Problems at home

"Haahhh" Kenshin sighed tiredly, seeing how Shenhe was going to reunite with Cloud Retainer to leave Inazuma.

He had been talking with a lot of people today, and the 'plot' caught him off guard, but overall it had been a good festival. It served its purpose to make outsiders feel that Inazuma welcomed them, instead of the feeling of rejection they sensed before because of those bastards of the Kanjou and Tenryou Commission threatening everyone.

"Well, if it isn't my Radiant Knight in the flesh" he smiled when he saw Jean approaching. "How did the talk go?"

"Perfectly" replied Jean with a hoarse voice, proof of her cries. "I never knew my mother thought that. How could I blame my mother for teaching me?".

"Well, it's one of those things you keep bottled up, and you think about them so much that you end up seeing a problem where there is none" Kenshin shrugged. It didn't happen that much to him, but that was because his own personality didn't allow him to keep his mouth shut.

"Thank you Kenshin" Jean emotionally said.

"Not good enough" replied Kenshin, opening his arms "I want a hug".

Jean didn't hesitate and hugged Kenshin tightly. They were almost the same stature, Kenshin a bit taller, so her head was resting on his shoulder.

"Come on, my Radiant Knight, don't cry" Kenshin patted Jean's back. "Or I will have to write about an evil sorcerer who made the valiant Radiant Knight cry with a spell in my next volume".

Jean felt that Kenshin had once again given her something extremely valuable.

Her mother was the most important person in her life, more than Kenshin. And knowing how her mother had blamed herself for years for being strict with her made her feel devastated.

But now, she felt that the air cleared between them, and her mother looked happier than before.

That made her realize once more how much Kenshin had given her.

She didn't need money from the JRK or material things, she was a woman who didn't need much to be satisfied.

But what Kenshin gave her supplied the emotional support she needed.

He helped her mend her relationship with her sister, who had grown estranged from her after their parent's divorce.

He showed her the spirit of sacrifice she admired so much when he lost his sight to help Guizhong. She knew that he did something unnecessary, but the fact that he didn't mind moved her a lot.

He helped Mondstadt with the JRK. He could say all he wanted, but the fact that the organization that was helping Mondstadt had a contingency plan in case a disaster happened had her name touched her deeply.

He wrote The Radiant Knight, a book inspired by her. The protagonist showed the same traits she was the most proud of, hard work and the desire to help people. And every time she saw that worn-out book, the first one she wrote, she felt happy thinking that there was a person who saw her for more than her body or looks.

His parents accepted her, and made her feel like one more of his family. Even if she didn't blame her mother for the training and loved her, it was a fact that Jean grew up without the warmth of a family. She wouldn't change her past for anything in the world, she was proud of who he was, but talking relaxedly with Mio and Yahiko, who worried about her on a personal level, made her happy and accepted.

And now he had helped her mother, and indirectly her.

She didn't know how to repay him, and she knew he didn't want to be paid back, but she had the need to do something for him.

So she raised her head, and put her lips onto his.

It wasn't like Arlecchino's hot kiss, it was only their lips touching for a brief moment, but Kenshin treasured it as much as the other.

"Well well, the Radiant Knight is stealing kisses now" said Kenshin with a frown. "Maybe my next character will be a robber who is always escaping from the Radiant Knight. Our dear protagonist will try to capture him, but he is using dirty tricks to escape. 'I will catch him next time for sure!', is what our dear protagonist will say with eyes shining with determination. How does that sound?".

"I would like that a lot" replied a smiling Jean. "Every time this robber appears, I will remember this moment".

"That was the idea" gently said Kenshin, hugging her again.

They stood like this for a few minutes, until Kenshin regretfully sighed and took a step back.

"Your sparky friend is coming, and while I don't mind, I don't think your thin skin will tolerate it. I will try to go to Mondstadt when I can. We can have the second round then okay?" he said, looking at the faint traces of her face that he could see.

"I like that plan a lot" Jean said looking at the floor with a blush. "I will write to you as frequently as I can".

"Lisa, make sure she doesn't die of overwork" he said to the woman hidden in a bush trying to listen to them.

"I don't know how are you seeing me" Lisa pouted, but sensing the weird atmosphere, her mind went overdrive. She was a genius from Sumeru, one not seen in a hundred years, she quickly deduced what was happening. "Did I interrupt a romantic moment?".

"Not really, we were not going to anything weird, you gossipy woman. I can sense your excitement about catching wind of something here" Kenshin said with a wry smile.

"And I am proud of it" replied Lisa. "Sorry Jean, but we need to go".

"I know" Jean had no disappointment in her voice. She knew that she couldn't leave Mondstadt alone, or the drunkards would make the church their lavatory. And she knew Kenshin wouldn't forget about her, just as she wouldn't forget about him.

With a last look, Jean turned and left for the port.

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After a few goodbyes, a double one for Shenhe, as he obviously needed to say goodbye to Alter-Shenhe separately, the last ship sailed.

