64 Hmmm, nice talks

Sara quickly travelled to the Shrine carrying Kenshin like a sack of potatoes, going as fast as she could, if only to avoid getting vomit in her back.

"Stop right there!" Sara had to stop when she saw a cow coming straight at her face.

"Moouuuuu!" said such cow.

"Is that!" Kenshin shouted dramatically. "The one and oni Itto?!"

"The one and oni indeed" Itto theatrically combed his hair. "And I won't let a sad tengu take away my friend!"

"Tsk, tsk Itto, you got confused again" Kenshin clicked his tongue with a proud attitude from his position on Sara's shoulder. The only thing Itto could see were his legs and his butt. "It's not sad tengu, it's sad birdie. 'I'm not a birdie!' she will shout, and you will say 'I can flip you one'".

"Oh, sorry" Itto rubbed his neck apologetically. "I won't let a sad birdie take away my friend!"

"Who do you 2 think I am?" Sara muttered with a stormy expression.

""A sad birdie"" Itto and Kenshin chanted at the same time.

Sara didn't answer, she was too angry to have a decent conversation anyway. She tried to leave, but Itto stopped her.

"Move" she succinctly said.

"I won't let-"

"Do you consider this thing your friend? He has been pranking you for years".

"Now that you say it..."

"My comrade in arms! Don't you see what the birdie is trying to do? This cunning and feathered being is trying to break up our brotherhood!".

Itto sharply inhaled with a betrayed expression.

"I never expected a birdie to be this cunning!" he said, making Sara lose her grip on reality for a few seconds.

Even the cow was smarter than Itto.

"Yes, that's the birdie's plan. So my dear friend, gave way to her, she is too cunning for us" Kenshin dramatically shouted.

"No" replied a determined Itto. "You already took Shinobu away, I won't let them take you too".

"Kuki Shinobu is in Liyue now, she isn't dead" deadpanned Sara, feeling how her neurons were killing themselves so she wouldn't need to hear this oni.

"Oh, all right then. But I won't let a sad birdie take Kenshin!" he shouted again, preparing for battle.

"I'm taking him to the Shrine, where he lives" said an exhausted Sara.

"Oh, alright then" Itto nodded and made way for Sara to proceed, who started running again, afraid of Itto obstructing her again.

"Careful Itto! A bean!" shouted Kenshin.

Itto fell to the ground covering his head with his hands, fearing that abominable item.

"You are so cruel" said Sara with disappointment in her voice. "You know how ill he gets with beans".

"Where you see a cruel prank, I see a chance for him to learn" Kenshin replied with a casual tone.

"The only thing he will learn is how to not trust you" replied Sara, seeing how the Shrine was now in sight.

"And that blind people can't see beans. Anyway, will you buy my book?" Kenshin asked with an inquisitive voice.

"What is it about?" Sara felt grateful they could have a normal topic now.

"A girl training and growing helping people".

"Hmm, sounds interesting" Sara nodded, she didn't have time to read, but she would make some for Kenshin's book.

"Of course it is. It's a series called The Radiant Knight" Kenshin said with a nod, thinking that the book was pretty good. Even Yae said so, and she was a harsh public.

"The same Radiant Knight from Mondstadt?" asked Sara, feeling jealous. 

She knew the people to whom Kenshin was writing, he didn't hide it.

Among all the people there were a few women, and Sara felt anxious about it. She liked Kenshin, she had for a few years but didn't know how to approach the topic, and with the war and with the now grave danger Inazuma was in, she didn't have the time.

She feared that one of these women would 'snatch' Kenshin from her.

She knew that the woman Kenshin was closer to was a woman called Guizhong from Liyue, Kenshin talked about her a lot, and Sara had to admit she was amazing. She created an ink even Kenshin could see and designed a device the whole world was using to write.

Sara also wanted to help Kenshin with his blindness, but she didn't know how and it made her sad seeing another woman doing it so easily. But Kenshin was happy, it was all that mattered to her.

But Kenshin always spoke of Guizhong as a friend, and he said that she was a 'simp', a thing she didn't know what it meant but deduced that this Guizhong was in love with another man, that reassured her that she wouldn't snatch Kenshin away.

Then there was another girl called Shenhe, but Kenshin's letters were always mocking and extremely insulting, so she was off the table too.

Then another girl called Hu Tao, but Sara knew that Kenshin didn't see girls younger than him as a romantic partner, so she was also safe.

But that woman, Jean, made her feel on guard.

Kenshin always said how responsible and amazing she was, and Sara felt danger there. From what she knew, this Jean was a member of the Gunnhildr clan, one of the most important clans in Mondstadt, and all their members were extremely dedicated to protecting Mondstadt and helping people something Sara saw as a carbon copy of Kenshin's motivations.

And she knew Jean was extremely beautiful, she even heard Yae say it. Apparently, Yae had seen the girl a few years ago in a ceremony, and was impressed by her 'clear eyes' she called it.

And of course, being a member of the Gunnhildr clan, she was strong. Sara was confident in her strength, but the Gunnhildr clan were monsters.

Lastly, she was being groomed as the next Grandmaster of the Knight of Favonius. Basically, the commander of their army. Sara was proud of being the General of the Shogunate, and in that aspect, she was already ahead in their 'competition', but Kenshin didn't think very highly of the Shogunate so she felt that her merits were being dismissed, and honestly that hurt her a bit.

And the Grandmaster had way more authority than the General. The Grandmaster was the closest thing they had to a ruler there, and that made Jean wield more power than her.

All in all, she felt that Jean was her biggest rival.

But lately, she has started noticing Yae act a bit suspicious. When she was going to approach Kenshin, Yae would make a subtle approach instead. When Kenshin was laughing with her, Yae's eye would almost imperceptibly twitch. 

