"Sorry... I must've scared you."
After a long silence, Elliot slowly opened his weary eyes and spoke softly.
"Here. Grilled fish," Kazuha said, handing over a freshly cooked skewer.
Elliot froze, staring at the fish.
He looked at Kazuha with disbelief, unable to grasp what he had just done.
"Kazuha, you..."
"You said it yourself—don't let the past affect the present. What's gone is gone."
Kazuha extended the fish to him once more.
"You've got a big heart..." Elliot blinked, then let out a wry smile and took it.
"I've been wandering the world, prepared to die at any moment. I've got nothing left to lose," Kazuha said as he took a bite of his own fish.
"You saved my life," Elliot replied, taking a bite.
"And you saved mine."
"But the danger—I caused that."
"That wasn't you."
"It was still my body under someone else's control."
"If we're going that far, then there's nothing more to say." Kazuha shrugged.
Then, as if something came to mind, Kazuha added, "If you really want to repay me, get me some booze. I haven't had a drink in forever."
"Booze? That's easy," Elliot said with full confidence.
"You can really get alcohol!?" Kazuha's eyes lit up immediately.
Alcoholics are the same everywhere—they stop in their tracks when they hear the word "drink."
"Of course! It's a piece of cake," Elliot said smugly.
"You're not messing with me again, are you?" Kazuha asked suspiciously.
After spending just a few days with Elliot, he'd already been tricked more times than in the past year combined.
He honestly didn't know whether to believe him.
"Do I look like that kind of guy?" Elliot scoffed.
"Yes." Kazuha answered flatly, without hesitation.
"C'mon, why would I lie to you this time?"
"Really?"
"More real than gold."
"Alright, I'll trust you one more time," Kazuha said, suddenly excited.
"Relax," Elliot said, taking another bite of fish. His eyes brightened.
"Hey, this fish is actually good!"
Only now did he realize this ordinary grilled fish tasted better than expected.
"You're slower than an old man," Kazuha said, twitching at the corner of his mouth.
"You've got a real knack for this."
Elliot took another bite and savored it.
"Me? I'm not a fan of sloppy cooking."
"In my view, even a basic fish should be cooked well."
"Eating is supposed to bring joy—why settle for less?"
Elliot nodded repeatedly in approval. "Well said. That makes a lot of sense."
"I didn't expect a wandering ronin like you to be this particular."
"If you can't even take food seriously, how can you do anything else right?" Kazuha said with a shrug.
"Well, I'm different. I'm a rough guy—don't care about the details. If it's edible and fills me up, that's good enough."
Kazuha blinked at that, then let out a laugh.
"What's so funny?" Elliot asked.
"I was just thinking—how are we even traveling together when we're this incompatible?"
Elliot paused, then smiled faintly. "Maybe it's fate."
Kazuha liked wine. Elliot liked tea.
Kazuha cared about good food. Elliot didn't.
They were complete opposites.
"Fate, huh? That really is something," Kazuha mused.
"Isn't it?"
...
After their meal, Elliot resumed meditating, sitting cross-legged.
He meditated for about an hour, long enough for the food to settle, then jumped into another round of training.
Meanwhile, Kazuha lay on the beach, listening to the gentle wind and soothing sound of waves.
"I heard there's someone in Mondstadt's Knights of Favonius called the Wave Knight. She can mimic the sound of ocean waves—pretty incredible."
While training, Elliot smiled faintly. "Yeah, I've heard of her. She uses something called a bone whistle."
"Oh? So you need a special tool to do it?" Kazuha sounded intrigued.
"Of course. You think she just breathes it out of thin air?"
"Hmm... yeah, that does sound a bit impossible," Kazuha admitted.
"Exactly."
"But it'd be great if there were something more convenient—something you didn't have to carry around."
"Like a leaf?" Elliot grinned.
"Leaves? I guess they could work, but can you even make sound with one?"
"Who says you can't?"
Elliot stood up and walked toward a large tree.
"Wait—are you serious?" Kazuha was stunned by his sudden movement.
"Dead serious," Elliot replied. He quickly found a suitable leaf.
Holding it to his lips, he blew for a while—and finally, a sound came out.
Just as Kazuha was about to tease him, he froze.
He stared blankly at Elliot, eyes wide in disbelief.
This was a technique Elliot had learned back on earth—using a leaf to produce sound. He'd trained for quite a while to master it.
Once he got the sound out, Elliot grew more skilled by the second. Soon, he was playing a soft, melodic tune.
The music even drew a few seagulls in from the shore.
By the time it ended, Kazuha was still in a daze.
"You..."
"How did you do that...?"
He asked, incredulous.
"It's all in the technique," Elliot said proudly.
"Teach me! Teach me! I've never seen anyone play music with a leaf. That's way too cool!"
Kazuha couldn't resist.
He was already imagining himself slicing off a leaf mid-air, then standing in the breeze, playing a beautiful tune with it.
It was just too stylish to pass up!
"I can teach you," Elliot said with a faint smile, "but you have to promise me one thing first."