Frederica gave them a hug, thanking him repeatedly, to which he only told her to try to come back from the expedition as soon as possible. Jean got lonely easily.

His parents decided to go back to Mondstadt. They realized that they liked the freedom and relaxed feeling Mondstadt gave them, and they said something about Jean being family. Kenshin thought that they were jumping a lot of steps, as he had decided to give this a try just today. But well, he got his weirdness from them at the end.

Morax carried Barbatos with him, the bard was so drunk he swallowed his own vomit instead of puking.

Guizhong gave him a hug, and told him to write about his progress, that she was ready to help him, to which Kenshin gratefully nodded.

Ganyu and Cloud Retainer were unconscious, but they were murmuring something that sounded like 'meat' or 'cannibalism', but Kenshin didn't care. He warned them after all.

Shenhe just nodded at him and told him that she would try to write. Kenshin felt grateful she didn't hug him, or his lungs would come out of his mouth with her strength.

Eula glared at him, and an apologetic Amber pushed her into the ship.

Varka and the rest of the expedition boarded the ship just like they came, laughing.

Yanfei and Kuki had boarded the ship before, trying to avoid Kenshin and his shenanigans. Kenshin felt regretful he couldn't mess with Yanfei, but shrugged thinking that he could travel to Liyue in a single day.

Bennet had a blast today seeing Varka again and promised to take care of Mio and Yahiko.

'And Arlecchino and Signora left a few hours ago, I think that's everyone. A pity Hu Tao couldn't come, and that red-haired bastard from Mondstadt probably tore off the invitation when he saw the sender' Kenshin had invited a lot more people, but they couldn't come for different reasons.

"Now, I need to have a talk" Kenshin said looking in the general direction of the Shrine.

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"I don't know, I already told you" a nervous Makoto was facing an irritated Yae, and an equally fuming Ei.

"And I'm telling you to tell me. I don't want your opinion, only the facts" Yae said the same thing she had been saying all afternoon.

Makoto was being interrogated by Yae and Ei.

They had seen Makoto scrunch up her face when she saw how Kenshin left with Arlecchino, and that rubbed them the wrong way.

Yae felt that it was Makoto's fault that Ei gave up all their advantage of playing at home, and Ei because now she realized that Kenshin was going to somehow 'steal' Makoto from her.

"I don't know, we just talk about what we like, our hobbies, how was Inazuma" Makoto shrunk after being glared at by the other 2.

"And what do you think of him?" asked Ei in her deceptively calm voice.

Makoto opened her mouth to say how annoying he was, but seeing Yae and Ei's warning gazes, she decided to change her answer.

"Well, I think he is nice. He has risked his life for Inazuma, and loves the country, my country, as much as I do" she replied looking at the ground and putting the top of her index fingers together. "He is funny, and he seems to care a lot about his friends".

Ei nodded. She agreed with all that, except that her sister was forgetting to mention how annoying he was.

While Yae sighed in resignation. She thought the same as her, but she was a bit more aware of his bad, or better said annoying, side.

She also felt complex, as she had watched him grow. She didn't share most of the beliefs humans had, but it was a bit weird for her.

"Well, well, well" said Kenshin with a smug smile. "Look what we have here".

"Kenshin, get lost" Yae replied in a bad mood. She needed to think about all this mess, and now the culprit appeared.

"Are you sure?" asked Kenshin with a wicked smirk.

"What do you want now?" asked EI with a frown. She didn't want to think about Kenshin 'stealing' her sister.

"Oh nothing" Kenshin replied looking around, making Yae, Ei and Makoto look at him with a narrowed gaze. They knew that if he didn't want anything, he wouldn't have come. "Just that my nose sniffed something interesting around".

"I thought you were a rat, when did you evolve into a dog?" asked Ei.

"You see" Kenshin eye's shone with a vicious glint. "I heard something about a Contract".

""Gulp"" Yae and Makoto gulped audibly. They didn't think Kenshin would know about it in a single day, they thought they would have a bit more time. Makoto didn't participate in that meeting, but she was the one the Contract was made for.

"Well, this is a surprise even for me?" said Kenshin looking at Makoto. "I knew Ei did something stupid, again, so I came here to mock her, but I didn't expect you to be the one interested".

Makoto looked at the floor beet red.

"Leave my sister alone" said Ei with a frown, not appreciating Kenshin's words.

"Calm down, siscon" replied an unafraid Kenshin. "Even I am not such a scum to mock someone's feelings. But believe me, my inner self is shouting me to".

Ei nodded, happy that Kenshin knew a modicum of respect. Also, she didn't know what a siscon was.

Yae for her part kept the frown, but she was extremely nervous now. She knew that Kenshin grew up in a conventional family, and this whole Contract thing was something he hadn't been educated to accept. But most of all, she knew how messed up their relationship was, Kenshin had grown up seeing her as an adult figure, so she didn't know what would he think about her name being in that Contract.

"Still, we need to clear this".