She didn't think Yae noticed, but the signs were there.

But it couldn't be, right?

So this Jean was the enemy to beat.

But she didn't know how to fight in this kind of war. She was easily embarrassed, and she felt awkward trying to speak about these things.

And just now she learned that Kenshin had written a book dedicated to Jean. 

She felt jealous, anxious, and sad.

"Come on Sara, don't be jealous" Kenshin dismissed her worries easily. "You are my dear childhood friend, there is no way I'm leaving you".

"I am not jealous" curtly said Sara, forgetting that Kenshin could sense lies.

"Sure. I'm always ready for a loving kiss, so tell me with confidence. I will sacrifice myself" Kenshin said with a pained voice.

"W- Who wants a kiss?" Sara stammered. "N-Not me, obviously".

"Huh, huh, the little birdie is lyyiiiing" sang Kenshin. "So the always strict and responsible Sara wants a kiss".

"Kenshin..." Sara said with a hot face. She knew Kenshin would easily discern her lies and tries to hide them, so she could only accept that her feelings were revealed in the worst way possible.

"Hmmmm, maybe those purple spots....." muttered Kenshin, thinking about the purple spots he started seeing in Sara's soul a few years ago. "Tell you what, why don't we have Saturday talks?".

"W-What is that?" asked Sara, fearing that Kenshin would mock her for her feelings.

"As the name says, we just talk on Saturdays. While I don't know much about love, and I'm not interested right now in getting into something so complex and time-consuming but maybe I should start thinking about it. Of course, it looks like you already have an idea, but knowing how serious you are, there is no way you can talk about it with anybody" Kenshin explained in a calm voice, not embarrassed at all by what he was saying.

Sara only nodded, feeling relaxed now that Kenshin wasn't planning on mocking her, and expectant about these 'Saturday talks'.

"So we just talk, that's it. About the week, your worries, your fears, or your dreams. Whatever we want to talk about, we do. Of course, it will stay between us, even though I wouldn't be such a scum to tell anybody anything about our talks or mock you. A completely private talk between only us 2" Kenshin proposed with a smile that Sara couldn't see.

"I...would love that" Sara slowly nodded happily, and Kenshin could see her excitement.

He thought it was cute.

"And don't worry about Jean, you are as important to me as she is. Now please, release me or Yae will get even more angry" Kenshin said sensing Yae approaching.

Sara had some mixed feelings. Even if she didn't have a book made specifically for her like Jean, Kenshin told her he valued them the same, and Kenshin wasn't a person who would lie about these kinds of things. And that made her happy.

But she also felt alarmed. He valued them the same, but she had been with Kenshin for 8 years now, while he only was with Jean for a month.

"Give me this piece of walking meat the world knows as Kenshin" commanded Yae with a stormy face once they arrived at the Shrine.

"S-sure" Sara said and prepared to leave.

"Sara, remember our talk! I will wait for you in the city on Saturday" Kenshin reminded her while he was being dragged along the ground by Yae, who stopped hearing this.

"Talks?" she asked with a frown.

"Yes, just like ours. Yours in on Sunday and hers on Saturdays" nodded Kenshin, making Yae and Sara look at each other in surprise and suspicion.

This was the first moment they realized that trying to 'tie the knot' with Kenshin was not going to be easy.

Yae already knew that Kenshin's love life was going to be a mess, but it was at this moment that she realized that it was finally starting, the gears were moving. Someone was showing interest in Kenshin, and actively working towards it.

That 'mess of a love life' had officially started.

While Sara felt strange hearing that she, who 'liked' Kenshin, was going to receive the same treatment as Yae. Of course, she wasn't jealous of this, Kenshin was free to talk to whoever he wanted, but she felt suspicious of the other side.

She had been 'offered' the chance to have Saturday talks because she liked Kenshin, and Yae was having Sunday talks. What did this say about Yae?

So the 2 women looked at each other with suspicion and narrowed eyes, while Kenshin looked curiously at what was happening.

He could see their suspicion and wariness, but he didn't know what it meant. He was only a 15-year-old guy with no experience in the romantic area, so he wasn't able to read into the feelings these 2 women were experiencing.

Maybe that will change in the future, but for now, he couldn't.

"I see that you are starting to move, Kenshin" said Yae slowly, momentarily forgetting about his anger.

"Why are you suspicious? I just offered her the same chance you have" Kenshin defended himself.

"And what is your purpose?" asked Yae with narrowed eyes.

"Of course, to get to know each other. I'm also interested in girls, and even if Sara and I don't get together it may help me for another chance" Kenshin said what he considered to be obvious. What was wrong with getting to know a girl better?

"Then why is Guuji-sama doing those Sunday talks?" asked Sara eyeing Yae, who in turn looked at her with a frown.

"Of course for the same reason. And she seems to need it too, she has a lot of things bottled up" Kenshin said, wriggling the floor, still tied up. "Can you release me now?".

Yae and Sara looked at each other with renewed intensity, but things were a little different now.

Yae realized for the first time that for Kenshin their talks were something more than just a talk. She enjoyed them a lot and had started waiting for them, but they were just talks.

And Sara realized that Kenshin treated Yae as a 'potential' target too. Why make the effort in a woman who is not interested in you? Kenshin probably won't have 'Monday talks' with his mother.

So a triangle formed here.

Kenshin wanted to know them better, his final purpose unknown even to him.

Yae had some reactions and attitudes even though she didn't realize they were showing some degree of possessiveness.

Sara was the only one who saw the full picture and realized that Yae was in the same situation as her.

Spring had arrived at the Shrine, and with it, all the storms that it usually was accompanied by.