A date with a fox girl

"Miyuki, I'm leaving" Yae spoke calmly, but a tinge of happiness could be seen in her eyes to a normal person.

And Miyuki, having been in the shrine for nearly 20 years now, was not a normal person.

She was the super-miko who usually dealt with Kenshin's stupid pranks and Yae's teasing, so she was able to see the radiant aura Yae seemed to be enveloped in.

Yae was not in her usual priestess outfit opting to wear a stylish blue kimono with a flower pattern and a blue flower in her air..

"Is my date ready!?" they both hear Kenshin screaming his lungs out from the entrance of the shrine.

"This stupid man...." Yae sighed.

"Yae Miko, the Head Priestess of the Great Narukami Shrine, the familiar of the former Shogun and loving (or not) girlfriend of the actual one! Are you ready for your date?!"

Yae's face turned into a Hannya mask, and quickly left for the entrance of the temple before Kenshin's howl let the whole Teyvat know they were going on a date.

"Kenshin, you could see me out of my room and waiting next to Miyuki near the entrance, why did you need to scream?" asked Yae with a frown.

"Of course, to let everyone know we are going on ..a.....date" Kenshin's mouth opened wide when she saw Yae. "You are gorgeous today."

"I'm always gorgeous" Yae smirked, but she was feeling quite pleased, and she didn't care Kenshin could see it on her soul.

"Well, especially today" Kenshin admitted, looking at Yae's most glaring chance.

Because setting aside Yae's outfit, there was something else that captivated Kenshin.

Yae had neck-length hair, and it fit her perfectly.

"You like it?" Yae touched her now shorter hair with her slim hand and looked at the still-stunned Kenshin with a light smile.

"A lot" Knehsin nodded and extended his arm, which Yae happily grabbed and together they left the shrine. "I am too used to seeing you with your hair long. I mean, I like it, but I think short hair fits you better."

"I think so too" Yae's happiness was so big Kenshin felt like he was infected by it looking at her soul.

"What do you want to do?" inquired Kenshin with a fond smile on his face.

"Hmmm, what should I do..." Yae directed a teasing smile and scouted closer to Kenshin.

She felt that today was going to be a good day, and she was feeling ecstatic about it. She was so happy that she started getting closer to Kenshin, and their once linked arms were now around each other waists.

"Want to have a short trip around the town, and we can go to whatever place you are planning to go later?" proposed Kenshin.

"Why not? My plan is short anyway" Yae nodded with a sunny smile that blinded Kenshin.

"Why are you so happy anyway? It's not like we haven't gone on dates before" asked Kenshin. "I am not complaining at all, I feel like I will sleep soundly this night knowing you had a fun day."

"Everything is going fine for the last time in five hundred years" Yae smiled looking at Kenshin and tightening her arm around his waist. "Ei is now fine and talking to me again, Makoto is back, Inazuma is prospering and you are here. It would be strange if I weren't this happy."

Kenshin sighed and pulled Yae closer.

After they arrived at the town, Kenshin and Yae started strolling through it, but he quickly realised something weird.

"Why is everyone feeling pity when they look at me?" asked a befuddled Kenshin, seeing the dodgy gazes he was receiving.

"I...don't know" and for once, Kenshin knew this wasn't Yae's prank.

"Well, forget about them" Kenshin shrugged and pulled Yae towards an ice cream shop, a fancy dessert that came from the technologically advanced Fontaine.

But the moment the ice cream seller saw Kenshin taking out his purse to pay, he quickly pushed him away from the shop, not willing to receive his money.

"Now I can't ignore it. As much I like free things, this is too weird" Kenshin muttered, handing Yae her tofu-flavoured ice cream.

"No I'm getting curious too" Yae admitted. "Will you ask someone?"

"Judging by how they are running away from me, the only chance I will have is if I corner someone" mused Kenshin. "Let's go to the Naganohara's house, my domain is powerful there."

"Oh" Yae uttered, seeing a Yoimiya escape from the window of her house trying to run away from Kenshin.

