Chapter Text
Yunjin stood on the deck of the ship, leaning to one side and watching as the island of Inazuma grew closer and closer.
‘Finally, after so many days of travelling, right?’ Xingqiu approached her and Yunjin turned her head to look at him. ‘There's nothing more boring than seeing water everywhere for so long, am I right?’
‘It can be a bit overwhelming.’ Yunjin moved away from her support. ‘But it's been so long since I've performed outside of Liyue! Just thinking about what Inazuma would be like has made the trip worthwhile for me.’ Yunjin bowed slightly. ‘Thank you for agreeing to take me with you despite how sudden my request was.’
Xingqiu decided to leave a couple of days earlier than planned. The young heir's plans reached Yunjin's ears, and she begged him to take her with him. He had to organise a few things and send a letter to Inazuma to let them know, but he couldn't bring himself to say no.
‘It was nothing.’ Xingqiu waved his hand dismissively. ‘When we arrive at the port, they'll be waiting for me... You know, for business matters with the merchant guild.’ He closed his eyes and cleared his throat, somewhat more nervously. ‘High Priestess Yae replied to my letter saying that she knows you've never been to Inazuma before, so she's hired a professional guide to accompany you at all times. You must go with her.’ Yunjin nodded.
An hour later, the ship docked at Ritou Harbour and, just as Xingqiu had said, someone was waiting to pick him up, but Yunjin could barely say hello because he insisted that he was in a hurry and that they both needed to talk, so they left and she waited for her guide to come and pick her up.
‘Maybe she's busy?’ she thought after waiting for quite a while.
She decided to go and ask, but she had barely started walking around the port when she heard something like... snoring? She looked from side to side, but saw no one sleeping. She began to think she was imagining things when she heard it again. Alerted, she began to follow the sound until it led her to a corner where there were some goods, probably from one of the ships that came back from Liyue. Puzzled, she began to look behind the boxes, under the fabrics... But there was no one there. Her gaze fell on one of the barrels and she lifted the lid to look inside.
‘My God!’ she exclaimed when she saw a little girl curled up inside. Hearing her, the little girl rubbed her eyes with her hands and opened them to look at her. ‘Are you okay...?’
‘Um...’ Yunjin took a couple of steps back and saw the girl's head peeking out of the barrel. She hadn't noticed until now the hood with ears she was wearing. ‘Yes... I had to...’ She paused for a moment. ‘Yes, I remember now. I had to wait for someone at the port. But the ship was taking a long time and... I ended up closing my eyes because... Waiting... makes me very sleepy...’ She closed her eyes again.
‘Y-you're my guide?’ Yunjin gave her a gentle pat on the head to wake her up.
‘Um...? Are you Yunjin?’ Yunjin nodded. ‘Oh, great. I'm Sayu... I'll be in charge of guiding you while you're here... But first... What was it? Oh, yes.’ Sayu climbed out of the barrel and held out her hand to Yunjin. ‘Your documentation, please.’
Yunjin took out the invitation Ayato had sent her to perform and handed it to her.
‘Good...’ Sayu said as she received it, barely glancing at it before putting it away. "This is for Sara... Now follow me. I'll guide you to the capital of Inazuma and show you where you'll be staying... At the Komore Tea House, they've prepared a room just for you... Warm... And with a bed... To sleep in..." Sayu yawned and turned to start walking.
Yunjin took that as a sign to follow her and began to enter Ritou. She was sure she was hearing something, but she thought it might be the sound of some animal typical of Inazuma... Until, as she climbed some stairs, she realised that what she was hearing were shouts of argument.
‘Oh...’ Sayu stopped and looked to one side. ‘What a bother...’
The shouting was coming from the area where the stage was being set up for Yunjin's performances when the festival began. It seemed serious, because there were what Yunjin assumed to be Inazuma soldiers, but the people seemed more annoyed than scared.
‘Um... Excuse me...’ Yunjin approached a boy who was standing nearby. He had ears like a dog's and looked embarrassed just from watching what was happening. ‘What's going on? Is there a problem?’
He turned his head when he heard her. He blinked a couple of times and looked up at the various posters advertising the opera performance.
‘You're the...!’ He paused for a moment to check again. ‘Yes! It's really you!’
‘Ah, yes. I'm Yunjin, I'm from Liyue. Nice to meet you.’ She introduced herself with a smile.
