isn’t laughing. God, you hope he isn’t laughing. It’s just going to add to your
embarrassment now. You can’t even look him in the eye at this point. While you try to avoid his
gaze, you can only make out his voice while you hurry your retreat, a “Careful on your way out”
reminding you to, hopefully, not make a fool of yourself a second time.

Cute, he thinks. But he'll choke on air first before he admits that.
 Chapter 2

Ajax expresses his thank-you’s in the form of gifts.

(Despite not being close, he’d ushered you before into a cake shop. On display, there were slices of
cake that just seemed too expensive for your wallet, too pretty for you to eat, but he insisted—with
a pleading look—that he wanted to make it up to you.

It was regular manners, just going with his sister Tonia to his department’s building as she got lost
looking for her brother, so you didn’t quite get the fuss about the “debt”. You had already said no
problem, you’re welcome, back when he had thanked you that day, so really, there was no need for
such extravagance.

When Ajax just wouldn’t budge, you kind of had to just go along with his wishes. While you
ordered the cheapest on the menu, he slipped in an order of a slice of the cake that caught your eye
when you first entered the cake shop.

You never really pondered on how he noticed that. You just remember that you fought tooth and
nail just so he wouldn’t buy a whole cake for you to take back to your dorm.

Ajax expresses his thank-you’s in the form of gifts, but sometimes, you think it’s too much. Like
you’re the one who’s going to end up being indebted to him for the kindness he’s showing you.)

“Now, now, why the long face?”

The voice makes you look up from your phone screen, and there you find orange hair, blue eyes,
and a confident smile that can only, really, be one person you know. “Ajax.”

“Dearest comrade, treasured friend,” he starts, and you just know this isn’t going to end anytime
soon, “what are you doing on your phone for so long? You’re gonna burn a hole through that. You
know, my mother used to say that that’s bad for your eyesight, and I have to agree.”

Really, you didn’t come here to get nagged.

“It’s just for a short while—!” And you also don’t know why you’re defending yourself in the first
place. It’s your phone. “I’m just waiting for something. That’s all.”

“Well, come on,” he gestures over to the direction of one of the campus’ cafeterias, “before we lose
seats.”

“Wh—what?”

Before you can question him any further, he’s already at your back, lightly pushing you forward.

“Pwh—this iced tea is terrible.”

“I have told you, Ajax, time and time again, that they mix the iced tea in the container where they
mixed melon juice and some chocolate drink before. Without washing.”
 “I know—”

“But do you ever listen?”

… You don’t know how you got caught in between Ajax and the pretty lady next to you—is she
your senior? You make a mental note to ask for her name later once you get the courage—who are,
as of this moment, bickering over cafeteria food.

(Moments ago, you were just looking at your phone. It was to your understanding that Kunikuzushi
wanted to meet up with you again to discuss your project, and truthfully, you’d been looking
forward to it a little more than you expected.

For professional reasons, of course. Getting the project done would be one less thing on your to-do
list, but… it wouldn’t be so bad to see Kunikuzushi again.

It turns out you weren’t to meet him alone, though. Ajax had somehow pushed you into the
cafeteria and, on the way, said that he was so happy you’d eat with them; it wasn’t everyday
Kunikuzushi would eat with them, either, so to hear he invited you to join their little group was—in
his words—a shocker.

You come to realize you don’t know half of what’s going on. All you know is there’s a muffin in
your hand, courtesy of Ajax who wants to celebrate this first cafeteria experience together, and
you’re sitting still while the two are still going on about food protocols.

You suppose you misunderstood Kunikuzushi after all. It was a little awkward back in the library
that time… he might not have wanted a repeat of that again. Though disheartened at the thought of
no chances of building a friendship with Kunikuzushi without the help of others, you settle, move
on, take a bite of your muffin, and swear you’ll do better this time. This time, there will be no
funeral to be attended, no grave to be dug—)

“... What are you two doing here?”

You look up from your muffin to see Kunikuzushi, sending perhaps one of the coldest glares
you’ve ever seen towards Ajax and the pretty lady, while Ajax only looks at him, laughs, and pats
the space next to him.

You find yourself rethinking that funeral plan.

End Notes

Thanks for reading! Scaramouche may seem out-of-character at first, but think of him as a
mix between Unreconciled Stars Scaramouche—who tries to appear as polite as possible—
and Kunikuzushi before he became a Harbinger. Reasons for his attitude being like this will
be revealed later on.

This fic takes place before Ghosting (a fic on Xiao, Aether, and Venti's (deteriorating)
friendship) and Contract Killer (a fic focusing on the investigation of assassinations in this
AU). The order is Forever This Way —> Ghosting —> Contract Killer.

Kunikuzushi will likely be a different character by the end of this, or somewhere along the
way of Ghosting and Contract Killer, but it's nice to just give him some semblance of a
 calm before the storm.

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