When Hanachirusato stepped into the massage room, the air was clean—no lingering scent of incense or anything unusual.
The sheets looked freshly replaced.
But she couldn't shake the image of that ridiculously satisfied look Miko had worn when she left.
"Mr. Xia," she began.
"Hm?"
"Lady Miko didn't do anything to upset you, did she?"
"Of course not."
He smiled faintly, recalling the feel of that pink-haired fox's head under his palm.
"She was very well-behaved."
"...?"
Well-behaved?
How could that scheming little fox and that word even belong in the same sentence?
Hanachirusato nearly laughed. Still, a thought crossed her mind—and her heart skipped.
So something did happen between them, then. Something she wasn't supposed to know.
So he had just been humoring her before.
Well, maybe that arrogant little fox needed to be taken down a peg.
Keeping her face composed, she only nodded. "I see."
Xia Zhi asked casually, "How did things go at Araumi this afternoon?"
She gave a brief summary—three Archon-level beings had opened the path, so the cleanup afterward had gone smoothly.
"On the way, we ran into a few small youkai," she added.
"Youkai?"
"Yes. They hadn't taken human form yet, just little ones with a bit of spirit energy. Too weak to survive anywhere but the wilderness..."
Her voice softened, sadness flickering beneath it.
She'd wanted to approach them, but she carried no trace of Lady Kitsune Saiguu's aura—only the lightning energy from her magical girl transformation. The moment they sensed her, they panicked and fled.
"You wanted to help them, didn't you?" he asked quietly.
"I..."
She hesitated.
"I don't know... I don't think I can really help them."
Xia Zhi's tone was calm. "A while ago in Mondstadt, Diona and the others saw a bunch of stray cats on the streets. They felt sorry for them, so they opened a Pet Tavern to take them in."
"I heard about that."
A spark lit in her eyes. "So you're saying..."
"If you wanted, you could do something similar here. Maybe open a youkai tavern or something in Hanamizaka."
"But rent's so expensive there..."
"The Grand Narukami Shrine's offerings aren't exactly scarce, are they? And besides, your cousin's the ruler of Inazuma now. Mention it over dinner—she can get the funding approved easily enough."
"Still... relying on the state forever isn't sustainable. Youkai take centuries to cultivate, after all. If there are only a few, it's not worth it; if there are too many, we couldn't possibly support them all."
"There's a way around that," Xia Zhi said.
"Huh?"
"Any creature with a spark of spirit already has a unique gift. A youkai with sharp smell could work with detectives, helping find evidence or track criminals. One with keen hearing could assist intelligence networks. The swift ones could even deliver parcels for Komaniya Express. As long as they're willing to work, they can earn their keep. Maybe not riches, but at least a stable life. Better than wandering hungry in the wilds."
"...That's... actually beautiful," Hanachirusato murmured.
Her gaze drifted, lost in memory.
Five hundred years ago, that was what Inazuma had been like—humans and youkai living, working side by side.
The oni worked the ports, hauling cargo.
The tengu carried messages across the skies.
The foxes gathered intelligence across nations.
But after that black calamity... most of them had fallen in defense of the nation.
Now, in this new age, the sight of a youkai among humans was rare. And when they did appear, people looked at them with fear, with scorn.
"You're right," she said softly. "But first, we'd need to change how people see them. Otherwise they'll never be accepted."
"True enough."
"Don't worry," she added with a small smile. "I'll talk to Miko and the others about it later."
"Good," he said simply.
---
After the massage session ended, Hanachirusato left, her eyes showing a spark of motivation.
Xia Zhi, however, was beginning to feel like his place was turning into some kind of emotional counseling center.
Whenever the girls had something on their minds, they came to him to talk about it.
It gave him the strange illusion of being everyone's dad.
He shook his head and kept massaging the next client.
When Xia Ci came in, she asked, "Cousin, did you see that video of the Traveler?"
"The one where she resonated with the Statue of The Seven?"
"Yeah, that one."
"I did. Collei sent it to me. That Traveler, Lumine, seems pretty interesting. Both Zhongli and Nahida spoke highly of her, said she's reliable and steady."
"So, in other words, the perfect employee?"
He laughed. "Pretty much."
"Her power's special, though. In that video, it looked like she was syncing with the Statue of The Seven, but in truth, she didn't get any response from me or Nahida."
"Oh?"
"She seems to have drawn Dendro power directly from the ley lines of this world instead."
"Borrowed it, huh..."
That caught Xia Zhi off guard.
"In that case..."
Xia Ci nodded. "Exactly. She can only use that borrowed elemental power as long as she's within this world's domain. If she leaves it—or if someone drags her temporarily into another realm—she can't use it anymore. Her strength would plummet. For her, that's a pretty fatal weakness."
"I see..."
A faint smile tugged at Xia Zhi's lips.
If those elemental powers weren't stable, that blonde Traveler might actually make a great magical girl.
----
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