Canon Starts!

"So you are leaving again?" said bitterly Yae, standing up from her seat in her room.

"Yes, it's been a while since I saw Jean, and she needs help" replied Kenshin, watching Yae approach.

Yae simply gave him a hug, resting her head against his chest.

"What's wrong? Are you going to be lonely?" asked Kenshin, hugging her back and resting his head over hers.

Yae didn't answer and snuggled into his arms.

Kenshin, who didn't know what was wrong and couldn't watch her soul from his position, only hugged her tighter, waiting for her to explain what was going on inside her head.

Yae felt conflicted. Not about a possible romance with Kenshin, that was already done with.

But it was the first time someone she loved was going to leave her after 500 years when Ei started sulking inside the puppet.

Kenshin had left for Liyue and Mondstadt before but he was only a kid at that point, nothing compared with the deep bond they had now.

And she felt unsure of what was going to happen. Rationally, he was going to Mondstadt to solve a problem with a big rat, and after hearing Sara describe Kenshin's power she knew nothing sort of an Archon, and a strong one at that, would be able to damage him.

If Ei, the glass-cannon Archon couldn't, who could?

But letting Kenshin leave her sight for a long period of time was making her uneasy, and she wasn't used to revealing her weakness.

"Hey, you furball" Kenshin said, pushing her back and crouching a bit to look at her in the eyes. "When I come back, let's have a nice date".

Yae sighed in exasperation but nodded, giving him a deep kiss right after.

It wasn't a 'hit' kiss or a lusty one.

It was a kiss to tell Kenshin all she wasn't sure how to verbalize.

Kenshin twirled her around the room, and gently put her in the ground again.

"Let me show you something" and he expanded her soul, getting her into the Plane.

Nothing could have prepared Yae for the magical scenery she was witnessing. The fresh-smelling grass, the enormous tree that covered the whole sky if you were under it, but what caught her attention was the orbs around it.

If she saw this kind of tree outside, she would have sworn they were fruits.

"Amazing isn't it" asked Kenshin with a serious voice, contemplating the scenery. "I don't want to sound arrogant, but I like this place a lot".

"It's beautiful" said Yae looking at the tree with deep purple and golden leaves.

"Where are you looking at?" Kenshin hit Yae's forehead with his finger, making her pout. "I was talking about these" he pointed at the 'fruits'.

Yae observed them one by one, realizing what they were based on their characteristics.

"How did our souls enter here?" she asked, looking at the 'fruit' that represented her own soul. She felt that she had a certain intimacy with this thing.

"These are the fragments of souls I have allowed to stay here" replied Kenshin, circling her waist with his arm. "This is not something only I can do, the first time I saw this was in Jean's soul 6 years ago. But as I have the Plane, it manifested like this".

"I never saw anything strange in the Plane of Euthymia" mused Yae, raising her hand to touch the fragment of her soul. It never stopped changing forms, and it made me curious about the reason.

"My soul is all over the Plane of Euthymia, I helped Ei restore it, so my soul permeates everything, but don't tell her about this, she will get embarrassed" explained Kenshin, watching her play with the fragment.

"Why doesn't it stop changing?" finally Yae couldn't stop her curiosity and asked.

"Because you are at a crossroads" explained Kenshin calmly. "You have strong feelings for me and that's a first for you. Your dear friend has returned to something similar to what she used to be during your childhood, Makoto is back, Inazuma is doing great, and you have a lot of new hobbies. It's a turbulent period in your life, so your soul is still changing. Of course, it's not normal, maybe a racial trait or something exclusive of your Hakushin Clan, I don't know".

"Hmmmm" Yae hummed and looked for one last time and then she looked at the others. "That one is amazing" she said pointing at the soul that was making absolutely everything in its proximity turn red.

"Arlecchino's" Kenshin pointed out. "As you can see, it's a bit different to that of Jean's, the only normal human here. But do you see the light it's emanating? That proof of her struggles, can you believe that seeing this I wouldn't pay attention to it?".

"Well, now I can understand your exaggerated reaction" Yae reluctantly admitted. If Kenshin saw something like this the first time he saw her, it was no wonder he acted like that.

They stood there for a while, while Kenshin explained to her what the shape, colour and intensity meant.

Now Yae felt like she understood Kenshin's world a little better, making them closer.