"LIttle sunshine, I saw you from the top of the Shrine, you are not escaping or I will use my Shogun power to ban fireworks" Kenshin's smile made Yoimiya sweat.

"Please don't do that..." she pleaded with an upwards gaze.

"Then tell me what everyone is too afraid to say" Kenshin inquired, curious about the weird atmosphere. "I don't remember messing up lately and Inazuma is doing great, why would everyone act like this?"

"Is about the Shogun.... the former one" Yoimiya clarified seeing Kenshin raise his eyebrow.

"What's wrong about Ei?" now Kenshin was even more confused.

After the mess the Decrees were, people disliked her for a while, but when she 'graciously' let Kenshin take the helm of the ship Inazuma was, everyone gradually forgave her after 2 years.

"Well, we know she is pregnant..." Yoimya softly said, looking with an uneasy gaze at Kenshin, who prompted her to continue. "And we thought you were in a relationship with her...."

"I am" Kenshin nodded, still not understanding anything.

"But you know when you were away..." Yoimiya sighed, before taking air. "She was usually seen on the street laughing with Guuji-sama, and her attitude was so different than when she was with you that people realized that... you were not the one she loved."

"...what?" was all Kenshin could say.

"The former Shogun and Guuji sama often tried new food, wore new clothes, and often laughed with each other in the middle of the street. At the start, people thought it was just an outing as friends, but the more the scene was repeated, the more people's doubts grew" explained Yoimiya with a grimace, not wanting to see Kenshin's devastated face.

Kenshin looked at Yae, only to see the youkai as stunned as him.

"But later people realized the reason why they were so happy" Yoimiya swiped a tear that escaped her eyes. "The child.... was never yours to begin with."

"...." Kenshin looked blankly at Yoimiya, while Yae tried to hide her laugh.

"Some people wanted to tell you about the infidelity but they are our God and Guuji-sama, as important as you are you can be replaced, they don't" explained Yoimiya, not looking at Kenshin.

"I should have let Ei sink Inazuma into poverty" Kenshin muttered, walking towards the forest near Ayato's house, as he knew that was the location where Yae wanted to go.

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"Hahahaha" Yae was still laughing after half an hour, seeing Kenshin's scowl.

"They will regret this" Kenshin gritted his teeth. "The moment my weap- child, my child, comes to the world with his or her hand raised and prepared to deliver a God's slap to their sorry faces."

The reality was quite obvious.

After Yae took Ei and Makoto back to Inazuma, they often walked around the town, and Makoto started to come out more and leave Ei to her own devices, or 'meditate' as the stubborn woman put it.

Having a child was not something she expected, and she was quite rattled about it even if she didn't show it.

Makoto was almost Ei's opposite, always smiling and laughing. Having a child made her euphoric, even if she wasn't expecting it.

And the people in town, who saw for the first time the smiley Makoto, reached their own conclusions, as humans tend to do.

That's how things developed, and why Kenshin was looked at with pity.

"That book ended up being the worst prank of my life" grumbled a disgruntled Kenshin.

"I will make sure to wander around the town with Makoto regularly, with her child in my arms" Yae said with an amused smile.

"The moment the baby starts delivering slaps everyone will realize it's mine" Kenshin sighed but looked at the surroundings. "But enough about the baby, this was supposed to be our day."

"What do you know about this area?" inquired Yae with a soft smile looking around, lost in her memories.

Stone steps covered in dirt, pretty worn torii gates, dirty and eroded statues in either path.... everything here gave a feeling of abandonment.

But when Kenshin observed the gentle look in Yae's eyes, he realized that the scene depicted in Yae's eyes was way different than what he was saying.

"The place where youkai and humans would gather under the same banner, the place where both worlds met once every 20 years, the place where only fun was to be had, a place of comradery and reunion" Kenshin's words made Yae look at him in surprise. "I already told you I live in Inazuma, there is no way I would miss something important to you and your memories."