‘I'm the cap-!’ He paused for a moment and shook his head. ‘Call me Gorou.’ He held out his hand to shake hers in greeting.
'W-what's going on...? Is there a problem with the performance...?'
'Ah, no!' Gorou waved his hands dismissively. 'It's just a minor setback.'
'Minor setb...?!'
'I said GET OUT!' A woman's voice cut through the commotion and silence fell.
‘It's so funny, I thought that since it was a cultural festival, we'd be spared problems like this... But it seems that weeds always find a way to grow and cause trouble.' Said a woman with long pink hair, who also appeared to have ears. Priestess Yae, Yunjin guessed from what Xingqiu had told her.
‘What did you call us?’
‘Try saying that again!’
‘Didn't you hear me?’ The girl with short hair who had shouted earlier spoke again. ‘I said off stage!’
‘No way! It's now the property of the Arataki band!’
‘What are you saying...?’
‘Calm down, calm down.’ said the tallest one on stage with a laugh. Yunjin couldn't help but notice his long white hair and the horns sticking out of his head. ‘What is a one-man play? Exactly! You won't have to cry about that problem anymore. The Arataki Itto band is here to take care of the rest of the cast! You don't have to thank us, Sara.’
‘It's not that kind of play, Itto...’ Sara brought her hand to her eyes in utter irritation.
‘You're not doing this, in part, because you've run out of money again and want to make some, right?’ Yae asked, bringing a finger to her cheek. Itto opened his eyes wide and looked away, pressing his lips together. She smiled mischievously. She knew it.
‘No way!’ He quickly composed himself, shaking his head. ‘We're doing this to spread the good name of the band! And to help out since the other actors aren't here.’
‘It's not that kind of play!’ Sara protested again. Yunjin decided to approach them to try to talk. She saw Gorou reach out to stop her, but in the end he followed her.
‘You're not going to use the stage for your nonsense!’ Protested the person in charge of the decorations.
‘The only person who can decide that is the person in charge of the play, right?’ Itto continued.
‘Well, if you look at it that way.’ Yae spoke again, and Sara glanced at her, wondering whose side she was on. ‘But the person in charge of the play is the same person who is going to perform in it, so until she arrives from Liyue...’
‘Excuse me.’ Yunjin pushed her way through the crowd to get there. ‘I came to find out what...’ She stopped when she saw the way everyone was looking at her. Had she put on too much make-up and was she paler than usual?
‘Well, look who it is!’ exclaimed Itto after glancing at several of the posters to make sure.
‘No! Don't you dare! Leave her alone!’ Sara shouted, pointing her finger at him.
‘I'm sorry, Sara, but as you can see,’ he said, pointing to Yunjin's pendant where she carried her vision, 'among Geos, we are destined to help each other.'
‘How... do I have to help you?’
‘Help me help her understand how much you need our help for your play. Come on! You find the actors you're missing! And we spread our name and leave with a smile knowing we've helped someone in need! For you! For me! We all win!’
‘It's an opera performance. I'm not sure that...’
‘An opera?’ Itto let out a laugh. ‘You have the best of Inazuma right in front of you!’
‘But learning and rehearsing a play takes quite a long time. I don't think that for tonight...’
‘Isn't improvisation part of theatre?’
‘B-but...’ Yunjin didn't know how to answer so that he would get the hint.
‘Can you sing opera?’ Sayu asked, tilting her head to one side.
‘Of course! If you can scream, you can sing opera, right? You just have to sing really loud. Watch...’ Itto began to puff out his chest, taking a deep breath, and Yunjin saw out of the corner of her eye that Gorou was covering his ears.
‘ENOUGH!’ Sara stretched out her hand, placing herself between them, causing Itto to choke on the air and start coughing. Yunjin could already hear the relieved sighs of many of those present. "Get out of here! Go away! Leave our special guest alone!‘ She crossed her arms. ’You and your band have two minutes to pack up and leave before I call the entire Commission to arrest you for disturbing the peace!
‘A-Agh, y-yeah?!’ Itto replied between coughs, putting his hand to his throat.
‘You'd better... get out of here...’ Gorou placed his hands on Yunjin's back and began to lead her towards the exit. ‘Don't worry, the situation is under control... Even if it doesn't seem like it.’
‘Enjoy your stay in Inazuma.’ Yae waved goodbye as Gorou and Yunjin, followed by Sayu, passed by her and headed for the Ritou exit, on their way to the capital.