"Now I understand why you say that your first hobby is to watch peculiar souls. It's certainly fascinating" Yae said, touching again her 'fruit'.

"You are seeing things magnified here" said Kenshin, hugging her from behind and using his hands to touch Yae's soul. He pressed it lightly with his hands making it deform, and pinched it afterwards, deforming it in the opposite direction. "I normally see this 10 times smaller, and I can't appreciate a lot of things I do now, but you can get an idea now".

Yae watched in fascination how easily Kenshin was playing around with the soul in his hands.

"I brought you here" said Kenshin releasing the fragment. "To show you that even if I am gone, a piece of you will always be with me, like mine is with you. I am going to help for a while, and maybe stay by Jean's side for a while. I will be back".

Yae nodded, grabbed the scruff of his neck and lightly rubbed their noses together.

"What is that?" asked a confused Kenshin. "I don't think foxes do that".

"Stop comparing me to an animal" huffed Yae. "That was something my mother did to me when I was young. I felt like doing it".

Kenshin hugged her lightly and retracted the Plane, now they were in Yae's room again.

"Maybe we can have some 'fun' next time" Yae purred like a cat in his arms. "I heard you and Makoto do it all night".

"Maybe when I get back" replied Kenshin, reluctantly taking a step back. "I need to go or someone will get ready for action".

"Please, I know how to control mys-" Yae stopped seeing the big bulge in Kenshin's pants.

"It was never about you" said Kenshin with a blank face.

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"Aahhhh, Liyue again" Kenshin sighed, feeling nostalgic. He had been in Inazuma for 6 years, and he missed the ambient of Liyue. The always busy people, the fighting Young Masters in the streets, old people saying 'good, good, good', and of course the Boss of the Lands. He got off the boat with his bag and looked around.

"XIAO!!" now that he has a free guide, he will use it as much as he can.

And the once-named Spear Boy arrived.

"You have a good face now" commented Kenshin, seeing that Xiao's face held a hint of a smile.

"Welcome" Xiao quickly donned his stern face and bowed.

"Stop that" pouted Kenshin. "I have come for a fight".

"You what?" 

"Yes, dear Conqueror of Demons" Kenshin said with a malicious smirk. "I can see now, and I am strong. I trained a lot after all".

Xiao smiled wryly.

"No matter how much you train, you are still human" he said shaking his head. He was 2000+ years old, there is no wa-

Plof.

Xiao was now lying on the floor of the docks, without being able to move and internally panicking. 

"Pff, what an Adeptus, that's what you get for underestimating me" snickered Kenshin, crouching over the small Adeptus who was with his face on the floor. "Hey hey" he started poking his cheek.

Xiao got over his surprise and started getting angry, already used to Kenshin's antics.

"Hey, that looks fun, can I join?" a tall woman with short black hair with blue endings came over.

"See, now you have gotten us in trouble" Kenshin scoffed at the indignant Xiao. "She probably has a big pair of reasons to come here".

The woman didn't hear him but approached until she was in front of Kenshin.

"May I ask who is this child you are torturing so much?" she asked with a smile that didn't let anyone see what she was thinking.

"Why should I answer you?" Kenshin was still looking at Xiao's downed form.

"I work for the Ministry of Civil Affairs" Yelan replied not losing her charming smile.

If the downed man was someone else she wouldn't have intervened at all, but she had seen the small boy appear. And she, as a 'secret agent' for the Qixing, knew who he was.

The Last Yaksha, the Conqueror of Demons.

And this man with wonderful eyes had taken him down with a single hit. 

It was obvious that this man was not normal, but she didn't know anybody in Inazuma who could do this. Maybe she would need to ask Yanfei's friend, she seemed to be a competent person from Inazuma.

"Okay, I am from Watatsumi, and this boy challenged me to a duel" Kenshin explained, still not looking at her. "In Inazuma duels are sacred, and as a youkai 500 years old, it's my duty to honour my ancestors by replying seriously to a duel".

Not a single truth was present in Kenshin's sentence.

"That's not what I saw?" Yelan said with a natural seductive tone.

"I don't care" Kenshin replied. "Well, I had my fun, time to leave". Kenshin knew Xiao was going to be up soon, and he should get away first. Just like dogs, small people are usually the loudest ones.

"Why don't you take tea with me?" asked Yelan, who decided to know more about Kenshin. It was a part of her job to be sure nothing weird entered Liyue.