"....." Yae looked at Kenshin briefly, before looking at the surroundings again. "As you said, this was the place where the festivals were held. Makoto would mingle with everyone, Ei would softly smile when she was at the back, occasionally frowning when Chiyo, an oni, teased her. The previous Guuji would stroll through this place checking that everything was in order and the youkai would meet their human friends after a long time for humans yet only a breeze for us."

"What were you doing?" Kenshin asked, feeling Yae's hand in his, and followed the emotional woman towards the place the eroded stairs led to.

"I was usually listening to the stories a clanmate told, Urakusai, trying to find plot holes in his tales" Yae reminisced, almost seeing the scenery in front of her eyes.

"I know about him, he is the writer of 'Chronicles of the Six Kitsune'" Kenshin had read all the books from that era, and this one was one of the considered 'classics' of Inazuma.

"Yes, he was a good one" Yae lightly laughed, being reminded of those times. "But as always, time washes everything away, and youkai slowly died. The causes were varied, but it all ended in the same place. Erosion, curses, illnesses.... gradually youkai disappeared, and the only ones remaining can be counted with your 2 hands."

"There a few still around. You, Sara, Itto, Kirara, a few tanukis here and there, and another blue oni I saw a few years ago" Kenshin counted those he remembered but shook his head. "But yes, youkai as a race have almost disappeared."

"While it would be a lie to say I got over it, it's still hurts" Yae spoke in a quiet voice. "But that's life, parting and meeting that will endlessly succeed each other infinitely until the moment of your death arrives."

Kenshin fell silent, and looked at the huge Torii gate in front of him, where Yae stopped herself.

"This is the entrance to the festival venue" Yae looked at the abandoned state everything was in, and sighed. But Kenshin could see the melancholy her soul was in. "I brought you here to show you what once was the most lively place of the whole Inazuma, I know you like the history of Inazuma so I thought you would like hearing how it was 500 years ago, but I guess all I got was depression."

"How about this?" Kenshin's question made Yae's slightly teary eyes look at him. "The next festival will be here. We have money now, so we will restore this whole place. I will hire some people to act as youkais, and we can have a little festival with humans and 'youkais' alike".

"Kenshin-"

"The dead won't come back, and the youkais are gone forever, that won't change" Kenshin took Yae's hands in his and looked down at her purple eyes. "But once a year, this place can return to what once was. No oni, tengu or kitsune will be here except for Itto, you and Sara, but maybe once a year this place can be the link to the past. Who knows, maybe some small youkai will be attracted to it."

Yae hugged Kenshin and quietly sobbed, venting the feelings she had been repressing for 500 years, after all, Inazuma needed her.

But now she wasn't needed anymore, humanity was advancing and occupying the place the other species had.

Adeptus were now living disguised as humans, Dvalin in Mondstadt left, youkais disappeared in Inazuma....

The whole world of Teyvat was moving in a specific direction, it was impossible to know if it was fate, coincidence or someone was directing everything, but the fact was that long-lived species were now disappearing.

But that was only the cycle of life, as hard as it sounded.

And this process was making sure that every single God, Adeptus or Youkai that remained had painful memories of loss.

But life never stopped turning, and these lonely beings were able to get to meet other existences.

Barbatos, now Venti, met the brave people who saved his friend from the painful curse afflicting him.

Morax met a lot of people in Liyue after he decided to live as a human, including Kenshin, who brought Guizhong back.

Beelzebub, also known as Ei, got her sister back, realized that there was still a place for her in this world, opened up to Yae again and met Kenshin.

And the pink-haired woman cleaning the last traces of tears on her face knew all this.

"Hehe, it was supposed to be a date, yet look how I ended" Yae sarcastically laughed with an ironic smile.

"That's the biggest reason for us to not end the date" Kenshin smiled and took Yae's hand. "Come on, you already cried, now you have to tell me about the festival. We won't copy it, but I need to know a bit about the toys and food that were being sold here, don't I?"

"Hmm, or course" Yae got her smile back and started explaining while pointing at the place the stall was in and the things she pestered Ei to buy.

Fried tofu was the first one.