"If such a beautiful lady is inviting, how can I not?" replied Kenshin with a smile and offered his arm to Yelan, who inwardly bit her lips and took it and guided him to the place she always took some drinks in. "Now pretty lady, tell me. How can one have fun in this kind of city? I'm afraid I have not left Inazuma in a long time, and my acquaintances here are limited to a few old people".

"Well, I usually throw my dice to see what am I going to do" Yelan replied with a smirk.

Yelan was someone that found everything bland.

Eating food, exploring, adventuring, sipping tea, listening to tales.... nothing could arouse her interest.

A part of this was due to how 'intense' her usual life was.

She was a special agent who reported directly to Ningguang, she had been trained for all her life to do stealth operations and her archery was top-notch. Being exposed to life-or-death situations in her everyday life tended to make everything else lose its appeal.

So her only way to decide what to do in this bland life of hers was to use a dice that would dictate her actions.

"Hmm, seems interesting" Kenshin looked at her up and down and then looked around "Something tells me you like gambling. Why don't we have a bet?"

"You want to gamble?" Yelan was for the first time interested in the man in front of her.

"Of course, and we will decide what will we do the next time I come here, I was leaving for Mondstadt" replied Kenshin with a smirk.

"Hmmm" Yelan acted like she was thinking about it when she had already accepted.

"Perfect. Now, we will decide what will we do. You choose a number, and say the activity related to it. No repeating, everything goes" Kenshin sensed Yelan's excitement, and knew she was a gambling addict. She probably had some tricks on her sleeves, but he had a bigger one.

Yelan stopped for a bit hearing Kenshin but finally nodded. She was confident in her sleight of hand after all.

"4" she said, pointing at the four points in a dice's face. "You tell me everything I want to know, a total of 10 questions".

"3" replied Kenshin. "You dress up as a bunny girl for a day, and you stroll over Liyue Harbor without hiding yourself, at a normal pace".

"5" aid Yelan with a frown. She didn't expect Kenshin to go that route. "You work under me for 5 years". Someone who could take down an Adeptus with a touch was the best subordinate she could ask for.

"Under....under?" asked Kenshin with raised eyebrows.

"You know what I meant, but if that's your preference...." Yelan said, trying to lure Kenshin into accepting.

"2" replied Kenshin with a malicious smile. "You act as a model for my books for a month".

"6" said Yelan, no longer smiling. "You work for me the rest of my life" she knew she was probably going to die sooner than a youkai, and this was all she could think of. She didn't need anything from the man other than information and a grunt for her to order around.

Probably 50 or so years were nothing more than a nap for this youkai, so it probably wasn't a big deal for him to bet this.

"1" said Kenshin with a bloodthirsty smile leaning forward. "You touch my hand every time we see each other".

"With my hand?" asked Yelan with a frown. She had seen how Kenshin took down Xiao, so she guessed that she would be on the floor every time he touched her hand.

"Of course" clarified Kenshin leaning back. "We will throw the dice 3 times, and we will apply every result, you okay with that? I think you will end up winning with that".

"Of course" Yelan eagerly nodded. What will she lose? The worst one was touching his hand as that would make her lay limp on the ground, but if she got a 5 or a 6 out of 3 throws, she would get this powerful youkai under her for years, and forever if she got a 6. She will probably be able to get three 6, her sleight of hand was unparalleled in this world after all.

"Then, throw" Kenshin said, but before she started, Kenshin spoke. "Wait here, I will be back".

Yelan could only watch in shock how the man left in a hurry, but 5 minutes later he came back with an elderly man. She could only assume this man was an Adeptus.

"He is an old friend, he is going to act as a witness of our Contract"

"Contract?" asked a surprised Yelan, who didn't expect this.

"How can I know you are not going to go back on your promise? Humans these days are too shameless" Kenshin spoke with a pout.

The elderly man, a disguised Morax, sighed at the hypocrisy.

"The terms are simple. WE will respect the term of the bet, and I will not cheat in any way, shape or form, and I won't manipulate the dice after it's thrown".

"And before?" asked Yelan with a frown.

"And I won't manipulate the dice before it's thrown" admitted Kenshin.

Yelan felt something suspicious, but she finally agreed. She knew that Kenshin may have someone to help him, but she was confident in detecting someone interfering with the dice, even if it was an Adeptus.

They both signed the Contract, and a disguised Morax sighed in resignation.